The Wonder in Alaska the last Frontier Completed 10-09-22

[KGmomoftwins]

The boarder agent for the US was awesome and laughed at my jokes! There was no parking at Bridal Falls so we enjoyed a slow drive by. Next Stop was the gold rush cemetery. I had to drive over the railroad tracks and I was not sure if you could really drive back there it was a dirt road but then I could see another car parked back there. Also forgot to mention best thing about Carcross really nice clean bathrooms! There is an outhouse here but little girls then did not have to go so bad. We went up to the right past the big fake gold nugget and got on the trail to Lower Reid Falls. If you want to avoid gravestones just stick with this path. The other side has more headstones. It was a bit slippery on the rocks but we had the right shoes on we did see some people who did not and turned around.

We walked just beyond the pine tree and the picture does not do it justice. It was beautiful and the water was really rushing down! This was a great little walk with a nice reward at the end. We then were going to hit up the grocery store to get some beer and wine and learned that in Alaska you need to go to the liquor store for those things. Before doing that I had read about the Back Ally Rock Shop for gold panning and that is where we headed. The owners greeted us and it cost 50$ total for the girls to each have a pan. The guy wish I had caught his name was great. He taught them how to do, talked about the science behind gold panning, and shared several stories of being a Skagway resident for 45 years. I was a little bored but the other three were in rock haven. He apparently gets the pay dirt from a friends claim location can't disclose.


We were here for a while! I thought we would walk the town after but everyone was spent! This is what one of the 2 vials we came back with.

We hit up the liquor store and got 2 bottles of J Lore 20$ each and a six back of some Alaskan beer DH liked it. I was kind enough to drop them off right next to the dock by the helicopters and then I went to fill up and drop off the Jeep. The gas station is right across the street and it was over 5$ a gallon. I could not figure out how to open the tank thank you to the man who helped! It's hard when you are used to one way! Cost was 35$ to fill up. I cleared out the rest of the car as I had the wine to walk back on with and when I looked in the door holder space on the passenger side there was a fireball empty bottle! Not ours! No trouble returning the car and I walked back to the ship. I love how the had hot chocolate and cookies waiting. Today they also had mulled wine. I almost got some because on glacier day DH went to get us some and they were sold out! However, my hands were full so no mulled wine again! I will finish up this day either later tonight or tomorrow. I hope this helpful!

 

[Scottishdisneyfan]

Sitting in my room at the Fairmont Waterfront reading this report has me so excited for tomorrow. Glad you had a lovely time.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Sitting in my room at the Fairmont Waterfront reading this report has me so excited for tomorrow. Glad you had a lovely time.

You are going to have so much fun!!! Enjoy!

 

[Scottishdisneyfan]

You are going to have so much fun!!! Enjoy!

Because of the 8hr time difference from home and the excitement we were up at 4:30am so got up, ready and watched the ship come in, superb!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Because of the 8hr time difference from home and the excitement we were up at 4:30am so got up, ready and watched the ship come in, superb!

Awesome that was one of our favorite memories and we got some really nice photos of her coming in. If you see Ronald, Liane, or Chad say hello for us! Also I’m taking a leap you are from Scotland Ross on the entertainment staff is also from Scotland and lovely to chat with!

 

[Scottishdisneyfan]

Awesome that was one of our favorite memories and we got some really nice photos of her coming in. If you see Ronald, Liane, or Chad say hello for us! Also I’m taking a leap you are from Scotland Ross on the entertainment staff is also from Scotland and lovely to chat with!

Ah smashing, will look out for those names, Ross? Cool will keep an eye out for him!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Skagway night will we ever see a bear or get mulled wine?
Here I sit my last day off before school starts and it is miserable outside and I'm wrapped in my Alaska blanket the girls and DH are watching Raya and I can't help but feel super happy about a summer well spent.

Back to the report. I get back on right around 4 make my way up to the room with all our stuff and the girls are ready to go do the craft in D-Lounge. DH had to do some work stuff ( I know but he is a small business owner and 36 other people depend on him). I can't believe my energizer bunnies we get to D lounge (love this space!) and Ella is getting ready to pack it up but she let the girls take a bunch of markers and the cinch bags anyways. They also had templates to help you draw the characters on them. Once girl picked Daisy the other Pluto. They came out so cute and the girls loved them! DD2 even used it on our excursions the next 2 days. We met Daisy afterwards no line and then Donald.

By the time we were done DH met us in the atrium and we headed to Tritons for our first dinner here. This is my favorite menu of the entire trip. I will say the service was excellent tonight however we were here forever. DH started with the escargot and said they were excellent nice and seasoned not over cooked. I did the perogies nothing special tasted like Mrs. T's don't get me wrong I love Mrs. T's was hoping for that homemade factor.


Then 2 of us got french onion soup and the girls got chicken noodle. Love that gooey cheese burnt my face!

All four of us got the filet medium. Now here is the quality control Disney!!! 3 were fantastic 1 was way over cooked. We shared the 3 that were fantastic.

The potatoes were ok but the green beans were really good nice and crunchy still. We did not get our entrees until 7. DH was antsy to get to the hot tub so he ducked out before desert. No need to fear he hit his ice cream girl up and they had blueberry he said it was the best of the entire trip and the only flavor he tried other the chocolate and vanilla. Girls got Mickey bars and I got my one true love the grand marnier soufflé. I love tea with dessert and I'Gede always brought my hot water and tea I like without me asking. The last time I got this my server poked holes in it with a fork and poured the stuff over it. Well I think there were some issues tonight with other tables that came very late to dinner and Ronald had to run. No worries I'm a pro and it was just as delicious as ever.

Steve came over to check on things and make sure everything was ok. I'm pretty sure because DH left early I said no need to worry he needed hot tub time and bed. He laughed and said me too! It was after 7:30 when we were done and the girls were tired so we headed back and did showers and bed. As we were tucking in the girls one of them goes to bad we did not see a bear than I would have won car bingo! I said I know can't predict wildlife and mommy still has not gotten mulled wine yet!

Thoughts on Skagway day. I'm really glad I switched being by ourselves and setting the pace for the day was crucial for my family enjoying the day. Also with everything we did and spent money on it turned out to be $49 less than what I would have paid to do the Alaska Shore Excursion and the breakfast through Disney. My biggest advice is know your family and what they would like to do. If they hate car rides not the thing for you. I knew mine would love the breaks and the dog camp. Sitting on a train for 4 hours was not for my family or being around a lot of other people. Regardless I truly believe no matter what you choose it will be amazing.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Juneau August 26 An Exploding impeller and An Exploding Eagle
We all slept good last night! Quote of the morning the air in Alaska tastes so good! Before we left Skagway I had gotten a text from Captain Chris of Rum Runners to please be off the ship at 6:45 as soon as it was cleared so we could maximize time. I put out the room service to be delivered between 5:30 and 6am. Well 6 on the dot and it gets delivered the poor guy the darn teenagers gang struck in the night and moved the hangers to different doors. He said good thing I wrote our room number on it because there was going to be a lot of upset people this morning! I got us cereal, bagels, juice, muffins, and decided to give the coffee a try. I just could not bring myself to go to the Cove this am they were so miserable there. The coffee was actually pretty descent. I really appreciated the cold creamer and sugar. Even DH said it was good.


View from our starboard side Verandah
I still can't believe what happened next my family were the first people off for the day at 6:43am! The CMs even clapped for us! We got off on deck 1 and had a huge ramp to walk up and then Captain Chris was just pulling in with a 12 passenger van it had a life boat on top. There were 4 adults sitting in the back they were going out on another Rum Runner boat fishing. Rum Runners has three boats, 3 captains, and a deck hand. Plus 3 dogs. Juneau was way more populated and put together than I thought. The drive was 15 mins to Auke Bay. We get to the Marina and were greeted by SO MANY EAGLES.

The most eagles we've ever seen and we were walking right under them and they just ignored us. The tide was low right now and there were eagles on the beach just eating fish it was so cool. Our Captain was Adrianne and we would be on the Pearl. We are walking to the boat and Adrianne energy was awesome she was explaining the tides and in Juneau they have a 25ft difference between the high and low. Crazy and we got to witness it. We are almost to the boat and we hear an alarm going off and Adrianne goes awe man I think that's my boat. Sure enough it was. She tells us to make ourselves comfortable inside and to have a pastry, coffee, and hot chocolate. The girls grab a pastry and said they were supper yummy. They were then greeted by this lady under the table.

Luna! My husband is helping with the boat truly he can fix anything but a broken heart and the crack of dawn. Anyways, he's pulling out chunks of impeller which he explains pumps in sea water to cool the engine and that's why the engine was smoking. So now the girls are running around a boat with a dog they are waiting for the mechanic to come. Then the girls jump off the boat and I'm like someone is going to fall in the water. Than I realize that the boat next door someone gets off and they are living on the boat and it's 7:20am at this point and I’m hoping they aren’t waking everyone up. Then the mechanic comes kids and dogs are excited and his coffee gets knocked over by Luna thank goodness not my children. Captain Chris then goes we are going to fix the boat and then see whale but in the meantime Adrianne is going to take you in my personal van to Mendanhall. Wow that's awesome thank you he's like I feel terrible we go ahhh S*** Happens. He's like I really appreciate you being flexible. Ok so now my family plus Adrianne are walking back up to another van walking under the eagles when S*** really did happen. DD2 was massively pooped on by an eagle! I mean like 2 cups of green, slimy, fishy smelling poop all on her special hat, hair, jacket (at least it is water proof), and LLbean fleece zip up. No pictures sorry we were in crisis if people were still sleeping in the marina before they weren't after that screaming. Luckily there was a really nice bathroom here and I cleaned her up as best I could. Also I had wet wipes and some shout wipes on me which aided in the effort. DH was hysterical telling her she was blessed by America and Adrianne said she would be really lucky the rest of the trip and see a lot of whales.

We got in the van and headed to Mendanhall. This was special as the girls great grandparents visited here in the 90's and we wanted to recreate a photo. Adrianne was great and pointed out so many cool things on the way. We parked and DH went to an automated Kiosk and paid for us $5 a piece. We walked to the other end of the parking lot away from the bus drop off to check a little stream lots of sockeye salmon no bears. We walked the Nugget falls trail and stopped at photo point to recreate are photo.

We took out time on the trail to the falls and really noticed the little things. Funny Adrianne had not done this trail yet but had done the trail of time. She told us awesome hunting, fishing, and camping stories. She also pointed out things along the way.

She also told us the story of Juneau friendly wolf as there is a monument to him on the nugget trail. It lived for 6 years in Juneau people fed it and petted it and then well sad ending.


Reward we were not cold until here. The wind was whipping there was a huge chunk of ice floating in the lake and we just had to touch the water it was freezing! This was a highlight especially for DH he thought it was impressive especially when a helicopter flew in front of it and gave a scale to just how massive the glacier is. We had a ton of fun here and Adrianne is such a special person I'm so glad the boat was broken so we got to experience this with her. We kind of hurried a bit on the way back because we heard there was a bear. No such luck . When we made it to the visitor center she got a call the boat was fixed! She said we can stay as long as you want but of course no one wanted to go to the visitor center now! We did check the stream by the parking lot but no bear. After a little over 2 hours we headed back to the marina and as we passed the Sure Fine grocery store I noticed the view of the glacier they had from the parking lot I would not mind grocery shopping. Whale Watch next post

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Rum Runners Whale Watch.
This was a really amazing 2.5hrs spend with my family. We saw a ton of humpback whales. Adrianne knew their names we even saw a calf. At one point a whale was about 8ft away from the front of our boat and she had to kill the engine. It was a bit windy which gave a chop to the water. We were all fine. I did not take a ton of photos but just lived in the moment.

This was adorable a late season pup!




I wish this was clearer it is Herbert Glacier it was so beautiful that we saw on the watch. I forget the girls asked Captain Adrianne how far we went and I think she said 35 miles from the bay. It was a gorgeous ride and we loved it all. She was a great role model for the girls being a girl scientist and captain she is one of those people that you feel lucky to have met even for just a short time. Seriously book Rum Runners if we ever are in Juneau again we will go fishing with them. Captain Chris gave us a ride back to the ship we debated stopping at Tracy's but it was late and I needed to wash those poopy jackets. Plus he was willing to drop us right off at the gang plank and Tracy's is a way back to the ship. We said our goodbyes and said our thank you. We walked back on at 1:30. I gathered up some laundry and unfortunately every washer was in use on deck 6. I went up to deck 7 I did not like this one as much it was bigger but very narrow hardly any room between you the washer and the wall. The floor was also filthy in here. There were 2 washer open on the end closest to the door. I used the tub to rinse and apply stain remover. I still had some tide pods from home and used them on this last load. DH was kind and got me some pizza for all of us and it was actually pretty good. He also said the specialty sandwich was a pulled pork he said it smelled good. we rested a bit and then the girls wanted to play frozen trivia in the D lounge. I had to switch over the laundry and then I said I would meet them there. I also made a pit stop for hot chocolate and cookie. They were both really good especially the hot cocoa. They were 3 questions into trivia and of course my children are sitting right up front and center they see me and yell loud enough hurry up we need your help. Gus who is doing trivia goes leaver her alone she just got here they respond but she is our mom Gus even more so then leave her alone! He was great and we did terrible 12 out of 20 I thought we knew Frozen! So hard. DD2 went to the club and DD1 and I stayed for Gus animation class on Pluto he was great and helped her because she is a lefty and it is hard for her sometimes. I left to grab the laundry and dropped in the room DH put it away. He had been enjoying the verandah and got a cool video of a tug boat bringing in another boat. In the hour before dinner the 4 of us then saw Chip and Dale then Daisy in her Alaska outfit she was so cute!!! A couple of characters were out again today in their Alaskan outfits if you miss them on glacier day. I had wanted to do Palo tonight but alas it was animation night!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Animation Night
I left off we were headed to Animators palate for dinner. DH was so funny he goes ohh I can get those pasta things again. I said sorry it's a different menu tonight. Service was much faster tonight and the meal all around was one of the best we had. It was to bad DH and I were not super hungry because we had a late snack. We shared the chicken skewer app it was really good the chicken was very moist. DH got the shrimp pasta and I got the chicken schnitzel both were excellent. DD1 got the adult pasta minus the artichokes and spinach so basically shrimp pasta. DD2 the lighter note strip steak and french fries.

I asked for white rice on the side because it goes better with the chicken IMO plus the potatoes have been dismal this trip. I remember them being really good with this dish on the Fantasy.

The girls both had dishes of ice cream for dessert and DH and I had the celebration cake on Ronalds recommendation. Don't get me wrong it was really good I ate it all but I really wanted the chocolate decadence but did not want to offend Ronald and no way I could eat 2 desserts tonight. Ronald also did some serious magic tricks tonight! He was amazing!! My husband is still trying to figure one out with a sharpie and a a quarter.

We loved the show and watching the girls faces light up as they saw their drawing multiple times and their names at the end. The Dining room seemed way less busy tonight and we were done by 7. Even though we wanted to go to PALO this might be the last time the girls think this is cool and being with them at dinner is really important to DH and I. There will be other times. I was a little annoyed with the schedule tonight because there was a lot going on. Plutos PJ party was at 7:15 and then Frozen at 8:30. The girls did the party and then came right back to the room as DH was getting back from the hot tub and the 3 party poopers wanted to go to bed! I tried to convince them and they said they could watch it on tv. DH was sweet and offered to go with me. I put my mask on and wanted to get a seat all the way in the back corner but it was really busy and I also was kind of tired so I went back to the room and got ready for bed. We were all out!


To bad it wasn't an eagle
Juneau thoughts
This was an AMAZING day and one the memories we will carry with us forever. That eagle poop! I do wish we had done a late lunch in town but it is difficult the wonder is docked so faraway. I know the shuttle but that is a pain. Thank you again to Rum Runners and disers for the recommendation!!!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

August 28 Rain Rain it's ok Ketchikan
We all slept in today! I went up and got some treats from the Cove and we went and checked outside and it was cold with the wind from moving and rainy. We went to Tritons for breakfast and Tiger was our server he was great. DD1 got chocolate chip pancakes and DD2 Mickey waffles. We got our plate of fruit and bacon seriously so good. I got cream of wheat and it was yummy super hot which was nice! DH and I have for a couple of years now an ongoing debate as to if the scrambled eggs severed at Disney Parks and cruise are powdered eggs. So he ordered an omelet and a side of scrambled eggs. There is something up with those scrambled eggs! The omelet was great.

After breakfast I went with the girls to see Rapunzel. Then DH took them to see Tiana and Ariel. This is what we saw while waiting so cool!


I went to Riley Woodfords talk on Alaskan bears. He was great and I was really enjoying it until.... I was sitting at the end of a row in the back of azure by the door and a gentleman pulls in on his motorized scooter right next to me. Ok no biggie until he proceeds to take out a dental flosser and begins to floss his teeth! I somehow managed to squeeze out but I really wanted to hear the rest so I stood in the back by the door.

At this point the girls were in the club and DH was watching us sail in on the verandah and my parents were also watching us sail in on the webcam. They sent me some cool shots of us!

Starboard view of Ketchikan.
Once again I switched things up a tiny bit from my pre trip report. I switched from a 3 hour small group tour with Wild Wolf tours to a private 3.5hour tour where we could pick what we wanted to do. The cost was $599 and spoiler alert totally worth it! We were set to meet our guide at 11:45 but we got off the ship 11:15 no wait. It was pouring but we were ready! Fleece lined leggings girls, water proof hiking shoes, long sleeve tees, llbean fleece, and then llbean water proof rain coats which you have seen in some of the pictures they have had these coats over a year now and they are amazing! I had on a llbean midweight crew base layer amazing and my 3 in 1 waterproof jacket. DH had on a llbean flannel, zip up, and his a poncho from his scouting days. I did rain pants DH wishes he still fit in his! Can you tell we went to Maine last summer. All this is stuff we normally wear I would not go out and spend all that money if it is going to be just for one day for you. However, we saw a lot of people on the ship later tonight who were miserable ot did not have a good day so maybe it is worth it.

We ducked into the Christmas in Alaska shop while we waited for our guide we could see the vans pulling up from the store so we would know when they were here. I did find some ornaments made in Alaska that I got as well as in the back corner of the store all the pj stuff was 25% off. The girls found the cutest slippers with bears on them and they actually did need new ones as they had just outgrown their old ones so they used their money to get them. They were a deal! Now stay tuned tomorrow to see if we actually see bears!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Just found your TR! What a great trip so far. We love Alaska!!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Ketchikan will there be bears and mulled wine

Ahhh back to school this week! ok back to thinking about 2 weeks ago. How have we been off the Wonder for 2 weeks! I tried booking a Disney plus cruise today the Magic from New Orleans but it was to frustrating! Ok anyways....

Wild wolf tours came at 11:35 10 mins before our scheduled time. Our guide was Patty and we really lucked out! She was amazing and such a sweet person. She worked with the US Forestry service in Ketchikan for 33 years and that is how she came to be in Alaska. I wish had taken a picture of the 12 passenger van we were in it was so nice and really clean. Since it was just the 4 of us the girls wanted to be cool and sit all the way in the back. The van even had a setup with a microphone for Patty so you could hear her in the back. She gave us some options for our day and the first thing we wanted to do was try and see bears. Patty was great she said it will be a drive and it is a slim chance they will be there with the pouring rain and it is also high tide but it will buy us a bit of time because the heavy rain is moving through and we should be good in about 45mins. We drove through town past creek street to the end of the island. There was a bridge and a fishery and it was super beautiful and Patty told us all about Ketchikan which was so interesting. Being a teacher I found it fascinating that if your kid plays a sport they have to take a 2 day ferry to Juneau they spend the night there with families from the opposing team play a couple of games and then ferry back! There were no bears . Lots of eagles and fish!

We then headed back through town to the opposite end of Ketchikan and into Tongas National Forest doing the lunch Creek trail through the rainforest. The girls feel asleep on the way and Patty was worried they were not having fun and needed to warm up and turned the heat way up hence the falling asleep. Patty knew her plants and I enjoyed this hike!

Huckleberries were everywhere Patty makes a jam with it! The girls were ready and raring to go now! They even tried some of these. Seedy but good!

Devils club which is used to make a salve to help with pain and circulation problems. (I did get some salve)

Girls were super proud and found these late season gems.

We then came up on a ton of this skunk cabbage. Turns out it has a very delicious root vegetable with it that bears love. Also I had learned in the bear lecture that after extensive studies on the population of bears in glacier bay that 90% of their diet is plants most being this. Patty said usually this is where they see bears and about 10 seconds later we heard a grunt that was a bear and the girls started screaming that they had found bear poop. Sure enough they did but any grunting bear was long gone after hearing them! They were having so much fun
spotting these guys!

It also had stopped raining by now! This picture does not do it justice they were huge!!!!

This ecosystem is so special! We made it to a creek with a huge waterfall and we saw so many salmon trying to make it up!

Look close see the fish?
Patty then gave us the choice to continue hiking to maybe see a bear (never going to happen with my loud crew) or go to one to Totem Bight State Park. We went to the totem park and it was great! Next post

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Totem Bight State Park
This was a super short drive from where we were. Patty also gave us a little snack on the way. Homemade smoked salmon dip with crackers, granola bars, and water. The dip was so good she gave DH the recipe. The girls used their first Alaskan outhouse and they were pretty nice here. DD2 to grandma I went and it was a hole in the ground I couldn't see the bottom! This park is beautiful and right on the beach although it was still very high tide. Having our guide we got way more out of this park then if we had just wandered around on our own. We also only saw 2 other people here. We learned about the families in Ketchikan Killer whale, wolf, and eagle and how these animals are often in the totems along with different fish like salmon and halibut. We learned the chief is always on top and how many rings he has is how many potlach's he hosted as chief. The more the better.

The girls were enthralled as was I.

You could go in the clan house and it smelled so good as they use red cedar in building this and the totems.

If a totem falls because of a storm they leave it and let it return to earth.


This was all of our favorite o totems tell a story and this one tells the story of Fog Woman. Fog woman helped the chief come back from a very foggy fishing trip saving his life and just like a Disney story they fall in love and live happily ever after for a time. Fog woman has a special power every time her hair dips into the stream or creek it pulls out 2 fish. All the people and the chief are happy and well fed until one day the chief gets upset and smacks her. Well fog woman does not put up with that and leaves. However, she feels sorry for the people so every year she sends an abundance of fish up the creek the salmon run but she never goes back to the chief.

So glad we came here. Patty was awesome one of those people you are so glad to meet for just a short while (we had a lot of great people this trip)! She even stopped at a local beer place for DH and recommended a beer he should get and he ran in and got 2 6 packs and her and I chatted with the girls. She also told me a couple of places to go on Creek Street to get real Alaskan gifts as we had not gotten anything but a few things from the Christmas store. She also tried to stop where the locals go and get canned salmon it was across of the beer plaza but they were already closed for the day. She said a lot of places were struggling with workers and some were even closing early for the season.
Patty dropped us off right by the Wonder it was sad saying goodbye! I walked back on with the family to claim one of the 6 packs and then walked right back off to do my own exploring of Creek Street! It was now raining again pretty good. Patty had said the salmon store here would be good and I got some smoked salmon and jerky DH has had the jerky and he gave it 2 thumbs up. I continued on and up Married mans trail. To the Salmon ladder the water was rushing you could barely see them jumping.


This walk was a bit slippery back down. I then walked to where the stores are and there was no one here! Ghost town creepy! I passed not one person!

I got some really great gifts for dog and plant waters at the taste of Alaska store huckleberry jam and birch syrup.

Everyone takes a picture of the other side of this sign but I like this side. I wanted to do Dolly museum but no one was around! Not sure if it was closed it was 4 at this point.

I then went to Parnassus book store that Patty recommended. I'm a big baker and have made sourdough started before but I got this really cool cookbook Simply Sourdough the Alaskan Way it even comes with Alaskan yeast to make your starter from. This summer one of the read aloud we did with the girls was a book called Sweet Home Alaska they had this book in the store and I shared with the owner what we did and she said oh you have to get them The Year of Miss. Agnes it's about a 10 year old girl living in Alaska and her teacher perfect! Was super happy to support a local business and they thanked me so much for coming in. I tried to find a local t-shirt shop that prints and makes their own designs right here but did not find it. I headed back to the Wonder. NO MULLED WINE but I did get some delicious hot coca and cookies.

View from the Verandah when I returned close to 5. Girls were in the club DH was resting enjoying the Verandah and drinking Alaskan beer lol! I'm going to leave this here because the rest of this night was crazy amazing! Mardi Gras and Karaoke deserves its own post!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Mardi Gras and Karaoke
Sorry about the delay we had a minor flood in our kitchen yesterday morning! The water tube going to the ice maker in the fridge broke in the middle of the night and well water everywhere. Dripped down into the basement! Crazy!

I left off DH and I were sitting on the verandah enjoying the pretty view of Ketchikan when 2 little girls walked in. They were pretty proud of themselves with these checkout privileges. Funny the message came through as they were walking in the door. They were really happy Koda had come to the club and played a game with them and DD1 goes and we got to see a bear today! Love them! We had to stop by guest services on the way to dinner to check for the lost pin no such luck. It was Mardi Gras night and I love how they had beads on the tables and the glasses were different so Disney with the theme.

The menu was tough tonight nothing really spoke to me. DH ordered sausage fritters (I and Ronald warned him no!), New Orleans seafood pepper pot, and the prime rib. I tried to get the girls to order prime rib (we call it Christmas steak) but they were not hungry and then it came out they got buffalo chicken pizza and ramen bowls while I was exploring! Even DH said not that hungry (it all worked out). DD1 got grilled cheese and mama Ode’s tomato soup and DD2 a kids burger. I got the seafood soup, lighter fare steak and baked potato.

This soup was so good! Especially the scallops! Both of us really liked it


Tomato soup DD said it was very good best she's ever had and she is very picky about her soup she just wished they had brought out the grilled cheese with the soup so she could dip. Steve came over and apologized for this even though we did not say anything and said he loved that she thought of getting a gilled cheese!

These were so gross sorry for the weird photo I'm struggling with DH phone! I think he took one bite. Poor DH he watched everyone else get this awesome prime rib and his was a slab of over cooked fat. I told him to say something but he said he was not that hungry and he filled up on the potato. He was right this is way more food than we ever have at home.

DD2 dinner. Side not the herbed brioche they served tonight was my all time favorite!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Mardi Gras and Karaoke


Sorry for the eaten potato I did not get ramen and pizza! This dinner was really good! Steak was cooked perfect and the veggies were a nice change from the green beans from the last 5 nights. We then did the show and let me tell you. We loved it! This is seriously amazing and the servers are great they really made you feel like it was a party. Our girls were so happy to Ronald and I Gede dancing. Also our server Luciana was the leader


I love how I Gede is looking at DD and how DD was looking back at him.

DH has been to New Orleans several times and plays the sax and harmonica and he was in his glory with the music and we had a really awesome table!


One of the girls goes Mama we are really at Tiana's Place!

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Dessert!
Seriously the best part. All the girls and I got beignets plus I also got chocolate cake. You really should order that chocolate cake and DH also said the bread pudding was on point and you should order it!

The girls said this was the best thing to ever happen to them. Steve whispered in DH ear that he could bring them some tomorrow if they wanted.

We then headed straight to azure for karaoke. They have you write your name and song on a slip of paper and then bring it to the person in the window. The girls did this and then realized there was quite a few people here. Now DD2 was apart of the schools talent show and sang Never Enough from the greatest showm.an in front of her entire school and 50 parents. DD1 is very shy but said she was going to do it. Well let me tell you the show started off really strong with a Moana song and everyone after was amazing Disney should have scouts at this and just hire people here. DD1 noticed the fossils in the table here love these details. I also thought it was funny that they gave all these participants a cover to put over the microphone and told them not to touch it.

With each person that went the girls got more nervous. The girls were the last 2 acts. DD2 went first and she was so nervous but Ella who was running it knelt beside her and as the song (Never enough) went on she did great. DD2 was up last and I love how DD1 stood with her and held her hand and Ella goes I love a supportive sister. I was so nervous for them and at one point I thought she was loosing it so I went and stood next to her on stage and she finished. I can't believe they did this and I told them it was ok if they wanted to back out after signing up but they followed through! The best part and made me cry was the people gave them a standing ovation and several people came up and gave them high fives. They were so kind and truly made their trip especially DD1 who is going to join Chorus this year because of it. The passengers on this cruise were all so nice and we really enjoyed chatting with several and the pin board on the room down the hall from us.

DH wanted to get some hot tub time in so he hustled out as it was close to 8:30. He said he was the only one up there it was windy and rainy and the attendant probably thought he was crazy. We went back to the room and the tip stuff was there . Interesting on Ronald's it said his name then under it replaces: DW with a bunch of numbers. My guess is Ronald was filling in for someone else and even more interesting DH ran into Ronald at the pool deck food and he told him he is in charge of training new CMs and that's what he was doing today. Well we got lucky with Ronald.

Thoughts on Ketchikan. When we told the girls we were going on DCL to Alaska they really wanted to do the excursion they saw 5 times on Disney Fairy Tale Weddings which is the beach bonfire but both of them while getting ready for bed tonight said that our day was awesome and probably much better than eating a reindeer sausage who wants to eat reindeer but I owe them Smores when we get home(plus that would have been $932!). I'm so glad we went with Wild Wolf Tours and we could pick what we wanted to do Patty was great, Creek Street was super special, and coming back to the Wonder for our amazing dinner show was the icing on that yummy chocolate cake. Goodnight sea day tomorrow.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Sea Day Part 1 do I really have alone time?
Ahhh Sunday night! The girls were talking about the trip at dinner tonight and how they really want to go on the Magic next. We've created cruisers!

During the night a very strange loud noise woke just me up it was a clanging metal sound on the side of the ship. It only happened once maybe twice. Then I could hear the rain pelting the verandah door and I just snuggled in and fell back to sleep. We slept in the latest this cruise 7:30 the new time. We had to turn the clocks forward in the night. I went up to the Cove and was met with a very pleasant surprise. Two new CMs Wally was awesome! We had the best coffee this day even DH commented on it. He was so nice and what I remember the Cove being.

My first latte art this cruise!

I miss these! However, if you have a Trader Joes nearby the frozen ones they have are close second.

We were greeted to this outside. Gale force winds the Captain said! It was cold and rainy. Water was actually leaking in through the door to Cove cafe. Also I forgot how you have to walk outside real quick to get in there and was just in a t-shirt brrrr. We headed to Tritons for breakfast and got our usual there although they kept trying to get DDs to order the typhoon pancakes neither went for it. I will say they loved the muffins served here and said they were really good. We had 9:30 reservations for the princess meet and greet. We had to walk out the side door of Tritons because the main was blocked off for this event. They had a piano player he was great!

They saw Cinderella, Ariel, Tiana, and Rapunzel. They had a lot of time with each princess and DH videoed and I'm so glad he did because I'm really afraid this will be our last trip where they really believe in it all. I love how these princesses remembered the girls and talked to them about things they had talked about earlier in the week. Especially Rapunzel she asked any luck on the missing pin. After the girls just about ran away from us to the kids club but they say there was a craft they wanted to do at 11 in the French Quarter so they 0aids they would meet me there (they wear watches). DH also headed out to his 70min massage appointment. I gave him one job to take some pictures of the spa room.... Then there was me all alone! I headed to the D Lounge for anyone can cook and it was packed! I sat in the far back corner. The Chef John Ashton was great!!! He was entertaining and funny! They also do a wine pairing with this! The food was crispy fish sandwich and wine was a Chardonnay. It was a bit early in the morning for me for any of these things so I can't tell you how either were but people were rally enjoying it and it smelled good.


Great guy I wish I had brought DD1 she would have loved this but probably more if it was a baking recipe. They did this fish sandwich 2 times and no baking one this cruise. I like that they gave the recipe cards



It was then time to meet the girls good I was feeling lonely! Only one girls showed up! The other was in the club running their store at Oakens! We get to the French Quarter right at 11 to do flower thermometers to be told they had just given out the last one. I was ok with it but worried about DD she was fine. Some other woman was not! She wanted to take the example. We backed away from the table. They took out some anchor magnets to color but DD was hot to get back to the club ok. Alone again. I chatted with with Ella since we had seen her so much this week she is a really nice person. Then I went up top to check on the weather since Grenville was doing our room.

Still bad! There was a poor photographer doing a life preserver shot no one there. I ducked in the crown and fin but animation class for adults was going on and that's not my thing. Nice space though. I then headed back to the room thinking DH would be back not yet I thought that was weird. I was feeling lonely. It's hard to believe 3 years ago the girls did not care for the clubs. They loved them on the wonder. I asked them what the difference was from the Fantasy they said the staff, they were smaller, and not a lot of kids. We did have an incident thought while I was pondering being alone and my next food I got a message on the app to call the kids club immediately. Turns out a kid had accidently whacked DD1 with one of the big jenga blocks and it scared her a first but she was fine they just wanted me to know. I decided to go check on them and it was lunch time maybe a break was needed. DDs were fine an accident I appreciated the call the staff was sad they were leaving for a bit. DD1 really wanted chicken strips and DD2 a burger. We brought it back to the room and Daddy was back!

No trip is complete without a plate o fries. The chicken strips were really good this trip. DH wanted to try room service wings and we got dessert Mickey bars how do I not have 1 little girls pic eating a Mickey bar and the cake of the day.

The wings were not great almost slimy.
Continued next post

 

[KGmomoftwins]

The cake of the day was cheesecake. It was ok not as good as the chocolate mousse one. DH liked it. I forgot to mention our first sea DH and I went to the spa to ask for a tour of the rainforest room totally not for me but I thought he would like it. The woman was so nice she chatted told us about it and let us see in from the doorway. I forget but they had the prices right on a plaque at the reception DH said it seemed like a lot and he would like but not if it was packed. Well the woman who did his massage was the same we met on day 1. He said the massage was excellent he forgot to take pictures but said the room did not have an ocean view like on the Fantasy. The woman let him enjoy the rainforest room after. He was the only one in there he said he liked the heated lounger but did not do anything else because he did not have his bathing suit!
We then went to D lounge as a family for some heroes quote trivia and this was hard! You needed to say who said it and what movie. Also Disney classifies anyone who is not a villain a hero I'm looking at you Mr. Potato head from toy story a hero. We did really bad but we had so much fun. The prizes for the trivia's we went to this cruise were all tote bags. After this the girls went back to the club and DH and I went to pack I will Finish tomorrow.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

I just realized I don't know what happened but the rest of my embarkation day and sea day 1 got deleted with BBB!!! I will go back and add them again tonight . Then I will finish this up!