Back from Alaska!

[Paddle_Nut]

Those who are booked for this cruise, it's amazing! Any questions let me know!

 

[Richard Howren]

Those who are booked for this cruise, it's amazing! Any questions let me know!

We leave for our Alaska cruise in two weeks. Getting real close and so excited! So many questions as we are first timers. Now that the cruise season is in full swing out of the Vancouver cruise ship terminal, how was the check in and screening process? Did it go smoothly with little wait times? Due to a warmer than normal winter, it appears that Tracy Arm will be a no go because of ice congestion. Was Endicott Arm just as scenic? And lastly, when disembarking the ship once back in Vancouver, was it orderly and smooth? About what time did you finally get off the ship?

 

[Paddle_Nut]

As we showed up right at 11:00am, we literally walked up to the check in counter. Checkin/kids club checkin/customs was so smooth, I was shocked. We were on the boat having lunch before 12:30pm.

Endicott was amazing and you won't be disappointed.

Getting off the boat went really well. Our tag was the 3rd to be called, and we had a small line to get off. It's a little busy getting luggage but once you get back in line with your luggage, all we did was hand in our customs form and walk to our car. It was very quick. We were off before 9:00am, and that was with a 7:15 am
Breakfast. They are truly organized with these things, it's not very painful at all.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I am curious as to if you did any browsing or shopping in the shops on the ship. If so, what merchandise was available, specifically Alaska-specific items? I am cruising next week and have got my eye on some of those items that were previewed on the Disney blog, particularly the Tervis tumbler with the Alaska cruise logo. But I know they're popular and am hoping they weren't all scooped up by the early season cruises. If you happened to notice any of this, please let me know!

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

As we showed up right at 11:00am, we literally walked up to the check in counter. Checkin/kids club checkin/customs was so smooth, I was shocked. We were on the boat having lunch before 12:30pm.

Endicott was amazing and you won't be disappointed.

Getting off the boat went really well. Our tag was the 3rd to be called, and we had a small line to get off. It's a little busy getting luggage but once you get back in line with your luggage, all we did was hand in our customs form and walk to our car. It was very quick. We were off before 9:00am, and that was with a 7:15 am
Breakfast. They are truly organized with these things, it's not very painful at all.

So glad to hear from you and others that Endicott is amazing. I was disappointed in hearing that Tracy Arm was still closed up to this point of the season, but it sounds like there's nothing to be disappointed about. and as a new cruiser and never having been to Alaska, I won't have anything to compare it to anyway.

 

[Paddle_Nut]

The scenery leading in to the glacier in my opinion is just as amazing as the glacier itself. Excellent whale watching opportunities included! What is great about this cruise is the scenery you see rather than just open waters. We were fortunate to have had no rain on all three port days. I hope you are blessed with the same!

 

[Paddle_Nut]

I didn't get the tumbler in question but on glacier day they sell a DCL tumbler with either coffee/hot chocolate and can have liquor added for about $8-10. It's a nice tumbler with DCL cruise 2016 Alaska on it. They did have a good selection of tumblers on board. There was from what I saw, great merchandise on board for purchase. I purchased a hoodie, and Alaska Minnie and Mickey.

I am curious as to if you did any browsing or shopping in the shops on the ship. If so, what merchandise was available, specifically Alaska-specific items? I am cruising next week and have got my eye on some of those items that were previewed on the Disney blog, particularly the Tervis tumbler with the Alaska cruise logo. But I know they're popular and am hoping they weren't all scooped up by the early season cruises. If you happened to notice any of this, please let me know!

he

 

[lisah0711]

Did you or anyone that you met on the cruise do the excursion in Endicott Arm? I'm asking about the new one that started this year that was called a Tracy Arm excursion -- looking for someone who actually did this excursion and what they thought of it. Sounding like even on the August sailings that it will still be Endicott Arm. Thanks!

 

[MMR]

Did you or anyone that you met on the cruise do the excursion in Endicott Arm? I'm asking about the new one that started this year that was called a Tracy Arm excursion -- looking for someone who actually did this excursion and what they thought of it. Sounding like even on the August sailings that it will still be Endicott Arm. Thanks!

It was absolutely amazing! Well worth the money even for kids.

 

[Mazz519]

We did the Alaska cruise last year at the time , its hands down one of the best vacations we have been on.... We did excursions everyday(which can get very expensive) we did the Dog Sledding on a glacier(took a helicopter there) we went white water rafting and took the boys Ziplining through a alaskan rain forest... was unreal

 

[lisah0711]

It was absolutely amazing! Well worth the money even for kids.

Thank you so much for replying! There had been some mixed reviews and it's hard to tell if it is just folks who are disappointed that they didn't make Tracy Arm or it is just not worth it. Thanks again for sharing!

 

[lisah0711]

We did the Alaska cruise last year at the time , its hands down one of the best vacations we have been on.... We did excursions everyday(which can get very expensive) we did the Dog Sledding on a glacier(took a helicopter there) we went white water rafting and took the boys Ziplining through a alaskan rain forest... was unreal

Thanks! We are looking forward to our cruise next month -- glad to hear the helicopter excursion was exciting!

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I didn't get the tumbler in question but on glacier day they sell a DCL tumbler with either coffee/hot chocolate and can have liquor added for about $8-10. It's a nice tumbler with DCL cruise 2016 Alaska on it. They did have a good selection of tumblers on board. There was from what I saw, great merchandise on board for purchase. I purchased a hoodie, and Alaska Minnie and Mickey.

Thanks for the reply! I'm glad to hear they have a good selection of tumblers, and other nice merchandise as well.

And it makes me so excited to hear that there are good whale watching opportunities on glacier day! We were considering a whale watching excursion for one of the ports, but went with other choices instead. We'd still love to be able to see some though! And I totally agree that seeing scenery over just open waters is great. Which is why we opted for a stateroom with a verandah. Relaxing either there or on one of the decks and just watching the mountains and scenery go by is one of the things I'm most excited about!

 

[ajo]

Thanks for the reply! I'm glad to hear they have a good selection of tumblers, and other nice merchandise as well.

And it makes me so excited to hear that there are good whale watching opportunities on glacier day! We were considering a whale watching excursion for one of the ports, but went with other choices instead. We'd still love to be able to see some though! And I totally agree that seeing scenery over just open waters is great. Which is why we opted for a stateroom with a verandah. Relaxing either there or on one of the decks and just watching the mountains and scenery go by is one of the things I'm most excited about!

There is also non-Disney Alaska merchandise in the small shop on deck 3 by the forward elevators. They have lots of stuff with "native" designs, including tumblers.

 

[Aby]

Did you happen to keep copies of the nagivators? Would love to see scans if possible!

Glad to hear you had a great time - can't wait until our cruise in August!

Aby