July 12, 2011 - Sailing to Alaska is WONDERful style!!!

[vpalmer]

That's too bad. DH tried calling a few tour operators in Alaska a few months ago and asked them when they started doing similar tours and they all said the last full week of July--looks like that was the correct timeframe. Not mid-July like the DCL site says .

Thanks for checking!

I also wanted one of the bear excursions. Disney was really confused on this. They insisted I would be able to book it even though someone here checked for me and said it was not available! Sure enough, it was not available.

 

[vpalmer]

So what excursions did everyone book? I think it will be interesting to see if any of us will be on the same trips.

We booked:

Palo Brunch the morning we are in Tracey Arm.

Skagway: Alaska Nature and Wildlife Expedition

Juneau: Sled Dog Discovery & Musher's Camp

Ketchikan: Back Country Jeep and Canoe Adventure

This is subject to change because we are hoping to do one of our excursions with my brother's family (first time cruisers) but if it sells out before that point we may have to juggle some things around. I made all my reservations right at midnight but I was pleasantly surprised to see very little sold out this morning.

 

[princess81499]

We booked (Myself, DH, DD 10, and DD7)

Skagway: White Pass Train / Musher Dog Sled
Juneau: Whale Watching and Glacier / Mount Roberts Tramway
Ketchikan: Misty Fjords Wilderness Explorer

I guess we will miss our early dinner on port nights, since the excursions run until 6:00ish.

I also wanted to add a second one in on our day in Ketchikan, but all the times conflicted.

 

[AStamm]

Skagway - Klondike Gold Dredge & White Pass Railway (7:15-12:15)
Juneau - Whale Encounter & Mendenall Glacier (7:45-12:15)
Ketchikan - Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary & Totems (12:45-3:45)

 

[susiemmfan]

We have the following booked:

Skagway: White Pass Railway and Trail Camp
Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest
Ketchikan: Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

We booked everything through third parties.

Mendenhall Whale Watching and Glacier through alaskatours.com

Ketchikan - Totems/Wildlife/City tours through Sourdough tours

Skagway - Chilkoot Hike and Float tour thorugh Frontier Excursions.

I can't believe how quickly the spa massages booked up. But I got my kids booked into Ocenears Club and Lab and they got a call from Mickey.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Hey JimmyJackJunior:

We're from Victoria too!

Who is in your party? Do you have kids?

 

[GW45]

Hi All!

We're also booked on this cruise since last year- our 3rd Disney Cruise and can't wait. Haven't made any plans about excursions yet. When we got the reminder that we could start booking it was impossible to get on the site- whole thing kept freezing and by the time we could actually book all the Palo reservations I wanted were gone so my enthusiasm was a little dampened when it came to booking excursions.....was also more than a little horrified at the prices! I also realised that my dd(6) can't do a lot of them as she's too young and that my ds(10) is suddenly considered an adult at age 10 and will be charged the full adult price for most of the excursions. Not impressed!!

Need to do more research and book some excursions of our own, methinks! We did a mixture of our own and DCL excursions on the Med cruise last year and while I liked the security of being on a Disney bus in some of the bigger ports I also got a lot of satisfaction from organising our own trips too and not feeling ripped off or too tied to a schedule.

Would love to hear anyone else's plans for DIY excursions. Let the planning begin!!!

 

[slg]

JimmyJackJunior:

Yes we have 3 boys: ages 15,12 and 9. And you?

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Hi All!

We're also booked on this cruise since last year- our 3rd Disney Cruise and can't wait. Haven't made any plans about excursions yet. When we got the reminder that we could start booking it was impossible to get on the site- whole thing kept freezing and by the time we could actually book all the Palo reservations I wanted were gone so my enthusiasm was a little dampened when it came to booking excursions.....was also more than a little horrified at the prices! I also realised that my dd(6) can't do a lot of them as she's too young and that my ds(10) is suddenly considered an adult at age 10 and will be charged the full adult price for most of the excursions. Not impressed!!

Need to do more research and book some excursions of our own, methinks! We did a mixture of our own and DCL excursions on the Med cruise last year and while I liked the security of being on a Disney bus in some of the bigger ports I also got a lot of satisfaction from organising our own trips too and not feeling ripped off or too tied to a schedule.

Would love to hear anyone else's plans for DIY excursions. Let the planning begin!!!

I found the same thing with booking through Disney. Disney does not like booking real young kids due to liability. I found third parties to book through and now my five year old is going on a rafting trip in Skagway among other things. I did Frontier Excursions in Skagway, alaskatours.com in juneau and sourdough tours in ketchican. I found recommendations for all on places like fodors and trip advisor.

I wanted to book through Disney in the carribean too but in Alaska where I could check Better Business Bureau rankings and such it did not make much of a difference.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

JimmyJackJunior:

Yes we have 3 boys: ages 15,12 and 9. And you?

Five year old boy, eight year old daughter, 12 year old nephew and 9 year old niece.

 

[Buzzster]

Our first 7-day cruise. Cannot wait!!!!

 

[hawaiian mickey]

aloha,
Just booked our moms excursion for the trip. Our moms are sooooo excited.

aloha,
hawaiian mickey

 

[deepakwa]

Anybody able to book dog sledding in Juneau/Skagway via independent operators. Our booking window opened today and nothing is available with disney.

 

[Stitch#1]

Hey there.
I haven't been on this thread in a while. We pretty much have everything booked and are now just planning what we will be doing before and after the cruise.
I can't wait for this cruise. This will be our 3rd Disney cruise.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

I found out from one of the blogs from the initial Alaska sailing that our server from six years ago is still there and we have requested him.

These blogs are being followed on the initial cruise thread

Blogging from Repo Cruise & May 3rd Alaskan Cruise:
http://land.allears.net/blogs/lauragilbreath/
http://land.allears.net/blogs/debwills/
http://www.carol-anne.ca/2011 May%...p Report.htm
http://rickstravelblog.com/

Tweeting from Repo Cruise & May 3rd Alaskan Cruise:
http://twitter.com/#!/allearsdeb

I am watching a couple of others as well but they are blocked because of conflicts with Dreams Unlimited.

 

[Stitch#1]

I found out from one of the blogs from the initial Alaska sailing that our server from six years ago is still there and we have requested him.

These blogs are being followed on the initial cruise thread

Blogging from Repo Cruise & May 3rd Alaskan Cruise:
http://land.allears.net/blogs/lauragilbreath/
http://land.allears.net/blogs/debwills/
http://www.carol-anne.ca/2011 May%...p Report.htm
http://rickstravelblog.com/

Tweeting from Repo Cruise & May 3rd Alaskan Cruise:
http://twitter.com/#!/allearsdeb

I am watching a couple of others as well but they are blocked because of conflicts with Dreams Unlimited.

Awesome!! Thanks!

 

[princess81499]

I keep changing my excursion for the day we are in Ketchikan. What is everyone else doing that day?

We had wanted to do the bear one, but it is too early in the season.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Ketchikan - Totems/Wildlife/City tours through Sourdough tours

 

[vpalmer]

I keep changing my excursion for the day we are in Ketchikan. What is everyone else doing that day?

We had wanted to do the bear one, but it is too early in the season.

We also wanted to do a bear excursion but couldn't. Instead we booked the Jeep and Canoe excursion. I think the minimum age is 8. I can't recall how old your kids are. My DD will turn 8 one month before the cruise so we eeked by with that one.

The Misty Fjord boat ride was our second choice.