First Time Cruisers sail to Alaska on the Wonder - May 23-30, 2016

[dinglehopper79]

I'm sorry I haven't been updating lately but a cold has knocked me down for a better part of the week.

DAY 3 - OUR LAST FULL DAY in VANCOUVER - MAY 22, 2016

Today we decided to finish off the last part of the hop-on hop-off tour as we would be boarding the Wonder the next day!! We started our day off at Medina cafe and I highly recommend this place for brunch. We got there a few minutes before it opened and there was already a line up so if you do go you should get there a bit early (or be prepared to wait - we waited about 40mins); again it was worth the wait!

After breakfast we headed over to BC Place (the main stadium for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2010 Paralympics) as they had an exhibit set up with items from the 2010 Olympics. It does cost to get in, I think about $15 CDN per person and for us we thought it was worth it. Not only do they have the Olympic exhibit (which had one of the actual podiums they used during the games) but they also have a Terry Fox and a Rick Hansen exhibit (2 of the most inspirational people in Canadian history).

We made our way to Chinatown and walked around snapping pictures. Next stop was Gastown where again we walked around, checked out some stores and took more pictures. We decided to stop for a coffee and small snack (and a few to bring back to the hotel as we just couldn't decided on 1 item). We stopped at Purebread, another place we would recommend if you have time and are in Gastown. We decided to take the hop-on hop-off bus back to our hotel with a stop at English Bay Beach to get some pictures I wasn't able to get the day before. We decided to make it an early evening and picked up some last minute things for the cruise like a 12-pack of bottled water, a few bags of popcorn (to enjoy at the shows on the cruise - a tip I picked up on the boards), and a bottle of wine to enjoy in our room. We also knew that this was the last time we would have to enjoy one of the food items we wanted to try while in Vancouver…..Japadog!! There was a cart a few minutes from our hotel so we picked it up and brought it back to our room. I'm glad I tried it but it wouldn't be something that I'd have to get again (like the Tacones from Go Fish or the Belgian waffles from Medina) but my husband said he would get one again (we tried the signature one, Terimayo). Off to bed we went as the 2nd part of our vacation was just around the corner!

Here are some pictures of our last full day in Vancouver;

 

[dinglehopper79]

We mostly have a half day as we are having lunch at the Tearoom at 1:30, but if we can get my dad up and going early (for him) we should be OK. We have a rental car so no need to worry about the buses.

I would have loved to have gone to the Tearoom so can't wait to hear how it was. It is something that we will just have try the next time we go to Vancouver (always good to have something to go back too, right I think having a car is a great option then you don't have to rely on the bus when you have such a short time to explore! I agree, it isn't a place you can see just anywhere and like I said the views are beautiful!

We're planning sort of the same thing, except we're going the aquarium in the morning then we have a reservation at the tea room at 12:30 and then the rest of Stanley park after lunch. I'm thinking we'll get the hop on hop off ticket for just the trolley within Stanley park.

We would have loved to have been able to squeeze in the aquarium and the tearoom but like I said above it is always good to save a few things to see so we have an excuse to go back!

 

[dinglehopper79]

DAY 4 - EMBARKATION DAY; Part 1 - MAY 23, 2016

To say that we were excited that this day had come would be an understatement. This trip wasn't a year of waiting like we know some others had been doing but still it was months and months of planning, researching and waiting; it was still a little hard to believe that the day was finally here. Since this was our very first DCL cruise our check in time wasn't until 12:30 so we decided to go for breakfast at Cafe Crepe after we had finished getting ready and packed up. The restaurant was a 10 minute walk from our hotel and we made sure to enjoy the walk back knowing that this would be our last time taking this familiar walk back to the hotel.

The view in the middle of The Burrard…..we stayed on the third floor.



After getting back after our yummy breakfast we decided we would just head to Canada Place where the ship was as we hadn't had a chance to really walk around Canada Place so we gathered all of our luggage and headed down early. When picking our hotel we already knew that one of the requirements was being close to Canada Place and knew we would just cab it to the Port that morning; it was a very quick 5-8 minute cab ride (it also helped that this was a Holiday Monday so the traffic was very quiet). We got dropped off underneath street level right in front of where they take your luggage so we passed over all of our checked luggage and case of water and headed upstairs to look around and take some pictures.

This is where we got our very first, in person look at the Wonder!!



I know we aren't in the parks but I still had to bring some ears and since Ariel is the statue in the Wonder lobby (and my absolute favourite princess) I decided to wear my mermaid ears (these are from Bibbidi Bobbidi Brooke). I also had a Disney related shirt for each day (this shirt is from Happily Ever Tees).



We couldn't wait any longer so we headed down to start the check in process. Since we had never cruised before we really didn't know how long it would take us to get through it all and if we had to wait to board then we would wait but we wanted to get onto the ship as soon as we were allowed to We really have nothing else to compare this process to but we thought it ran pretty smoothly, everything was labelled well and there were plenty of people directing you where to go. We did notice that you did have to have your entire party with you when you went to check in; we didn't wait too long in line (like maybe 20mins). They did check all of our numbers, took our pictures, got our Keys to the World cards and that day's Navigator. Next up was security and after walking around (again we had no problem finding it with the signs and people directing us) we got to security and there were only a few people in front of us. This part was one thing I didn't read much about in all my research but just assumed it was similar to flying (except for the alcohol you were allowed to bring on with you - which you must have in your carryon) so we went through not worrying about anything we packed in our carryon. Well I got asked if they could check my bags. They found the bottle of wine I was carrying on which was fine but then they found all the candies (for our FE gifts), popcorn and treat (we got from Purebread the day before) and started examining it (I started to get a bit worried because if they took those items for my FE gifts I was going to be in BIG trouble!). They let everything through that was pre packed however they said we would have to throw out our meringue dessert we had purchased at Purebread because it was a fresh baked good (again not pre-packed). Normally not a big deal but this was a huge meringue that wasn't inexpensive so when we asked if we could just step aside to eat it before we moved on they hesitantly let us and just asked that we not be too obvious. She did say that this was a newer policy DCL had put in place. So after we scarfed down this amazing meringue we stopped to show the bottle of wine we were carrying on and then moved onto customs.

This was the US customs since the next time we would be on land would be Alaska! I think we waited 15mins in line to get through and our questions were pretty painless and made it through within a few minutes of getting there. I forgot to add that as we were going through all these check points, security, customs and winding our way to each place we were with the other cruise line passengers (I think it was Norwegian but I can't remember 100%) however after we got through customs we parted ways with them and got high fives from staff wearing big Mickey gloves and made our way to the Wonder! We stopped quickly for a pre-boarding picture and then we had to get our KTW swiped one last time and before we knew it we were about to walk the gangway. From the time we started the whole process to getting on the Wonder it took us roughly an hour and a half but it honestly didn't seem that long……granted we didn't have kids in tow and we only had to worry about the 2 of us so if we were with a group it may have seemed longer? After walking the gangway the moment I had been counting down to was finally here…….the Bernard Family was being welcomed to the Wonder!

 

[condorthb]

bump

 

[dinglehopper79]

DAY 4 - EMBARKATION DAY; Part 2 - MAY 23, 2016

We made it, we were finally on the Wonder As we walked into the lobby my first impression was that it was smaller than I was expecting but still grand and very detailed. I looked for someone to point us in the direction of guest services because I was on a mission; to try and get a brunch reservation at Palo and get tickets to the events that needed them (on this sailing it was the Character breakfast, Princess Gathering and the Frozen Meet & Greet). DH and I split up so we could get things done quicker; I headed over to Triton's to try and get that reservation for Palo and DH to WaveBands to get the tickets. I didn't have to wait too long as there were only 2 people ahead of me so in total it was about 5 mins and I was able to score a brunch reservation for the next day at 10:30am (which was exactly what I wanted so it worked out perfectly). I made my way over to WaveBands as he still hadn't gotten the tickets and as I got closer I saw the very long line! In total we waited for about 40 minutes and were able to get tickets for all 3 events at times that worked with our schedule. I recently read that they have now changed this and you can get your tickets before getting on the ship so if this is an option I'd definitely recommend doing that so you don't have to wait around (and can explore the ship, get lunch, get settled in your stateroom, etc instead of standing in line).

Once we got our tickets it was roughly 1:40pm so we headed straight for our room since they were ready at 1:30. We were staying in room 6303 (in the Forward part of the ship) and found our room quite easily. I let DH go in first because I knew there was something waiting for us inside…as an Anniversary surprise I ordered us the 'romance for 2' package from DCL.

Our first look at our home for the next week


These are the 2 robes that were in the romance package (by the way they are super soft & comfy and I'm so glad I got the package with the 2 robes and not the other option that had just 1). They are one size fits most.


The rest of the package included a bottle of Prosecco, a box of chocolates and a single red rose! The Prosecco was chilling in the ice bucket just waiting for us to enjoy it!


I forgot to mention that when we got there we had 1 of our checked items waiting for us….our case of water lol After checking out all our goodies quickly we went down to Parrot Cay to grab some lunch as the buffet was going to close at 2:30pm. Lunch was good and they had a lot of fresh fruit and veggies as well as cold meat, salads, hot food and desserts. Once we were done we headed back to our room hoping there was another piece of luggage waiting for us and sure enough we got there and there was. We had another surprise waiting for us inside…..our amazing travel agent had sent us a fruit and cheese plate with a sweet note!


We popped open the Prosecco and enjoyed a glass (and some cheese) while we unpacked what luggage we did have. We turned on the TV to the info channel which became routine for us when we got into our room as this is where you could hear the all ship announcements. While unpacking, another piece was delivered and we unpacked a little more. At 4pm we headed down to the Mandatory Guest Assembly Drill and then when that was done we stopped off quickly at our room and then headed to Deck 9 for the Sail Away party. I know many repeat guests say they skip this but as first time cruisers there was no way we were going to miss it!

They were walking around serving alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks (TIP you do have to pay for these and the alcoholic version was $10 and change, but you do get to keep the cup!) It was yummy and we both enjoyed it.


It was very cloudy but thankfully there was no rain. It made for some dramatic pictures though….


We really enjoyed the sail away party and loved being down on the 9th deck amongst all the action! The CM's were full of energy and it was very contagious (and got me even more excited if that was possible).


Peter, our Cruise Director! He was awesome and so involved. We heard announcements from him throughout the trip of the different activities happening on the ship and at all the night time shows in the Walt Disney Theatre. We also saw him all the time while walking around the ship, again another reason we liked him, he was very visible and always seemed happy!


The gang finally arrived and took the party to the next level!


We spent the next little while enjoying the views as we sailed away from Vancouver and made our way underneath the Lions Gate bridge and towards the Pacific Ocean!

 

[ukintheus]

Still following along. Loving it so far. The surprise gift in the stateroom was a nice treat for you! Sometimes as the planners, it's nice when we get a bonus surprise ourselves!

 

[cruisehopeful]

How much room do the robes take in the luggage? I'll probably order that package on my next cruise.

 

[dinglehopper79]

Still following along. Loving it so far. The surprise gift in the stateroom was a nice treat for you! Sometimes as the planners, it's nice when we get a bonus surprise ourselves!

Thank you for being patient.....this sinus cold has really kicked my butt and I'm so far behind but I will be posting the whole trip Yes it definitely was a nice surprise since I was the planner and knew all that was waiting for us!

How much room do the robes take in the luggage? I'll probably order that package on my next cruise.

They didn't take up too much room as they are easy to squish down! We didn't use them on this cruise as we didn't end up using the pool or hot tub so they stayed wrapped up in the bag but next cruise we will definitely bring them (plus they would be good to wrap any souvenirs we bring back with us lol) Personally I'd recommend getting them and felt it was worth the money

 

[tink1970]

I love your Ariel ears and enjoying your TR...it reminds me of our AK cruises several years ago.
Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[wdwfan]

Updates! Yay!! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[dinglehopper79]

DAY 4 - EMBARKATION DAY; Part 3 - MAY 23, 2016

Before I begin this part of my TR I just wanted to send out my love and support to the survivors, the families, the members of the DIS unplugged team and the city of Orlando.

___________________________
We didn't stay out very long after the Lion's Gate bridge and decided to go back to the room to finish unpacking and hoping our final suitcase had arrived. Sure enough it was there waiting for us so we finished unpacking, decorated our door and put up our FE (we joined a small FE group that had a total of 10 staterooms participating and was excited to put up the FE I made with my friend - really she made it and I helped haha). We had second seating for dinner so we headed down to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch the first show of our trip, All Aboard!

Since we had a bit of time before the show started I headed to the Mickey Mates store as I had read here on the boards that if you want the Mickey &/or Minnie Alaska themed stuffy to make sure you get them early because they will sell out. I'm not sure if I read a TR that happened later in the season but if you are on an early sailing you do not have to worry about this…….there were LOTS of them throughout the entire cruise Either way I got my Alaska Mickey & Minnie and they are so stinkin' cute!!!

Back to the show, it started with Peter the Cruise Director coming out and letting us know what they had in store for us during the cruise and a few of the acts came out and did a quick demo of what you will see at their shows on the trip later that week. Then the show, All Aboard started which was our very first cruise show. It was good but compared to what we saw later on in the week it was my least favourite. After the show we still had a bit of time before dinner so we decided to do some shopping; this is where we bought the majority of our DCL souvenirs and I will try to remember to post a picture of our goodies later on. We went back to get ready for dinner and found this guy waiting for us……


I loved the detail on the chocolates too…..for me it is the little things and details I love about Disney!
So I forgot to mention that we are food picture takers so be prepared to see pictures of what we ate; yes we are those people! (I won't put in all of those pictures but I will put in our dinner pics….and maybe some snacks…..and maybe brunch…..haha). We were in Triton's tonight and the theme was French Cuisine.

Our appetizers - top(mine): Trio of Alaskan Smoked Salmon, Gravlax and Salmon Canapé. bottom(DH): Gaston's Escargot Gratinee.


Main Course - top(mine): Conchiglie Pasta (buttered lobster in a tomato shrimp tarragon, brandy sauce with lemon basil). bottom(DH): Chateaubriand-Roasted Filet Steak (with crushed new potatoes with shallots, buttered green beans, red wine jus and béarnaise sauce on the side). We actually split these meals as we wanted to try them both so we decided to share


For dessert we just couldn't decide…..so they brought us 3! top: Grand Marnier Souffle (infused with fresh orange zest served with Grand Marnier creme anglaise). bottom: Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brûlée. The bottom picture…..Strawberry Shortcake Sundae!



After dinner we decided to line up for our first character meet and greet with Minnie! Unfortunately we had our small camera (takes great food pictures but not so great indoor night pictures) so I won't post them but she was dressed up in her sailor outfit. We were pretty tired so we just decided to go back to the room, relax and fall asleep to a Disney movie!

Next up….our first day at sea!

 

[dinglehopper79]

I love your Ariel ears and enjoying your TR...it reminds me of our AK cruises several years ago.
Hope you're feeling better soon.

Awe thank you I love my ears too and thrilled with the quality! Thank you I am feeling much better and hoping that I will be 100% soon

Updates! Yay!! Looking forward to reading more.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it

 

[franandaj]

Looks like you guys are off to a great cruise! I'll remember that about the Mickey and Minnie plushes. We still have 3 more cruises until ours, but I have a feeling that we are going to want them!

I have at least two of the Grand Marnier Souffles on every night that we dine at Triton's with the rotational menu.

 

[dinglehopper79]

DAY 5 - FIRST SEA DAY - MAY 24, 2016

We survived our first night on the ship….I did feel the rocking back and forth and really felt it in the morning but by the afternoon I was getting my sea legs. We did bring stuff in case we did get sea sick but luckily we didn't have to use it. I was looking forward to our first day at sea.
Before our trip we had been installing hardwood floors at our house (well DH was, I helped where I could) so as a thank-you to him for all of his work plus for our Anniversary I surprised him with a couples massage at Vista Spa! Our massage was for 8:15 so we got up and got ready and headed to our massage. This was DH's first time getting a massage so I was a little worried if he would enjoy it and at the end he said he really did like it and was able to relax. I wouldn't hesitate on a future cruise to book an early morning massage on our first full day as it really set us up to relax and enjoy the slower pace of this cruise.

After our massage we went back to our room and got showered and dressed up a little as we had brunch reservations at Palo for 10:30am. There are no words to how good brunch was…..it was the best brunch I had ever been to and the thing I really liked was that the serving sizes were smaller so you could enjoy a variety of what they offered. They also had items you could order from the kitchen and this food was out of this world too; the best part is we wanted to share an item (the chicken parmesan) and they split it in half for us and brought it on separate plates for us. If you can get a chance to go for brunch we would highly recommend you go…..it was worth the extra $30 we had to pay out of pocket (per person).
We left brunch completely stuffed and headed to our room to change into some more comfortable clothes (since you do have to dress up for Palo). Our first event that we needed to get a ticket for was at 12:15pm….the Princess Gathering! They have 4 princesses lined up so you move from one princess to the next; at this gathering they had Belle, Ariel, Tiana (my first time meeting her) and Cinderella. I was happy I wasn't the only adult there without any kids haha


After the gathering we decided to head up to Deck 9 and walk around to get some fresh (very windy) air and enjoy the scenery. We came across Minnie dressed up in her Alaska outfit near the end of her meet and greet and decided to stay to take pictures with Donald and then with Goofy. We were a little disappointed that Goofy wasn't in his Alaska outfit (we were told he spilled something on it and it was at the dry cleaners lol). He was the only one that we missed in his special outfit.




We continued to walk around the ship checking things out and found the 3 clues (pictures) for Anna's Chocolate Chase Scavenger Hunt. This is a game that occurs over a few days and if you find all the pictures you get a special prize from 'Anna'; the clues can be found in the daily Navigator. We decided to go to the movie, Captain America: Civil War since we hadn't had a chance yet to see it (plus on our to do list was to see a movie on the ship). After the movie we went outside again as the wind had calmed down and I was able to get some pictures of the inside passage….it seemed that land was so close on each side of the ship!





That night was formal night however before getting all dressed up we went to that night's show, Dreams. This was another Broadway style show and was pretty good with songs from a variety of Disney movies. Once the show was done we headed to our stateroom to get ready and then headed down to cocktails before dinner. We grabbed a drink and mingled around and instead of getting our picture with one of the ship backgrounds we decided to get it with the main mouse in his tuxedo.


Dinner tonight was at Animator's Palate and the menu was Pacific Rim. I had already known what was going to happen from reading it on the boards but our server let us know that there was going to be a show after dinner so to make sure we stay for it. We really enjoyed this restaurant and the theme of it all. The show was short but it was good and you get to see Sorcerer Mickey.




Once the show was done we headed out to the lobby and found Minnie there all dressed up for formal night so of course we had to stop for a picture! While we waited Goofy was on the other side of the lobby dancing with the kids; it was pretty cool to see a character be free to goof around (sorry for the pun) with the kids as it is something we have never seen when going to WDW or DL. We were going to try to go to the Match Your Mate show in WaveBands but after we got back to our room we decided to skip it since I still had a few things left to do for our FE gifts (which I was going to give out the next morning) so we changed into our pyjamas and put on a Disney movie and finished what I had to do. Oh and we ordered room service…….MICKEY BARS!!! Again this was one thing we said we were going to try and do as much as possible on the cruise because we LOVE those Mickey bars!! Oh and our 2nd towel animal…..




Another thing I forgot to mention was that on this night we were to move our clocks back 1 hour because when we wake up the next morning we will be in Alaska!! It was a late night so we were happy for that extra hour as the next day we would be heading into a fjord and seeing a glacier

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Loving all of the detail and photos in your TR!!!

Laurie

 

[Pooh2]

Enjoying your trip report!
We were on the same cruise!!
We were also on our first cruise for our anniversary (32 years for us!).
It was an amazing cruise and we really enjoyed having a couple days in Vancouver as well.
Looking forward to more of your photos!

 

[heaven2dc]

Really enjoying your TR! I would love to take a Disney cruise to Alaska - love the scenery <3 It has been years since we last visited Vancouver, B.C. and I fell in love with that city. I have a quick question - the room that you booked is beautiful. Is it an inside stateroom or do you have a window? Thanks!

 

[dinglehopper79]

We were also on our first cruise for our anniversary (32 years for us!).
It was an amazing cruise and we really enjoyed having a couple days in Vancouver as well.
Looking forward to more of your photos!

Happy Anniversary! I think it was a fabulous way to spend an Anniversary thank you for reading along!! What did you do while in Vancouver….we love hearing what people have done so we have some ideas for the next time we go

Really enjoying your TR! I would love to take a Disney cruise to Alaska - love the scenery <3 It has been years since we last visited Vancouver, B.C. and I fell in love with that city. I have a quick question - the room that you booked is beautiful. Is it an inside stateroom or do you have a window? Thanks!

Thank you very much for following along and if you can I would highly recommend this Disney cruise to Alaska! I love the city too and can't wait to get back there!! Our room was an inside stateroom - it was 6303 and was a category 11B room. We weren't sure how we would feel about not having a window but it really wasn't that bad. Something we did bring was a nightlight and left it in the bathroom so when we woke up in the morning we wasn't pitch black haha

 

[Pooh2]

Happy Anniversary! I think it was a fabulous way to spend an Anniversary thank you for reading along!! What did you do while in Vancouver….we love hearing what people have done so we have some ideas for the next time we go

On arrival day, we did the horse drawn trolley tour in Stanley Park. Very nice!

On-board, we booked the excursion for debarkation day (could only book on the ship). That took us for a ride around town with narration, through Stanley Park with a stop at the totem poles, and to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. A few of us got back off at Canada Place (we were taking Amtrak later) and the rest were dropped off at the Airport. Was a great way to tour and not have to worry about our bags (they were stored under the bus).

We had a great lunch at Steamworks before walking over to the train station. Fantastic trip all around!

 

[mom+3girls]

How did you like having the inside stateroom? Some people have said that you really need a Verandah when cruising in Alaska. What is your opinion?