Back from Alaska! (6/26 trip)

[nycdisneygal]

Just got back! thanks everyone for your tips/trip reports.

We stayed at Fairmont airport when we arrived at 1 am. Beautiful!! THen transferred to Hyatt Regency for next 2 nights (taxi for 35). Hyatt was great. TIm Hortons and a lot of homeless people across. Starbucks in lobby. Easy walk to Canada place.

Port is well organized - we took the elevators in pan pacific to get to where we needed.

Cruise was wonderful... The staff was amazing (we have done Dream 3 times). The shows were great. Did Palo brunch and dinner and honestly I am underwhelmed. But service was great. Our main servers in MDR were Art and Flavio and they were sooo nice!! Art arranged Indian food for our parents 2 nights.
Animators Palate shows were great!

Shows--- great. Lots of seat saving!!! A family saved EIGHT seats next to us. And then the adult in the party sang every song during Frozen. ugh!

Daughter hated the nursery. She just didnt want to be left there without us. So we cancelled her last reservation.

Photographs were fantastic!! We ended up only buying a digital package of 15 on the ship and used our Disney Visa discount on the 199.99 price.

we had starboard deck 6 verandah and secret porthole rooms. Veranda was great for viewing Dawes glacier/endicott arm.. Obstruction on porthole was not bad.

They sold mulled wine most days..

We did Gold rush sled dogs in Juneau and then took Taxi from port to Mendenhall glacier. We found a great taxi company to go to glacier. It was cheaper for the 7 of us than doing the shuttle.

Olivias in Skagway has great food and then we had cupcakes at sugar mamas! We did Chilkhoot bus up and train down.

It rained all day in Ketchikan.

I took gym clothes but did not work out...Did the rainforest room 2 days.

One annoying thing: Cars 3 did not show until about day 4!! I dont know why they did not show on first sea day or endicott arm..

Cruise director: Trent. Captain : Vladimir.

Fell in love with the Disney alaska merchandise-- but did not buy much.
Any questions?

 

[nycdisneygal]

Forgot to mention: we used CDS baggage to transfer our luggage to airport (11 pm flight!)> It was great $10 per bag.

And texting onthe app was slow...

 

[GPaLarry]

We did the same cruise the week before. Had a great time. Saw a hummingbird and many seals at Endicott Glacier, experienced too much smoke on our 8006 verandah from "designated" area on deck 9 above, did Liarsville (Skagway) and research/whale watch boat ride (Juneau) and aqua duck (Ketchikan), enjoyed diaper dash, ate almost too many Mickey Bars, had to put on sunscreen for "at sea" day on way to Vancouver, and would love to do it again (with different stateroom). Cars3 was featured during Skagway day in theater and in place of a stage production that night (in 3D).

 

[zmom]

Forgot to mention: we used CDS baggage to transfer our luggage to airport (11 pm flight!)> It was great $10 per bag.

And texting onthe app was slow...

Good to know the price-thinking of doing that on our cruise 7/24. Flight leaves at 7pm so want to do something for the day. Is it easy to find baggage claim at airport?

 

[nycdisneygal]

Good to know the price-thinking of doing that on our cruise 7/24. Flight leaves at 7pm so want to do something for the day. Is it easy to find baggage claim at airport?

Super easy. It in international arrivals. Our cab driver took us there. Not sure you can get bags on time for a 7pm flight though. Call them. I cant remember what time they can get the bags there...

 

[nycdisneygal]

We did the same cruise the week before. Had a great time. Saw a hummingbird and many seals at Endicott Glacier, experienced too much smoke on our 8006 verandah from "designated" area on deck 9 above, did Liarsville (Skagway) and research/whale watch boat ride (Juneau) and aqua duck (Ketchikan), enjoyed diaper dash, ate almost too many Mickey Bars, had to put on sunscreen for "at sea" day on way to Vancouver, and would love to do it again (with different stateroom). Cars3 was featured during Skagway day in theater and in place of a stage production that night (in 3D).

Terrible about the smoke on your verandah! WIll keep that in mind the next time we book a cruise!

 

[xlxo]

Just got back! thanks everyone for your tips/trip reports.

Any questions?

What time did you debark? How long did it take to clear customs? Did you cab or subway to the airport? How was Vancouver?

 

[nycdisneygal]

We got off at 9:20, shortly after our tag color was called. By then it was a walk off. Customs was very fast but first we took a little time sorting our luggage (sticking the toiletries into the check ins etc). We grabbed 2 taxis from Hyatt at the end of the day. I did not think subway was worth it with 7 people including a stroller. Also my dad fell while entering the port to embark (just had xrays and his humerus is broken!).

we liked Vancouver but did not do as much as I had originally planned. I realized I wanted to recover from flight and be rested before getting on ship. We walked around Stanley Park, saw Gastown, the olympic flame, ate Japa dog! Did not make it to Granville island...Will do that when I go for a conference in 2021, and go to Victoria then too.

 

[Shellyred8]

Did they have the BBQ on your Endicott Arm day?

How was the rain forest? We are doing this cruise in September. I did the rain forest on the Fantasy, but this is our first trip on the Wonder. Not sure if they are the same or not.

 

[nycdisneygal]

No BBQ

I have done rainforest room onthe Dream before this.

For one, the room does not have any windows. It has only 5 tile loungers, and I never had to wait. 3 showers and 2 saunas so I think that is similar. Its a much smaller space.
I still liked it...

 

[terrybsw]

Did they have the BBQ on your Endicott Arm day?

How was the rain forest? We are doing this cruise in September. I did the rain forest on the Fantasy, but this is our first trip on the Wonder. Not sure if they are the same or not.

We were on the June 19th voyage. No BBQ. The dry dock changes mean the deck BBQ is no longer possible.

Rainforest room: big difference over the Fantasy. No windows. No hot tubs. The spa is also not as well run. I regret buying a length of cruise pass. The locker room and Rainforest room were not well attended. Had to search for or ask for robes. Towels would get get very low and used bins very full in the RF room. On sea days it would also be untidy as people left towels and cups lying around and no staff. Finally, the music was so loud and not "spa" music that it was intrusive vs. relaxing.

I LOVE the Rainforest room on the other ships. The past 2 years on the Wonder have been a disappointment

 

[lpandorf]

We were on that cruise as well. First time to Alaska and first time on the Wonder after a trip on the Dream and two on the Fantasy. We had a great time on the ship and touring Alaska. I was a little nervous about going to a smaller and older ship but had just as great of time on the Wonder as I did on the Dream and Fantasy. Stateroom was well maintained and just as nice as our Fantasy rooms. Service on the Wonder was excellent. Best server ever. He even took care of us at lunch when he saw us in Cabanas. We saw all the Broadway style shows and the Magic show. All were well done. We participated in plenty of fun activities including crafts, towel folding, character meetings and Disney trivia. Saw several movies, as well. I did miss the large atrium on the Fantasy though.

Only real disappointment was the Edge. My son is 13 and very social and was in the Edge on the Fantasy our prior two trips. He absolutely loved it and I rarely saw him. He made a lot of friends and had a fun time. He didn't like the Edge at all on the Wonder. It was very small and when I went in to check it out I could see why he was less than thrilled. It was uncomfortably hot and didn't smell great. He also said counselors were not as friendly and not as many activities going on as he had experienced on the Fantasy. While it was good for the family to see more of our son on vacation he said he does not want to go back on the Wonder. He's a very active kid so he may also be outgrowing the Disney type cruise and need more of the activities on a RC ship. We stayed on for several days in Vancouver and he said he enjoyed that way more than the ship. Vancouver is such a wonderful city and I'm really glad we spent some time there. We rented bikes, went to a soccer game, shopped on Granville Island and Robson street and swam at the hotel. Also took a trip to Capilano Suspension bridge which was neat but extremely crowded.

Seventeen year old daughter on the other hand, said she preferred the Wonder to the Fantasy. She's not into spending a lot of time in the Vibe and prefers to spend her time with the family, going to shows and activities. She said she thought it was homier and people got to know each other more and spend time talking to others.

 

[Shanti]

Only real disappointment was the Edge...He didn't like the Edge at all on the Wonder. It was very small and when I went in to check it out I could see why he was less than thrilled. It was uncomfortably hot and didn't smell great. He also said counselors were not as friendly and not as many activities going on as he had experienced on the Fantasy.

Good to know. This is a bummer because we're sailing the Wonder next year, and my son will be 13. He didn't find the Edge appealing on the Fantasy this December, so I was hoping Edge would be better on the Wonder.