June 25, 2012 - WONDERful 7 night Alaskan cruise

[Deb in IA]

Yeah! We made Palo's brunch and dinner reservations and one excursion (the Liarsville Salmon bake with Disney characters.) We figure the excursions won't fill up and if they do, we'll just tour the city on our own. I'm not too worried since one city said it was 15 blocks wide. We could walk it and see the whole thing. We also got the 11 am port check in. I'm so excited! There were 3 days where you could have Palo's brunch, so everyone who wants it should get it (if not now, on the boat since they hold reservations back.)

Oooh, sounds great!

We have to wait until the 90 day mark, so I am hoping to still get a Palo high tea!

Thanks for the port information too. Sounds a lot like the Port Cavaveral rules, and since we survived the "inaugural" cruise with the arrival times (August 2, 2011), I think we should be OK!

Hoping for an 11 time when we check in next week!

 

[Mean Queen]

Oooh, sounds great!

We have to wait until the 90 day mark, so I am hoping to still get a Palo high tea!

Thanks for the port information too. Sounds a lot like the Port Cavaveral rules, and since we survived the "inaugural" cruise with the arrival times (August 2, 2011), I think we should be OK!

Hoping for an 11 time when we check in next week!

I did the High Tea on the Magic in November and loved it. But DH will not do it. He says he's not interested in little sandwiches, tiny desserts, and fancy tea.

 

[Deb in IA]

Paid in full!

Now ready to book Palo, spa and excursions when our window opens on Tuesday!!

 

[Mean Queen]

Paid in full!

Now ready to book Palo, spa and excursions when our window opens on Tuesday!!

Congrats!

I have a friend and her daughter joining us on this cruise now. So she's going to do the High Tea with me.

 

[hollyfitness]

Welcome neighbor! We're also looking forward to a change of scenery in our cruising. I'm looking forward to escaping our Summer heat. The FE's are a lot of fun.

We did end up settling on a place to stay, the Crowne Plaza. We got a good rate, it has 2 Queen beds, and it's near Pike Place Market but far enough from the Seattle Center so that the parade won't interfere with our plans too much.

Can someone tell me more about the FE's... I am thinking my son would find it alot of fun but, I want to know more about what I am getting into if I commit... Can't wait!

 

[hollyfitness]

Welcome to the meets thread and congrats on your first post! The boards are a wonderful source of information! If you want to give me your names, I will add that information to the roster on the first page.

Fish extenders are alot of fun! If you would like to join the FE group, just let me know and I'll add you. Its a fun little gift exchange - no rules really. Just use your imagination and have fun! (there's a thread about FEs. if I can find it, I'll post it) If you would like to purchase a personalized FE, I have bought 3 from gradysmommy on Ebay. Just search for "fish extenders" on Ebay and it will come up.


Thanks so much... What types of items do people usually put in the FE's? I think my son would love it but, just want to know what I am getting myself into... Paid in full tomorrow... booking excursions Tuesday!!!

 

[Mean Queen]

Holly - there are all types of things people do for FE gifts. Some people make things (ornaments, luggage tags, etc), others buy things from Oriental Trading company (pirate themed stuff, princess themed stuff, beach stuff), and some people bring things that represent where they are from (city magnets, key chains.) You are only limited by your own budget, luggage space, and imagination.

 

[kcondon1228]

My family and I are excited about our upcoming trip. We would love to join in the fun on this thread! Our group includes DH Mike, DW Kelly, DD Kendall (5 but 6 as of July 14th), DS Sean (3) and we will also be joined by FIL and MIL. I am not sure of our room number right now but will include it once I get it from my DH!

 

[Mean Queen]

My family and I are excited about our upcoming trip. We would love to join in the fun on this thread! Our group includes DH Mike, DW Kelly, DD Kendall (5 but 6 as of July 14th), DS Sean (3) and we will also be joined by FIL and MIL. I am not sure of our room number right now but will include it once I get it from my DH!

Welcome aboard!

 

[tripsmom]

Checked in this morning! Makes it seem more real!!!!!!!

 

[Deb in IA]

We are all checked in and booked for excursions/Palo/spa!

We are doing the Palo High Tea on Tuesday, the at-sea day.

We booked the following excursions:
Skagway: Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway
Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest
Ketchikan: Saxman Native Village & Exclusive Lumberjack Show

DH didn't want to do any helicopter tours -he is scared of those things.
He unfortunately has end-stage hip disease, and can't do a lot of hiking either, so we were stuck with the less active excursions.

We are doing the Palo Dinner on our last night.

So excited!

Oh, and we got a 11 - 11:30 boarding window too!

 

[Deb in IA]

Oh, and if anyone is thinking about going to the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center before the cruise, you should pre-order your tickets NOW.

http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/King-Tut/king-tut-the-exhibition

I want to go on Saturday, June 23 (to avoid the Seattle Pride crush), and several of the times are already sold out.

We got tickets for the the King Tut exhibit at 10:00, with the IMAX show at 12:30.

 

[kcondon1228]

Thank you Deb in IA! We just got our tickets for saturday AM. We will also be on your Ketchikan tour!

 

[Deb in IA]

You're welcome!

That's why I love these boards - a GREAT place for information!

See you on the cruise!!

 

[Mean Queen]

Arrrr. AirTran changed our connecting flight to Seattle. Instead of a 2 hour layover in Milwaukee, we now have a 3 1/2 hour. Which means we'll get into Seattle around 9:30 instead of 7:45. That is going to be one long day. I'm very glad we are going in a few days early so we can adjust to the time and won't be too tired on the cruise.

 

[Deb in IA]

Ouch.

Hope you can sleep in a bit on Saturday!

 

[staxia]

Hey y'all!!

We're gearing up here for our cruise.. since it's our first, with DCL, we still have to wait until NEXT WEEK to start booking things.. grr!! j/k lol

I do have some specific questions that y'all might be able to help us out with.. see.. My brother and I have decided we want to helicopter/dog sled, and the whole family wants to do whale watching. Alas, via DCL, both are only available in Juneau and it doesn't look feasible to try to book them both on the same day. So, we've decided to go with an outside company to dogsled out of Skagway (since whale watching seems to be ONLY in Juneau)and do something else there,too, since Skagway is a much longer port call. We can book the dog sledding as soon as we can (there's 2 options on times) but need some info from Disney on when other excursions are scheduled.. since we can't book til 75 days, they're not helping.. so I turn to you!

(ETA-- ok, so.. I would swear up and down that dogsledding was NOT offered through DCL in Skagway.. but now as I sit here and peruse the options for the 93rd time, it's showing up... We're still going with an outside company b/c I fall into the weight surcharge category and they only charge $100 extra, where as DCL charges another HALF -- $265, plus costing $53 more to start)

We're looking at the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway trip and I think I saw someone had already booked it... I was wondering if anyone knew what time it was scheduled for? The dog sledding will be our priority, but we want to see if we can get anything else done that day, too. I know there's several different train options, so we should find something.. but we're just tryin' to plan!

As far as everything else.. I'm just excited to be going!! It's really rough trying to plan with the family, as they all live together and me elsewhere.. The phone calls get a little out of hand! lol I feel like there's so much to do, I'm gonna miss out on something! I've been on one other cruise before, also for 7 days, but most of those were out at sea, and nothing offered were things I wanted to do! This time it feels like I want to try to do EVERYTHING!!!

 

[Deb in IA]

Hey y'all!!


We're looking at the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway trip and I think I saw someone had already booked it... I was wondering if anyone knew what time it was scheduled for? The dog sledding will be our priority, but we want to see if we can get anything else done that day, too. I know there's several different train options, so we should find something.. but we're just tryin' to plan!

Hi!

We are on the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City,and White Pass Railway tour.
On our itinerary, it says 7:30 am to 12:30 pm - so it looks like it will take 5 hours.

 

[staxia]

Hi!

We are on the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City,and White Pass Railway tour.
On our itinerary, it says 7:30 am to 12:30 pm - so it looks like it will take 5 hours.

Hmm.. I wonder if there's another trip, or even the adult version booked for after that... Thanks for the info! 5 more days until I get to book.. *not so patiently waiting*

 

[MN Dis Fans]

I am anxiously waiting for the 75 day mark as well, so I can book the in-laws excursions! We were allowed to book them in PALO w/ the DW & myself, when I booked ourselves at the 120 day mark, but couldn't do the rest. We're doing rent a wreck in Juneau, and in Ketchikan 4 of us have already booked a private fishing excursion, so I only need to book something for Skagway & Victoria.

On another note, I have been monitoring the DCL website, and there sure seems to be a lot of rooms available, particularly in the higher categories. Not to get anyone's hopes up, but I have to think that there's going to be some nice upgrades dished out in the not so distant future. (Not that we'll get one. We've never been upgraded, and this will be number 12 for the DW & I) DCL, Are you reading this?

I'm currently seeing the following available: *8 rooms each in: 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6A; 7 room each in: 7A, 9A, 9B; and 1 room in a 4E. Plus, they are showing GTY in: 5C, 9C, 9D, 10B, 10C, & 11C.

*Historically, I believe they only show 8 rooms in each category, so believe there are more rooms actually available than what's being shown?

I don't ever recall seeing so many rooms available this close to sailing date?