June 21, 2011 - The Wonder breaks the Alaskan icebergs!

[Ohana 4]

Cars 2 comes out while we're on this cruise. What are the chances that our wonderful ship will show this while we sail the waters of Alaska????
I hope, I hope, I hope!!!

 

[mousemom11]

I met with my friend earlier this week and got her input about her Alaska cruise. In Juneau, they took a helicopter flight and landed on the Mendenhall Glacier. They zip-lined in Ketchikan, and took the White Pass RR train in Skagway. She loved all 3 excursions.

I've also read Fodor's Alaska Ports of Call, and here is what they say are the best bets in each of the ports:

Juneau - Walk S Franklin St, Mt Roberts Tram, Mendenhall Glacier. Based on reviews that I've read, skip the river rafting. The overall consensus was that it's boring. Very positive reviews for whale watching with Harv and Marv. BUT, they do not take kids under 13. I think that we're going to zipline in Juneau and visit Mendenhall Glacier.

Ketchikan - Explore Creek St, Saxman Totem Pole Park, Rainforest Canopy Tours. I have also read lots of positive reviews about flightseeing, which I think that we're going to do.

Skagway - White Pass & Yukon RR, Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, shopping in Skagway. I'm looking into a combo bus/train excursion for Skagway.

If you want to do further research, I recommend the Cruise Critic Alaska Board here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55 and also Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com. In Trip Advisor, just do a search for each city and then look under the Things to Do Category. Each attraction is reviewed.

 

[fabumouse]

OMgosh - thank you!!! this is great information Becky. And we really were looking into ziplines... guess it's a must do!

 

[mousemom11]

OMgosh - thank you!!! this is great information Becky. And we really were looking into ziplines... guess it's a must do!

You are quite welcome! All of us are quite excited to try the ziplines.

 

[Ginamarie]

OMgosh - thank you!!! this is great information Becky. And we really were looking into ziplines... guess it's a must do!

I'm pretty sure we'll be breaking up the group so that some of us can do ziplining. DH and I did it in Costa Rica and LOVED it. We have a bunch of little kids, so not all of the adults can participate, but I know my sisters are dying to do it!

 

[mousemom11]

I'm pretty sure we'll be breaking up the group so that some of us can do ziplining. DH and I did it in Costa Rica and LOVED it. We have a bunch of little kids, so not all of the adults can participate, but I know my sisters are dying to do it!

Do we want to try to get a group together from our meet thread to zipline in Juneau? I'd be happy to coordinate. The company that we are looking at is http://www.alaskazip.com/. We picked them over Alaska Canopy Adventures because their minimum age and weight restrictions were smaller. That way our DD10 can go. If people are interested, I'll contact them and ask about their group sizes and if they offer any group discounts.

 

[Ginamarie]

Do we want to try to get a group together from our meet thread to zipline in Juneau? I'd be happy to coordinate. The company that we are looking at is http://www.alaskazip.com/. We picked them over Alaska Canopy Adventures because their minimum age and weight restrictions were smaller. That way our DD10 can go. If people are interested, I'll contact them and ask about their group sizes and if they offer any group discounts.

Sounds like a good idea! Please let me know what you find out.

I'm sure that we'll have a 2-5 adults interested as well as my 13 year old sister (assuming she meets the weight qualifications- I haven't looked on the website yet).

 

[mousemom11]

I emailed Alaska Zipline Adventures about whether they have room for a group and if they offer a group discount. Here is their reply:

Thank you so much for contacting Alaska Zipline Adventures! We're excited that you'll be zipping with us next summer! The maximum group size for each tour is 12 people. If you book all 12 spots for a tour, you'll receive a 10% discount for the overall price prior to sales tax. The tour price for adults (13 & up, 70-250lbs.) is $149 per person, and children (9-12, must weigh at least 70lbs.) are $99 each.

On June 25, 2011, we have 2 tour times that would work well for your group -- 10:00a & 11:00a. The tours are 3.5 hours in length, so you would return to Downtown at 1:30 and 2:30, respectively, after the zipline tour!

I've emailed hime back and asked how long he would give us to determine whether or not we will have 12 people who want to go so that we could get the group discount.

 

[fabumouse]

Do we want to try to get a group together from our meet thread to zipline in Juneau? .

Absolutely! My DD will be 10 and will want to do it. Count us in for 2 people (probably 3 if I can get someone to watch the 4 year old)

 

[mousemom11]

Here is the reply that I received when I asked Alaska Zipline Adventures how long they would hold the 10 am tour for us to get 12 participants:

We're excited that your group will be ziplining with us next summer! In order reserve a spot on a tour, payment must be made for the desired number of spots. Until payment is made for the spaces, the tour must remain open for other customers to book online. Most tours will not start booking for another few weeks, though, so as soon as you know a number (or at least a tentative number), we can complete the booking for those who are guaranteeing to be on the tour. If you book at least 8 spaces and foresee booking the remaining 4 spots, I may be able to hold the remaining spaces for an extra week or so to allow you time to fill them. I hope that helps!

So, if you are interested, please speak up ASAP with a count of how many would be going. If we don't have a group of 12 by the end of the week (12/3), then I'm just going to book our family to make sure that we get a spot.

 

[Ginamarie]

Here is the reply that I received when I asked Alaska Zipline Adventures how long they would hold the 10 am tour for us to get 12 participants:



So, if you are interested, please speak up ASAP with a count of how many would be going. If we don't have a group of 12 by the end of the week (12/3), then I'm just going to book our family to make sure that we get a spot.

I'll talk to my family about this. It's a crazy week around here though because I have sick kids, a sick husband, and I'm going to deliver a baby SOMETIME this week (baby will be induced on Saturday if he/she doesn't show up earlier).

 

[mousemom11]

I'll talk to my family about this. It's a crazy week around here though because I have sick kids, a sick husband, and I'm going to deliver a baby SOMETIME this week (baby will be induced on Saturday if he/she doesn't show up earlier).

Holy moly! You most definitely have a full plate. Happy birthing to you. Hope all goes well for you and the baby and that your family gets well soon!

 

[fabumouse]

Wow, GM!! I am so excited that the baby is coming soon.

Becky - count us in for 3 people, I'm dumping the small one.

 

[justhat]

Wow, GM!! I am so excited that the baby is coming soon.

Becky - count us in for 3 people, I'm dumping the small one.

Awww, Madeleine! She'll be so, so sad to hear all about Hengry and Madsin's fun adventures in port while she was trapped in the club.

 

[mousemom11]

For those of you who are interested in ziplining in Juneau, please go to the website http://www.alaskazip.com/ and click on the Book Your Trip link in the upper right and book for the 6/25/11 10:00 am trip. In the Information You Want Us To Know section, please specifiy that you are with the Disney Wonder group that is booking the 10 am slot.

They cannot hold the entire 10 am time slot open for us, so please book it as soon as you can to be assured of a place in the 10 am tour. You will need to pay for it now, but they do have a 100% refund policy as long as you cancel at least 7 days before the excursion.

 

[Ginamarie]

Hey, has anyone looked into the ABD add on for our cruise? I just saw it listed on disboards. It looks awesome, but $$$ and not for my little travelers.

We finally booked air to Seattle for 6/10/11 and wound up booking a flight from Seattle to Vancouver on 6/20/11 because it was cheaper and faster than the train/bus. I still have to book air from Vancouver back to NY.

Oh, and fir anyone who didn't see my facebook, we had a baby boy two weeks ago His name is Owen Michael.

 

[DenverVal]

Congratulations on your new baby boy! How exciting!

I have been so busy with the Christmas season/end of the school semester that I haven't been keeping up with my airfare search. I'll be kicking the planning up a notch very soon, though. I am almost sure that I'd rather spend extra $$ to fly to Vancouver than to take the train/bus/ferry and save some money. The land/sea trip is longer timewise, and I'd have to plan my flights very carefully to make sure I could make the connections, or have long layovers. I'm not sure the savings is worth the brain damage.

 

[mousemom11]

Hey, has anyone looked into the ABD add on for our cruise? I just saw it listed on disboards. It looks awesome, but $$$ and not for my little travelers.

We finally booked air to Seattle for 6/10/11 and wound up booking a flight from Seattle to Vancouver on 6/20/11 because it was cheaper and faster than the train/bus. I still have to book air from Vancouver back to NY.

Oh, and fir anyone who didn't see my facebook, we had a baby boy two weeks ago His name is Owen Michael.

Congratulations! Looking forward to meeting you and the new arrival in June.

 

[Ginamarie]

Ave you guys looked at the shore excursions? They went up on the DCL website this week. I actually don't think we will be doing any of them. They have some cool options, but nothing that's both in my budget and/or kid friendly.

 

[RoE_Earth_Globe]

Ave you guys looked at the shore excursions? They went up on the DCL website this week. I actually don't think we will be doing any of them. They have some cool options, but nothing that's both in my budget and/or kid friendly.

I've started to look at the descriptions, but have not seen the pricing. Several of them look very interesting, but we'll have to see what fits the budget and our different travelers in our group.