It's a Wonder-ful Alaska!! May 30th-June 7th

Our Alaska cruise was finally here! We booked this cruise when it first came out over a year and a half ago! We waited soooo long!

When we first booked we weren't sure we would do it. It was so expensive! At $5000 for the four of us for an oceanview room, plus airfare to Vancouver, we weren't sure we should. Several times over the next few months I checked other cruise line rates.

Slight rant - People love to talk about how much more Disney is than other cruise lines, but that's just not always true. I never found a savings of more than a few hundred dollars on any other line. Sure you can find great specials on other lines at times, and you can find great specials on Disney at times. But comparing exact same date for date, the difference was not much if at all. Is Disney worth a few hundred more? You bet your bippy it is!:)

So we stuck with our current plans! Then when the kids sail free offer came out, our price dropped to $3000! Score! So glad we didn't jump ship so to speak! :)

Who:

We ended up with 7 cabins of friends and family on this one! It was awesome! Disney cruises are the perfect vacation for large groups with different ages and interests.

Now a disclaimer. I did a horrible job of getting a picture of everyone this time! I don’t know why! Everyone appeared in different pictures, just no good pictures of each family. So here’s a hodgepodge of photos of the group. I had to steal a few from my brother in laws facebook! We’ve got a great group picture of everyone, but unfortunately it was on the desktop which is now packed and on it’s way to Washington DC. Here’s the breakdown of who is who and then I will post pictures. This will also give you a preview of some of our activities during the week!

First - Us! I'm Tammy, Disney lover, travel agent. My Dh is Stephen, Air Force officer. Ds 16 is Chase and Dd 13 is Ally.

Next - My parents. My parents have been on most of our cruises and WDW trips, including the Med cruise last year.

Then - My inlaws. My inlaws have also been on several cruises with us. My parents love WDW and cruises, my inlaws, however, are Disney cruise addicts. Their favorite vacation, hands down. This time my brother in law got to join us again. It was his second Disney cruise.

Next up - my brother in law and fam. This is their third cruise with us. They have a Dd15 and Dd 12. You may recognize them from our Grand Villa vacation last October.

Then - Friends with twins! You may recognize these cuties from another cruise with us when they were littler. They are 3 now!

Next - More friends! This is my Ds's best friend. His sweet grandmother brought him.

Finally - More friends! These are two long time friends of my inlaws. We've known them for 20+ years.

Here’s the run down!

Dh and I –
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Dad and Mom –
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Inlaws and Uncle Scott – (Stole this picture!)
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Brother in law and Sister in law –
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Friends with Twins –
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Long time friends –
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Friend! – (Stole this picture!)
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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
At this point they gave us our Castaway Club lanyards and I got – a gold one!! Finally!! I was so excited. Everyone else got silver. Maybe I should feel bad that I’ve been on more cruises than the rest of my family?:lookaroun

We found our group sitting down and hugged and talked.

The kids went to see Minnie:

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Most everyone else in our group boarded before us, but finally it was our turn! The boarding line was quite long and fairly slow, but we didn’t care. We were getting on!!

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They announced our family and we left the real world and the travel stress behind.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We met everyone in Parrot Cay for the first schmorgasborg.

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Goofy came around at some point. Goofy was the beginning of the characters love affair with the twins. The twins loved the characters and the characters loved the twins. They spent so much time with them! Here’s a spoiler, something very special was coming later in the week involving the twins and the characters!

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Ahh, this is the life:

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After we were more than full, we went up to deck 10 to take some pictures. Shoot! It was sprinkling. No problem, we hung out in Cove Café for a little while. I love this space on the Wonder.

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We spend a decent amount of time here in the week. Quiet space, snacks, comfy chairs – see my mother in law later this week? Stole this from Facebook:

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After a few minutes, the sun came out and stayed! Well kind of. It seemed sunny at the time, but from my pictures I’m guessing it had just stopped raining.
Here’s the terminal from the ship:

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Vancouver:

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I loved how the ship seemed to be right in the middle of town.

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Saw the kids walking around exploring:

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We were going to sail under that bridge later!

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Our rooms weren’t supposed to be done until 2, but it was closer to the normal time of 1:30. We went to drop off some stuff and all 7 bags were there!! Yay!!

We unpacked and took our first showers in almost 48 hours. It was glorious. :)

There were a couple of new things in the room. The bedding was new and beautiful! Just like the Dreams. And there was – wait for it – a light up alarm clock!! Woo hoo!! :sohappy:

At 4:00 it was time for the lifeboat drill. Everyone was so excited when I told them we didn’t have to wear life jackets anymore! Yay! But sadness, no silly life jacket pictures.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next we went up top for the sail away party. We didn’t rush, we just hung out in the back.

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Sometime during the party I realized I was hungry. That shouldn’t happen on a cruise ship! :D So I got some pizza.

We started sailing sometime during the party. No horn! Sadness!!

We went up to deck 10 to watch and take pictures though. Us and everyone else:

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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The windblown look:

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After a while we went back to the room to get ready for dinner.

Love the views!

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Our first dinner was in Animators Palate. It was delicious as always.

Some of us enjoyed pizza!

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The other table was entertaining themselves:

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Dh got this or something similar just about every night:

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I had this yummyness for dessert:

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The other table had a round of Mickey bars!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We went up to deck 9 afterwards to enjoy the view some more. It was so light out!

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This is the outside of Cove Café:

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The water was smooth as glass.

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Then it was time for the Welcome Aboard Show.

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Since we were working on about 5 hours of sleep, we went back to the room after that and got ready for bed. Not the kids! They came back and 10 and midnight.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday - June 1

I was looking forward to sleeping in, but I was wide awake at 6:30! I showered and we went up to Beach Blanket Buffet for some breakfast. I also stopped by the excursion desk to shift some things around.

Then Dh and I went to the DVC reception. We didn’t plan on buying any points, but we were hoping to win the onboard credit. We didn’t! The reception was entertaining though. There were snacks, mimosas, and sparkling apple juice.

They changed up their hats since the last time we got them. Love these! They are adorable!

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After the reception we went to the room to drop off our goody bags and wake up the kids! We told them they could stay out as late as they wanted every night, but every morning we were going to wake them up at 10:00. :D

Then it was time for another reception!! This time it was the Castaway Club reception for gold and platinum members. More mimosas, sparkling apple juice, and snacks!

Mickey was there! I didn’t buy the picture though!

Christian, our cruise director, told us something interesting about Tracy Arm. He said how close we got to the glacier would be determined by the seal population. If there were lots of seals, we had to stop. Who knew!

We finally met back up with everyone for lunch at Tritons. I love their hamburgers!!

Mickey bars for dessert again!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After lunch some of us went to a naturalist talk. I went up top again. I am loving the scenery on this trip! The ocean is beautiful, but it pretty much looks the same all the time. In Alaska, every time you look off either side of the ship, something is different and gorgeous!!

At this point I hadn’t been in the pools and could not understand how they were so packed. I mean this guy doesn’t even have much of his body in the water!

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Dd and my niece had their whole bodies in the water:

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This was the view from the back of the ship most of the day.

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This sheltered area on the front of deck 10 is perfect when it’s windy.

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Hey look who’s coming!

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Stole this off Facebook:

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The heavens parted this morning and it was a gorgeous day!

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After some scenery watching, we went to get some cokes and deliver our fish extender gifts.

We passed the secret deck on deck 7 and it was closed for a private event! I said, “Ooh, is it a wedding?” and it was!! We were definitely going to have to stalk that later!

We went back up top to take pictures and relax.

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We were at the end of the ship, when I turned around and saw Minnie coming towards us. I started jumping up and down like a little girl. My sister in law couldn’t see her and thought I saw a whole pod of whales or something.

But just look at this outfit!! Holly would you not have squealed like a little girl with me? I mean, look at those boots!!

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We hung around the top decks and took some more pictures.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That’s my boy!! It does my heart good to see him taking pictures.

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He even took a mirror pic!

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No idea what I was laughing at!

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Finally it was time for the wedding!!

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The Captain performs the ceremony.

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Could it be a more beautiful setting?

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Finally it was time to get all gussied up for formal night.

The twins love ds.

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We all met up for a group picture in the lobby, but sadly that picture is on the desk top on the moving truck. So that will have to be added later!

Dinner was at Parrot Cay tonight. Doesn’t quite go with the formal attire, but so be it.

About half our group went to see Tron in 3D instead of the Golden Mickeys. I opted for the Golden Mickeys. I forgot it hadn’t been updated on the Wonder.

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Afterwards I went back to get ready for bed. These short nights were wearing me out!!

The kids came back at 11:30 and midnight.
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
O.M.G. If I saw Minnie in that outfit I would be squealing like crazy, too. Wow! Those boots are da bomb!!!!

That scenery is amazing. Just amazing. I hope the coast south of Vancouver is a fraction as pretty. I can't wait!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
O.M.G. If I saw Minnie in that outfit I would be squealing like crazy, too. Wow! Those boots are da bomb!!!!

That scenery is amazing. Just amazing. I hope the coast south of Vancouver is a fraction as pretty. I can't wait!

Aren't they!! I wonder where she bought them! :)

I bet it is! That part of the country is so beautiful!
 

happymom52003

Active Member
Loving your report! I always look forward to your amazing pictures. We were on the June 7 sailing and you've really got me missing it! It was soooo hard to leave that cruise....especially since I came home to 105 degree temps! It was my 9th cruise (but only 2nd time on DCL) and it was my favorite by a long shot! We thought doing Alaska would be a one time thing, but we are going to do it again someday for sure! Can't wait for the rest of your report!
 

joanna71985

Well-Known Member
The pictures are great (especially the ones of the scenery- they are stunning!). I would love to do the Alaska cruise so badly!

Also, I'm just curious- how many cruises do you have to do for each level (gold, silver, ec)?
 

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