Cass, Rob & Kira - July 2022 Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise - Worth the covid!

[Reluctant_Introvert]

Poking my head out of my cave, hello. . .

-was that the prime rib you had one night? My hubby had it and loved it. Again....come on quality control!

I was on the same sailing and the night I had prime rib it was delicious. Massive, but delicious.

-Super jealous of your Skagway day esp since our train excursion was a bust. Skagway has always been our least fave stop on all 3 Alaska cruises (eventhough we did have a fantastic excursion in 2019) and I'm kicking myself for not doing something similar to what you did.

May I ask what happened with your train excursion? We took the train and it was lovely.

Ok I think that was it for now lol

 

[Jillpie]

Absolutely remarkable day, loved it all. And it almost was a gift, after Rob kneeling and praying (I definitely teared up with this photo, how amazingly sweet was that) that you got all those breathtaking views on the way back!! God is good . And I totally agree with Kira, would not have liked someone sitting that close to me at dinner, no sir. You did not disappoint Cass, you never do, these photos are the very best!!

 

[bcwife76]

Poking my head out of my cave, hello. . .

I was on the same sailing and the night I had prime rib it was delicious. Massive, but delicious.

May I ask what happened with your train excursion? We took the train and it was lovely.

We were on the 9:30am train that morning. We got about 10 miles or so out of town and stopped. Huge boulder blocking the track ahead and we had to back down the mountain, stopping for a couple of long waits as we went to allow work trains to pass us to help move the boulder. It was 1:15 before we were back in Skagway. So morning shot and no excursion. Disney gave us a FULL refund which we greatly appreciated (seeing as there were 4 of us)

 

[cntkg1]

The other day….

 

[cntkg1]

Whaaaaaat? ANOTHER Alaskan cruise? Take me along!

 

[cntkg1]

Puppies AND Timmy’s! What an awesome day that had to be. I know, or should I say, my Cabo knows how much you love snuggling with puppies. He never had so many cuddles as he had with you.
And then Timmy’s for Rob? Perfect day, eh?

 

[Reluctant_Introvert]

We were on the 9:30am train that morning. We got about 10 miles or so out of town and stopped. Huge boulder blocking the track ahead and we had to back down the mountain, stopping for a couple of long waits as we went to allow work trains to pass us to help move the boulder. It was 1:15 before we were back in Skagway. So morning shot and no excursion. Disney gave us a FULL refund which we greatly appreciated (seeing as there were 4 of us)

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you get the opportunity to return and enjoy the train and that you were able to enjoy the day in Skagway.

We booked directly through the train company, it is a little less speedy.

 

[bcwife76]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you get the opportunity to return and enjoy the train and that you were able to enjoy the day in Skagway.

We booked directly through the train company, it is a little less speedy.

This was our 3rd cruise to Alaska and Skagway has always been our least fave stop (despite an excellent excursion we did in 2019) so probably no opportunity to do the train again. My husband won't agree to do Alaska a 4th time

 

[Timon]

July 14th, Part 7

Kira went directly to Vibe to see her friends. We went back to our stateroom, where this cute frog awaited us.

Here's the Vibe schedule for the day.

I had wanted to walk over to see all of the cruise ship markings on the rocks but that didn't happen, so I admired from far. Each time a new ship comes here for the first time, they leave their mark.

The scenery leaving Skagway was my favourite scenery of the entire cruise. If you are cruising Alaska for snow-capped mountain scenery, please make sure to enjoy as much of the journey out of Skagway that you can.


I look like I just woke up from a nap. I was just drunk on the mad scenery.

Here's my Razorback Ridge from a different, and yet still gorgeous, perspective.

While I headed to the pool, Rob went down to the store to meet up with Kira and her friends to buy Nani.

Remember she had been eyeing her earlier in the cruise? Well, after seeing a real bear today, she wanted to buy "Nani". It killed me that she didn't name her Thelma. The bear she sleeps with currently, is a bear I bought her at Chateau Lake Louise when she was 7 months old, during her first visit there, which we named Louise. So now she has two bears and after meeting those alpacas today, I thought it would have been hilarious to have "Thelma & Louise" but that couple is a little beyond her years, so Nani it is.

I was in my happy place, like usual, but I could not get over the view I got that night.

I could see mountains on both sides and then the windows of the concierge lounge were also reflecting the gorgeous mountains around us.

Rob joined me poolside once he was done in the shops. This is my sneaky view of him from the hot tub. It was so weird seeing him dressed like this while I was hopping back and forth from hot tub to pool in my swimsuit.

Once Suka kicked me out, I showered and then spent the next two hours on the verandah. Despite having so many wonderful memories and experiences on this amazing cruise, this part of this evening might have been my favourite part of this cruise. The views were just indescribable. The blues and greys of the mountains, sky and ocean were simply stunning.

And then, the sun started to set. Good Lord, I didn't think it could get any better!

Photos just don't do it justice but I did try to capture it nonetheless. I rarely take a panoramic photo but here I just had to!

This was me for almost two hours....

Kira popped in to grab something real quick and she ended up staying with me for a while, the scenery was so spectacular, it kept her away from her friends. That's how good it was.

Sorry for the photo dump, We both tried to capture every second of it! I wish that I had done a time lapse that night.

I can't imagine a better way to end a day that has already given us so much to be thankful for.

 

[Kanga2Roo]

GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

 

[Jillpie]

Wow, just wow. I am so happy you were able to experience that on the verandah Cass. You took us right there with you. How great was it that you had amazing weather, to have seen such clarity too. Okay, so i'm dying to know what happened with this cruise, but I have a sinking feeling this will all come to a halt, so I almost don't want you to tell us lol. But its all part of the story, so I'm hanging on for dear life!

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

I' ve done alaska twice on DCL and I'm booked for the TA and both Panamas next year but so itching to to an Alaska as well...

 

[Timon]

Ooops please ignore! Sometimes when I am adding photos I hit a button that posts prematurely.

 

[Timon]

July 15th, Part 1


Today is our Juneau day! The capitol of Alaska and a very different vibe from the other port stops. The downtown area is more hustle and bustle than others, there's several big ships docked and as Kira mentioned "It kind of feels like Mexico"

What she meant by that is there's a lot of the same stores that you see in all of the Caribbean ports, like Del Sol, Cariloha, Diamonds International, etc.

It’s definitely more scenic than Mexico and certainly, much cooler.

Disney docks south of the town, you have to take the free shuttle into town or walk for about 20-30 minutes.

From our verandah, you could see the Mt. Robert's tramway at the top. It's called Goldbelt Tram now. We were thinking of doing that in the afternoon but we never actually made it up there.

We started our day with breakfast at Cabanas, with another gorgeous view. We saw lots of float planes during our meal.

Same same. Hashbrowns were different this morning.

for Kira, we continued her tradition that we started on our Spring Break cruise and ordered chocolate chip cookies from room service for her breakfast.

Once we were all ready to go, we headed off the ship. To get to the shuttle, you have to walk up this rather steep ramp. We all commented that our legs were struggling to get up this thing! Coming back down, it didn't seem very steep but going up, I tell ya, you will feel it.

Onto the bus...

Which drops you off right next to where the Goldbelt Tramway entrance is.

The plan for today was to go to Mendenhall Glacier. I did not want to pay the $180 USD it would have cost us to book an excursion through Disney and be in a bus full of people with a schedule to follow so we did our own thing.

I was going to grab a taxi but there were none available and I didn't know what number to call for one so I just ordered us a Lyft. There is no Uber in Juneau but there is Lyft.

We got one almost right away and before we left, he explained to us that he did not have the required pass to be able to drop off passengers right at the entrance. He said only two taxi companies have access to that area. He said it was about a one-mile walk from the drop off area to the main entrance. Well, we needed the exercise anyway so away we went!

Rob chatted almost the entire way with our Lyft driver and it was about $30 I think. Once we got out, he said we could take the smooth, paved path, or the path that went through the woods. We'll take the less bear-y path, thanks

While the walk was slightly longer than one mile, the views were worth it!

You could see the top of the glacier from here.

I mean, LOOK at that! It was worth the walk!

Here's where that woodsy path came out...

Around the bend, you could see the bus drop off area at the visitor centre.

There is a big trail around the area if you're interested.

Yay we finally made it!

The view of the glacier from the entrance area. We all had a bathroom break, there are nice, clean bathrooms right at the entrance. There's more inside the visitor centre.

We headed inside to get our tickets. While no one actually checks that you have a ticket (most people who are visiting have booked an excursion and the ticket price is included) we still made sure to buy our tickets. There are stairs that go up to the center or you can walk through here and take the elevator. If you go inside, you must wear a mask. They are provided for you if you need one. We had brought our own.

They had an auditorium playing a movie, some nice looking exhibits, bathrooms and a gift shop.

And here's a great view of the glacier and Nugget Falls through the glass...

The tickets were available inside the gift shop. Kids 15 and under are free so it was $5 each for Rob and I.

We had a teenager with us, so we skipped the movie and exhibits.

And headed outside...

Look how pretty that is! Now that we've already hiked about 1.5 miles, what should we do now?

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Cass...just in case you want to see what DCL's first visit rock looks like in Skagway...here's a picture. I have done 2 DCL Alaska cruises and would love to visit again.

 

[Timon]

I've been to Alaska on a cruise 3 times, but never to Skagway. Now I want to go!

If you get to go back, definitely drive the Klondike highway!

Just gorgeous views!!!! I've said it before...but everywhere you look there is beauty!
I am so excited for your next adventure (Wonder)....and then the one after that too (Magic).

You were so right!!

I am lucky to have a few adventures planned. No trip reports for those though, just going to enjoy and relax.

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We’re about to board this morning. Thanks so much for helping these last few days pass quickly. I can’t wait to read the rest.

I hope you have a great cruise!!

Love your flexibility with the port excursions. My dad lives in Sitka and not all cruisers are this pleasant. In SE Alaska resources are extremely limited and they haven’t seen this level of cruise traffic the last few years.

No use in complaining, it's not going to help. We still had a great time!

Loving your trip report! Glad the views finally cleared up some. My husband would love to do Alaska, but I have really bad arthritis and hate to be cold. We'll have to see. In the meantime, we head to the Bahamas in 3 weeks and Bermuda next year.

Thanks! Yeah, I think it would be tough with the cold for you. Enjoy your WARM cruises.

We LOVED Sitka on our cruise in 2014, we were sad there wasn't a 10 day offered this year!

It would be nice if Disney changed it up a bit!

I'm so glad you got to go to Alaska this year too! I'm so sorry that you returned with an extra souvenir though!

So glad we went, even with the extra souvenir.

The colors of both the river and the lake are just beautiful!

Right? Just gorgeous!

Absolutely beautiful!

I concur!

just stunning views! I love the colors of the river and lake. I just can't get enough of those pictures

I took a LOT of photos that day.

Alright, finally caught up!! lol I made some notes as I read so I'll do them in bullet form since we have already discussed a lot of my cruise over messenger.

-I ordered those perogies for dinner and mine were FLAT and huge. How can they make them so different from night to night? Also, defo needed more sour cream.

-was that the prime rib you had one night? My hubby had it and loved it. Again....come on quality control!

-the only thing I ever ate from quick service was pizza and shawarma, hubby had both a burger and a hot dog during the cruise and enjoyed them but I didn't take any bites so who knows lol

-I coveted the same pink/purple shirt in the store but they didn't have my size I did end up buying a different shirt my last night of the cruise.

-I've heard so many good things about the key lime pie but we never ordered room service (except the morning we did Palo so the girls could eat in the room and we ordered it through the door hanger). Something to try in December!

-let's see.....I think the Wonder didn't get quite as close to the glacier when we went to Sawyer, I remarked to dh about it keeping its distance when we were on the glacier explorer. On your next Alaska cruise (or the one after that or the one after that maybe you can do the excursion if people in your group want to. LOVED IT I have many of the same photos you do from that day haha

-Super jealous of your Skagway day esp since our train excursion was a bust. Skagway has always been our least fave stop on all 3 Alaska cruises (eventhough we did have a fantastic excursion in 2019) and I'm kicking myself for not doing something similar to what you did.

Ok I think that was it for now lol

I am so glad your food was better than ours! Maybe it was just an off-week? Yup, prime rib...not good! Hoping it's better on the next cruise. If not, I don't care.

Funny, I loved the shawarma

It's a shame the sizes are gone halfway through the season!

Definitely try the Key Lime Pie, it's been good on all of the ships!

I wonder if they kept their distance because of the ice we hit? I don't think the excursion is worth the money, Rob would FREEZE! I'm glad you did it though! <3

Huge bummer about your train ride. Next time rent a car and drive up to Emerald Lake

I can't believe all the stuff you have done today. You really did see and do a lot! Love the bear

It was a LONG day! Super fun though!

We do this drive next week! Seeing your photos is making me so excited!

Wooo hoooo! You will love it!!!

Loving the report so far, Cass.



Huh, we were on the WBPC too. My opinion of the food was that it was mostly fine, sometimes bad, sometimes good, but pretty meh all around. That really sucks about your servers though, we must have lucked out on that and our stateroom hosts were also good (we had two connecting rooms, but one room was at the end of one host's route, and the other was the start of another host's). I'm really glad DCL gave you a discount for your future cruise though!

Thanks.

Stunning. Honestly....just stunning scenery!!!!

The whole cruise was stunning! I see why you've done three of these!

Poking my head out of my cave, hello. . .

I was on the same sailing and the night I had prime rib it was delicious. Massive, but delicious.

May I ask what happened with your train excursion? We took the train and it was lovely.

Thanks for posting!

Absolutely remarkable day, loved it all. And it almost was a gift, after Rob kneeling and praying (I definitely teared up with this photo, how amazingly sweet was that) that you got all those breathtaking views on the way back!! God is good . And I totally agree with Kira, would not have liked someone sitting that close to me at dinner, no sir. You did not disappoint Cass, you never do, these photos are the very best!!

This whole cruise was a gift, as are you!

We were on the 9:30am train that morning. We got about 10 miles or so out of town and stopped. Huge boulder blocking the track ahead and we had to back down the mountain, stopping for a couple of long waits as we went to allow work trains to pass us to help move the boulder. It was 1:15 before we were back in Skagway. So morning shot and no excursion. Disney gave us a FULL refund which we greatly appreciated (seeing as there were 4 of us)

I watched a YT video where they had some issues and kept stopping and backing up. Glad you got a full refund!

The other day….

Whaaaaaat? ANOTHER Alaskan cruise? Take me along!

Fine, I guess I could.

Puppies AND Timmy’s! What an awesome day that had to be. I know, or should I say, my Cabo knows how much you love snuggling with puppies. He never had so many cuddles as he had with you.
And then Timmy’s for Rob? Perfect day, eh?

It really was an awesome day! I loved my CSL snuggles.

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you get the opportunity to return and enjoy the train and that you were able to enjoy the day in Skagway.

We booked directly through the train company, it is a little less speedy.

I hope she gets to return too. And I always try to book directly too.

This was our 3rd cruise to Alaska and Skagway has always been our least fave stop (despite an excellent excursion we did in 2019) so probably no opportunity to do the train again. My husband won't agree to do Alaska a 4th time

Oh no!! You can talk him into it.

GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

Why, thank you! You're not so bad yourself.

Wow, just wow. I am so happy you were able to experience that on the verandah Cass. You took us right there with you. How great was it that you had amazing weather, to have seen such clarity too. Okay, so i'm dying to know what happened with this cruise, but I have a sinking feeling this will all come to a halt, so I almost don't want you to tell us lol. But its all part of the story, so I'm hanging on for dear life!

Hahahah, yup, the story will unfold. Very soon.

I' ve done alaska twice on DCL and I'm booked for the TA and both Panamas next year but so itching to to an Alaska as well...

Oh wow, that is a very nice lineup!

Cass...just in case you want to see what DCL's first visit rock looks like in Skagway...here's a picture. I have done 2 DCL Alaska cruises and would love to visit again.

Thanks! I wanted to walk over and see it but never got the chance! We were booked on the second Alaska cruise back in 2011 but we ended up cancelling. That's how long this trip was in the works.

 

[Timon]

July 15th, Part 2

Heading back down...

It's been a minute since we took a hike so....

What's another 2 miles right?

It was a beautiful, easy hike.

I love this pic, she was walking a little ahead as we approached the falls and I called her name and she turned around and I snapped this natural half-smile on her face.

I don't know if it was the sense of accomplishment or the prize at the end of the two hikes but when we got there, she gave us big huge hugs.

We took a crazy amount of selfies and photos.

The falls were so pretty! We walked right under it, it felt so good after the hike because it was nice and cool. I was getting hot, again, I don't know why I wore pants. I think I was more worried about mosquitoes but we never saw a single one!

The water was so cold, we were holding our hands all the way under the water to see how long we could last. As soon as I made it a challenge, their competitive sides came out and they went crazy long! I could barely hold my hands under for 7 seconds, they made it to 20 before I yelled at them to take their hands out.

We started skipping rocks and Kira said she was terrible at it. I told her the more she practiced, the better she would get! Well, for the next 30-40 minutes, all we did was skip rocks and it was awesome!

We walked all the way down and then all the way back again. Kira became a pro at skipping rocks that afternoon and it became one of our favourite memories from the whole cruise. She went from not being able to skip a single rock to skipping these massive rocks, like a freaking pro!

Rob walked into the water and then Kira stepped right onto his boots and hugged him.

You can see how red his right hand still is from holding it in the water.

The views in every direction were gorgeous!

I went back to the falls to cool down and they skipped more rocks. I ended up taking several family photos for everyone who came up close to the falls. Kira eventually joined me and then climbed up these rocks.

I started recording video and she did the super hero pose and flicked her head, like Black Widow's Yelena, it was so funny!

I think we were at the Falls for a good hour before heading back.

They went in to the store to buy some magnets and I found the names of the two taxi services that have access to the park's entrance. We were done with hiking for the day.

We called one up and headed over to where the taxis pick people up, in the porcupine lot.

Looking back at the entrance. It was now super busy and it was quite warm too! I am so glad we came when we did, it wasn't too busy and it was still cool and a little cloudy when we did our hike.

 

[bcwife76]

You made great use of your time at Mendenhall!!! Those photos are incredible. And the 1 mile hike in....you guys are awesome! Well-deserved taxi back
We did Mendenhall our first cruise up there so our kids were considerably younger at the time and if I remember correctly some of the trails were actually flooded. Needless to say we didn't get nearly as close as you did and did not get to nugget falls.

I think I could get dh to return to Alaska.....in a few years and on a different cruise line. I really would like to visit Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. I'm thinking the one way+ Denali cruise would be a good retirement trip for him ;-)

Yes Rob probably would have frozen his bum off on the small boat excursion as at times, it really was very windy and chilly eventhough we were in the sun for most of it. But the flip side is both dh and I didn't wear sunscreen and our faces got quite red from the sun, too Apparently my cheeks stayed red for the rest of the cruise too and they never knew if it was the sun or the wine

 

[babyruth]

Awesome thanks so much for the taxi info!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I am all caught up! Gorgeous scenery (even with the fog!) and PUPPIES!





Still a shame about the food though-also still sitting in some suspense that something big is gonna happen