Almost "Live from" Disney Wonder to Alaska! My Second Disney Experience

[lovely_serenity]

We quickly arrived at the populated part of town. Skagway isn’t very big, and isn’t very interesting, but I actually really enjoyed myself this time around! The last 3 times I had been here, I didn’t really care for it, but perhaps the good weather and the good company made a difference! (There is the White Pass train that takes you up the mountain for scenery, while I do like scenery, I don’t-$100+ per person-like it ^^”)

 

 

Well, this is it.

 

 

This is basically all of Skagway.

 

 

You can see that little sign pointing to the HAL and Princess ships, right? We kind of looked at the set up, and realized that our ship was actually parked just a smidge closer than the other two ships! (Although neither could ever beat the ship parking of my last Disney Wonder Alaskan sailing. Last time, it was literally parked 2 minutes away from town, you basically walked off the ship, and strolled straight into Skagway, without the 10 minute walk)

 

 

We went in and out of random stores to see what was inside (which my immediate family normally doesn’t do, because we’re more ‘look in the store from outside and judge whether or not it’s worth the energy’ kind of people ^^), which was interesting for me.

 

 

This was actually the busiest I had ever seen Skagway. The last time I was here, it was rainy, cloudy, windy (kicking generous amounts of sand into my eye) and a complete ghost town. This time around, the atmosphere was great and bustling! (This probably added to the experience too!)

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

(There’s my guy cousin in the grey in the middle :D)

 

 

 

(And my 10 year old cousin with her mom in the middle ^^)

 

 

We came upon this ticket area

 

 

That was decorated with many White Pass setups

 

[lovely_serenity]

There was also a back door that led straight to the White Pass train!

 

 

While I was taking pictures with my sibling-duo cousins, they both suddenly gestured to me using their eyes, pointing something out. Confused, I swung my head around. Strolling towards me, my two parents. o-o” uh-uhm hi. I got lectured and then they walked off to enjoy themselves, leaving my two cousins to keep an eye on me.

 

They still kind of joined us, but would randomly disappear every time I wanted to buy stuff (=_=). That’d leave me wandering the store like a little kid, looking for the adult with money. At one point, I just gave up and borrowed money from an aunt of my cousin, bought my thing, and when I eventually found my dad, told him he owed someone twenty bucks LOL.

 

 

At one point he joked with my cousin that he wouldn’t pay her back and she would have to keep me as collateral. -.- She responded with “Okay, c’mon Sarah, you belong to me now LOL, say goodbye to your dad for good” sigh. LOL

 

We headed outside and saw that a White Pass train was crossing and starting its journey up the mountain!

 

 

 

 

(The girl in black on the right is the sibling-duo cousin that my dad sold me off to LOL)

 

[lovely_serenity]

(don’t worry, I checked for cars before standing in the middle of the street :D)

 

 

One of my uncles suddenly appeared with some popcorn, which made us demand where he got such a random thing ^^ Well apparently here it was!

 

 

 

They had these little containers with different flavours you could taste before buying whole bag (or just taste and promote them on the streets by walking around with random popcorn like my uncle ^^)

 

 

The spicy cheese one was the best! (yeah they had this little spatula thing with a hole in the middle to prevent people from eating all of it by making it difficult to scoop more than 7 popcorns LOL) As my relatives congregated and started discussing when we were going to go back and where we were going to go next, me and the ten year old just kept eating popcorn hahaha (it was really good, we ended up looking for this store at another port just to buy some)

 

 

Just as we were leaving, one of my uncles came over and handed me a silver train charm that he got from a store (Alaskan ports are littered with jewelry stores offering free charms in exchange for a visit). I then hooked it onto my necklace, which everyone thought was a cute idea ^^

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Once we got a move on, we noticed some people singing outside of a theatre-like building (in the old western, frontier style). They were wearing interesting costumes and promoting a show that was going to start soon!

 

 

We also passed by a store that was connected to its very own café!

 

 

 

In one of the stores, here was the thing I bought: Fireweed Taffy! It was my goal this trip to buy every single type of taffy they had in Alaska – and at least one per port. My verdict: Fireweed taffy was disgusting and tasted/smelled like soap. Nope. (waste of my $7-8 >_>)

 

 

I also spotted this in a souvenir shop, which helped me identify an FE gift I had received that I wasn’t too familiar with ^^

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

As we walked down the street, there was an unmistakable smell. A delicious, warm smell of happiness and sugar that floated down the street. Yes, indeed, it was chocolate.

 

 

It was this fudge shop that I remembered all too well from my other visits to Alaska.

 

 

They always do a phenomenal job of advertising their store via strong, delicious smells.

 

 

At around this point, I started to get a little worried. Lunch time in the dining room would end relatively soon (in about an hour and a half?) and I wanted lunch pictures. I asked my aunts if we would make it back in time, and they said probably not. Disappointed, I looked at the time again. One of my other aunts and her husband told me that they didn’t mind going back to the ship with me because they hadn’t eaten breakfast, and that they were very hungry. We agreed to start slowly making our way back and stop by the big souvenir T-Shirt Co. place first.

 

 

By this time, the sun was really starting to beat down on us and everyone was starting to feel the heat.

 

 

While some of the group headed farther into the town, our little group slowly started making our way back (walking on the opposite side of the street now). We slowed down as my aunt popped in and out of a few stores. The rest of the group actually wound up catching up to us, and we all went into the T-Shirt Co. store together. It was full of many interesting things!

 

[lovely_serenity]

We actually ended up taking a really long time in here.

 

 

When there was only about half an hour left of dining room lunch time, I asked my aunt if it was okay if we started heading back first, to which she kindly agreed. She called her husband over, paid and joined me out the door.

 

 

(My uncle in the pink t-shirt on the right)

 

 

 

 

I took some (like six thousand LOL) ship pictures on the way there

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

 

(I’m quite fond of my ultra wide angle lens ^^)

 

 

 

 

(As you can see, the distance between the ship and the town is pretty big)

 

Edited March 28, 2015 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

//more ship pictures//

 

 

 

 

(my aunt on the left in the purple with her husband)

 

 

(a picture I took of my uncle that he quite liked ^^ he likes taking pictures too)

 

 

Sanitizer station everyone must use before climbing the gangway and entering the ship (it's the foam kind):

 

[lovely_serenity]

As soon as we boarded, I ran over to Triton’s and took a picture of the menu:

 

 

I looked at the time and it was basically, lunch-time-is-over time. Sigh. BUT, I then remembered that my parents had returned to the ship early with my grandma, and that my siblings were probably eating lunch with them as well!

 

I skipped down the stairs and into Triton's, passing by some staff who looked somewhat puzzled by my sudden entrance. I scanned the room and almost immediately spotted some oh-so-familiar faces. I ran over and asked my sister how far into the meal they were, to which she replied “We're waiting for dessert”. My face fell, but I expected it, since it was already to late into the afternoon. My dad then proudly chimed in, “Don't worry! I took some pictures on my phone of the food since you weren't here!” Well, better than nothing, right? :) So here's what they had eaten!

 

Dill-Marinated Salmon:

 

 

(According to my sister, it was very good. It was black pepper crusted and enhanced with mustard sauce. She said she would definitely order it again. 8.9/10)

 

Chicken Consommé:

 

 

(Sis says it was delicious but somewhat salty. She likes salty, so she thought it was okay, but my mom thought it was very salty. Well, there's your difference between an adult's taste vs. a kid's taste. 8.5/10)

 

Chilled Tangerine Soup:

 

 

(My brother said it was gross LOL, he said he did not enjoy it at all. My sister on the other hand, didn't think it was BAD, but she didn't care for it either. She said it reminded her of diluted yoghurt. 7.0/10)

 

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta”

 

 

(My siblings said it was messy but tasty. The bread was hard but overall, they enjoyed it. 7.6/10)

 

Steak Frites:

 

 

(My brother said it was really good 8.8/10)

[lovely_serenity]

Pan-Seared Tilapia:

 

 

(My dad said it was dry and wasn't very good. He also said that he probably wouldn't order it again. My mom said it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special. 7.0/10)

 

Anyways, I told him that I had to tell my aunt that I was going to be staying here to take pictures of dessert before joining her (as well as my other relatives who would board the ship soon), for lunch on the Lido deck. I had told her that I would be gone for only just a second before I darted into the restaurant. I looked at my siblings and firmly ordered them not to be mean and eat the desserts before I got back. I ran out the side entrance of Triton's, circled the restaurant and found my aunt and uncle in the lobby, informed them of the plan and ran back, just in time for dessert.

 

Mango Cheesecake:

 

 

(This was good, it was actual cheesecake, not the sponge-kind. My sister finished all of it LOL. 8.7/10)

 

Viennese Apple Strudel:

 

 

(My brother really likes apple strudel, so he enjoyed it very much. 8.3/10)

 

Truffle Mousse Cake:

 

 

(Yes, it looks like a single marshmallow, but I assure you it is not. They said it was okay but ... the only one who likes mousse is my brother and he thought it was just okay. My sister said it tasted like nothing LOL. My siblings said if you like mousse, it's okay, but you should probably just share one, but if you don't like mousse or think it's just okay, don't order it 7.4/10)

 

After that, I left them to enjoy their meal and headed up to deck 9 to find my relatives. I found some of them in the buffet and asked where everyone else was. My female sibling-duo cousin told me that they were taking up a few tables by the Mickey Pool. I headed over to dropped my things off, told my little cousin to watch it, and went to Pluto's Dog House and Pinocchio's Pizzeria for all of us.

 

Here were some Chicken Strips:

 

 

(My sister wants you all to know that their chicken strips are delicious. That is all.)

 

Pizza:

 

[lovely_serenity]

The meal my little cousin worked on as she watched my camera gear:

 

 

After I dropped off the chicken strips and pizza for our table of cousins to share, I headed over to the buffet to get my own meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good day because they were serving lots of things I liked! After loading up my plate, I headed back over to our table and set my things down.

[lovely_serenity]

One of my cousins set down another basket of chicken strips and fries, as well as a hotdog:

 

 

Here was my plate! From left to right, a double baked & stuffed potato (8.0/10), lamb chops (8.5/10 - good), steak (8.2/10 – a little tough), crab cakes (8.3/10) and sautéed mushrooms.

 

 

After eating our fill, my little cousin and I went to go get ice cream cones. The female sibling-duo cousin came too.

 

Today's special flavours were banana and blueberry!

 

 

I felt like getting a chocolate vanilla swirl, but I later went back to try the special flavours too (They were pretty good).

 

 

After we returned to our table and gobbled down our ice creams, we started hearing some helicopter noises from above. A little confused, we looked up. Suddenly appearing from above, was a bright red helicopter, flying quite close to us!

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

:O! We all stared at it with fascination. Those with cameras whipped them out as fast as possible in order to capture the interesting moment. By this time, the rest of my family had finished lunch and had joined us. Once all of us had finished eating, us siblings and our guy cousin headed to the back of the ship to play (the rest of our cousins would join us in a bit). As we got there, I headed to take some pictures, while the rest of them went to the basketball court.

 

Here's what I saw!

 

 

 

The weather was perfect!

 

 

 

After I was done with that, I joined the three of them at the basketball court. I kind of stayed in the shade and took pictures of them playing LOL (not much of a basketball player).

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

My brother and my cousin kept trying to do dunks

 

 

and alley-oops ^^

 

 

Everyone was really impressed when Sis made this shot :D (you can see on the left my oldest cousin came to join us, she took pictures like me too LOL. We even did this group mid-jump shot ^^)

 

 

 

Good job, Sis! :D

 

 

By this time, my two other cousins had arrived too!

[david,Mississauga]

No problem, David :D Yeah, the tickets are valid long enough for you to basically complete your trip plus some more extra time. Day passes are like 9 dollars, so if you're planning on jumping on and off of transit frequently throughout the day, it's definitely a good idea. (The zone system is simple really. Moving within the zone you are currently in as well as one zone away = 1 Zone ($1.75) Moving two zones away = 2 Zone ($2.75). If you aren't moving away from the Richmond-Vancouver-Burnaby-Surrey area, you won't need more than a 2 Zone. Day passes are (I believe) all zones if I'm not mistaken. They cost like $9, so make sure you're actually saving money considering the number of times you're probably going to use the train!

 

Cheers,

 

Because we are "of a certain age" as the old cliché goes, a day pass will cost us a mere $7.50. I see it is still valid in all zones - including the Seabus - and there is no need to pay the $5.00 surcharge applied to single tickets for boarding at the airport. That is a fabulous deal. We will get them for our two days. It is noted on Translink that day passes still cannot be purchased at the vending machines at the airport station (although they can almost anywhere else). I remember on last year's trip they can be purchased at two shops on the lower level of the airport. It took me a while to find one, but a commissionaire was helpful in pointing the way.

 

Because our May cruise to Alaska is on Holland America's Noordam, we are now looking at your report of your Alaska cruise on the Volendam. Thanks again, Sarah, for your detailed reports. Your detail and enthusiasm are appreciated! I am glad you were not deterred by the few cranky comments about your cruise on the Queen Elizabeth. Your pictures and comments brought back happy memories of our cruise on that splendid ship.

 

Best regards,

David (in freezing Ontario)

[Bfson]

We are going on the Wonder in 2016. Your photos and commentary are answering many of our questions. Thank you for posting!

[lovely_serenity]

Because we are "of a certain age" as the old cliché goes, a day pass will cost us a mere $7.50. I see it is still valid in all zones - including the Seabus - and there is no need to pay the $5.00 surcharge applied to single tickets for boarding at the airport. That is a fabulous deal. We will get them for our two days. It is noted on Translink that day passes still cannot be purchased at the vending machines at the airport station (although they can almost anywhere else). I remember on last year's trip they can be purchased at two shops on the lower level of the airport. It took me a while to find one, but a commissionaire was helpful in pointing the way.

 

Because our May cruise to Alaska is on Holland America's Noordam, we are now looking at your report of your Alaska cruise on the Volendam. Thanks again, Sarah, for your detailed reports. Your detail and enthusiasm are appreciated! I am glad you were not deterred by the few cranky comments about your cruise on the Queen Elizabeth. Your pictures and comments brought back happy memories of our cruise on that splendid ship.

 

Best regards,

David (in freezing Ontario)

Then that actually sounds like a really good deal! Wow you've done your research ^^ nice planning!

 

Ah icic, look forward to it! I think HAL does a good job with Alaska! Have a wonderful trip ^^ & I hope you enjoy my other trip report! Thanks for reading!

 

&& Haha, it's the Internet, I expect people to say whatever they want. Also, I'm much too stubborn to be deterred by small things such as those ;) thanks for the concern though~

 

Cheers,

(in warmish, sunny-ish, rainy-ish B.C.)

[lovely_serenity]

We are going on the Wonder in 2016. Your photos and commentary are answering many of our questions. Thank you for posting!

 

Oh! Have a good trip! :) I'm sure you'll have a blast~ & I'm happy to hear that ^^, feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like! I'd be happy to help!

No problem & thanks for reading :D

[DisneyKidsDad]

Oh! Have a good trip! :) I'm sure you'll have a blast~ & I'm happy to hear that ^^, feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like! I'd be happy to help!

No problem & thanks for reading :D

 

We did this cruise in July, 2013 and just booked it again for August, 2016. We can't wait to go back. This is a great trip report!!

[louv2000]

Great report! am loving it. We're going on the DVC member cruise in May. Your report has been invaluable.

 

More please! ;)

[lovely_serenity]

We did this cruise in July, 2013 and just booked it again for August, 2016. We can't wait to go back. This is a great trip report!!

 

Lucky! I would go back asap if I could LOL, I miss it already ^^. Have fun, though!! :D && Thanks!

[lovely_serenity]

Great report! am loving it. We're going on the DVC member cruise in May. Your report has been invaluable.

 

More please! ;)

 

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it :) Have a great trip & I'm glad I could help ;)

 

It's coming! ^^~

[lovely_serenity]

Once we'd had our fill of jump pictures and basketball, we all headed over to the ping pong area.

 

 

While the others started a game, I went over to the aft of the ship to take some pictures:

 

 

 

 

The port itself isn't really big

 

 

but it does make for a lovely photo (: It's encompassed within a few mountains

 

[genki3]

Thanks so much for such a comprehensive TR!

 

We are going on this exact cruise in August! And there'll be 11 of us. It will be the first Disney cruise for the majority of our group.

 

I had some specific questions I'm hoping you can answer.

 

1) Motion sickness: Did you or anyone in your group experience it? We have Forward staterooms just like you, but ours will be on Deck 5.

 

2) Skagway: Do you recall the name of the fudge shop you posted pics of? How are the prices in terms of souvenir foods like fudge and popcorn?

 

3) Many pics you shared while on the ship didn't show many people. Do you know if your ship was full? I'm expecting a full ship when I sail this August, as it is summer vacation time.

 

4) When/Where are you cruising next?