June 25, 2012 - WONDERful 7 night Alaskan cruise

[MN Dis Fans]

from another Upper Midwesterner!

After our first blast of snow this week, planning for a summer cruise is a lot of fun!

I see you also have a 17 year old DS - as do we. What kinds of things does he like? It might be nice if they got to know each other before the cruise.

I asked our 17 year old if he would be up for that. He said, sure, why not. I'll send you a separate PM with his e-mail address.

I was very lucky with our flight arrangements. I managed to book my family of 4x on Delta, using frequent flier miles at 25,000 miles / ticket. Fortunately / Un-Fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I am a very frequent Delta flier, so our bags fly free. Nothing would irk me more than to have to pay to fly our bags! It looks like the inlaws will be flying SW, although I have not actually booked their flights yet.

Aulani? My DW is soooo jealous! I'm sure at some point we'll have to make that trip.

I'm sure this thread will start to get busier as our date draws nearer.

 

[DCLShel]

Hi all, we'll be joining you in Seattle on June 25!

We are:
Frank (me)
Sarah (who has a birthday on July 1)
Zane (5)

We're part of a pretty large party - my folks have 4 kids and 9 grandkids and their Christmas present was the cruise for all of us - 19 in all including the grandparents!!! Altogether in our party (kid-wise) oldest to youngest we'll have a girl (11), boy (7 1/2), boy (6 1/2), triplets (6 - two boys and a girl), Zane (5), and twins (4 1/2 - boy and girl). So watch for our roving gang. We're coming from Chicago and the others are coming from the southeast US. My sister is on the DIS boards too but I'll let her decide if she wants to out herself. She's a big Disney fan and is sort of acting as our cruise planner.

Most of us have been on the Wonder before - we did a 3-day Bahamas cruise back in December 2009 and had a ball, although I, my son, and the oldest girl were the only ones who braved the somewhat cool waters on Castaway Cay.

We had considered taking Amtrak either to or from Seattle but the flooding problems in North Dakota this spring/summer spooked me a bit so we're flying instead. I suspect we'll only be in Seattle a day or so before the cruise. I was there in late 2007 and stayed at the Crowne Plaza downtown. It was a nice enough hotel and easy walking to Pike Place Market and other restaurants. I seem to remember it wasn't too far a walk to the Vietnamese/Chinese "International District" either. Not sure where we'll stay this time though.

One of our planned stops (for our family anyway - can't speak for the others in our party) before we embark is to hit the Archie McPhee store up in the Wallingford neighborhood. I can't post links yet but you can google it easy enough to see what I'm talking about.

I'll have to read up on this fishing extenders thing.
(edit: my wife is a quilter, so I can definitely see this happening. Plus it would justify the Archie McPhee trip!)

TTFN!
Vinny

I booked several months ago, and have been lurking in the background since. I finally decided to pay off our cruise using DVC points, so it definitely looks like we'll be joining you.

In our group will be me: DH , DW , and DS x 2 (17) (14) + the FIL & MIL We took my parents / brother to Alaska last year. The views were so stunning, the DW & I decided we had to return with her parents this summer.

I've been busily planning away for the last week or so, and most of our travel arrangements are completed. Still plenty to do, but our cruise date will be here before we know it!

WELCOME!! Glad you are joining us on this cruise! More Midwesterners~ woohoo!

Frank - if you want to give me the names of the rest of your (large) party, I'll add them to the roster in the first post. BTW - what an awesome Christmas present!!

MN Dis Fans - if you want to give me your names, I'll add them to the roster as well.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone! Hope you decide to join the FE. Its alot of fun~

 

[DCLShel]

Well, I got some good news the other day. My friend's surprise bday party has been moved so we'll be able to fly into Seattle a few days early. I'm thinking we'll fly in on the 22nd. I'm still looking at airfares - hoping they will come down just a little bit. And I'm still researching hotels, too.

Would anyone be interested in a pre-cruise meet in Seattle or would you prefer a meet on the ship? Open to suggestions~

Glenn - you've got quite a trip planned! Alaska & Hawaii in one trip - awesome I plan to go to Aulani sometime but it might take me a couple of years. You'll have to let us know what you think.

Gotta love the Midwestern weather! Thursday, Friday & Saturday it was snowing. Today it was 61 and we had our windows open. Crazy - haha!!

 

[Deb in IA]

Well, I got some good news the other day. My friend's surprise bday party has been moved so we'll be able to fly into Seattle a few days early. I'm thinking we'll fly in on the 22nd. I'm still looking at airfares - hoping they will come down just a little bit. And I'm still researching hotels, too.

Would anyone be interested in a pre-cruise meet in Seattle or would you prefer a meet on the ship? Open to suggestions~

Glenn - you've got quite a trip planned! Alaska & Hawaii in one trip - awesome I plan to go to Aulani sometime but it might take me a couple of years. You'll have to let us know what you think.

Gotta love the Midwestern weather! Thursday, Friday & Saturday it was snowing. Today it was 61 and we had our windows open. Crazy - haha!!

And today, it is back to blowing snow, icy roads, and dozens of cars in ditches! Scary drive into work today, and my normal 20 minute commute took almost an hour!

Shel, can you let me know what hotels you find? I'm still trying to figure out what we will be doing. I know we want to get in a day or two beforehand, but I don't know where we will be staying and what we will be doing yet.

 

[Mean Queen]

We're going in 2 or 3 days ahead to check out Seattle and get used to the time change. DH wants to stay at the Edgewater. I'm definitely up for a meet on board. It's always nice to recognize the other DIS members.

We've had strange weather down here too. It has been unusually warm (low 80's) for most of the time, but then we had one week where the highs were in the 50's. Now we are just slightly higher than our usual winter temps, in the 70's.

 

[DCLShel]

Shel, can you let me know what hotels you find? I'm still trying to figure out what we will be doing. I know we want to get in a day or two beforehand, but I don't know where we will be staying and what we will be doing yet.

We're going in 2 or 3 days ahead to check out Seattle and get used to the time change. DH wants to stay at the Edgewater. I'm definitely up for a meet on board. It's always nice to recognize the other DIS members.

We will be flying in on the 22nd. I booked our flights yesterday on SW. So now the push is on to find a hotel!! I've just done some preliminary searches but I'll be happy to pass on any good info I find. I'll have to check out the Edgewater, too. Thanks for the suggestion!

DD definitely wants to go to the original Starbucks! I'd like to hit the highlights - Pike's Market, Space Needle, maybe a Mariner's game (if they're in town).

I think the Promenade Lounge is a good place to have a meet. Maybe on the first day before the Muster drill? Open to suggestions!!

Shelly

 

[DCLShel]

Here is a link to the Disney Blog~ http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...ampaign=Feed:+DisneyParks+(Disney+Parks+Blog)

Its a video of 5 things to do in Ketchikan. There are similar videos of Skagway and Juneau, too. Enjoy!!

 

[Deb in IA]

We will be flying in on the 22nd. I booked our flights yesterday on SW. So now the push is on to find a hotel!! I've just done some preliminary searches but I'll be happy to pass on any good info I find. I'll have to check out the Edgewater, too. Thanks for the suggestion!

DD definitely wants to go to the original Starbucks! I'd like to hit the highlights - Pike's Market, Space Needle, maybe a Mariner's game (if they're in town).

I think the Promenade Lounge is a good place to have a meet. Maybe on the first day before the Muster drill? Open to suggestions!!

Shelly

Shelly, do you mind if I ask what airport do you fly out of?
I've priced some flights from Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, Des Moines and Chicago, and they are all sky high!

Let me know what hotels you find. We may be up for a pre-cruise meet too!

On our last cruise, we had a DIS-meet at the Bon Voyage Lounge on the Dream at 3 pm, before the muster, and it worked out pretty well.

Oh, does anyone know when the port at Seattle opens? Is it as late as 11, like Port Canaveral?

 

[DCLShel]

Shelly, do you mind if I ask what airport do you fly out of?
I've priced some flights from Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, Des Moines and Chicago, and they are all sky high!

Let me know what hotels you find. We may be up for a pre-cruise meet too!

On our last cruise, we had a DIS-meet at the Bon Voyage Lounge on the Dream at 3 pm, before the muster, and it worked out pretty well.

Oh, does anyone know when the port at Seattle opens? Is it as late as 11, like Port Canaveral?

We are flying out of St. Louis on Southwest - roundtrip airfare $423 per person. I had enough Rapid Rewards points to get two roundtrips free. I've been pricing the flights since SW opened up their schedule for our dates. The airfare has gone up $17 each way since November. When I found out that my DBF's party wasn't on June 23rd, I booked our flights.

Good question about the opening time of the port. I'll have to look on the Seattle thread and see if it says. I think the 11:00am time at PC is something the Port Authority has instituted - not Disney.

 

[DCLShel]

I got the prices for the ABD add-on for our cruise. All I can say is "WOW!" The price for 12 and over is $2299 per person. Kids 4-11 - $2069. That's in addition to the price of the cruise!

I've never done an ABD trip or add-on. I know they're suppose to be wonderful but I can't believe those prices! I looked at the excursions and they don't seem to be anything exceptional. One thing I did notice - and it annoyed me - was ABD showed that meals were included with their add-on. Excuse me but meals are included with our cruise fare! There are some extra meals on the excursions but they listed the meals on the ship. Guess you get to pay for them twice!

Needless to say, we will NOT be adding this to our cruise! I think I can handle our excursions on our own.

 

[Mean Queen]

Wow!!! is right. That is very pricey after already paying so much for the cruise. I can understand if that was a stand alone vacation, but not as an add on to an already costly one. But I'm sure some people will pay for it, otherwise Disney wouldn't offer it.

 

[Deb in IA]

I think I looked at the ABD prices a few years ago, and decided that they were waaaay too pricy for us.

Thanks for the tip, Shelly. I think I will look into flying SW from St. Louis. STL is only about 4 hours from here, and we are used to driving it. I used to live in St. Louis when I was a peds resident at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

As for hotels, I looked at the Edgewater, and it does look great! Right on the water, close to Pike Place and the Space Needle. It got good reviews, too.
http://www.edgewaterhotel.com/

I'm also looking at these:
The Inn at the Market, right in the middle of Pike Place Market:
http://www.innatthemarket.com/

And close to the airport, there's the Cedarbrook Lodge. One reviewer compared it to the Wilderness Lodge at Disney World, so that certainly caught my eye!
http://www.cedarbrooklodge.com/

And finally, the old cheap-but-reliable chain hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites:
http://www.hamptoninnseattle.com/

So many choices! Hard to decide.

 

[Deb in IA]

FYI, the Edgewater is advertising rates from $139 if you book on Orbitz!!!

http://www.orbitz.com/shop/hotelsearch?type=hotel&hotel.keyword.key=Seattle, WA, US&hotel.rooms[0].adlts=4&hotel.type=keyword&hotel.chkin=06/22/12&hotel.chkout=07/02/12&search=Search&DCSext.mc_kw=Seattle%2BWA%2BUS&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=o_bb_hotel&gcid=C11287x022&gtkw=Seattle%2C+WA%2C+US&lpid=plhot

 

[DCLShel]

FYI, the Edgewater is advertising rates from $139 if you book on Orbitz!!!

http://www.orbitz.com/shop/hotelsearch?type=hotel&hotel.keyword.key=Seattle, WA, US&hotel.rooms[0].adlts=4&hotel.type=keyword&hotel.chkin=06/22/12&hotel.chkout=07/02/12&search=Search&DCSext.mc_kw=Seattle%2BWA%2BUS&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=o_bb_hotel&gcid=C11287x022&gtkw=Seattle%2C+WA%2C+US&lpid=plhot

Deb-

Were you able to get this rate? When I tried the link, it was giving me a rate of $200+ per night. For some reason, I'm having a hard time picking a hotel! The most important thing is that its clean! We can always get to where we want to go~

Also, I saw you posted on another thread that you might take a Med cruise if they're offered in 2013. We took a Med cruise last June so feel free to ask questions. I know Glenn and his family have cruised the Med, too.

Shelly

 

[htmlkid]

Deb-

Were you able to get this rate? When I tried the link, it was giving me a rate of $200+ per night. For some reason, I'm having a hard time picking a hotel! The most important thing is that its clean! We can always get to where we want to go~

Also, I saw you posted on another thread that you might take a Med cruise if they're offered in 2013. We took a Med cruise last June so feel free to ask questions. I know Glenn and his family have cruised the Med, too.

Shelly

Yes we did the Med in 2010 and can answer any questions and we just booked the Med cruise for 2013 with an onboard placeholder we had...OMG prices have gone up It was $7300 for 2 adults and 1 child on the June 15th 12 night cruise. Thats $2K more then last year with only one extra night.

 

[Mean Queen]

Yes we did the Med in 2010 and can answer any questions and we just booked the Med cruise for 2013 with an onboard placeholder we had...OMG prices have gone up It was $7300 for 2 adults and 1 child on the June 15th 12 night cruise. Thats $2K more then last year with only one extra night.

Then I'm sure you'll love that 10% on board discount! We'll have to think about doing the Med cruise. If we do, that means no other cruises for us that year.

 

[Bellecruiser]

Hi Everyone,
We are starting to focus on this cruise! Definitely getting excited...we are arriving in Seattle on the 23rd to give DH and I time to get adjusted. The rest of our party will arrive on the morning of the 25th. We'd love to meet on the ship on departure day, and we can meet ahead of time too. We can meet in the aft portion of deck 7. There is a good space there where we have met with Disboard people before. Or we can meet elsewhere...

Also, DH and I just booked the Venice Med cruise!!!! I figure we have the year+ to pay it off.

I am still trying to figure out if we can participate in the FE. Will let you know soon.

Sorry for the wrong signatures below...I figured out how to get them on and have forgotten how to get them off...

Meg

 

[Mean Queen]

We are very close to booking our air. We found a flight today for under 1700 for all 4 of us (from Florida). That's the best price we could find. We still need to book our hotel and I'm hoping to upgrade our room. We plan to arrive on the 23rd and leave the day after the cruise or the day of. Not sure yet. Any recommendations?

 

[Bellecruiser]

We typically fly right home after we get to port. By the time the cruise is over we are ready to go home. We have a reservation leaving around 1 pm. Hope that helps.

 

[DCLShel]

We usually fly out the same day we get to port; however, I was worried about this cruise. DCL lists our port time as 9:00am on the 2nd. The flight we wanted to take leaves at 12:30pm. I wasn't sure that would give us enough time to get off the ship, get through Customs and get to the airport in time for the flight. I don't want to stress at the end of our vacation so we're staying an extra night.

I like the idea of meeting on Deck 7 Aft for a "Meet." That is such a nice area that many people don't know about.