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

[genki3]

Oops, forgot one more.

 

5) I noticed you participated in FE. Was it worth it? Have you done it before? We are flying in to Vancouver and I'm still undecided if I want to participate. Feel free to pm me if you don't want to answer this question publicly. Thanks!

[Mommu98]

Sarah, i've always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise! Your pictures, comments and genuine excitement could be seen and felt throughout the 16 pages! Your post, for me, was like a best seller! I couldn't wait to look at the next picture! Loved it! We are sailing 3 day San Diego to Ensenada this Oct on the Wonder. I was looking for someones personal take on the Wonder and you had it all! The food, decor, cabins, arcade and characters! Thank you thank you thank you!

[lovely_serenity]

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?

 

5) I noticed you participated in FE. Was it worth it? Have you done it before? We are flying in to Vancouver and I'm still undecided if I want to participate. Feel free to pm me if you don't want to answer this question publicly. Thanks!

You're very welcome! Thanks for reading! :)

 

1.) Motion sickness: Well personally, I am quite prone to motion sickness, so typically, I do experience it, but surprisingly, not this time around! You'd only feel some motion whenever the ship passed a section of the route that wasn't blocked by islands/land on both sides. I don't even recall doing an zigzag walking o_o. I think this time around, it was pretty much smooth sailing. Alaskan sailings sail with the majority of the way blocked by land on both sides (the Inside Passage), so generally, it should be pretty smooth. On occasion during bad weather, there way be some motion. Last time I had this Disney Alaskan cruise, there was one night where motion so absolutely terrible, and I literally almost vomited in my cabin. My sister and I quickly went to the lobby to take a breath because bigger spaces feel like motion is affecting it less. The motion was terribly obvious in the small cabin since I would rock back and forth on the stool :/ I guess it depends on your luck! Typically if the weather in Vancouver is bad, weather in Alaska is good and vice versa. It just means the clouds have moved from one to the other ;)

 

2.) Skagway: the fudge shop is called "The Alaskan Fudge Co." and I believe it was like $10 for fudge slice? And $5 - $10 for their other sweets I believe. The boxes of a few fudge slices were like $30 - $40.

 

3.) I'm quite certain that our ship was full. It was the same last time too. I find that the majority of those who sail Disney consist of families with a few kids, and that basically ALL of the children/tweens/teens stay in the kid's clubs! That just leaves the parents ^^ Many are out on deck, or in the gym/spa, so the ship doesn't feel incredibly full.

 

4.) When/where am I cruising next?

 

:D Well, I'm not super sure, it kind of depends on whether or not I get a call-back for a job I applied for haha. If I get the job, the chances of me cruising this summer is basically zero (it's part of a program at my university - working for 4 months full-time, no breaks) and that applies to all of my summers for the next few years ^^. If I don't get the job, there's a chance I might do something with my friends, but that isn't for sure either. My dad's vacation planning has also changed a little so impromptu cruises are somewhat out of the question now ... yeah, things are looking somewhat bleak LOL :p I basically am going to take what I can get now haha

 

5.) I noticed you participated in FE. Was it worth it? Have you done it before? We are flying in to Vancouver and I'm still undecided if I want to participate.

 

I personally feel like it was worth it. Although I spent like 200 bucks on gifts (there were over 70 other participants), I quite enjoyed it ^^. I was actually the one who arranged it because the people in my roll call all wanted to do the FE, and asked me to. So, it was my first time doing an FE and I was the arranger LOL. There was another lady + a few others who were very enthusiastic about it, so they helped me a lot as well. We made like a Google doc and a sheet to fill out online, listing out names and different preferences and allergies. I spent a long time on my gifts because I like doing stuff like that, wrapping, picking, individualizing each one based on the families. It was a lot of work and it took a lot of time, (plus it took up a whole extra suitcase) to do, but I found it was worth it (: (the hard part about being the organizer was enforcing the deadline for participation :/ besides feeling bad for not letting people in, there were also individuals who wouldn't take no for an answer, so eventually we created a "Late" list - out of respect for those who had special ordered gifts for a certain number of us - these who so-strongly insisted on joining would be giving gifts, but only receiving from those of us who had extra supplies). All in all, I would be it again :D (but perhaps get smaller things, my large suitcase was really heavy LOL) - given that it was a cruise that was nearby.

[lovely_serenity]

Sarah, i've always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise! Your pictures, comments and genuine excitement could be seen and felt throughout the 16 pages! Your post, for me, was like a best seller! I couldn't wait to look at the next picture! Loved it! We are sailing 3 day San Diego to Ensenada this Oct on the Wonder. I was looking for someones personal take on the Wonder and you had it all! The food, decor, cabins, arcade and characters! Thank you thank you thank you!

 

Haha, you are too kind :o I'm so happy that you liked it! & I'm glad that it could be of help ^^ I sincerely hope that you have a wonderful cruise and that you have lots of fun! You are very welcome! (I've still got a few more days to post, so look forward to them! - after my finals are over LOL) :)

[genki3]

Thank you for answering my questions! Good luck on your finals! I will be patiently waiting for your updates. :)

[cruisequeen4ever]

You are a very talented writer! I have now caught up on all of your cruise blogs and can't wait for you to cruise more! [emoji16] Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into making these exceptional!

[lovely_serenity]

Thank you for answering my questions! Good luck on your finals! I will be patiently waiting for your updates. :)

 

You're welcome! && Thank you!! I've written 2 papers, done an oral exam and 4 finals, one more to go!! :D IN 2 DAYS I AM FREEEE

[lovely_serenity]

You are a very talented writer! I have now caught up on all of your cruise blogs and can't wait for you to cruise more! [emoji16] Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into making these exceptional!

 

Wow, thank you so much! :o & thanks for reading my reports! Neither can I! I will definitely be updating once I am free from my final exams, please look forward to it! && It's my pleasure ;) ^^

[lovely_serenity]

This is where I was taking the pictures from!

 

 

By the time I came back, everyone had migrated over to the foosball tables!

 

 

It eventually became my brother & sister vs. everyone else LOL. Every time they scored, they'd both (in unison) shout “WOOOO!” very proudly. So eventually to give them a taste of their own medicine, my guy cousin and I imitated them when we scored haha. Since they would hilariously gloat every time they won, we did so as well when we won the final round ^^.

 

 

Once we were all tired and sweaty, we decided to go cool off in Diversions (but not before grabbing drinks at the drink station).

 

 

While we were there, I took a picture of the drink menu for you guys!

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

Initially we were going to play this game, but we didn't know how to assemble it, so we gave up LOL. We ended playing this “mafia” game where we squeezed each other's hand under the table, and had to guess who the killer (the one who did it first) was.

 

 

We played a few more games before deciding to split up and head back to our respective rooms in order to prep for dinner.

 

Once we had all gotten ourselves ready, we over to deck 3. On our way to Parrot Cay, we saw Mickey in the atrium taking pictures with guests!

 

 

 

I took a quick photo, and kept going. Soon enough, we were all seated for dinner!

 

 

Here was tonight's menu!

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

and tonight's kid's menu!

 

 

 

After ordering, we ate some bread as we waited for our food. Tonight, I actually had some! This was because the featured bread of the night was Warm Banana Bread with Banana Dip!

 

 

While I'm not much of a bread person, I like banana bread because it resembles pound cake ^^. I only had a piece, though. The rest of it disappeared very quickly LOL. So while they chowed down on bread, I played with my camera a little. I had noticed a setting earlier today, but hadn't gotten a chance to try it out. While flipping through my settings, I had noticed a “toy camera” setting. I was surprised, because I hadn't even seem that before (yeah, evidently, I'm not a professional LOL). I decided to give it a try. I had recalled seeing and reading about these kinds of special camera effects when reading Gambee's trip report, so I though I ought to try it out! I looked for a picture that I thought would look nice toy-version, and here was the end result!

 

 

Not amazing, but pretty cute, huh? ^^ The ship looks mini!

 

After smiling by myself for a good 10 seconds, the food arrived, breaking me from my daydream.

 

First up was the St. Maarten Stack:

 

 

(Just by looking at it, I thought it was going to be too squishy and wet of a dish, but surprisingly, this worked quite well! It didn't fall apart, and due to its range of layers, the texture didn't suffer. Quite good, I'd order it again. 8.4/10)

[RiotAct]

AWESOME review so far, thank you for all the detail.

 

How's your first year at college going?

[QueueBall]

Hey Sarah,

 

Was the boardgame already there or did someone bring it? I'm packing a few for my trip and knowing that some might already be on board could really lighten my load! :)

[Dmgmd50]

Any pictures of your stateroom? I am trying to see what the rooms look like on the Wonder.

[lovely_serenity]

AWESOME review so far, thank you for all the detail.

 

How's your first year at college going?

 

Thank you!! & No problem! ^^

 

It's going alright haha. Five courses is quite a heavy course load, but I'm getting by. It's all okay until papers/midterms/finals - then they all happen at once LOL

[lovely_serenity]

Hey Sarah,

 

Was the boardgame already there or did someone bring it? I'm packing a few for my trip and knowing that some might already be on board could really lighten my load! :)

 

Hi!

 

The board game was already there. They had quite a few games in Diversions (scrabble, jenga, many of those classic ones like Life etc.). We only brought one game (King of Tokyo) because we knew it was unlikely to be there. There were basically all of the classic board games you could think of! :) I think you should lighten your luggage haha :D

[lovely_serenity]

Any pictures of your stateroom? I am trying to see what the rooms look like on the Wonder.

 

Yes!

 

At the bottom of page 3, 7, as well as the top of page 8! (here I'll link you to the posts)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43954679&postcount=51

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43954681&postcount=52

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43954756&postcount=53

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43954758&postcount=54

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44388589&postcount=138

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44388595&postcount=139

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44388600&postcount=140

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44388601&postcount=141

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

This is awesome! Cannot wait to read more....and see the navigators. Love your pics!

[Dmgmd50]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[lovely_serenity]

Baked Crab Martinique:

 

 

This delicious cheesy, crab dip came with tortilla chips and plantain chips (kind of like bananas, but bigger and not sweet).

 

 

(I liked it the first time I had ordered it, and I liked it just as much this time around too! It's nothing but warm, cheesy goodness mixed with crab ~ delicious 8.8/10)

 

Cream of Green Asparagus:

 

 

(Thick, creamy soup, quite good. I like asparagus, I like cream soups, I liked this. :) 8.5/10)

 

Parrot Cay Salad:

 

 

(As you can probably tell by now, this isn't something I would order LOL. To me, salad is salad. 7.2/10)

 

Mixed Grill:

 

 

(This consists of a piece of grilled beef tenderloin, a lamb chop, a bacon wrapped sausage and a jumbo shrimp. This actually worked out perfectly with my sister because I'm not a big fan of sausage and my sister doesn't like lamb, i.e. We trade and everybody's happy ^^. My only complaint would be the fact that you don't really get to control how they cook your meat. This meant that I found them a little more cooked than I would've liked-not dry, but just a tad overcooked; I'm a medium-rare kind of girl. 8.8/10)

 

Slow Roasted Prime Rib:

 

 

(I'm actually not really a prime rib person. I like it, but it is not my choice cut of meat. I just find it too giant-piece-of-skewer-meat-ish LOL. I like steak, so this doesn't really line up with my preferences. Still, nonetheless not bad. 8.0/10)

 

Since most of the people at my table ordered either one of these two things, those were all the entrée dishes I managed to shoot haha.

Edited May 13, 2015 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

Time for dessert!

 

 

 

Sweet Temptations: Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake & Paradise Coconut Pineapple Layered Cake:

 

 

(The cheesecake was a little over soft, but still okay 7.9/10, the chocolate cake was good, but a little bitter for my taste 8.1/10, and the coconut cake was alright 7.9/10)

 

Now here are the big versions of these three cakes!

 

Strawberry Cheesecake:

 

 

Chocolate Cake:

 

 

Paradise Coconut Pineapple Layered Cake:

 

[lovely_serenity]

Here is the Tropical Sundae:

 

 

(The rainbow sherbet was very good! My sister enjoyed it very much. 8.5/10)

 

After dinner, I went out onto the open deck to take some pictures. I had seen a very nice view from inside, and had failed to take a nice shot through the dirty window, so I scurried upstairs to get a proper shot. Both of my siblings tagged along.

 

 

 

 

The sun was slowly setting over Skagway.

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

After returning indoors, we ran into Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates!

 

 

Stitch was also having a photo session down in the atrium.

 

 

Since the time was drawing near, the three of us headed over to the theatre in order to line up for tonight's show. On the way over, we saw Captain Jack Sparrow holding another photo session as well!

 

 

Tonight's show was a 3-D screening of Guardians of the Galaxy!

 

 

I found that over the course of the cruise, Disney had the same show formatting as the last time I was onboard! i.e. 4 elaborate musicals, 1 movie, and 2 random stage acts. Last time, they screened the new Cars movie in 3-D.

 

Anyhow, right before they started letting everyone in, they announced to the crowd that there were 3-D glasses next to the door and to grab one before sitting down. Here were the glasses provided.

 

 

Once again, the night began with a little bit by our cruise director (who by the way, kind of reminded me of a less-weird-looking Mr. Bean ^^ - in a good way).

 

[lovely_serenity]

After the movie (which by the way, was pretty good), all 19 of us (my family plus all of our relatives) kind of congregated together at the spot my grandma's wheelchair was parked at to discuss the plans for tonight. As they spoke, the theatre cleared, so obviously, not missing a beat, I took a photo. This actually took several tries in order to get a non-blurry shot; the lighting was absolutely dreadful!

 

 

Anyways, after noticing that cleaning workers were starting to get busy, we all took our conversation to the hallway. As we strolled along, I told my brother (who had wanted a picture with Jack Sparrow) to hurry and check if he were still there. Lo and behold, he was! I quickly told him to go line up (there were only like 2 others in line) and I would kind of stay outside of the barrier and take pictures of their interactions. My aunt (the mom of my 10 year old cousin) happily tagged along.

 

This was literally the best/sharpest solo shot I got of him LOL. He sways around and moves too much haha.

 

 

(You guys can't see, but my brother took this hilarious photo with Jack Sparrow where he imitated Captain Sparrow's trademark hand gesture and drunk face LOL).

 

 

After that, we all headed over to the atrium and saw Ariel on one side

 

 

and Captain Hook & Mr. Smee on the other! They were really funny, at one point, Captain Hook offered his hand to a girl asking to dance, but wound up demonstrating his waltz skills with Mr. Smee haha ^^.

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

 

At this time, I told both of my siblings that I had been planning since yesterday, that I was going to make the kid's club open house in order to take photos of the place. I asked if they wanted to join me (I kind of told them they had to but what's the difference LOL). They kind of groaned, but agreed to after I asked them, “Don't you want to at least see what the kid's club looks like?”. My little cousin even came along!

 

The reason I was so adamant on going was because you are only allowed to take photos inside of the kid's clubs during open house hours. This is to ensure that there are no creepers taking pictures of the kid's inside of the clubs while they're still in there. This was why the facilities were basically empty when we got there (they brought the kids somewhere else for some other activity). Another reason was because open house hours for each club (there are so many on this ship...) only happen like ... once or twice per club. That was why I'd basically have like one chance to go. I actually kept track of the open house hours for every single kid's club throughout the trip, and got annoyed whenever they held one during hours where'd I'd be unavailable LOL.

 

Anyhow, here is the Oceaneer Club! This is the kid's club for children 3 to 12 (but really 3 to 7) years old. There's actually a second section of the kid's club called the Oceaneer Lab (which is also 3 to 12, but really ages 8 to 12) , but that open house didn't happen until a few days later. We arrived right at the beginning of this open house.

 

 

 

The place had a really cute “Under the Sea” and pirate vibe to it. (By the way, I apologize in advance for blurry photos. The place was SO very dark, making sharp photos nearly impossible.)

 

Near the entrance, they had the cute sea creature play area for smaller children

 

 

and the large pirate-themed structure further in