Just Back from 1st Alaskan Cruise

[Happy99]

Bumping up hoping for more information.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Bumping up hoping for more information.

I didn't take pictures of the menus, but from what I've seen from previous years they were pretty similar except they had a few new "regional inspiration" items on some nights, our server would usually indicate when something was new for this year. But for the most part I ordered things I had been excited to try from past years because this was our first cruise.

I will also say, to anyone on the fence about the Glacier Explorer excursion in Endicott Arm, go for it if it's within your budget. There has been a lot of calving this year already and the Wonder was not able to get terribly close to the glacier, but the excursion boats did. I hemmed and hawed on this one for so long and it was my favorite excursion of the trip by a mile. It was so amazing to be up close when it calved. My husband went on the first excursion and didn't see it calve but got to see a bunch of seals up close on icebergs. By going on the second excursion, I was still able to get a pic with Alaskan Minnie with my kids when she came out at 12:30, and we could have done some of the other characters as well but I was sick of character lines by then. A big tip is to get in her line at least 15 minutes before it is scheduled to start as it stretched out all the way to the bow of the boat once she appeared. I think some people waited in her line for over an hour, we waited about 20 minutes and the kids had pea soup in bread bowls and hot cocoa on a lounge chair while I stood in the line for them.

 

[BruinEd03]

I didn't take pictures of the menus, but from what I've seen from previous years they were pretty similar except they had a few new "regional inspiration" items on some nights, our server would usually indicate when something was new for this year. But for the most part I ordered things I had been excited to try from past years because this was our first cruise.

I will also say, to anyone on the fence about the Glacier Explorer excursion in Endicott Arm, go for it if it's within your budget. There has been a lot of calving this year already and the Wonder was not able to get terribly close to the glacier, but the excursion boats did. I hemmed and hawed on this one for so long and it was my favorite excursion of the trip by a mile. It was so amazing to be up close when it calved. My husband went on the first excursion and didn't see it calve but got to see a bunch of seals up close on icebergs. By going on the second excursion, I was still able to get a pic with Alaskan Minnie with my kids when she came out at 12:30, and we could have done some of the other characters as well but I was sick of character lines by then. A big tip is to get in her line at least 15 minutes before it is scheduled to start as it stretched out all the way to the bow of the boat once she appeared. I think some people waited in her line for over an hour, we waited about 20 minutes and the kids had pea soup in bread bowls and hot cocoa on a lounge chair while I stood in the line for them.

I will say that was one of the excursions we will do next time. This year, the cruise ship did not get as close to the glacier as the last time we went, but it sort of make sense since the last time we went was the last cruise of the season (where more ice has probably melted). I tried asking later in the day if the excursion had space, but nope it was all filled up. Again, don't think you have to do it (there are other excursions that will allow you to walk on glaciers), but probably one that I would consider next time given that we've already walked on the glaciers.

 

[BruinEd03]

Bumping up hoping for more information.

What other information are you looking for? That was our 2nd cruise to Alaska.

 

[nancyjo1998]

Did anyone happen to take pictures of the Alaskan merchandise available on the ship?

 

[BruinEd03]

Did anyone happen to take pictures of the Alaskan merchandise available on the ship?

I did, I sent it into Scott's blog and it's posted: https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2019/05/2019-disney-wonder-alaskan-merchandise-preview/

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Oh - one other thing I forgot to mention for Frozen fans - we had the first Frozen meet and greet time which was on Endicott Arm Day. Olaf did NOT appear for this photo as they had him scheduled to be in the kids club doing an activity at that time. So, we had to choose, and ultimately went with the Frozen princesses. It was disappointing because my kids had looked forward to meeting with Olaf. So, either try to get the second Frozen meet and greet (assuming he appeared for it) or plan to drop your kids in the club that day if they are Olaf fans.

 

[Happy99]

What other information are you looking for? That was our 2nd cruise to Alaska.

Was hoping for photos of menus and any other information anyone wanted to share such as the excursion information shared above

 

[BruinEd03]

Was hoping for photos of menus and any other information anyone wanted to share such as the excursion information shared above

Can't help you with the menu. However, here are the information for the 4 other excursions we did in our cruise on Sept 2017:

Skagway: Ghost and Goodtime Walking Tours: Starts at the Red Onion Saloon. Good history tour, but I would've preferred the White Pass Train (because I like taking pictures). However, that's not to say it was a bad tour. It was surprisingly more history based and the tour guide gave a pretty good history of the town, and obviously of the working women. My wife thoroughly enjoyed it.

Glacier discovery by Helicopter: Amazing. We originally booked the Adventure Park and Zip Lines, but on the ship switched it out to the glacier tour because of recommendations from friends. Took a helicopter to a glacier and got to walk around. It was run by Temsco, and probably would've been cheaper if we booked separately. The air field was pretty close to a dock, but in 2017 the Wonder docked further away than the closest dock. They had a shuttle to take us over.

A couple of things to note - like all helicopter tours in Alaska, there can be cancellations due to low visibilty. We got lucky in that ours ran in the afternoon. They said that it was cancelled for two days straight beforehand (and based on our experience with the dogsledding this year, I don't doubt it).

They will give you glacier shoes to put over your shoes - it will go over your shoe and part of your pants. No bags are allowed and they will provide lockers for you to put your bags in. However, you can carry additional lenses with you in your jacket. As for the helicopter, ours was really warm, as opposed to the helicopter ride in the doglsedding one. My advice is use your jacket as a coat if you get cold, so you can better regulate your temperature. If you are lucky enough to sit by the window, you can get a pretty good shot of the cruise ship in the air. You can't choose your seat - it is assigned by weight.

As for the glacier - wow. You can't even describe the blue. They also dropped a rock so that you could see how far some of the holes went. Just a wonderful awesome experience. You can also drink the water in the glacier (if you want). If you've done the dogsledding, this is a completely different experience (although both are on a glacier). The doglsedding was really focused on the dog and the snow and really less on the glacier itself. It is worth doing both at least once if you visit multiple times.

Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier Explorer & Mount Roberts Tramway: Loved each place, but didn't love this excursion. The reason is that you get to spend very little time at the Mendenhall Glacier (I think it was like 2 hours). In addition, apparently you can buy bus tickets directly to Mendenhall glacier pretty easily at the Juneau visitor center where the bus from the ship drops you off (at a very cheap rate). You can barely hike a small trail in that time and you can barely visit the Mendenhall Glacier visitor's center. In addition Mount Roberts Tramway is literally steps away from the visitor's center. All you get is advanced ticket purchase. If it's a cloudy day, it may not be worth it to go up there. At Mendenhall glacier, they have walking paths with elevated wooden platform over streams. If the salmon are running, you can supposedly see lots of bears. However, given that we came in September, the salmon were mostly gone. In some of the trails we still some some swimming, and lots of fish carcass everywhere. In short, by all means worthwhile doing - but by yourself instead of through Disney due to time constraints and non-value add. The peak time was probably a few weeks before us (maybe late July/early August), which shifts by a couple of weeks from year to year.

Ketchikan: Bering Sea Crab Fisherman Tour: Absolutely amazing. You go out on the Aleution Ballad and they show you how they fish for crabs. They will also pull up some of their catches and also point out a bald eagle's nest (that they regularly visit). They also let you hold and touch some of the animals. Don't worry, you aren't sitting on a regular fishing boat. They spent millions retrofitting the ship with stadium seating. So everyone faces the side of the boat (instead of the front) in relative comfort. I would book this excursion yourself if you can (there's only one boat that does this - and you know it's on the Aleutian Ballad). The only two caveats is that 1.) They apparently don't have many slots open for you to book yourself, so do it early; 2.) If you want to have dinner with the crew afterwards, that is a Disney exclusive so you'll have to book through Disney. Booking ourselves we saved about $50 per person. The only difference is that we got to leave the ship early and actually be the first ones at the Aleution Ballad.

 

[nancyjo1998]

I did, I sent it into Scott's blog and it's posted: https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2019/05/2019-disney-wonder-alaskan-merchandise-preview/

Thanks!

 

[Happy99]

Thank you BruinEd. We were considering this tour through DCL. Mind you we normally don't take cruise excursions and wander on our own but thought his was a good option. thoughts? How complicated is it to get to the glacier on our own then to the Salmon Hatchery. Our cruise is September 2, 2019.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/juneau-alaska-deluxe-tour-of-juneau/

 

[zmom]

In Juneau getting to Mendenhall is super easy to do on your own. You catch a bus right where the DCL shuttle drops you off and it takes you to Mendenhall. There is a trail that takes you to the glacier overlook, plus a lot of other trails to hike. I'm not sure about the hatchery though- if that is a must do then you might look into renting a car for the day or taking the above tour.

 

[zmom]

In 2017 we did the Wilderness Safari and Bonfire in Ketchikan- I read someone else here did it and didn't really like it, but we enjoyed the day. We did Mendenhall on our own with the bus. Skagway we did the dog sled on a glacier which was OUTSTANDING!. Also in Skagway I did the lower Dewey lake hike on my own and loved it. Easy to get to from the ship and worth it if the weather is nice. We did whale watching at Icy Strait Point.

 

[Happy99]

Thanks

 

[BruinEd03]

Thank you BruinEd. We were considering this tour through DCL. Mind you we normally don't take cruise excursions and wander on our own but thought his was a good option. thoughts? How complicated is it to get to the glacier on our own then to the Salmon Hatchery. Our cruise is September 2, 2019.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/juneau-alaska-deluxe-tour-of-juneau/

Most of my thoughts echo zmom above. It is supposedly pretty easy to get to Mendenhall glacier. IMO 1.5 hours isn't enough time to spend at Mendenhall. I don't know how difficult it is to get to the Salmon Hatchery. Keep in mind that you will see Salmon running at Mendenhall glacier and also in Skagway (they have a river that cuts through town and you can see Salmon swimming from the port through the designated area) provided that it's the right time of the season. I think Skagway also has a fish hatchery (and skagway is a pretty walkable town as it is super tiny).

 

[scgustafson]

In 2017 we did the Wilderness Safari and Bonfire in Ketchikan- I read someone else here did it and didn't really like it, but we enjoyed the day. We did Mendenhall on our own with the bus. Skagway we did the dog sled on a glacier which was OUTSTANDING!. Also in Skagway I did the lower Dewey lake hike on my own and loved it. Easy to get to from the ship and worth it if the weather is nice. We did whale watching at Icy Strait Point.

What did they sere at the bonfire for food?

 

[Kennywood]

Here are copies of the Navigators. Here's the one from the first day that covers the entire cruise.

 

[Kennywood]

I'm sorry. I tried to load the other Navigators but I'm being told that each of the individual files is too large. I did upload all of them to Scott's DCL blog, so you should be able to see them there.

 

[Happy99]

Thanks - you will have to upload them here, if you want, on separate posts. If you have menus I would love to see them.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Who were your Cruise Staff Team members (in the red and blue striped shirts running all of the family entertainment), Club Host, DJ, Cruise Director, and Assistant Cruise Director?

I was also on that cruise.

Deano was the Club Host, Lili was the DJ, Ashley was the Cruise Director (First time I've had her - she seems less annoying than Natalie and Lesley), and Glen was the ACD. Only other Cruise Staff that I can remember was Mitch (aka "Mitchy Moo")