August 9, 2011 (8/9/2011) Taking the Wonder to see the AMERICAN CHILD

[jilljill]

We booked 2 adjoining inside staterooms on Deck 2.

DH 40 at cruise time
Me turning 40 2 weeks after cruise! Aargh!
Son 10 at cruise time
Daughter almost 8 at cruise time
Daughter 5 at cruise time

Wow, we will all be so much older then. It's hard to think of my now-3 year old being 5 and a half then! But it's particularly hard to think of my husband and me being 40!!!!! Whoa! Well, that goes to show how far out this booking really is.

We are excited and can't wait!

I also wanted to ask, we would have 4-5 days before boarding. Should we attempt the scenic California coastal highway? Or maybe a few of the majestic parks, like the Redwoods? I'm wondering, since I don't have a real sense of distances and what to see out there. We live in South Carolina, so I would love to show them more to the west coast than just the cruise since we will have flown all the way out there.

Opinions? Ideas?

Welcome
Not sure I can help much, Caro & Andrew should be able to answer your questions better.
I just looked at my atlas and the distance from LA to Seattle is 1105 miles plus another 3 hour drive up to Vancouver. San Fran to Seattle is 820 miles plus the drive up to Vancouver. Not sure how much you could see in 4-5 days. But there's lots of time for planning.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I think so......we have ham, turkey, dressing, potatoes, gravy and apple & pumpkin pie for dessert.....yum making me hungry as I write this....
My family is camping right now in the 1000 Islands, Ontario, only 2 minutes from the US border, we have an RV and we camp at this KOA every Thanksgiving. They have fun activities for the kids, a haunted house, trick or treating tonight and on Sunday the owners supply turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and every camper brings a dish and we have a pot luck dinner with about 250 people!!!! A lot of campers go all out decorating their sites. I think we may have forgotten our camera but if we have it I will take some photos and post.
Just getting up (I love camping and sleeping in until 9:00 or 10:00), we are hoping the weather is nice we are planning on taking a boat crusie into the States to see Boldt Castle. We have always wanted to do this but it never seems to work out. I 'll let you know. Have to go my great hubby is cooking bacon (Canadian back bacon to be precise) on the BBQ.....
Allison

Sounds just like US Thanksgiving dinner! Your description did make me hungry for Thanksgiving now! LOL!

The camping trip sounds like fun. I was at the Thousand Islands years ago and really enjoyed it!

Our wedding is only 6 days away now! It's getting close!

 

[Caropooh]

So Caro, are the girls still holding Andrew's big boo boo over his head today?

Unfortunatly no, they just went back to bed.He just lucky it wasn't me he did it too!

 

[alanapapa]

We booked 2 adjoining inside staterooms on Deck 2.

DH 40 at cruise time
Me turning 40 2 weeks after cruise! Aargh!
Son 10 at cruise time
Daughter almost 8 at cruise time
Daughter 5 at cruise time

Wow, we will all be so much older then. It's hard to think of my now-3 year old being 5 and a half then! But it's particularly hard to think of my husband and me being 40!!!!! Whoa! Well, that goes to show how far out this booking really is.

We are excited and can't wait!

I also wanted to ask, we would have 4-5 days before boarding. Should we attempt the scenic California coastal highway? Or maybe a few of the majestic parks, like the Redwoods? I'm wondering, since I don't have a real sense of distances and what to see out there. We live in South Carolina, so I would love to show them more to the west coast than just the cruise since we will have flown all the way out there.

Opinions? Ideas?

Welcome
Not sure I can help much, Caro & Andrew should be able to answer your questions better.
I just looked at my atlas and the distance from LA to Seattle is 1105 miles plus another 3 hour drive up to Vancouver. San Fran to Seattle is 820 miles plus the drive up to Vancouver. Not sure how much you could see in 4-5 days. But there's lots of time for planning.

LA to Seattle is at least 20 hours of drive time. There are plenty of places to see, but you really would not be able to enjoy them. I would recommend coming to Seattle a few days early and seeing the sights around here. Mount Rainier and Mount St Helens are easily accessible. You might want to stay overnight at Rainier. Or go down to Portland Oregon. In Seattle itself is the Pike Place Market, The Klondike Gold Rush National Monument, a fantastic Underground tour, and of course the Space Needle.

 

[jilljill]

LA to Seattle is at least 20 hours of drive time. There are plenty of places to see, but you really would not be able to enjoy them. I would recommend coming to Seattle a few days early and seeing the sights around here. Mount Rainier and Mount St Helens are easily accessible. You might want to stay overnight at Rainier. Or go down to Portland Oregon. In Seattle itself is the Pike Place Market, The Klondike Gold Rush National Monument, a fantastic Underground tour, and of course the Space Needle.

Thanks Andrew. I've added this info to the first post so it doesn't get buried in this thread for the next 22 months.

 

[jilljill]

We will be going on the cruise. This will be the first time in Alaska. Can't wait. It will by me, my husband Bill, daughter Kayley (7), and daughter Kyley (3). That is their age right now. Can't wait.

We booked 2 adjoining inside staterooms on Deck 2.

DH 40 at cruise time
Me turning 40 2 weeks after cruise! Aargh!
Son 10 at cruise time
Daughter almost 8 at cruise time
Daughter 5 at cruise time

Wow, we will all be so much older then. It's hard to think of my now-3 year old being 5 and a half then! But it's particularly hard to think of my husband and me being 40!!!!! Whoa! Well, that goes to show how far out this booking really is.

We are excited and can't wait!

Had booked on the June 21st sailing but changed it to August 9th. Much better deal. We have four of us in our family:

Myself Sumita
DH Chris
DD Asha (13 during the cruise)
DD Amy (11 during the cruise)
Thanks,
Sumita

I've added the new cruisers to the 1st post. If you want your real names along with your DIS usernames in the post just send me a PM and I'll add them as well.

 

[jilljill]

What is Dummy Booking? What are the advantages in doing so?

Thanks,
Sumita

I just went back and noticed no one answered your question.

A dummy booking is a future cruise booking that is made onboard to secure the 10% discount and onboard credit (OBC) that is offered by DCL. You are then free to move this dummy booking to the cruise of your choice when you decide you want to cruise again or the date you are looking for finally gets released. The onboard sales reps typically pick a date in Dec. (the furtherest out) that they use for the dummy bookings.

We made a dummy booking onboard this past July and it was dated for Dec. 2010. When the 2011 dates came out we transferred our 2010 booking to this sailing and got the discount and OBC from DCL.

 

[caitlinsdad]

I just went back and noticed no one answered your question.

A dummy booking is a future cruise booking that is made onboard to secure the 10% discount and onboard credit (OBC) that is offered by DCL. You are then free to move this dummy booking to the cruise of your choice when you decide you want to cruise again or the date you are looking for finally gets released. The onboard sales reps typically pick a date in Dec. (the furtherest out) that they use for the dummy bookings.

We made a dummy booking onboard this past July and it was dated for Dec. 2010. When the 2011 dates came out we transferred our 2010 booking to this sailing and got the discount and OBC from DCL.

Yep and it was even better this time as I got the 1/2 off deal on deposit that I was able to use for this cruise.

 

[caitlinsdad]

Let the party begin
95 Weeks until the August 9 th, 2011 Alaska Cruise

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Let the party begin
95 Weeks until the August 9 th, 2011 Alaska Cruise

 

[disney06]

"Thanks" everyone for your Thanksgiving wishes, we had a great weekend, it was very cold but lots of fun. We again did not make it on the 1000 Island cruise, but there is always next year. We did have a neat thing happen, we went for a bike ride and stopped at a restaurant for lunch and the chef was someone my husband knew from childhood and had not seen in 24 years!!! So that was fun!
Talk to you all soon!
Allison
(ps. I have a really really exciting surprise coming up for my girls, I will let you know more soon, just want to keep you in suspence)

 

[jilljill]

"Thanks" everyone for your Thanksgiving wishes, we had a great weekend, it was very cold but lots of fun. We again did not make it on the 1000 Island cruise, but there is always next year. We did have a neat thing happen, we went for a bike ride and stopped at a restaurant for lunch and the chef was someone my husband knew from childhood and had not seen in 24 years!!! So that was fun!
Talk to you all soon!
Allison
(ps. I have a really really exciting surprise coming up for my girls, I will let you know more soon, just want to keep you in suspence)

Sounds like you all did have a fun time for your holiday.
You are just a big tease.

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added a link to your thread on the main index page. Have a great cruise!

 

[disney06]

My, I have not been called a tease in a long time but I guess if the
shoe fits

 

[vacationsitis]

Hi Jilljill,

Thanks for the response. I really appreciate it. This is very helpful if we are unsure of the dates of when we plan to cruise.

Regards,
Sumita

 

[vacationsitis]

Thanks, I might try the dummy booking next time.

I did some research on the web with regards to hotels to stay before the cruise. Looks like there are a lot of choices. Some of them even offer cruise package & drop-off the luggage at the port. I was quoted $250 a night by Disney to stay at Fairmont in Vancouver Airport. I know it is a long time from now but I am getting excited.

Sumita

 

[starwood]

 

[starwood]

 

[jilljill]

Love the MM with the CC reference. I think we will all be saying that.

 

[jilljill]

Sumita you are most welcome for the info. Now if we had only done that on previous cruises we would have been better off.
Not sure if I'll do a dummy booking in Jan. or wait until July. We'll want to go on one of the new ships in 2012.