Dress Like an Onion! If You're a Kid, Dress Like a Cocktail Onion! Alaska 7/3-7/10 COMPLETE!

July 5 Part 1 - Where are we going?

We lost an hour overnight. I really appreciated that Shinde changed the room clock when he turned down the room at night instead of in the morning like our host did on the Fantasy.

I woke up around 7:45 and checked the app.

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If you've followed DCL cruises to Alaska, you know that they have been substituting Endicott Arm for Tracy Arm for the past couple years. The captain had announced that the pilots would swap around 8:00 and they would announyour itinerary by 8:15. However, I didn't hear an announcement. I texted my parents to see if they knew anything but the message didn't go through. (The Navigator app was really frustrating the first few days and we were all restarting several times a day to keep it connected. This has never happened to us on any other ship before.)

I got DD up at 8:30 since we had our character breakfast scheduled at 9:30. After we were both dressed, we stopped to see my parents. It was incredibly foggy and we wondered if that was part of the reason we hadn't heard an announcement yet about the itinerary.

DD and I headed out to AP for our breakfast. I don't know what I did, but I completely forgot to book this for my parents. They were ok with it though. As luck would have it, we were seated with our regular servers. It was fun to already know each other. They also made it clear that there would have been room for my parents if they had come.

I ordered the museli and eggs. DD had the sugar bomb with pancakes and waffles and eggs and, of course, she got a danish too. :faint:

The food was ok, but having breakfast with the classic characters was a nice change.

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We also got napkin hats for the first time!

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During breakfast, the captain announced that the pilot was on board, but he couldn't give us an update on our itenerary. There had been a landslide at the entrance to Endicott Arm, and the first ship of the day had turned back due to the debris and the fog. Of course, Tracy Arm has been too hard to pass recently and, as we said, the visibility was very poor. So, it was possible we weren't actually going to ANY glacier today! That was where we were when we left AP. Our servers said this hadn't happened before though and were definitely trying to be positive. We also heard from Trent that he was adding activities just in case we didn't make it.

After breakfast, we walked around the atrium for a bit and enjoyed the beautiful space.

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We also saw Tink.

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Then I dropped DD at the clubs and went outside to check the weather.

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Well that's an improvement!

Next Up: No really, where are we going?
 
Awesome--- can't wait to hear about it-- though I know. :)
Wasn't Shinde great? We were very happy with him.
 
July 5 Part 2 - Tracy Arm. No, Endicott Arm. No, Tracy Arm!

After dropping DD at the clubs, I swung by the room to grab our coats since it was getting closer to the time we'd be entering a fjord. (I've always wanted an excuse to write fjord. Fjord. Fjord. :laughing:)

Miguel had recommended going to Cabanas when it opened so we could get a window seat. He suggested that we sit on the starboard side as that is the side that gets to see the glacier first. So, even though the port side opened first, we grabbed a table on the starboard side of the restaurant.

As we settled in, the captain came on the loudspeaker again and announced that Endicott was for sure closed but that he was going to try to get us in Tracy. Time to test those Croatian boating skills. :sail:

Trent also announced that the new Navigators were available so we should restart the app and/or grab a paper copy. There was a CM handing them out at Cabanas so I got one. They had added a movie, some games, and some other family activities.

We had now entered the fjord and the scenery was starting to change.

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Ice! (If I'm honest, we first debated if we were looking at ice or plastic. The answer is ice.)

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At this point, I knew DD would be hungry, and I didn't necessarily want to leave her in the clubs for lunch. So I went to get her. While she ate, I headed out on deck. While the scenery was beautiful inside, it got even more breathtaking outside!

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The colors were just so bold. It took my breath away.

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Here you can kind of see a comparison between what you see with your eyes and how blown up it looks on the Funnel Vision.

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That's right, sometimes you just need a selfie in Alaska. You never know, I might need more later.

Goofy and Pluto were scheduled to be out soon, so my parents brought DD outside. While we waited in line, I had a bowl of split pea soup in a bread bowl. It was good. I don't like split pea soup, but I liked this. I also realized I had left my camera in my parents room when I ran down earlier to get something for them. My dad ran back down to get it for me.

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Goofy and DD checking out nature.

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She's always happy to see Pluto.

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This was a time I was happy she asked me to take a picture of the character alone. :D

At this point DD was tired of just looking at nature, so we took her to BaseCamp in the sports court. At first she resisted because there were no iPads. :headache: We went her anyway though and she had a great time playing tag, doing art, hoola hooping, etc. I wish DCL did this more often. Also, while she was there, Carly came by and talked to her through the screens for a while.

Next Up: Pictures from the good camera.
 


July 5 Part 3 - Pictures of our Sail in the Fjord

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Hanging glacier

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Amazing waterfalls and rock formations

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Stream close up

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Glacial valley. It's a perfect U shape. Textbook

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I honestly think it's impossible to capture the blue of the icebergs. This one looked like it was glowing inside.

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Everyone thought these kayakers were seals until I zoomed in with my lens. That is how big we are compared to them. And this is a small ship!

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Deck 10 does get crowded. I was grateful for my zoom lens.

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Seal just chillin'. He couldn't have cared less about us.

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Even the clouds were amazing.

Next Up - I swear we see the glacier!
 
July 5 Part 3 - The Glacier!

Last update for today. It just made sense to post this series of photos all in one sitting.

As we were approaching, Donald came out for a visit. We got DD from the clubs to see him.

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She loves to show the characters that she can sign her autograph too.

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I told you I wanted pictures of myself with the scenery.

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First glimpse.

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There it is! Captain Zvonomir clearly earned his position as captain. :sail:

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See those black rocks? Several crew members and the naturalist all said that the last time they went down Tracy Arm two years ago, the glacier was still covering those rocks. It has receded so much! :worried:

Daisy came out while we could still see the glacier perfectly.

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The photographer managed to get this shot with daisy and DD. My version was awful. Here DCL, let me give you $20. :scared::charac2:

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And then we were leaving.

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They did bring a piece on board and DD was so excited to see it.

Next Up - Nap time and the evening
 
It's so sad to see how much the glacier has receded so much in just two years :sad2: Still, it looks absolutely stunning!!!

yay for all the character interactions that day!!
 


Great photos! All these wonderful Alaska trip reports are giving me cruise jitters to press the button and book one. :crazy2: :rotfl:
 
Signing on to your trip report! Your daughter is adorable - the part where she has to show the characters that she can sign her name too tugged on the ol' "my kids are getting too old" heartstrings. And I have about 4 new links saved into my bookmark folder for our Alaskan next year thanks to this report already. :)
 
July 5 Part 4 - Naptime and Evening Activities

I got distracted by the beautiful photos of the glacier that I forgot to mention that they were making an amazing seafood boulliabase soup in Cabanas for lunch. I would have gladly eaten that every day had it been offered.

As I mentioned previously, I really enjoyed taking time while DD napped to get some quiet adult time. While the adult areas were busy again, I was able to get a table in the Promenade Lounge by a window. I updated my journal and read while I enjoyed a couple Alaska beers.

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The amber was on draft and very good. I tried the whole and it was pretty good. I preferred the amber though. The scenery was still amazing.

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I realized I was kind of hungry. I went up to the quick service places, but nothing looked good. So, I finally jumped on the Dis bandwagon and ordered an All Hands on Deck.

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It hit the spot. We woke up DD at 6:45 since there wasn't a show we wanted to see tonight. We did go say hi to Mickey and Minnie though.

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Dinner was an AP, but the light was so amazing that we hung out and enjoyed it for a bit before our seating.

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This was our first time seeing the classic AP show. It was fabulous! I loved how subtle the changes were on the screens. Plus, our table was right by where Mickey stops to shake hands with the dining room staff.

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Clearly DD approved of the show. For dinner I had salmon tartare off the regional menu, an entree of the pasta pursettes, and the dining room team celebrated dad's birthday so I ate some of the chocolate cake. Everything was excellent.

See the guy in the black shirt under DD's Arm? He's one of the actors in the stage show. His name is Elliot and he played Hans in the Frozen show. He ate in the MDR a few nights during our cruise. I've got another story about him later.

We saw the kids club folks come through after the show, but it was very late. Luckily though DD was tired and didn't complain when we reminded her that she had quite a bit of Club time already. Plus, we knew the next two mornings would be early for excursions.

Shinde gave us a double towel animal tonight.

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And for DD he set out the Alaska mice I surprised her with and he added an LED candle with the swans. So cool! (You can also see the fabulous Frozen sheets he uses for her.)

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DD crashed in about 30 seconds. I set out all of our clothes and backpacks then it was off to bed for me.

Next Up - Rise and Shine for Skagway
 
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July 3 - The Wonder Arrives

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The time change plus being the mother of a small child plus the fact that I never sleep well the night before a cruise all meant that I easily woke up in time to watch the Wonder arrive.

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You can see she's approaching the bridge with the Norwegian Sun and Crystal Serenity right behind her. My dad was also up so we brushed our teeth and threw on gym clothes before heading out.

We discovered that the Pan had complimentary coffee in the lobby so that was nice to take along with us.

We started out on the back patio of the hotel. Gorgeous.

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Then we decided to go on to the main level of the port to actually watch the ships dock.

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There is our first sighting as she passed under the Lions Gate Bridge.

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Coming into view.

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Her bow.

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There's the Sun right behind.

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Lovely.

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I love getting pictures of the characters on the stern.

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All settled. You can see the people getting ready to disembark.

My dad hadn't even considered watching the ship pull in as a thing to do but he had a lot of fun. It really was a beautiful sight. We met some fellow cruisers from all 3 ships who were out enjoying the show as well.

After the ship was all settled, we went to the food court in the connected Waterfront Mall to get breakfast for everyone. The hotel buffet was crazy expensive and we certainly didn't need a ton of food since we would be on board for lunch.

We ended up stopping at Pita Express and they were making great omelettes and breakfast sandwiches to order for a reasonable price. We got meals and drinks for all 4 of us for about $45 Canadian. With the exchange rate, we were very pleased.

We ate in the room, got ready for the day, and finished packing the small amount of stuff we'd removed from our suitcases.

By now it was about 9:00 and the port started accepting luggage at 10:30. Luckily I had a plan. :cool2:


Wow, what an amazing shot of the Wonder coming into Port you got! It looks like it jumped off the postcard!
 
July 3 Part 4 - The Rooms

Our previous cruise on the Fantasy was our first not being in Concierge. We booked an inside for DD and me and a 7a across the hall for my parents. It worked out really well. So, when we made the impetuous decision to book Alaska, we decided to do the same configuration.

DD and I were in 6135 (11B)
Mom and dad were in 6134 (7A)

Now, when we originally booked, I thought it was one of the "regular" classic 7a cabins with the enclosed balcony.

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I thought this set up would be nice for the cold weather in Alaska.

However, as we got closer, I realized that instead we had a "secret verandah" room with only a small obstruction. I was a tiny bit disappointed but I was well aware it wasn't anything to worry about.

Since we are talking about that room, let's start there.

6134

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Standard room layout. There is also a small stool under the desk. The desk had lots of cabinets.

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Big storage area. I think these used to be steamer trunks.

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The verandah with a very small obstruction.

This room also has a split bath. The section with the toilet and sink has another wood cabinet that provides lots of storage space.

On to my room.

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Again, standard layout. We also had the little stool under the desk.

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Notice that this room has a full double closet. That was a nice change. The Fantasy only had a closet and a half.

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Plenty of hangers. Also notice that there is a light. The closets have an automatic light that comes on when you open the door. I loved that! If you leave the door open too long, it goes off automatically.

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The safes are now drawers. This makes them much easier to see in. Also, if you happen to leave it open, it doesn't bang on the closet door in the middle of the night. Not that anyone would ever do that. Especially not two nights in a row. :rolleyes1

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Lots more storage cupboard than we had on the Fantasy. I did miss the storage ottoman though. You can also see that the lower cabinet is missing the shelf. Our stateroom host looked but wasn't able to find it. Either someone broke it or had it removed and it got lost in the shuffle. I would have liked to have it, but we were fine.

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And the bathroom. Here is where I was disappointed. There was no storage. I thoughts the Fantasy was lacking in shelves. This was nuts. The shelf above the sink was it. A huge amount of wall space was taken up by that hair dryer from the dawn of time. On the Fantasy there were shelves. There was quite a bit of empty wall space above the toilet too where you could have had shelves, but nope. All in all, disappointing. We made it work though and kept some things I the cabinets in the room. I had also purchased DD a little hanging toiletry bag. I thought it would just be good for her to be able to reach her toothbrush, but we ended up likening having it for the bathroom. We hung it from the inside doorknob.

My favorite part of every cruise was finally here! (AKA I'm a weirdo so get over it.)

The luggage started arriving and I put everything away! :yay:

Yup. That's my favorite part. I love unpacking and knowing we are settled in for the trip. DD was napping when the bags started coming and I got to meet our stateroom host Shinde. We actually got all the bags before the muster drill so I was able to leave the room totally settled. I did wait to decorate the door until she woke up through because she really likes to help.

So, we were all ready to vacation. I've already shown the pictures of the Sail away party.

Next up: Our first evening with late dining
YES! Finally someone who loves unpacking as soon as possible! I am showing this to my husband STAT, he thinks i'm crazy :) :) :)
 
July 6 Part 1 - It Is SO Early!

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Notice the sunrise/sunset times? Crazy! Talk about being far north!

5:45 people. Five Forty. Five. That is when Mickey called to wake me up to tell me that there were lots of things happening. And let me tell you, Mickey is way too freaking perky at that time of day.

OK, so I got up and got dressed then woke up DD. We watched the Good Morning Show as she slowly joined the living world. On it, Trent and Carly announced that Spiderman would have its PremEAR that night. Lots of people were wondering since it was a Marvel movie not technically Disney, so I know there was lots of excitement.

We met my parents at Cabanas at 6:30 and ate a sensible breakfast before meeting our Beyond Skagway tour guide. I think our meeting time was 7:15, and we were some of the first people off the ship. In fact, the gangway was actually in place sooner than they had originally planned, so I don't think they ever made an official announcement that we could get off the ship. This morning the Gangway was on Deck 4. When we asked at Cabanas where it was, we were told it would either be on 3 or 4 depending on the tide. I found Beyond Skagway on Cruise Critic and here on the Dis. The reviews everywhere were super positive. Plus, they advertised a scavenger hunt for kids. When we originally booked our 7 hour tour plus sled dogs, we had just our family but we indicated to the owner that we would be willing to share with another family with kids if they found someone. Well, they found a family with two girls just a tiny bit older who were sailing on the Holland America Noordam. Great! The folks at Beyond Skagway put us in touch with them before we traveled, and it was great getting to know them a bit before we got to Alaska.

Emily met us first and she was right past the pier with a sign, so we got the front most seats. My dad opted to ride shotgun because he is hard of hearing. Emily assured him that when she put on her mic that he would be fine. The bus itself was pristine and incredibly comfortable. We drove over to the Holland America ship and picked up our traveling companions. They were just as nice in person as they were over email.

We were also a bit curious about how the ships compared to one another.

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As we drove through town, Emily told us about the AB building covered in driftwood.

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She also told us that the building recently had to be cleaned. To do that, all of the driftwood was taken off, cleaned and replaced. Someone had to be seriously Type A to do that job!

Other than that though, town was really small and we were soon out in the wilderness. We crossed the one sided suspension bridge. This was very interesting as it had to be constructed specially to account for the fault line. If you want to read more about it, here is the Wikipedia page. I get excited about those kinds of engineering things.

Our first stop was the Alaska sign. Emily let us know that the plan was to drive up and back to Emerald Lake. Our plan was to check out the sights. If there were no buses at the sight, we would stop. If there was a bus, we'd catch it on the way down. Sounded good to me!

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There is also a sign about the Klondike Gold Rush.

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As we were leaving I saw this interesting stack of rocks and snapped a picture. I would learn more about this later.

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After the Alaska sign, we needed to cross over into Canada.

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That's a pretty secure border there. :rotfl2: Do you notice the poles on the side of the road? Because the snow gets so deep that you can't always see the road, they use those poles to let people know where the ledge is. "Red is dead." And there are some serious drop offs! Not to worry though, we got to an actual border station soon after that to get our passports checked.

We then stopped at an amazing overlook to see Tutshi lake. We would head down to the lake momentarily, but it was so pretty from above that we all wanted to get out and take a picture.

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Selfies too.

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And lest anyone tell you that only boys are daredevils, here is my child standing on the guardrail with a steep dropoff right behind her. Let me tell you, that was the fastest photo I ever took of her!

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Isn't that hat adorable? It was an FE gift and she didn't take it off for the entire trip.

Next Up - More Skagway
 
Wow, what an amazing shot of the Wonder coming into Port you got! It looks like it jumped off the postcard!

Thanks! I really enjoy having time to play with my camera on vacation. It helps when there are so many pretty things to photograph.

YES! Finally someone who loves unpacking as soon as possible! I am showing this to my husband STAT, he thinks i'm crazy :) :) :)

I'm finding lots of kindred spirits on this board. :D
 
Oh my gosh that hat is super adorable!

Haha that photo of her on the guard rail is giving me all sorts of heart flutters :oops:

Absolutely gorgeous lake photos!
 

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