August 5th 2013 ~ 7-Night Alaskan Cruise on Disney Wonder

[Ware Bears]

did you call to get a great rate? we were quoted $330 plus tax each night, for our 2 nights at the Pan same weekend???

Have you checked online? We booked through our airline when they had a sale on so we were lucky and were able to benefit from their sale price on an already discounted rate at the hotel. Might be worth checking the hotel website to see if they've still got offers on?

 

[DisneyLifeMel]

Hi Guys... I was on this exact cruise last year. Early August is a wonderful time to visit Alaska and Canada. I know that you will have a magical voyage. For anyone on the fence about the FE, let me say, my kids LOVED it. They still talk about it with us.

I know you will have a wonderful time. I may not check this tread much, as I am not cruising this year (no complaints though). So, if you have any quetions, feel free to PM me anytime!!

~Mel

 

[Ware Bears]

Thank you I am so excited for this cruise!

 

[TinksMomma]

Just requested to join the FB Group. Thanks!

 

[calliope]

Yipppe! Sailed last March on the Wonder! Can't wait to sail again! We are a family of four myself, DH, and a set of twins who will be nine when we sail!! Hope to participate in the fish extender group if we have one!

How funny - we were on the Wonder last March, too!

 

[Ware Bears]

Five months today!!!

 

[IFAM5]

I started a group on Facebook called "Away to Alaska on the Disney Wonder August 5, 2013" - on that page is a link to a google doc for folks to input their information for the fish extender list.
In case you don't Facebook, here is the link to the FE list.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ue&formkey=dFJHVTVGZWhGWVZ6OFRORzBIdHlHWUE6MQ

Only 196 days to go!!!

Hi! I just signed-up our family on the google docs (sorry, I am one of those people who are not on FB.... I know, I would be rich everytime someone asked me "You're not on FB?!?" )

Thank you so much for organizing this! I hope my information makes sense as I had to add a 6th and 7th person in the additional comments section. Thanks!

 

[IFAM5]

Hi! I am starting to panic as I have not booked our airfare or hotels yet. I am probably going to book my airfare tonight for our family.

Does anyone have any advice on the hotels? I saw some postings for the Pan Pacific, Sheraton and Residence Inn. I know the Pan Pacific is super convenient but right now I cannot get a room for 8/4 (must be all booked - that's what I get for not starting earlier on this).

For those of you staying at other hotels, how are you getting to the cruise terminal and/or Vancouver airport?

I have a tentative reservation through my DCL agent for the Fairmont at the Airport (Waterfront is also booked pre-cruise) but it seems like beaucoup bucks just for one night (I need 2 rooms since we have 7 people traveling together). I can also get transfers for these hotels since they are DCL affiliated, but was trying to see if there was a more "economical" option or if all hotels in Vancouver are on the pricier side, especially for the time of year.

I did find a post-cruise deal on hotels.com and bookings.com for the Pan Pacific. Is it worth it to still stay there post-cruise?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[Janeen699]

Hi! I am starting to panic as I have not booked our airfare or hotels yet. I am probably going to book my airfare tonight for our family.

Does anyone have any advice on the hotels? I saw some postings for the Pan Pacific, Sheraton and Residence Inn. I know the Pan Pacific is super convenient but right now I cannot get a room for 8/4 (must be all booked - that's what I get for not starting earlier on this).

For those of you staying at other hotels, how are you getting to the cruise terminal and/or Vancouver airport?

I have a tentative reservation through my DCL agent for the Fairmont at the Airport (Waterfront is also booked pre-cruise) but it seems like beaucoup bucks just for one night (I need 2 rooms since we have 7 people traveling together). I can also get transfers for these hotels since they are DCL affiliated, but was trying to see if there was a more "economical" option or if all hotels in Vancouver are on the pricier side, especially for the time of year.

I did find a post-cruise deal on hotels.com and bookings.com for the Pan Pacific. Is it worth it to still stay there post-cruise?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

I am wondering the same thing. Flights are outrageous and I'm not sure how far these hotels are from the port and if you can get transfers . . . I checked the DCL website and I couldn't find any info!!

HELP!!!

Janeen

 

[Ware Bears]

Hi! I just signed-up our family on the google docs (sorry, I am one of those people who are not on FB.... I know, I would be rich everytime someone asked me "You're not on FB?!?" )

Thank you so much for organizing this! I hope my information makes sense as I had to add a 6th and 7th person in the additional comments section. Thanks!

Sadly this poster's dropped out of the cruise so the FE will need a new co-ordinator. This thread is a bit quiet so I'll ask on the FB group if any one wishes to volunteer.

For those of you staying at other hotels, how are you getting to the cruise terminal and/or Vancouver airport?

This is one of the reasons we changed to the Pan Pacific as we can now get the sky train in from the airport and back again post cruise. We were originally booked at the Sheraton and were planning on booking a private shuttle from the airport. I looked on google earth and it said it was about a 20 minute walk from the Sheraton to the cruise terminal but that wouldn't be much fun with luggage (!) so we were thinking taxis would be our best bet. In the meantime I kept my eye on the Pan Pacific and when they had a sale on we decided to change hotels as what we'd save by using the sky train instead of a shuttle and not having to use taxis went a long way to justify the extra cost ..... and the convenience of being right there at the cruise terminal.

Hope you get something booked soon.

 

[IFAM5]

Hi Janeen!

After my "panic posting," I went on-line to Expedia to try and book our airfares. The website only lets you book up to 6 airline tickets so I called the customer service line and got an Expedia travel agent. He was able to book our group (7 total) for airfare AND was able to book our hotel at the Pan Pacific for pre- and post-cruise. I don't know how he found rooms pre-cruise as the Pan Pacific was supposedly sold out, but maybe they have access to extra rooms because they are Expedia.

I would try calling them directly - my agent was super helpful and very patient trying to book all of my stuff.

My friend highly recommended the Pan Pacific because of its convenience in the cruise terminal ("Ware Bears" has a similar comment about the convenience factor).

Now I just need to figure out how to shuttle 7 people plus luggage from the airport to the Pan Pacific - worst case, we take a couple of taxis and hope we all end up at the same place!

Good luck!

 

[IFAM5]

Sadly this poster's dropped out of the cruise so the FE will need a new co-ordinator. This thread is a bit quiet so I'll ask on the FB group if any one wishes to volunteer.
This is one of the reasons we changed to the Pan Pacific as we can now get the sky train in from the airport and back again post cruise. We were originally booked at the Sheraton and were planning on booking a private shuttle from the airport. I looked on google earth and it said it was about a 20 minute walk from the Sheraton to the cruise terminal but that wouldn't be much fun with luggage (!) so we were thinking taxis would be our best bet. In the meantime I kept my eye on the Pan Pacific and when they had a sale on we decided to change hotels as what we'd save by using the sky train instead of a shuttle and not having to use taxis went a long way to justify the extra cost ..... and the convenience of being right there at the cruise terminal.

Hope you get something booked soon.

Thanks for the help, Elaine! I just posted to Janeen (sorry... I am still figuring out these Dis Boards and still not very good at how to respond within a message versus a new message...) - I was able to get the Pan Pacific pre and post cruise. I was thinking the same thing you were with all of the luggage, etc. and decided convenience was definitely a top priority (especially since we are traveling with 3 kids). Thanks for responding to my posting - appreciate it!

 

[Ware Bears]

Great news that you're booked.

Now I just need to figure out how to shuttle 7 people plus luggage from the airport to the Pan Pacific - worst case, we take a couple of taxis and hope we all end up at the same place!

We're taking the Skytrain, the Canada Line runs from Vancouver Airport to the Waterfront station and it's only a very short walk, I believe no more than 5 or 10 minutes, to Canada Place and the Pan Pacific, see on this map here. I've worked out the adult single fare to be $9 each - this includes a $5 add-on for journeys that start at the airport so the fare will be cheaper on the return journey plus there are concessionary fares. From what I've read it's easy enough to navigate with luggage - I certainly hope so!!

 

[danfromca]

Dan, Roan and Blake (17)

 

[danfromca]

Hi! I am starting to panic as I have not booked our airfare or hotels yet. I am probably going to book my airfare tonight for our family.

Does anyone have any advice on the hotels? I saw some postings for the Pan Pacific, Sheraton and Residence Inn. I know the Pan Pacific is super convenient but right now I cannot get a room for 8/4 (must be all booked - that's what I get for not starting earlier on this).

For those of you staying at other hotels, how are you getting to the cruise terminal and/or Vancouver airport?

I have a tentative reservation through my DCL agent for the Fairmont at the Airport (Waterfront is also booked pre-cruise) but it seems like beaucoup bucks just for one night (I need 2 rooms since we have 7 people traveling together). I can also get transfers for these hotels since they are DCL affiliated, but was trying to see if there was a more "economical" option or if all hotels in Vancouver are on the pricier side, especially for the time of year.

I did find a post-cruise deal on hotels.com and bookings.com for the Pan Pacific. Is it worth it to still stay there post-cruise?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

The Pan Pacific is very nice, but expensive. We'll be at the Marriott downtown (staying using points). We'll probably take the taxi from the airport - with three people it's not much more than the SkyTrain and a lot more convenient.
Will probably take Disney transfers back to the airport just out of laziness.

 

[Ware Bears]

Welcome aboard Dan, Roan and Blake if you have facebook here's the link to a FB group that we've also been chatting on.

Try this link.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/412184882198767/

 

[IFAM5]

Great news that you're booked.

We're taking the Skytrain, the Canada Line runs from Vancouver Airport to the Waterfront station and it's only a very short walk, I believe no more than 5 or 10 minutes, to Canada Place and the Pan Pacific, see on this map here. I've worked out the adult single fare to be $9 each - this includes a $5 add-on for journeys that start at the airport so the fare will be cheaper on the return journey plus there are concessionary fares. From what I've read it's easy enough to navigate with luggage - I certainly hope so!!

Thanks for the SkyTrain tip! I will look into that as an option. If it were just my DH and me, I wouldn't be so stressed out. But I am traveling with DGpa and DGma and 3 kids.... that's what's stressing me out. Somehow convenience over price seems to be the overriding factor.

 

[IFAM5]

The Pan Pacific is very nice, but expensive. We'll be at the Marriott downtown (staying using points). We'll probably take the taxi from the airport - with three people it's not much more than the SkyTrain and a lot more convenient.
Will probably take Disney transfers back to the airport just out of laziness.

Glad you will be joining us on the cruise! Yes, you are right about the price tag attached to the Pan Pacific. Again, if it were just my DH and me, I wouldn't have minded using a taxi from a more cost effective hotel. However, my friend took one look at the size of our travel party and said it was worth the splurge with the cruise terminal convenience. We will see how it goes....

 

[csyverson]

This will be our first cruise EVER!! So excited! Now that I found our group I will request it on FB!!

 

[Ware Bears]

Welcome to both the DIS and the cruise!