Disney Wonder May 29 trip report in Alaska!

Starting today I will post my trip reports for the Alaskan Cruise on the Disney Wonder!

I will post the link (webpage is plaidshirtyogapants.com) so y'all can view the pics and formatting but will also paste the plain text on this board!

This trip report will be quite lengthy and I play to cover each day on Thursday...it just might take me a while to get it onto Cruise Critic!

I would be so happy for y'all to read, comment and ask questions!

You can read and comment on the message board or head on over to my blog (http://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/06/15/disney-alaskan-cruise-embarkation/) to see all the photos and formatting!

Welcome to my first post for my detailed Trip ReportCruising to Alaska on the Disney Wonder.

Embarkation day beings with the family packing everything upfrom our three-day trip in Vancouver, and walking over to Canada Place. Whenpacking, we made sure that our carry-ons had all of the essentials includingbut not limited to: passports, medications, 24 bottles of water, two bottles ofwine per person (six for our family), cameras and lenses, and binoculars.

In hindsight, our family had over packed, so we took a taxifrom Delta Vancouver Hotels and Suites to Canada Place. We told our taxi thatwe were going on a Cruise, but there was some confusion on where we needed tobe dropped off. Finally, with some clarification, we were able to get our taxito drop us off in the Passenger drop-off zone, which is down a ramp off the footof Howe Street. There is a Sign that says “Cruise Ship Terminal Ramp Access” –this is where you want the taxi to turn.

Disney – Have A Magical Cruise

Once the taxi dropped us, and all the bags off, the Disneycast and crew started taking over, and the magic began. Our luggage already hadour Disney stateroom identification on it, so the attendant was able to takethe luggage (we would later see it around 5 pm).Once the crew collected ourluggage, we went on our merry way to continue with the check-in process.

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblogCanada Place was very wellorganized when it comes to finding your way around to get on the proper cruiseship. Luckily, the port was not too busy because only the Disney Wonder andNorwegian Sun and everyone had signs directing you to which holding area oneneeded to go to for check-in.

We were supposed to board between 12-12:30 pm, but my sisterhad a snafu with her luggage, so we didn’t board until closer to 2:30-3:00 pm.The only good thing about boarding so late is that there was barely anyone inline! We then took an elevator up so we could continue on with the check inprocess.

Since this was our first cruise, we, of course, didn’t knowwhat we were expecting to do. We had read online that the process could takebetween 1-2 hours so we were nervous about waiting in long lines since we cameso late. in the day We entered

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

Guest Check-in

the Disney check in area and went straight to booth 12.There weren’t any lines, but Disney was prepared with long queues and chairsfor those waiting to sit. During check-in, our cast member had us smoosh ourfaces together to take one big selfie. Now I thought this was strange (whywouldn’t we take individual photos?). But I guess if something happened tosomeone in our party they would be able to identify us easily as a group.

We the received a card with our booking number 23, roomnumber 7120, and a note saying that our room would be ready at 1:30 pm. We werealso given our Keys to the World and the Welcome Aboard Navigator.

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

Welcome Aboard! Boarding number 23 and room number 7120!

The only area that had a line was the Youth Activities. Wedidn’t need to sign anyone up for these activities (I’m the youngest of ourcrew at 30). If you are traveling with children, you should sign them up fortheir activities before boarding the ship because there are even longer linesto combat with once onboard.

Security

After the check-in process, we were ushered to go throughcustoms and security. Mom was given a little green rectangle since she was inthe transport chair and we didn’t have to wait in all of the lines until it wastime to actually. Since they prefer for people of the same party to staytogether while going through customs, we were not able to go through the fastlane, but the wait wasn’t extremely long.

Our last stop before we could board the ship was hoisting upour luggage to show a cast member the six bottles of wine we were bringing onboard. He just needed to inspect the wine label and that each bottle wassealed.

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

But first, let me take a selfie

After about an hour or so of checking in, customs, andsecurity we were ready to board the ship! There were multiple areas where wecould have had our photos taken by cast members, but we quickly declined. Weare more of a “let’s take photos of our trips” instead of “having photos takenof us” type of family. All three of us took our Key to the World and buzzedinto the ship. We walked down a long gangway where we then boarded on thefourth deck where a cast member asked me what our last name was.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Stepping onto the ship, a cast member said into a microphone“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Lindsly family!” as we walked intothe atrium. It felt like we were movie stars!

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

Many people add door decorations to spruce up the hallwayand to find their room!

Since we boarded behind schedule, Mom and Ally’s job was togo straight to the room and hang the door hanger while mine was to go to guestservices to figure out a couple of things.

Guest Services

How do I get the free 50 MB of Internet?

a. The Back of the Navigator tells you! You log onto theDCL-Guest WiFi network, go to http://www.dclguest.com and create an account, and getyour free 50 MB package per person in your stateroom! Each person must sign upfor his or her own accounts.

2. What Beverage Seminars can I sign up for?

a. By the time we signed up, many of the sessions werealready filled, so we signed up for a Mojito tasting, a whiskey tasting, and acognac tasting. We ended up canceling the cognac tasting later in the week.

A couple of other things that I could have taken care of butthey were all taken care of before I even got on the ship. But here are somethings you may need to do when boarding the ship:

Changing a dining assignment.

Getting Palo Reservations

Signing up children for Youth Activities.

Getting Meet & Greet Tickets for character greetings.

Reserving Excursions.

Booking Spa & Salon services.

Lunch and Safety Drill

After running up to our room to lighten up my purse, myfamily headed to Cabanas for a buffet style lunch before we had to do theMandatory Guest Assembly Drill. We were very overwhelmed with the number offood choices that we all opted to grab some fried chicken, put it on a salad,and grabbed some random odds and ends – French fries, ice cream, egg rolls,etc. Our plans were to go to Triton’s, but it was only open from 11:45-1:30 pm.If you dined at Triton’s, you would have more of a sit-down dinner, instead ofa buffet style lunch.

From 3:45-4:15 pm all ship activities and services weresuspended, and we reported to Animator’s Palate as our designated disasterdrill. Luckily we were inside because some people were outside for the drill!During this time we shared a table with another family, and they told us all oftheir past stories on other Disney Cruises, we ran into them a couple of timeson the ship later in the week. Once the drill started, the cast membersinstructed us what we needed to do in case of an emergency and then we wereallowed to leave to enjoy the rest of the evening!

Sail Away Deck Party

Mom and Ally went to the Deck 9 Stage Party to get a goodseat, while I ran down to Port Excursions. The Port Excursions Desk sent me anote asking about the accessibility issues of our cabin since I hadpre-registered mom’s transport chair and cane. The note was to make sure thatmom was able to board the Tracy Arm Excursion.

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

Mallory with her Sail Away Drink.

After meeting the family on Deck 9, my mom and sistergreeted me with a Sail away Cocktail! My first cocktail of the trip was astrawberry daiquiri and pina colada blend that tasted like it had minimalalcohol. Once the show started, the ship took off from Canada Place, and allcast members and characters started dancing and joining in on the fun. The SailAway Show is quite fun to watch, and if you can, grab a spot on Deck 10 to getan overlook of the entire party. During the show, the ship sailed under theLions Gate Bridge.

After the Sail Away Party, we went to our room to open ourfirst two bottles of wine – See Ya Later Sparkling Brut with See Ya Later VidalIce Wine – so we could make a Canadian Mimosa. We sat on the balcony to enjoythe scenery and plan out the rest of our evening and the week by looking at thedigital navigator.

Evening Activities

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

Cheese Plate from room service

We were supposed to go to Animator’s Palace the first nightfor dinner but decided that we were full from lunch and just wanted to relax.Skipping dinner apparently made our host Winston very nervous because when heentered our room, he asked us “Why didn’t you go to dinner!” We assured himthat we were fine (I had ordered a cheese plate and some salads from roomservice) and that we would be promptly out of our stateroom for the 8:30 pmshowing of Be Our Guest.

We ended our first day by watching the Broadway style show –Be Our Guest! On the way into the theater, one can buy drinks, candy, orpopcorn – but honestly, with all the free food on the boat, I don’t see why onewould need to buy additional snacks.

Be Our Guest was the Welcome Aboard show, which showcased alittle snippet of every each show for the rest of the cruise. We saw pieces ofPeter Pan, Frozen, Magic of Kalin & Jinger, Music & Comedy of JohnCharles. The funny thing about this later show is that all the children come intheir pajamas and one by one their parents had to take them out of the theaterand back to their the stateroom. I did notice that most of the kids either paidsuper attention to the show or were wiggling around in their seats. One funfact – if you wanted to skip the show you can always catch the show fourdifferent times on your stateroom’s television screen.

Disney Alaskan Cruise review of the boarding process atCanada Place and Embarkation day from Vancouver to the Inside passage ofAlaska. #Tripreport #plaidshirtyogapants #travelblog

Swan – our first towel animal

After the show, my family did some exploring while walkingback to our stateroom. Since we were forward and close to the gym, my sisterand I ran up to see if we could join the spin class for the next morning. Wewere numbers nine and ten on the waiting list of only ten bikes, so we didn’teven attempt to go to spin class for that second day. Once we entered back intoour room, we received our first towel animal – a swan!

The next day – May 30 – was our first full day at Sea. Wespent most of the evening sitting on the balcony and comparing the digitalnavigator to the paper navigator trying to figure out everything we wanted todo on our first full sea day.

Enjoying your review. Will be following along.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

Enjoying your review. Will be following along.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

Thanks easyboy! I'm currently reviewing all the restaurants and Day 2 - Sea day for posts later this week!

After lurking on the message board for months - I've learned that Disney (and cruise!) people love food! Please read (and feel free to comment here or on the blog) my review of the first few days for the food on board the Disney Wonder on our Alaskan Cruise.

As always, the plain text is below and the link (for formatting and pictures!) is here http://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/06/20/disney-wonder-restaurants/

There are many different places to eat while on a Disney Cruise Boat. Disney has a unique experience called rotational dining where guests get to enjoy all three themed dining venues while on board. Once guests receive their Key to the World card, they also receive their rotational dining.

Our dining was: Triton’s, Animator’s Palate, Tiana’s Place, Triton’s, Animator’s Palate, Tiana’s Place, and Triton's.

We missed our first night of dining, due to eating a late lunch, and missed the second night of Animator’s Palate because we had Palo reservations.

I do not suggest missing the first night of dinner because it throws the servers all off their game and all the activities for the whole week.

Here is my review our dining experience for the Days 1-3 on the Disney Wonder.

Day 1 – Room Service for Dinner; Embarkation

We ordered two All Hands on Deck cheese plates and three Chicken Caesar Salads from room service. The room service menu has a little bit of everything for anyone in your party. You can order anything from appetizers, chicken fingers, hamburgers, or Mickey Bars 24/7. You can also order alcohol, sodas, candy, or bottle waters for a nominal fee. With Disney’s loose alcohol policy, the ability to bring any closed snack packages on board, and water – I do not see a reason to order any of the food items that cost additional.

To order room service, one just picks up the phone, place the request, and wait the allotted amount of time for the food. I never had an issue with the speed of delivery, but a few times I called they didn’t pick up the phone, so I hung up and called right back. Room service delivered our cheese plates and salads in about 35 minutes.

Days 2-6 Room Service for Breakfast

Each evening we would fill out the Room Service Continental Breakfast for the next day. Our order would typically be a couple of orange juices (to make mimosas!), fresh fruit bowl, Danish Pastries, Croissants, selections of Jams, and two carafes of coffee. You can select anytime you want your breakfast to be delivered to your room between 5:00 am-9:30 am in 30-minute increments. Depending if we had an excursion or not we had breakfast delivered between 6:00 am – 7:00 am.

The breakfast wasn’t anything spectacular, but we wanted to make sure that we hot coffee in the morning. The coffee wasn’t that great either (New Orleans natives usually brew their coffee quite strong), so when we docked at Skagway, my family decided that they needed to buy some Starbucks Via Instant Coffee.

Also, there is no option to order half and half with your coffee, the only place where I found half and half was at the 24/7 soda, coffee, and tea station on deck nine. I just took a large cup and filled it with half and half every other night, so no one had to worry about running up to get it in the morning.

Day 2 - Triton’s for breakfast – Sea Day

I ordered a Traditional Eggs Benedict and Grits for my breakfast. The grits were quite thin and bland, so I tried spicing it up with some cheese and salt and pepper, but that did not help this item (note a non-New Orleanian probably wouldn’t mind the grits). The Eggs Benedict was delicious and cooked to perfection.

Day 2 – Cabana’s for lunch – Sea Day

Lunch at the cabanas on a sea day is insane! Granted, I knew this because everyone is trapped on the same ship, but this was the only time on vacation I ever realized there was a significant number of kids on board.

Like any buffet, you want to assess the situation of what are the food choices. Everything looked very similar from the day before, except they had a small Mexican section for Taco Tuesday. I opted to make myself a fried chicken salad (salad from the salad bar, chicken from the hot food line), tried some lo mein, French fries, a myriad of desserts, and of course ice cream!

I should have tried the fixings for Taco Tuesday because I didn't see any other Mexican dishes the whole week.

Day 2 – Mojito and Caipirinha Tasting – Sea Day

On Embarkation day, we signed up for a Mojito tasting for our first day at Sea. The class cost $20 per person and was well worth the price. When we arrived at the D-Lounge, we sat down at a table, and there were three glasses per person with limes, mint, and rum already in them, Sprite, a muddler, and stirrers.

The class lasted about 45 minutes (or maybe we just stayed late!) and was very enjoyable and actually educational. We went through a step by step process to learn how to create a delicious mojito. We muddled the limes and sugar with the rum (don’t muddle the mint!) and added Sprite or Club Soda to taste.

After having three mojitos, varying in different rums and fruit within them, we moved on to make a Caipirinha. Now, I had only had a Caipirinha once in my life (it was in New York at a bar called Lava Gina – I kid you not) and did not enjoy it. But this vacation was all about trying new things!

A Caipirinha is sugar, lime, and Cachaça, very similar to rum. Even though these were not as easy to drink as a Mojito, it was still a refreshing drink and was interesting to learn the history.

Day 2 – Animator's Palate for dinner – Sea Day

Our first rotational dinner look the cake! First, we were 15 minutes early, when we were 15 minutes late; so we were one of the first families in the restaurant. The hostess asked us which table we were (we said 7120 which was incorrect; we were table 30) and whisked is away to meet our dining staff (enter their names here).

The menu for the first night at Animator Palate was spectacular.

Bread service was a Garlic and Herb Focaccia Bread with Roasted Garlic Dip.

For my appetizer, I had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes. Let me tell you, we talked about these little purseittes for the rest of the cruise and I wish we had them every night! I followed the appetizer with the Arugula Leaves salad that had Red Beets, Orange segments and Marinated White Beans with a Mustard Dressing. I did not enjoy the white beans, but knowing I was going to have a four-course meal, it wasn’t disappointing to skip out on some beans.

For my main course, I had the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy. This steak was one of the best cuts of beef I had on this vacation (minus our dinner at Palo). Dessert was a Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake, which I had apparently read the menu wrong because it was Vanilla Cheesecake on a Chocolate Fudge base. The cheesecake was one the better desserts that I had on the ship.

My sister and I ordered a bottle of wine, which came to $42.55 with the gratuity and service charge. The great thing about a Disney cruise is you can either bring a bottle of wine with you (they open it for a $25 corkage fee), order from a wine package (three, five or seven bottles), or order wine bottles a la carte. Also, if you do not finish the bottle, your dining team will save it for you for the next evening, or you can take it home with you to finish in your stateroom.

Day 2 - Captain's Reception - Free Booze

My mother jokingly said that if there were free or inexpensive alcohol on the ship, I would find it. On the first Sea Day, before the Golden Mickey's, there was a Captain's reception on Decks 3 and 4 to welcome us aboard the Disney Wonder. This activity was listed under "Fun For All Ages" because everyone could take a photo with the captain and a couple of other characters. We stayed on Deck 4 so we could look down at all the festivities (and it was one of the only places to sit). During this time, we pursued the Disney Cruise Line Catalog (yes, we booked another cruise, more about that later) and sipped on some free beverages.

The drinks that I could see included: White wine, red wine, two fruity cocktails, light beer, and a dark beer. Since we were the second round of the Captain's Welcome reception, some of the drinks ran out towards the end but we tried the white wine, it was Chardonnay but tasted extremely too sweet, and both of the fruity cocktails. The cocktails had a strong hard liquor taste, so I was not interested in those. Finally, I sipped on the light beer; I believe it was Miller Lite.

The dining crew was coming out of the D-Lounge, so I was able to hover over there to grab the second round of drinks when the white wine wasn't up to our standards. Make sure to attend the Captin's Welcome whether it is for some tasty beverages, or to take photos with characters and the captain.

Day 3 - Endicott Arm excursion day - Triton's breakfast

We were lucky enough to book the Glacier Explorer (TC01) excursion through Disney to get an up close and personal look at Endicott Arm at noon. Going on the excursion means that our whole breakfast-lunch-dinner plan was thrown off.

We started off the day with our standard room service and then opted for a later breakfast at Triton's. We all ordered the vegetarian omelet (with some different choices of vegetables in them), hash browns, and bacon. Ally also ordered an espresso $2.59, which did the trick of waking her up for the day. The breakfast was quite tasty and held us throughout our excursion.

After the excursion, we ordered a few mulled wines so we could stay warm while watching the rest of Endicott Arm. Now - I'm not sure if my drink of the day cup would have been able to be traded in for a mulled wine drink of the day, but now we had a cool coffee mug that we could bring on vacations. Also, the coffee mug said Alaska, so I wasn't disappointed. We only bought one full price mulled wine and three refills so that cost came to $31.91.

Day 3 - Endicott Arm excursion day - Tiana's Place, Dinner

I was very excited to try Tiana’s Place because it is a New Orleans themed restaurant and one of the newer restaurants since the Disney Wonder’s Dry Dock in 2017. The ambiance of Tiana’s Place is wonderful. When you walk in, there is a live band playing New Orleans and Disney songs. I mean, I was not expecting to sing When The Saints Go Marching In while in Alaska!

Thank goodness the ambiance is great because, being a New Orleanian, the food was not that tasty. Don’t get me wrong, the food wasn’t terrible, but it I felt like it was advertised incorrectly. The food could be fixed in two ways, don't pretend that it is New Orleans Cuisine, or change the recipes for the items on the menu.

Bread service was a Herbed Brioche with Roasted Onion Dip.

For my appetizer, I had the Sautéed Gulf Shrimp and Grits, and these were delicious! The Grits were much better than the grits at Triton’s, and this should really be a main course choice and not an appetizer. I then followed my appetizer with the Iceberg Wedge salad and replaced the Thousand Island Dressing with Blue Cheese Dressing. I then followed all of that with Big Daddy’s Roasted Prime-Rib of Beef. The sides, Double Baked Potato, Broccolini, Sweet Roasted Carrots, were delicious, but the steak was just ok. It was quite flat and had very thick Red Veal Sauce gravy on it. I really wasn’t into the flavor, which was disappointing because the steak the evening before was delicious.

While waiting to order our dessert, the band started playing Happy Birthday and all the servers surrounding our table and sang us happy birthday! (I had put down that we were celebrating my 30th, my sister’s 33rd, and my mothers 60th birthdays with our travel agent!). It was such a fun surprise, and we got an adorable chocolate cake that had Happy Birthday written on it.

The ambiance was the best because Princess Tiana came and met everyone at their table! We spoke to Princess Tiana, and she was impressed that we were from New Orleans. Also, her knowledge about New Orleans was spot on!

Check out post two of the trip report! Sea day!

As always, the plain text is below and the link (for formatting and pictures!) is here http://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/06/22/disney-wonder-sea-day/

Our first full day on vacation and we have a sea day! I think out of all of the days I was most nervous about our first Sea Day. As previously mentioned, my family had never been on a cruise, so we didn’t know what to expect. A typical family vacation for us is planned to the max (by yours truly), and I have an itinerary finalized weeks ahead of time. That is not how it works in the cruise world. On a Disney Cruise, you find out what the ships activities are via the Personal Navigator that you receive during turn down service (or one can view the digital navigator through the Disney app) anytime you are on the cruise.

I was also nervous because I was terrified of seasickness! Luckily, my mom thought ahead and made us take a Bonine tablet every day to ward off seasickness. Clear weather and a smooth ocean (minus the last sea day) blessed us with a smooth sailing.

Our morning started off with a knock on the door from Room Service! After drinking our coffee, eating pastries, and watching the daily Good morning Disney channel my sister and I headed over to Senses Spa Fitness Center while mom started getting ready for the day. Now, this being the first day of the cruise, and a sea day, the gym was super packed! The evening before we tried signing up for the 9 am Spin class, but that was full. We were too late for the 7 am Morning Stretch routine (but who needs to stretch?), so we tried taking the 730am fast abs class – which was also full. To not ruin a perfectly good workout time, Ally and I opted to jog on the treadmill.

Senses Spa is on Deck 9 all the way forward. When running on the treadmill, you have the option to watch the screen on the treadmill or just look up and watch the open sea in front of you! While jogging, I kept my eyes open for whales, but unfortunately, I did not see any.

After going to the gym, the whole family went to Triton’s for breakfast and headed back to the stateroom to get ready for a day full of activities.

Mom and Ally headed over to the Walt Disney Theatre to listen to Doug Jones’ presentation Into Alaska’s Wilderness. During this lecture, they learned a lot about what to expect while we were sailing through the Inside Passage and what wildlife to see from the balconies. Those two also accidentally took a nap during the presentation. A little-known fact – if you stick the Lindsly Ladies in a dark theater with someone with a calm voice, we will fall asleep!

While the family was busy learning (and napping), I got ready to attend the Disney Cruise Line Anyone Can Cook in the D Lounge. This class is inspired by Chef Gusteau’s motto in Disney’s Ratatouille. Classes are held at various times throughout the day in different venues. This version of Anyone Can Cook was for adults only, and we had a cooking demonstration for Lobster Ravioli with a Tomato & Garlic Broth, and we sampled a glass of chardonnay.

Chef went through the whole recipe step by step, and it felt like we were on a real live cooking show! There were cameras and screens to maker sure everyone could see what Chef was cooking. Chef's end product looked a little different than ours. I found that the sample broth was very runny (compared to Chef's that was thick and tomatoey) and I also discovered that I do not care for Lobster.

The room was small, maybe thirty adults taking the course, and we were able to ask Chef any questions we wanted. The only question that a guest asked was “Where can I order Lobster Ravioli onboard?” and the answers was “During this class! The Disney Wonder took it off the menu after the Dry Dock in 2016.”

While I was in class, mom and Ally did some exploring around the ship, including stopping at the 24-hour drink machine to make us iced teas. Our next class was attending a Napkin Folding Class, also in the D Lounge. This course taught us six different ways to fold napkins. I did not realize how much work was involved in folding napkins. We did some of the usual napkin foldings found on the ship during dining events: a fan, a stalk of corn, a suit jacket, another fan, a candle and Peter Pan’s Boot.

After taking this course, I had a much better appreciation for all the expertly folded napkins t\ at each of our dining venues.

For lunch, we went to Cabanas for a quick grab and go buffet. When we were leaving Cabanas, we discovered that they were offering mulled wine to warm guests up. We didn’t purchase any because we had to run to our next activity – Humpback and Killer Whales: What we Can’t See…featuring Doug Jones!

During this talk, we learned about all the sea life that we could possibly see while onboard. Jones is a naturalist based out of Juneau, Alaska who comes on board to discuss all of his adventures. My favorite thing about Jones is that he takes and uses his own photos in his presentations. Jones had some magnificent stories and photos about all the whales we would see in the ocean. He mentioned that it was a bit early in the season to see a ton of whales, but we were able to see a couple of HumpBack Whales and my mom and sister swore that they saw a killer whale from the balcony. After our nap, I mean lecture, we headed on over to the D Lounge for our Mojito tasting.

I highly suggest taking at least one tasting course while on a Disney Cruise ship. The class does cost between $20-30 per person but are well worth the price for the educational value and delicious drinks!

After the mojito tasting, we decided to forgo any other activities and just lounge on our balcony to watch the inside passage. One of my favorite things that we did on this trip was all pile onto the balcony, sit back, and just let Alaska pass us. It is hard to describe how beautiful and peaceful the scenery is and pictures do not do Alaska justice.

After hanging out with the family, we got dressed for dinner. The Evening Attire was Formal night, but we opted out of dressing up Formal. I wore my white and blue striped sweater, a decorative scarf, leggings, and my Tieks and felt adequately dressed. There were some women dressed in sequined dresses and ball gowns and some men in suits and tuxes, but it was not necessary. I also saw other families less dressed up than me wearing t-shirts and jeans. When it comes to clothes on a cruise - wear what makes you feel comfortable! It was quite cute to see the little kids all dressed up in their Sunday best.

Dinner was in Animator’s Palate and shortly after we attended the Captain’s Reception before going to the Golden Mickey’s.

The Golden Mickey’s is set up like an award show where there is a red carpet, and all the “stars” are interviewed. I loved sitting down and watching guests get interviewed on the big screen and then seeing those same guests walk down the steps to find their seats. The show was excellent, except the main character, the stage manager transformed to host had an annoying quality. The show featured snippets from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Toy Story 2, Lady and the Tramp, Tangled, The Lion King, and of course, Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed watching these classics come alive on the stage.

Naturally, after the show, everyone swarms the stores. We browsed Micky’s Mainsail and White Caps but didn’t find anything that we needed to buy. One fun fact: If you adore the shampoo that your host gives you, you can purchase a large bottle from the shopping area.

After a bit of shopping, it was time to go to bed even though the sun was still up at 10 pm! The next day we had a whole day filled with exploring Endicott Arm (originally Tracy Arm Fjord).

Other activities I would have tried if I had time

Art of the Theme Show Tour

Diamond Jackpot Bingo

Disney Club Vacation Club Group Preview (you could win an onboard credit!

Golden Mikey’s After Party

Endicott Arm Day (day 3)

As always please visit my blog for images/better formatting http://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/06/29/disney-cruise-endicott/

Our second day of the cruise was Tracy Arm Day AKA Endicott Arm day because – well no one has made it to Tracy Arm in 2017 at the time of this writing.

Senses Spa

This morning started off with an early morning workout at the Senses Spa! I finally was able to secure a spot at Fast Abs while my sister jogged on the treadmill. So since this was my first actual class on the cruise, I showed up early (7:15 am for the 7:30 am class) so I could figure out what I needed to do. As the Sunrise Stretch class was wrapping up, I scrambled to try to figure out what I needed to do to make sure I had a spot in class.

So this is one activity that I feel like Disney could improve on. Are you telling me, that there isn’t enough room on the entire ship that they can’t have a separate room for the fitness? The classes are held behind the treadmills and in front of the leg areas, which makes it awkward when someone decides they need to work their quads while you are struggling to keep up with bicycle sit-ups.

Luckily, the class is only 30 minutes long, so I wasn’t tortured for too much – it is vacation after all! But I did get a good workout. We did three different round of exercises which included planks, bicycle sit-ups, crunches, and other ab-focused workouts. The whole idea behind this class is to come every day (I did not) so you can hold your plank longer throughout the trip. My only other complaint is someone stepped on my pony-tail (ouch!), and some other man decided he needed to work on his quads while I was very close.

After our morning workout, we headed over to Triton’s where we had breakfast and learned from an overhead announcement that we would not be going to Tracy Arm but Endicott Arm. I was immediately upset because I didn’t know if this means we would still be able to do our Disney Port Adventure – Glacier Explorer TC01.

Doug Jones

Before our 12 pm excursion, we visited our favorite naturalist, Doug Jones, in the Walt Disney Theater to listen to his talk Ice fields and glaciers: Nature’s Time Machine? If you have been following along, you could guess that all three of us took a brief nap during this talk – It was an hour long, and we woke up at 630 am!

Jones continued with an excellent talk about glaciers, and we got to see more of his fabulous photos and stories. One of my favorite stories he told was when he took a helicopter to hike a glacier. After this once in a lifetime trip, Jones told his neighbor about his glacier experience, and his neighbor asked him if he would every make that trip again if the opportunity arose. Well, of course, his answer was yes – and a few weeks later he and his neighbor were able to take a helicopter trip to hike a glacier.

Of course, the two glaciers that we saw were not hike-able. Many of the glaciers in Alaska are reseeding, but Hubbard Glacier is growing!

Endicott Arm

As mentioned earlier, we purchased an excursion through Disney Port Adventure – Glacier Explorer TC01. The funny story behind this is that I stayed up all night to register us online for Palo and excursions. The second I went to register us for Tracy Arm day ( the first task of the evening) it was sold out, and I was devastated. Well, I was ok with it because not only am I the vacation planner, I am also the budget keeper, so I thought that if we didn't go on the cruise, money could be saved for another vacation.

This Alaskan trip was going to be a trip of a lifetime (in all honesty, our bucket list is so large that we probably wouldn’t visit these same areas of Alaska but a different area) and the family opted to do whatever we could to get this excursion. A few weeks before the vacation, we were able to reserve tickets for just my sister to see the Glacier. A few weeks after that, I was able to book a spot for me, which means we were going to leave mom on the ship. Leaving mom on the ship was ok because this tour was not handicapped able, but a few days before the trip we were able to book mom a ticket also! The Disney gods decided to bless us and allow us all to get an upfront view of the glacier.

We booked the noon trip to see Endicott Fjord. If you take the noon trip, you need to make sure to eat a huge breakfast because you will be on the excursion during prime lunch time. Going at noon also means that you miss the morning activities, but let's be real, everyone goes to Alaska to see the nature, does anyone care about trivia or napkin folding?

Right before noon, the whole family went down Azure on Deck Three; Bingo was running late, so we were all lined up in the hallway waiting for instruction for the crew. Since we were not in an actual venue, the cast couldn’t identify those with mobility needs – aka us. Mom and I hopped on the elevator to go down to Deck One so that we could get on the catamaran.

Once on the catamaran, we were ready to see Endicott Fjord. The captain and crew gave us a rundown of the area and informed us that if they saw any wildlife, they would announce it on the intercom. Right when we were traveling down the passageways, my Canon Rebel XS decided it wanted to die. I was devastated because the only way I could capture this trip was with my Go Pro and iPhone. This trip was the first time I didn't bring my Canon Point and shoot because I felt as if I "didn't need it." The catamaran carried us all through the narrow passageway and pointed out beautiful cascades and waterfalls. At one point, we stopped right next to a waterfall to admire its beauty. A great tip that the crew gave us was to film the waterfall in Slow-Mo for a beautiful post.

While sailing up the Fjord, there were many times it felt like we were racing the Disney Wonder. Of course, our catamaran was much smaller and could go much faster, so we always won the race. One of my favorite things to see in the Fjord was the chunks of glacier just floating down the waterway. It took everything in my power to not yell “Iceberg straight ahead!” After spotting a few mountain goats, bald eagles, and seabirds, we finally were able to witness Dawes Glacier.

Let me tell you, seeing a glacier for the first time it completely awe-inspiring. There are no words or photos that can describe what I witnessed when seeing Dawes. The blue-white tinge of the glacier and the calving was so exciting to see in person. Sitting by a glacier and hearing the crackling of the ice begging to fall, and figuring out where it was going to fall from was the highlight of the excursion.

Our catamaran got extremely close to the glacier, but when we looked over the shoulder we saw that the Disney Wonder was pretty close also! Later we learned that was the closest the Disney Wonder had ever gotten to the Glacier. Our Catamaran also scooped up a piece of glacier for everyone to touch. I’ve learned that the Wonder tries to do this also, but it is a much harder process on the large ship, and you have to wait with hundreds of people to take a photo with a piece of ice instead of a handful.

Even though the excursion was 3 hours, it felt like we were out there forever! Glacier day was by far the coldest day – along with my Plaid Shirt, I wore gloves, an ear cover, and a waterproofed jacket. We did run into a little bit of rain, so I also wore a North Face Rain Coat that I purchased just for this trip.

The Catamaran went back to the Wonder to let us off, and allow the next excursion to get on. Once we got off the catamaran we had a mission – run to the room! Since we had a balcony, we knew we were going to get a good view of the glacier for at least a little bit, because the wonder does a 360 rotation, so everyone has a chance to see the glacier. Once in the room, we ordered room service and my sister, and I went to Deck ten to get mulled wine.

Mulled Wine

I am not sure if it was just so chilly outside, or if the Mulled wine was that good, but Ally and I made friend with the cast that was serving guests mulled wine. Guests were able to buy a mug (with wine!) for $10 a then refills were around $5. Of course, being thrifty, Ally and I brought our refillable tumbler so we could bring more servings back to the cabin.

When ordering, we asked the cast members if they would judge how quickly we requested a refill. Willing to please, they said that they would not judge, so we poured the wine into our tumbler and asked four our (discounted) refill. The cast members laughed and quickly obliged to our request.

Bringing the wine back to our cabin, the three of us split and tasted the wine while enjoying the glacier. We proceeded to take selfies on our balcony, and it felt like we were the only ones looking at the glaciers. We could not hear any of our neighbors below or next to us.

Once the two mulled wines were finished, I hurried up and ran to portable station on Deck Ten for two more refills. The reason why this mulled wine is one of the best that we had is that it has a ton of garnishes! There were berries, nuts and other spices that were added to the concoction.

Beauty and the Beast

Exploring the glacier lasted until 5 pm, and we had our regular dining rotation at 5:45 PM at Tiana’s Place.

After dinner, we opted to skip the Magic & Illusion show of Kalin & Jinger (Magic isn’t our thing) and decided to see Beauty and the Beast in 3-D in the Buena Vista Theater. A good hint for those with accessibility issues – the main entrance is on Deck five, but the accessibility entrance is on Deck Four.

One of my favorite features of a Disney Cruise is being able to see newly released, or soon to be released, movies while on board. The only caveat to this is that we were in Alaska (with a crazy late sunset) and we wanted to soak in all the beauty Alaska had to offer. Beauty and the Beast were the only movies we had to time to see, but there was a good selection of movies to watch.

The movie lasted well past our bed time, so there wasn’t much else we wanted to do besides go to be to get ready for the next day – Skagway!

Other activities I would have tried if I had time

• Art of the Theme Show Tour

• Animation: Minnie Mouse

• Animation: Donald Duck

• Crafts: Origami Creations

Hey, guys! I won't be posting a new post this Thursday because I got an eye ulcer! I have to stay in a dark room and with all the screen time I had today with my 9-5 I don't have the eye power to write, edit, and format the article tonight.

BUT - good news! Next week you will have two posts!

Tuesday - Disney Dining part 2

Thursday - Trip Report Skagway

If you haven't read all the posts yet take some time to read all the posts:

TOP 25 TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR AN ALASKAN DISNEY CRUISE

DELICIOUS DINING ON THE DISNEY WONDER (PART 1)

DISNEY ALASKAN CRUISE EMBARKATION

DISNEY CRUISE – SEA DAY

DISNEY CRUISE ENDICOTT FJORD

Hey, guys! I won't be posting a new post this Thursday because I got an eye ulcer! I have to stay in a dark room and with all the screen time I had today with my 9-5 I don't have the eye power to write, edit, and format the article tonight.

 

BUT - good news! Next week you will have two posts!

 

Tuesday - Disney Dining part 2

Thursday - Trip Report Skagway

 

If you haven't read all the posts yet take some time to read all the posts:

 

TOP 25 TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR AN ALASKAN DISNEY CRUISE

 

DELICIOUS DINING ON THE DISNEY WONDER (PART 1)

 

DISNEY ALASKAN CRUISE EMBARKATION

 

 

DISNEY CRUISE – SEA DAY

 

 

DISNEY CRUISE ENDICOTT FJORD

Take care of that eye and feel better. The posts can wait.

And....we are back! The eye is off of 'bed' rest and I can safely wear contacts and be in a room with light again!

the blog post:

As Always, if you want to see the formatting and images please visit my blog at https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/07/11/delicious-dining-disney-wonder-part-2/

Welcome to the second part of my dining review! This post will cover everything, except for Palo Visits, that I ate from Day 4 until Day 8 aka Debarkation day. If you haven’t read the first part of this dining review, you can read it here.

Day 4 – Cabana’s For Breakfast - Skagway Day

With an early morning excursion, we had to be off of the boat by 830 am. We braved the buffet line at Cabanas! Navigating the buffet and little kids running around wasn’t that bad.

After securing a spot by the window, we went to see what was available for breakfast.

The buffet included but was not limited to

Various Egg Benedicts

Hash browns

Bacon

Sausage

Rotating Vegetables

Omelet station

Mickey Waffles

Pancakes

Fresh Fruit

Yogurts

Cereals

Pastries

Pound cakes

This first day, I wasn’t sick of eggs yet, so I opted for an Eggs Benedict, asparagus, hash browns, bacon, and sausage. I’m glad I had such a big breakfast because we were going to be on an excursion all day long and ended up not eating lunch until close to 1 pm.

Day 4 – Excursion - Skagway Day

Lunch was included on our Best of Skagway tour at the Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp & Salmon Bake.

Even though lunch is portrayed as “All You Can Eat” there are many different tourists all trying to eat at the same time, causing all you can eat to be not true. Also – the food wasn’t up to par that going back for seconds wasn’t on the table!

Food that was available: Alaskan-Caught Salmon, chicken, macaroni and cheese, rice medley, beans, coleslaw, salad, cornbread and blueberry cake. The beverages were lemonade, coffee or you could purchase beer and wine.

Two long-serving stations had a total of four lines serving all of the tourists in this area. I am not a seafood fan, so I opted for the baked chicken. I guess because there weren’t any chicken breasts available, I found the chicken a little off-putting. I did grab a small piece of salmon to taste – even though it was tasty (it had some pineapple glaze) I am still not a seafood person.

My two favorite things that they served was the cornbread and the macaroni and cheese. Carbs much? We also had our first sips of Alaskan Brewing Beer to compliment our lunch.

Day 4 – Triton’s For Dinner - Skagway Day

Since we skipped Triton’s on the first day, I was excited to go to the restaurant for dinner. This night, however, the menu strayed from the standard rotational dining menu and instead had a Frozen theme. In fact, the whole even had a Frozen theme!

Our servers presented us with a sparkly menu, and my family looked at what we were going to eat. The Frozen menu was the same at all three restaurants and had a Norwegian theme.

Bread service was a Knackebrod, Dark Rye Bread with Liver Pate Dip.

My sister started with Elsa’s Coronation Scallops – probably one of the most beautiful dishes in the standard dining rooms. The puff pastry was so vast and fluffy that I wished it didn’t have scallops but something else I enjoyed.

While Ally was eating her scallops/puff pastry dish, I started with the Duke of Weselton Favorites – meat and cheese plate. There were a few different choices of the meats and cheeses but only one Pumpernickel cracker! There was one meat I was a little afraid to change because I thought it was venison and I had a previous bad experience with venison.

I followed the appetizer with the Anders Baby Field Greens salad with vanilla, apricots, Brioche Croutons, Candied Walnuts, and Lingonberry Dressing. I’ve never tasted Lingonberry, but the dressing tied the salad together.

For dinner, I ordered the Herb Roasted Chicken while my sister got Han’s Juniper Wild Boar Filet. She said she wanted to be adventurous and enjoyed the Baby roasted turnips. Luckily the Chicken was delicious, and quite big because Ally didn’t enjoy the wild boar. I took a bite of the boar, and it did taste a bit gamey. Of course, when our Server, Svjetlana, saw that Ally was eating off of my plate she reminded us that this was our vacation and if we ordered something we didn’t like she would be more than happy to get us another dish. We sheepishly told her it was ok. We wanted more dessert and less main course meals!

For dessert, we tried a little bit of everything. Mom opted for the Pannekaken – a Norwegian Pancake that was pretty good and I, of course, ordered Elsa’s Chocolate and Raspberry Tart. This evening was the night I also started ordering ice cream with all of my desserts because why not have double dessert?

I was not that impressed with this menu, and if I had to do it again, I would rather go to Palo on this day instead of on the day that we went.

Day 4 – Whiskey Tasting & Pizza Party - Skagway Day

For some reason, we decided it would be a smart idea to sign up for a 10 pm whiskey tasting. WHY would we ever do this? Well, we decided that we needed to learn about the spirits of the world.

When we walked, we first saw a display of all the different Whiskeys that are available on the cruise. There were small groups of people sitting at their tables with their four whiskey tastings poured out. There was also water to help cleanse the palate. I realized quickly that this tasting was going to be painful compared to the mojito tasting because there wasn’t going to be anything to assist with the taste of Whiskey.

We learned about all the different types of whiskey including Scotch, Irish, Canadian, and American Whiskeys. Our bartender-instructor took our taste buds all over the world. My favorite whiskey was the fifth surprise whiskey that he poured for us – the Laphroaig 10 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. The unique taste and smell are one of the only whiskeys I could manage to drink straight without making a face.

Our bartender did pass around a bottle of Pappa Van Winkle 23 year, a rare, limited release bourbon made at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Even though we were not allowed to taste it, we could pass around the bottle and smell it. Our bartender told us that one shot of this bourbon on the Disney Cruise cost $350 and that someone who took the whiskey tasting earlier in the cruise came and tasted this bourbon.

After drinking all that Whiskey, we needed something to soak up so we could go to bed! I walked over to Pinocchio’s Pizzeria and grabbed a couple of pizzas for the family to enjoy. When I first arrived, there wasn’t anything appetizing, but then two pizzas came out of the oven – one pepperoni and one veggie. The pizza did hit the spot with all the whiskey in our system!

Day 5 – Cabana’s For Breakfast - Juneau Day

Cabana’s for breakfast doesn’t change much from day to day. The only interesting food item I discovered on this day is that by the waffle/pancake topping area they have a bowl full of whipped cream. After spotting that gem, I began putting whipped cream on a plate so I could top off my coffee. Whipped Cream was a good surprise to keep me in line with my breakfast traditions at home.

Day 5 – Excursion - Juneau Day

The Best of Juneau port excursion also included lunch and the family was not that excited about this tidbit since the food the day before wasn’t the best we had on the trip.

Well, we were wrong to be skeptical about the food! Our Whale watching tour was with Allen Marine Tours which included lunch at Orca Point Lodge.

Orca Point Lodge is on the Colt Island, a remote island, and served a delicious Salmon Bake Feast. The feast included Salmon, chicken kabobs, vegetable medley, rice pilaf, salads, and brownies. They also had Alaskan Brewing Beer for sale.

The lodge itself is a great area to relax after chasing whales for a couple of hours.

Day 5 – Palo For Dinner - Juneau Day

We ate at Palo for dinner instead of Animator’s Palate. I was quite disappointed that we would not be able to animate our cartons, but the adult dinner was worth missing out on some fun. The full review will post next Tuesday with my Full Palo Review.

Day 6 – Cabana’s For Breakfast - Ketchikan Day

We did get into port until 11:15 am so we went to Cabana’s late. Everyone had the same idea! It was a struggle to find a table inside – it was one of the few days it rained on the cruise so outside was not an option.

After about 20 minutes trying to battle the table hoggers – Mom scored one next to a window so we could enjoy the misty rain. I was completely over breakfast foods at this time that I poked around the buffet not finding anything exciting, until – I found the breakfast pound cakes!

The pound cakes came in various flavors – chocolate, lemon, vanilla, and poppy seed and each one was more delicious than the next! Mom favors lemony flavors while I opt for chocolate flavors, but each cake was delicious, dense, and moist.

Day 6 – Burger Queen - Ketchikan Day

Unfortunately, the rain and wind ruined our plans to see Misty Fjords on a seaplane and even though we rebooked out 1 pm excursion to both 3 pm and 7 pm, the weather was too bad for any planes to take off. We had two options, wander around town and find something good to eat, or go back to the ship, eat lunch, and get off the board again.

Luckily, from the message boards, I remembered of a cutesy little shop called Burger Queen that many travelers and Disney Crew members raved how delicious it is, so the family walked through the tunnel to the small shack on Water Street.

Lucky for us, Burger Queen had a table inside, and we were able to hide from the misty rain. After perusing the menu, we ordered some delicious grub.

Ally ordered the ½ order Halibut and Chips. Mom ordered the Seattle Cheeseburger (sans 1000 Island), and I ordered the Sriracha Bacon Burger (sans 1000 Island). We also split a Large French Fry.

The meal was quite filling and kept us full for the rest of the evening. We did end up taking the bus to the other side of town and got some Flat Whites from Starbucks. The Starbucks Mug was the only highlight of our excursion cancellation because I collect Starbucks mugs from all my travel destinations!

After battling the bitter cold and rain, we got on board earlier than needed for our 5:45 reservation. Arriving on the boat, we were greeted with hot mulled wine (well we refilled our cup!) the only thing the mulled wine was right in the draft and was more of a luke-warm mulled wine. If you are interested in warming up with a mulled wine after an excursion day, I would skip the mulled wine in the lobby and go to one of the bars to get a decently warm mug of mulled wine.

Day 6 – Tiana’s For Dinner - Ketchikan Day

Tiana’s Place was celebrating Mardi Gras Y’all! Our servers were most excited about this day because it was Tiana’s unlimited Beignets day!

Our servers asked us if we wanted to try the Bayou Experience Rum Sampler for $15 and we all agreed – why not? The Bayou Experience is rum that is made in a small town outside of Lafayette, Louisiana. The samples included the Select Rum, Satsuma Rum, and Spiced Rum. I enjoyed the Select and Spiced Rum while mom and Ally Enjoyed the Satsuma Rum. (We bought a bottle of the Satsuma Rum when we got back home and made our Mojitos with the knowledge we learned from our Mojito tasting!) I ordered a coke to go with my rum and made myself a miniature rum and coke!

I started with the Sautéed Gulf Shrimp and Grits which also had Andouille Sausage, Grilled Green Onions. Ally ordered the Louisiana Hot Crab Dip.

I ended up ordering one of the Vegetarian entrees – Eudora’s Artichoke Ravioli. The ravioli had sautéed spinach, lemon butter, sage, and pecorino cheese. It was a light compliment for the large quantity of desserts I was about to eat.

I ended the dinner with some of Tiana’s Buttermilk Beignets and the Chocolate Doberge cake. The Beignets were good for not being in New Orleans, but I was confused as to why it had a chocolate dipping sauce. The Doberge cake was quite a disappointment. Now I know, that my hopes should not have been up, I was on a cruise ship, but this dessert should not be labeled as a Doberge Cake! The cake was filled with Chocolate Chantilly Crème instead of pudding. The cake was good, but not a good representation of one of my favorite cakes.

The evening was wrapped up with a New Orleans Style second line! Louis the Alligator came out with his horn and got everyone all excited for the second line. Most of the guests got out of their tables and joined in the fun! Of course, Ally and I brought our white napkins and pretended they were handkerchiefs to wave while we strutted along the walkway.

Day 7 – Palo For Breakfast - Sea Day

Probably one of the meals my family and I were looking forward to the most! Palo’s Brunch! On my next Disney Cruise, I’m going to make sure we book at least two Palo Brunches because they are worth the upcharge for the extra relaxation. The full review will post next Tuesday with my Full Palo Review.

Day 7 – Triton’s For Dinner - Sea Day

Our final dinner on the cruise was Lobster day! Svjetlana and Phapakorn were so excited about the lobster day and of course Ally and Mom each ordered a lobster.

Bred Service was a Sourdough Bread with Roasted Red Pepper Dip.

Even though every night I drank an iced tea with dinner, Phapakorn brought me an iced tea and a Coke to the table! He remembered the night before that I wanted a Coke – too bad he didn’t bring me some rum to put in the coke!

I was finally in my groove of not feeling weird for asking for a customized meal. I wasn’t impressed by any of the appetizers, soups or salads, so I asked for the Smoked Duck Breast Salad, without the duck, as my appetizer. The salad was a bed of greens with walnuts, shredded apples, and a creamy lemon dressing.

Following my salad, I had the Fettuccine with Parmesan Crusted Chicken. This dish was delicious but was not as good as the parmesan crusted chicken I had at Palo a couple of evenings before. This pasta was mixed with some sweet peppers and mushrooms in a cheddar sauce.

I ended my final dinner with the Captain’s Table Sunday – a Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream topped with Chocolate Sauce, Whipped Cream, and a crunchy Meringue.

I ended the meal with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream with coffee poured over it and a large dollop of whipped cream on top!

Day 8 – Cabana’s For Breakfast – Debarkation Day

We were going to go to Triton’s for our last breakfast, but the night before we decided that we wanted to do a speedy walk off. With that in mind, we ordered our coffee carafes from room service around 11 pm and they were still warm enough in the morning.

While the family was doing some last minute packing, I ran up to the Cabana’s to grab a couple of things to eat to hold us over until we got to the airport. I grabbed a couple of sausages, pound cakes, and fruit because the buffet was slim pickings!

I hope you enjoyed my extensive review of basically everything I ate while on the Disney Wonder Alaskan Cruise that sailed on May 29, 2017! Check back next Tuesday for the final Dining roundups at Palo.

These posts are going to be on Friday now instead of Thursday :) Here is the link! http://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/07/14/skagway-excursion-from-the-disney-wonder/

The third day of the cruise was finally a land day! Time to step off the cruise ship and onto solid ground at Skagway!

As much as I loved being on the cruise ship, I was very excited to check out one of the inside package towns and all of the activities involved.

Credit Card Issues

Earlier this year, the credit card that I used to purchase the cruise was compromised, and I had to update the credit card on file. We received a voicemail from the finance department informing me that we needed to update the card.

Of course, there is nothing more embarrassing than a declined card, so I ran downstairs with my cell phone and new credit card to get things settled. I’m not sure if there was some confusion at the front desk, but my replacement card was still declined. After calling the bank and figuring a couple of things out, I was able to transfer everything to a better card (3X the points in travel!) and squared everything away.

While working with Guest Services, I was able to watch the crew add the gangway to the cruise ship. This morning was the only day I was able to watch this, and it was exciting! It was quite chilly outside, so everyone at Guest Services had their down jackets on while technically inside.

Best of Skagway SW29

After an overwhelming number of possibilities, my family decided we would book the Best of Skagway (SW29) to see the most we could.

Our day started with us boarding a motor coach and traveling to the Canadian border to stop at Fraser, British Columbia.

On the way to Fraser, our tour guide gave us an excellent narrative of everything that we could see easily from the street and what we would see from the train. While driving on the Klondike Highway, we learned that there are no stations on the actual Canadian/United States border due to the harsh winters and elevation. Both countries decided to move their Border Inspection Stations about 7 miles from the border to allow for easier life in the elements.

Once crossing the border was one of the most comfortable Canadian Crossings I have ever partaken in. When the Canadian guard came on the bus to ask us questions, he asked us if we were scared of the train. Of course, we said – no, why would we be? And he just told us to have fun.

Once everyone got off of the bus, we were assigned different rail cars to head back to the United States. Mom, Ally and I immediately ran to the right side of the train so we could get the best views.

We sat towards the back of the train car. I liked this option because it was closer to the bathroom, the heater and the coupling. The reason why I liked being so close to the coupling was that this was the best place to stand to get photos and to go outside for some fresh air. Towards the middle of the trip, the railcar was very warm, so if you go on this excursion or train, make sure to wear layers. By the end of the ride, I was all the way down to my t-shirt!

The beauty and history that goes behind the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad are quite breathtaking. This 20-mile ride has many breathtaking turns, drops, and bridges. A couple of times, Mom and I spotted a couple of rail cars that took a plunging drop.

After snapping a couple of photos of the landscape, mom and me relaxed and just enjoyed the rest of the train ride. When in Alaska – you need to put the camera down and just enjoy the fresh air and scenery.

After our train trip was over, we boarded the bus again. Luckily mom had handicap seating, but it only reserved the spot for her. We were initially sitting right behind her, but a couple took our place. What I learned from these bus trips, is if you want to sit in the same spot (due to accessibility reasons) you want to leave a sweater or water bottle behind to ensure you can be close to your companions. This was more irritating than anything – why can’t people stay in the same seats?

Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp and Salmon Bake

I am not going to lie, this part of the excursion was strange. We had about two hours to enjoy Liarsville. Liarsville is a camp where journalists who were dispatched to cover the Klondike Gold Rush hung out. Originally, the Journalists were supposed to hike the White Pass, but once they discovered how treacherous the path was, they stayed at the base of the mountain.

After not producing genuine stories, the journalists then created tall-tales and fabricated first-hand stories of the success of the Gold Rush. These tall tales are why this area is known as Liarsville.

First, we had a buffet style lunch, and then walked over and took a couple of photos of the area. We walked around the cute bookshop to see if there were any Alaskan souvenirs we wanted to purchase. While we were browsing, these actors in complete costume gathered everyone for a show. Not really knowing what to do, we followed the crowd and watched the show.

Now – this is my bad for not reading the description carefully. I should have realized that when Disney stated “Gather at the Liarsville Hippodrome, where a cast of sourdoughs and dance hall girls will entertain you with a hilarious melodrama and a poem by the "Bard of the North," Robert Service,” that this was not my style of entertainment.

Many of the guests enjoyed the corny-ness of the show, our family, however, only survived about halfway through the high school musical production of bad poetry and Comin’ Around the Mountain. Once the family decided we no longer needed to watch the corniness, we continued with exploring the camp. There was an area to pan for gold, a fireplace and snacks to enjoy, and a waterfall.

While sitting at the campfire, a TV crew and a young family came and set up shop to film. I cannot remember the name of the show, but I think it was something like Vacation Creation.

After the tour had been done with Liarsville, we all got on the bus again to our final destination, the Red Onion Saloon.

Red Onion Saloon

This was the only part of the tour that wasn’t accessible (which we were informed of before I booked the tickets) and so I quickly came up with a game plan for mom. Across the street There is a Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Visitor Center, and as my readers know I adore a good Visitor Center presented by the National Park Service. Luckily, there was a movie playing, so I left mom there to enjoy some historical facts about Skagway, while my sister and I ventured through the Red Onion Saloon to discover the best brothel Skagway had to offer.

The tour was considered a “Quickie” 20-minute tour, and there were tons of sexual innuendos and naughty jokes that made you think twice.

The tour was very entertaining, and all of the ladies kept in character. It started off with your choice of beverage, and the guests walked through the different rooms of the brothel. One area that my sister and I found hilarious was that each of the ladies had a corresponding doll, so the men knew who was available for service. We learned all about the economy of Skagway and the reasoning why a woman would want to work here as opposed to another field of work.

The museum was entirely upstairs, hence why mom couldn’t come, and downstairs there is a full bar with many different drinks and snacks to taste. Once we finished up with the tour, Ally and I went across the street to get mom from the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Visitor Center and to get a stamp in my Passport to the National Parks book.

Skagway’s Downtown

Since this was our first port, we sought out two necessities: booze and coffee! First, we found a coffee shop that Proudly Serves Starbucks Coffee. Some may say that this is the only Starbucks in Skagway, but I feel that this is just a shop that sells Starbucks coffee and products. While her, we purchased some Via Packets to help with the low-quality coffee that Disney served on the Cruise.

We then went to Alaska Liquor Store to stock up on the wines we could bring on board. Each time we were in port we could bring an additional six bottles on board, two bottles per person. We took this time to stock up our cabin because our next port was going to be busy.

We walked around downtown to enjoy some of the shops and different areas in town. I didn't find anything I wanted to purchase, per say, but we did make a special trip down to Skagway Brewery to have a beer flight.

The beer flight included a couple of different beers: Boom Town Brown, Spruce Tip Ale, Prospector Pale, Chilkoot Trail IPA, and Blue Top Porter. We took this particular trip to taste the Spruce Tip Ale, and it was well worth the walk! Unfortunately, they didn’t bottle the beer as six pack – one of the options we could have brought onto the ship, and we couldn’t find any six packs at our other two ports!

Our tour took almost all the time in port, and we had a 5:45 dinner reservation, so we mostly stayed to the shops on Broadway.

What would I do differently?

If I had to pick another excursion or if I were to visit again, I would want to ride the train both ways. The scenery from the highway is nice, but on the bus, you cannot stop and take photos. Riding on the train was thrilling and a unique experience. I know a lot of people rent cars and drive themselves, but I highly recommend the train.

I wish we could have skipped Liarsville. It was juvenile and seemed to be a waste of money for both entertainment and food. The Red Onion Saloon was entertaining, and I would possibly want to do a walking tour of the city instead of the tour of the museum.

Back on the Cruise Ship

That evening we went to dinner at Triton’s and a Whiskey tasting at 10 pm. Due to the Whiskey tasting, we decided to skip Freezing the Night Away, and we tried to watch it on our TV. Even though there is an option of watching the live Broadway shows on television, I feel as if the quality is lost. I am not sure if this was a newer cast, but everything felt forced and awkward when it came to the acting.

There were also some bizarre puppets that I did not think needed to be in the show. However, if you want to watch the show from your room, you have four different options to view.

Juneau!

As always please visit my blog for the photos!

The fifth day of the cruise we were ready to see some whales!

Before we were even able to get off of the ship, we ran into Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the hallway! Even though there are tons of planned character events, my family opted out of participating in any of these activities due to lines and just the time allotted to see the characters.

However, I did want to see Mickey and Minnie in their Alaskan Gear and was so excited that I ran into them in the hallway on the way to our excursion. Granted, they do not stop to take photos so if you run into a character on the ship, be quick with your photos! I was able to snap a few in the hallway before they had to disappear to their next appearance.

Best Of Juneau (JU46)

After the awkwardness of the day before Best of Skagway experience, I was hoping that the Best of Juneau would be better.

We had a whole day planned to for Whale Watching and seeing Mendenhall Glacier.

As soon as we got off of the Disney Wonder, we boarded a bus to travel to Auke Bay. Our tour guide was a transplanted local and gave us all sorts of knowledge about the history of Juneau and just some interesting information about the two and economy. She pointed out the old Wal-Mart that pulled out of June as well as describing how almost everything they get come from Amazon, even though the 2-day shipping doesn’t apply to them.

After a half an hour drive, we arrived at Auke Bay where we got on a tour boat by Allen Marine Tours.

Whale Watching

There were quite a few Disney Cruise guests on our boat, even though it wasn’t 100% full you could tell that this was a popular tour. A head of us we had a two and a half hour cruise to find whales!

The good thing about booking this cruise with Allen Marine tours is they guarantee a whale sighting or they will give each person $100. With those odds, it is almost guaranteed that the tour group would easily find a whale.

The first hour or so, we rode all over the bay looking for whales. Unfortunately, we didn’t find much until a blow hole was spotted far away. Our tour boat and a few others raced to the other side to see if we could catch up with the whale. While over there, we waited for a while to see if the Humpback Whale would show herself again.

Well, she decided that it was time to take a nap. When Whales go to sleep, half of their brain shut off and the whale does this weird bobbing up and down swimming maneuver. Of course, the whale is a mammal, and they need to remember to breathe, which is when they bob back up to the surface to breathe before going back into the water. Humpback Whales usually sleep for about twenty minutes at a time for only two to two and a half hours a day.

Even though seeing a whale sleep is incredibly rare to find in nature, the tourists in the group wanted to see some whale tails!

Our captain continued to see if we could get away from the crowd and see if we could go track down another Whale.

Our captain tracked down another whale, and everyone was so excited to see this beauty. She showed herself to one side of the boat and then went under water.

The crazy thing about Humpbacks is they can show themselves in one place, and they might not pop up back again for a while and be halfway across the Bay! Finding and tracking the whales is a little difficult in May because not all the whales are back from migrating from Hawaii.

As y’all remember, my camera broke on the third day of the cruise, so all I had was my go-pro to hope to film this whale sighting. I was on the same side of the entire crowd filming with my go-pro wondering when this whale would pop up again. It was starting to rain, so I go out of the crowd to go inside to put my second rain jacket on. At the last minute, I decided to walk over to the other side of the boat to check out what was going on over. Not even 10 seconds later there was a whale’s blowhole, and I scream!

A whale popped out of the water!

Watching the whale swim in the water was one of the best things ever! She popped out of the water and allowed all of us to watch her. After a few more blow holes and swims, she decided to show bid us good by and show us her tail. It was time for her to dive down underwater for a while and time for us to eat lunch.

Part of the whale watching tour was to go to Orca Point Lodge on Colt Island to enjoy a feast. Even though we were allotted one hour on the island, that hour went by so quickly, and we didn’t walk the island too much. The beauty of this area was breathtaking, and I wish we stayed here longer.

Back on the boat, we cruised through Auke Bay where we saw sea lions, bald eagles, and many other sea birds.

Once we got back onto the bus, we went to see Mendenhall Glacier.

Mendenhall Glacier

Our next stop was to see another Glacier, hey it’s Alaska after all.

Mendenhall Glacier is a part of the Tongass National Forrest and is one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen in my life.

I was so excited to hear that at least one trail is handicap accessible. We had mom’s transport chair and wanted to go for a ‘hike.’ We had two options, go on the Photo Point Trail which was fully accessible or the Nugget Falls Trail which was mostly paved but would be more difficult.

We decided we would take our hike on the Photo Point Trail. The walk up was easy, there were a few areas that had a steam grade, but nothing the Lindsly girls could not handle. Once we got to the top of the trail, there was this pleasant seating area, and we all sat down to enjoy the scenes.

While sitting here, we talked with a couple of the other people from different cruise ships about where they were going, and where they were coming from. We met a couple who’s vacation had just started, and we told them that ours was coming to an end. We exchanged stories about the different ports we had all been to while watching the glacier. This glacier didn’t have any calving, like Endicott, so I wonder if the cruise ships cause further erosion of the glaciers.

After enjoying our time by the glacier, we went to the visitor center. We took the elevator to the visitor center because it seemed easier to do than the ramp.

In the visitor center, we learned that there is a high chance to see bears in this area, so hikers need to be very careful where they are wandering. We also learned that even though Alaska’s Glaciers are receding, there is one glacier that is growing – Hubbard Glacier.

After thoroughly exploring the visitor center we gathered and just admired the beauty of Alaska and the great outdoors. It is not very common for us Southerners to just sit outside in the heat and admire the beauty – so this was a rare treat for us.

What would I do differently?

I enjoyed this excursion, but if I did do anything differently, it would be to spend additional time at Mendenhall Glacier. As much as I enjoyed the food that was a part of the Whale Trip, I would have liked to walk closer to the waterfall that was close to the Glacier.

Also, we didn’t have any time to explore downtown. I think this is because we spent too much time on the whale watching – but that is nothing I can complain of! I would love to come back to Juneau and explore their downtown and also eat at Tracy’s King Crab Shack. Phapakorn, our assistant server, was so excited to have a few hours off in Juneau because he was going to eat all of the crab legs at Tracy’s.

Back on the Cruise Ship

After Mendenhall Glacier, we were well over our allotted time for the excursion and was cutting it close to the All Aboard time. Many guests asked for a downtown drop off, but we didn’t want to get left behind and decided to stay on the boat so we could get ready for our dinner at Palo.

We decided to skip Frozen: A Musical because we were tired and didn’t want to rush through our Palo Dinner for a play we were not interested in. We tried to watch it on our TV, but that didn’t work out for us. Even though there is an option of watching the live Broadway shows on television, I feel as if the quality is lost. I am not sure if this was a newer cast, but everything felt forced and awkward when it came to the acting.

There were also some bizarre puppets that I did not think needed to be in the show. However, if you want to watch the show from your room, you have four different options to view.

As always please visit my blog for the photos!

As always - please go to the blog to see the photos and formatting: https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/08/11/disney-wonder-ketchikan-alaska/

Ketchikan was the last port of call until the long sail back to Vancouver. We were also in port from 11:15 am until 7:45 pm, so it was a different vibe and feel for excursion day.

I had decided to purchase tickets online through a third party to visit Misty Fjords National Monument, so it was the first time that we were actually on our own.

Morning on the Ship

Since we could not disembark from the Ship until 11:15 am, Ally and I decided to hit up the gym! The gym had significantly fewer guests compared to the first Sea Day and Endicott Arm Day. Ally and I just did some simple treadmill and weight exercises before heading off to breakfast. We also signed up for the coveted spring class for the next morning!

Breakfast was quite crowded at the Cabanas because everyone seemed to have the same idea as us – go to the cabanas as late as possible, so you do not get hungry while out and about in Ketchikan.

Finally, when the ship docked, we were able to get off to get on a plane trip.

Ketchikan

The whole day was rainy and misty – which is not a great combination to try to get in the air and fly to a national monument. The first thing we did once we got off the ship, was to dodge the rain and run right into the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. We had some time to kill before our flight and watched one of the educational movies and explored the visitor center.

After spending about an hour in the store, the rain had slacked off, and we explored downtown and explored the shops. Many of the shops and restaurants are very centered around tourists. When we were in one of the convince stores, Ally found this faux fur hat, however, we went over to the Sitka Fur Gallery, and she bought a cute hat for the cold winters in New York.

Misty Fjord National Monument

Every time we go on a trip, we always try to do some air adventure, and it never works out. For Ketchikan, I decided to not book through Disney, but try booking an excursion through a third party. I decided to book my tour online through Alaska Shore Excursions. The trip was going to be 2.5 hours of scenic cruising to Misty Fjords and a 25-minute flight from Misty Fjords to Ketchikan. According to my email exchange with the company, as long as the handi-capable person could transfer from the chair to the boat and plane, they can store the transport chair during the rest of the trip.

Our tickets instructed that we wait for our tour guide at the “Liquid Sunshine” Rain gauge on the side of the Ketchikan Visitor Center. Of course, the rain and wind were not on our side, and our 1:15 pm trip was canceled. Taquan Air was the actual company that was going to bring us around, so the tour guide instructed that we go and try to re-book with Taquan Air directly for a later flight because the weather may improve.

The 3 pm flight was full, so our only option was the 5 pm flight. With nothing planned and three hungry travelers – we decided to go check out Burger Queen.

Burger Queen

Ketchikan is pretty handicap able when it comes to hills and what not, there were a few areas that were a bit intense. First, we didn’t realize there was a footbridge in the tunnel, so there was some excitement in trying to cross the street while using the transport chair. Also, there is at least one big hill, but we were able to skip a few streets and deal with the incline.

After eating at Burger Queen, we continued to explore the city.

Back up plan

Even though Mom and I read probably every trip report and blog in the world preparing for this trip, I did not have a backup plan for Ketchikan. In true Lindsly Fashion, we just winged it. Since we walked all the way over to Burger Queen, we decided to look at some of the antique shops and unique stores in the area. It started raining again, so we quickly ran back towards town, debating if we wanted just to continue to brave it in the rain.

After a quick Google search, I learned that there was a grocery store Starbucks not too far away and we could take the free public bus all the way to the Safeway so I could purchase my favorite souvenir – a You Were Here Starbucks mug.

Of course, we got on the bus going the wrong way, but we were able to get a little sightseeing of the rest of the area that we were not able to cover by foot. The almost round trip did not take that long, and we had 20 minutes to go into Safeway, look for more spruce tip beer (we didn’t find any), purchase my Starbucks Mug, and purchase a few coffees for the family.

What would I do differently?

I wish I had made a backup plan for Ketchikan instead of just winging it. I usually plan every little detail when it comes to these trips, but for some reason, I didn’t prepare a backup plan. My back up plan would probably have included mapping out what restaurants I would want to dine at (even though I loved Burger Queen), how to utilize the bus program, and some other sightseeing areas we would want to knock out. Of course – it was pretty relaxing just being able to walk around town and do whatever we wanted.

All Aboard

Even though the All Aboard wasn’t until 7:45 pm our dinner reservations at Tiana’s was at 5:45 and we didn’t want to miss Mardi Gras at Tiana’s!

That evening there was a comedy show that we opted to skip so we could explore the ship, sit on our balcony, and enjoy the scenery. At first, we wanted to find the secret deck that we've read about on all of the blogs. We searched high and low (and even got on the internet to see if we could figure it out). Well, let me just tell you, there is no longer a secret deck on Deck 9 anymore, in fact, the area that used to be the secret deck now looks like this.

Also, while exploring, we were able to watch the taping of the Morning Show! Walking around we saw that the cruise directors were filming int he D club and as soon as I saw them I yelled 'Look the Morning Show!' They did not get out of character at all! When I was walking back to my room, we actually ran into Donald Duck and we were wearing the same Plaid Shirt! Who knew that Donald looked so good in red and black?

We still had a few bottles of wine left over that we needed to consume, so we spent the whole evening sitting on the balcony keeping our eyes peeled for whales and other wildlife.

That night, the seas turned for the worse, and we got our first bout of what it felt like to be seasick.

Hey guys! I haven't forgotten about y'all! The past few weeks have been crazy with Travel.

I do have something Disney related:25 TIPS I LEARNED AFTER TAKING A DISNEY CRUISE TO ALASKA

Other things (non-Disney related) I've been up to is going to the Mall of America and seeing the Solar Eclipse.

The final sea day blog post should be posted by Friday - I'm working on it this week!

A day late but I've been so distracted with IRMA!

As always please click this link to see all the photos and formatting: https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/2017/09/09/last-day-sea-disembarkation/

The final day of the cruise was an interesting one. After four days full of excursions at Endicott, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan, we finally had some downtime to enjoy the ship on our own. We were a little exhausted from may days full of activities, so this Sunday at Sea was a more relaxing one.

First Time on Rough Water

As y’all all know, this was my first every cruise. We were so worried about getting sea sick that we took sea sickness medication every day. Sea day was the first day we experienced any movement or rocking of the boat. After a stormy night, and a rough morning, we used this whole day to relax on the ship and enjoy the last few moments in Alaska.

Going to the Gym

I was dying to try the Spin class first thing in the morning. The first two times I tried to sign up the class was full. So I was determined to make this class. I quickly got dressed and made my way over to the Senses Spa to get my spin on. While walking down the hallway, I noticed I couldn’t keep my balance. I was gently rolled from one side of the hall to the other and noticed a man in the hallway had the same stumbling issues.

Rough Seas – This is Going to be Fun

Determined to do the class. I found the perfect bike and jumped on. Traditionally, the class has ten people spinning at one time. The spin class takes place in the middle of the gym – quite awkward if you ask me. I picked my favorite seats in the class and waited for my fellow gym goers to show up.

Only three more people showed up, and two of them sat right on top of me. Seriously. There are ten spots, why did you have to sit next to me? Anyways, the spin instructor came in and gave us a little speech saying that the ship was rocking a lot today so if we felt ill, please get up and run to the bathroom. She also said that if for any reason she got up and ran to the bathroom to just keep peddling, and she would be okay.

I started the spin class with such determination, I mean the class was only thirty minutes long. But around the 10 minutes into the class, I felt ill. Spinning on the ocean on a regular day probably doesn’t feel any different than spinning but spinning on a rocky sea was quite the experience. While we were climbing hills and doing jumps, we were also rocking back and forth, so it felt like we were going to a square instead of just up and down. Let’s just say; I was so happy once the 30 minutes were over.

Brunch at Palo

Walking back to my cabin was not any easier than earlier in the day. Mom and Ally were swaying around the cabin, and we all got ready to go to Palo.

Palo brunch was delicious, and I wish we ate here for brunch every day! We, of course, had a couple of cocktails (this first one is from the Mouse!) which didn’t help with the boat rocking.

During brunch, I saw at least two people told their server that they were going to go back to their cabin to lie down. I felt bad that they had to miss brunch, but I didn’t blame them at all. At One point, I looked out the window past mom and said ‘woah, those mountains sure are going up and down a lot!’

After brunch, Ally and Mom headed back to the cabin and I stubbornly headed over to the Disney Vacation Club Group Preview to try to win a gift card (I didn’t).

Evening on the Balcony

The sea calmed down, but after the massive brunch and being bounced around everywhere we decided we needed some down time in the cabin. So we opened up the blinds and soaked in the scenery and sun. We may have also taken a nap.

After we were well rested, and the sea was calm, the family sat on the balcony knocking off a couple of bottles of wine. While sitting on the balcony, we saw a man in a little-motorized boat serenading us with his trumpet. He wasn’t the best trumpet player, but he was having a grand time playing for us. He even played “When the Saints Go Marching In” and our whole balcony hooped and hollered.

Even though this spontaneity wasn’t Disney planned or sponsored, it was one of the magical moments on the boat!

Dinner

That evening we dined at Triton’s, and it was Lobster Day. During dinner, we dropped off our gratuities to our Head Server, Server, and Assistant Server. We talked to them about our options of either doing the express walk off or dining on the boat. Even though Svjetlana and Phapakorn informed us that we should be fine dining at Triton’s with all of our luggage and take the express exit right off the boat, we opted to skip breakfast the next morning.

Disney Dreams

After dinner, we went on over to The Walt Disney Theater one last time to watch Disney Dreams. This show was by far one of my favorite shows on the cruise! It had all of the Disney character classics and flowed the story of a young girl named Anne Marie. Each time a new Disney character appeared on stage, you could feel the excitement of seeing Peter Pan, Cinderella and Aladdin. Out of all of the shows on the ship, this was the one that I enjoyed the most. It felt like a classic Disney Parks show.

Disembarkation Day

The next day was Disembarkation Day – we decided to grab breakfast in the Cabanas and just walk off with all of our luggage. When you do a walk off, you technically do not have any help with your bags, but we didn’t have any issues maneuvering off of the boat. We were able to walk out, pass customs, and get on the Disney bus to the airport all before 8 am! Our bus driver gave us a quick tour and history of Vancouver while driving us to the airport.

Once we arrived at the airport, we ended up spending some time in the Plaza Premium Lounge before flying back to New Orleans.

This seven-day cruise was truly the journey of a lifetime. I hope to return to Alaska again whether it is on another Disney Cruise or to make a land trip.

If you missed any of my posts for my trip reports for the cruise, please see below:

Day 1, May 29, 2017, Vancouver

Day 2, May 30, 2017, At Sea

Day 3, May 31, 2017, Endicott Arm

Day 4, June 1, 2017, Skagway

Day 5, June 2, 2017, Juneau

Day 6, June 3, 2017, Ketchikan

Day 7, June 4, 2017, At Sea

Thanks to everyone who read my trip review! Feel free to comment here or on my blog posts!

For those who have asked, my next cruise is in May 2018 in the Mediterranean so if you have any tips please let me know.

Here are two links for my top Tips for A Disney Cruise, most particularly for Alaska:

TOP 25 TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR AN ALASKAN DISNEY CRUISE

25 TIPS I LEARNED AFTER TAKING A DISNEY CRUISE TO ALASKA