First cruise ever, Disney Wonder, Alaska 8/2-8/7

[tachyonbb]

After 48 years together we decided to take our first cruise. Always wanted to go to Alaska so that was the destination. Note: (it was wonderful).
Day 1: Confusion, missed flights and eventual success. Woke up at 3 AM for a 6 AM flight to San Francisco and then to Vancouver. Got to the airport and a thunderstorm was pounding Omaha. The new north parking garage has louvers and when the wind is right they sing. The parking lot was singing. Got through check in and security without incident. Then wait,,,,, wait,,,,, wait. Flight was delayed 1/2 hour, then 1 hour, then 1.5 hours, eventually took off 2 hours late. Our grandsons gave us a photo scavenger hunt to complete on our trip, which was fun. The first on was a picture of us on the plane. Here it is. My grandsons said I need to work on my selfie skills. They were right.

The result was we missed our flight to Vancouver. After what we thought was a forever we got a flight a couple of hours after our scheduled time. This would make our connection to the ship very precarious. Recommendation, go a day early to prevent these issues.

Eventually we got to Vancouver, customs line for half hour then found the Disney desk. They had trouble finding our reservation and when it was found she told us we should have been there a couple of hours ago.(duh) It is now 2PM and the ship is supposed to sail at 4. We got on the last bus to the dock with 4 other stragglers. Got to the dock and had to go through US customs, then wait in a disney line to get on the ship. Got lost a couple of times but eventually someone from Norwegian cruise line told us how to find the Disney Wonder line. Got on board at 3:30, Went to deck 9 to get a snack but was unsuccessful as everything was shut down until the required passenger assembly. Went down to deck 4 and wandered around until we found our lifeboat location. Announcements were not intelligible. Passengers were basically ignoring the crew and chaos ensued. Eventually they stopped talking and we were let go. Went to our stateroom and our luggage was already there. Went up to deck 9 to get a snack. This time we were successful. Big party going on. Very loud as the ship left port.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wow! Glad you made the ship!!

 

[tachyonbb]

After some ice cream we went up to deck 10 and walked all around the ship. I am three weeks out from back surgery so I used a cane to maintain my balance. Saw some float planes taking off and the harbor was very busy.
After touring both deck 10 and deck 9 we went to our stateroom

Our room was 7550 just off the center elevators on deck 7. Temperatures were in the 70's(Farenheit) and very little wind. Our first night's dinner was scheduled for Animators.
As part of our scavenger hunt we were supposed to take a picture of another cruise ship. As we left port we found the Norwegian Spirit. Two down 20 to go.

 

[tachyonbb]

Found Animators without incident. There we met Cesar and Moira who were our evening servers for the week. Servers move with you from restaurant to restaurant. Our first of many 4 course meals. Started with some bruschetta. Followed
it with a potato salad (not potato salad), I had a steak and Deb had a lobster pasta dish. Both were delicious. Moira recommended an Alaska beer ale and it was very good. Can't get Alaska beer in Omaha. Became my go to beer on the ship, Both their ale and kolsch were very good. Dessert was a thin biscuit, strawberries and ice cream. Very good.





While we were eating they announced that the show for this evening was cancelled due to technical problems and that they were going to show the movie Haunted Mansion instead. Since we had been up since 1AM Vancouver time we just went back to our room, got out our iPads and read. After all the issues with flights we were just happy we did not miss the departure. Sleep was easy, The sea was calm all night. Having a room near the middle of the ship was good, when we went aft we could feel the vibrations of the motors, where we were we felt nothing.


Woke up to calm seas and beautiful views. Some people reported seeing whales but we were not so lucky. Temp was already in the high 60's with 70's on the way again.

 

[tachyonbb]

Decided on Triton's for breakfast. Other choice was a cafeteria called Cabanas.
Started with a fruit plate, then eggs benedict which was not as spicy as I like. The additional sausages on the side made it all better.
Deb had signed us up for a beer tasting event at the French Quarter lounge. Walked deck 10 a couple of times. Getting used to the slower pace of the ship and relaxing is coming along. Walk for a while, sit and watch the scenery go by, walk for a while. Heard lots of screaming so we went to investigate.
The huge water slide was the culprit. Although it was 70 degrees the pool was quite active. Basically a kid screaming all along the slide route. While cell service was basically not available, texts from MLB baseball came through without a problem. Texts from our grandsons and daughters were hit and miss(mostly miss). Checked off 2 more on our photo scavenger hunt. Picture of waterslide and pic of a princess.

As we made our way down to the lounge
we crossed off a picture of a princess on our photography quest.

 

[tachyonbb]

The beer tasting was kind of a bust. Deb does not drink so her samples were passed on to me. The person running the tasting was not very fluent in English so I basically did not understand a word he said.


Having done some home beer brewing I was not expecting a deep discussion of the process. They started with a raspberry beer, I don't like fruity beers and this was no exception. Then came a french ale, The French are not known for their beer(should have done a German beer). Third was an IPA which was awful and finally a regular ale. Then they added a Guiness Stout which is a beer I like.

Lunch was on deck 9 with Pinocchios pizza. Deb tried the pear pizza and concluded that pear should not be a pizza topping. My 2 pieces of pepperoni were ok. Finished with another ice cream run (which would be a daily occurrence). Went back to our stateroom, sat on our deck and watched the scenery go by while pretending to read. An announcement came that they were going to make a stop to let a sick passenger off the ship.


The ship stopped, a boat came out to the ship and took the passenger. Probably going to be airlifted back to Vancouver.

Dinner at Tianas. Read it was a New Orleans style dinner but it was Frozen night. Scallops for our first course. Pea soup then pork tenderloin for me. Beet salad then lobster ravioli for Deb. Raspberry tarts for dessert.

We were tired after dinner and just went back to our room. Watched the shore go by on our starboard side. Early evening again. The TV has a pretty complete list of disney movies on demand, a channel that just shows the bridge camera and various shows about the ship, the schedule and the typical disney channel programs. The cruise app had our daily schedule and options for other adventures.

 

[tachyonbb]

The next morning was glacier day. Ate at Tritons again. Set clocks back one hour. Still very calm seas and beautiful weather. Our cabin on the starboard side was always in view of land.

Assembled in the Walt Disney Theater. There were two smaller boats and we were divided into two groups.
Each boat had 3 levels, one fully enclosed, one half enclosed and the top deck was completely open. w
The scenery olong the fjord was amazing. We were informed that a v shaped valley was formed by water and a u shaped valley was usually formed by a glacier. We went by multiple waterfalls on our way to the sawyer glacier.

The other excursion boat was ahead of us as we approached the glacier. This was the only time we wore our coats on the trip. Did not need gloves or a hat.


We were told the air bubbles were pushed out of the ice due to the mass of ice above. The red part of the white light is absorbed while the blue is not so we see blue. We saw some calving of the glacier but I was not quick enough with my camera. There was a lot of ice chunks in the water.

There were seals resting on one of the ice chunks. As we sailed back to the ship they told us where the glacier wss 100 years ago. Since the last ice age the glaciers have been slowly melting.

 

[tachyonbb]

As we went back to the ship the captain brought us up close to a couple of waterfalls. The scenery here is amazing.


We got back and were too late for our dinner reservation so we went up to deck 9 and had a cheeseburger and french fries. Neither were the best but it was better than nothing.
Back on the ship we ran into the line to see stitch.


Stitch is our youngest daughters favorite so meeting Stitch was special


Every night we were greeted by a sculpture made out of towels and our extra blanket.

 

[tachyonbb]

Another rain free and calm seas night. When we woke, we noticed a line of houses on the bank indicating that Ketchikan was near. Docking was quick and easy.

We were docked next to the outlet store. The locals were having their annual Blueberry festival art show,


We could see the various canopies set up in the street. Our first activity for the day was the lumberjack show.

Two teams of three men competed in chain saw, 2 person saw, pole climbing, various chopping contests, chopping while standing on a small board and log rolling. All the competitors had won various large competitions and their ability was impressive. We have watched these competitions on television, but seeing it in person is a great experience.
We walked the art show. At one of the booths they had hot dogs for a buck but Deb insisted go back and have some crab

Prices in Alaska were very very high. We split 2 lbs of crab legs. We came back to this sculpture.

We were told to expect a lot of rain, but Ketchikan was dry and in the 70's

From our room we watched young boys climb up on the top of the trusses on the bridge and jump off into the water. We were told it is a common occurrence. The water temp was around 40 degrees which would be a big shock, but the natives did not seem to care.

 

[teach22180]

Thank you for your report! I'm going in September and appreciate your pictures and feedback so much. I would be so happy to have weather as nice as yours!

 

[tachyonbb]

Sunday morning we were greeted by the ships fog horn blowing regularly. We tried Cabanas for the first time. It is a cafeteria type place, Food was ok but we preferred Tritons. Went to a cooking demonstration on an apple dessert. The chef spoke English so we understood what he said and there were a number of lcd displays which showed every step. Quite informative and interesting. Went shopping, stores are on deck 4. Got some pins and a couple of shirts. Lots of merchandise. Bought the Alaska blanket. Lunch was at Daisy's delight. The paninis were very good and topped it with and Alaska beer. Too bad we can't get that beer in Omaha. Fog burned off and another day of calm seas and mid 70's. Walked deck 9 and 10 a bunch, taking pictures of the scenery and wishing we had a few more days.

We learned a lot, experienced a lot and enjoyed it immensely. Last nights dinner was at Tiana's New Orleans style meal with beads on the table and a parade during dinner.

The prime rib was great

After eating we walked the top deck a couple of more times and just enjoyed the view. 10 minutes of nothing but woods going to the water then all of a sudden a house with a couple of out buildings Wondered about access to electricity and running water.

Last night was upon us. We had to have our luggage in the hall before 10:30. They gave us stickers to attach to our luggage and matching stickers to take with us to find our luggage. Calm seas as usual. Woke up and we were already docked at the port of Vancouver. They left a survey and a bunch of envelopes for tips and a customs declaration for the port.

Debarking was based on your luggage sticker. Those with flights before 11AM could take their luggage with them and use what they call walk off service. Since our flight was at 1 we did not have to hurry. Where ever you ate the last night was your breakfast place. Went back to Tianas for breakfast. Oatmeal for our final breakfast. We then went into a bar and waited for our sticker to be called. Exited the ship and found our luggage. Gave our customs declaration to a person at the port then hauled our luggage to the busses where we waited for about 10 minutes. Our bus driver was very talkative and we got a tour of Vancouver on our way to the airport. Learned about all the changes they had to implement in order to host the winter olympics and the current ridiculous housing market. Went through security then tried to check in at United. They had switched us to Canada Air so off to repeat the lines and waiting. Half hour line for American customs then finally went to our gate. Flight to San Francisco was uneventful. Gate at SF was the same gate we arrived at 6 days before. Had a sandwich and drink while waiting for our last flight. Arrived in Omaha about half past midnight. This was one of our bucket list actives and it did not disappoint.

 

[tachyonbb]

So, it has been a few weeks and we have had time to think about this adventure. Some thoughts.
1. Go a day or two early. Vancouver is a wonderful city and worth a couple of days. This way you will not be like us rushing nervously after your first flight is delayed 3 hours and making it to the ship a few minutes before departure.
How did we do on our photo scavenger hunt?
Most of the hunt was doable. We thought that finding someone in a Nebraska shirt would be impossible but we ran into a family from Elkhorn and their oldest son had a Nebraska shirt on. Serendipity strikes. The one thing we did not accomplish was a picture of poutine. First time through Vancouver airport was in panic mode and returning we had an hour to check out all the restaurants without success. Pictures of a princess, on the plane, a water slide, someone playing a piano, a blue drink, a fancy dessert, another cruise ship, a hidden mickey, our furthest location, at a port other than Vancouver, at a show, with a disney character, an animal not in Nebraska, a main dish, a fancy restaurant, eating ice cream(did this daily), a glacier, a water fall, a great dessert, a towel animal, something with a fish on it were all done.
All in all it was a delightful experience. Wish we had done it sooner when we were younger and more able.
Doing some fishing would have also been good as we used to fish in northern Minnesota every spring and have done fishing in both the Atlantic (from Hilton Head) and the Pacific (from San Diego).
We may do another but right now we are looking forward to Disney World in February 24 and Hilton Head in June.