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

[jcarlstrom]

Trying to decipher DCL's food restrictions.
Are sealed snacks permitted?
Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[Smileneyes]

Hi, everyone!

As you know, the deadline for announcing your participation in the FE exchange has passed.

As of this moment, I am in need of the following information (recognizing, of course, that some of you may be awaiting your stateroom assignments from GTY status):

Stateroom numbers are needed from:

SteffyLou (2 rooms)

IF you want the Excel spreadsheet, e-mail addresses are needed from:

All e-mail addresses received!!!

For those who do not provide an e-mail address, I will send a PM with the screen names and cabin numbers...provided I have that person's cabin number as well.

Wow...only two months left until Alaska!!! I guess I better start planning MY gifts!

--Drew

 

[disneymagic316]

I have a lot of catching up to do as I haven't been on in a while.

Has anyone booked transfers other than Disney from the airport? We're staying at the Sheraton Wall Center in Vancouver 3 days before the cruise and Disney doesn't provide transfers there.

Thanks!

 

[SteffyLou]

We are arriving 3 days early as well. We are stayine one night near the airport and booked a hotel on Hotwire that had a free shuttle. Then we are staying for 2 nights at the Pan Pacific and are just going to take a taxi there from the other hotel.

I can't believe how quickly the cruise is coming up!

Has anyone been to Whistler? The other half of my party was thinking of taking a day trip there.

Still no rooms. Seems like the ship is getting fuller too.

 

[DisneyCruisin]

Hi! I was sent over here by Smileneyes!

There are 7 of us joining you on this cruise, including my sister and brother in law who live in Anchorage, AK. We've been trying to get them to sail forever, and of course they jump on the Alaskan cruise!

I've been to Alaska twice, and it's a BEAUTIFUL state, I can't wait to see it from the Wonder!

We were supposed sail on 7/12/11, but had to move to this one due to a scheduling conflict and in the process our original group of 9 turned to 7. We're a mix of gold, platinums and 1st timers. We were able to book everything we wanted for Palo and excursions, except we still need ONE spot in the Exclusive Whale Encounter and Mendenhall Glacier excursion. DCL is saying it's full, but the website doesnt indicate that until you choose it and get to the page where you pick your time, where it then says there is nothing available. So thats the only glitch, so far.

59 days til we sail!!!

Did anyone else get an email confirmation today indicating a small balance due? I did, but DCL website says $0 balance....strange

 

[disneymagic316]

We are arriving 3 days early as well. We are stayine one night near the airport and booked a hotel on Hotwire that had a free shuttle. Then we are staying for 2 nights at the Pan Pacific and are just going to take a taxi there from the other hotel.

I can't believe how quickly the cruise is coming up!

Has anyone been to Whistler? The other half of my party was thinking of taking a day trip there.

Still no rooms. Seems like the ship is getting fuller too.

I called the Sheraton and they can arrange transportation for us.

 

[ward3]

I am concerned about or luggage transfer during layover. Disney booked our flight to Chicago with only a forty minute layover until our Vancouver flight. Does anybody think my luggage will have time to transfer? I can see us not having any luggage for our cruise. Anyone with experience in this situation?

 

[nzdisneymom]

I am concerned about or luggage transfer during layover. Disney booked our flight to Chicago with only a forty minute layover until our Vancouver flight. Does anybody think my luggage will have time to transfer? I can see us not having any luggage for our cruise. Anyone with experience in this situation?

How do you have your flight info from Disney already? I called two days ago and they said it wouldn't be available til 45 days out.

I will say that airlines can often get your bags on your flight even while you can't get there - their systmes are such that it all happens, and as you know, passengers onboard can often see them still loading luggage even after everyone's onboard.

I would be more concerned about getting myself on the plane than my luggage - but as a reminder, be sure to take a change of clothes in your carryon as well as any and all important documents and medication. Are you arriving a day or two pre-sailing? If so, if your bags don't make the flight in Chicago, there will be time for them to catch up before leaving from Vancouver.

 

[nzdisneymom]

So 8 weeks from today we'll be arriving in Vancouver. I've been looking up what to do in Vancouver and think we'll do the open-top bus for sight-seeing / transportation around the city. I need to hop over and read the thread about all the things that others have found out for us!

We got a visitor's guide from Ketchikan in the mail the other day, and between that and the advice of our TA, we are cancelling our Hummer reservation through DCL and will do ketchikan on our own. i've been looking at Google Maps and it's been fun to do the "street view" and see the shops and such there.

We are so looking forward to meeting you all onboard - can't wait for the DISMeet! We are staying at the Fairmont Pacific Rim pre-stay and would love to meet up with any of you who are also there pre-cruise. We arrive on Saturday the 11th. If anyone is interested, PM me (or post here) and let's figure out a time to meet in the lobby to "meet and greet" - we did that last summer with our cruise group and it was great fun to meet and also to share what we'd done in the city that day - got some great tips about restaurants and how to beat the line to see the crown jewels

Does anyone know if the Wonder has converted the conference room into a Tween space like Ocean Quest?

 

[ward3]

Cindy,

Our AAA agent got an email from Disney about a month ago and it had our flight info including numbers and seating.

We are arriving at Pacific Rim on the 12th sometime after lunch. I saw pictures of the new tween club the edge that was redone on the Wonder. Looks great. I saw the info on one of the disboards .

Andrea

 

[Smileneyes]

Good morning, everyone!

For those of you who have provided me with an e-mail address, I am sending out the first draft of the FE list. If you do not receive it today, please advise. It is in Microsoft Excel format, and should be able to be opened by all with that application.

Thanks!

--Drew

 

[SteffyLou]

So 8 weeks from today we'll be arriving in Vancouver. I've been looking up what to do in Vancouver and think we'll do the open-top bus for sight-seeing / transportation around the city. I need to hop over and read the thread about all the things that others have found out for us!

We got a visitor's guide from Ketchikan in the mail the other day, and between that and the advice of our TA, we are cancelling our Hummer reservation through DCL and will do ketchikan on our own. i've been looking at Google Maps and it's been fun to do the "street view" and see the shops and such there.

We also decided to just do Ketchikan on our own. We didn't order anything to look at though. Does it seem like you can occupy yourself there for an entire day?

Still waiting for the rooms everyone! By the way, I go on and check availability of our cruise everyday hoping they will give us a room soon. Three days ago it said out cruise was sold out, two days ago it said there were only oceanview and navigator's verandahs, yesterday it only had oceanview, and today there are only INSIDE rooms available. LOL seems like they are having a difficult time deciding what they have open!

 

[sunshine state kim]

Good morning, everyone!

For those of you who have provided me with an e-mail address, I am sending out the first draft of the FE list. If you do not receive it today, please advise. It is in Microsoft Excel format, and should be able to be opened by all with that application.

Thanks!

--Drew

Thank you so much for doing this!

 

[disneymagic316]

Hi! I was sent over here by Smileneyes!

There are 7 of us joining you on this cruise, including my sister and brother in law who live in Anchorage, AK. We've been trying to get them to sail forever, and of course they jump on the Alaskan cruise!

I've been to Alaska twice, and it's a BEAUTIFUL state, I can't wait to see it from the Wonder!

We were supposed sail on 7/12/11, but had to move to this one due to a scheduling conflict and in the process our original group of 9 turned to 7. We're a mix of gold, platinums and 1st timers. We were able to book everything we wanted for Palo and excursions, except we still need ONE spot in the Exclusive Whale Encounter and Mendenhall Glacier excursion. DCL is saying it's full, but the website doesnt indicate that until you choose it and get to the page where you pick your time, where it then says there is nothing available. So thats the only glitch, so far.

59 days til we sail!!!

Did anyone else get an email confirmation today indicating a small balance due? I did, but DCL website says $0 balance....strange

Welcome!
We are also doing the Exclusive Whale Encounter and Mendenhall Glacier.

 

[lsutigger2]

Cindy D = my hubby and i will be at the Pacific Rim also beginning on
June 11. We don't arrive until late - 8:00 or 9:00pm I think. But a 'meet and greet' on Sunday, June 12 would be good.

I got info from DCL that because the Pacific Rim is so close to the dock that they are not going to provide transportation We can just walk. They will pick up our luggage. So they are refunding us some of the money we paid for ground transfers. They sent another confirmation by email and I got a notice in the mail.

Need to start deciding on my fe's. I've been shopping for layers to wear. so for, so good

Later,
Janie

 

[mmmears]

Good morning, everyone!

For those of you who have provided me with an e-mail address, I am sending out the first draft of the FE list. If you do not receive it today, please advise. It is in Microsoft Excel format, and should be able to be opened by all with that application.

Thanks!

--Drew

Email received! Thank you for working so hard on this!

 

[lsutigger2]

got my FE spreadsheet - now i just have to decide what to do

tomorrow makes 8 weeks and counting.

Like someone else mentioned yesterday, i'm anxious to get reports back from the cruises that go before us. hope it is all good

 

[SteffyLou]

I had called DCL yesterday to ask if we had rooms yet (which we don't) and asked about Pirates Night and was told no pirates. So I am interested in seeing if it is true or not. Someone also said they just got off the Wonder and were told the servers were preparing for a "Taste of Alaska" menu. As a person who loves seafood , I hope this is true.

 

[mmmears]

I had called DCL yesterday to ask if we had rooms yet (which we don't) and asked about Pirates Night and was told no pirates. So I am interested in seeing if it is true or not. Someone also said they just got off the Wonder and were told the servers were preparing for a "Taste of Alaska" menu. As a person who loves seafood , I hope this is true.

There's a thread on the main cruise board about this (again). I'm fine with the cruise whether or not there is a Pirate Night, but I do think it would be really special if there was some Alaska-specific content (shows, dining, or something else), but even if there isn't I think we'll have a great time. I guess we'll all just have to wait until the first cruisers report back, since it sounds like conflicting information is still going out from the DCL call line...

 

[wendy151950]

I had called DCL yesterday to ask if we had rooms yet (which we don't) and asked about Pirates Night and was told no pirates. So I am interested in seeing if it is true or not. Someone also said they just got off the Wonder and were told the servers were preparing for a "Taste of Alaska" menu. As a person who loves seafood , I hope this is true.

If its anything like the Med cruise (we went the first year - 2007) they had completely new menus for the entire cruise and did some special kids activities. There was a special "leather" book that they got special pages for each night and special stamps. It was well done. I would have to think they will do some special things for Alaska as well since its the first year in Alaska.

We're still trying to decide what to do in Ketchikan. Am thinking we'll do it on our own as well and perhaps sign up for the duck tour at noon. Anyone else doing the duck tour?