Which Dawes Glacier Excursion to book? Early or late

[Stefy]

Am hoping to do this excursion in September. Before I thought that we definitely wanted to do the first tour and go ahead of the Wonder but in all honesty I think any time is fine for us as we have second seating for dinner so I don't see us missing that.

My only concern now is seeing the characters in their Alaskan outfits on deck. That is something I definitely do not want to miss. So my thoughts are now on when the best time is for that.

The tours are going at 12pm and 3pm, so I'm wondering if the second one is better to book so that we have the morning (or whenever the Wonder arrives in Dawes) to line up for the characters and then do the excursion in the afternoon.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Am hoping to do this excursion in September. Before I thought that we definitely wanted to do the first tour and go ahead of the Wonder but in all honesty I think any time is fine for us as we have second seating for dinner so I don't see us missing that.

My only concern now is seeing the characters in their Alaskan outfits on deck. That is something I definitely do not want to miss. So my thoughts are now on when the best time is for that.

The tours are going at 12pm and 3pm, so I'm wondering if the second one is better to book so that we have the morning (or whenever the Wonder arrives in Dawes) to line up for the characters and then do the excursion in the afternoon.

We just did this excursion last week. If it is a priority for you to see the characters on deck in their outfits, I would suggest doing the later excursion. We got all of our pictures with the characters before the excursion. Since you mention you are late dining, it will not affect you but we did not get back to the Wonder until 6:30 so missed our early dining slot and had to switch to late dining for the day.

 

[Stefy]

We just did this excursion last week. If it is a priority for you to see the characters on deck in their outfits, I would suggest doing the later excursion. We got all of our pictures with the characters before the excursion. Since you mention you are late dining, it will not affect you but we did not get back to the Wonder until 6:30 so missed our early dining slot and had to switch to late dining for the day.

Thank you for that, the second excursion sounds like the one we need to do then. If we can book it that is, I know people from our sailing have been saying things are being booked up pretty quickly and that's just from Platinum to Gold.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Thank you for that, the second excursion sounds like the one we need to do then. If we can book it that is, I know people from our sailing have been saying things are being booked up pretty quickly and that's just from Platinum to Gold.

We were silver and got it. We booked the second we could though.

 

[Stefy]

We were silver and got it. We booked the second we could though.

Yeah it’ll be the first one I search for when my window opens. Fingers crossed

 

[Lesley Wake]

We just did this excursion last week. If it is a priority for you to see the characters on deck in their outfits, I would suggest doing the later excursion. We got all of our pictures with the characters before the excursion. Since you mention you are late dining, it will not affect you but we did not get back to the Wonder until 6:30 so missed our early dining slot and had to switch to late dining for the day.

I haven't seen recent navigators. Was it the Frozen menu on glacier day, or was that the next day?

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I haven't seen recent navigators. Was it the Frozen menu on glacier day, or was that the next day?

Glacier Day

 

[jldcherry]

We just did this excursion last week. If it is a priority for you to see the characters on deck in their outfits, I would suggest doing the later excursion. We got all of our pictures with the characters before the excursion. Since you mention you are late dining, it will not affect you but we did not get back to the Wonder until 6:30 so missed our early dining slot and had to switch to late dining for the day.

Did you feel the small boat was a great experience? We're still on the fence about doing this on our sailing June 20.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Did you feel the small boat was a great experience? We're still on the fence about doing this on our sailing June 20.

I really enjoyed it, especially as it was our first time to Alaska. We got quite a bit closer to the glacier than the Wonder. If you have been before or have been pretty close to a glacier, it is probably not as important.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

I really enjoyed it, especially as it was our first time to Alaska. We got quite a bit closer to the glacier than the Wonder. If you have been before or have been pretty close to a glacier, it is probably not as important.

I would second this. I loved when we did it. It was our first time in Alaska or around glaciers at all. This tour started our love of glaciers. We've since traveled to others in parts of the world, and if I had been to those first, I might not have been as impressed. Only because now I have gotten even close to a glacier. I wouldn't hesitate to book this adventure if it looks interesting to you.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I went on the second excursion and my husband took the first, and we swapped the kids. I took the kids to see Alaska Minnie while he went on his excursion, we would have missed her if we had been on it because her line was the longest. However, I think pics with other characters on the deck were available later, like Goofy. We had booked Palo for dinner this evening because it was the Frozen night menu, if I remember correctly. The kids ate dinner in the club/nursery, but we also got them some food from room service so we didn't drop them off hungry.

It was just the menu in the restaurant - BUT the Frozen deck party was in between the dinner seatings and our Palo dinner went long enough (because we ordered the soufflé) that we missed it, I believe it started at 7:30. We could see the "snoapflakes" released by Elsa float by the window at Palo. I don't know if they're still doing that deck party post-covid, our sailing was in 2019.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I really enjoyed it, especially as it was our first time to Alaska. We got quite a bit closer to the glacier than the Wonder. If you have been before or have been pretty close to a glacier, it is probably not as important.

It was the one I was most on the fence about and it was my favorite excursion of the trip. The Wonder didn't come anywhere near as close, but that can vary by day.

 

[jldcherry]

It was the one I was most on the fence about and it was my favorite excursion of the trip. The Wonder didn't come anywhere near as close, but that can vary by day.

Thank you for the information! My DH is all in on doing it because it's our first and probably only time to Alaska and our first time seeing a glacier. Just concerned about the logistics of feeding our kids since we'll miss dinner and apparently Cabanas is closed. We're from the East Coast so second dinner is way too late for us. I guess room service will be our only option?

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Thank you for the information! My DH is all in on doing it because it's our first and probably only time to Alaska and our first time seeing a glacier. Just concerned about the logistics of feeding our kids since we'll miss dinner and apparently Cabanas is closed. We're from the East Coast so second dinner is way too late for us. I guess room service will be our only option?

Or a quick run to Petes Boiler Bites for burgers and fries. You can make it a "special" meal by framing it as a fun chance to eat all the fries and soft serve ice cream (right around the corner) you want for dinner. Sometimes it's the simple things that make the most fun memories. Or make a fun night out of room service. If you want to do this excursion don't stress over finding food. There is ALWAYS some sort of food option on the cruise.

 

[jldcherry]

I would second this. I loved when we did it. It was our first time in Alaska or around glaciers at all. This tour started our love of glaciers. We've since traveled to others in parts of the world, and if I had been to those first, I might not have been as impressed. Only because now I have gotten even close to a glacier. I wouldn't hesitate to book this adventure if it looks interesting to you.

You have great information! One more question, do we need heavy coats for this excursion? We plan to layer fleece and raincoats for most other days. We will have hats and gloves.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

You have great information! One more question, do we need heavy coats for this excursion? We plan to layer fleece and raincoats for most other days. We will have hats and gloves.

I suppose that depends on your tolerance to cold and what the weather is that day. We wore several layers (t-shirt, long sleeve, fleece sweatshirt) and jeans and we were fine. I forgot my raincoat back on the Wonder and my top layer sweatshirt was rather soaked by the end, but once-in-a-life-time event so I just rolled with it. Unless you are from a very very warm place and get cold very easy I wouldn't bother lugging around a winter coat. Heavy and bulky to pack and overall not necessary. I suggest layers and a windbreaker or rain coat. Especially if you plan to stand outside while the boat is sailing through the "Arm", which I highly recommend. It can get rather windy on the boat however. Yes to hats and gloves. This was the only place I wore either in Alaska, but having them, and being outside in the wind and rain for that long, made it comfortable. As Captain Fabian (Disney Wonder Captain often in Alaska) says "Dress like onion, in layers."

As a side note, put a pair of shorts or convertible pants in your suitcase for the trip. We ended up with one day in Alaska when it was 80F! We were rather warm because we had packed for 50s and 60s. I would have been very happy to have had that one pair of short to wear around that day.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

You have great information! One more question, do we need heavy coats for this excursion? We plan to layer fleece and raincoats for most other days. We will have hats and gloves.

Yes, layer up as water and wind proof as you can if you plan on being on deck. I had my mirrorless camera and my big zoom lens and my fingers got numb, because the air is so cold when the boat is moving quickly. A lot of folks stayed inside when it was moving and only came out once we were close to the glacier, but I wanted to be out enjoying the scenery the whole time. I was wearing a fleece, a packable down jacket, and a rain shell, but I would have been happy to have more. And gloves, even fingerless ones would have been great.

 

[Stefy]

Yes, layer up as water and wind proof as you can if you plan on being on deck. I had my mirrorless camera and my big zoom lens and my fingers got numb, because the air is so cold when the boat is moving quickly. A lot of folks stayed inside when it was moving and only came out once we were close to the glacier, but I wanted to be out enjoying the scenery the whole time. I was wearing a fleece, a packable down jacket, and a rain shell, but I would have been happy to have more. And gloves, even fingerless ones would have been great.

This is what I plan to do too, get me all wrapped up for the journey and enjoy being outside with the beautiful scenery. Then a nice hot shower once we get back on the boat and some hot cocoa