Wonder-filled first-time cruise to Alaska! (2023 6/12-19; Completed 9/26)

Day 11 - Home and final thoughts

Our flight home was around 9:45 and we had scheduled a ride share before 7 to get there almost 3 hours in advance (2 hours would probably have been fine). You go through customs before you board your flights (if you are flying to the U.S. on your first leg. I did do things in advance on Arrive Canada and that probably saved us a minute or two. The whole process was smooth.

We had plenty of time to grab some breakfast options, including our first ever stop at Tim Hortons for DS.

1695781924533.png

I also bought some water and snack with cash so that I could give DS some Canadian money as change. He got a kick out of that. He also loved some Lay's potato chips we bought because the bag was all written in French (he even kept it).

DS also likes to take photos of different vending machines in airports so we walked around to look at those. They had some interesting food ones, but we didn't try any.

1695782076325.png

Our plane departed on time and all of our travel was uneventful! The only terrible part was landing back in Arizona and facing the heat of summer. It was 50 degrees when we left Vancouver and then over 100 when we got to Phoenix.

And then we had one of the hottest summers on record (like 60 days of heat advisory, 110 degrees). It was nice to look back on my time on the Wonder and miss the cooler days. I work from home and I made my virtual meeting background different shots I took of glaciers and beautiful Alaska all summer long.

For those of you who have read this trip report, I hope that you get to visit Alaska soon! There was so very much to love on this trip and I'd judge it as our best family vacation ever (although I do wish the food had been a bit better).

We did book a placeholder reservation on our last night, so we are trying to figure out what our next cruise itinerary should be... DH wants to try for Norwegian Fjords. DS wants a more "fun" cruise (even though he had a great time), which I think I means warm beaches and a bigger ship with more water slides. I'm waiting to see what the summer 2025 offerings might be before we book. Open to suggestions!
 
Day 11 - Home and final thoughts

Our flight home was around 9:45 and we had scheduled a ride share before 7 to get there almost 3 hours in advance (2 hours would probably have been fine). You go through customs before you board your flights (if you are flying to the U.S. on your first leg. I did do things in advance on Arrive Canada and that probably saved us a minute or two. The whole process was smooth.

We had plenty of time to grab some breakfast options, including our first ever stop at Tim Hortons for DS.

View attachment 797090

I also bought some water and snack with cash so that I could give DS some Canadian money as change. He got a kick out of that. He also loved some Lay's potato chips we bought because the bag was all written in French (he even kept it).

DS also likes to take photos of different vending machines in airports so we walked around to look at those. They had some interesting food ones, but we didn't try any.

View attachment 797091

Our plane departed on time and all of our travel was uneventful! The only terrible part was landing back in Arizona and facing the heat of summer. It was 50 degrees when we left Vancouver and then over 100 when we got to Phoenix.

And then we had one of the hottest summers on record (like 60 days of heat advisory, 110 degrees). It was nice to look back on my time on the Wonder and miss the cooler days. I work from home and I made my virtual meeting background different shots I took of glaciers and beautiful Alaska all summer long.

For those of you who have read this trip report, I hope that you get to visit Alaska soon! There was so very much to love on this trip and I'd judge it as our best family vacation ever (although I do wish the food had been a bit better).

We did book a placeholder reservation on our last night, so we are trying to figure out what our next cruise itinerary should be... DH wants to try for Norwegian Fjords. DS wants a more "fun" cruise (even though he had a great time), which I think I means warm beaches and a bigger ship with more water slides. I'm waiting to see what the summer 2025 offerings might be before we book. Open to suggestions!
It seems like we had similar ends to the trip on that rainy last Vancouver day - we were also just ready to head home at that point, so original plans went out the window. I need to go finish my trip report as well!

We booked a placeholder and will be using it for a 5-day out of San Juan in May - we’re officially hooked 🙈
 

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