A Disney Wonder... Vancouver, Alaska, Seattle and Mt. Rainier June/July 2020!

I just realized I have so much to plan for this summer's vacation and I'm totally focused on next summers. And somehow we always seem to have a Disney World trip a few months before or after our cruises. My husband made me swear we'd take a year off from Disney and he's regretting it now. But this summer we're going to Gatlinburg, which we've never visited, and I am looking forward to vacationing with some friends and seeing somewhere new! (Plus, we like National Parks too so we can check another one off our list!)

ETA: I have family in Vancouver so spent a lot of time there growing up, but it's been ages since I did anything touristy so I'm hoping to combine time with family we rarely see and time with family...quite the delicate balance!
HaHa! We actually have a Disney ...Vero Beach vacation BEFORE our Alaska trip and I am right now planning a trip to Universal (a first for my kids and husband) for Thanksgiving! We have a beach trip planned for spring break that I am thinking of canceling. I'll give things a week or so to see where all this virus stuff goes and decide from there. I'm trying not to to follow the hype but trying to think of my family's safety as well.
 
Looks like we did a lot of planning for nothing! Waiting for the official email from DCL that our cruise is canceled.
Not sure what we will do. We could change to another DCL cruise for the same timeframe from Port Canaveral or if we are still allowed to fly to Vancouver we could change our plans to a land tour starting in Vancouver and ending in Calgary hitting up Banff and Jasper NP. Or perhaps just drive to the beach for a week?
Do we want to go on a cruise right now?
What will all of this bring?
So many questions right now but I know there are just more important and pressing things happening right now. Our PA schools are shut down for the next two weeks. I'll have plenty of time to make some decisions.
 
Looks like we did a lot of planning for nothing! Waiting for the official email from DCL that our cruise is canceled.
Not sure what we will do. We could change to another DCL cruise for the same timeframe from Port Canaveral or if we are still allowed to fly to Vancouver we could change our plans to a land tour starting in Vancouver and ending in Calgary hitting up Banff and Jasper NP. Or perhaps just drive to the beach for a week?
Do we want to go on a cruise right now?
What will all of this bring?
So many questions right now but I know there are just more important and pressing things happening right now. Our PA schools are shut down for the next two weeks. I'll have plenty of time to make some decisions.
I know there is so much uncertainty with your cruise. I’m on the July 1 12-night med out of Rome and mostly trying to be positive. I have a live pre trip report too and thought of you when I saw the news so wanted to post to you. I hope whatever vacation you choose ends up amazing.
 
Well.. as we knew a month ago our cruise on June 29th has now officially been canceled by Disney Cruise Line. We took the refund as we already have a trip to Hawaii half booked and planned for next summer. We discussed our options as a family and we have decided that we will vacation in Hawaii next year on another (cough cough NCL) cruise line and try to get a few nights at Aulani before or after the cruise. We will rebook an Alaskan cruise for summer of 2022. It's hard to choke down the new vacation countdown but I must admit that I am happy for my family's safety at this time. My husband is Professional firefighter and his job is dangerously essential . We have a sanitizing ritual down pat now before he enters the house. after work. I am a teacher who is happily working hard from 7 am-10 pm to help students get the most from our district's online Alternative Education plan. Our family is doing well though many people are sick and dying in our county which is close to NYC.

I'm glad that DCL is being so gracious with their cancellation policy. Their customer service is incomparable to any other. Now to deal with the unbooking of all of the other aspects of our vacation. The airlines are going to be playing the game... as of right now both United and Air Canada are not offering any change fee free offers for that late in June and July. So we will play their game until that happens or pay change fees later to at least use the tickets at a later date. Hey , my daughter has been asking to go to Montreal. Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to book a quick trip there for a long weekend early next summer. How can United charge $200 to change my flight? That's crazy. Airlines are playing a game right now that will certainly break the trust of many.

I certainly will use these plans in 2022 when we reschedule Alaska with DCL and I hope anyone who is in need of ideas can use the information in this pretrip report.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my questions both her and all over these boards. Your advice and information will NOT go unused.
 


It's been nearly two months since our summer vacation to Vancouver and Alaska was canceled. We have decomposed each aspect of our trip and were able to be refunded for most everything! Vancouver and Seattle hotels and car rentals were canceled with no issues. Our flights, of course, are another story. Both United and Air Canada (our flight was finally canceled this week) have given us vouchers for a later flight. Normally, we fly enough that vouchers don't bother me but I am a bit concerned about using the Air Canada voucher. The voucher is only good for 2 years which doesn't take us to summer of 2022 when we plan to reschedule our Alaska cruise. We have decided that we would watch conditions and restrictions in Hawaii carefully and switch to a cruise or land only vacation in Canada next year if that seems to be the better fit. If not, we will take the kids on a quick trip to Montreal next summer. We plan to watch what is happening and use the United voucher towards flights to Disney for Christmas (we already have a reservation at AKV). It's all good.

Besides the airlines we have received refunds from Amtrak, Rum Runner in Juneau and of course, DCL. Our salmon fishing tour was just a quick phone call to cancel since a deposit was never actually processed.

The only two problems we are having with getting our deposit refunded are with Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier and DIY Jeep Tours in Skagway. Both companies have been contacted by phone, followed up by email and either called or emailed once again for an update. Paradise Inn originally told us 7-10 days for a refund but we gave them a month before following up again... this time they told us it could be July before we received an email. DIY Jeep Tours DID originally tell us that a refund would take up to 30 days but now that has come and gone and still no refund has appeared. After a follow up email last week they let me know that the refund has left their account and it should be within 14 business days that we receive our refund. I do plan to book with both of these companies again when we finally do reschedule this trip so I am hoping that the refunds come through from both parties without a problem.

We do look forward to rebooking this trip again just as soon as we know that it is safe to do so!
 
Just an update on our summer plans for 2020...
Perhaps we are crazy. But we decided to make the most of dh's 2 week vacation.

As you all know our DCL Alaska cruise was cancelled this summer on June 29 so we decided to to drive from PA and booked Vero Beach for 2 nights (July 1-3) and OKW for 5 nights (July 3-8). We never had any plans to do any parks with our kids ages 11 and 14 so the announcement that the DVC resorts but not the parks would be open was perfect! With so many resort openings now we switched our reservation to BCV for only 4 nights (I only had 80 points to play with for WDW because I won't borrow them!)
We made this into a real road trip vacation now... 2 nights at HHI on the way down, 2 nights at Vero, 4 nights at BCV and 2 nights at a Savannah hotel on the way back home!
We are excited... face masks and all.
 
I'm glad you guys are making lemons out of lemonade so to speak! I look forward to hearing about your experience with the new requirements in place. I don't go to WDW till November so we'll see how things are in six months. (We decided on a beach vacay in the OBX this summer vs. any big resort or theme park. Originally we were supposed to go to Pigeon Forge next week, but my husband doesn't want to have his temperature taken everywhere.)
 


I'm glad you guys are making lemons out of lemonade so to speak! I look forward to hearing about your experience with the new requirements in place. I don't go to WDW till November so we'll see how things are in six months. (We decided on a beach vacay in the OBX this summer vs. any big resort or theme park. Originally we were supposed to go to Pigeon Forge next week, but my husband doesn't want to have his temperature taken everywhere.)

We contemplated OBX for this year. We were there 2 summers ago for my dd's China adoption reunion and we loved it there. I love to visit lighthouses and we still have one to visit there! But low and behold we decided to just go make magic! Have a great time at OBX! Where are you staying? We stayed at Shutters on the Banks in OBX and loved it.
 
We booked a little cottage on Air B&B. For this vacation in particular we wanted a kitchen and private space. It's a new experience for us though as we normally do a resort/hotel of some kind. It's not a big, super expensive place, but I hope it's quaint and it is super close to the beach which is of utmost importance and centrally located in Kill Devil Hills. Shutters on the Beach looks fabulous though and a great location! I'm excited as I haven't been since my oldest son (now 20) was about 9. We're going to celebrate my middle turning 10! Needed something special for double digits and wasn't sure what would be open for parties.
 
Quick refund update...
Yes... still not super happy that we have so much airfare credit between United and Air Canada but we will use it somehow in the next 2 years. I was super excited about 2 things for our trip to Alaska... The DYI Green Jeep Tour in Skagway and staying at Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier. Both of these businesses have now responded to emails saying that our reservation has been cancelled and the refund could take 7-10 business days. We cancelled both of these reservations in April and as of June 19 we still have not received any refunds. I watch the CC daily for the refund and am beginning to get a bit upset about these two businesses. DYI Green Jeep Tour's last email on June 11 once again confirmed that our reservation was cancelled and we should give them another 30 days for the refund. And even funnier is that I received an email on June 10 letting me know that they will be cancelling our reservation for our stay because they will be closed through July 14. The thing is... I have 2 other past emails telling me that our reservation is cancelled! We understand things are tough for businesses right now but I do at least expect honesty.

We also recently booked Alaska again for June 2022 on the NCL Jewel and I was really hoping to use the Alaska Green Jeep company while we are in Skagway but at this time I can't recommend them based on their dishonest communications. If we receive our refund back... maybe. But that could be a lofty goal.

***UPDATE 6/23... Refund from Green Jeep Tour in Skagway has finally reached our CC. It has been 3 months, 2 weeks since we requested a refund. Now, I feel better using them again in 2022. I really have my heart set on that tour!***

In just over a week we will be masking up for a road trip that leads us to a Disney Resort stay... check it out HERE!
 
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