Third, No Fourth, Times the Charm - A Long Awaited Wonderful Trip to Alaska!

[lovingeire]

Hi Friends! Since we've rebooked this cruise so many times I needed to pump myself up for what will hopefully be our trip to Alaska and Vancouver next summer I thought I'd start a pre-trip report! (Plus, my husband is getting sick of listening to me re-hash any and all plans!) As background, we had booked for 2020 (we all know how that went..), moved to 2021 (second verse, same as the first), then moved to 2022. We had planned to sail in August for my oldest son's birthday, but with sports ramping up with my kids getting older, we ended up moving our August sailing to June! So, that's four cruises booked for the same destination! Of course, I had booked the original 2022 sailing the opening day for Silver and had my ideal stateroom and a great price. When I went to move from August to June, you guessed it, not a ton of staterooms with demand for Alaska/cruising and a heftier price tag. And then something crazy happened....I shared options with my husband who convinced me to book....drumroll please....a CONCIERGE Family Oceanview Stateroom. It was the last concierge room on the ship and his point was that we've been saving for so long and with the price increase, why not. I think I had heart palpitations making the change, but I am very excited about a new experience.

We will be sailing to Alaska on June 13th for 7 nights in stateroom 8540: Concierge Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision while I was on hold with DCL. We had been checking rooms on two different sailings and I jokingly mentioned the concierge one. That was my downfall! My husband actually sat there to make sure I didn't change my mind while moving our cruise to the June sailing. Things I'm looking forward to most about sailing concierge:

1. Stateside concierge handling booking excursions and experiences for us. (No waiting up till midnight for me on booking day so it eliminates a lot of stress...although I've heard you should contact stateside ASAP too so...)

2. Concierge Embarkation Lunch. We've always just done Cabanas for lunch but will take advantage of this special lunch before going to the lounge. I mean alcohol is included after all. But it's also a place to meet the concierge hosts and something new to try.

3. Concierge Lounge: Drinks, quiet and snacks...what more can you need!

4. Pillow menu: My neck will be so happy!

I have only one concern for this room...it's right under the Goofy pool so I'm wondering how much the noise of setting the pool up each morning will bother us. We will be coming from the East Coast so we'll probably be up earlier, but not that early! LOL!


Fingers crossed we won't be up at zero dark thirty every morning!

 

[lovingeire]

Quick Jump Links Will Be Added Here?

 

[lovingeire]

Cast of Characters

This cruise will be our second vacation without our oldest child who has moved out and is recently engaged. It's weird, but striking out on his own is a good thing! So going to the last frontier are me, DH, DS (11, almost 12 at time of cruise) and DS (8 at time of cruise). Here we are on our last family cruise on the Fantasy in June 2019.



My oldest son is very excited about being old enough for Edge. He's also the one who really pushed to go to Alaska! My youngest son loves the Oceaneers Club and can't wait to go back. He also is excited to meet Mickey (for the millionth time) in his Alaska gear and wants matching rain gear! We're all very excited to see glaciers and wildlife...and sled dogs!

 

[lovingeire]

Pre-Cruise Vancouver Visit

One thing I was adamant about is that we wouldn't cruise Alaska until we could visit Vancouver. I have a lot of family in Vancouver and used to go to summer camp in B.C. every summer growing up so I really wanted to visit my family and explore Vancouver with the kids before the cruise. So fingers crossed we can sail out of Vancouver next year! We'll arrive in Vancouver June 9th so that we have three full days to explore and see family.

Hotel: Pan Pacific Panoramic Harbourview Room
Apparently, this trip is getting bougier than I realized! I hemmed and hawed over hotel choices. I looked at so many and compared options, but ended up going with the Pan Pacific. We might change this, but it's so convenient for the cruise and exploring Vancouver. I'm not sure how convenient it is to visit with family, unfortunately. Because we booked this just recently, and maybe with COVID occupancy rates?, the regular harbor view rooms were gone, and we really wanted a harbor view room. The club ones were about the same price, but this ensured us a king bed to sleep in, while the kids will sleep on the pull-out sofa. I'll probably keep an eye out on rates and availability as we get closer to our cruise, but we are very excited about our stay at the Pan Pacific.



Potential Places to See in Vancouver:
Stanley Park - Maybe the Carriage Tour
Aquarium (middle son is a big fan of penguins!)
Capilano Suspension Bridge or Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
Granville Island
Grouse Mountain
Whale Watching (if we don't do it on the cruise...when I sailed in the Puget sound we saw huge pods of Orcas...so cool!)

Vancouver Itinerary:

*This is still a work in progress and some of it will depend on when/how often we meet up with family. So stay tuned for updates!

June 9th: Arrive at the Vancouver airport, collect bags (will have done customs in Toronto likely, but if not we'll need to clear customs upon arrival). Take an Uber or taxi to the hotel. I thought about the train, as I think the kids would get a kick out of it, but I'm thinking with the luggage the Uber/cab option will be much less stressful for everyone. Check in to hotel, dinner, and maybe do FlyOver Canada. It really depends on our flight times and how much energy we have.

June 10th: Grouse Mountain

June 11th: Stanley Park/Granville Island

June 12th: Capilano or Lynn Canyon

June 13th: Embarkation Day!!!!!

There is honestly so much to do in Vancouver! Three days probably isn't enough and I don't think we'll get it all in.

 

[lovingeire]

Excursion Thoughts:

Dawes Glacier - We'd really like to do the Glacier Explorer, but I'm struggling with timing. My boys really want to see characters dressed up in Alaskan outfits. They mentioned it the other night at dinner when we asked them what they were most excited about for the cruise. I'm thinking the only way to do that is to do the second excursion time. Currently, we have second seating so it might not be an issue, but if we're moved to our requested main seating we might miss dinner in the dining room. I guess we could also meet them not on deck, but up on deck is so much more picturesque!

Skagway - My plan here is to book the Yukon Rail and Bus excursion through Chilkoot Charters. I'm again torn on timing, but leaning towards the later time to leave and doing the bus first and the train second. (Meet at 9:30 v/ 7:30, which would be a rush for the meet since we disembark at 7:15...) This tour is a smaller group and comes highly recommended on the boards and in cruise groups. Hopefully, it's ok to wait a bit to book it as they do charge a 5% cancellation fee so I am sitting tight on that one for now. Disney does have a similar excursion, but it's a larger tour bus/group so I'd prefer the smaller group and the flexibility of the Chilkoot Charters excursion.

Juneau - This one I'm undecided on. Should we go all out and do the helicopter to the glacier w/ the sled dogs? Hike to the Mendenhall Glacier and do some National Parks stuff, go whale watching? Open to recommendations for Juneau!

Ketchikan - Here we're doing the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour. This was my husband's must-do. I actually just booked it directly. It saved us money and they have an excellent cancellation policy should anything go wrong with cruising/borders/etc. next year. I also hope to explore Creek Street before the excursion.

As you can see there is plenty for me to worry about and finalize before we can even book excursions! If you've done the Alaskan cruise, or even if you're in perpetual planning mode ike me, I'd love to hear your thoughts on our excursion choices and timing! Help me decide!!!!

 

[lovingeire]

Exciting news this week! We received an email from Shoreside Concierge. I replied reiterating our request to move to main dining and with some questions about timing for the Dawes Glacier excursion and heard back that we were moved to MAIN dining! Woo hoo! They also said that the boat is normally out from 3-6 for the second excursion so we'd be fine to be 15-20 minutes late, although I'm not sure if that will stress me out. But we'll figure that out as we get closer. For now I'm happy we won't be eating at midnight our local time!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

We went whale watching in Juneau in 2014 and saw orcas and humpback whales. It was one of our best excursions in Alaska and I plan to take the same excursion in 2022 () with 3 generations this time!

 

[lovingeire]

We went whale watching in Juneau in 2014 and saw orcas and humpback whales. It was one of our best excursions in Alaska and I plan to take the same excursion in 2022 () with 3 generations this time!

Awesome! Did you book through Disney or use a private company?

 

[lovingeire]

As an aside, one of my favorite cast members from my last cruise on the Magic is onboard the Wonder! I am so excited to see him in June!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Awesome! Did you book through Disney or use a private company?

We did this tour with Gastineau Guiding
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/search/?searchQuery=Science whales&recordId=&searchCategory=
They actually only book through the cruise lines but it was a small boat with less than 10 ppl on the excursion. We actually originally booked the whale watching and photo safari tour (with the same company) but we were the only ones on the tour so it was cancelled. We were so happy with the tour we ended up on and plan to do it again as I think my oldest will enjoy the science stuff along with the whale watching

 

[lovingeire]

We did this tour with Gastineau Guiding
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/search/?searchQuery=Science whales&recordId=&searchCategory=
They actually only book through the cruise lines but it was a small boat with less than 10 ppl on the excursion. We actually originally booked the whale watching and photo safari tour (with the same company) but we were the only ones on the tour so it was cancelled. We were so happy with the tour we ended up on and plan to do it again as I think my oldest will enjoy the science stuff along with the whale watching

Thank you! This sounds really interesting. My boys would definitely love the science aspect of it! I'm going to add it to our list for consideration!

 

[lovingeire]

It's been a while, but a few updates for our "fingers crossed" cruise.

1. We moved our cruise to June to avoid fall soccer, but our boys decided to do spring soccer instead of baseball and the oldest's tournament will be June 11th. (I thought two weeks after school gets out we'd be safe, but noooooo....) So, yep, we're looking at timing changes. I've booked three nights post-cruise at the Pan Pacific so we can still explore Vancouver and see family. I haven't adjusted our reservation on the front end yet, but that will come as our plans firm up and I buy airfare. (I'm still scared to buy airfare! I think I'll soon give up hope on being able to do the Amtrak Cascade one way though...) The current plan though is to fly in the day before, then spend the time exploring Vancouver on the back end of the cruise.

2. We are getting close to our date to make reservations, which is crazy. I have held off on any more private booking of reservations since so much is up in the air. As I was putting together my list for shoreside concierge I checked in on the private tour companies and noticed that Chilkoot Tours is operating with waitlists only right now due to the entry requirements for Canada. I hadn't thought about these restrictions. It does say on the White Pass Railway website that they're working with local border control to allow day travel to Canada. We'll see how this all plays out, and fortunately, Skagway seems to be the only day impacted by these restrictions. I did email Chilkoot Tours and ask to be put on the waitlist for the Bus First Yukon Rail & Bus tour. But I had to do some exploring on the Disney Cruise website for some backup options.

 

[lovingeire]

Dining Rotations: As I finalize my requests for the shoreside concierge team I'm thinking about dining rotations. We're most excited about Tiana's Place and I DO NOT want to be in Animator's Palate on a formal or semi-formal night since my husband is team dress to the nines. Plus, we've eaten at Animator's Palate on other cruises. Should I request a rotation or just specify these preferences?

 

[lovingeire]

All of our activities reservations were made by Shoreside Concierge! We got everything we wanted and are so excited! Right now our plans include:

1. Chocolate & Liquor Tasting
2. Glacier. Explorer
3. Palo Dinner
4. Yukon Expedition in Skagway (we'll only do this if we can't do the tour with Chilkoot Tours)
5. Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau (Still debating if we'll book this privately - but doing it through Disney, while more expensive, means no money upfront if it is canceled...it's also at an earlier time. While this leaves us time to do other things in Juneau and get back for semi-formal night, it's also a higher risk of cancellation probably with the early time.)
6. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointments for the boys to get captains makeovers. I wasn't sure if my 11 year old would want to do this, but he said he did so...one last hurrah of being young.
7. Palo Brunch
8. Mixology

I cannot wait for this cruise!!!!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

All of our activities reservations were made by Shoreside Concierge! We got everything we wanted and are so excited! Right now our plans include:

1. Chocolate & Liquor Tasting
2. Glacier. Explorer
3. Palo Dinner
4. Yukon Expedition in Skagway (we'll only do this if we can't do the tour with Chilkoot Tours)
5. Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau (Still debating if we'll book this privately - but doing it through Disney, while more expensive, means no money upfront if it is canceled...it's also at an earlier time. While this leaves us time to do other things in Juneau and get back for semi-formal night, it's also a higher risk of cancellation probably with the early time.)
6. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointments for the boys to get captains makeovers. I wasn't sure if my 11 year old would want to do this, but he said he did so...one last hurrah of being young.
7. Palo Brunch
8. Mixology

I cannot wait for this cruise!!!!

Nice!!!! Curious what day and time is the chocolate liqueur tasting? This would be great for my husband and I. We wanted to do it on the fantasy but it was at an odd time I remember. Also did Disney have all the excursions offered that are on their website now? Thanks so much! I’m about 80% sure we are going to be going now and have upped my planning lol!

 

[lovingeire]

Nice!!!! Curious what day and time is the chocolate liqueur tasting? This would be great for my husband and I. We wanted to do it on the fantasy but it was at an odd time I remember. Also did Disney have all the excursions offered that are on their website now? Thanks so much! I’m about 80% sure we are going to be going now and have upped my planning lol!

Yay for going! I'm hoping (fingers crossed) things are moving positively towards travel to and from Canada being a little easier. It seemed that most, if not all, of the excursions, were offered that are listed on the site. Someone mentioned a pub crawl or something like that not being offered. I was worried about Skagway and anything involving the railway, but those all seemed to be offered so I'm hoping they'll have figured something out for day travel like that to and from Canada by the time we sail. I would imagine there is pressure from the tourist industry to do so. This is the schedule of tastings on our sailing:

Beer on 6/13 at 3:00 pm
Champagne on 6/13 at 3:00 pm and 6/19 at 1:00 pm
Chocolate & Liquor on 6/14 at 1:00 pm
Cognac on 6/13 at 9:30 pm and 6/19 at 9:30 pm
Martini on 6/19 at 5:00 pm
Mixology on 6/14 at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm and 6/19 at 3:00 pm
Mojito on 6/19 at 9:30 pm
Tequila & Margarita on 6/14 at 9:30 pm
Whiskey on 6/13 at 9:30 pm and 6/14 at 9:30 pm
Wine on 6/14 at 11:00 am and 6/19 at 11:00 am

6/13 is the Monday we embark and we disembark on the 20th.

 

[lovingeire]

I have been agonizing over transportation decisions. We had really hoped to take the Amtrak Cascade from Vancouver to Seattle on the way home, but that is looking less likely after they had them available and then removed them from the site. (And reports of those who did book seeing canceled trips without communication from Amtrak...) I bit the bullet and purchased our flights to Vancouver. I had really wanted to connect through an American city so we didn't have to do customs over a layover so I bought the "ideal" flights for us. They had actually gone down a little over $100 each so we bit the bullet. Now we can get on the cruise. Hopefully soon I'll figure out how we're getting home!

 

[lovingeire]

Today the countdown on the DCL ap turned to 7 days (and some hours and minutes, etc...). At this point next week, we'll know whether we are boarding the cruise or not after testing at home prior to boarding. I am filled with anxiety about these tests. While an unexpected cost, at least we'll know before we leave for Vancouver. I have to attend graduation at my school today and it's adding to my anxiety being with a lot of people I don't know or regularly interact with. All that stress and anxiety aside, we are finalizing some details for our cruise.

We have adjusted our reservation at the Pan Pacific to only the one night prior to our cruise. We also decided to cancel our post-cruise stay at the Pan Pacific and opted for another downtown hotel. We are staying at a Hampton Inn and Suites only a few blocks away which is half the price and has breakfast included. While our budget allowed for the Pan Pacific, we decided we were paying for the convenience of being near the port originally when we planned the trip and now that the Vancouver portion is after the cruise we don't need to pay for that convenience.

After having some hiccups in the road with transportation and being summoned for jury duty on the day the cruise leaves I realize I've failed to connect with family so that is on my to-do list. I know one of my cousins is currently in Europe where my other cousin lives. So hopefully I'll still be able to visit some family. My last-minute self is definitely coming in to play here.

We have FB group meetup planned for embarkation day that I set up. The admins of our group have all backed out of the cruise for various reasons so I figured I would try to set it up. I'm contemplating a pub crawl, but also having trouble finding a time that would work to set one up with our tastings and Palo brunch, etc. There seemed to be interest from the group though.

So we begin packing, final assembly of fish extenders, and pray for negative tests and flights that take off. It's the final countdown!

 

[Hakele]

So exciting! It's almost here! Thanks for sharing your wind up to Alaska. I hope that everything goes well for you the rest of this week.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

I hope you have an amazing time!!! I will be thinking of you!