Our first cruise ever, to Alaska (May 2019) - updated through Day 6

MNtwinsplus1mom

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
My family was on the first Alaska sailing of the 2019 season, May 20th-May 27th. We took the trip to celebrate a big birthday of mine this year. It was our first cruise ever as a family (my husband cruised once with Disney on The Big Red Boat in the early 90s, before they had their own cruise line, but he says that was a very different experience). I will jump to the bottom line right away: We LOVED our cruise. We are officially hooked on Disney Cruise Line and hope to do many more, though it will require some creative budgeting and passing on (or delaying) some other vacations I’d been envisioning to make the numbers work. I love planning and may or may not have a secret running Note on my iPhone where I sketched out family vacations through the year 2025. Yeah, that’s gonna have to be modified.

Our family consists of me, Karin, my husband Jeff, our three sons Sam (age 17), and his twin brothers Kevin and Benjamin (age 14). We live in Minnesota. I had never really wanted to take a cruise before, but we do love any kind of Disney vacation, so when we decided to cruise it had to be Disney. Growing up my family vacations were always either “up north” in Minnesota or in Florida for Disney World. After we had children, we continued the Disney World tradition in addition to other non-Disney places that we surprisingly have enjoyed very much despite the lack of Mickey waffles. We in recent years have broadened our Disney travel horizons to include Aulani, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris (just my husband and I) and the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, MO. We have enjoyed them all. We think the Alaska cruise may well be our favorite vacation ever, though, of all these. It was that fantastic. We are so thankful we got to go!

Day 1 (May 20, 2019):

We had spent several nights pre-cruise in Vancouver, at the Times Square Suites Hotel, located on Robson Street near Stanley Park. It was an excellent space for our family, with two bedrooms, a living room with a sleeper sofa, and kitchen. On the Monday morning of the cruise, we packed up our things and grabbed breakfast at the Starbuck’s that was conveniently located just a few steps away.

The manager at the hotel called a cab for us, requesting a large vehicle because we had a larger group (5 is considered large in Vancouver), but warning that sometimes they aren’t available so two vehicles might be needed to accommodate us. Thankfully, a minivan arrived quickly and had plenty of room for us and our many bags. It cost $25 Canadian with tip.

Upon arrival at Canada Place, we handed off our luggage and then took the elevator to street level and exited the building, where we excitedly admired our ship. It was thrilling to finally see the Disney Wonder! Just beautiful.
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We took pictures from many different angles and then tore ourselves away to explore the Canada Place area. We had a good hour before we could board, which had been our plan so that we could see the port area.

We stopped by Tim Horton’s, where we enjoyed doughnuts and beverages thanks to a gift card we needed to finish off.
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Next, we located the pixilated orca and the Olympic cauldron.
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Flyover Canada is a popular pre-cruise activity at Canada Place, but we had already seen it at home at the Mall of America. After some more wandering and gazing at the ship, it was time to check in. Our Port Arrival Time was 12:30-1pm.

We completed the required Health Questionnaire as we waited in line and were thankful that we didn’t need to check any worrisome boxes (our oldest son had just started to feel unwell with what appeared to be a cold). When we checked in, we received our paper Navigators and our Key to the World Cards which revealed a dining rotation of TP (Tiana’s Place)-TR (Triton’s)-TR-AP (Animator’s Palate)-TP-TR-AP. The process of going through Customs and Security went smoothly and took about an hour. Unfortunately, no characters were there to greet us in the terminal at that point for an embarkation photo, but we still took a family picture.

We were walking onto the ship by 1:30pm. When asked for our family name, we answered “Fitzherbert,” as we are big Tangled fans. The cast member didn’t quite buy it, but announced us anyway after we did our best to play it cool. (Next time we will probably stick with honesty, as I felt a little guilty misleading who would end up being one of our favorite cast members.)

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I stopped at Guest Services right away, to make sure we had our own table at dinner, as I’d requested. The boys are growing up so fast, and as we were expecting some time apart over the week if the boys enjoyed Vibe or other independent activities, I wanted to ensure some nice family time each evening. They confirmed our solo table, and then we were on to our room, because we realized it would be ready for us. Nice timing!

We dropped off our carry-on bags in room 8572, a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah, located in the Aft of the ship on the Starboard side. I chose this room because it was the Aft room closest to the midsection of the ship. I wanted to avoid the Port side because I’d heard a few reports from people in Aft rooms on Deck 8 that smoke from the nearby Smoking section occasionally wafted over to their verandahs. We loved our room and found its location to be ideal for us throughout the cruise. We had only minimal feelings of movement there, what I’d describe as a gentle, pleasant amount. On one sea day at night, the motion of the ship caused me to wake up, but it wasn’t too bad and no one got seasick.

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Our view from our room:
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We took a short walk up to Deck 9 to have lunch at Cabanas, which had a good variety of choices for everyone. After that Jeff and I took the Walking Ship Tour at 2:30pm, while the twins checked out Vibe. Sam relaxed in the room, as he wasn’t feeling well and thought rest the best choice.

We all met in the room about an hour later and headed to Assembly Station O on Deck 4 for the Muster Drill. We were careful to be there early, so we wouldn’t inconvenience others by making them wait, but there must’ve been some stragglers because we didn’t start on time. We didn’t mind though, because it was pleasant outside and we were so excited just to be there.

We heard an announcement that due to weather the Sail-A-Wave Party was being moved inside to the atrium. By the time we arrived it was quite crowded, so we skipped it and the twins used the unexpected free time to head up to grab pizza at Pinocchio’s. We filled up our plastic Disney World refillable mugs at the beverage station on Deck 9. We would always use the smaller cups provided at the drink station but then would pour the liquid from them into our own mugs because those are the rules, but we enjoyed the larger capacity and the lids of our own mugs.

When we took the stairs up to Deck 10 to watch the ship get on its way, we were greeted with drizzly weather and cloudy skies. Despite the weather, it was a delight to hear the famous “When You Wish Upon a Star” horn blast and watch the ship set out toward Alaska, making the dramatic pass under Lions Gate Bridge along the way.
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At 5:30pm Chip ‘n’ Dale were scheduled to meet guests in the atrium, so that was a must-do for our family. The twins adore Chip ‘n’ Dale. Kevin showed them the sketches he had prepared of each of them. He’s quite a talented artist and had prepared his own autograph book with sketches of each of the characters we had expected to meet on the cruise, so that they would be able to see the drawings and sign the page next to theirs. The chipmunks were so impressed, with one of them even falling down on the ground and bowing reverently. Benji was also wearing his lanyard, which caught Dale’s attention because he was clearly highlighted on it. We always are looking for such pins in stores and at trading opportunities.

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Back in the room, we met Sat (from Indonesia), our stateroom host. He was very happy to provide Navigators in the room when I asked. He even offered two, because we said we were looking forward to using them to plan with the boys, and our youngest do not have phones. Yes, please!

The boys also quickly found the Marvel channel on the TV and at different points during the day we caught portions of Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2. We are big Marvel fans.

We visited White Caps as soon as it opened at 6pm to look for Alaska-specific cruise items. The cast members offered helpful tips, including directing us to another store, Sea Treasures, in the After Hours section on Deck 3. They let us know that this other store carried all the Alaska merchandise, whereas White Caps only offered some of it. Certain items can sell out, I’d heard, so we decided to come back later tonight and check it out.

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We hurried along to the Walt Disney Theatre so we could find good seats for the evening show, which would be starting at 6:15. Ashley, our cruise director, introduced the show, “The Comedy and Stunts of Matt Baker.” She was enthusiastic and so friendly, encouraging people to please come and say hello to her anytime, adding that hugs, high fives, and fist bumps were welcome. (Hope she has hand sanitizer at the ready for all the high fives and fist bumps, I thought to myself!) The show was excellent! It included a lot of impressive juggling, humor, and audience participation. He rewarded each volunteer with what I think he referred to as “mediocre prizes” (e.g., an old floppy disk, snap bracelets). It was entertaining just seeing what ridiculous thing he’d offer and the guest’s reaction.

Dinner was in Tiana’s Place. We had the late dinner seating, as requested, which would start at 8:15 each night. Our serving team was fantastic: Dan (from Indonesia) was our Server, David (from India) was our Assistant Server and John (from India) was our Head Server. Tiana was a warm and enthusiastic hostess. The Crawfish Crooners provided excellent live entertainment and the food was delicious.

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I started with the Warm Cheddar Cheese and Applewood-smoked Bacon Tartlet (yummy).
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And the Country Green Lentil Soup.
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My entrée was the New York Sirloin Steak, with Truffle-layered Potatoes, Honey Parsnips, and Buttered Spinach with a Pepper Sauce on the side.
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Other selections of my family members:

The Lime-Marinated Jumbo Shrimp
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Oven-Roasted Tom Turkey Breast
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For dessert, I had the Baked Alaska and (apparently) Prince Naveen's Flourless Chocolate Cake.
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Great start and photos - looking forward to the rest - If you took photos of the menus would you mind posting them at the end? We are sailing at the end of the summer and have been hoping someone would do a trip report.
 
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Looking forward to reading along. We were on the May 27 sailing with our twins. Not sure if/when I will ever get around to writing a TR, so for now, I'm just going to enjoy re-living the great memories of Alaska through your report. Can't wait to hear more about your adventure.
 
Great start and photos - looking forward to the rest - If you took photos of the menus would you mind posting them at the end? We are sailing at the end of the summer and have been hoping someone would do a trip report.
Oh, I’m excited for you! You will LOVE Alaska.

I forgot to take pictures initially but believe I have all the menus after that first day, so yes, I can include them. I also think I should add the Navigators, so I’ll scan those in as well and add the one for Day 1, probably in the next trip post.

Thanks for reading!
 
Thank you and yes we are excited! Not wishing summer away but looking forward to it.
 


Thanks for doing this trip report. We’re on the July 22 sailing and we’re so excited!
Yippee! That’s only in a few weeks. I’m sure that’s a great time of the year for Glacier Day, too. Thanks for reading, and I’ll try to keep a good pace to make it useful for you, Happy99, & anyone else who might have a trip coming this season.
 
Looking forward to reading along. We were on the May 27 sailing with our twins. Not sure if/when I will ever get around to writing a TR, so for now, I'm just going to enjoy re-living the great memories of Alaska through your report. Can't wait to hear more about your adventure.
Wow! That’s fantastic. Wasn’t the cruise just incredible? Please jump in and share anything you’d like to add as I go along.

How old are your twins? And may I ask who your captain and cruise director were? I’m curious, because it looks like the staff changed soon after us. I am brand new to DCL but was surprised by that.
 
Wow! That’s fantastic. Wasn’t the cruise just incredible? Please jump in and share anything you’d like to add as I go along.

How old are your twins? And may I ask who your captain and cruise director were? I’m curious, because it looks like the staff changed soon after us. I am brand new to DCL but was surprised by that.

It was the BEST! Completely exceeded all expectations.

Awww... thanks, I'd love to chime in, since I may never get around to an actual TR. It's so fun to reminisce. We have b/g twins who will be turning 7 this August. They really surprised us with their independence on this trip. They spent a ton of time in the clubs and ditched us every night so they could race back to their new friends. I think they only had dessert once or twice, and didn't see one single show, not even when I begged them to see Frozen.

We had Ashley as our cruise director and I thought she was pretty good. I looked up the captain's name once (I've already forgotten), but we never saw him. But I did get my picture taken with Captain Minnie, which was all that I really cared about, LOL.
 
Thanks for sharing, following along! Being a Vancouverite, I hope you enjoyed your pre-cruise days here!! On our first cruise the five of us were introduced as the Incredibles :D the CMs shouldn't be fazed!
 
Thanks for sharing, following along! Being a Vancouverite, I hope you enjoyed your pre-cruise days here!! On our first cruise the five of us were introduced as the Incredibles :D the CMs shouldn't be fazed!
How fun! I wasn’t sure if perhaps a Disney name was against the rules now, because the cast member kind of questioned us, but I bet I just misread him? Glad you had an exciting entrance!

We really enjoyed Vancouver. We spent 3 nights exploring around there (we drove up to Squamish & other spots, too, which was such a pretty drive) and after the cruise spent a night in Victoria and a night in the Steveston area. What a beautiful place to live!

Our youngest son wanted to be a Canadian Mountie for the longest time though the majority of what he knew of Canada was from the Epcot pavilion and research he did for a school project. :)
 
Just when we were about ready to step away from our table, our serving team surprised me with a slice of birthday cake as they (and additional cast members) sang “happy birthday” to me. How thoughtful! They were disappointed that our sons had already all left the table, though, so insisted that they would repeat the performance the next night. It was very nice of them. I had forgotten that I’d mentioned (maybe during the online check-in?) that I was celebrating my birthday. The actual date is not until after the cruise, but it was 100% the reason for the cruise, so I ate the cake without guilt.
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After dinner, Benji bought a Chip ‘n’ Dale “first cruise” pin at Mickey’s Mainsail. Jeff and I had seen on our Navigators that Captain Mickey was greeting guests on Deck 4 midship area, so we said hello.
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Here is the Day 1 Navigator, as well. (I'll plan to attach them at the beginning of my report for each new day of the cruise.)
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We also checked out Sea Treasures, where I purchased an Alaska Minnie plush, an Alaska cruise hoodie, and the Alaska cruise fleece blanket. Jeff checked out shirts, but had more self-control than me and decided to wait.

We stopped into White Caps for some nighttime cold medicine for Sam. I adored this shirt right away. So fun.
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When we got back to the room, Sam took the medicine right away. We were thankful we had gotten it, because when we realized his forehead was feeling warm and checked it, we found out the poor guy had a fever! Sam also had been sick in Disneyland a few months ago, so we were determined to do all we could to try to help him recover quickly. We were praying it would not be a lengthy sickness and secondarily that it wouldn’t spread.

By the way, true to his word, our fantastic stateroom host had provided Navigators for the next day when he turned down our room for the night and left our tasty Ghirardelli chocolates. We found them very helpful for planning. We did enjoy certain unique functions of the Navigator app (like the menus for the restaurants and the ability to easily see all of the future times a certain character or activity was offered), but for our family we loved the traditional paper version and we will enjoy referring to it later and including it in a scrapbook eventually. Ours won’t go to waste. Plus, we can share them with you! (I enjoyed using past Navigators from others’ trip reports here to plan our cruise. Thank you to those of you who have posted them!)
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We drew the curtain shut that separated the kids’ part of the room from ours, and everyone had a great night’s sleep. The beds were so cozy, and there was little noticeable movement.
 
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Day 2 (May 21, 2019) - Day at Sea

Today's Navigator:
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I woke up early and was at the gym by 6:45. I loved the choices on the screen on my elliptical, as well as the view of the bow of the ship. I was about to wrap up my workout when a favorite scene from Thor Ragnarok made it impossible, making me stay a little longer. Such a fun movie!

The twins got ready when I was out and then had breakfast at Cabanas and went to Vibe.

Sam was still asleep after my shower was done, so Jeff remained in the room with him while I went to Cabanas for breakfast.

I had at least one Mickey waffle every day. You can see him peeking out around the oatmeal.
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Another guest who was sitting at my table chatted with me a little and inquired about where I was from. When I told him he nodded, saying he thought my accent sounded very Canadian. Minnesota is as close to Canada as you can be, so while I can’t really tell, I suppose that sounds about right!

When I returned to the room, Jeff was getting ready. I had planned ahead of time to take the Art of the Theme Show Tour, which was scheduled for 9:30am. (I had not yet discovered on the Navigator app how to check on future tours during the cruise, so had assumed this was the only chance to do it.) Jeff said he was fine with skipping it. He still needed to eat, and after grabbing food he wanted to keep Sam company, because it was extremely unusual for Sam to sleep in like that. It concerned us about how sick he was.

The tour was well worth the time. I learned about lots of fun details about why the ship was designed the way it was. I'll mention some here, but there were many more.

We began in Palo, which our guide Derrell said was a restaurant that is included on every Disney cruise ship because the first two Disney ships (the Wonder and Magic) were built in a shipyard in Italy. The word Palo means “pole,” a nod to the poles that lines the canals of Venice. There is a pole in each Palo restaurant.

We were told that the hulls of the Disney ships are not actually black, as it appears at first glance, because they actually couldn’t be black due to some maritime law restricting black on the hull of ships. I’ve heard the authenticity of that rationale for the color questioned since. Anyway, the name of the color is “Monica blue,” named for a Disney employee named Monica who was wearing that color, and is said to have inspired its use by Disney on the ships, because it was like black, but not.

The Disney Cruise Line was the first to use yellow lifeboats, instead of the traditional orange. When Disney decided they wanted yellow, they obtained special permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to make it happen.

Derrell explained that pieces of the ship were put together and later assembled, like a big LEGO set.

In the After Hours area, we were encouraged to look for subtle Disney movie references. In Crown and Fin, there are many references to movies set in England, like Mary Poppins’ umbrella and the dalmation Pongo’s collar. The Cadillac lounge often has classic Disney jazz music playing. He said that the martini glass in the After Hours logo looks like Sorcerer Mickey’s hat if flipped upside down. (This one I don’t find especially convincing though.)

At the close of the tour, our guide – in classic Disney cast member fashion – said if we liked to tour, his name was Derrell. If we didn’t like the tour, his name was Jennifer Hudson.

We went to an Open house of Vibe. It was nice to see the space our younger guys were enjoying.
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Benji was Disney-bounding as Mickey, so we went to meet Mickey on Deck 4. The "bounding" look is less obvious because Mickey isn't wearing his classic outfit.
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Lunch was in Cabanas. We trickled in one or two at a time, with Kevin first, then Benji, then me, and finally Jeff and Sam.

Kevin exclaimed as he sat down with his plate, "I accidentally only got dessert!"
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I waited to eat until last, because we were all catching each other up about our mornings and I didn't want to miss anything. I actually went to Pinocchio’s and got pizza to bring back because the line at Cabanas was very long when I decided I should get food (I think one side of the buffet had closed down due to a problem). Poor Sam sat with us but didn't want to eat anything.

We caught the 1pm showing of "Avengers: Endgame" in the Walt Disney Theatre. We had seen the movie back at home but had been eager to see it again on the ship. I enjoyed it even more on the second viewing.

I went to a 3D DCL ship craft class on my own, while Sam ordered chicken noodle soup and a burger from room service. It was a good sign that he finally had an appetite.

Here's my little ship.
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I decided it would be a good addition to the Alaska shadow box I was planning. I’m trying to make one for each major vacation. After the class, I hung out in the room with Jeff and Sam, enjoying the beautiful views from our verandah. We continued to enjoy the Marvel channel, too.

Tuesday was formal night, so we all got dressed up in advance of the evening show. We thought the Golden Mickeys were okay, but it was the least favorite of our shows onboard, to be honest. The performances were all very good, but it seemed disjointed to pull it all together as an award show.

We met Captain Daniele Aschero (from Italy) at the Captain’s Welcome Reception in the atrium.
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Kevin had prepared a sketch of a Disney cruise ship for the captain to sign. Funny story: he had done a search for a photo of the Disney Wonder on our computer and used that to base his sketch on, but eventually realized as he neared the end that it was in fact the Disney Fantasy he was sketching. He said one clue was the AquaDuck on the photo, not present on the classic ships. Oh well. It looked great.

We also stopped at the various photo stations for some family pictures.
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Jeff and I got some pictures of just the two of us, a rare thing...
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At one point Jeff requested a few solo pictures. He had been needing a good photo for work, so we had decided in advance to seize the opportunity to get a nice photo with a simple background. It worked great!

Dinner was in Triton’s. Dan and David were always attentive and had helpful recommendations. We often took their advice on what to order, which worked out well. We appreciated the great care they took of us. Sam is a very big water drinker, and I noticed David was giving Sam two glasses of water (at a time, keeping them filled) each night.
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I started with the Farmhouse Salad and the Cream of Potato Soup.
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Next for me was the Chateaubriand-Roasted Filet Steak. All good.
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Jeff and Sam chose the Iced Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp appetizer, which was described as “fine, not great.”
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Benji had the Slow-Roasted Breast of Chicken (good).
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(I did not always get photos of everyone's food.)

Benji enjoyed scheming about what to pick from the dessert menu.
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Sam and Jeff chose the Tahitian Vanilla Crème Brulee.
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Benji ordered the Strawberry Shortcake Sundae, which he said was amazing. He added he would have ordered it every night if he could.
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Kevin and I each went with the classic Mickey bar. Yum!
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This time we were all sure to stay seated for the delivery of my special slice of birthday cake, so the boys could see it.

After dinner, we met Mickey in his tuxedo. He looked so dapper!
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We then went shopping in Sea Treasures for more Alaska stuff. This time we got a hat for me, a t-shirt for me with Alaska Minnie on it, and a nice Nike pullover for Jeff. We enjoyed using our Disney Visa discount because it was noted on our Key to the World Cards (with a "DV"), even though in the end the purchases would be mostly covered by the shipboard credit we had on our account because our travel agent offered that as a perk of booking with them. I would never book a cruise on my own, because having the extra money to spend on board was SO nice.

Back in our room we found our Navigators, chocolates, and this fun guy, compliments of Sat.
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This was the day of the Anna’s Chocolate Chase scavenger hunt, so during the day we had looked for various items that fit the clues on the list. At the end of the day, as we were finally kicking off our shoes and relaxing in the stateroom, we (I) had a moment of panic as we realized we hadn’t quite finished!

Jeff saved the day by volunteering to complete it for the family, which he did immediately because we knew the items we were searching for might be taken down soon. We were thankful to see him return in short order with the mission accomplished.

Up next: Glacier day!
 
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Great report - looking forward to your next installment. Hope ok to ask, any way to get the photos of the navigator / menus larger? Cannot read them.
 
May I ask if you remember if there were enough charging options in the room? I know on the Magic they added USB ports near the bed for the phones, wasn't sure if they have it on the Wonder yet.
 
Great report - looking forward to your next installment. Hope ok to ask, any way to get the photos of the navigator / menus larger? Cannot read them.
I’m sorry that they’re not sharp. My photos of the Navigators & menus are crisp on my computer, but when posted here on the Disboards they apparently are automatically resized to a lower resolution that in this case renders them less useful. I don’t know if there’s a way to fix that? I can tell you they are also available online if you do a search for them. A popular Disney Cruise Line blogger posts menus and navigators on his website. I was able to find them there from last season when I was planning for our cruise.
May I ask if you remember if there were enough charging options in the room? I know on the Magic they added USB ports near the bed for the phones, wasn't sure if they have it on the Wonder yet.
We had places to charge by our beds. We felt the charging options were ample but only would charge three devices each day so didn’t need too much either.
 
No worries, I am technology challenged so not sure how to fix them. The quality seems good just small. :)
I am loving all of your photos and report, looking forward to the next installment.
 
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