June 14, 2011 - Father's Day on the Wonder in ALASKA!

[lsutigger2]

Thanks for the replies and sharing of information

Guess I'll just have to take my chances on the Palo dining. Plan to be up and ready to make those reservations as soon as I can on booking day. And we are flexible on the time, prefer to eat early but later would still be okay with us.

I can't wait for DH to get home so we can plan out what port adventures we are interested in. I know the White Pass RR is high on my list.

 

[ward3]

Paid in full today and after missing eleven snow days as of today, we are hoping to be out of school in time for the cruise.

Nothing to do now but wait to be the last ones to book excursions on March 31st.

 

[lsutigger2]

I got a Vancouver travel book on Saturday (I love travel books ).
Now I'm almost as excited to spend a few days in Vancouver as I am to go on the cruise.

For those who have visited Vancouver before and had time to sightsee, what do you recommend?? I'm thinking we will go to Stanley Park one day. We won't have a car, but would love to go to Whistler for a day. Is it worth it to do a one-day car rental and drive the Sea to Sky Highway?? Or should we stay in Vancouver and see other sights.

So many things to decide, so many things to see and so little time

 

[Smileneyes]

I got a Vancouver travel book on Saturday (I love travel books ).
Now I'm almost as excited to spend a few days in Vancouver as I am to go on the cruise.

For those who have visited Vancouver before and had time to sightsee, what do you recommend?? I'm thinking we will go to Stanley Park one day. We won't have a car, but would love to go to Whistler for a day. Is it worth it to do a one-day car rental and drive the Sea to Sky Highway?? Or should we stay in Vancouver and see other sights.

So many things to decide, so many things to see and so little time

Gosh...been focusing so much on excursions (and the final payment for the cruise) that I haven't even considered what to do in Vancouver!

When all is said and done, we get into YVR on Monday, mid-afternoon. Chances are that we may not have much time to see much more than Olympic Park...so we may be living vicariously through y'all on this one.

 

[disneyochem]

I got a Vancouver travel book on Saturday (I love travel books ).
Now I'm almost as excited to spend a few days in Vancouver as I am to go on the cruise.

For those who have visited Vancouver before and had time to sightsee, what do you recommend?? I'm thinking we will go to Stanley Park one day. We won't have a car, but would love to go to Whistler for a day. Is it worth it to do a one-day car rental and drive the Sea to Sky Highway?? Or should we stay in Vancouver and see other sights.

So many things to decide, so many things to see and so little time

And we decided to spend most of our time in Victoria instead of Vancouver this trip! We're arriving in Vancouver on Monday morning so will only visit Stanley Park. Which okay since we have to visit the zoo there--my kids love the Beluga whales. Those of you who have kids might remember the Raffi song, "Baby Beluga." It is our family tradition to visit the zoo and sing the song!

 

[lsutigger2]

Hi all: for those of you in the north where you are getting hit with the "Monster Storm", stay safe and warm. I can't imagine having to deal with all of that

Our temps in BR are going to drop about 40 degrees from noon to night, but no precipation today. There may be some on Thursday evening.

Keep thinking warm thoughts - even though the temps during the cruise, the won't be anything like you are experiencing now. I'll be the one bundled up and you'll be dressed in shorts

 

[lsutigger2]

Hey Disneyochem: I know that song I was a preschool teacher in another life and it was a favorite. If we visit the whales {sounds like a lot of fun!!}, I'll be listening for you

Take care one and all

 

[Weedy]

I called Disney Cruise Line and confirmed this post.

I emailed them but they would not confirm shows or anything anymore this is all they told me..

7-Night Alaska Cruise
*Nights 1, 3, 4, 5, 7: cruise casual
*Night 2: "formal night" - formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for
women: gown or dress
*Night 6: "semi-formal night" - semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket;
for women: dress or pantsuit.

Also here is the port schedule:
Tuesday Vancouver, Canada
Wednesday At Sea
Thursday Tracy Arm, Alaska
Friday Skagway, Alaska
Saturday Juneau, Alaska
Sunday Ketchikan, Alaska
Monday At Sea
Tuesday Vancouver, Canada

 

[Weedy]

I found this website from a newspaper article in our local paper. It's things to do in Vancouver. It has a lot of information just keep clicking around.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/travel/14hours.html

If you plan to visit Seattle they have a link for that.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/travel/23hours.html

 

[SweetDolly]

Hi Drew!

Our family would like to participate in FE, please:

Kevin (A) and Angela (A)
Jackson (6) and Charley (1)
We're from Chicago and will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary onboard!

Thanks very much!

 

[Smileneyes]

I called Disney Cruise Line and confirmed this post.

I emailed them but they would not confirm shows or anything anymore this is all they told me..

7-Night Alaska Cruise
*Nights 1, 3, 4, 5, 7: cruise casual
*Night 2: "formal night" - formal wear for men: tuxedo or suit; for
women: gown or dress
*Night 6: "semi-formal night" - semi-formal wear for men: suit/jacket;
for women: dress or pantsuit.

Also here is the port schedule:
Tuesday Vancouver, Canada
Wednesday At Sea
Thursday Tracy Arm, Alaska
Friday Skagway, Alaska
Saturday Juneau, Alaska
Sunday Ketchikan, Alaska
Monday At Sea
Tuesday Vancouver, Canada

Awesome job...thanks! It sounds like they're keeping the format the same/similar to the 7-night Magic rotations. I did read a post in another thread where a DCL cast member had "confirmed" the rotations:

APTAPTA
PTAPTAP
TAPTAPT

For those of you who're trying to plan Palo ressies, that info may help too.

 

[Smileneyes]

Hi Drew!

Our family would like to participate in FE, please:

Kevin (A) and Angela (A)
Jackson (6) and Charley (1)
We're from Chicago and will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary onboard!

Thanks very much!

Thanks, Angela...will put you on the list! Please remember to send me a PM with your stateroom number...along with an e-mail addy if you want the Excel spreadsheet of participants, which will be out in mid-April.

Glad to have you in the gang!

--Drew

P.S. DS (18) will be in Chicago with his high school chamber choir in late March, performing at the Dixie Classic Festival. I'm planning to head up there for the concerts!

P.P.S. Hope you're surviving THE storm!

 

[disneyochem]

Hey Disneyochem: I know that song I was a preschool teacher in another life and it was a favorite. If we visit the whales {sounds like a lot of fun!!}, I'll be listening for you

Take care one and all

All together now: "Baby beluga in the deep blue sea....."

Yep, love the song, love the whales!

 

[Smileneyes]

Okay, rarely do we get excited about spending so much money...

...however, we're now doing the "paid in full" dance!

 

[ward3]

I was looking at the trip report page. Someone that just got off the Jan 23 cruise posted a Wonder report and pictures of the most recent navigators. He also said they have two phones that you can take anywhere on the ship that also text. Don't need walkie talkies for kids. He also said rooms had been updated since he was on one year ago.

 

[Smileneyes]

I was looking at the trip report page. Someone that just got off the Jan 23 cruise posted a Wonder report and pictures of the most recent navigators. He also said they have two phones that you can take anywhere on the ship that also text. Don't need walkie talkies for kids. He also said rooms had been updated since he was on one year ago.

I had seen a thread or two about the phones as well. It seems that DCL will charge your stateroom $250 for any phone that is lost or damaged...some kids are forgetting about the phones being in their pockets when they jump in the pool, etc. The first couple of cruises that these were available, there were not many extras at Guest Relations...and so they ran out rather quickly. I imagine they will have had the kinks worked out by the time we're on board.

All in all, a rather good idea!

 

[sunshine state kim]

We bought our plane tickets, splurged and are going to Vancouver rather than Seattle. Thank heavens for frequent flyer miles for 2 of the tickets because the other 2 were $1000 each (I'll just choose to think of them as 4 - $500 tickets. Somehow that's less painful. We are coming in on Sunday and spending 2 nights at the Pan Pacific. I got $179 per night and didn't think that was too bad. We'll stay over 1 night post cruise and fly home early on Tuesday morning. Next is to pay off the cruise and then the worst is over. I started looking over excursions more seriously today. A bit overwhelming, but exciting!!

 

[Mineu]

We finalized our plans this weekend Our cabin is on DVC points, so that is one less worry,bought plane tickets a few weeks ago, paid for the Pan Pacific for the night before the cruise, and Quick Shuttle for the return and "won" the Hilton Seattle Airport on Priceline for $60 for the return! I think we're done until that hefty excursion bill appears on our door on the last morning

 

[ward3]

Anyone else at the pacific rim the night before? Home on day number 12 of school snow days. More coming Wednesday. Cutting in close to be out by departure.

We booked our flight with Disney. Don't know the flight information yet. When do they release that info?

 

[kde175]

We're at the Pacific Rim the 12th and the 13th.

We were told we probably wouldn't have flight info until 45 days out, so around the end of April or early May. I really wish we could get it sooner...the planner in me is dying to know.