Disney Wonder May 29 trip report in Alaska!

babycatsy

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Jun 2, 2017
Starting tomorrow I will post to my blog (and on here) my trip reports for the Alaskan Cruise on the Disney Wonder!

I will post the link (webpage is plaidshirtyogapants.com) so y'all can view the pics and formatting but will also paste the plain text on this board! This trip report will be quite lengthy and I play to cover each day on Thursday! I would be so happy for y'all to read, comment and ask questions!
 
Looking forward to your report (we are booked on the 5-22-18 Alaska cruise). Also, your blog is great! We are pre-planning a trip to Yellowstone in 2020, and I look forward to reading all about your trip.
 
Looking forward to your report (we are booked on the 5-22-18 Alaska cruise). Also, your blog is great! We are pre-planning a trip to Yellowstone in 2020, and I look forward to reading all about your trip.

My header was wrong - we went this past may not June! Lol so you will be going basically the same time as us! We purchased three Disney excursions so you will have some idea of whether and what not.

Yellowstone was amazing! Let me know if you have any questions.
 


You can read and comment on the message board or head on over to my blog (https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/disney-alaskan-cruise-embarkation/) to see all the photos and formatting!


Welcome to my first post for my detailed Trip Report Cruising to Alaska on the Disney Wonder.


Embarkation day beings with us packing everything up from our three-day trip in Vancouver, and walking over to Canada Place. When packing, we made sure that our carry-ons had all of the essentials including but not limited to: passports, medications, 24 bottles of water, 2 bottles of wine per person (6 for our family), cameras and lenses, and binoculars.


In hindsight, our family had over packed, so we took a taxi from Delta Vancouver Hotels and Suites to Canada Place. We told our taxi that we were going on a Cruise, but there was some confusion on where we needed to be dropped off. Finally, with some clarification, we were able to get our taxi to drop us off in the Passenger drop-off zone, which is down a ramp off the foot of Howe Street. There is a Sign that says “Cruise Ship Terminal Ramp Access” – this is where you want the taxi to turn.


Disney - Have A Magical Cruise


Once the taxi dropped us, and all the bags off, the Disney cast and crew started taking over and the magic began. Our luggage already had our Disney stateroom identification on it, so the attendant was able to take the luggage (we would later see it around 5 pm). Once the luggage was collected went on our merry way to continue with the check-in process.


Canada Place was very well organized when it comes to finding your way around to get on the proper cruise ship. Luckily, the port was not too busy because only the Disney Wonder and Norwegian Sun and everyone had signs directing you to which holding area one needed to go to.


We were supposed to board between 12-12:30pm, but my sister had a snafu with her luggage so we didn’t board until closer to 2:30-3:00pm. The only good thing about boarding so late is that there was barely anyone in line! We then took an elevator up so we could continue on with the check in process.



Guest Check-in

Since this was our first cruise, we of course didn’t really know what we were expecting to do. We had read online that the process could take between 1-2 hours so we were nervous about waiting in long lines, since we came so late. We entered the Disney check in area and went straight to booth 12. There weren’t any lines, but Disney was prepared with long queues and chairs for those waiting to sit. During check-in, our cast member had us smoosh our faces together to take one big selfie. Now I thought this was strange (why wouldn't we take individual photos?). But I guess if something happened to someone in our party they would be able to easily identify us as a group.


We were given a card with our booking number 23, room number 7120, and a note saying that our room would be ready at 1:30 pm. We were also given our Keys to the World and the Welcome Aboard Navigator.



Welcome Aboard! Boarding number 23 and room number 7120!

The only area that had a line was the Youth Activities. We didn’t need to sign anyone up for these activities (I’m the youngest of our crew at 30). If you are traveling with children, you should sign them up for their activities before boarding the ship because there are even longer lines to combat with once onboard.





Security


After the check-in process, we were ushered to go through customs and security. Mom was given a little green rectangle since she was in the transport chair and we didn’t have to wait in all of the lines, until it was time to actually. Since they prefer for people of the same party to stay together while going through customs, we were not able go through the fast lane, but the wait wasn’t extremely long.


Our last stop before we could board the boat, was hoisting up our luggage to show a cast member the six bottles of wine we were bringing on board. He just needed to inspect the wine label and that each bottle was sealed.



But first, let me take a selfie

After about an hour or so of checking in, customs, and security we were ready to board the ship! There were multiple areas where we could have had our photos taken by cast members but we quickly declined. We are more of a lets take photos of our trips instead of having photos taken of us type of family. All three of us took our Key to the World and buzzed into the ship. We walked down a long gangway where we then boarded on fourth deck where a cast member asked me what our last name was.



Ladies and gentlemen!


Stepping onto the ship, a cast member said into a microphone “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Lindsly family!” as we walked into the atrium. It felt like we were movie stars!


Since we boarded behind schedule, Mom and Ally’s job was to go straight to the room and hang the door hanger while mine was to go to guest services to figure out a couple of things.

Guest Services
How do I get the free 50 MB or Internet?

a. The Back of the Navigator actually tells you! You log onto the DCL-Guest WiFi network, go to www.dclguest.com and create an account, and get your free 50 MB package per person in your stateroom! Each person must sign up for his or her own accounts.

2. What Beverage Seminars can I sign up for?

a. By the time we signed up, a bunch were already taken so we signed up for a Mojito tasting, a whiskey tasting, and a cognac tasting. We ended up canceling the cognac tasting later in the week.

A couple of other things that I could have taken care of but they were all taken care of before I even got on ship. But here are some things you may need to do when boarding the ship:

  1. Changing a dining assignment.
  2. Getting Palo Reservations
  3. Signing up children for Youth Activities.
  4. Getting Meet & Greet Tickets for character greetings.
  5. Reserving Excursions.
  6. Booking Spa & Salon services.
Lunch and Safety Drill
After running up to our room to lighten up my purse, my family headed to Cabanas for a buffet style lunch before we had to do the Mandatory Guest Assembly Drill. We were very overwhelmed with the amount of food choices that we all opted to grab some fried chicken, put it on a salad, and grabbed some random odds and ends – French fries, ice cream, egg rolls, etc. Our plans were to go to Triton’s but it was only open from 11:45-1:30 pm. If you dined at Triton’s you would have more of a sit down dinner, instead of a buffet style lunch.

From 3:45-4:15 pm all ship activities and services were suspended and we reported to Animator’s Palace as our designated disaster drill. Luckily we were inside because some people were outside for the drill! During this time we shared a table with another family and they told us all of their past stories on other Disney Cruises, we actually ran into them a couple of times on the ship later in the week. Once the drill started, the cast members instructed us what we needed to do in case of an emergency and then we were allowed to leave to enjoy the rest of the evening!


Sail Away Deck Party
Mom and Ally went to the Deck 9 Stage Party to get a good seat, while I ran down to Port Excursions. The Port Excursions deck sent me a note asking about the accessibility issues of our cabin since I had pre-registered mom’s transport chair and cane. This was to make sure that mom was able to board the Tracy Arm Excursion.

After meeting the family on Deck 9, my mom and sister greeted me with a Sail away Cocktail! This was a strawberry daiquiri and pina colada blend that tasted like it had very little alcohol. Once the show started, the ship took off from Canada Place and all cast members and characters started dancing and joining in on the fun. This is an excellent show to watch, and if you can, grab a spot on Deck 10 to get an overlook of the entire party. During the show the ship sailed under the Lions Gate Bridge.

After the Sail Away Party, we went to our room to open our first two bottles of wine – See Ya Later Sparkling Brut with See Ya Later Vidal Ice Wine – so we could make a Canadian Mimosa. We sat on the balcony to enjoy the scenery and plan out the rest of our evening and the week by looking at the digital navigator.

Evening Activities
We were supposed to go to Animator’s Palace the first night for dinner, but decided that we were full from lunch and just wanted to relax. This obviously made our host Winston very nervous because when he entered our room he asked us “Why didn’t you go to dinner!” we assured him that we were fine (we ordered a cheese plate and some salads from room service) and that we would be promptly out of our room for the 8:30 pm showing of Be Our Guest.

We ended our first day by watching the Broadway style show – Be Our Guest! On the way into the theater, one can buy drinks, candy, or popcorn – but honestly with all the free food on the boat, I don't see why one would need to buy additional snacks.

Be Our Guest was the Welcome Aboard show, which showcased a little snippet of every each show for the rest of the cruise. We saw snippets of Peter Pan, Frozen, Magic of Kalin & Jinger, Music & Comedy of John Charles. The funny thing about this late show, is that all the children show up in their pajamas and one by one their parents had to take them out of the theater and back to their the stateroom. I did notice that most of the kids either paid super attention to the show, or were wiggling around in their seats. One fun fact – if you wanted to skip the show you can always catch the show 4 different times on your stateroom’s television screen.

After the show, my family did some exploring while walking back to our stateroom. Since we were forward and close to the gym, my sister and I ran up to see if we could join the spin-class for the next morning. We were actually numbers 9 and 10 on the waiting list of only 10 bikes, so we didn’t even attempt to go to spin class for that second day. Once we entered back into our room we received our first towel animal - a swan!

The next day - May 30 - was our first full day at Sea. We spent most of the evening sitting on the balcony and comparing the digital navigator to the paper navigator trying to figure out everything we wanted to do on our first full sea day.
 
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I haven't written about Vancouver because our trip was kinda messed up (delayed luggage, delayed sister, etc.) so instead of doing thing things I planned we ate room service and went shopping! Ha ha!! But I should do a summary of what we did the 2.5 days we were in Vancouver.

In the meantime, I do have two posts you can read!
1. My hotel Review of Delta Hotel and Suites - https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/delta-vancouver-hotel/
2. Priority Pass/Plaza Premium Lounge review from the Vancouver Airport - https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/plaza-premium-lounge/
 
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Nice start! Just one thing since you don't have kids.

If you are traveling with children, you should sign them up for their activities before boarding the ship because there are even longer lines to combat with once onboard.

Actually, sign ups at the club itself or at Port Adventures towards dinner time when the clubs actually open for secure programming is very short. On our last cruise, our friends signed up in the terminal per the agent's suggestion and it took at least 30 minutes. I signed my daughter up on board and it took less than 5. I know that port adventures line that you got in is long, but club band sign ups have lots of options to avoid that chaos.

Animator’s Palace
My phone always converts palate to palace! Drives me bonkers.

We leave for Seattle then Alaska two weeks from tomorrow!
 
That is good to know about the Kids Club! I had just taken advice from others we talked to on board but I'm not the expert on kids activities :) ha ha! I've actually had a lot of friends ask me how my Disney Vacation was so "Adult."

We have a restaurant down here called Commander's Palace and we kept calling Animators Palate Commander's, ha ha I will go update it on the website (been doing some edits here or there).

Good luck for the trip! I cannot wait for my next trip!

Nice start! Just one thing since you don't have kids.


My phone always converts palate to palace! Drives me bonkers.

We leave for Seattle then Alaska two weeks from tomorrow!
 
After lurking on the message board for months - I've learned that Disney (and cruise!) people love food! Please read (and feel free to comment here or on the blog) my review of the first few days for the food on board the Disney Wonder on our Alaskan Cruise.

As always, the plain text is below and the link (for formatting and pictures!) is here https://plaidshirtyogapants.com/disney-wonder-restaurants/

There are many different places to eat while on a Disney Cruise Boat. Disney has a unique experience called rotational dining where guests get to enjoy all three themed dining venues while on board. Once guests receive their Key to the World card, they also receive their rotational dining.

Our dining was: Triton’s, Animator’s Palate, Tiana’s Place, Triton’s, Animator’s Palate, Tiana’s Place, and Triton's.

We missed our first night of dining, due to eating a late lunch, and missed the second night of Animator’s Palate because we had Palo reservations.

I do not suggest missing the first night of dinner because it throws the servers all off their game and all the activities for the whole week.

Here is my review our dining experience for the Days 1-3 on the Disney Wonder.

Day 1 – Room Service for Dinner; Embarkation

We ordered two All Hands on Deck cheese plates and three Chicken Caesar Salads from room service. The room service menu has a little bit of everything for anyone in your party. You can order anything from appetizers, chicken fingers, hamburgers, or Mickey Bars 24/7. You can also order alcohol, sodas, candy, or bottle waters for a nominal fee. With Disney’s loose alcohol policy, the ability to bring any closed snack packages on board, and water – I do not see a reason to order any of the food items that cost additional.

To order room service, one just picks up the phone, place the request, and wait the allotted amount of time for the food. I never had an issue with the speed of delivery, but a few times I called they didn’t pick up the phone, so I hung up and called right back. Room service delivered our cheese plates and salads in about 35 minutes.

Days 2-6 Room Service for Breakfast

Each evening we would fill out the Room Service Continental Breakfast for the next day. Our order would typically be a couple of orange juices (to make mimosas!), fresh fruit bowl, Danish Pastries, Croissants, selections of Jams, and two carafes of coffee. You can select anytime you want your breakfast to be delivered to your room between 5:00 am-9:30 am in 30-minute increments. Depending if we had an excursion or not we had breakfast delivered between 6:00 am – 7:00 am.

The breakfast wasn’t anything spectacular, but we wanted to make sure that we hot coffee in the morning. The coffee wasn’t that great either (New Orleans natives usually brew their coffee quite strong), so when we docked at Skagway, my family decided that they needed to buy some Starbucks Via Instant Coffee.

Also, there is no option to order half and half with your coffee, the only place where I found half and half was at the 24/7 soda, coffee, and tea station on deck nine. I just took a large cup and filled it with half and half every other night, so no one had to worry about running up to get it in the morning.

Day 2 - Triton’s for breakfast – Sea Day

I ordered a Traditional Eggs Benedict and Grits for my breakfast. The grits were quite thin and bland, so I tried spicing it up with some cheese and salt and pepper, but that did not help this item (note a non-New Orleanian probably wouldn’t mind the grits). The Eggs Benedict was delicious and cooked to perfection.

Day 2 – Cabana’s for lunch – Sea Day

Lunch at the cabanas on a sea day is insane! Granted, I knew this because everyone is trapped on the same ship, but this was the only time on vacation I ever realized there was a significant number of kids on board.

Like any buffet, you want to assess the situation of what are the food choices. Everything looked very similar from the day before, except they had a small Mexican section for Taco Tuesday. I opted to make myself a fried chicken salad (salad from the salad bar, chicken from the hot food line), tried some lo mein, French fries, a myriad of desserts, and of course ice cream!

I should have tried the fixings for Taco Tuesday because I didn't see any other Mexican dishes the whole week.

Day 2 – Mojito and Caipirinha Tasting – Sea Day

On Embarkation day, we signed up for a Mojito tasting for our first day at Sea. The class cost $20 per person and was well worth the price. When we arrived at the D-Lounge, we sat down at a table, and there were three glasses per person with limes, mint, and rum already in them, Sprite, a muddler, and stirrers.

The class lasted about 45 minutes (or maybe we just stayed late!) and was very enjoyable and actually educational. We went through a step by step process to learn how to create a delicious mojito. We muddled the limes and sugar with the rum (don’t muddle the mint!) and added Sprite or Club Soda to taste.

After having three mojitos, varying in different rums and fruit within them, we moved on to make a Caipirinha. Now, I had only had a Caipirinha once in my life (it was in New York at a bar called Lava Gina – I kid you not) and did not enjoy it. But this vacation was all about trying new things!

A Caipirinha is sugar, lime, and Cachaça, very similar to rum. Even though these were not as easy to drink as a Mojito, it was still a refreshing drink and was interesting to learn the history.

Day 2 – Animator's Palate for dinner – Sea Day

Our first rotational dinner look the cake! First, we were 15 minutes early, when we were 15 minutes late; so we were one of the first families in the restaurant. The hostess asked us which table we were (we said 7120 which was incorrect; we were table 30) and whisked is away to meet our dining staff (enter their names here).

The menu for the first night at Animator Palate was spectacular.

Bread service was a Garlic and Herb Focaccia Bread with Roasted Garlic Dip.

For my appetizer, I had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes. Let me tell you, we talked about these little purseittes for the rest of the cruise and I wish we had them every night! I followed the appetizer with the Arugula Leaves salad that had Red Beets, Orange segments and Marinated White Beans with a Mustard Dressing. I did not enjoy the white beans, but knowing I was going to have a four-course meal, it wasn’t disappointing to skip out on some beans.

For my main course, I had the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy. This steak was one of the best cuts of beef I had on this vacation (minus our dinner at Palo). Dessert was a Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake, which I had apparently read the menu wrong because it was Vanilla Cheesecake on a Chocolate Fudge base. The cheesecake was one the better desserts that I had on the ship.

My sister and I ordered a bottle of wine, which came to $42.55 with the gratuity and service charge. The great thing about a Disney cruise is you can either bring a bottle of wine with you (they open it for a $25 corkage fee), order from a wine package (three, five or seven bottles), or order wine bottles a la carte. Also, if you do not finish the bottle, your dining team will save it for you for the next evening, or you can take it home with you to finish in your stateroom.

Day 2 - Captain's Reception - Free Booze

My mother jokingly said that if there were free or inexpensive alcohol on the ship, I would find it. On the first Sea Day, before the Golden Mickey's, there was a Captain's reception on Decks 3 and 4 to welcome us aboard the Disney Wonder. This activity was listed under "Fun For All Ages" because everyone could take a photo with the captain and a couple of other characters. We stayed on Deck 4 so we could look down at all the festivities (and it was one of the only places to sit). During this time, we pursued the Disney Cruise Line Catalog (yes, we booked another cruise, more about that later) and sipped on some free beverages.

The drinks that I could see included: White wine, red wine, two fruity cocktails, light beer, and a dark beer. Since we were the second round of the Captain's Welcome reception, some of the drinks ran out towards the end but we tried the white wine, it was Chardonnay but tasted extremely too sweet, and both of the fruity cocktails. The cocktails had a strong hard liquor taste, so I was not interested in those. Finally, I sipped on the light beer; I believe it was Miller Lite.

The dining crew was coming out of the D-Lounge, so I was able to hover over there to grab the second round of drinks when the white wine wasn't up to our standards. Make sure to attend the Captin's Welcome whether it is for some tasty beverages, or to take photos with characters and the captain.

Day 3 - Endicott Arm excursion day - Triton's breakfast

We were lucky enough to book the Glacier Explorer (TC01) excursion through Disney to get an up close and personal look at Endicott Arm at noon. Going on the excursion means that our whole breakfast-lunch-dinner plan was thrown off.

We started off the day with our standard room service and then opted for a later breakfast at Triton's. We all ordered the vegetarian omelet (with some different choices of vegetables in them), hash browns, and bacon. Ally also ordered an espresso $2.59, which did the trick of waking her up for the day. The breakfast was quite tasty and held us throughout our excursion.

After the excursion, we ordered a few mulled wines so we could stay warm while watching the rest of Endicott Arm. Now - I'm not sure if my drink of the day cup would have been able to be traded in for a mulled wine drink of the day, but now we had a cool coffee mug that we could bring on vacations. Also, the coffee mug said Alaska, so I wasn't disappointed. We only bought one full price mulled wine and three refills so that cost came to $31.91.

Day 3 - Endicott Arm excursion day - Tiana's Place, Dinner

I was very excited to try Tiana’s Place because it is a New Orleans themed restaurant and one of the newer restaurants since the Disney Wonder’s Dry Dock in 2017. The ambiance of Tiana’s Place is wonderful. When you walk in, there is a live band playing New Orleans and Disney songs. I mean, I was not expecting to sing When The Saints Go Marching In while in Alaska!

Thank goodness the ambiance is great because, being a New Orleanian, the food was not that tasty. Don’t get me wrong, the food wasn’t terrible, but it I felt like it was advertised incorrectly. The food could be fixed in two ways, don't pretend that it is New Orleans Cuisine, or change the recipes for the items on the menu.

Bread service was a Herbed Brioche with Roasted Onion Dip.

For my appetizer, I had the Sautéed Gulf Shrimp and Grits, and these were delicious! The Grits were much better than the grits at Triton’s, and this should really be a main course choice and not an appetizer. I then followed my appetizer with the Iceberg Wedge salad and replaced the Thousand Island Dressing with Blue Cheese Dressing. I then followed all of that with Big Daddy’s Roasted Prime-Rib of Beef. The sides, Double Baked Potato, Broccolini, Sweet Roasted Carrots, were delicious, but the steak was just ok. It was quite flat and had very thick Red Veal Sauce gravy on it. I really wasn’t into the flavor, which was disappointing because the steak the evening before was delicious.

While waiting to order our dessert, the band started playing Happy Birthday and all the servers surrounding our table and sang us happy birthday! (I had put down that we were celebrating my 30th, my sister’s 33rd, and my mothers 60th birthdays with our travel agent!). It was such a fun surprise, and we got an adorable chocolate cake that had Happy Birthday written on it.

The ambiance was the best because Princess Tiana came and met everyone at their table! We spoke to Princess Tiana, and she was impressed that we were from New Orleans. Also, her knowledge about New Orleans was spot on!
 
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Check out post two of the trip report! Sea day!


As always, the plain text is below and the link (for formatting and pictures!) is here https://plaidshirtyogapants.com//disney-wonder-sea-day/


Our first full day on vacation and we have a sea day! I think out of all of the days I was most nervous about our first Sea Day. As previously mentioned, my family had never been on a cruise, so we didn’t know what to expect. A typical family vacation for us is planned to the max (by yours truly), and I have an itinerary finalized weeks ahead of time. That is not how it works in the cruise world. On a Disney Cruise, you find out what the ships activities are via the Personal Navigator that you receive during turn down service (or one can view the digital navigator through the Disney app) anytime you are on the cruise.


I was also nervous because I was terrified of seasickness! Luckily, my mom thought ahead and made us take a Bonine tablet every day to ward off seasickness. Clear weather and a smooth ocean (minus the last sea day) blessed us with a smooth sailing.


Our morning started off with a knock on the door from Room Service! After drinking our coffee, eating pastries, and watching the daily Good morning Disney channel my sister and I headed over to Senses Spa Fitness Center while mom started getting ready for the day. Now, this being the first day of the cruise, and a sea day, the gym was super packed! The evening before we tried signing up for the 9 am Spin class, but that was full. We were too late for the 7 am Morning Stretch routine (but who needs to stretch?), so we tried taking the 730am fast abs class – which was also full. To not ruin a perfectly good workout time, Ally and I opted to jog on the treadmill.


Senses Spa is on Deck 9 all the way forward. When running on the treadmill, you have the option to watch the screen on the treadmill or just look up and watch the open sea in front of you! While jogging, I kept my eyes open for whales, but unfortunately, I did not see any.


After going to the gym, the whole family went to Triton’s for breakfast and headed back to the stateroom to get ready for a day full of activities.


Mom and Ally headed over to the Walt Disney Theatre to listen to Doug Jones’ presentation Into Alaska’s Wilderness. During this lecture, they learned a lot about what to expect while we were sailing through the Inside Passage and what wildlife to see from the balconies. Those two also accidentally took a nap during the presentation. A little-known fact – if you stick the Lindsly Ladies in a dark theater with someone with a calm voice, we will fall asleep!


While the family was busy learning (and napping), I got ready to attend the Disney Cruise Line Anyone Can Cook in the D Lounge. This class is inspired by Chef Gusteau’s motto in Disney’s Ratatouille. Classes are held at various times throughout the day in different venues. This version of Anyone Can Cook was for adults only, and we had a cooking demonstration for Lobster Ravioli with a Tomato & Garlic Broth, and we sampled a glass of chardonnay.


Chef went through the whole recipe step by step, and it felt like we were on a real live cooking show! There were cameras and screens to maker sure everyone could see what Chef was cooking. Chef's end product looked a little different than ours. I found that the sample broth was very runny (compared to Chef's that was thick and tomatoey) and I also discovered that I do not care for Lobster.


The room was small, maybe thirty adults taking the course, and we were able to ask Chef any questions we wanted. The only question that a guest asked was “Where can I order Lobster Ravioli onboard?” and the answers was “During this class! The Disney Wonder took it off the menu after the Dry Dock in 2016.”


While I was in class, mom and Ally did some exploring around the ship, including stopping at the 24-hour drink machine to make us iced teas. Our next class was attending a Napkin Folding Class, also in the D Lounge. This course taught us six different ways to fold napkins. I did not realize how much work was involved in folding napkins. We did some of the usual napkin foldings found on the ship during dining events: a fan, a stalk of corn, a suit jacket, another fan, a candle and Peter Pan’s Boot.


After taking this course, I had a much better appreciation for all the expertly folded napkins t\ at each of our dining venues.


For lunch, we went to Cabanas for a quick grab and go buffet. When we were leaving Cabanas, we discovered that they were offering mulled wine to warm guests up. We didn’t purchase any because we had to run to our next activity – Humpback and Killer Whales: What we Can’t See…featuring Doug Jones!


During this talk, we learned about all the sea life that we could possibly see while onboard. Jones is a naturalist based out of Juneau, Alaska who comes on board to discuss all of his adventures. My favorite thing about Jones is that he takes and uses his own photos in his presentations. Jones had some magnificent stories and photos about all the whales we would see in the ocean. He mentioned that it was a bit early in the season to see a ton of whales, but we were able to see a couple of HumpBack Whales and my mom and sister swore that they saw a killer whale from the balcony. After our nap, I mean lecture, we headed on over to the D Lounge for our Mojito tasting.


I highly suggest taking at least one tasting course while on a Disney Cruise ship. The class does cost between $20-30 per person but are well worth the price for the educational value and delicious drinks!


After the mojito tasting, we decided to forgo any other activities and just lounge on our balcony to watch the inside passage. One of my favorite things that we did on this trip was all pile onto the balcony, sit back, and just let Alaska pass us. It is hard to describe how beautiful and peaceful the scenery is and pictures do not do Alaska justice.


After hanging out with the family, we got dressed for dinner. The Evening Attire was Formal night, but we opted out of dressing up Formal. I wore my white and blue striped sweater, a decorative scarf, leggings, and my Tieks and felt adequately dressed. There were some women dressed in sequined dresses and ball gowns and some men in suits and tuxes, but it was not necessary. I also saw other families less dressed up than me wearing t-shirts and jeans. When it comes to clothes on a cruise - wear what makes you feel comfortable! It was quite cute to see the little kids all dressed up in their Sunday best.


Dinner was in Animator’s Palate and shortly after we attended the Captain’s Reception before going to the Golden Mickey’s.


The Golden Mickey’s is set up like an award show where there is a red carpet, and all the “stars” are interviewed. I loved sitting down and watching guests get interviewed on the big screen and then seeing those same guests walk down the steps to find their seats. The show was excellent, except the main character, the stage manager transformed to host had an annoying quality. The show featured snippets from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, Mulan, The Little Mermaid, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Toy Story 2, Lady and the Tramp, Tangled, The Lion King, and of course, Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed watching these classics come alive on the stage.


Naturally, after the show, everyone swarms the stores. We browsed Micky’s Mainsail and White Caps but didn’t find anything that we needed to buy. One fun fact: If you adore the shampoo that your host gives you, you can purchase a large bottle from the shopping area.


After a bit of shopping, it was time to go to bed even though the sun was still up at 10 pm! The next day we had a whole day filled with exploring Endicott Arm (originally Tracy Arm Fjord).


Other activities I would have tried if I had time

Art of the Theme Show Tour

Diamond Jackpot Bingo

Disney Club Vacation Club Group Preview (you could win an onboard credit!

Golden Mikey’s After Party
 
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We were about a week or two early to see a lot of whales. But we did see some birds, eagles, etc. my mom and sister swore they saw an orca on the last sea day.

The verandah was well worth it to be able to sit in some privacy and just look at nature go by. We loved spending the evening sitting out there bundled up in blankets right before going to bed.
 
I can't wait for Thursday's post about Endicott Arm. It was my favorite day last year on our cruise. I so enjoyed the scenery.
 
I can't wait for Thursday's post about Endicott Arm. It was my favorite day last year on our cruise. I so enjoyed the scenery.
It was a great day! I'm writing it right now and after some editing (and blog formatting!) It should be up in a few hours!
 

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