May 24, 2014 Alaskan 9 night Wonder

[mrp4352]

We're in! (Well, kind of, we're not officially booked yet, but that's only because my Aunt doesn't have her passport number and expiration date memorized... )


We had planned two smaller trips next year, a DL trip in the spring and a land/sea with a 5-night double dip on the Wonder in the fall. But while researching pricing to start planning a potential Alaska cruise in 2015, we stumbled on this itenerary and suddenly all our plans went up in the air and here we are! Back to Alaska a whole year sooner than planned!

Oh, and just so you know - "we" are:
Michelle (mrp4352, 41)
Vicki (mstxmom, DM to Michelle)
Eve (she's managed to avoid the DisBoards, but mostly because Mom and I tell her everything she needs to know from there!, DSis to Vicki and DAunt to Michelle)

We're planning on flying to Seattle Thursday, taking Amtrack Friday morning to Vancouver. Mom and I cruised last year on DCL to Alaska, but Eve's never been. I'll be back with more details once we officially book - and in the meantime, I'll start back on page one and try to get caught up!

 

[pequele]

It is for this cruise

I took it to mean group = cabins. But I am a total Newbie when it comes to FE-thing. But I don't really want to be delivering gifts the whole cruise either.

Guess it is a good thing it is an extra long cruise 9 day

ooo just went back and saw that hahaha. ahaha what did we vote on, people or cabins? I turned 40 in May, I can't remember anything any more!

We're in! (Well, kind of, we're not officially booked yet, but that's only because my Aunt doesn't have her passport number and expiration date memorized... )


We had planned two smaller trips next year, a DL trip in the spring and a land/sea with a 5-night double dip on the Wonder in the fall. But while researching pricing to start planning a potential Alaska cruise in 2015, we stumbled on this itenerary and suddenly all our plans went up in the air and here we are! Back to Alaska a whole year sooner than planned!

Oh, and just so you know - "we" are:
Michelle (mrp4352, 41)
Vicki (mstxmom, DM to Michelle)
Eve (she's managed to avoid the DisBoards, but mostly because Mom and I tell her everything she needs to know from there!, DSis to Vicki and DAunt to Michelle)

We're planning on flying to Seattle Thursday, taking Amtrack Friday morning to Vancouver. Mom and I cruised last year on DCL to Alaska, but Eve's never been. I'll be back with more details once we officially book - and in the meantime, I'll start back on page one and try to get caught up!

I'll get you guys updated as well, promise! I didn't realize you have to have you passport to book though. I don't think I gave the travel agent ours until after we booked and even then I can't see how it is required as my son's will expire in March and I have to get him a new one and thus a new number by the time we go. Yup, another cost to the trip for us haha. Dang youth passports only lasting 5 yrs! Not like he has looked like his 3 mo old picture for awhile now anyways, what's another 5 yrs people

 

[katiefried]

Well, I'm sorry to say that we will not be joining you all on this cruise after all . (For FE purposes, you'll need to remove myself, DH and DS3.)

We just got back from a wonderful, weeklong road trip and while DS did GREAT we realized from this and other recent trips that he just doesn't sleep long when he's not in his own bed. We are on eastern time and although we were all staying up late on our trip he woke up every morning before sunrise. Once he's up, he's up and there's no going back! We just don't have confidence that he would adjust to the time change and if he wakes up at 5-6am eastern time well that would be way to early for AK or even pacific time, and we would have nothing to do for hours every morning. This also led us to confront some other doubts we had about taking this trip with a 3 year-old, like flying for the first time on a 5+ hour flight, and sacrificing my desire to cruise through Glacier Bay National Park so we could do the more toddler friendly Disney cruise.

But I'm excited to say we did get ourselves so excited for this cruise that instead of just canceling we're going to do a 4-night Bahamas instead! We'll get to stay in our own time zone, have the option of driving to the port or taking a shorter, direct flight, and get a smaller taste of cruising before we jump into a longer trip.

I wish you all the best and hope you have a great trip! It looks truly amazing, and we'll make it there someday!!

 

[MoonDaughter23]

FE question here, please explain what I just read in the FE thread:


* Right now there is a 3 way tie for groups of 20-30, 30-40, and 40-50. I will do my best to be accommodating for all 3 requests. Remember, you won't know who is in your group until the final list comes out.

Does this mean we could potentially have groups of 40- 50 cabins? or is it 40 - 50 people? I am hoping I just had a brain fart and freaked myself out for nothing. With three cruises in my future, I can't remember what was decided for which one.

I am SO sorry to make you wait 3 days for an answer. And sorry that was confusing.

This is definitely for people NOT cabins. I will update that to say people. I must have been in a rush the day I posted that update.

Which trip is this? What I do not like is that some people call a "group" as it pertains to people and others call it per cabin. Was it said where you voted what it was you were voting on? Can you ask em to clarify? 40-50 cabins and I will DIE! I don't want to spend our whole cruise delivering gifts!

Sorry again for the confusion. On the FE signup form you voted for People in a Group, not Cabins in a group. I would never do that to you all.

My plan is to accommodate requests. For example: If you said your max was 20-30 people I will not put you in a group of 40-50 people. And I will take a second vote from everyone before I finalize the list to be sure everyone is still ok with what they chose.

It is for this cruise

I took it to mean group = cabins. But I am a total Newbie when it comes to FE-thing. But I don't really want to be delivering gifts the whole cruise either.

Guess it is a good thing it is an extra long cruise 9 day

Some people actually did vote for giving an FE gift to the entire ship if they signed up. So you could receive an extra goodie from someone outside of your group.

ooo just went back and saw that hahaha. ahaha what did we vote on, people or cabins? I turned 40 in May, I can't remember anything any more!

Ok so I will go and update all of these questions on page one. I'm running late for an appointment so it will be updated later this evening or by tomorrow morning.

Sorry again to make you all freak out!

 

[mrp4352]

Bunches to read - but a fun way to spend part of an afternoon!

Excursion talk!

We're looking at possibly doing a non-Disney excursion in Sitka. We've found a couple that look really good on line.

We definitely want to do the Yukon Expedition again in Skagway - there's a stop at Carcross to see the dogs, tons of beautiful scenery and you ride the train back down to Skagway. We liked the length of the train ride with this trip and had decided that if we had ridden it both ways, it probably would have been boring...

Juneau - Enchanted Taku Lodge! It's an incredible floatplane ride over the glaciers to a little cabin tucked into the edge of the woods with a huge glacier across the river. Absolute heaven!

Ketchikan - Maybe a whale watching? we had one booked last time and ended up skipping it because we weren't done exploring the town...

Cool and where do you get these, like at a Gander Mountain or REI or Bass ProShop or something similiar? Do they come in a box of x amount or sold individually?

This was asking about hand warmers - we bought ours from warmers.com. We found the best price for bulk hand warmers there.

Anyone started looking at waterproof/water resistant jackets yet? I found one today at the Columbia outlet, but will probably return. It is waterproof, but I would love to have one with some vents or a zipper under the arms for some ventilation. I am also looking for pooh sized as I want something that will fit over a fleece, probably a long sleeve shirt of some kind and who knows what else.

For ladies, you might try Woman Within. Mom and I both bought our coats from them in March(ish) before our May cruise. We got the ones with the liners that come out - we used them both with and without the liners on our cruise. Layers was very definitely the key!

Probably looking at the Pan Pacific or the Fairmont Waterfront. Pricey, but I'm looking at the convenience of just getting up in the morning and walking to the Cruise Terminal........

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I think we're going to stay at the Pan Pacific this time. We loved the Fairmont Waterfront last time - but the price savings is too much to ignore. in 2012, the Wonder actually put into Vancouver the day before our cruise left and stayed in port over night - it was really cool being able to see her not only from our room, but also up close from the pier. (OK, it was pouring rain, but I still enjoyed looking at her!

Just booked the Pan Pacific for under $200 a night for our pre-cruise stay with AAA rate! Very excited!

Thank you - and your information is a large part of us realizing the Pan Pacific may be smarter this time!

I was thinking about this the other day and forgot to ask until now. How do people handle getting cash for going to Alaska? Well ok, not really Alaska but leaving from Vancouver. I was thinking of just dealing with an ATM when we got there (then there are the fees) plus, I don't want nothing but $20 to tip a bellboy/cab driver/whoever so do I get a little at the bank before we leave? We are only spending a day before and a day after there but I know I will need some cash. And I don't want to have a bunch left over after. Sure we are only about 3hr from Montreal but it isn't like we go there hahaha. I have however thought about going there and hitting an ATM and spend some so I have change ahaha. Yeah so not worth the gas prices I think

What did those of you who have been there do? What is everyone else thinking of doing?

Most of the time we used our cards and just paid the difference. We did get a little cash at the hotel though for tipping.

Oh and the Bear Country excursion says seasonal (July-August) so we won't have any bear encounters? Does anyone know?

Sorry - I don't know about the excursion you're talking about. But we saw bears on two of our excursions last year - the Yukon expedition (the bears were just right there by the side of the road!) and the Taku Enchanted Lodge (they come after everyone goes inside to eat and "clean" the oil off the grill grate).

I'll get you guys updated as well, promise! I didn't realize you have to have you passport to book though. I don't think I gave the travel agent ours until after we booked and even then I can't see how it is required as my son's will expire in March and I have to get him a new one and thus a new number by the time we go. Yup, another cost to the trip for us haha. Dang youth passports only lasting 5 yrs! Not like he has looked like his 3 mo old picture for awhile now anyways, what's another 5 yrs people

If you booked directly through Disney and you're a previous cruiser (our travel agent also keeps our info on file), they'll have access to your passport info for you. We're booking my aunt using points this time, so DVC needs the information since we're not in their system.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We're in! (Well, kind of, we're not officially booked yet, but that's only because my Aunt doesn't have her passport number and expiration date memorized... )


We had planned two smaller trips next year, a DL trip in the spring and a land/sea with a 5-night double dip on the Wonder in the fall. But while researching pricing to start planning a potential Alaska cruise in 2015, we stumbled on this itenerary and suddenly all our plans went up in the air and here we are! Back to Alaska a whole year sooner than planned!

Oh, and just so you know - "we" are:
Michelle (mrp4352, 41)
Vicki (mstxmom, DM to Michelle)
Eve (she's managed to avoid the DisBoards, but mostly because Mom and I tell her everything she needs to know from there!, DSis to Vicki and DAunt to Michelle)

We're planning on flying to Seattle Thursday, taking Amtrack Friday morning to Vancouver. Mom and I cruised last year on DCL to Alaska, but Eve's never been. I'll be back with more details once we officially book - and in the meantime, I'll start back on page one and try to get caught up!

I enjoyed reading your trip report from last year and have it saved!

 

[MoonDaughter23]

Ok everybody, the FE Post has been updated and clarified on page 1. Sorry again to those I scared.

I feel so behind on my excursion planning. My trip planning for both Aulani in December and this cruise have suffered from my lack of attention. I hope to get my fun back soon.



I missed saying Hi before so Hi and Welcome to Autumn Fairy and mrp4352!

We're planning on flying to Seattle Thursday, taking Amtrack Friday morning to Vancouver.

This is our plan too. Actually I'm deciding between flying in to Bellingham, WA or Seattle. Either option is cheaper for me than flying directly into Vancouver.

 

[mrp4352]

I enjoyed reading your trip report from last year and have it saved!

Thank you!

This is our plan too. Actually I'm deciding between flying in to Bellingham, WA or Seattle. Either option is cheaper for me than flying directly into Vancouver.

We're definitely going into Seattle - gotta go where Southwest flies!

 

[MousseauMob]

We're in! (Well, kind of, we're not officially booked yet, but that's only because my Aunt doesn't have her passport number and expiration date memorized...

Well, I'm sorry to say that we will not be joining you all on this cruise after all . (For FE purposes, you'll need to remove myself, DH and DS3.)

Oh that's too bad, but it sounds like you are doing what is best for your family. I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

This is definitely for people NOT cabins. I will update that to say people. I must have been in a rush the day I posted that update.

I thought cabins also. What do you do if the number of people doesn't fit into cabins? So maybe I have 2 people in the cabin, but someone else has the other 3? I'm not sure I'm explaining it well, I'm just trying to figure out what happens when the number of people isn't evenly divisible by the cabins - will you cabin split? Not to try to make this more complex, but what if someone is giving a per cabin gift instead of per person? Don't know why I'm asking since it isn't applicable to me, I am giving individual gifts. Feel free to at me for my curiosity.

 

[mrp4352]

I called DVC and we got our room today - stateroom 2112. Right by the aft elevators. We decided that since we had to go with a porthole this cruise, that we wanted to be down low and close to the water. I was amazed at the difference in the view from our stateroom on deck 8 and the walking path on deck 4 - so being even closer will hopefully be even better!

Now, just to wait the WAY TOO MANY days for this cruise to come!

 

[MoonDaughter23]

I thought cabins also. What do you do if the number of people doesn't fit into cabins? So maybe I have 2 people in the cabin, but someone else has the other 3? I'm not sure I'm explaining it well, I'm just trying to figure out what happens when the number of people isn't evenly divisible by the cabins - will you cabin split? Not to try to make this more complex, but what if someone is giving a per cabin gift instead of per person? Don't know why I'm asking since it isn't applicable to me, I am giving individual gifts. Feel free to at me for my curiosity.

This is general to all, but MousseauMob, I'm also answering your questions at the same time is why I quoted you. Hopefully you don't take it as though my entire post is directed towards you. And I would never make you for your curiosity.

Hopefully no one is offended by my making this a general response. I'm just trying to clear up any confusions about my plans for the FE. It's just easier to post here than to make first page post longer and scare away anyone new from joining. *Fingers crossed I don't make it all more confusing*. I am always open to input.

It looks like I may be the only one who never thought Cabins when thinking about a split. *Sharing my brief FE history to explain why*: The 2 meet groups I was a part of prior to this one did not have a group split so this is my first experience with splitting. In my first FE close to 50 people participated. Some gave one gift per stateroom and some (like me) gave one gift per person. In my second meet group I chose not to participate in the Exchange (because it was almost 100 people) but I still hung out my FE to test the original intent of the FE "founder" (See it here) My test was successful! I still came home with tons of FE gifts from both random anonymous cruisers and from people in the meet group who had extra gifts and chose to share with me. I also dropped a few surprise gifts in the random FEs I thought were creative.

I really enjoyed the flexibility of those types of exchanges so my goal for this FE was to continue to be as flexible as possible so we all come out with our own personal enjoyable experience. The only reason I am doing a group split now is because there seemed to be concerns in the beginning of the group becoming too large. In understanding those concerns I included the vote for the ideal amount of people per group so I could split accordingly. With 5 months before the sign up closes the numbers of each group can not be exact yet. With what we have so far, we could end up with a group with 29 people in one and 38 people in the other (just throwing out random numbers based on who has signed up so far). Anyone who voted 20-30 people per group can be in the smaller while anyone who voted 30-40 people per group can be in the larger. I don't intend to split cabins or families with more than one cabin because I see that as adding a headache. I also don't intend to end up with small splinter groups of only 5 people.

Anyone participating in the FE can go by your own limits and everyone has the option to give how they want to give. In my case: I plan to give to each person per cabin. I know I cannot go past 50 people. Right now we have 67 people signed up and I know I cannot get gifts for all when my limit is 50. So I'm now grateful to the first person who asked about a group split (I can't remember off hand who it was at the moment). If someone else chooses to give one gift per stateroom, you are not limited to only give to your group. You are more than welcome to give to someone else who did not end up in your group or you can give to random strangers who have an FE hanging. For the people who said they would give to the whole ship if they signed up, I will do nothing to stop you and you will have the option to give to everyone participating if you want to.

I feel doing it this way leaves options open for those who can only participate so much and those who want to give more without anyone feeling pressure and/or frustration. The only thing I ask is for this to be fun and not a contest.

And after this super long-winded post , if we want to scratch a group split all together and make it a free for all I can do that too.

 

[MoonDaughter23]

We're definitely going into Vancouver - gotta go where Southwest flies!

Southwest and Allegiant are the 2 airlines I'm looking at. And I like the option to take the train into Vancouver.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We're definitely going into Vancouver - gotta go where Southwest flies!

OK. Did I miss something in the conversation or is there something you know that I don't?

AFAIK, SWA does not fly into Vancouver. I'm monitoring USAir rates.

 

[pequele]

OK. Did I miss something in the conversation or is there something you know that I don't?

AFAIK, SWA does not fly into Vancouver. I'm monitoring USAir rates.

I was thinking the same thing...confused!

We have our WDW trip in 42 days and seriously I have been LOOOONG thinking about Alaska vs this upcoming trip! Still have some to pay on Alaska but it is doable now especially since I have the hotel and flights are complete. It is just so hard to part with all that money this far in advance haha.

Ok I will work on updating the group list now. Please let me know if I missed anyone!

 

[mrp4352]

Sorry - just a typo on my part! We're definitely flying into Seattle and taking the train up into Vancouver. (I had the end destination right, I just left out the overnight stop on the way!)

OK. Did I miss something in the conversation or is there something you know that I don't?

AFAIK, SWA does not fly into Vancouver. I'm monitoring USAir rates.

 

[tink1963]

for those taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver, I highly recommend upgrading to business class.

I think the upgrade is $22 pp

from the amtrak cascade web sight:

http://www.amtrakcascades.com/Seating.htm

Business Class offers relaxation and roomier seats—all for only a few dollars more than a standard coach ticket. Business Class amenities include:

Free Wi-Fi
Complimentary newspapers
Priority boarding and detraining
Wider seats with more legroom
Fewer passengers in each car
Coupon for $3 off any menu item

 

[chris31997]

This is general to all, but MousseauMob, I'm also answering your questions at the same time is why I quoted you. Hopefully you don't take it as though my entire post is all directed towards you. And I would never make you for your curiosity.

Hopefully no one is offended by making this a general response. I'm just trying to clear up any confusions about my plans for the FE. It's just easier to post here than to make first page post longer and scare away anyone new from joining. *Fingers crossed I don't make it all more confusing*. I am always open to input.

It looks like I may be the only one who never thought Cabins when thinking about a split. *Sharing my brief FE history to explain why*: The 2 meet groups I was a part of prior to this one did not have a group split so this is my first experience with splitting. In my first FE close to 50 people participated. Some gave one gift per stateroom and some (like me) gave one gift per person. In my second meet group I chose not to participate in the Exchange (because it was almost 100 people) but I still hung out my FE to test the original intent of the FE "founder" (See it here) My test was successful! I still came home with tons of FE gifts from both random anonymous cruisers and from people in the meet group who had extra gifts and chose to share with me. I also dropped a few surprise gifts in the random FEs I thought were creative.

I really enjoyed the flexibility of those types of exchanges so my goal for this FE was to continue to be as flexible as possible so we all come out with our own personal enjoyable experience. The only reason I am doing a group split now is because there seemed to be concerns in the beginning of the group becoming too large. In understanding those concerns I included the vote for the ideal amount of people per group so I could split accordingly. With 5 months before the sign up closes the numbers of each group can not be exact yet. With what we have so far, we could end up with a group with 29 people in one and 38 people in the other (just throwing out random numbers based on who has signed up so far). Anyone who voted 20-30 people per group can be in the smaller while anyone who voted 30-40 people per group can be in the larger. I don't intend to split cabins or families with more than one cabin because I see that as adding a headache. I also don't intend to end up with small splinter groups of only 5 people.

Anyone participating in the FE can go by your own limits and everyone has the option to give how they want to give. In my case: I plan to give to each person per cabin. I know I can not go past 50 people. Right now we have 67 people signed up and I know I can not get gifts for all when my limit is 50. So I'm now grateful to the first person who asked about a group split (I can't remember off hand who it was at the moment). If someone else chooses to give one gift per stateroom, you are not limited to only give to your group. You are more than welcome to give to someone else who did not end up in your group or you can give to random strangers who have an FE hanging. For the people who said they would give to the whole ship if they signed up, I will do nothing to stop you and you will have the option to give everyone participating if you want to.

I feel doing it this way leaves options open for those who can only participate so much and those who want to give more without anyone feeling pressure and/or frustration. The only thing I ask is for this to be fun and not a contest.

And after this super long-winded post , if we want to scratch a group split all together and make it a free for all I can do that too.

Thanks for the long post. I think you cleared alot up. Like you, I am limited on what I can handle mostly due to space and weight restrictions. If we can keep split, I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is going to make alot more work for you.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

This is general to all, but MousseauMob, I'm also answering your questions at the same time is why I quoted you. Hopefully you don't take it as though my entire post is all directed towards you. And I would never make you for your curiosity.

Hopefully no one is offended by making this a general response. I'm just trying to clear up any confusions about my plans for the FE. It's just easier to post here than to make first page post longer and scare away anyone new from joining. *Fingers crossed I don't make it all more confusing*. I am always open to input.

It looks like I may be the only one who never thought Cabins when thinking about a split. *Sharing my brief FE history to explain why*: The 2 meet groups I was a part of prior to this one did not have a group split so this is my first experience with splitting. In my first FE close to 50 people participated. Some gave one gift per stateroom and some (like me) gave one gift per person. In my second meet group I chose not to participate in the Exchange (because it was almost 100 people) but I still hung out my FE to test the original intent of the FE "founder" (See it here) My test was successful! I still came home with tons of FE gifts from both random anonymous cruisers and from people in the meet group who had extra gifts and chose to share with me. I also dropped a few surprise gifts in the random FEs I thought were creative.

I really enjoyed the flexibility of those types of exchanges so my goal for this FE was to continue to be as flexible as possible so we all come out with our own personal enjoyable experience. The only reason I am doing a group split now is because there seemed to be concerns in the beginning of the group becoming too large. In understanding those concerns I included the vote for the ideal amount of people per group so I could split accordingly. With 5 months before the sign up closes the numbers of each group can not be exact yet. With what we have so far, we could end up with a group with 29 people in one and 38 people in the other (just throwing out random numbers based on who has signed up so far). Anyone who voted 20-30 people per group can be in the smaller while anyone who voted 30-40 people per group can be in the larger. I don't intend to split cabins or families with more than one cabin because I see that as adding a headache. I also don't intend to end up with small splinter groups of only 5 people.

Anyone participating in the FE can go by your own limits and everyone has the option to give how they want to give. In my case: I plan to give to each person per cabin. I know I can not go past 50 people. Right now we have 67 people signed up and I know I can not get gifts for all when my limit is 50. So I'm now grateful to the first person who asked about a group split (I can't remember off hand who it was at the moment). If someone else chooses to give one gift per stateroom, you are not limited to only give to your group. You are more than welcome to give to someone else who did not end up in your group or you can give to random strangers who have an FE hanging. For the people who said they would give to the whole ship if they signed up, I will do nothing to stop you and you will have the option to give everyone participating if you want to.

I feel doing it this way leaves options open for those who can only participate so much and those who want to give more without anyone feeling pressure and/or frustration. The only thing I ask is for this to be fun and not a contest.

And after this super long-winded post , if we want to scratch a group split all together and make it a free for all I can do that too.

I vote for a split. I may give to more than who is in my group, but at least knowing there is a split makes it not as overwhelming. If I give to more, I don't care that I receive a gift in return. This is not a tit for tat kind of deal for me. I have a hobby I really enjoy and wish to share with everyone. And it is gonig to be fun.

 

[MousseauMob]

I feel doing it this way leaves options open for those who can only participate so much and those who want to give more without anyone feeling pressure and/or frustration. The only thing I ask is for this to be fun and not a contest.

Works for me! Although now I can't recall what I put on the form.

 

[MoonDaughter23]

for those taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver, I highly recommend upgrading to business class.

I think the upgrade is $22 pp

from the amtrak cascade web sight:

http://www.amtrakcascades.com/Seating.htm

Business Class offers relaxation and roomier seats—all for only a few dollars more than a standard coach ticket. Business Class amenities include:

Free Wi-Fi
Complimentary newspapers
Priority boarding and detraining
Wider seats with more legroom
Fewer passengers in each car
Coupon for $3 off any menu item

I looked at this too! Totally worth it!

Thanks for the long post. I think you cleared alot up. Like you, I am limited on what I can handle mostly due to space and weight restrictions. If we can keep split, I would appreciate it. I'm sure it is going to make alot more work for you.

I vote for a split. I may give to more than who is in my group, but at least knowing there is a split makes it not as overwhelming. If I give to more, I don't care that I receive a gift in return. This is not a tit for tat kind of deal for me. I have a hobby I really enjoy and wish to share with everyone. And it is gonig to be fun.

Yay! Glad I was able to clear up the confusion I caused.