Frozen Fireworks: Alaska on the Wonder July 2, 2012

[calihannah]

No upgrades

Was just logging in to report the same thing! Oh well

 

[whayes]

I sat in the park just north of the Wonder in Seattle today wishing I could be on the cruise. I couldn't stay until the horns blew and I was sad.

I hope you all have a wonderful cruise!! I am jealous!!

 

[calihannah]

Well, we're home Missing the Wonder terribly already! Oh man, were the girls upset to not be sleeping on the ship another night...we had some minor "Disney meltdowns" today, but nothing too epic.

I wanted to send a GINORMOUS THANK YOU!!!!!! to all of the FE participants -- wowzers, there were so many treasures in our FE that our suitcases were nearly heavier than when we arrived on the ship!!!

Safe travels to everyone -- and "see ya real soon!" if anyone did any additional bookings

 

[lucky1]

Well, we're home Missing the Wonder terribly already! Oh man, were the girls upset to not be sleeping on the ship another night...we had some minor "Disney meltdowns" today, but nothing too epic.

I wanted to send a GINORMOUS THANK YOU!!!!!! to all of the FE participants -- wowzers, there were so many treasures in our FE that our suitcases were nearly heavier than when we arrived on the ship!!!

Safe travels to everyone -- and "see ya real soon!" if anyone did any additional bookings

I want to echo Hannah's thank you on the fe gifts. We have some very generous riser and some talented ones as well.

Tonight we went to dinner in Edmund's on the waterfront at Anthony's. Watched the wonder sail by on her next voyage.
We did book a dummy cruise for the future.

 

[calihannah]

I want to echo Hannah's thank you on the fe gifts. We have some very generous riser and some talented ones as well.

Tonight we went to dinner in Edmund's on the waterfront at Anthony's. Watched the wonder sail by on her next voyage.
We did book a dummy cruise for the future.

We have a 3-day on the Dream at the end of Feb and then the Med (2nd Greece sailing) next July. If anyone is on those -- holler at me!!

We did sushi at a local place near home...couldn't bear the thought of cooking quite yet!

 

[Travelbee]

I want to echo Hannah's thank you on the fe gifts. We have some very generous riser and some talented ones as well.

Tonight we went to dinner in Edmund's on the waterfront at Anthony's. Watched the wonder sail by on her next voyage.
We did book a dummy cruise for the future.

Same here, thanks all for those wonderful FE gifts! Laura - the beanies are so cute and practical and we definitely used them a lot! The scrapbook is incredible too (WarEagleGirl?). And a special shout out to Bunless on all those hair bun advice... Now I have to actually try them!

We book a dummy cruise as well to be transferred to a 2014 itinerary.

 

[Cagirl767]

Hello FE Friends! Just saying a huuuuge thank you to all for the fantastic gifts! We used almost everything! The sewing kit was coincidentally just at the very moment I needed one for dd's Cinderella choker.

I'm wondering too who made the cute scrapbooks???
Such creative California books too!
Yep, used the beanies too, and just about everything! We still have on tattoos.

What a fabulous group. The FE exchange really was a wonderful highlight of our trip. DS was sick in our stateroom for almost 2 days and checking the FE perked him up. Wareagle girl - we hope you stayed well. Nobody here was seasick, but did hear of a passenger a couple of tables over who was the entire cruise!

Thank you all! :wave

 

[OregonMom]

Hello, DIS Frozen Fireworks friends! I saw your lovely magnets on some room doors during the cruise. I'm so sorry we didn't make it to the meetup, so I could recognize you all during the cruise. And I'm especially sorry I missed some of the late messages about kids meeting others at the Edge, because my daughter Ruby practically lived there, and probably saw your kids all the time! But this being our first cruise every, we were a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, and didn't end up being able to meet you wonderful folks in person.

But wow, did we have a great time! The entertainment was so spectacular, the food was fantastic, and I had no idea they had so much adult-only space available to rest and relax away from the kids. Palo's was great, our favorite excursion was the Taku Lodge 5-glacier flightseeing and salmon bake, I'd do that one again in a heartbeat. The Tracy Arm glacier and all the wildlife (and I live in the Pacific Northwest) was just wonderful. SO much fun!

In fact, we booked for spring break next March 24, a 4 night Bahamian cruise with a 3 night Disney World stay tacked on at the end. Now, to decide where to stay at the World, decisions decisions...!

One interesting thing, when we docked at Seattle, we saw police leading a man off the ship in handcuffs. It made me wonder, they must have a brig on board, right? I wonder if he was crew, or passenger, and what would lead to that situation? If it was a guest, are they removed from their room and put in another location for the duration of the trip? I asked our assistant server at the last breakfast, and what he could tell us was that the FBI is called when they have to turn someone over from the ship, due to maritime and federal law, not the Seattle police. Interesting side note! Made me wonder exactly how they handle that kind of security situation on the board, to minimize the impact on guests.

Anyone, great great trip, thanks for all the tips on this thread, and I hope we'll get a chance to meet some of you on our second cruise, if that works out!

 

[lucky1]

One interesting thing, when we docked at Seattle, we saw police leading a man off the ship in handcuffs. It made me wonder, they must have a brig on board, right? I wonder if he was crew, or passenger, and what would lead to that situation? If it was a guest, are they removed from their room and put in another location for the duration of the trip? I asked our assistant server at the last breakfast, and what he could tell us was that the FBI is called when they have to turn someone over from the ship, due to maritime and federal law, not the Seattle police. Interesting side note! Made me wonder exactly how they handle that kind of security situation on the board, to minimize the impact on guests.

I believe there is a brig or detainment area. It is hard to tell if someone is part of the cruise staff or guest when they leave the ship. I am sure there are lots of things that you can be detained for on a cruise ship. I don't want to learn about them.

 

[lucky1]

OregonMom and 2PrincessinTow... I saw that you were both on the Enchanced Taku Lodge by Float Plane excruision at 9:45.. I am embarassed to say that I didn't recognise you from the DISMeet, but OregonMom, since you didn't make it to the DIS meet, I guess I wouldn't have recognized you.

But was it your DD that didn't handle the flight well?

 

[OregonMom]

lucky1, I agree, I really don't think I want to know either! Just musing. So you were in the red Taku plane, eh? Yes, that was my daughter. She almost made it to the lodge, but the movement up and down while landing overtook her. But she felt fine afterward and ate a big lunch and was fine on the way back. She actually had a good time, although after we landed, she wasn't happy to learn there was no way back to the ship except for flying back!

 

[steves100]

Had the time of our lives.

The Dog sled and heicopter in Juneau was the best part of the trip, expensive, but well worth it.

Was very happy when our sea plane excursion in Ketchikan was cancelled. After the helicopter there really wasnt a reason for the plane.

Was a little mad at Disney with the Butchart gardens. Disney charged my 10 year old an adult rate. The bus driver told me that I should have had a childrens rate for her, and the Gardens said their child rate goes to 12. Maybe I'll write a letter.

I miss the Dream soooooo much


Steve

 

[lucky1]

lucky1, I agree, I really don't think I want to know either! Just musing. So you were in the red Taku plane, eh? Yes, that was my daughter. She almost made it to the lodge, but the movement up and down while landing overtook her. But she felt fine afterward and ate a big lunch and was fine on the way back. She actually had a good time, although after we landed, she wasn't happy to learn there was no way back to the ship except for flying back!

lol... I was right behind your DD. Mine also felt queezy. I kept wondering why she was never looking out the window and after the flight I knew why. I have to say your DD handled it well and you were very quick to get her the bag.

Had the time of our lives.

The Dog sled and heicopter in Juneau was the best part of the trip, expensive, but well worth it.

Was very happy when our sea plane excursion in Ketchikan was cancelled. After the helicopter there really wasnt a reason for the plane.

Was a little mad at Disney with the Butchart gardens. Disney charged my 10 year old an adult rate. The bus driver told me that I should have had a childrens rate for her, and the Gardens said their child rate goes to 12. Maybe I'll write a letter.

I miss the Dream soooooo much


Steve

Steve - I agree... We were with you on the Butchart Garden and I heard the converstation with the bus driver. DH made a joke about our DD10 being a Disney Adult. Did you have Bob as the bus driver?

Same thing happened at the Lumberjack show, DD was charged adult and lumberjack show is much less for 12 and under. Sigh...

 

[drkathyj]

Disney really does do it right. This was our first Disney Cruise but it will not be our last. I can't believe that they were able to keep all my kids happy. %yr old did not want to leave the club. Eleven year old was happy in the edge and 16 yr old was happy with the teen posse roaming the boat. 16 yr old happens to never be happy so that was a shock.
FE gifts were so fun-everyone was so creative. Next time I will try to create something as the little chotchkees we gave were not as fun as the memory book, beenie, etc. My 16 yr old came to me with the book she got and said "I guess I am supposed to read?" I helped her open it-what a clever idea. I will try to post a photo. Kids loved all the stuff.

 

[lucky1]

16 yr old was happy with the teen posse roaming the boat. 16 yr old happens to never be happy so that was a shock.
.

Lol... reminds me of that cruise commercial, where they are going around to all the kids and finally when they get to the teenage girl and she cracks a smile. Maybe your family can be a DCL commerical...


Sounds like a successful cruise for your family.


Are you back in AZ? DH just got there tonight and said it is HOT HOT HOT. We are in Seattle until Saturday. It is lovely here.

 

[Bunless]

We are in Seattle until Saturday. It is lovely here.

I know, right?


A friend who lives in Ketchikan just posted a photo to face book of their day today, which is stunning. I replied with a 'so that's what it looks like'.


And just want to echo all the thoughts on the FE, so great, so much fun. I'm lucky enough to be able to get Tim Tams in the grocer here (omg, love them)... so I gifted ours to the Alex James, the pianist from Australia. His reaction made it so worth it, you would have thought it was the best tip ever.

 

[WarEagleGirl]

Had the time of our lives.

The Dog sled and heicopter in Juneau was the best part of the trip, expensive, but well worth it.

Was very happy when our sea plane excursion in Ketchikan was cancelled. After the helicopter there really wasnt a reason for the plane.


Steve

Sounds like we had a similar trip Steve. We did the Glacier Sledding too (Skagway) and was also rained out in Ketchikan. None of us were disappointed after the experience we had in Skagway. We were almost rained out there, but much prayer moved the clouds and we were only delayed.

Hello FE Friends!

Wareagle girl - we hope you stayed well. Nobody here was seasick, but did hear of a passenger a couple of tables over who was the entire cruise!

Thank you all! :wave

Cagirl767, thanks for asking. I was on around the clock Zofran for two days. I couldn't even look at the water, but I finally got my sea legs, as they say, and all was well with the world. Thanks for our message. Axl was very excited to finally get one on our board. We were so far down the hall that no one really passed by our door.

A Huge thank you to EVERYONE for all of the FE Gifts. What a fun thing to participate in on vacation. So many things were life savers (hats, scarves, flashlights, notepads...). Axl wasn't a fan of the Club or Lab - he's an extroverted home body - so the small toys were great. He was content to be in the room building a battle, and all the USA gear was right up his alley.

I can't wait to make an AL scrapbook or any scrapbook using burlap. Thanks for the great idea. I always have a huge stash of it, and I'm constantly looking for creative ways to use it. Now I have one.

Hope to see you all on the sea again real soon.

 

[calihannah]

And just want to echo all the thoughts on the FE, so great, so much fun. I'm lucky enough to be able to get Tim Tams in the grocer here (omg, love them)... so I gifted ours to the Alex James, the pianist from Australia. His reaction made it so worth it, you would have thought it was the best tip ever.

We were there when you did that!! It was priceless -- Alex's reaction was so happy He was hilarious in general.

We shared our Tim Tams with the Youth Activities staff -- there were several from Australia who were sooooo happy. We also can get them in a specialty store near here, so I didn't mind sharing so much!! You made some people very happy, you FE geniuses

And yes, the float planes were very bumpy. I was so glad to be off of ours!! Helicopter was far better IMHO

 

[Bunless]

We were there when you did that!! It was priceless -- Alex's reaction was so happy He was hilarious in general.

We shared our Tim Tams with the Youth Activities staff -- there were several from Australia who were sooooo happy. We also can get them in a specialty store near here, so I didn't mind sharing so much!! You made some people very happy, you FE geniuses

Just wanted to echo how many people were made happy by those Tim Tams, I was excited to get them, but even more excited to give them

And yes, the float planes were very bumpy. I was so glad to be off of ours!! Helicopter was far better IMHO

We were one of the ones who had an early enough flight in Ketchikan that we were able to make it a go. I loved it, definitely my highlight... DH, not so much. He started to fall asleep. For me it was an amazing experience.

 

[lucky1]

Was a little mad at Disney with the Butchart gardens. Disney charged my 10 year old an adult rate. The bus driver told me that I should have had a childrens rate for her, and the Gardens said their child rate goes to 12. Maybe I'll write a letter.


Steve

Hi Steve I sent an email to DCL and this is the response....

However, I regret any disappointment with the pricing for any of your
Port Adventures. I hope you understand that the excursions offered in
our ports of call are contracted rates with independent vendors and
included transportation and sometimes meals or snacks that purchasing
directly from the vendor would not include. Additionally, to maintain
consistency across the Disney company with regard to pricing for
children, we have opted to retain the age 3-9 structure that has been in
place for our theme parks. Please be assured that your comments
regarding this policy have been taken seriously and shared with the
appropriate managers.

Again, thank you for sharing your experiences with us. We hope to have
the chance to welcome you and your family aboard one of our cruise ships
again soon.