August 3, 2015 ~ 7-Night Alaskan Cruise on Disney Wonder

[touchstone74]

This will be our first family cruise and we will be traveling with 9 year old and 23 month old girls, along with extended family. I am very excited and am trying to figure out door magnets, fish extenders, appropriate clothes and the like so we can feel like a part of a community. This looks like a great place to start!

 

[Katybug236]

We are booked for our 10th anniversary. Adults only I'm nervous/excited as this is the longest and first trip we've taken away from our 5 year old.

 

[B4SugarRush]

We are planning and have been for a while (I love planning holidays!). I have been looking at hotels for a few days before the ship sailed and I also noticed that the hotel prices were very expensive. I wasn't sure if that was just normal for Vancouver or if there was a reason. I guess a local holiday weekend explains it!

I am so excited about going on our first cruise - we have friends who rave about cruising but I have been reluctant to do it because I get a bit of motion sickness. I am told that the Alaska trip is a good one to start with and that ships now days are very stable. Failing that I have been given tons of advice on what to do if I am affected by the motion, so I am feeling confident that will work out OK.

We will be travelling with our 9 year old DD and 11 year old DS. They are both pretty excited and have looked through the shore excursions to pick some things they want to do. There is still a long time for me until I can book those (since I am a first time cruiser with Disney I gather I need to wait longer than other people) but I am hopeful that we can get a slot on to tours the kids want to do.

Does anyone know if the pirate night happens on the Alaska cruises? I originally thought they did and then I read about the Pixar Pals Party and wasn't sure if this was instead of the Pirate night or in addition to. Gotta make sure we bring the right attire if there is a pirate night!

 

[sdjen]

Hi everyone!

touchstone74 and B4SugarRush - we will all have 9 year old girls with us. Maybe we could get them together - it is always easier to have some friends to hang out with (especially in the kids clubs).

I am pretty sure there is not a pirate night. I am 100% sure there are no fireworks due to the noise restrictions in Alaska.

Here is what I have booked so far - all are private excursions. Since we have cruised before, I am comfortable doing this and it is also a lot less expensive!!! I am a obsessive planner so I like to have it all planned without having to wait for DCL to allow me to book!

Skagway - booked the Dog sledding and Grizzly Falls Ziplining excursion direct with the company and saved $50 for both my daughter and myself.

Juneau - booked a whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier stop with Dolphin Jet Boat Tours. May try to do the Mt Roberts Tram here if the weather is good.

Ketchikan - booked a helicopter tour with a wildlife landing directly with the company. He recommended a late afternoon tour for optimal animal viewing.

If anyone would like more info, just let me know.

Cannot wait for this cruise to get here!

 

[B4SugarRush]

Hi sdjen,

I think it is a great idea to get the girls together to see if they hit it off. My daughter can be a bit shy to start off with but once she gets to know people she is very chatty and friendly. I am a bit the same I must admit.

We are not 100% sure what we are doing on the cruise but the kids are very keen on the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp and Salmon Bake (in Skagway) and the Deluxe Tour of Juneau. Me and DH also think these will be good. I'd like to do the Mt Roberts Tramway too time/weather permitting.

I want to make sure we don't over program ourselves cause this is part of a much larger holiday, five weeks in total. Our DD will celebrate her 9th birthday at Disneyland in late July (which she is so looking forward to) then on this cruise DH will be celebrating his 40th. There is so much excitement in the house that our DD has already packed her carry on... bless her

Thanks for the info about the pirate party, I will skip the pirate get ups. Do you know if you dress up for the Pixar Party? Or is that more of a Character meet and greet thing?

It is nice to "meet" another planner - a lot of people find me amusing cause I plan and book things many, many months in advance. I booked this cruise in April 2014 which astounded a number of people.

I saw on another thread that you mentioned the place where "Once Upon a Time" is filmed. I love that show and had no idea that it was filmed in Vancouver. I am so glad I found this out - that needs to go on my sightseeing list!

Lindy

 

[touchstone74]

Meeting up would be great! DD will turn 9 early July and we are traveling with her male cousins (8 and 5). She would love to have other girls her age to hang out with! I have been looking at the clubs on board and think she will enjoy them, but would definitely be thrilled to have friends to hang out with! She won't know about the cruise until about a week before (step sibling not going and don't want issues) so she will still be in the ecstatic stage is my guess... I am also a planner and have been looking into tons of different ideas. We will be traveling with my parents and my brother's family so we are a group of 10 and have to plan carefully for different tastes and ages! I am probably the most excited of the whole group being a huge Disney fan.

 

[sdjen]

Hi sdjen,

I think it is a great idea to get the girls together to see if they hit it off. My daughter can be a bit shy to start off with but once she gets to know people she is very chatty and friendly. I am a bit the same I must admit.

We are not 100% sure what we are doing on the cruise but the kids are very keen on the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp and Salmon Bake (in Skagway) and the Deluxe Tour of Juneau. Me and DH also think these will be good. I'd like to do the Mt Roberts Tramway too time/weather permitting.

I want to make sure we don't over program ourselves cause this is part of a much larger holiday, five weeks in total. Our DD will celebrate her 9th birthday at Disneyland in late July (which she is so looking forward to) then on this cruise DH will be celebrating his 40th. There is so much excitement in the house that our DD has already packed her carry on... bless her

Thanks for the info about the pirate party, I will skip the pirate get ups. Do you know if you dress up for the Pixar Party? Or is that more of a Character meet and greet thing?

It is nice to "meet" another planner - a lot of people find me amusing cause I plan and book things many, many months in advance. I booked this cruise in April 2014 which astounded a number of people.

I saw on another thread that you mentioned the place where "Once Upon a Time" is filmed. I love that show and had no idea that it was filmed in Vancouver. I am so glad I found this out - that needs to go on my sightseeing list!

Lindy

Hi Lindy

Just noticed you are coming from Australia - how exciting! That is one place I have always wanted to go to but haven't made it yet. Makes sense that you will be here for so long

I love the planning part of it - gives me something to look forward to. We are going to be in Vancouver for a couple of days prior to the cruise. If you are going to be there maybe we could visit Steveston together?

If nothing else we can plan to meet up on the ship the first day so the girls can meet. My daughter Amanda turns 9 in a couple of weeks. She is excited too especially about seeing where once upon a time is filmed and the ziplining/ dogsledding excursion.

Can't wait to chat more!

 

[sdjen]

Meeting up would be great! DD will turn 9 early July and we are traveling with her male cousins (8 and 5). She would love to have other girls her age to hang out with! I have been looking at the clubs on board and think she will enjoy them, but would definitely be thrilled to have friends to hang out with! She won't know about the cruise until about a week before (step sibling not going and don't want issues) so she will still be in the ecstatic stage is my guess... I am also a planner and have been looking into tons of different ideas. We will be traveling with my parents and my brother's family so we are a group of 10 and have to plan carefully for different tastes and ages! I am probably the most excited of the whole group being a huge Disney fan.

You have a hard job trying to plan for all of those people. Luckily it looks like there are a lot of options for Alaska that will appeal to a lot of people. Are they expecting that everyone do all the excursions together? That would be tough!

Like I said in the previous post we should plan on a short meet on the first day to introduce the girls!

Happy planning!

 

[B4SugarRush]

Hi sdjen,

Australia is a lovely place and I think I can see from the types of excursions
you are doing (adventure/nature) that you would love visiting down here.

We love travelling to the USA, Disneyland is a favourite of ours and we have
been a few times. We have not done any other Disney theme parks but I do hope
to get to them all one day.

The furtherest North we have made it is to Portland, so Alaska and Canada are
new to us. We don't have a firm plan on when we will arrive in Vancouver just
yet but if we can make our schedules match looking around Steveston together
seems like a good idea. If that doesn't work then a first day meet up would
be great.

I have been reading all sorts of 'tips for having a great Disney cruise' pages
and the more I read about Disney cruises the more excited I get - I really just
wish it would hurry up and be July!

Me and my daughter have been looking for door art. We have seen the collection
of art that go around the door numbers and have narrowed it down to a few
choices. I might even bring a couple so we can change our door decorations if
we want to. My daughter is very into art type stuff so this is a lot of fun
for her.

I also read about the characters signing pillow cases and t-shirts and such. I
think that is such a lovely momento so I am going to make sure to bring
something like that along.

 

[sdjen]

Hi Lindy

One of the things I did on our first cruise was the pillowcase that all the characters signed. It turned out super cute. But, what I liked even more was the signed photo mat we had signed. We took an 8x10 family pic from the trip and framed it - made for a great souvenir!

We have been on 3 Disney cruises to the Caribbean. 2 on the Magic and one on the Fantasy. I am curious to see how the Wonder compares! If you have any questions feel free to ask. I don't know everything but I have a little experience

We have several magnets from our previous trips that we bring along to decorate the door. Makes finding the room a lot easier too!

I don't think we will probably do the FE exchange this time. It is fun but takes up a lot of space and weight and with packing heavier clothes, I don't know that we can pull it off. I might reconsider if we only end up having a few families participate though.

Only 192 days til we fly to Canada!!

 

[touchstone74]

My dd loves to give gifts so I wanted to participate in the fe exchange, is there one listed somewhere? I know we can't post fb links (and I asked the question there and have next to no response) so I am asking here also... Not sure where else to look at this point... I have limited free time and limited funds so want to start sooner rather than later Just have to figure out how to get dd to help without knowing why! Thanks in advance!

 

[RobDoc]

My dd loves to give gifts so I wanted to participate in the fe exchange, is there one listed somewhere? I know we can't post fb links (and I asked the question there and have next to no response) so I am asking here also... Not sure where else to look at this point... I have limited free time and limited funds so want to start sooner rather than later Just have to figure out how to get dd to help without knowing why! Thanks in advance!

Cruise Meet threads are doing just fine still managing meet and FE discussions right here on the DIS where FE began years ago.

FE organizers generally need to know how many people (adults/children) are participating in each cabin. Other information you would like to share such as first names, ages of child participants, allergies, favorite characters, etc. is up to you. Other personal information is not really necessary. Those organizing FEs typically ask for the information to be posted in the meet thread or sent to them via PM.

For those posting in this Cruise Meet thread to join a FE, since no one seems to be coming forward to organize a FE for this cruise here on the DIS, please feel free to start the FE right in this thread. There is certainly plenty of time to plan a FE for this cruise. All it takes is for someone to maintain a list of/for those participating which can easily be done in this thread. Cruise Meet threads have been doing it this way for years now here on the DIS.

DISboards Fish-Extender Basics

Enjoy!







PLEASE review the Cruise Meet Policy regarding Cruise Meet and Fish Extender programs. - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3353477

Links to Cruise Meet discussion/Fish Extenders other than those on the DIS may not be posted or offered by any other means (PM, email, "search" directions, etc.).

 

[touchstone74]

FE organizers generally need to know how many people (adults/children) are participating in each cabin. Other information you would like to share such as first names, ages of child participants, allergies, favorite characters, etc. is up to you. Other personal information is not really necessary. Those organizing FEs typically ask for the information to be posted in the meet thread or sent to them via PM.

Okay, then... I like to plan and organize so I will head the fe exchange if anyone would like to participate!

Depending on the response I may make multiple groups. If that happens, I will let everyone know. So let's start with the basics:

Cabin #
Names, gender and ages of each person in the cabin
Any Allergies
Each person's favorite character
Special Celebrations during the cruise
Any other information you would like to share (shirt size, first cruise, etc)

Sorry if I stepped on any toes!

 

[B4SugarRush]

I saw a post on Small World Vacations blog about new Frozen themed stuff for some Summer Cruises.

I don't seem to be able to post the link but if you google for "small world vacations frozen fun" you should find it.

My kids would LOVE this! Hope it is on our cruise

 

[sdjen]

Okay, then... I like to plan and organize so I will head the fe exchange if anyone would like to participate!

Depending on the response I may make multiple groups. If that happens, I will let everyone know. So let's start with the basics:

Cabin #
Names, gender and ages of each person in the cabin
Any Allergies
Each person's favorite character
Special Celebrations during the cruise
Any other information you would like to share (shirt size, first cruise, etc)

Sorry if I stepped on any toes!

Thanks for doing this! Should we maybe set a final cut off date sometime after the paid in full date? I may participate depending on how many join in. Although, this thread is pretty quiet so maybe there won't be a ton of families participating? If I remember my info, we have to make final payment by early April so maybe May 1st for a deadline? What does everyone think?

 

[touchstone74]

Thanks for doing this! Should we maybe set a final cut off date sometime after the paid in full date? I may participate depending on how many join in. Although, this thread is pretty quiet so maybe there won't be a ton of families participating? If I remember my info, we have to make final payment by early April so maybe May 1st for a deadline? What does everyone think?

A lot of what I have seen when looking is that the cutoff is usually 6-8 weeks before the sail date. That gives people that start looking later time to join also. Although I have seen people trying to join a week before the sail date. What if we make the cutoff June 1. That should give everyone plenty of time to join and also plenty of time to create or assemble. Thoughts?

 

[touchstone74]

Mickey/Minnie Group: 30 people - 8 Cabins

Cabin # 7039;

Heather F - Belle
Leigh Anne F -Mickey
Della F 9 - Anna
Emma F 23 months - Minnie

no allergies
It is our first Disney cruise

Cabin # 2142

Pat M 56 - Mickey
Margo F 50 - Merida
Cody M 29 - Wall-E
Kelley F 27 (Cody's wife) - Goofy
Blake M 21 - characters from Big Hero 6. Blake has autism but is very smart and high-functioning.
Duncan M 17 same favorites as Blake. Duncan also has autism, also very smart and high-functioning.

Any Allergies--Cody is allergic to peanuts.
This is our 4th cruise, first Alaska cruise.

Cabin # 2612

Geoffrey M - Any, Yellow or green
Lindy F - Tinkerbell, Green or purple
Cameron M 11 - Stitch, Blue
Emily F 9 - Baymax, White

Geoffrey will be celebrating his 40th birthday
It is our first cruise.
We don't have any allergies.

Cabin #5624

Cate F 7
Elle F 6
Spencer M 4

No allergies
No favorite characters in particular

Cabin #5509

Mariah F 23- Belle- fav color green
Dagan M 21- Pascal (the chameleon from Tangled)
Esther F 19- Pocahontas- fav color green

First Cruise
No Allergies


Cabin #6558

Ken M 75 - Color-Red, Character-Woody. 75th Birthday!
Linda F 68 - Color-Green, Character-Minnie Mouse

No Allergies

Cabin #6045

Dave M will be 46 on 8/4/15 - Red - Jack-Jack - 1st Disney Cruise, 2nd cruise overall! Adult Xlarge shirt size
Reneé F 43 - Purple, Green, Chocolate Brown - Boo, Baymax, Winnie the Pooh, and Tinkerbell - 1st Disney Cruise, 4th cruise overall! Adult Large shirt size
AJ M 10 - Orange - Baymax & Jack Sparrow - 1st Cruise!! Youth Medium shirt size
Tyler M 7 - Blue - Mater, Baymax - 1st Cruise!! Youth Medium shirt size

No allergies

Cabin #7505
Kai M 42 - Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, Blue, XXXL
Jen F 41 - Mickey, Red, Medium
Marisa F 10 - Tsum tsums or Baymax, Turquoise or purple, Child Large
Ashlyn F 7 - Tsum Tsums or Baymax, Rainbow, Child Medium

No allergies

Donald/Daisy Group: 30 people - 9 Cabins

Cabin # 2085 & 2083 (probably put FE on just 1 of the rooms)

Joe M - Mickey Mouse and Gaston
Louella F - Lilo & Stitch and Minnie Mouse
Derek M 13 - Mickey Mouse
Joshua M 12 - Mickey Mouse
Dylan M 7 - Mickey Mouse & Buzz
Dominic M 4 - Mickey Mouse and & Woody

No allergies

Cabin #: 6006

James M - Grumpy
Bridget F - Mickey
Emily F 11 - Eeyore
Alice F 8 - Duffy

Any Allergies: no allergies
Special Celebrations during the cruise: no celebrations

Wife's 40th birthday
Cruise #3, first time to Alaska for most of us, and our kids love dogs

Cabin #5006

Brett M - Mickey & Rafiki- fav. color blue
Carla F - Minnie & Nala & Elsa ('cause it is Alaska!)- fav. color- all of them

First Cruise
No Allergies

Cabin #5505

Jon- 28- Wall-E- fav color neon orange
Marissa- 26- Baymax (Big Hero 6)- fav color blue

Marissa is allergic to Dairy

Cabin #1074

Chris M 46 Mickey
April F 39 Minnie
Jordan M 6 Any of the Marvel Characters

No Allergies
First Cruise

Cabin #5010

Spencer M 25 Color-Blue, Character-Crush from Finding Nemo
Zac M 21 - Color-Green, Character-Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.
Makenzie F 18 - Color-Teal, Character-Rapunzel from Tangled
Julia F 15 - Color-Blue, Character-Anything Aristocats

No Allergies

Cabin #6556

Boyd M 46 - Color-Blue, Character-Kronk from Emperor's New Groove
Gabby F 46 - Color-Purple, Izma from Emperor's New Groove

Allergic to pistachios


Cabin #6634

Chris M 44 - Blue - Kronk - 3rd Disney Cruise, 5th cruise overall!! Adult 2x shirt size
Beverly F 44 - Blue - Rapunzel - 3rd Disney Cruise, 5th cruise overall!! Adult 2x shirt size
Natalie F - 11 - Turquoise - Pocahontas and Stitch - 4th Cruise!! 3rd Disney Cruise, 7th cruise overall! Youth Large shirt size

No allergies

Cabin #5022
Carter M 40 - Mickey, Any marvel, Blue, XL 41st Birthday on the cruise!
Liane F 40 - Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, pink, L
Kelia F 9 - Olaf, Gogo Tomago (Big Hero 6), Tsum Tsum, red and pink, child L
Kanoelani F 6 - Dumbo, Jasmine, Tsum Tsum, turquoise and pink, child M

No allergies

Pixie Dust - If you want

Cabin 7638

Tricia - F - Fab 5 & Nemo crew
Gavin - M - 15 - Fab 5 & Nemo crew

No food allergies

Cabin 7538

Alex - M - 12 - Star Wars, Avengers
Emma - F - 10 - Dory, Chip & Dale, Pluto
Nora - F - All things Disney
Fermin - M - Darth Vader

No allergies

Cabin 1041

Kristin - F -Mickey
Bill - M - Goofy
Tyler - M - 10 - Pluto
Brendan -M -6 Captain America

No Allergies

 

[Filipina]

Ok, it's been awhile since I checked out this thread but glad to see more people. I will happily join the FE.... Just don't have all my info yet but will get that in. Thank you touchstone74 for organizing.

 

[Mausogram]

Another family on the Wonder! I'll be sailing with my daughter and two grands, boy age 7 and girl age 6. They are super excited, as I am. I'm a planner too which is how I found this thread.

This is my second Disney cruise (4-night Double Dip to Castaway Cay) and fourth cruise overall. The other two included an Alaska cruise but it was many moons ago. Haven't cruised since then because I feared motion sickness (very bad for me) but the Bahama cruise on the Dream last year was perfect and I know the Inside Passage will be fine too.

Looking forward to planning my excursions. Anyone taking the train in Skagway?

 

[AcuraTL]

Just joined. We are on this cruise with my whole family celebrating my Mom's 70th Birthday right on 8/3/15. There's going to be 12 of us total (4 rooms). We go to Disneyland/Disneyworld every year and we just came back from DisneySea from Japan. This will be our first Disney Cruise. Very exciting. Been reading this forum for the past 3 weeks, absorbing all the information. Still debating if we should fly from SFO directly to Vancouver or to Seattle and drive.