July 7, 2014 Alaska RT Vancouver on Wonder

[daniTS]

Hi everyone! we just booked yesterday, and we're getting married on board, too! FI has never cruised, and I've done two (HAL Zaandam, Alaska 2004; NCLA Pride of Aloha, Hawaii, 2006), but I can't wait to go back to Alaska and to do it on Disney! I'm not sure how many people we'll have cruising with us, but our invite list is growing rapidly!

Can't wait to meet some other people on our cruise and share the planning with a bunch of other cruise/DIS addicted people!

Dani

 

[TinaRN]

Hi, Dani!
Thanks for starting the thread! My name is Tina from Louisiana. My DH and I will be celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary on the day we leave! My DH and I are in our 40s, our DD will be 17, our DS and SGF will be 20 and he should be celebrating graduation from college. We are in 7009 & 7008. I can't wait to have more people on the thread to chat with!

 

[daniTS]

Hi Tina,

Nice to meet you This seems like a great board and its so nice how active it is! Have you been up to Alaska at all? We're from Victoria and I went to university in Vancouver, so let me know if you have any questions about the area for pre-/post-cruise time.

That's exciting about the college graduation! I just graduated a year ago, so I know how much of a relief it is. What did he study? Congratulations on your anniversary, too!

Have you ever done the fish extenders? I'm starting to get an idea of how they work, but I'm not sure how you get put in a group like people talk about--is that something that will happen in this thread as more people find it? Or are there different threads for that?

Cheers,
Dani

 

[TinaRN]

We have not been to Alaska before. We plan on flying in the day before to be on the safe side if you know of a good place we can stay. Hadn't thought about touring there yet! DS will graduate from LSU with 2 degrees (hopefully!) in History & Political Science with a minor in Spanish. What did you graduate in?

As for fish extenders, yes we participated on our last DCL cruise in May and loved it! It's a lot of time and effort if its a large group but I'd do it again! Someone usually takes on the job of putting everybody on a spreadsheet and putting a deadline for signing up. It was my first time doing the FE so I don't know a whole lot about it. We also had a recipe postcard exchange which was nice!

 

[daniTS]

Oh, I love the recipe exchange idea! I have the feeling I'll have my hands more than full enough with the wedding, but I love all of these other ideas too, we'll have to see if I can reign myself in

I graduated in anthropology, but probably had almost enough credits to minor in both communications and Japanese.

The two closet (and nicest, probably) hotels are the Pan Pacific and the Fairmont Waterfront. The Pan Pacific is basically built into the cruise ship terminal and it's very nice--I think we may try and stay there the night before so that we aren't on a super early ferry. They also do some fun things like deliver your bags to the terminal for you, I think.

My only real suggestion is not to go East of around Richards Street when you're booking--there are some transitional areas around there and unless you know where you're going, it can be a little sketchy. Other than that, all the big chains are within a mile or so--lots of options!

You'll find great shopping on Robson Street, and if anyone is interested in going out (you only have to be 19 here), Granville Street is the main entertainment district in that area.

The Olympic flame is really close to the cruise ships, and there's a big IMAX theatre built into the sails, so even if you just have an hour or two in the evening you could have a nice wander around the water and that area.

 

[baddog576]

I posted your link for you so hopefully it will get added to the cruise meet list soon! I was looking for this but didn't see it there but was happy to find your thread on my own.

We just rebooked our Alaska July 2013 cruise to this one as we were double booked for this summer. I couldn't decide what I wanted for my 40th and we were on two DCL cruises last year so we booked a cruise each time and figured I could decide later. So now we are going to do a Western Caribbean cruise in July 2013 for my 40th. I decided I would wait another year for Alaska so my daughter will be 5 which will open a lot more excursions to do as a family. The one I'm looking forward to the most is the dog sledding. I think we will all LOVE IT. I can't wait!!! She will actually turn 5 on July 7 so it will be a great day for her!!

It's just the 4 of us right now. Me, DH, DS (7) and DD (5). I also have another cabin and I booked for either my sister and her family or my parents and maybe they will bring the grandchildren. Not sure. I couldn't pass up the discounted fare and OBC!

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

 

[daniTS]

Thanks for adding us!

Nice to 'meet' you Piya, thanks for joining the thread! Sounds like a fun trip, I'm sure your daughter will love having her birthday on board! I turned 15 at WDW and it was fantastic My little cousin will also be 5 on this trip, it's such a fun age for Disney.

That's so exciting about the dog sledding! Are you doing the one on the summer cart or the one where they take you on to the Glacier? I'm not sure if we will do it on this trip, but dog sledding is definitely high on my list of things to try! You'll have to let us know how it goes!

Are you going to spend any time in Vancouver/BC on either side of the cruise?

We're up to 5 or 6 cabins in our group with a few more definitely still to come. I'm torn between wanting it to be July already and enjoying the planning! I'm sure everyone feels the same

Have a great night!

 

[TinaRN]

Well, we are no longer cruising July 7, 2014 we had to change our cruise due to our son starting his master's program during the summer of 2014. I hope you all have a great trip!

 

[big jack 2002]

We just got back from our Alaska cruise. We stayed at the Blue Horizon which we thought was excellent and wasn't as expensive. We were close to the waterfront (about 6 blocks) but we took a taxi to the ship. We had a WONDERful time and booked again for July 2014!
Barbara
(Mrs. Big Jack)

 

[DVC_Chris]

Just booked today!

Myself, DW, and DD will be sailing in one of the Secret Veranda rooms. It will be our 11th Disney Cruise, first as platinum, and during the cruise we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and DD's 3rd birthday!

 

[DVC_Chris]

Wow, did I chase everyone away?

 

[baddog576]

Thanks for adding us!

Nice to 'meet' you Piya, thanks for joining the thread! Sounds like a fun trip, I'm sure your daughter will love having her birthday on board! I turned 15 at WDW and it was fantastic My little cousin will also be 5 on this trip, it's such a fun age for Disney.

That's so exciting about the dog sledding! Are you doing the one on the summer cart or the one where they take you on to the Glacier? I'm not sure if we will do it on this trip, but dog sledding is definitely high on my list of things to try! You'll have to let us know how it goes!

Are you going to spend any time in Vancouver/BC on either side of the cruise?

We're up to 5 or 6 cabins in our group with a few more definitely still to come. I'm torn between wanting it to be July already and enjoying the planning! I'm sure everyone feels the same

Have a great night!

We can't wait to go on this Alaska cruise. I wish they Wonder would go into dry dock before the summer instead of after! We are going on the Magic in Dec for Christmas so it will be nice to see how she has changed since we last were on her a couple of years ago.

I'm originally from Seattle so we will fly into there and spend time with my parents then drive up a day or two before hand. We have been to BC many times but my kids have not. I definitely want to be in Seattle for the 4th, not in Canada! Maybe we will spend a few days after in the area too.

I want to do the glacier dog sledding. I figure we probably won't do another trip like this for a long time so we will splurge and do the full on experience. I can't wait.

Sounds like you have a nice group together. We will have my parents and a couple with no kids going with us.

Piya

 

[baddog576]

Just booked today!

Myself, DW, and DD will be sailing in one of the Secret Veranda rooms. It will be our 11th Disney Cruise, first as platinum, and during the cruise we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and DD's 3rd birthday!

Welcome! We had a very busy Disney summer!! Taking a little break until Nov then it will ramp up again until end of Feb.

Congrats on getting to Platinum. I really hope they bring back those exclusive tours. It seems like perks and benefits are dwindling. As of today the Alaska will be our 6th cruise, so 1st time as Gold. But I'm actually looking at a quick 2 day cruise out of Miami when the kids have a long weekend. Need to convince DH it will be nice to be Gold for the Christmas cruise and get that discount at the shops!!

Should be a fun Alaskan cruise. Can't wait!

 

[Freesia123]

Can I join? First Alaskan cruise on July 7, second on the Wonder!

 

[4evertangled]

Hi everyone, this is our second time on a Disney cruise but first time to Alaska. We are bringing the whole family this time - 7 adults and 6 kids. We loved the FE experience on our last cruise and would love to participate again. If anyone hears of one coming together, please let us know! Can't wait!!!

 

[twindaddy]

Hi everyone!

I moved my cruise to this date, I was supposed to go over the summer in 2013, but there is a small matter of being a broke teaching student. Now I am a real life teacher, have some money coming in, time to cruise!

I was not thinking much about the cruise, until today, I took my girls to see Disney on Ice, and now I am pumped again. My wife and girls have been on two cruise on the Wonder, I have done one. We LOVED the fish extenders, a total highlight of our journey.

Our group

twindaddy/Charles (m34)
twinmommy / Gina (f...um, she is forever young)
DD8 Grace, DD8 Julia
Grandma Marcie F...fairy godmother age

Should we start a FE list, what do you all think? Maybe I will create a post and update it as we get cabin numbers. Hopefully our group will increase. On my first Wonder cruise, we also did a cabin crawl. It was a GREAT way to see different types of cabins. I got to see pretty much every type, including an inside. They are pretty nice, so much so we got two cabins, the ladies cabin and the daddy cave.

I am pretty knowledgeable about the Wonder, but know very little about Vancouver. Would love any advice anyone wants to share, I am driving the twinmobile up from the SF Bay Area, the ladies are flying up. Staying the night before at the Holiday Inn Express in Richmond, they have a park and cruise package. Spend a few days in Vancouver after the cruise, then hit the Great Wolf Lodge on the way home.

Cant wait to meet everyone!

 

[Freesia123]

I'm going too ! I grew up in Vancouver so ask any questions you want.

 

[Freesia123]

Oh my group is:
Myself, 37 Daughter 1, 5 and daughter 2, 2

My parents

My brother, 40, his wife, 37 and their son 2


This is my second cruise in the Wonder, first to Alaska. I grew up in Vancouver so I'll be spending the week before and after there.

The Holiday Inn in Richmond is about 20 minutes from the terminal

 

[twindaddy]

Oh my group is:
Myself, 37 Daughter 1, 5 and daughter 2, 2

My parents

My brother, 40, his wife, 37 and their son 2


This is my second cruise in the Wonder, first to Alaska. I grew up in Vancouver so I'll be spending the week before and after there.

The Holiday Inn in Richmond is about 20 minutes from the terminal

And right across the street from Costco! I am kinda of a Costco addict, I visit them anytime I travel. On our last Disney Cruise, I took a cab to the Costco in Cabo. I want to try the food court poutine at the Richmond Costco!!