The Wonder to Alaska - June 14 - 21, 2011 (from start to finish - 7/17/2011)

[nzdisneymom]

Great report. WE will be following next month. Love the FSU jackets. My boys graduated in 08 &10. Being from florida did you freeze?

The only time we were seriously cold was when we went to Mendenhall Glacier - our jackets would've been fine if we had layered a bit more underneath, but the lack of gloves and proper headcovering made us cold. We were fine on the ground, but I hadn't taken into account the altitude change for that day. The helicopter was warm and we were only out for 25 minutes or so and were able to huddle and such to keep the wind off - it wasn't unbearable. But gloves and hats would have helped!

You do need a hood on your jacket to help with the wind - and a windbreaker is better than something just fleece.

 

[Southfloridadisney]

Really - no life jackets required at the safety drill. They tell you that when it's time to go - no need to bring them. At least not in Canada

no all ships now do that due to more passengers on board the Dream and Fantasy they decided to get rid of it because the drill would last a lot longer(Was on the dream MV)((Im from south Florida so we will FREEZE!!!))

 

[nzdisneymom]

Friday, June 17th - Skagway - Part 1:

After boarding on Tuesday and having two days at sea, we were looking forward to a land day. We were scheduled to be in port until 7:30 p.m. so we had a full day ahead.

Our excursion group was to meet at 7:15 so we got up early to have time for everyone to be dressed and have had some breakfast. The buffet was supposed to open at 6:30 but Zachary and I went up early and found it was already open at 6:20, so we were able to go on in to eat. We saw both Nathan and Gary come through the line while we were eating, so we shared our table with them (nice of us to do that, eh?) For some reason, we nearly always sit on the port side in the buffet area - never in the back, rarely outside (and this trip, never outside on the back).

We met in WaveBands. Having done multiple excursions on the Baltic cruise, we were old pros at having our documentation together so we could get our stickers early in the check in process. You need to have your shore excursion tickets, your KTTWs for everyone in your group, and for this day, we also had to have our passports (otherwise, it's photo ID for adults). The CMs check and if you don't have everything, you have to go get it before you can get your stickers.

We had to wait for a bit before they started taking groups off the ship, but that just gave us time to visit with our friends who also met in WaveBands and some of our new DISBoard friends!

Our excursion was the White Pass Railroad and Liarsville. This was taking the train up to Fraser, BC, then transferring to a motorcoach for the return to Skagway via Liarsville. They led us to a motorcoach to start with and there were 19 people in our group. Our bus driver was wonderful - she went over the safety rules and told us what we were going to be doing, including driving us the 2 minutes to the train station You could see the train station from where the ship was berthed - about a 5 minute walk - but they put you on the bus so you were organized and also so when you got to Fraser, you'd know where to go.

Each tour group had it's own car on the train. I have to tell you, they were very well organized. Before we got off the bus, our bus driver checked with the station master to see which car we were to get on so she was able to get us in the right place.

We were on the train for about 10 minutes before it left the station. We had been told to sit on the left for the best viewing option. Because it was only our group in the car, there was room on the left for everyone, so no one had a "bad" seat. Some people chose to ride on the right side because it was a little less treacherous feeling, plus there was still plenty to see.

The train has a narrator who guides you through the route telling you history and pointing out places of interest along the way. The conductor comes through and collects your tickets, and there are a couple of other people who sell hats and DVDs and also answer any questions you have.

The train has a toilet in the back of each car. It's clean and easy to use, enough space to turn around in. We had read on someone's excursion review to be sure to use the restroom on the train so you wouldn't have to queue at Fraser or at Liarsville and possibly miss the show there.

The train ride was about 90 minutes up to Fraser. Once we were on the way, the narrator let everyone know when it was ok to go out on the platforms at the front and back of the car. They are small areas so it's good they don't put a lot of people on a single car - there was room for everyone who wanted to go out - which in our group's case was mostly the dads with the cameras. But if you're on the platform, you can't hear the narration. They do provide a guidebook that you can take with you.

When we were approaching the Fraser stop, they told us to have our passports out and hold up to our faces with our pictures so the Canadian Border Patrol could check. They told us not to talk to them. It took about five minutes from the time we pulled in until they "cleared" our car - we were one of the further ones back.

Once we left the train, we got right onto the motorcoach with our same driver (Sarah - she did a great job) and headed back down the highway. We saw the same sights only from a different perspective, and she gave us more information and we could see where we had been on the side of the mountains. We made a few photo stops along the way including by the Welcome to Alaska sign. When we got there, she told us to get our cameras and make a line and she would take our pictures for us - she knew right where to have us stand to get the picture with the sign, the mountains, and us. It was so efficient and everyone got their photos.

We made the stop at Liarsville and I was apparently not paying attention because I had no idea what we were doing or how long we would be there, but the boys and DH were. They drop you off at the campsite they have set up that has a general store and a "theater". We had about 10 minutes before the "show" was going to start. They had some performers playing music and there were animal crackers and hot apple cider to enjoy. The store had souvenirs of not only Liarsville but also general Alaska and Skagway, so we were able to get the thimble and spoon we needed for the boys' collections.

The show was corny but entertaining and basically told the history of Liarsville. Then we were sent to get a pan of dirt that they had put some gold flakes in so we could "pan" for gold. It was surprisingly fun and DH, who didn't expect to enjoy Liarsville, was the last one still panning

We took the bus back into Skagway and along the way, our driver pointed out various shops we might be interested in going back to. One of them was the hardware store - she said they have everything you need there, and if they don't have it, then you don't need it She made a stop at the train station for anyone who wanted to stay in town and then took the rest of us back to the ship.

~ end of part 1 ~

 

[Shanny145]

Love your report so far! Thanks for sharing!

 

[brackjr]

be sure to pack ziploc bags - you never know when you'll need them!

Great tip! I had never heard anyone mention this before.

 

[joeyandangiesmom]

Great tip! I had never heard anyone mention this before.

I ALWAYS pack ziplocs...and pack my shampoo and any liquids in them too! Saves me from dealing with messes!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Friday - June 17th - Skagway continued

First of all, thank you so much for reading. I hope our adventures and experiences help others to have a great Alaskan cruise, too!


So after we got back to the ship, we went to have lunch. It was around 1 p.m. I got a hamburger from Plutos while DH got food from the buffet, so I joined him in BBB. Our friends had been on a similarly timed cruise that had a salmon bake as part of it, so we had agreed to meet up after they were back and go into town together. The boys were not interested in shopping, so we left them on the ship to do their Vibe stuff.

The town of Skagway is really quaint, and parts of it look like it could be a movie set. It's a five minute walk from the ship (if she's berthed at the middle one) to where the train depot is and from there, the shops are right along the next several streets. We took some time to take pictures of the train depot area and then went in the train shop to pick up a few more souvenirs. There were several jewelry shops (much of the same as you'd see in a Caribbean cruise port) but there were also several Alaskan souvenir and specialty shops. The shops were interesting to look around and you could find pretty much any Alaskan souvenir you were interested in. We had been told the shopping was better in Ketchikan but we found Skagway to be adequate. In fact, we did more of our buying in Skagway than we did in Ketchikan. Our friends bought some jewelry so at one point we separated from them while they took care of what they needed.

Skagway is part of the Klondike National Historical site so they have a visitor's center and several of the buildings are part of the National Park Service. They have a small but interesting (and free) museum and they will give you a brochure to tell you about the history of Skagway and which of the buildings are part of the NPS and such. Definitely worth going in and getting information and they are glad to talk to you about their town.

There was another ship in town so the streets and shops were busy but not over-crowded. The town definitely is set up to handle the number of visitors they can get at a time.

After we'd seen all we wanted and spent all the money we planned to spend that day, Gary and I headed back to the ship. We met the boys for chips and salsa and told them we were not going to the dining room for dinner. Alex and Justin had the night off so there was a game-show activity in the Promenade Lounge (the Wheel) so it was busier than usual. Afterwards, we went to watch the people coming back from town by going out on Deck 4 - just as we went out, we saw our friends coming in, so we waited for them so we could see what they'd bought.

This was the night that Pirates of the Caribbean was showing in the Walt Disney Theater and it was also Taste of Alaska night in the dining rooms. We opted to just eat dinner at the buffet as it was buffet-style and we could pick what we wanted. At this point in the cruise, we were beginning to not want to eat much, so this was a good option for us to get portions sized as we wanted them, thus reducing the temptation to eat too much. The buffet had quite a few guests - it is a great option!

DH and Nathan went to watch Pirates of the Caribbean at 8 p.m. Our friends had late dining but she didn't want to go eat in the dining room - she was just going to get something at Pluto's - but he wanted to go to the dining room, so he went to their dinner and that left us two women on our own - which was really nice actually - we stood out front of the the ship as we sailed from Skagway and watched the scenery for a while - then decided that was silly to stand up there to watch when we were both paying for a verandah - so we got hot chocolate and went to my cabin and sat out on the verandah while the guys were all out. Aaaahhh... girl time! The captain had said they would try to get us close to this area where you could see seals on the edge of the water but since I didn't have binoculars, we couldn't see them, but the views were lovely and relaxing as we went through.

Around 10 p.m., she went back to her cabin and my guys started coming back from the movie and other activities. We ordered room service for cookies, and then got ready for bed - tomorrow is our Juneau day which means another early one.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Loved it!! Happy late birthday Nathan!!

 

[brewcrew]

We just got off of the Dream this morning and while on board we booked the Alaskan cruise on the Wonder for June 2012. Thank you for such a great trip report as I am clueless about anything Alaska! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Saturday, June 18th - Juneau

When we first started talking about this cruise to friends, one of them told me that he knows I am cheap but to please not "cheap" my family out of doing a helicopter tour and actually LANDING on a glacier. So we chose to do the Helicopter and Guided Walk excursion that went to Mendenhall Glacier through DCL. We scheduled the earliest possible time so that if there were weather delays, we might still have the opportunity to do it, and also so we'd have time to do something else in Juneau as well - the ship was scheduled to be in port until 4:30 p.m.

Our meeting time was 7:45 a.m. so we didn't have to get up quite as early as Friday, but still early enough. We got dressed, got breakfast, got our stuff together and headed to the waiting area. This time we were waiting in the Walt Disney Theater along with about half the ship. Because we were doing the helicopter tour, we could not bring a daybag with us, so we slipped the camera in DH's pocket and each had our lanyard / KTTW / photo ID on us which we eventually slipped inside our layered shirts so we wouldn't lose them.

I had mentioned before the need to buy a new jacket for myself because I didn't have a hood to protect my head from the wind. I'm really glad I got one because I needed it. While the temperature on the ground was in the mid-50s so layered clothes with a jacket over was sufficiently warm, that was not the case on top of the glacier. But I don't want to get ahead of myself!

Before boarding the bus, we had to fill out a family slip of paper that had our names and weights so the Temsco (helicopter company) could figure out how to seat us for our helicopter ride. We then got on our respective buses and were driven to the Temsco building, about 15 minutes from the ship. Our driver gave us a tour of Juneau on the way which is basically one road. I didn't know this before, but the only way to get to Juneau is by air or boat. No roads coming in or going out.

Once at the heliport, we watched a safety video and then were given our glacier boots. The staff helped us get them on and then we had to put our life jackets around our waists. We were assigned our helicopter. For us, the four of us were in the back while a lady and her DD were in the front with the pilot, so a total of seven on the aircraft. We flew about 15 minutes from the heliport over the area and eventually landed on top of Mendenhall Glacier where we were greeted by their guides.

Our time on the glacier was about 25 minutes - the way they do it is they drop off a group and take a group back, so however long it takes for them to round-trip is how long you stay on the glacier if you're doing the short version. They offer longer guided walks but the area we were at was for the short ones.

Landing on the glacier was so cool, and taking those first steps on the ice was amazing. The glacier boots are definitely necessary as you don't have to worry about slipping - they grip good on the ice which isn't smoothe at all. Once everyone is off the helicopter (there were four at a time), they take pictures for you and then huddle you up and tell you about the glacier and interesting things about it. They show you various formations in the ice and take you to see crevasses which are so cool to look into - the colors are amazingly cool. There was even one area where the ice was melting and there was a "stream" - they take you over so you can have a lie down on the ice and drink from it - they show you how to do it. I didn't do it, but all three of my guys did.

While we were up on the glacier, one of the guides spied a mountain goat up on the side of the mountain - I was so excited. I didn't know how much I wanted to see a mountain goat until I hadn't seen one the day before in Skagway, so this made my day complete!

We boarded the helicopter to go back to the heliport and then we took the motorcoach back to the ship (it was a different one than the one we took over). We were back and on board by 11 a.m.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Here are the pictures from Juneau.

 

[rogattdm]

Thank you very much for your trip report. My family is taking the Wonder June 11-18, 2012 to Alaska and this will be our very first cruise. Your trip report and ideas onboard has really helped figure out what we are to do on the ship and how things flow. When we went to Disney for the first time, I tried to read all I could, so we wouldn't be one of "those" families standing in the middle of Main Street with a map and an overwhelmed look on our faces. Your trip report is helping me gain knowledge so we won't be too overwhelmed! I feel so unprepared for this trip being our first cruise and never being in Alaska before. So thanks!

 

[brewcrew]

One quick question. On our cruise next year, we only have maybe 5 hours in two of the ports ( I think Ketchican and Skagway). Will this be enough time to do anything? I think we are in Juneau all day. Thanks!

 

[KathyM2]

Loving your TR! We are off to Alaska on the Wonder on August 9th! Can't wait! I'm actually happy to hear you guys skipped formal night...I am tempted to do that...I hate dressing up and also don't want to bring formal wear...but I was worried I'd be the only one not going! We'll see how the rest of my family feels about it...

 

[nzdisneymom]

One quick question. On our cruise next year, we only have maybe 5 hours in two of the ports ( I think Ketchican and Skagway). Will this be enough time to do anything? I think we are in Juneau all day. Thanks!

Well, there were no excursions offered by DCL that jazzed us in Ketchikan, so we found 1/2 day was plenty of time (details coming up soon!). For Skagway, we did the train ride which was #1 on our list of things to do - it was 90 minutes up and less than that coming back, so I think you can do something in Skagway of significance but that won't leave much time (if any) for the immediate port area / town. Before we left, we had heard that Ketchikan was the best bet for shopping but we were surprised to find pretty much everything we were looking for right there in Skagway. We compared prices in Ketchikan and found them to be about the same.

So if I was jazzed about going to Alaska on Disney, then I'd consider it - but if you're just jazzed about going to Alaska on a cruise, then I'd consider a different cruiseline depending on your family - a coworker went two weeks before us on Princess and loved it. We saw Carnival Spirit for most of our trip and the trip reviews I've read on another site are for the most part positive.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Loving your TR! We are off to Alaska on the Wonder on August 9th! Can't wait! I'm actually happy to hear you guys skipped formal night...I am tempted to do that...I hate dressing up and also don't want to bring formal wear...but I was worried I'd be the only one not going! We'll see how the rest of my family feels about it...

I forced formal night on my family on our first cruise and the younger boy got sick all over DH's suit plus nobody was happy in any of the pictures. They revolted. So if I want to go to formal night, I can go by myself. However, I prefer dining in shorts and t-shirt in BBB / Topsiders and being all relaxed while everyone else is all dressed up.

 

[brewcrew]

Well, there were no excursions offered by DCL that jazzed us in Ketchikan, so we found 1/2 day was plenty of time (details coming up soon!). For Skagway, we did the train ride which was #1 on our list of things to do - it was 90 minutes up and less than that coming back, so I think you can do something in Skagway of significance but that won't leave much time (if any) for the immediate port area / town. Before we left, we had heard that Ketchikan was the best bet for shopping but we were surprised to find pretty much everything we were looking for right there in Skagway. We compared prices in Ketchikan and found them to be about the same.

So if I was jazzed about going to Alaska on Disney, then I'd consider it - but if you're just jazzed about going to Alaska on a cruise, then I'd consider a different cruiseline depending on your family - a coworker went two weeks before us on Princess and loved it. We saw Carnival Spirit for most of our trip and the trip reviews I've read on another site are for the most part positive.

Thanks for your reply. We (like you) are pretty fond of Disney so I think we are staying with them. I was just worried that there would not be enough time in ports! Thanks again for the great trip report!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Juneau day continued

So we got back to the ship to make a quick turnaround as we were to meet our Whale Watching excursion at 11:30. The line getting back on the ship took longer than we expected because not only were there quite a few people getting onboard, the group of ladies in front of us had bags to check and one left her photo ID in her bag that went through the scanner and jammed the line up because they couldn't let her through without it. I got through on the other side but the boys and DH got hung up behind, plus DH had the camera so he had to put it through the scanner. I'm usually the one who gets left behind because I'm usually the one with the bag.

We decided to grab a quick bite at Pluto's to give us time to have something to eat before heading out so we wouldn't be hungry. Nathan didn't want anything from there and was hoping I still had some of those pb/j's leftover but I didn't so we immediately called room service for him. DH and Zachary had already gone up to get lunch so they had a table on the port side near the beverage station. I got chicken fingers this day because I figured they would be faster to eat than a burger and I'd had a burger the day before.

While we were wolfing down our food (seriously, we ate faster than we should've), I asked DH if he had the camera because I wanted to put it in our day bag for the afternoon - that's when he realized he didn't have it and probably left it at the scanner with the confusion of the ladies ahead of us. He hurried to finish lunch so he could go down to get it and if it wasn't at Deck 1 where we boarded, then he would have to go to Deck 3 for Lost and Found. Of course he didn't have a wave phone with him to call me to tell me he found it or not - I told him to just meet us back in the cabin.

Zachary and I finished lunch and went to find Nathan still waiting on his pb/j after about 20 minutes. We had 10 minutes til we needed to head out - he was smart and was eating the cereal he'd grabbed at breakfast so he had something to eat. Room service never came while we were there so we just left - I'm glad it was just pb/j - but I hated that we had to leave before it got there. Just one of those things. And yeah, DH did find the camera at the Deck 1 reboarding area.

 

[nzdisneymom]

So, off to meet the other DISer and her daughter who we were joining for the excursion - we booked a 6-passenger whale watching adventure through Harv and Marv's on the recommendation of our TA. They only take passengers age 13+ so that worked out well for us as her DD is 15. The kids had met briefly and got along fine.

We were to be picked up at 11:30 and there was someone from H/M there but our van wasn't yet - he ended up being about 15 minutes late but the woman from H/M was able to let us know when he would be there. When we arrived, we boarded the van and went about 25-minutes to the marina - past where we had been in the morning at the heliport. At the marina, we met Captain Liz and Captain Louis who were our guides for the day. There is a restroom at the marina and also a "head" on the boat - we all opted to go before boarding They also had snacks and drinks available (included) and binoculars for everyone. I can't use binoculars unless they are super strong because my eyes are so bad and I can't get them to work well when wearing my glasses. But that didn't detract from the experience.

We were out on the boat about 2 1/2 hours. Captain Liz was really good with the kids and they were allowed to sit on the bow of the boat. We could also stand outside on the back to have a clear (non-windowed) view. Liz showed us how to watch for the puffs of steam (the "blow") from the whales and that was a signal to watch for the whale to breach the water. We got really good at spotting it off in the distance. We saw several humpbacks come up and even got a couple of displays of their great tails.

After we'd seen several whales, she took us out further in the area to see the sea lions that had gathered on a buoy and were just hanging out. On the way back, I think the day caught up with me because I was nodding off from the rocking of the boat across the water. Oh, I had wondered about whether I might experience motion-sickness this day between the helicopter and the small boat so I had taken a Bonine in the morning - that might've had something to do with the drowsiness that hit me in the afternoon - or maybe just the mid-vacation nap coming on

Anyway, we were back to the marina with an hour or so to go before all-aboard, so we had time for the driver to take us near the Mendenhall Glacier visitors center so that we could get a couple of pictures. The two who were with us had done the Mt. Roberts Tramway in the morning so they hadn't gotten out to the glacier so that was a nice stop for them. Our driver told us more about Juneau and such as he took us back to the ship.

We got back around 4 pm so we had plenty of time to board before all-aboard. The boys scattered to do their Vibe thing while DH and I got a nap.


Juneau day was also Pirate night. It was also "show night" in Animator's Palate, so we had our pirate bandanas waiting for us. I didn't want to miss this night in the dining room, not because of the show but because it was my last opportunity to have the creme brulee cheesecake

The weather had turned inclement, so the pirate party was moved indoors, but it didn't matter to us because we planned to go to the 10 p.m. showing of Gnomeo and Juliet - seeing as we didn't get to port in Ketchikan until noon the next day, we could stay out late if we wanted to Our friends met us for the movie which was cute - we enjoyed it, but I was ready to zzzz by the time it was over.

Last thoughts about Juneau - I loved the excursions we did but I wish we'd had time to also see something more of the town. I would've liked to have done the tramway and gone to the shops even though they are geared towards tourists! We looked in the shop at Temsco hoping to find a Juneau spoon or thimble but did not, and I didn't see a gift shop at the marina (and if I had, I'm not sure I would've had time to look). There are shops near the port but not "right there" like you sometimes find them, so no last minute chance to pick something up from where we were berthed that day.

The three things we wanted to do for this trip were the train, the helicopter, and whale watching - and since the train was in Skagway, that left Juneau for the helicopter and with the recommendation for whale watching also in Juneau, we decided to leave Ketchikan as a free day.

 

[KathyM2]

I forced formal night on my family on our first cruise and the younger boy got sick all over DH's suit plus nobody was happy in any of the pictures. They revolted. So if I want to go to formal night, I can go by myself. However, I prefer dining in shorts and t-shirt in BBB / Topsiders and being all relaxed while everyone else is all dressed up.

I'd be the one revolting So I'm hoping I can convince others it isn't worth bringing dress up clothes...I have a feeling I will be out voted and forced to go anyway...oh well....worth a try....