You’ll never get me on a cruise. Unless it’s to ALASKA! Recap and New PTR Link! 2/1

[eandesmom]

Just like the ride there - WOW! Those ice fields are amazing. Double WOW! Oh and those placemats are too cute. I can't believe they come complete with the rest room location. That IS important, ya know!

You picked a great excursion!

I confess, those restrooms came in handy! The ice fields were mind boggling, I really couldn't get enough of them.

It was worth every penney

The show is so cute.

Great puppy pic!

I'm so happy that both boys wanted to, asked to, get their pics with their favorite characters and with just how stinkin cute the pictures turned out. Worth buying the shutters package just for those 2 pics if you ask me!

Wow - what an amazing excursion! And Toy Story looks pretty impressive too!

Toy story was very impressive, we really enjoyed it. I am so glad we did the excursion we did, it was just incredible.

Those placemats are super cute. I am all about things like that! LOL!

The ice fields are just amazing -- I never get tired of looking at them!

I never got tired of them either. I'd forgotten I'd saved the placemats and when I went to check the navigator as to remind me what we did that evening, voila!

What a cool view from your exercise bike! I might be more inclined to exercise if that was my view! LOL!

Sounds like a lovely rest of the evening -- too bad the dessert buffet was just meh.

Well it's probably just me on the dessert thing. I'm not a big buffet person or a dessert person period so I wasn't wowed. It wasn't bad mind you and everyone else seemed to enjoy it but it's just not my thing.

The view when we were in the gym on Tracy Arm day was cool but not nearly as fun as watching us sail out of port! All thoughts of using anything but the bike went out the window as I wouldn't have had the same view.

Hahaha Jackie...I agree about the view from the bike...it sure would make exercising more fun Or just fun at all

It certainly made the time go by fast!

Love the ice fields....wow!! What a spectacular view!!! So cool I must say I was just on HD's cruise TR getting caught up everywhere and the experience is like night and day but I love them both! Love the TS show and the mutant toys

Tracy

Too funny, I was reading hers over the weekend and had the exact same thought! Though hers made me want to go to St. Maarten NOW!

 

[eandesmom]

It must be really cool to see that ice from the air like that. Really neat pictures.

I'm glad that Eric got his Pluto picture.

I'm glad Eric got his Pluto picture too. I wish he'd had his Alaska bandana on but oh well. It was unbelievable seeing the ice from the air.

Oh my! I love those views!! Amazing!!! I know I said it before but I can't even imagine what it must be like to see those views in person! One day!!!!!

It sounds like a nice night on the boat! Minus the hideous photo and the meh parts!

Well I'm sure it's just me on the meh dessert, I don't like buffets and can generally take or leave dessert so the whole thing just wasn't my scene. The E's thought it was the bomb! Chocolate fountains will do that. It was a really nice night. Actually an incredible day, start to finish.

What stunning views, Cynthia, and what a great day. Love the plane photos. Glad you enjoyed the adult version of the magician.

It was a great day! It was the first time we really sat though any of the adult shows and did enjoy it quite a bit.

Your pictures are amazing and really capture how unique Alaska is. And that picture of the port truly captures how beautiful the Disney ships are compared to the others.

It is the prettiest isn't it! Jeff would crack me up, every time we were in port all 3 boys would go on and on about how much prettier the Wonder was.

It's funny, in many ways a lot of Alaska really did feel and look like home. Until you get next to glaciers and ice fields! And then, Oh My!

The flight back was spectacular again! And I very much understand how getting back to the ship with so little time to spare would be a bit scary! That is one of the things which I am thinking about when cruising. While I can imagine going off on my own instead of an official excursion I would always be afraid of not making it back to the ship in time...

I'm not sure that the stress of missing the ship would be worth the savings. On some excursions I suppose the savings can be considerable and if you were very careful with the planning and allowed for lots of buffer, it could work. Personally I'll stick with booking through Disney if we do an excursion at all.

Thanks for the info on the moss in the trees! It does indeed look like a fantasy world. The Pacific Northwest is definitely on the list of places I want to visit and I will make sure to include that park!

And a stop by Seattle on your way there!! It's not exactly around the corner, probably a good 2.5 hours including the ferry ride to get there (it's been a while) but once you are over there, there is lots to do. You have the rugged Pacific Coast and the Rain Forest right next to each other. And if you are Twilight fan...good old Forks is smack in the middle of it all!

 

[Chilly]

Me and DH are thinking of doing this cruise in May so its been great to read your report. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[natebenma]

A beautiful ending to your excursion and your day. The photos from the plane are so very pretty! Love the co-pilot pictures. Did the boys flip a coin???

I agree with everyone about the placemats. Very cool! I was going to ask you if you saved them (one), so I'm glad you mentioned you did.

The costumes in the Toy Story show are awesome! Looks like a really fun show.

I think it is great that you were comfortable letting the boys do some exploring alone/with friends. The environment on the boat is certainly safe enough. Really, where can they go? So it was certainly a good opportunity to test their independence.

 

[closetmickey]

Great report! A question: were the port times as short as they are for the 2012 Alaska cruises? If so, how did this work out for you and your family?

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

I was about 5 updates behind but all caught up now! Wow, Alaska is just beautiful! Love the pictures of the eagles and the bear in the tree.

Your excursion to the glacier looked like so much fun! How cool to ride in that plane!

The Toy Story show looked really cute!

 

[eandesmom]

Me and DH are thinking of doing this cruise in May so its been great to read your report. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks and

A beautiful ending to your excursion and your day. The photos from the plane are so very pretty! Love the co-pilot pictures. Did the boys flip a coin???

Honestly I'm not sure how that played out, all 3 boys were in front of me and by the time I got on, Evan was seated. Eric didn't seem upset (and heavens knows his meltdowns are legendary) so I didn't question it.

I agree with everyone about the placemats. Very cool! I was going to ask you if you saved them (one), so I'm glad you mentioned you did.

The costumes in the Toy Story show are awesome! Looks like a really fun show.

I think it is great that you were comfortable letting the boys do some exploring alone/with friends. The environment on the boat is certainly safe enough. Really, where can they go? So it was certainly a good opportunity to test their independence.

It wasn't so much, at any point in the cruise, about where could they go but more of will they stop/return at the appointed time and can we get hold of them. Thankfully they never tested it where we had to try and find them, that was my biggest fear.

It was a really fun show

Great report! A question: were the port times as short as they are for the 2012 Alaska cruises? If so, how did this work out for you and your family?

Thanks!

I'm not sure what they are for the 2012 one but I know when the announced Seattle as the departure there were a lot of complaints about shorter port times as a result of that change. Since we live here were were happy we left out of Vancouver on ours, I've done the trip by ship many times and would have felt like I was seeing things I'd already seen.

We had 12 hours in Skagway, 8.5 in Juneau and 7.5 in Ketchikan. Initially I was a little worried about the shorter times in Juneau and Ketchikan but it worked out fine. We could have used another hour or 2 in Juneau (but then I'd have probably skipped the workout with a view so it's likely for the best) but Ketchikan was fine. Then again, we didn't have an excursion in Ketchikan. If we had I might have felt it was a little short, not sure.

I was about 5 updates behind but all caught up now! Wow, Alaska is just beautiful! Love the pictures of the eagles and the bear in the tree.

Your excursion to the glacier looked like so much fun! How cool to ride in that plane!

The Toy Story show looked really cute!

I'm about 5 updates behind everywhere myself.

It is incredibly pretty in the panhandle, I am SO glad we went on this cruise!

 

[englishrose47]

Awesome shots of the ice Cynthia !!! I would have stayed up for the dessert buffet too!!!!

 

[Poolrat]

Amazing shots of the trip back.

Glad you got a workout and a view in as you left port. Looks like a cute Toy Story show and I am sure the magician's adult show was great.

 

[eandesmom]

Awesome shots of the ice Cynthia !!! I would have stayed up for the dessert buffet too!!!!

Thanks Rosie

Amazing shots of the trip back.

Glad you got a workout and a view in as you left port. Looks like a cute Toy Story show and I am sure the magician's adult show was great.

The workout with a view is a serious benefit, and motivator! I thought of you yesterday as I went in for my sinus surgery. It was a septoplasty plus a bilateral sinus drainage procedure (roto rooter + re-route lol). This whole not being able to blow my nose thing is hard!

 

[closetmickey]

Thanks and



Thanks!

I'm not sure what they are for the 2012 one but I know when the announced Seattle as the departure there were a lot of complaints about shorter port times as a result of that change. Since we live here were were happy we left out of Vancouver on ours, I've done the trip by ship many times and would have felt like I was seeing things I'd already seen.

We had 12 hours in Skagway, 8.5 in Juneau and 7.5 in Ketchikan. Initially I was a little worried about the shorter times in Juneau and Ketchikan but it worked out fine. We could have used another hour or 2 in Juneau (but then I'd have probably skipped the workout with a view so it's likely for the best) but Ketchikan was fine. Then again, we didn't have an excursion in Ketchikan. If we had I might have felt it was a little short, not sure.

They are quite a bit shorter this summer, then. Juneau's port time is 7:45-2:00 and Ketchikan is only 7:15-12:30!

 

[eandesmom]

They are quite a bit shorter this summer, then. Juneau's port time is 7:45-2:00 and Ketchikan is only 7:15-12:30!

Ugh, that's quite a bit shorter! The crummy part about the early times like that is a lot of things aren't even open when you get into port. We had enough time that we never hit the ground right away, not heading into port until about 9-9:30 am.

I guess with those times I'd shoot for early excursions if you are doing any, but it'd be hard to do any that include much in the way of a lunch, it'd be more like brunch! If you aren't doing excursions, you'll be fine though. A lot of the excursions are pretty long though, I wonder if they will adjust the offerings, you could use up your entire port time on some of them and some flat out wouldn't work at all.

On the plus side you do get Victoria but the times are really really odd in the reverse as I can't imagine that much is open that late beyond having dinner and even dinner might be a challenge on a Sunday night!

 

[Poolrat]

The workout with a view is a serious benefit, and motivator! I thought of you yesterday as I went in for my sinus surgery. It was a septoplasty plus a bilateral sinus drainage procedure (roto rooter + re-route lol). This whole not being able to blow my nose thing is hard!

I would blot and actually position the tissues so that I am not sticking them up my nose but close. After a while a gentle blow would do the trick.

I hope you are feeling relief soon and back to yourself in a couple of days.

 

[eandesmom]

I would blot and actually position the tissues so that I am not sticking them up my nose but close. After a while a gentle blow would do the trick.

I hope you are feeling relief soon and back to yourself in a couple of days.

I'll be glad when I am allowed to do a gentle blow. I was doing that with the tissues yesterday, today is all about the sneezing. YUCK! It is a ton better mind you and I'm sure will continue to be so. Then again, pain meds help.

 

[eandesmom]

Today would be our last day in port. However we weren’t getting to port until 12:30 which meant for a nice morning on board.

Jeff and I got up, left the kids happily parked in front of the TV and went for our morning stroll around the promenade ,putting in our little 1 mile walk. It was pretty grey and drippy out, and windy! As we’d round the corners we’d feel ourselves blow…literally!. Still, it was nice to be out and though the weather did not look good we were glad that this was the one port we hadn’t booked an excursion in. We’d really hoped to do a hike, having found a great one we could walk to from the dock but the weather indicated it would be rather pointless. Most likely just wet, muddy and no views which did bum us out, we’d all been looking forward to the hike. Without it…we didn’t really have a plan, the only other option we’d considered that wasn’t outdoors, the Lumberjack show, didn’t thrill any of the 3 boys so it seemed silly to spend the money on it. We weren’t worried though, of all the ports in some ways Ketchikan looked to be the cutest to stroll through so we hoped that would be the case and we’d just check out the town. I couldn’t get anyone interested in the Totem Pole park or museums(and to be fair, it’s not like we have a shortage of totem poles or Native American museums around here ) so we decided to just head in after breakfast and play it by ear.
Walk complete we filled our mugs with hot water to make some Via in the room before getting the troops up and heading to breakfast. 7 night cruises include a character breakfast and today was ours!

Breakfast was in Parrot Cay. I like Parrot Cay, I like the theming of it and the characters were dressed to match it. Which…is fun but I really think that for the Alaska cruise it would have been far cooler to have them in their Alaska outfits. They seemed a little out of place in their tropical outfits. Oh well. It was a menu breakfast, nothing all that exciting but it hit the spot. In general I would say breakfast is a weaker spot in the food line up on board. That said, we didn’t try sit down breakfast at Triton’s which may be a more expanded menu, nor did we try it for lunch and that might cause me to revisit my opinion on that. It was fine but very basic. I’ll probably stick to the buffet for breakfast on the next cruise and if we do the 4 day one, there won’t be a character breakfast anyway. Dinners more than made up for it and is all we really cared about so it really wasn’t a big deal.
While we were ordering, the characters started making the rounds. In typical Disney Character Breakfast it was the rushed interaction, making sure they did the whole room, CM’s checking to see who had been by yet and moving them along quickly.

Pluto

Minnie

Chip

While character breakfast on a cruise works pretty much the same as one in WDW…there is the exception of the CM’s decorating you!

With napkins.

Everyone gets to be a character this way.

First up, Peter Pan

Goofy

Pluto

And I got Pocahontas. Which kept falling over my eye! To get it to stay it had to be on tight and then my face was a bit squished. Not the best pics of me for sure.

Appropriately attired, the characters continued to come by

Dale

And finally the big man himself

The motley crew

It really was a very fun breakfast, even if it did feel a bit rushed. Finishing up around 11:30 we headed back to the room to get changed. Why change? Well…let’s put it this way. Ketchikan has a few nicknames.

Alaska's First City

Salmon Capital of the World

And….

Rain Capital of Alaska!


Given what we were seeing outside, we needed to dress appropriately!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Cynthia! Sounds like your surgery went well. I hope you are resting and recovering and that you can blow soon

The character breakfast is fun - we skipped it on our first cruise, then attended because our whole table was last time - we were glad we did!

I'm looking forward to your Ketchikan time - I thought this looked like the most fun port to walk around in.

 

[tinacaplan]

I LOVE the funny napkin hats. Great pictures. And its nice to see the boys still enjoy the characters. I see what you mean about the attire, though...tropical? What?

Hope you're feeling better, too!

 

[Poolrat]

Looks like a fun breakfast. I like the different napkin hats.

I hope you continue to heal and can blow your nose real soon.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Fun character breakfast!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

The pictures from your excursion of the glacier RIGHT THERE made me shout for Joe...he agreed - veryyyyyyy cool. Even Henry said, "Wow!" Beautiful, beautiful!

Love the character breakfast pictures! I have seen those in other TRs but had never heard the description of WHAT they were, love that they are representing various characters!