-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
2022 The Wonder of Alaskan Cruise - The Second Time Around
- Thread starter ZapperZ
- Start date
Maelstrom Troll
Well-Known Member
Loving the ride along, thank you for helping us to relive our 2016 Alaskan cruise 
We were set to return in 2020 but 
. My daughter graduates 8th grade in 2 years, we hope to do it then!
We were set to return in 2020 but . My daughter graduates 8th grade in 2 years, we hope to do it then!
Great TR so far! All caught up. Sorry for the like overload.
RememberWhen
Well-Known Member
Hope your travels Home were uneventful. Looking forward to hearing all the details!
Don't you hate it when real life barged in at the end of your vacation?
It also happens that it's taking me a bit longer to recover from this trip. It was very tiring both physically and mentally, especially in having to go through the anxiety of getting tested and waiting for the results.
I was going to do a day-by-day summary for each day of the cruise. I'll still do that, but not as soon as I expected. I haven't even transferred all the pictures and videos yet to my computer. Can you believe that?
In the meantime, here's my off-the-top-of-my-head notes about this glorious Disney Alaskan cruise:
Zz.
It also happens that it's taking me a bit longer to recover from this trip. It was very tiring both physically and mentally, especially in having to go through the anxiety of getting tested and waiting for the results.
I was going to do a day-by-day summary for each day of the cruise. I'll still do that, but not as soon as I expected. I haven't even transferred all the pictures and videos yet to my computer. Can you believe that?
In the meantime, here's my off-the-top-of-my-head notes about this glorious Disney Alaskan cruise:
- If you have the chance, take the glacier excursion! Trust me on this. Holy cow! Not only do you get closer to the water, but you do get close to the glacier than what the Wonder can do. But what is more fascinating are the unplanned events that you could see. We saw what appeared to be baby sea lions basking on the ice and a few other things that we may miss had we been on the bigger ship.
- If the Navigator app has an update during your cruise, do not, I repeat, DO NOT do the update until after your cruise ends! If you do an update, it will wipe out all your text-messaging contacts in the app! You will have to re-establish your circle of texting buddies all over again (i.e. get their text ID once again, etc.). If your existing text contacts try to text you before you do that, you won't receive that message.
- We have been blessed with amazing weather for both of your Alaska cruises on the Wonder. In 2018, we had glorious weather everywhere except for a light misting in Juneau and a light drizzle in Ketchikan. On this trip. we had almost-perfect weather everywhere except for our last port-of-call in Ketchikan where we had light drizzle (I don't count Vancouver as a port-of-call).
- Overall food quality isn't as good as I remember from previous trips on the Wonder and other Disney cruise ship. The pastries and baked goods are still as amazing as before, but the standard dishes are either average or below average, both in Cabanas and in the dinning rooms.
- Biggest disappointment was Palo. We always book dinning at Palo on every single Disney cruise. I know that they have changed how food is served here, where the menu has a pre-fixe section and an ala carte section. I fully understand and accept that things cost more now. But my parmesian-crusted lamb chops were half the size that I remembered and tasted bland! I have photographic evidence of the shrinkage of my beloved lamb-chops, starting all the way from 2011 on The Dream (yes, the Palo lamb-chops and I go back a long way!) It makes me not wanting to book a dinning at Palo next time, and I never thought I'd ever say something like that.
- Disney, and Disney cruise line, have always paid attention to details. However, I don't understand how in the Cabanas buffet that there is a soup item, but there is no soup bowls to be found anywhere near it! First time it happened, I asked the server behind the counter and he went hunting for it and brought down a pile of bowls (I had to go looking for soup spoons elsewhere). But this happened every single day on the cruise - soup item, no bowls! You had to walk to the dessert or fresh-fruit bar to get a bowl. So guess what, very few guests actually when for the soup (surprise!).
- Of all the 6 Disney cruises that we have been on so far, this was, by far, THE SMOOTHEST cruise that we have been on. There were no rough seas, no turbulence, etc.
- There were just not enough signage, and not enough people directing the embarkation debarkation testing/direction. When we arrived at the port for the embarkation, we would have been in a line for a different, later time had someone in front of us checked and found out that there was ANOTHER line for people who were supposed to show up during that time. We would have been stuck in a non-moving line had that not happen.
- For the debarkation testing at Pan Pacific hotel, the direction where to find it is vague, and you follow the crowds, you'll be stuck in a long line waiting for the elevator. Also, it doesn't matter what time you made the appointment. Just show up whenever you're there.
- And oh, the ArriveCan app that was looked at when you first entered Canada before the cruise? Well, no one looked at the bar code when we debarked from the ship!
Zz.