May 24, 2014 Alaskan 9 night Wonder

[RweTHEREyet]

I believe you can reserve excursions without checking in first, and time zone is eastern, which is sweet for us in the west, I've never had to stay up until midnight.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, rub it in good.

 

[hamm1207]

Just a one hour time change for us on the Repo cruise and no time change on the AK cruise! It's going to be nice not having to deal with the time change this time around!

 

[pequele]

Just a one hour time change for us on the Repo cruise and no time change on the AK cruise! It's going to be nice not having to deal with the time change this time around!

I bet. I'm hoping with getting into Vancouver before noon the day before that we can do a little sightseeing, grab dinner and call it an earlyish night but not so early that one 5yo is up at 4 am! Usually I can get him to nap on the plane even with early departures so fingers crossed he isn't trying to go to bed at 4pm that first night either!

 

[ImprovGal]

Just a few hours now!!! If you are doing excursions I'd love to hear what people are booking!

Do you recall what AP is like on the wonder? Show wise I mean? I'm just curious at this point.

I finally decided on my excursions. I'm booked for:
Juneau: Adult Only Whale Watch, Mendenhall, Salmon Bake
Ketchikan: the "Deadliest Catch" one that includes dinner w/the crew
Sitka: Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest
Skagway: Yukon Expedition

The "Show Dinner" in the Wonder's AP is the transformation of the restaurant from b&w to color with a finale visit from a special guest to the soundtrack from Fantasmic.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Good morning everyone!
Pequele, sorry, never been on the Wonder but I could tell you most likely in detail about the Magic's AP show.

West Coaster here so guess what? I am booked!! Shore excursions, Palo, spa.
Gold has its perks!

These are our shore excursions~

Sitka~ Jet-Cat Wildlife Quest and Beach Exploration

Skagway~ Ocean Raft Nature Adventure

Juneau~ Alaska's Whales and Glaciers Photo Safari

Ketchikan~ Adventure Kart Exploration

Palo~ Brunch~ Day 3, 1130am
Dinner~ Day 5, 6:00pm

Now, I just have to figure out what Im doing for FE's!

Cant wait to see what everyone else chooses for their shore excursions!

 

[pequele]

Oooh I hope we get the Juneau photo safari one too. What times (or is there just one, I have to look at my notes)?

 

[Arizona Rita]

Hi Stephanie,
I think there was at least 2 times you could take the excursion.
We went later on everything because my kids like to sleep on vacation.

 

[Jackson's grammie]

Hi, We are back on for this cruise. Things finally calmed down here so we are off to Alaska. Hope we are not too late for the fe exchange. I have to catch up with all the news and will probably start reading the beginning of the week. Could someone please tell me how to get into the facebook page also. Really looking forward to joining everyone on this adventure. For roll call purposes we are: Heather (Jackson's mum), Jackson age 4, and Elaine (grandma). This will be our 4th cruise.

 

[MousseauMob]

Yeh yeh, rub it in you west coasters hahaha. I just can't wait til we are in Alaska and East coaster like us are in bed for the night at 6pm and up at 3am! Oh lord help me if that is the case EEEEK!

I'd say sorry, but uhm.... yeah... I'm really not!

Sitka: Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest

We did this one and it was awesome! We saw eagles, lots of sea otters, a whale, and a bear! It wasn't DCL obviously, but the same excursion. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

Juneau~ Alaska's Whales and Glaciers Photo Safari

We did this one and it was amazing! Not with DCL but the same excursion. We saw mostly orca's but this is the one where I got the excellent photo of the humpback fluke and the guide helped me look in the Juneau fluke identification catalog and when we realized it was a new whale sighting, he gave me all the information and details I needed, including location on the map so I could submit it to be added to the Juneau catalog. I can't say enough about how wonderful and helpful the guide was, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

 

[pequele]

Hi, We are back on for this cruise. Things finally calmed down here so we are off to Alaska. Hope we are not too late for the fe exchange. I have to catch up with all the news and will probably start reading the beginning of the week. Could someone please tell me how to get into the facebook page also. Really looking forward to joining everyone on this adventure. For roll call purposes we are: Heather (Jackson's mum), Jackson age 4, and Elaine (grandma). This will be our 4th cruise.

YEAH!!! When I get a chance to update again I will put you back in the first thread. Don't forget (if you didn't leave the facebook page) to rejoin the facebook thread!

I'd say sorry, but uhm.... yeah... I'm really not!

HAHAHA stinker!

We did this one and it was awesome! We saw eagles, lots of sea otters, a whale, and a bear! It wasn't DCL obviously, but the same excursion. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

Cool we are hoping to do this one, too!

We did this one and it was amazing! Not with DCL but the same excursion. We saw mostly orca's but this is the one where I got the excellent photo of the humpback fluke and the guide helped me look in the Juneau fluke identification catalog and when we realized it was a new whale sighting, he gave me all the information and details I needed, including location on the map so I could submit it to be added to the Juneau catalog. I can't say enough about how wonderful and helpful the guide was, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

I remember you saying that about the fluke! So awesome. I hope we get on this one as well. My munchkin is really excited about taking pictures....as long as he doesn't use up all images on people's feet, he can actually take pretty good shots!

Ugh, 2 more weeks at midnight til we can book! Don't laugh but how far out is it that we get our cruise documents? I know not now, but I just want to be sure we pay attention in the event that they are not showing up. Last time we went to WDW my mom asked me about a week before we went if we had gotten our tags for the ME and I was like luckily they sent them out overnight and we got them in time but dang I didn't even THINK about them! What's wrong with me haha.

 

[pequele]

Oh, I caught this on page 17 or 18 of my prearrival guide on the DCL page.

"Important Information
• You will be too far south to see the aurora borealis—or northern lights—during your cruise, but you can
still anticipate beautiful scenery as you travel through Alaska.
• The Pixar Party takes place in the ship's atrium.
• There are no fireworks on Alaska sailings.
• The average summer temperatures in Alaska typically range from a high of 62 F° to an average low of 45 F°,
so be sure to pack accordingly."


So definitely looks like they are doing Pixar Party again this year.

 

[ImprovGal]

Oh, I caught this on page 17 or 18 of my prearrival guide on the DCL page.

"Important Information
• You will be too far south to see the aurora borealis—or northern lights—during your cruise, but you can
still anticipate beautiful scenery as you travel through Alaska.
• The Pixar Party takes place in the ship's atrium.
• There are no fireworks on Alaska sailings.
• The average summer temperatures in Alaska typically range from a high of 62 F° to an average low of 45 F°,
so be sure to pack accordingly."
So definitely looks like they are doing Pixar Party again this year.

I was told by an entertainment CM last month that they'd be doing Pixar party again this year instead of pirate party.

 

[MousseauMob]

Ugh, 2 more weeks at midnight til we can book!

Right there with you! We'll be online booking together! I promise to not even mention the time difference.

Boy do I hate being silver! At least next cruise I'll be gold. ... well assuming we are fortunate enough for there to be a next cruise.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I tell you what is really tough, is being Gold, booking what we want to do and then my SIL (in her own cabin) and never sailed with DCL before, can't book until March and there is no way of knowing if she could book the same things we have. I understand why Disney does it this way, but it sure would make life easier if we could book at the same time (and I don't mean her booking window in March). I am already seeing many of the available spa treatments with only early morning or evening times available.

Because of this issue, we have booked almost all our excursions independently of Disney. There is an advantage to booking directly with the vendors, it is quite a bit cheaper. And the drawback is you have to be very mindful of times and know that the ship can sail without you if your excursion runs late.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We are a group of 4 adults looking for two more people to share our private excursion with Captain Davey Lubin in Sitka. The tour is 7:45 AM - 10:45 AM on his boat the Esther G Sea Taxi. The focus of our tour is to hopefully see whales, bald eagles, puffins, and gorgeous scenery. He is picking us up directly at the pier in his boat. His tour is ranked No. 8 on Trip Advisor and the cost is $150 pp.

Here is what Captain Davey wrote me about the Esther G when I asked about the weight limits he mentioned on his website: "My boat cabin is warm, dry, cozy and offers great visibility 360 degrees. It was designed to comfortably accommodate 6 average size folks; when larger folks are on board, and not everyone is part of the same group or family (ie non-private tour), that's when I impose weight limits, and subsequently the total number of passengers on board, to assure everyone's comfort and safety. If larger folks are part of a private party, then I assume that all the members of the group/family are fine with being a little cramped if necessary."

Our group consists of me, my DH, his sister and our nephew. Please send me a message if you are interested.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Shels, I was just gonna post about getting an email from DCL and my TA about the pier change, parking, and shuttle. The email mentioned arranging transporation thru DCL but I figured I would be able to do that cheaper and some hotels offer free transporation to the pier.

I checked with the Pan, they offer no shuttle service to the pier. They will, however, be happy to arrange transportation with their contracted limo company. Pretty steep for a 5 minute ride though.

 

[MousseauMob]

I checked with the Pan, they offer no shuttle service to the pier. They will, however, be happy to arrange transportation with their contracted limo company. Pretty steep for a 5 minute ride though.

How steep? Anyone know how easy (or not) it is to grab a taxi from the hotel to the pier?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

How steep? Anyone know how easy (or not) it is to grab a taxi from the hotel to the pier?

For 11 people they quoted me $175.

 

[chris31997]

For 11 people they quoted me $175.

For that price I would grab taxis or walk

We have flights so we will be in Canada in time for the cruise and back in Japan in time for a wedding Now just to find a hotel to crash in before our fun on the cruise and transportation to the cruise.

My default is taxi But thinking the skytrain can't be too hard from the airport to the hotel. Might even be real nice to stand and strech legs.

Now comes the waiting to book excursions, Palo brunch/dinner, and maybe spa Thankfully, the family is not planning on doing much together in the excursion department. Cause we are the only ones who have cruised with DCL before

I'm having a blond moment

Do we need to have visa or anything when we go into Canada? American passports. Just need my passport right, nothing stamped in it, no visa.

 

[MousseauMob]

For 11 people they quoted me $175.

Taxi or shuttle for me.

For that price I would grab taxis or walk

We have flights so we will be in Canada in time for the cruise and back in Japan in time for a wedding Now just to find a hotel to crash in before our fun on the cruise and transportation to the cruise.

My default is taxi But thinking the skytrain can't be too hard from the airport to the hotel. Might even be real nice to stand and strech legs.

Now comes the waiting to book excursions, Palo brunch/dinner, and maybe spa Thankfully, the family is not planning on doing much together in the excursion department. Cause we are the only ones who have cruised with DCL before

I'm having a blond moment

Do we need to have visa or anything when we go into Canada? American passports. Just need my passport right, nothing stamped in it, no visa.

Yep, just US passport, no visa needed.