Anyone back from Alaska yet?

[maburke]

Oh....and my DS is DYING to know if the Wonder will have Krispy Kreme donuts like the Fantasy did last year.

I did not see KK's! And I can't believe I would have missed them. Did anyone else?

 

[Lcluney]

Tasting classes run $20-$25 usually

Generally, booking a private excursion is cheaper than booking a DCL excursion.

Captain's Party? Are you asking about the Castaway Club reception? That's for Gold and Platinum CC members. Or Captain's Gala night? Not really a special party, just a theme for semi-formal night on most cruises that have it. I'm not sure that the Alaska cruises have the Captain's Gala night.

As noted, you will be assigned to a specific Character Breakfast seating. In the past it's been on the first sea day after the first time you dine in Animator's Palate. And it takes place in Parrot Cay. On the Alaska cruises there are only 2 sea days, so they also use the Ketchikan day as a "sea day"

My personal preference for Palo is brunch. Not a fan of the Northern Italian menu at dinner.

Thank you for the info!

 

[Lcluney]

When can you start boarding?
We went a bit early then our booking time 10:30 rather then 11:00. We are glad we did this because they were late loading people and it started to back up and get quite full. After you check in they give you a boarding number and once your number is called you can board. It's not an individual number but rather a group number. While you are waiting sailor Goofy and Captian Mickey take turns poising for photos with guest off to the side. This is a great way to keep yourself and the little ones busy. Don't be afraid to hand off your own camera here either.

When is the character breakfast and do you need a ticket for that or is there an additional charge?
When you get to your state room there is a ticket on your desk that tells you when the breakfast is. You don't need to bring the ticket with you. Your servers will remind you the dinner before the your character breakfast is tomorrow and give you another ticket. It will be held in the same restaurant you had dinner the night before. We had ours on the forth day. On the third day we had dinner at PC so our breakfast was day four at PC. Theire is no extra fee for the breakfast and was the most fun we had at any of our sit down meals don't forget your camera. Well worth going only the characters were very rushed and we did not get to see them all but I'm sure if we hung around we would have.

How exactly does the day at Tracy Arm work?
I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here. You start to enter TA in the morning but there is not much to see until later on I'm thinking around 10 or 11 it starting getting interesting. We saw a few seals sitting on the ice flows and a bunch of birds all sitting on one together. We did see a mountain goat but it was so small it looked like a snowflake on a hill to the naked eye. How the person we were with saw it is beyond me.

It is very relaxing while traveling through all the S curves. Disney does not play any music, funnel vision is muted, no horns are sounded and they don't make any announcements (other then when first enter and once when you get to the glacier) apparently they have a narrative on the TV but we stayed on deck four the whole time. They searved us hot chocolate on deck four and handed out blankets if anyone wanted one. We were a group of four and to keep our spot along the rail I went up to deck ten and brought down a bunch of food from Plutos for everyone and we had our own little buffet of burgers, hotdogs and chicken fingers (the chicken finger are sooo good) for lunch.

They told us that it's best to stay on the same side going in as coming out that way you get to see everything. If we had a balcony I think we would have just stayed on it the entire day. As far as the glacier goes the blue on the ice flows is a blue I have never seen before and pictures do not do it justice. They are simply amazing!

Having said that I found the glacier itself at Juno more impressive maybe it was the nicer weather we had that day. We did a whale watching tour that included a bus ride to the park where you can view the glacier from land. We only had 20 minutes which was not enough time. Other people on the ship had more time and walked up to a huge waterfall that you can't miss. I would have like to have done that but we were not given enough time.

Is Palo worth it and is it better to do dinner or brunch?
We weren't planing on doing Palo but won dinner there. It was so good! But to be honest with you for my money I would not have paid for it. I can see how for some people it would be totally worth it and it was excellent. I can't find one thing to complain about other then the price for it. So I guess if money is no object or it's something you can afford and want to do it then I would say go for it. Some people on our cruise ate there three times.

My only disappointment as far as dinners go is looking back I would have liked to had a dinner buffet at least once. With the rotation we had we ate at Tritions three times.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Sorry I can't help you with the others.

Thank you for the detailed response!

 

[ohMom]

Trying figure out dining relations, so far I have TAPTAPT ?

 

[Elizabeth Forester]

Trying figure out dining relations, so far I have TAPTAPT ?

Where can you find your dining rotation?

 

[AngelDisney]

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

Where can you find your dining rotation?

I think ohMom is trying to figure out the dining rotations. It should be TAPTAPT, APTAPTA, and PTAPTAP. They are different from the previous two years. The first three nights are MDR rotational menu, then Frozen, Toy Story, Taste of Alaska and 'Til We Meet Again. This has been confirmed by Dis'ers on the first two cruises out to Alaska this year.

Hope this helps! Have fun planning!

Edited: Typo on dining rotation: APTAPTA, not APTATPA. Sorry!

 

[MichelleVW]

Hi, thank you for your mini-review. Can you please tell me more about Deck 4 on Tracy Arm day? Do the characters come out to meet with you or are they inside in the Atrium?

During your cruise, did you ever feel the ship was crowded? Any favorite entrees that you recall?

As for the lack of time at the Glacier, I was researching for my own excursion in Juneau and was interested in the company that I think you went with. But seeing that they only allow 15 min. at the Glacier turned me off. However, what was your experience like on the water for whale watching? Would you recommend them?

15 minutes was good enough for us at the glacier in Juneau because honestly we just wanted a pic or two and then to head back to Juneau to grab some food and get back on board. Our trip was at 10:30 so we didn't have a lot of time afterwards.

I never felt the ship was that crowded but we kept away from the crowded areas. Never saw any characters on Deck 4 and I honestly got pictures with all of them. Most pics were up on deck if it wasn't raining or the gazebo by the pool or inside.

 

[MichelleVW]

How exactly does the day at Tracy Arm work?
I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here. You start to enter TA in the morning but there is not much to see until later on I'm thinking around 10 or 11 it starting getting interesting. We saw a few seals sitting on the ice flows and a bunch of birds all sitting on one together. We did see a mountain goat but it was so small it looked like a snowflake on a hill to the naked eye. How the person we were with saw it is beyond me.

It is very relaxing while traveling through all the S curves. Disney does not play any music, funnel vision is muted, no horns are sounded and they don't make any announcements (other then when first enter and once when you get to the glacier) apparently they have a narrative on the TV but we stayed on deck four the whole time. They searved us hot chocolate on deck four and handed out blankets if anyone wanted one. We were a group of four and to keep our spot along the rail I went up to deck ten and brought down a bunch of food from Plutos for everyone and we had our own little buffet of burgers, hotdogs and chicken fingers (the chicken finger are sooo good) for lunch.

They told us that it's best to stay on the same side going in as coming out that way you get to see everything. If we had a balcony I think we would have just stayed on it the entire day. As far as the glacier goes the blue on the ice flows is a blue I have never seen before and pictures do not do it justice. They are simply amazing!

Having said that I found the glacier itself at Juno more impressive maybe it was the nicer weather we had that day. We did a whale watching tour that included a bus ride to the park where you can view the glacier from land. We only had 20 minutes which was not enough time. Other people on the ship had more time and walked up to a huge waterfall that you can't miss. I would have like to have done that but we were not given enough time.

Is Palo worth it and is it better to do dinner or brunch?
We weren't planing on doing Palo but won dinner there. It was so good! But to be honest with you for my money I would not have paid for it. I can see how for some people it would be totally worth it and it was excellent. I can't find one thing to complain about other then the price for it. So I guess if money is no object or it's something you can afford and want to do it then I would say go for it. Some people on our cruise ate there three times.

My only disappointment as far as dinners go is looking back I would have liked to had a dinner buffet at least once. With the rotation we had we ate at Tritions three times.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Sorry I can't help you with the others.

Now I think Tracy Arm day was one of the best parts of the cruise and way better than the glacier in Juneau. We were all over the ship lol....Deck 4, Deck 10, Deck 7 Aft, our verandah....constantly walking from one side to the other. I don't think there is a bad way to see it.

We ate at Palo twice.....would have done it a third time if we could. We get one free from being Platinum but we don't love the food in the main dining rooms and we love the food in Palo. I think we will probably eat there every night on our next 4 night when we sail concierge. It's 30 a person and we tip about $40 and with wine it's a little over $100. Totally worth it...it's quiet, the service is amazing the food is ever better. We compare it to restaurants at home and we end up spending $100 for two of us at Joe's Crab Shack and Palo is a million times better than Joe's!

 

[MouseMomx2]

I did not see KK's! And I can't believe I would have missed them. Did anyone else?

The did, indeed, have Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

As for the Palo debate, we almost never have dinner there anymore. I find the food to be only marginally better than the dining rooms, and I'm not a fan of the chocolate souffle, so I'm not interested in paying the additional cost for dinner there. We love interacting with our regular serving team and hate to miss a night in the MDRs, plus I find the food to be quite good there. Aside from the prime rib , which was just okay, the beef I had in the MDRs on this trip was among the best I've ever had. Palo brunch, on the other hand, is a do-not-miss for us on each trip and always use our Platinum freebie for that.

 

[ohMom]

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

I think ohMom is trying to figure out the dining rotations. It should be TAPTAPT, APTATPA, and PTAPTAP. They are different from the previous two years. The first three nights are MDR rotational menu, then Frozen, Toy Story, Taste of Alaska and 'Til We Meet Again. This has been confirmed by Dis'ers on the first two cruises out to Alaska this year.

Hope this helps! Have fun planning!

Yes you deciphered my fly-by post correctly! Thanks for the answer

 

[AngelDisney]

Yes you deciphered my fly-by post correctly! Thanks for the answer

Please note a typo on the dining rotation. APTATPA should be APTAPTA. Sorry!

 

[pixie*duster]

The did, indeed, have Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

My 16 year old and his insatiable appetite for KKs thanks you! He even orders them via room service throughout the day.

 

[jeffbear]

My 16 year old and his insatiable appetite for KKs thanks you! He even orders them via room service throughout the day.

My old guy insatiable appetite for Krispy Kremes isn't so sure. I can't resist them and shouldn't be eating them ... even on vacation.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My old guy insatiable appetite for Krispy Kremes isn't so sure. I can't resist them and shouldn't be eating them ... even on vacation.

I don't care for the Krispy Kreme doughnuts onboard. They are frozen and then thawed when placed out for service. They're just not the same as a fresh one.

 

[pixie*duster]

I don't care for the Krispy Kreme doughnuts onboard. They are frozen and then thawed when placed out for service. They're just not the same as a fresh one.

Our nearest "Hot Light" is over 150 miles away, so we're used to that!

 

[jeffbear]

I don't care for the Krispy Kreme doughnuts onboard. They are frozen and then thawed when placed out for service. They're just not the same as a fresh one.

I should be good then. I love me some KK when the hot light is on and even for about 10 hours afterwards. But when they get slimy, I'm out. Sadly when I went to college, for four years I lived within walking distance of a Krispy Kreme. That's the bad sweet tooth habit of a lifetime in the making right there.

 

[KristiMc]

Here are a few pics from our cruise last week. We had beautiful weather.






Takshanuk Mountain Trail 4x4

 

[Mazz519]

Usually on sea days or late at night is when we do a lot of the tastings, love it can't wait 3 weeks

 

[pillow]

Here are a few pics from our cruise last week. We had beautiful weather.






Takshanuk Mountain Trail 4x4

These are great! Thanks for posting! Counting down . . . we leave in 8 days.

Jodie

 

[KristiMc]

These are great! Thanks for posting! Counting down . . . we leave in 8 days.

Jodie

Have a great trip Jodie!