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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ChuckElias

Well-Known Member
I love it. It shall forever be called that.
Glad you like it, but I can't take credit for it. It was given that name by a cast member on a long-ago shore excursion. But it has stuck with our family :)

Which excursions are you doing, Chuck? Lots in our groups did different excursions and everyone seemed happy.
So many looked really good and exciting. I tried to take into account my 68-year-old mother-in-law before making final selections. So, our adventures are. . .

Skagway -- (1) Rain Forest Bike Tour (7:45 am, yuck!!). This is the only one that m-i-l is not doing with the rest of us. (2) Original Street Car Tour (1 pm). This should be a very low level of physical activity, so it seemed like a good way to see the town together.

Juneau -- Whale Quest and Orca Point Lodge. This is a whale watch with a "fish boil" type of lunch, I think. I'm very excited for the whale watch!

Ketchikan -- Wildlife Sanctuary and Raptor Center. This continues a wildlife trend for my daughter. This is the only one I'm unsure of for the whole family. :veryconfu
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Glad you like it, but I can't take credit for it. It was given that name by a cast member on a long-ago shore excursion. But it has stuck with our family :)


So many looked really good and exciting. I tried to take into account my 68-year-old mother-in-law before making final selections. So, our adventures are. . .

Skagway -- (1) Rain Forest Bike Tour (7:45 am, yuck!!). This is the only one that m-i-l is not doing with the rest of us. (2) Original Street Car Tour (1 pm). This should be a very low level of physical activity, so it seemed like a good way to see the town together.

Juneau -- Whale Quest and Orca Point Lodge. This is a whale watch with a "fish boil" type of lunch, I think. I'm very excited for the whale watch!

Ketchikan -- Wildlife Sanctuary and Raptor Center. This continues a wildlife trend for my daughter. This is the only one I'm unsure of for the whole family. :veryconfu


Those do sound fun!! My inlaws did a whale watching in Juneau and said it was amazing.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh wow! Such amazing pics!!!! I wish we were doing our Pacific cruise this year!!!!

I love the zipline thing! I've never done it but always wanted to. I asked Chandler if he'd do the zipline thing at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver pre-cruise and he said, "No way! Too high!" Soooo, the plot against him is this: ((isn't it great to be the mom that plots against the kids???)) This Christmas we're supposed to be going to Gatlinburg with all of Tracey's family. I'm going to book us a zipline tour there to break him into the idea. Then, we would *like* to arrive in Vancouver 2 days prior to our embarkation. The day before we will take the free shuttle to Grouse Mountain to do the zipline tour and the sky tower thing. Of course this is the plan. We'll have to see how things go.... :D

I totally understand your stress over wanting everyone to enjoy their excursions based on your recommendations. I'm like that whenever anyone else goes to WDW with us. It's a lot of pressure!!!

Can't wait for more! Loving the updates! Getting soooo jazzed for next year!

I like the plan!! I think he'll love it. I have talked to several people with a fear of heights who didn't mind zip lining at all. You feel remarkably secure when you see everything you are anchored to, and the size of the wires and carabiners.

It is a lot of pressure!! And I was their travel agent!!:lol:
 

mouselvrmom

Well-Known Member
Zip lining looks like fun! Did you take your camera with you when you were tethered up like that? I was a little scared for it for you! :lol:
 

disneygirl1

Well-Known Member
OMG tammy, ziplining looks like so much fun! What a quaint little town you were docked in. I also LOL when I saw the pick of the Wonder parked next to the little cruise liner! :sohappy:
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Great update. It's interesting how you exited the ship from the third (?) deck and not Deck 1 like in most Caribbean ports.

Ally has great taste in hats. :D Om Nom Nom Nom!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OMG tammy, ziplining looks like so much fun! What a quaint little town you were docked in. I also LOL when I saw the pick of the Wonder parked next to the little cruise liner! :sohappy:

It was so fun! I love it when we dock next to other ships!:)

Great update. It's interesting how you exited the ship from the third (?) deck and not Deck 1 like in most Caribbean ports.

Ally has great taste in hats. :D Om Nom Nom Nom!

We exited all over! One day we exited from the lobby on the other side, right next to guest services. We did that in the Med too. They're keeping us on our toes!

I should have known you would like that hat!:)
 

Goofygirl07

Active Member
I love zip lining! I've done it once in Cozumel and the other at our local zoo. I am deathly afraid of heights and when Im zipping across those lines I feel totally relaxed. Its climbling up the platforms that scare the crap out of me!

Can't wait for the next report!!
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I love zip lining! I've done it once in Cozumel and the other at our local zoo. I am deathly afraid of heights and when Im zipping across those lines I feel totally relaxed. Its climbling up the platforms that scare the crap out of me!

Can't wait for the next report!!

I guess that's how a lot of people feel!! We actually didn't climb any platforms except the first tiny one to practice. The first real zipline we just ran off the edge of a hill!:lol:
 

wannabeBelle

Well-Known Member
Hey that was my question......how did you get up to all of the platforms?? I had visions of you scampering up a tree or something, LOL LOL Marie
 
The zip lining pictures are fantastic!!! You are making me want to do this tomorrow!!!

And major kudos to you for having the bravery to bring your camera on that excursion - I would have chickened out and mine's not nearly as nice as yours! I am so glad you did, this TR is amazing, what a trip full of memories for you guys!!
 

Coree

Well-Known Member
Man, I'm loving this report. I sooooo want to do Alaska sometime. If the Fantasy does the Med in 2013 you know you're booking a cabin for us at the same time you book yours, right? :D
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hey that was my question......how did you get up to all of the platforms?? I had visions of you scampering up a tree or something, LOL LOL Marie

:lol: Well that would have been a good picture!!

Oh man, the ziplining looks like so much fun!! I would love to try that



Bwahaha! I love it!! :ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

You should!:)

The zip lining pictures are fantastic!!! You are making me want to do this tomorrow!!!

And major kudos to you for having the bravery to bring your camera on that excursion - I would have chickened out and mine's not nearly as nice as yours! I am so glad you did, this TR is amazing, what a trip full of memories for you guys!!

I am pretty adventurous with my camera. My dh would say too adventurous. :D But that's why I have it. To use it!

Man, I'm loving this report. I sooooo want to do Alaska sometime. If the Fantasy does the Med in 2013 you know you're booking a cabin for us at the same time you book yours, right? :D

Awesome!! Coree's coming too!!:sohappy:
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saturday - June 4th Juneau

Last night I tried a sleeping mask with success! I slept until 8! Yay!

The fam had voted to sleep in this morning and not get up early to go into town. So everyone snoozed and then we went for breakfast at Beach Blanket again.

Here is the lovely town of Juneau!

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We hung out in Cove Café for a little while after.

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It was kind of a drizzly day today, although it cleared up pretty well in time for our excursion.

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Then we ordered room service for lunch and scarfed it down before our excursion meeting time.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Today we were taking a rafting trip by the glacier!

We took a bus to the rafts.

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We got in right by the glacier.

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Check out our awesome gear:

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My dear sweet hubby said I looked like a hobbit farmer.

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Dh laughed at me when I took everyone’s picture in front of a truck:

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Because this is what was on the other side!!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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I was taking pictures during the instructions and totally got in the boat wrong. :D Oops!

Our guide was like 12 years old. Seriously. He said he was 19, but I’m pretty sure he was 12. He’s in the red jacket facing the camera:

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For the rest of the excursion I’ll be taking pics with the waterproof camera. I have had one camera die after getting slightly rained on, so I am pretty careful around water.

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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This was crazy. One year there was a huge flood so they got all the cars from the junkyard and put them on the river bank to keep erosion down. The side of the river was nothing but old cars!

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Bil just discovered he had service out there!! :lol:

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