4 Cheapskates Cruise Alaska - A Trip Report for the Budget Conscious ( Completed 6/9)

[scottishclover]

INTRODUCTION
To start off, an explanation of the title. It really is one cheapskate (DH) whose ways after 20 years of marriage are rubbing off on myself and our 2 daughters. How can you be a cheapskate and be on a Disney Cruise, I hear you say? Well, believe me, that is DH's argument too! Let's just say, he hates not getting value for money and loves a good moan about the price of things. I should add that we are not "Disney Rich", which is our family's term for everyone who can afford to sail concierge, but we do like to spend a lot of our disposable income on travel. DH and I have the policy of trying to give our girls as many experiences as we can, when we can afford it, as you never know how their lives will turn out. Anyway, I am hoping to make this trip report a little different from the others by offering ways to keep costs down, while still having a great trip.

Some background on us: I am a part-time Primary (Elementary) teacher and my husband is an investment analyst. We are both in our mid 40s. We have 2 daughters who are 16 and 14. Now, had I been writing this a few years ago, I would have referred to them as DD1 and DD 2. My terminology now is MT1 and MT2 (moody teens!!) . Spoiler alert: They were very much DDs on our Vancouver and Alaska trip. The eagle-eyed amongst you may already have noticed that we are not American. We live half an hour south of Edinburgh, Scotland. This is important as I might use some different phrasing ( we could relate to Jo on the Wonder) and also to let people know that most people in Scotland do not even know Disney does cruises, never mind been on one. We only know one other family who have cruised with Disney and that is a work colleague of DH, who happens to be American.

Enjoying the sun in Vancouver before our cruise

How did we get to know about Disney Cruises? Well like quite a few families over here, we did a trip to WDW in 2014. DH had not long been diagnosed with Coeliac disease and we were super impressed by the way it was handled in the park restaurants. Holidays (vacations) can be challenging for us food wise, because of DH's intolerance so we thought maybe DCL would be just as convenient as WDW. We went on our first Disney cruise to Norway on the Magic in July 2016 and were hooked. There followed a 5 day to Bahamas and Key West (again on the Magic) in April 2017, and then the Alaska Cruise, which was really a year and a half in the making.



Main Street USA, WDW , October 2014


Alesund with Disney Magic in background, summer 2016


Castaway Cay 5k , April 2017


Ahoy there, shipmates! Pirate Night on Disney Magic, April 2017

Another important thing to note - we are outdoorsy people who normally travel very independently. Our holiday of choice is hiking in the Austrian Alps and recently, as our girls are growing up, we have started to do a few city breaks. (Of course, it is pretty easy for us to nip over to Europe for the weekend.) So 6 nights in Vancouver, followed by Alaska seemed spot on for us. It was also our 20th wedding anniversary while we were away, which is probably how I talked my husband into splashing so much cash!

PLANNING
We booked this cruise around 580 days out (acc. to the app) so I had plenty of time to plan. How did we plan to keep the cost down?
1) Cheap flights - We booked direct flights with Air Transat from Glasgow as soon as they were released. They were a thousand pounds cheaper than any other airline and we didn't have to go via London. This ultimately backfired, more on that later.
2) We did the Vancouver part of the trip mostly on the cheap, which brought down the average daily cost of our holiday as a whole. This has been a really successful strategy in the past for us too. We had a cheap week in the South of Sweden before our Norway cruise and a week in Lauderdale-by-the -Sea after our Key West Cruise. We stay in Airbnb's and do a lot of our own cooking. I got a great price on an Airbnb in North Vancouver and it turned out to be perfect for us.
3) We always book a standard inside room. I can't justify paying more for an ocean view or a balcony, when we are never in our stateroom, other than to sleep. Now our girls are older, I can see how a Deluxe Inside with split bath would be better, but in all honesty we manage fine.
4) I knew Alaska Excursions were pricey, so this was an area that took a lot of consideration. We normally do one big excursion per cruise ( for big, read expensive) and the rest of the time DIY it. This time was no different. Our rough plans were:
Skagway - rent a car through AVIS and drive the South Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake and back. We could have taken the train but the car was a much cheaper and IMO better option.
Juneau - combo whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier tour, which I booked outside of Disney before Christmas and got a 15% discount - score!
Ketchikan - stroll around town and then hiked up Deer Mountain - total spend zero.
So those were the plans, now onto the actual trip report. I am going to go into the Vancouver part in some detail as it played a huge part in the overall enjoyment of our holiday. Everyone who flies into Vancouver the night before and doesn't explore the city is really missing a trick. We loved it!

Just to let you know I plan to rattle out this trip report quite quickly. I haven't included too many pics of the ship, food etc. as other people with much better cameras, have done that already. Instead I have concentrated on our activities and experiences, which I hope people find useful to help with their own planning.

EDINBURGH TO VANCOUVER
Booking early doesn't always pay off as we found out to our cost - both metaphorically and in real terms! To cut a long story short, our direct flight from Glasgow got cancelled with the alternative of leaving on a different day, a very long layover in Toronto and arriving in Vancouver late at night. So in the end we flew Air Transat from London Gatwick but had the added cost of flights down and up and a hotel stay the night before. It wasn't ideal, but we made the best of it. However it added around £500 to our holiday before we had even left the country! Other than the hiccup with the booking, the Air Transat flight was great. I had read some terrible online reviews but I would have no hesitation in flying with them again.

VANCOUVER - DAY 1
With the time change (8 hours behind) we arrived in Vancouver at 11.30 am to huge queues at customs and immigration. Believe all the horror stories you read. In fact, it took us so long to get through, our luggage had actually been taken off the carousel!

After that we felt we could do with a wee seat before heading off, so we headed to Tim Horton's for something to eat... Well, when in Rome. Then it was off to hunt for the 7-11 to buy compass Cards for the public transport. You have to go to an outlet to buy concession Compass Cards, but as far as I am aware you can get Adult compass Cards at the vending machines. We then loaded these up and headed off on the Skytrain to Waterfront, then Seabus across the water to Lonsdale Quay on the North Shore, and then bus up Lonsdale Avenue to the nearest bus stop to our accommodation. Would it have been easier to get a taxi to our Airbnb? Of course, but public transport was a lot cheaper and really easy to use. We always use public transport when we travel - I think you need to try and offset your carbon footprint from the flight anyway you can. Getting a compass card was super convenient. We just loaded on credit and tapped in and out. No need to be fiddling about with change on the buses. If you are planning on using the public transport ( sorry transit!) system in Vancouver there are some helpful videos on YouTube, which I would recommend watching.

After we settled into our basement suite (hosted by Sarah and Mike and clean and modern in North Vancouver , if you are looking), we headed off to the supermarket to get some food in. The nearest one was Whole Foods - enter a ranting DH. The prices were unbelievable, triple what we would pay in the UK, although they did had nice GF selection, which appeased him somewhat. MT1 and MT2 thought they were so cool shopping in Whole Foods but I found a Loblaw's City Market the next day in the vicinity, so that was our one and only visit, much to the relief of DH. Although it was only 8pm Vancouver time , our body clocks were telling us it was 4am UK time, so we eventually gave in and headed to bed.

A short word about our Airbnb. For anyone wanting to stay in North Vancouver it is a great choice. Centrally located for lots of different bus routes, 25mins walk from Lonsdale Quay and the sea bus, and in a safe, upmarket area. There were a lot of little extras included, it had great eco credentials and I paid less for 6 nights than would I would have paid for 2 nights in an average hotel downtown. No joke, I looked at the price of Downtown Vancouver Hotels when I was planning the trip and nearly had a heart attack. And that was room only!!! It was a no-brainer for us, and I would stay there again if we ever go back to Vancouver. We have stayed in quite a few lovely Airbnb in the last couple of years and this one was right up there. I would really consider it instead of staying in one of the chain hotels downtown.

 

[scottishclover]

VANCOUVER - DAY 2
Woke up at 5.30am to rain of epic Scottish proportions! Walked down to Lonsdale Quay anyway and watched the Wonder sail in from her 9 night Alaska. That got the excitement going. Back at the apartment, had breakfast and hung back a bit, hoping the rain would go off. Decided to head downtown anyway around 10 o'clock. By the time we stepped off the Seabus, the rain had magically stopped. Our host Mike told us it was quite normal for it to be raining in North Vancouver but not downtown. Good to know.

Smiling (kind of!!) in the Seabus despite the rain.

Our first stop was Canada Place to have an ogle at the Wonder, which was about to go off on a 5 day trip. Really enjoyed watching all the loading of supplies and the maintenance taking place. MT1 and MT2 couldn't wait for the cruise but we had the delights of Vancouver to discover first. Somehow and I really don't know how, DH agreed to spending an extortionate amount on Flyover Canada. We had all loved Soarin' at WDW and this ride was Soarin' and more. With the scenery of Canada, you couldn't fail to enjoy it but there is no doubt it is very expensive for the amount of time you are on it. However, we all agreed it was a great start to our Vancouver trip.


Excited for our turn in 5 days time!!

The sun was beginning to come out so we made our way to Granville Island Public Market. We could have taken the bus but decided to walk. Yes, we got some exercise, but this was probably a mistake as let's just say the south section of Granville Street near the bridge is a bit sketchy, to use MT1's words. I never felt unsafe, but a lot of strip clubs, hash shops, homeless about. An experience of sorts for our girls! Once there, we enjoyed our time at the Public Market. It was busy and of course touristy but we all grabbed something to eat from a food stall of our choosing and managed to snag a table. Not as many GF options as DH had hoped but he got some Mexican. I should also add he is also a pretty fussy eater, which doesn't help. We sat for a while and decided on dessert and coffee so me and MT2 went off in search of Lee's Donuts, stood in a long line only to discover they took cards only and sod's law I only had cash on me! Stuart's Bakery however, more than made up for it with their giant cookies and GF Nanaimo bar (a local tray bake).


View from our table at Granville Public Market

We also bought some local BC cherries and then headed back downtown on the bus. MT1 and MT2 spotted a Brandy Melville store. To explain, they don't exist in Scotland so it seems to be an obligatory stop on any city break we are on. Much to my annoyance a lot of time was wasted and nothing bought, but DH and I decided the girls could have their shopping time and then we wouldn't have to come back at any other point. If you are keeping up, you will have sussed out shopping is not a favourite pastime of DH as he actually has to get his wallet out of his pocket!

We continued our wee wander downtown with a visit to Gastown. It had a nice atmosphere and a good selection of shops and eateries. After this, we headed back to North Vancouver, stopping for a coffee at Lonsdale Quay market before heading back to our apartment. Most evenings we just had some downtime and let our girls take advantage of the free Wi-Fi . Our days were pretty full on and we covered a lot of mileage on foot, so just enjoyed the space at our Airbnb and relaxed.

Gastown with the steam clock in background

VANCOUVER DAY 3
From now on the weather just got better and better - sunny and weather in 70s. Very pleasant for hiking and sightseeing. I started my day out as usual with around an hour's walking in the neighbourhood. There were lots of individually designed houses with gorgeous, blue hydrangeas in their gardens, and I even found a great little coffee shop tucked away, called Andrew's on 8th. I really love exploring local areas when travelling as it gives you a real sense of how people actually live. North Vancouver is very hilly so I also got a great workout.

Today we headed out to Deep Cove, by bus of course, to do the Quarry Rock Hike. Deep Cove is a small village about a half hour east of Vancouver, overlooking the Indian Arm body of water. It is scenic but our main reason for visiting was the hike. We were there by around 9.30am and I was glad as this is a popular trail and any later it would have been too busy to be enjoyable. I would stay clear on weekends, as it would be hoachin'( there's some good old Scottish vernacular for you all!) The hike is very easy and took us around an hour and a half in total with time at the viewpoint. We had on our hiking boots but trainers (sneakers) would have been fine. This was a bit like a miniature version of the Pulpit Rock Hike (Travel bucket list ticked!) on our Norway Cruise. It afforded lovely views of Deep Cove and a distant Vancouver for relatively little effort. It is actually a section of the Baden Powell Trail which crosses much of North Vancouver. Afterwards, MT2 and I had a donut from Honey's. While it was tasty, I don't really get the hype (think that was all down to Kate Winslet) and DH and MT1 got a n ice cream..........after the hike, always comes the reward.



Quarry Rock Viewpoint


Deep Cove Village

We headed back for to North Vancouver for a quick bite of lunch then went to Stanley Park. I really wanted to hire bikes but was wholeheartedly vetoed. It was in fact the right choice, as the cycle path was very busy and we would have been stopping and starting all the time. Our time there was actually cut short as DH had cut his finger badly earlier on while making a sandwich (not fighting a grizzly bear, which was his story) and it needed a bit more attention than we had previously thought to stem the bleeding. So we hot footed it back to the apartment. Luckily, we happened to come across the right bus at the right time to take us over the Lions Gate Bridge and back home. We did think a visit to A&E might be needed, which wouldn't have been a problem as we were 2 blocks away from Lion's Gate Hospital, but in the end lots of gauze and bandages did the trick.



Stanley park with Coal Harbour in the background


Stanley Park Totem Poles

Another relaxing evening ensued as we had a big day ahead of us tomorrow.......we planned to tackle the Grouse Grind!

 

[scottishclover]

VANCOUVER - DAY 4

This morning my walk took me to Grand Boulevard, which is obviously a sought after area to live in North Vancouver, judging by the houses there. We had a pretty early start today as we were going to Grouse Mountain. The only problem was, it wasn't exactly as clear at the top as the weather forecast had suggested, but we decide to go anyway . Now I am not going to lie - part of the reason we were doing the Grind was because we love to hike and love a challenge, the other part was our cheapness coming into play. You can only hike one way and that is up but it was only CAD $15 each to come back down on the Skyride. If we had wanted to go up and down on the Skyride it would have been CAD$159. Yes, you read that correctly, we saved CAD $100 dollars by hiking up.

The climb itself, while not enjoyable as there are absolutely no views , did give a great heart and lungs workout. For those who don't know, it is known locally as nature's stairmaster and is basically like walking up really steep stairs for an hour and a half. I think the elevation gain was something like 800m. There are 4 markers to encourage you - I was dying at the quarter mark but then found it easier after that. The markers are not accurate either - that was a cruel joke by whoever put them up. I made it up in an hour and a half, which is seemingly the average for a relatively fit person (yeah!). MT1 and MT2 were up in an hour and 20mins but could easily have been up quicker if we hadn't told them to wait for us to catch up at each marker for a drink. Yes, it was us oldies who were lugging the waterproofs and the water! DH could have been up in around an hour I am sure, but he was doing the gentlemanly thing and keeping me company. FYI, the record is something like 25 mins, which is just mental.

Waiting for the slow coaches at the half-way mark


Made it up before mum and dad!

It was pretty chilly at the top ( or maybe it was the copious amount of sweating I had just done) so we made a beeline to get changed and then to get out and enjoy the Grouse Mountain attractions. First we watched the cheesy but fun lumberjack show, which was very easy on the eye, ladies if you get my drift, and then visited the grizzly bear enclosures, where two rescue bears permanently reside. Then it was a ride further up on the chairlift, which we enjoyed. Other things to do are ranger walks and a bird of prey show, as well as rope course and ziplines, which cost extra. It pays to be wrapped up as there was quite a difference, temperature wise, from Vancouver proper. Lots of people were caught out wearing shorts and t-shirts. Not us experienced mountain goers though!


Waiting for the show to begin.


The top of Grouse Mountain

There is enough to do up Grouse Mountain to spend a couple of hours and I think it would be a novelty for people, who are not used to mountain experiences. We came back down and headed to Andrews on 8th, for a coffee and to enjoy the sunshine. Our plan for the rest of the day was to head down to Friday Night at the Shipyards for some food and fun. Every Friday in summer there is live music and food trucks galore at Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver. I would say this a must-do, even if you are downtown as it had a more local feel to Granville Public Island Market and a great atmosphere .First off, my family indulged me since it was my birthday and hung about while I did some outdoor salsa lessons. Really fun!


Soaking up the sun at Andrews on 8th


Salsa at the Shipyards


View of Downtown from Lonsdale Quay

Then hunger stepped in. At the shipyards, there was a fantastic band playing and loads of different food trucks with plenty of GF options. We decided on Sicilian arancini balls, Mexican tacos and then a range of desserts from ice cream to fruit pocket pies to Slavic Rolls. Well MT2 had that - goodness knows where she puts it! DH and I could have listened to the band till the end of the set but called it a night around 10am as MT2 had no sweater and was getting a bit cold. I really couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday.

 

[scottishclover]

VANCOUVER - DAY 5
Our big event today was having lunch with DH's uncle, who emigrated to Vancouver 40 years ago and also DH's two cousins. We had a few hours to spare before meeting them at the Tap and Barrel so headed downtown for some more sightseeing and shopping. Me and the two MTs were looking for some Roots merchandise. I ended up with a Canada t-shirt, MT1 with a cute sweatshirt but MT2 couldn't find anything. Sizing is pretty big and she felt the XS drowned her. We were in two different Roots and neither had children's wear.

MT2 thought this would make a cute photo!

We then had a wander around the waterfront. MT1 and MT2 thought this taco shop was hilarious, as in Scotland if something is chronic, it means terrible!

We all agreed this was bad marketing!!

Olympic Torch from Vancouver Winter Games

North Vancouver from Downtown



Orca sculpture with North Vancouver in background

After a great lunch catching up with the relatives, we decided to go to Lynn Canyon Park. Before we had left home, I had made up my mind we weren't going to Capilano (too expensive) and the suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon seemed to be a free alternative. So we jumped n the bus to spend the rest of the day there. Maybe because it was the weekend, but it seemed like every Vancouver teen was also there, so wasn't really the peaceful oasis we were expecting. We walked along some of the trails and then called it a day.

The suspension bridge - not really that exciting

A relatively quiet part of water near the pool were a scene in the Disney film Descendents was shot.

 

[scottishclover]

VANCOUVER - DAY 6
This was probably my favourite day. Before we left, lots of people said you must go to Vancouver Island for the day. However, it would have been a long day so we decided to visit little-known Bowen Island instead. We caught the bus to Horseshoe Bay and then it was a short 20 min ferry over to Snug Cove on Bowen. It was like stepping into another world, it was just so laid back. We could have tackled Mount Gardner but that probably would have taken up a lot of the day so we decided to hike to Dorman Point and then do Killarney Lake circuit and just enjoy the island. We had lunch at a lovely café in Artisan's Square and spent a lot of time moseying around. It's the perfect antidote to the city and I could have easily stayed there for a few days to experience island life. The views from the ferry were just stunning. When you sail out of Vancouver on the Wonder, you pass directly by Bowen Island on your right . It is a brilliant day trip out of Vancouver.

Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal




Dorman Point - an easy half hour hike


Beach at Snug Cove


Walking through the only meadow on Bowen on the way to Killarney Lake


Having fun at the lake


Downtown Bowen

As we both love the outdoors, DH and I agreed this was a memorable way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary ( he will say 20 years hard labour!) On our return we spent the night packing and by we, I really mean me!! Then it was an early night ready for the day we had been waiting patiently a year and a half for - our Disney Wonder Alaska Cruise.

My aim is to post the rest of the trip report on consecutive days. Hope you are all enjoying so far!

 

[scottishclover]

ROUGH VANCOUVER COSTINGS

I just remembered this trip report is meant to be how to do Alaska on the cheap, so thought I'd better include some details on our (very limited!) spending.
Here is a rough breakdown of our costs for reference:

Public transit Compass Cards (reloadable) CAD 180
Granville Market Lunch CAD 50
Flyover Canada CAD 120
Grouse Mountain Download CAD 60
Friday Night Shipyards Food CAD 80
Roots and souvenir shopping CAD 80
(MT1 used own money for sweater)
Tap and Barrel Free - Uncle J's treat
Bowen Island Ferry CAD 40
Bowen Island Lunch CAD 60
Grocery Shopping and coffees etc CAD 500

This last amount is a rough estimate, as we didn't total our many trips to the supermarket. Vancouver can actually be done on a pretty tight budget and I didn't feel that we missed out on anything. All in all, I think we achieved our goal of having a cheap as chips week in Vancouver, despite the exchange rate being terrible for us at the minute.

Tomorrow I will FINALLY get round to posting about our time on the cruise.

 

[happy wanderer]

We did the 5/21/18 DCL Alaska sailing....loved our time in Vancouver! Cannot wait to read more about your trip!

 

[lilsonicfan]

Following along - I'm from Vancouver and it's so great to see someone else's take on our beautiful city! Looks like you sure accomplished a ton. The Grouse Grind, even! Amazing.

 

[scottishclover]

We did the 5/21/18 DCL Alaska sailing....loved our time in Vancouver! Cannot wait to read more about your trip!

Thanks for following along. Vancouver is an amazing city, isn't it? It officially bumped our favourite city in the world, Vienna, down to second place.

 

[scottishclover]

Following along - I'm from Vancouver and it's so great to see someone else's take on our beautiful city! Looks like you sure accomplished a ton. The Grouse Grind, even! Amazing.

You are so lucky to live in Vancouver. There were still lots of neighbourhood we would have liked to explore there. Definitely plan on going back some day. We were all pleased to have done the "grind". Mind you, it doesn't do much for your confidence when an 80 year old and a mum with a toddler strapped to her back, go striding past you!

 

[scottishclover]

CRUISE DAY 1 - EMBARKATION
Finally what I'm sure most have you have been waiting patiently to read - the cruise portion of my trip report. I was up at the crack of dawn again to watch the Wonder sail into Vancouver for the second time in a week. This time though she was sailing into glorious blue skies not torrential rain. FYI both days she sailed in around 6.30am and was docked by around 6.45. Once we had tidied the Airbnb we headed across to Canada Place at around 9.30. Our PAT was at 11.30 but we thought we would just sit in the sun and just watch all the goings- on around the Wonder until then.



No waterproofs required this time!

We headed into the cruise terminal at 11am and after a quick check-in we were boarding at 12.15 (boarding group 6). We made a bee line straight for Cabanas for an outside table to eat our lunch. Lo and behold the first crew member we spoke to was a Scottish girl, who we soon discovered lived in a village 3 miles away from our hometown! Small World.

First stop after lunch was Vibe to register the girls and then the Twist n' Spout and pool. The weather was glorious and we thought this might be our only opportunity for a swim, although I actually hit the adult pool a few more times in the week. MT1 and MT2 enjoyed the slide but wouldn't stand in the ever growing queue for a second shot. They prefer it to the Aquadunk on the Magic, which is just too much adrenaline for them. If you want to get in the pools before they get too busy , definitely take your cozzies in your hand luggage. You can just change in the toilets. We time the swim so that when we come out the staterooms are open (around 1.30pm) and we can nip down and get changed.


Finally - after a year and a half of waiting!


Goofy Pool

Our stateroom for this cruise was 7037, same as our last two cruises. We like that it's midship and on a deck that is easily accessible to everywhere as we never take the lifts ( sorry elevators! )Our stateroom host was Jude and he did a sterling job throughout the cruise. We managed to get mostly unpacked and put up the door decorations before the Muster Drill. This time we were in the Walt Disney Theatre instead of the normal Deck 4.

Then we went up to watch the Sail-a-Wave Party. I much prefer Adventures Away, mind you I was pretty distracted by the Vancouver views. It was hilarious going under Lion's Gate Bridge. Your brain is telling you the ship must make it under as it passes under weekly but when you are on the ship, it doesn't look like the funnel will make it. It was the strangest thing.

Our girls were kind of over character meetings on this cruise. However, they still wanted Chip and Dale's autograph and Daisy's to complete their autograph book from previous cruises, so off they went to get that done and dusted. I thought there was a good amount of character meets on this cruise, often with the obligatory Alaska outfits and I didn't think the queues were outrageous. MT1 and MT2 had done Frozen and Princess Gathering previously so I didn't bother getting tickets this time, although they were available to book when I did online check-in.


Our decorated door - no idea what MT1 was up to!

A word about our door decorations. I kind of recycle from old cruises. At one time, our girls were into Hama, so I made their Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Minnie creations into magnets. There is a bit of a story behind the FE. We actually don't participate in it. I read about FE exchange before the first cruise and as I didn't want the girls to feel left out, I decided that we would place a small gift in a FE for them each day. This tradition has carried on and can be a bit of a pain trying to pick up (cheapish) souvenirs on route without them knowing. I am getting a bit fly though, as this time I brought a few things from home. This cruise they got: Disney scrunchie ,Princess nail file, Disney face mask, Canadian lip balm, Vancouver sticker, Disney Wonder postcard for their bedroom wall, Alaska socks, Alaskan huckleberry soap and chocolate. So you can see, no expense spared. Ha!. My mother-in-law who is very crafty made the FE from scratch. I explained what it was and she came up with the design herself. I always compare it to others and think she did an outstanding job! We did get pixie dusted a few times on this cruise and MT1 and MT2 did some pixie dusting too. We brought some bags of Scottish tablet with us ( a very sweet type of Candy) and gave it to the staterooms with the best door decorations.

Our dining rotation was AP-TP-TP-TR-AP-TP-TR. We were excited to be in Tiana's Place three times as that restaurant is unique to the Wonder. Our serving team were main server Melwin, from India, assistant server Yuliarta, from Indonesia and head server Robert ,from Romania. We loved our serving team. Melwin was just very charming and not too much in your face and Yuli was always smiling and attentive. We later found out he was flying home the same day as us to see his wife and 16 month old son, so maybe that's why always seemed so happy. We are what I would call easy, when it comes to dining so didn't see so much of Robert, although DH said he was often on hand on deck when DH was pink slipped for GF pizza and burgers.


Animators Palette. Shirley Temples were the drink of choice.

If you are looking for food pics, then this is not the report for you. We took very few photos at dinner. We really enjoyed mostly everything we ate. DH requested a fruit plate every night for his appetizer as he does not like seafood and most of the GF options did not suit him. A lot of the soups which are not labelled GF can be made GF with no croutons etc. There is pretty much only one GF option for dessert, which is often the sundae but this did not bother DH as he is not really a dessert lover and enjoyed the ice cream. MT1 has a problem with a lot of the desserts as they contain mousse, which she dislikes, so her choice was often limited. I pretty much always went with Melwin's recommendations and they were spot on. There was a lot of salmon on this cruise, but hey we are from Scotland so salmon is nothing special for us. I did eat a lot of seafood and fish, as well as regional inspirations. Spoiler alert: these are the same as on the Norway cruises, often with Alaskan substituted for Norwegian. I think this is one area where DCL could improve. DH also thinks it would be easy for DCL to mark which food on the buffet is GF ( with a warning about the risk of cross-contamination of course), so he doesn't always have to ask a chef.

After dinner MT1 and MT2 started on their quest to win a Mickey Medallion by doing Trivia Tunes. Then we all went to Ricky Kalmon's Hypnotist Show in Walt Disney Theatre. I enjoyed it but DH and the MT's did not. They thought it was set up. After the show MT1 and MT2 went to see Aladdin and thought it was fantastic. Me and DH went to play The Feud in Azure with Jo. We went to most of the adult game shows at 10pm throughout the cruise. I understand why Jo is so revered. She is hilarious and very quick witted. The girls were back around midnight. On our last cruises we decided we were often in bed too early and this time were determined to make the most of every moment. Lots of early rises and late nights coming up........

 

[tink1970]

I'm loving your report! I've been to Vancouver three times and not done any of the activities you did so it's nice to read about it (not that I would do the hike ). Edinburgh is my favorite place to visit and next year I'm headed back for my 50th so I love reading your trip report and translating (queues, trainers, cozzies)-it's almost like I'm there. Thanks for posting about cool Vancouver while I'm here in 35 C weather.

 

[happy wanderer]

Thanks for following along. Vancouver is an amazing city, isn't it? It officially bumped our favourite city in the world, Vienna, down to second place.

Same for us!! I loved Vancouver!

 

[scottishclover]

I'm loving your report! I've been to Vancouver three times and not done any of the activities you did so it's nice to read about it (not that I would do the hike ). Edinburgh is my favorite place to visit and next year I'm headed back for my 50th so I love reading your trip report and translating (queues, trainers, cozzies)-it's almost like I'm there. Thanks for posting about cool Vancouver while I'm here in 35 C weather.

Thanks, yes we appreciate we are lucky living in Edinburgh. If you are looking for any tips for your trip next year just let me know.

 

[scottishclover]

CRUISE DAY 2 - SEA DAY
I promised some early rises so DH and I were up at 6am walking and running laps on Deck 4 . There were quite a few others with the same idea, although it wasn't overly busy. We tried to hit Cabanas each day between 7.30 and 8 before it got crazy. We usually eat well at breakfast at home, so the buffet suits us with its variety. We do baulk at the waste on the plates of others. Why can't people just take small amounts then go back later if they are still hungry? The amount of half eaten donuts and waffles on toddlers' plates especially was just disgusting. Originally DH and I had booked Palo Brunch for 10am but cancelled it before we left home. DH feels being GF he wouldn't get his money's worth. He just does not see the fascination with brunch. Oh well.

After breakfast DH and I went to Doug Jones naturalist presentation "Into Alaska' s Wilderness", which we enjoyed immensely. His talk contained a few personal anecdotes and some of his amazing video and photography. It was quite clear how much he loves Alaska and the outdoors. I would say this is a not to be missed event and we were so pleased we went.

The rest of our day consisted of a bit of trivia ( still no Mickey medallions but we won some luggage tags at the Pub Quiz), relaxing on deck, and I had a swim at the adult pool which was completely empty. MT1 and MT2 also did Anna and Elsa's Scavenger Hunt and checked out some door decorations to pixie dust. Even at this point the scenery was gorgeous ( we were still in BC) and we saw a few whale tails in the distance. At one point, we sailed through a particularly pretty, narrow section called Grenville Channel with land really close on both sides.

Some of the wonderful BC scenery.


DH relaxing in After Hours area


Alaska straight ahead!

Tonight was formal night. We don't go all out, as we find bringing formal shoes is a major pain and DH wears a suit to work, so has no desire to do so on holiday. In reality, we just do our version of formal. However, I think there were more people in formalwear than on our previous cruises, certainly from what I could see at Captain's Welcome Reception.

After a free drink, we headed off to Tiana's place for Prince and Princess dinner and music by Crawfish Crooners. We had a great table right at the back of the main aisle, which gave a great view of the band. We thought the band was good. MT1 loved the lead singer (who looked a bit like Richard Madden who played Prince Kit in Cinderella and the lead in the BBC Bodyguard TV Show) , but it was pretty obvious he had a put on American accent. Tonight's dinner just confirmed how great our servers were - they made a great combination.


Formal night in Tiana's Place. Great atmosphere. The sun was obviously still out!


Tiana was a great character

After dinner we went to see Golden Mickeys. One thing I liked was the way it included some less popular Disney films and songs. I have to admit my eyes were pretty heavy and I struggled to stay awake at some points. Must be all that sea air - definitely not the free drinks having an effect! Afterwards, we had a stroll around Deck 4, played some shuffleboard then called it a night.

 

[scottishclover]

CRUISE DAY 3 - ENDICOTT ARM AND DAWES GLACIER

It was just me that was walking this morning. I was so ready for Alaska and Glacier day, but unfortunately it looked a bit grey out. In truth, the weather was very changeable all day but the sun peeked through at some points. The girls wanted breakfast in Triton's so we obliged but decided afterwards we wouldn't be back. They have changed the menu since we ate in Lumières on the Magic and really there is nothing that you couldn't really get at Cabanas.

We had been so impressed by Doug Jones' presentation yesterday that we managed to persuade MT1 and MT2 to join us for today's offering "Icefields and Glaciers: Nature's Time Machine". MT2 likes geography so we thought this would interest her. Once again Doug was a wealth of knowledge, and gave some tips for glacier viewing later. After this we all played Alaskan Trivia together and were only one point away from winning. Pro tip: go to Doug's presentation on the sea day as it will help with the questions. Me and DH obviously hadn't been listening hard enough!

We hit Cabanas for lunch as soon as it opened, so we could spent the whole afternoon up on deck and be outside for the entry into Endicott Arm, which was around 12 noon. The sail up the fjord was really quite serene and we agreed better than Geiranger on our Norway Cruise. We sailed by Sundum Hanging Glacier, lots of waterfalls and small icebergs on the way to Dawes. The glacier was quite a spectacle, although I think you would need to be on the smaller glacier exploration trip to truly appreciate it's scale. The colouring was beautiful though. At first, there was a bit of scrum to see the glacier from the front of the ship but later on there was plenty of opportunity. Our server Melwin had informed us that optimum viewing spot is front portside and he was right. However later in the day when the ship turned around fully , there was actually just a few of us still viewing from aft.

There were lots of small islands around , just before we entered Endicott Arm.


We chatted with a family from North Carolina, who kindly took this photo.


The sun eventually came out. I was looking for seals on icebergs and got lucky!


Then of course the rain as we approached the glacier.


Dawes Glacier


Hot chocolate required!


Looking back into the fjord.

One of the things I wondered about before the cruise was what to wear out and about on glacier day. Lots of people were in hats and gloves ( obviously Floridians who are not used to the cold) but for us that would have been overkill. It really was just similar to a bad summer's day in Scotland. I had on a half insulated Jack Wolfskin jacket with a couple of thin layers underneath. MT1 and MT2 just had on a fleece with thin waterproof and were comfortable.

Other things to note about the viewing are that DCL were giving out free ponchos when the rain got quite heavy and also hot chocolate and mulled wine were on sale with the added option of buying souvenir cups ( we did, much to DH's annoyance). Doug Jones narrates part way up the fjord until regulation, in place to preserve the peace of the environment, force him to stop. He told a particularly funny story about a bear and a children's birthday party, but I won't spoil the surprise for you in case you are ever on board when he is sailing. We also saw quite a few of the smaller boats go out to the Glacier for a tour and yes, they did bring a huge , big hunk of ice back onto the ship.

Tonight's dinner was the Frozen menu in Tiana's place. I know there are a lot of haters of this menu, but it's my favourite, perhaps as aspects of Scandinavian cuisine is similar to Scottish. After dinner, MT1 and MT2 went off to see ventriloquist, Kieren Powell, in Walt Disney Theatre. They did not enjoy it but they said they were in the minority as lots of people found him funny. I don't really think we are variety act people. Then we went up to deck 10 to watch the Freezing the Night Away party. I thought it had a lot more energy than the last time we saw it. The spot we picked to watch from meant we got quite heavily snowed upon! DH and I went to play Majority Rules in Azure ( I won some key rings, if you are counting that's two wins in two days!) and then watched Match your Mate. It was a lot of fun. Just as well we were not picked as DH and I compared answers later on and we couldn't even agree on the same first date!! That's what happens when you have been married for 20 years.

 

[AussieDisneyfans]

Enjoying your trip report and thank you for sharing your adventures with us. I am also a fan of Vancouver, visited it for one day over 25yrs ago and it left a great impression on me. We sailed the California Coast repositioning cruise on the Wonder last May and stayed on in Vancouver for a week, solely based on that one day 25yrs ago - it did not disappoint. My daughter and I also did the Lynn Canyon Suspension bridge, it was great and not crowed, as we went early on a weekday. I agree that the North Vancouver area is beautiful. I also spent time in Edinburgh about 20yrs ago and lived in Stirling for a while and love Scotland in general. We are from Australia and most people here are also unaware that Disney has a Cruise Line.

 

[scottishclover]

Enjoying your trip report and thank you for sharing your adventures with us. I am also a fan of Vancouver, visited it for one day over 25yrs ago and it left a great impression on me. We sailed the California Coast repositioning cruise on the Wonder last May and stayed on in Vancouver for a week, solely based on that one day 25yrs ago - it did not disappoint. My daughter and I also did the Lynn Canyon Suspension bridge, it was great and not crowed, as we went early on a weekday. I agree that the North Vancouver area is beautiful. I also spent time in Edinburgh about 20yrs ago and lived in Stirling for a while and love Scotland in general. We are from Australia and most people here are also unaware that Disney has a Cruise Line.

Thanks for joining in. Yes on reflection visiting Lynn Canyon Park on the weekend was a huge mistake. However, once we headed off onto the trails, it was much quieter. Loved your comment about Scotland. I visited Stirling Castle in April with my daughter as she had never been before. It's a much quieter alternative to Edinburgh and we had a great time exploring the town afterwards.

 

[scottishclover]

CRUISE DAY 4 - SKAGWAY
This was our favourite day of the cruise and as a result I have lots of photos to share. It seemed every time we turned a corner, there was another great view. So be warned: picture overload.
We woke up to glorious blue skies, had breakfast and were off the ship pretty sharpish after the all ashore time. We had a quick look round Skagway before the crowds, and then headed to the Avis Rental Office for 8am. The White Pass and Yukon Railroad station is literally steps away from where the ship docks and the Avis Office was 3 blocks away to the right of the main street, which I think is called Broadway. Skagway has the feel of a frontier town and the buildings have been well restored to fit in with that theme. There isn't much too it, so I would really suggest getting out of Skagway on some kind of excursion for at least part of the day. There isn't enough to keep you in town IMO.
The obligatory sign.

White Pass Railway

Arctic Brotherhood Hall

Originally, we thought we might hike the Dewey Lakes System here but I am so glad we changed our mind and decided to drive up into the Yukon. We saved $$$$$ by driving up to Emerald Lake instead of 1) taking the train or 2) an escorted bus tour, and it really gave us the freedom and flexibility to stop whenever we wanted. DH was a bit hesitant as he had never driven an automatic car before, or on the other side of the road, but he got the hang of it quickly enough. And of course, there was very little traffic to contend with. My one piece of advice is to get to the car rental place early before a queue forms. We were in and out quickly, but it did take time to process our booking and a significant line was forming behind us.

Our plans were to stop a lot on the way up to Emerald lake and have an extended stop in the town of Carcross for coffee. We did this then headed onto Carcross Desert, Emerald Lake and also stopped again in Carcross as we liked it so much. You need to bring passports as there are border controls at Fraser, both are efficient and friendly so no hold ups there. I'm going to try and document our journey, which was 150 miles in total and took 7 hours including stops, with the corresponding photos.

This was heading up the White Pass. We trudged along behind an oversized lorry (that could only happen to us!) and then pulled over to let it get away. The elevation gain is quite high and our ears were popping on the journey. Once over the Pass, the land is quite inhospitable and you soon hit the Canadian border taking you into BC. Then curiously the landscape changes into an area called the Tormented Valley, which actually looks like it belongs to another planet.

Soon afterwards you enter the Yukon. It just seems so far removed from any civilisation. From here on in the landscape just got very dramatic. We drove past Tutshi Lake, Mount Racine and Bove Island.







The MTs were excited to be on this road trip!

Nearby Bove Island we spotted some stopped cars and that could only mean one thing - bears! Yes, we spotted a black bear in a narrow strip of young trees by the side of the road. Well, as you can imagine we were all on a natural high after that! There is a sign of the road that does say to watch out for bears and it was exactly in this area that we spotted it.

Soon we were in Carcross. For those who are interested we passed Tutshi Sled Dog Camp. We are not dog people so didn't stop but it looked popular with bus tours. Carcross totally wowed me. The local community has done a lot to welcome tourists, while still not losing its local heritage and traditions. There is an adequate selection of coffee shops, restaurants and interesting shops with local crafts. We stopped off at Caribou Coffee, which had some nice GF options, strolled around the main area called Carcross Commons and visited Matthew Wilson General Store. There was a sign inside that said "shoplifters will be shot". Needless to say we paid for our purchases! Then we got off the beaten track a bit in Carcross. There were a couple of tiny, wooden, dilapidated churches and lots of well for want of a better word - shacks - where I presume locals live. It would be a hard life in the winter, I'm sure. We were really lucky with the weather and by now it was warming up nicely to around 70 degrees.




10 photo limit. Continued next post.

 

[scottishclover]

SKAGWAY - CRUISE DAY 4 CONTD.


Onward to Carcross Desert, which is really just a formation of sand dunes. It was strange to see sand, mountains and spruce trees in the same area.



We could have went a bit of a walk here but pushed on to our final destination heading north - Emerald Lake. The colours are due to the chemistry of the silt underneath.




There was nobody around to take a photo of all four of us, so we took a family selfie. It turned out well, I think.
We were not really in any hurry to get back. I used an abridged copy of Murray's Guide to the South Klondike Highway to do a bit of tour guiding on the way up, so on the way back we just pulled over when we felt like it. DH had us on bear lookout again and guess what? We saw another black bear, roughly in the same are as before. We tracked it in the car for around 5 minutes before it headed deeper into the woods. It had a good old scratch of its backside while we were watching too! MT1 got a pretty good video of it on her phone.



We pulled over at this point and got a South and North view from the same spot.




Continued on next post.