MUSH! Going to Alaska - August 19, 2013 7 Night from Vancouver

[hcjgirls]

This is the cruise I really want to go on! What's the best way to book? Through Disney cruises online direct or a travel agent. Just curious what your opinion is...thanks!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

This is the cruise I really want to go on! What's the best way to book? Through Disney cruises online direct or a travel agent. Just curious what your opinion is...thanks!

While it's really easy to book thru Disney directly, some travel agents will offer an additional onboard credit. I used Dreams unlimited (they are owned by the same people as DIS) and they gave us a great OBC in addition to the one for using a Disney Visa and one for booking online. They will also keep you posted of any changes, or new offers/deals. You can specify what you want for room, dining etc. Really simple and painless. I wouldn't say one is better, but the Disney websites aren't always cooperative, so I'd rather let someone else be hassled.

Hope that helps and you get to come on "our" cruise!!!

 

[slg]

Even though I'm a seasoned disboard cruiser, I just forgot to get on this thread! I guess I have two other cruises to go to first.

Anyway, this will be our 10th cruise! We will be travelling with my dh's brother and family. This will be their first cruise.

There will be eight of us, dh (me dw), our three boys 18,14,12 and my dh brother and wife and their son 13.

Now that my oldest will be 18 (he will just have turned 18 5 days before the cruise), he's not too keen to go. We've also already done the Alaska cruise and are only going again because my brother-in-law is coming out to visit us and really wanted to go on a cruise with us. I hope my 18 year old won't be too bored.

We are from Victoria on Vancouver Island, and my family lives in Vancouver, so I know a lot about the area. We were on an Alaska cruise last year too,so I if anyone has any questions, I'll see if I know the answer.

Hello everyone. Looking forward to meeting you all

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Even though I'm a seasoned disboard cruiser, I just forgot to get on this thread! I guess I have two other cruises to go to first.

Anyway, this will be our 10th cruise! We will be travelling with my dh's brother and family. This will be their first cruise.

There will be eight of us, dh (me dw), our three boys 18,14,12 and my dh brother and wife and their son 13.

Now that my oldest will be 18 (he will just have turned 18 5 days before the cruise), he's not too keen to go. We've also already done the Alaska cruise and are only going again because my brother-in-law is coming out to visit us and really wanted to go on a cruise with us. I hope my 18 year old won't be too bored.

We are from Victoria on Vancouver Island, and my family lives in Vancouver, so I know a lot about the area. We were on an Alaska cruise last year too,so I if anyone has any questions, I'll see if I know the answer.

Hello everyone. Looking forward to meeting you all

Hi! I have a question about Vancouver! We are driving out from Minnesota and will leave our car while on the cruise. We want to stay a night or two on either end of the cruise. Is there a hotel right at the port that we can leave it? Would there be a fee? We are considering the two big hotels right at the port Pan pacific, or Pacific Rim, or whatever else is there.

 

[slg]

There are hotels right at the port you can leave your vehicle. I looked at the week of our cruise and its about $186 for the week. Pricey, I know. Since my parents live in Vancouver, we never get hotels there and last time my dad drove us in our van and then picked us up.

Not sure what we are going to do this time. If anyone finds a discount parking place, please post. Also, my BIL is renting a car and wondering if there is a car rental pick up and drop off near by.

So much to research, but I have two other cruises first...

 

[jenstall]

Just want to add myself to the roll call! This is my first Disney cruise and my first solo cruise and only my second cruise ever

Alaska has been my dream destination for years and I finally decided it is time for me to go. I'm also really excited about cruising solo. I went on a cruise to Bermuda last year with my mom, my brother and his niece and there was just too much family drama and sharing a tiny cruise cabin with even just one other person was not fun! But I think it was the best sleep I had in my life between the sounds of the ocean and the rumble of the engines!

I just started a new job this year and so I had to put a lot of travel plans aside which left me with tons of leftover timeshare points I had to move into 2013, so I used my DVC points for 2013 and 2014 to pay for this cruise which means I only have my Wyndham points to worry about using up before they expire so I guess I'm staying at Bonnet Creek on my next trip to Disney World.

I hope we get some more solo cruisers for this trip! I was very excited that the OP was cruising solo, but now she's left us. Does anyone think we'd be better off starting a new thread and just linking to this one? It's going to be difficult to coordinate stuff without being able to change the OP.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Hi! This is the OP - if you want to change the thread or have me put a link in the first post - just let me know.

Although I'm not on this cruise, I'm happy to help you all!

Holly

 

[socababy]

Right now I have the Pacific Rim and Pan Pacific booked prior to the cruise. I'm not sure which reservation to keep??

I'm also debating on what is a good price for airfare?? Right now it is $373 r/t LAX to Vancouver. Sounds like a good deal but not sure???

 

[kjmumma]

Hi
Add us to the list as well. We are a family of 5 and we are quite excited as this is our first cruise ever. We are travelling with seasoned cruisers however. My Mom/Dad have done a few (including Alaska already) and my brother and his wife have done many and my sister will also be joining us as a newbie.

Our kids will be 5(dd),8(dd) and 10(ds) at the time of sailing (though almost 6 and 11). My son is a bit leary of anything "kids club" but I'm hoping disney can win him over. Our last resort with a kids club had no kids his age (went during an off season while most kids were in school) and he didn't want to go to kids club at all as there was a lot of pre-schoolers. Now you suggest anything even remotely kid-club and his faces twists up like he ate something sour.

I'm having fun reading over all the tips and suggestions here! Should be a great experience overall.

KJ

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hi
Add us to the list as well. We are a family of 5 and we are quite excited as this is our first cruise ever. We are travelling with seasoned cruisers however. My Mom/Dad have done a few (including Alaska already) and my brother and his wife have done many and my sister will also be joining us as a newbie.

Our kids will be 5(dd),8(dd) and 10(ds) at the time of sailing (though almost 6 and 11). My son is a bit leary of anything "kids club" but I'm hoping disney can win him over. Our last resort with a kids club had no kids his age (went during an off season while most kids were in school) and he didn't want to go to kids club at all as there was a lot of pre-schoolers. Now you suggest anything even remotely kid-club and his faces twists up like he ate something sour.

I'm having fun reading over all the tips and suggestions here! Should be a great experience overall.

KJ

Hi and welcome! We were just talking about the cruise this morning and can't wait! We still need to book a hotel for the night before. DH is researching that as we speak. Anyone know of any good deals?

KJ - I hope your son will give the kids' club a chance - they have so many cool things to do! My DDs will be 10 and 12 when we go and I expect they'll spend a fair amount of time there on this cruise, since it may not be swimming weather! Plus DH and I plan to have Palo Brunch and dinner, so they'll have to go some times!

 

[meajuly5]

AMAzing pics!!!!!

 

[dvandkq]

We're booked aboard this cruise! It'll be me, wife Kathleen, and eight year old son John. Also aboard and across the hall will be Mother-In-Law Karin.

Last month, we took our first DCL cruise, aboard the 'Wonder' from L.A. to Miami via Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, the Panama Canal, Cartagena, and Costa Maya. We refused to get off the ship without first booking our next Disney cruise - so here we are!

We'll be in stateroom 5630, which is close to our stateroom for the Panama Canal cruise, 5124.

With our first DCL cruise under our belt, we'll come prepared this time. We had no idea about door art. That oversight has already been remedied for the August Alaska cruise! I'm also going to bring a power strip so I can charge iPads, cameras, video cameras, smart phones, etc. simultaneously. My biggest gripe with the canal cruise was the dearth of electrical outlets in the cabin.

If you'd like to check out the photos from our P.C. cruise, they can be found on our family website - dvandkq.net.

We've cruised almost this exact same itinerary before - 13 years ago aboard a Holland America ship that they no longer have. Our first Alaska cruise went from Vancouver to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and then returned to Vancouver. The cities are the same this time, but we go in a different order this time (Glacier Bay - Skagway - Juneau - Ketchikan).

At least we'll know where the brewpubs are! We're excited to have the option of drinking real beer aboard the ship, since we'll take growlers into the brewpups, get 'em filled up, and then bring them back on board for keeping in the cabin 'fridge'.

See you in August!

 

[Karmills]

Hello! We'll be joing you in Alaska on Aug 19th
So no more talking to yourself. This will be our first cruise

It'll be myself, DH, ds14, dd8, and my mama and papa too!
I see the post I was replying too may be gone or others have since posted, so ignore my comment about "talking to yourself"
Btw, I am brand new to disboards so very confused!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hello! We'll be joing you in Alaska on Aug 19th
So no more talking to yourself. This will be our first cruise

It'll be myself, DH, ds14, dd8, and my mama and papa too!
I see the post I was replying too may be gone or others have since posted, so ignore my comment about "talking to yourself"
Btw, I am brand new to disboards so very confused!

to the DISboards!!

I think you chose a fabulous cruise for your first time! I'm really excited to see some "different" things from other cruises and things we just don't have here where I live. My DDs are a bit older than yours - but maybe they'll meet up!
I've been on the boards for a while, and have taken some Disney cruises (3 and 4 day on Wonder and Dream) so if you have any questions about things, feel free to ask!

 

[Karmills]

I have heard about doing the Fish Extender and I think it sounds like lots of fun.
I have tried searching on here, but can't seem to find a whole lot of info.
Is there a list of people participating? Is there multiple lists to add confusion ?
How do we know how many people are participating and who they are/where their rooms are?
Do we only do rooms on our floor?
So many questions

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I have heard about doing the Fish Extender and I think it sounds like lots of fun.
I have tried searching on here, but can't seem to find a whole lot of info.
Is there a list of people participating? Is there multiple lists to add confusion ?
How do we know how many people are participating and who they are/where their rooms are?
Do we only do rooms on our floor?
So many questions

As of now, there is not an organized FE exchange. Normally someone volunteers to get a list going and updates as people join in. Some are so busy they've divided into two groups or cut off the numbers at a certain point. Then anyone interested says they are interested, and provides the number people and the ages in their cabin and the cabin number. The organizer provides the list and some even have done maps! On one of our cruises the organizer set up a meet on day one and handed out lists/maps for our convenience. While that was nice, it's not necessary. A list works just fine. There is usually a cut off date to join, so people know how many to plan gifts for. I've been involved in a couple and they're great fun - you can do as much or as little gift-giving as you want. We had some give a little something each day or one big gift.

 

[skaters69]

Hi I hope to meet some people on here that are going on the Alaskan cruise August 19th -25th ..

 

[meajuly5]

I am not crafty at all. What is an appropriate price range to spend on fe gifts per cabin? I would hate to sign up and not meet expectations because I can see that people put a ton of effort and time into the gifts

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I am not crafty at all. What is an appropriate price range to spend on fe gifts per cabin? I would hate to sign up and not meet expectations because I can see that people put a ton of effort and time into the gifts

You know, we have had all ranges. From little packs of gum and candy, to fancy homemade ornaments and crafts, magnets, stickers. There's a lot of neat Disney things at Target, dollar stores etc. Some people give things from their home state/town too. Or things to use on excursions - that's easier on the bahamas trips - little tubes of sunblock and chapstick for example. I'm not crafty either, and I know there's a big long thread on the boards with ideas and examples - I stole an idea from someone and made bookmarks.

 

[skaters69]

I am also on this cruise hope to get to know some of you all before the trip. we are on deck 6 ..I have a 10 year old girl and my fiance and hopefully his teenage son who will be 16. I have a question does anyone know what to pack as far as clothing for this trip?