July 15, 2013- WONDER if a Mickey Bar will melt in Alaska?

[globalgoofies]

Sheena,
I just wanted to say thank you so much for keeping up to date on people coming on our cruise. We are really looking forward to it! We appreciate all your work!
Thanks! Debbie

 

[kiddisney]

thanks - it is really exciting while also being really hectic - but DCL was great this morning & was able to move our 2013 cruise to 2014 - at about the same time (july 14 vs july 15) and the same set of rooms on the other side of the ship - so it worked out great - hope you all have a great cruise -

 

[el_bandito]

And only about a week to plan for excursions.

will be 7th cruise. I'm not sure about the Alaska excursions. They look kind of dull? Any advice very appreciated. Me (DH), wife (DW), Daughter (DD - 18... off to college next year) and son (DS -- 16, Junior next year). Getting old for the mouse but he is so easy to book and you know you'll be taken care of.

So... help help help... any navigators from previous trips appreciated. Any advice on excursions. My DW is the one who really wanted this. We had booked for two years ago but on way home from Magic in Baltics I said "I'm kinda done w/ the mouse..." oh my... real story was i wanted to go back to the UK with the kids and do two weeks. We did that and I have to tell you THAT was the best vacation / experience ever. But back to the mouse for a hassle free, no planning trip.

Except i have to plan excursions. DS and I really want to fish. We have done many whale watches in Maine so we like that and will do that but other things are more engaging. Some of this trip i think will simply be sitting watching the scenes go by.

I'm a little concerned my older kids (who are very adaptable and mouse friendly) will be bored. So very interested in what older kids do on these trips. I don't think they can even go to the kids activities at their age. But i know DD would (kind of last thing before the responsibilities of college).

This board was AWESOME for our last trips. So all suggestions appreciated.

GO MICKEY

 

[AZMermaid]

Welcome!

This trip report is a great resource. It has all the navigators, menus, etc from last year. But, last year they sailed out of Seattle, so our trip will be slightly different.

There is also this thread about excursions- they were just discussing fishing, which seems to be done out of Ketchikan mostly. My husband and his father go salmon and halibut fishing every summer. They fly into Ketchikan and go somewhere on a float plane to some nearby island where there is a lodge that they fish from. As you can see, I care greatly about the details- I just know we eat a LOT of salmon at our house! But, Ketchikan seems to be the place for this

We are going over excursions with my inlaws in the next few weeks too. They aren't real tech saavy, so I am printing the DCL list out along with like 5 choices I think they will be interested in. We already know which way we will try to steer them but I want to have options! We are really debating on the Deadliest Catch one in Ketchikan. One, it may not even be available by the time we can book, so the debate may be for nothing and Two, we would have to leave our kids on the boat in the nursery- but by day 6, we might be ready for that!

Thank you Debbie!

 

[AZMermaid]

Whoo hoo! Just turned in everything for the kids' passports, which was relatively easy. Another check off the list!

 

[CruznLexi]

The deadliest catch tour I booked independent with them directly. $159. I booked last week. It is the same time as the Disney time the only difference is that you get an escort from the dock to the boat. I emailed them several times with a response in a few hours or next day. I was never lucky via the phone. I am a huge fan of the show so that is big factor in booking the tour.

 

[AZMermaid]

The deadliest catch tour I booked independent with them directly. $159. I booked last week. It is the same time as the Disney time the only difference is that you get an escort from the dock to the boat. I emailed them several times with a response in a few hours or next day. I was never lucky via the phone. I am a huge fan of the show so that is big factor in booking the tour.

If we don't end up doing this one, you have to review it for me!

 

[time for travel]

Hi All
Time for Travel here and we are booked on this cruise and would like to join the FE group!!!This will be our 4th cruise and we love the Disney Cruises so we can't wait to get onboard!! We did the FE the last cruise and had a great time!! Can we join, please?
Mom and 7 yr old daughter!

Disney Wonder ~ Mexican Riviera 3/12, Pacific Coast 9/12
Disney Magic ~ Western C. 1/13
(I wasn't kidding when I said we loved Disney Cruises!! ~besides someone that is 7 when we board on the 15th will turn 8 on the 16th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

[Khorne]

From all I have read we don't have to worry about a formal night. Is that correct?

 

[AZMermaid]

I believe there is a formal night on day 2 and a semi-formal night on Ketchikan night- at least according to last year's Navigators.

 

[AZMermaid]

Welcome TfT- yes, you have the cruise bug! I am afraid that will happen to us too. Well, technically I guess it did since my husband and I are booked on the May 2014 2 nighter out of San Diego for our 5th anniversary. But, we figure if cruising doesn't float our boat (ha ha ha) we have plenty of time to cancel!

 

[AZMermaid]

So Platinum and concierge cruisers- what are you booking tomorrow?

 

[AJaquins]

We were on one of the cruises last year out of Seattle. We did a few excursions on our trip. In Skagway we went on the Yellow bus tour. My DMIL and I enjoyed it (it was a very quick way to see all of Skagway-which is not very big and get a valley overlook view of the harbour and our ship) and my DH and DFIL didn't like it very much (they thought it was a waste of time and boring). But you do get to hear about how their lives work.

In Juneau we took the shuttle to the Mt Roberts tramway area and walked to the Red Dog Saloon had a round of Sodas and enjoyed the atmosphere (there is a lot to look at it) and left our dollar on the mirror behind the bar (they have a tradition of leaving dollars with names or sayings written on them). Then we went to a few shops and then since it was a clear day (we were told it was a good idea not to buy Mt. Roberts tramway tickets thru Disney because if you got there and you couldn't see the station at the top then it wasn't worth going up) and got Tramway tickets and went up the mountain. We saw a rare sight on the way up and pair of adult Bald Eagles and and a young Bald Eagle (according to our tram operator usually the male will kick the youth out of the tree and they had been hanging out there for a few days) and went to the top to a spectacular view. We spend some time at the station platform up top and got some great pictures of the Wonder and went up to the gift shop and walked around on the trails a little bit.

In Ketchican we were in the 2nd Lumberjack show so we spent the morning walking around and looking at the shops. My DMIL and I spent some time at the coffee shop on the pier and just sat at the windows enjoying our drinks and watching. We also spent some time at the Christmas in Alaska store (it is owned and operated by the same people who own the North Pole, Alaska store) and even spent some time visiting with Santa Claus. We bought a few things and they shipped them home for us so we woulnd't have to lug them home. We then went to the lumberjack show and it was fun. They pulled kids out of the audience to "help" their teams win and even handed out wood "souviners" to kids to take home. (Like a round of wood) and then we rushed back to the ship.

There was a distinct formal night on the ship. The attire was everything from jeans and a nice shirt to tuxedos for men and nice pants and shirts to evening gowns for the women. They have nice photo ops too. Semi-formal night people also dress nice too. It is a more relaxed atmosphere being as it is Alaska but people still did dress up.

We aren't going to book any excursions this time as we plan on enjoying the ship and the scenery this time. We do plan to get off in a couple places but we just want to relax this time and not have to go go go. We plan on enjoying more of the shows and activities on board too. We missed most everything activity wise last time due to our Character "stalking" we did. We purchesed the photo CD and had fun filling up it up and ended up with over 800 pictures. I also plan on enjoying the pool more than once this time. (Yes they're heated very well, its just cold getting out.)

 

[Khorne]

Could you please explain what the photo CD is? Our pictures, their pictures or both? Thanks

 

[AJaquins]

The photo CD is the pictures taken by Shutters (the cruise line photo company) its kind of like photopass at the parks but a little different. They will only take pictures using their cameras (if you want to have someone take them you have to have a cast member use use your camera shutters is a contract company and not part of DCL) and use your KTTW card to add them to your digital account. They also use facial recognition on days when they are wandering around the deck-like before we sail and during Tracy Arm day-these you have to make sure that you check on them to see if they are there and remember where and when you took pictures with them if they aren't. We were missing our Alaskan Minnie pictures last year and they couldn't locate them even though we had pictures of them taking them. Hmmm. Last year they printed all the pictures and placed them on the walls in Shutters for people to find and view.

They do take some really awsome pictures and all of them include the borders and the sailing date. They also set up special backdrops around deck 3 and 4 for different pictures. They have a solid white and black backdrop and they spend about 10 to 15 minutes doing different poses and family shots. You can come out with some really special pictures. They also come to the restaurants and take pictures on formal night and pirate night as well as in PALO. They do magic shots on the solid backdrops too.

The characters usually have handlers with them and do wander the ship a bit so sometimes they are not in set places and don't always have a photographer with them so make sure you take your camera with you everywhere. I didn't once and missed some great photo opportunities. The characters seemed to be more interactive than in the parks and are a lot of fun to watch and interact with. Pinochio and Stitch tend to be very naughty and so much fun to watch.

There are different packages available for different prices. You can get a set amount of pictures for a price or you can get the whole thing with the photos printed out. The packages are expensive and I don't remember too well what they were cost wise.

 

[Khorne]

Thank you that explains it for me:

 

[Ljbadfan]

this was taken from the mt roberts tram in juneau.

 

[time for travel]

Hi.....Has anyone taken or know about any of the rail excursions in Skagway?
I saw that one isn't operating in 2013.....????....although the website directly seems to have the train in operation. Hmmm???? There is something that is listed in tours that includes a shorter train ride, and kid's activities. Is it worth it??? Does anyone have any ideas???? ~Time for Travel

 

[AZMermaid]

We are looking into this company and the rail and bus tour. I had read somewhere that it is the same train as the DCL ones, but the car is way less crowded and it mixes it up a bit vs taking the train round trip. If my kids were older and I thought they could handle a longer excursion, I would love to do one that goes to Emerald Lake. I gave my inlaws the excursion info tonight so hopefully we will nail something down next weekend. My son is a train nut, so unless they really object, we will be doing something on the train!

 

[AZMermaid]

this was taken from the mt roberts tram in juneau.

Gorgeous!! We will have to do this if it is a clear day!