Aug 27, 2012 Seattle to Skagway Sailing

[Luv_Tink]

DH and I are also cruising. First time to Alaska. We will be celebrating our 41st anniversary as well as DH's 65th birthday and my 60th birthday.

We are driving to Seattle from Ontario, Canada. Does anyone have any recommendations for a hotel in Seattle. Also does anyone know what parking is like at the cruise terminal.

Thanks for the help.

Remember the magic!!

There are several nice hotels in downtown Seattle. The Edgewater is probably my favorite and right on the water.

http://www.edgewaterhotel.com/

We're stayed at the Red Lion Hotel on 5th Ave for DH's annual company holiday party several years in the past and it's a nice place and centrally located to the sites and restaurants of downtown Seattle.

http://www.seattleredlionfifthavenue.com/


Here's information on the cruise terminal parking. Note that Disney is docking at Pier 91 which is a little North of the main downtown corridor.

http://www.portseattle.org/Cruise/Explore-Terminals/Smith-Cove-at-Pier-91/Pages/default.aspx

 

[Keurigirl]

I'm pretty sure we're going to do this excursion, we're huge fans of the show. I was thinking of booking it directly through their website and not via DCL though. It looks like it would save us a little booking it directly.

Here's the direct link if you haven't found it yet:
http://www.56degreesnorth.com/default.asp?pageid=1

Oh, I hadn't thought of doing that! Thanks for mentioning it!

We are having the most fantastic weather right now in Seattle - I hope that it is a good prediction of the summer we're going to have! For those of you who are not local, are you planning on spending any extra time in Seattle before or after your cruise?

 

[nicole.antonelli]

Hey all,

The Wonder docked in San Francisco today and my DH and I had to go to the Pier and see her! We always said once the ship came back to SF our countdown would start going faster.

 

[Skylarr29]

Hey all,

The Wonder docked in San Francisco today and my DH and I had to go to the Pier and see her! We always said once the ship came back to SF our countdown would start going faster.

Awesome! I can not wait!

 

[Keurigirl]

Hey guys, don't forget, if you are interested in being a part of the FE Exchange group, I would LOVE to have participants!! If you don't know what this is, please ask! It's super fun.

Also, I started a spreadsheet so we could keep track of everyone on the cruise, and also started a facebook group for our cruise as well.

The spreadsheet is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au6ZjSAKNCdBdGNIa0hpRmFPQVpwaEttZF9xUWsyc1E#gid=0

The facebook group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/306867739393733/

Can't wait to meet all of you!

 

[DisFamilyRobinson]

Hey all! We told our kids that once we hit the 100 day mark, we'd put a countdown on the fridge. I've put this on my google drive with public access. Feel free to download and use if you'd like. Online it looks like two pages. In my downloaded copy its comes to one. So, you might have to download and squeeze the margins to get the same result.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5Q0kgg6GaBXbXFYcEd0LTRnelU

Enjoy!
David

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hey all! We told our kids that once we hit the 100 day mark, we'd put a countdown on the fridge. I've put this on my google drive with public access. Feel free to download and use if you'd like. Online it looks like two pages. In my downloaded copy its comes to one. So, you might have to download and squeeze the margins to get the same result.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5Q0kgg6GaBXbXFYcEd0LTRnelU

Enjoy!
David

This is adorable! I think I'll print it on magnetic paper to hang on our fridge. I usually use a little dry erase board but this is much nicer!

It does make me download each page separately & I don't know how to combine them.

 

[DisFamilyRobinson]

I'm glad you like it! I had fun putting it together.

>> It does make me download each page separately & I don't know how to combine them.

After you click on the link, You should be able to select "File->Download" to get the actual word document. If you can't get get the file, send me your email address in a private message and I'll email it to you. Alternatively, if you don't have MS Office, I can see if I can convert to PDF. That would let you print it out "as is" but then you couldn't make any modifications. Let me know...

Regards,
David

P.S. Keurigirl: 98% chance we'll be joining the FE. I'm holding out until school ends next week. My wife is finishing up a year of homeschooling and is just a bit overwhelmed. I didn't want to bring up yet one more item for her to think about until she gets through testing next week. Its all in the timing!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm glad you like it! I had fun putting it together.

>> It does make me download each page separately & I don't know how to combine them.

After you click on the link, You should be able to select "File->Download" to get the actual word document. If you can't get get the file, send me your email address in a private message and I'll email it to you. Alternatively, if you don't have MS Office, I can see if I can convert to PDF. That would let you print it out "as is" but then you couldn't make any modifications. Let me know...

Regards,
David

P.S. Keurigirl: 98% chance we'll be joining the FE. I'm holding out until school ends next week. My wife is finishing up a year of homeschooling and is just a bit overwhelmed. I didn't want to bring up yet one more item for her to think about until she gets through testing next week. Its all in the timing!

Thanks David!!! It worked!

IIRC, I probably right-clicked to save it and that's why it made me save each page separately.

Can't wait to show my kids!


Strange though... I saved it to Word but when I print it has a white background and only shows the 2 photos at the top, no text regarding the cruise dates. If I try to print directly from your Google doc, it puts it on 2 pages.
I'll have to tinker tomorrow. It's waaaay past my bedtime.

 

[DisFamilyRobinson]

Here is a PDF version of the 100 day countdown:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5Q0kgg6GaBXdkp4bkptRWVZSDA

If you want to modify/enhance the countdown, then you'll need to play with the MS-word version I posted earlier. For those who want to use/print the "word" version, to get the blue background printed, you need to go to File->options->display->"Print Background Colors and Images" (This assumes Office version 2010).

Finally, if you come up with a fun enhancement or modification, please post it. Modifications are encouraged.

Have fun,
David

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thank you so much! Sorry, I don't have a lot of editing experience.

I appreciate your help. Now, it's perfect!!

 

[Luv_Tink]

Looking into excursions for the ports and since we're only in Ketchikan until 12:30 would we be able to fit in an excursion and a walk around Creek Street? We were hoping to do the Deadliest Catch excursion, but I don't know now. I wish we had an extra hour or two in Ketchikan. Any experienced Alaska cruisers have thoughts on this?

 

[DisFamilyRobinson]

As my travel agent likes to say, I'm "gettin' my geek on".

In the past, we've always used official Disney excursions. However, I've heard good things about 3rd party offerings, so I wanted to take this in consideration for this trip.

Below is a google docs spreadsheet that includes both disney and shoretrips.com excursions:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApQ0kgg6GaBXdDk0UGVpQnhoTlVEWEJ2YnplSTFsUWc

I wanted to see how they both compared in terms of offerings and price. Its all filterable, so if you click on the column name, you can select specific values (such as the port name) and you can also sort numerically or alphabetically. One column is the "price per hour" which is my attempt to get an indication of "value". Admittedly its not a very good indicator, but I threw it in there anyways. You may have to "download" the spreadsheet to get full functionality: I'm not sure if "viewers" get full filter functionality or not? Please let me know if you have any problems or suggestions.

Note that this is all manually entered, and it is VERY likely to include mistakes! It is to be used as a tool ONLY. Please verify yourself all particulars (price, restrictions, etc) before you book anything. I am not responsible for any decisions you make based on this spreadsheet.

I have no connection at all to shoretrips.com... it is just an outfit my TA said had a good reputation and I've taken her word on it. They might be good, they might not. Also, I suspect that if you choose to use a third party excursion you open yourself up to more risk (for example, what would happen if the excursion has a break down and they are unable to get you to the ship before departure??? I have no clue what Disney does here, but I would bet they would be much more likely to make concessions for their own contracted excursions than with a third party).

All this is to say, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
But... take it for what its worth and enjoy if this is your kind of thing...

Regards,
David Robinson

P.S. I initially was putting a summary of each trip in the comments. This was becoming very tedious, so I instead assumed that the title of the excursion was self explanatory and provided links to the details instead.

 

[Keurigirl]

Thanks David!! That is super fun! My kids will love it.

I'd love to see you join the FE exchange, it looks like so far there are only 2 cabins so that would be a pretty easy exchange. LOL

I was also wondering if you guys are up for a meetup on the day we board the ship? Perhaps at 3:00ish or so, in the Promenade Lounge? It would be awesome to meet each other and let our kids meet so that they have a familiar face in case they meet in the clubs or on excursions.

 

[Keurigirl]

Also, I've made a signature doohicky if anyone wants to put it in their signature. I was hoping that it would help more people find our cruise meet up! If you want to put it in your signature, just click:

Quick Links at the top of the page
Edit Signature button

And then in your signature put this text:

 

[Keurigirl]

Also, here's a quick list of who is on the cruise so far!! I got this info from the thread. I'd love to have all of you add your information to the cruise spreadsheet - it's such a great way to see who your cruisemates are, hook up with like-aged kiddos, etc.

Here is the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au6ZjSAKNCdBdGNIa0hpRmFPQVpwaEttZF9xUWsyc1E#gid=0

Also, join the facebook group for our cruise!! Another great, easy way to chat and meet. https://www.facebook.com/groups/306867739393733/

Current List:

kveens - Portland, Or - Husband & Wife
nicole.antonelli - San Fran, CA - Husband & Wife
briangl - Seattle - Family of 4 (10boy, 13girl)
iheartdisneycruises - Family of 5 (all boys, 12, 14, 2)
alexandmaddie - Woodbury, MN - Family of 5 (16girl, 11girl, 9boy)
snarfieca - Brenda
PFlamingo - Husband & Wife
poohluv2u - Pacific NW - Husband & Wife
jadedjojo - Florida - Husband & Wife
ruadisneyfan2 - south jersey - Family of 4 (15boy, 12boy)
mickeylove81 - Seattle Area - Family of 3 (boy9)
maggie blossom - MA - Family of 3 (girl 12)
lulubella1609 - Family of 3 (girl3)
DisFamilyRobinson - Oregon - Family of 6 (kids 14/12/8/6)
Keurigirl - Seattle - Family of 4 (girl 5, boy 2)
Skylarr29 - Husband & Wife
stagemasterv (Kharris702?) - Family of Four Adults!
mICKEYLOVE81 - Port Orchard, WA - Family of 3 (boy, 9)
Luv_Tink - Monroe, WA - Family of 5 (all girls, 10, 7, 5)
kooter - Ontario, Canada - Husband & Wife
MillauFr Seattle - Family of 4 (girl 14, boy 11)

 

[MillauFr]

Thanks David for the excursion list. Very helpful. I didn't realize there were so many.

 

[Luv_Tink]

Also, here's a quick list of who is on the cruise so far!! I got this info from the thread. I'd love to have all of you add your information to the cruise spreadsheet - it's such a great way to see who your cruisemates are, hook up with like-aged kiddos, etc.

QUOTE]


You're so organized! We'll join in on the FE, this will be our first time participating in one! And I think we'd be interested in meeting up on embarkation day.

Our girls are going to be beside themselves since we're not telling them where we're going until we get to the port!

 

[DisFamilyRobinson]

I didn't realize there were so many.

Yes! That was my impression also. Its been 8 years since our last cruise and I seem to remember something like 8-10 excursion choices per port. I LOVE to have options, but this? Wow! Data overload.

 

[Keurigirl]

You're so organized! We'll join in on the FE, this will be our first time participating in one! And I think we'd be interested in meeting up on embarkation day.

Our girls are going to be beside themselves since we're not telling them where we're going until we get to the port!

Hooray for more FE exchangers!!