Alaska: Very First Cruise and Our First Family Vacation with our Mini-Mouseketeer

lunarsongbird

Disney Magic is a Must
Joined
Jun 12, 2016
Salutations!

Where do I even begin? I've been dreaming of a Disney cruise since high school and the inception of the cruise line. (I graduated high school in 2002...so I would day dream as I would look over the land and sea packages that they offered).

I'm SO excited to be able to go on the Wonder before she goes to dry dock, because she was the ship I dreamed about those many years ago. I can't wait to go to Palo, the restaurant inspired by the Magic's and Wonder's birth place, before it might disappear in dry dock. I know that she might be showing her years, but I can't wait to step onto her gangway.

(And about that...I've been crying while watching other people's trips on youtube... so I'm not sure if I'm just going to be a weepy mess the entire trip or not :sad: )

My husband, Andrew, and I (P.S. I'm Deanna) went to Disneyland for our Honeymoon.
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(On the Lilly Belle. What a memory of a lifetime)

And then a few years later, we added a Mini-Mouseketeer to our family- William. He will turn 15 months on the day we board.
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(Taken a couple days ago at Target)

As I've never cruised before, I have lots of questions and often wonder how logistically having a baby in Alaska will work, since I haven't seen an Alaskan trip reports with anyone who has a crawler.
(I can't get enough Alaskan trip reports... I'm reading them like they are oxygen. I just...can't...get...enough. And I SO appreciate all the time and effort that go into those reports.)

I w ill be bringing a small notebook along on our trip and am hopeful that I too can contribute an Alaskan trip report, particularly for those that might be interested in first-time cruisers, traveling with a crawler, and perhaps even those with an autoimmune conditions. ( I have crohn's disease along with a couple other autoimmune conditions. I've been doing an autoimmune diet protocol since January and have lost 47 pounds. I want to be a bit flexible with my diet on the cruise, but have already reported to Disney that I am avoiding all nightshades [tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, paprika, eggplant...]. I'm interested to see how much this will impact my diet choices.)

We depart on June 20th!

We look forward to sharing our trip with you! But it looks like I will need to come back to update you with our plans, because someone is making noise upstairs.... (We are going to have breakfast and watch more Youtube videos of the Wonder!)

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(So we ended up starting to watch Brother Bear instead...because...Alaska. )

I have felt the need to try to be relatively strategic with the planning on this cruise. I want to experience as much as DCL and the wonder can offer and I know things can get booked up quickly. William does really well in daycare here, so I'm hoping that he settles into the nursery well onboard, because we would like to have some adult-time, as well.

This is what our trip looks like at the moment:
  • Saturday, January 18th- Depart for Seattle by way of Colorado Springs. It will be interesting to see how William does on a flight now that he is mobile. We will be visiting Andrew's Aunt in Seattle and celebrating Father's Day with the family. We plan to go to the University of Washington Japanese garden, along with the Pike Place Market, because Andrew can't imagine a trip to Seattle without it.
  • Monday, January 20th- EEEEP! Boarding the Wonder! I'm wondering how the weather will be, because I think this might be the only day that we can get William into the splash area, since it seems like the trip gets progressively more cold.
  • Day 2- At Sea- 11 AM- Palo Brunch. Possibly the Art of the Theme Tour if it's still scheduled for this day. 3:15- Frozen Meet and Greet. William and I will be doing this one solo.
  • Day 3- Tracy Arm- 8 AM- Manicure at the Spa; 9:30 AM- Character Breakfast. I really want to check out the BBQ on Tracy Arm Day. I've heard it has changed over the years, but I don't know any different. :) (I originally had Palo brunch scheduled on Tracy Arm day, but really wanted it on the first sea day, but when I first tried to book- it was completely full. I tried it a month later? Wide open. No idea how that works, but I'll take it!!) :smickey:
  • Day 4- Skagway- 11:50 AM- White Pass Railway and Trail Camp. I also reached out to the Skagway Brewing company about timing and they think that if we get there at opening (10 AM) and order lunch as soon as the kitchen will let us- that we will have plenty of time to get back for our 11:50 AM excursion. (We are from Colorado...we LOVE craft brewing. If given the time- there is even another brewery up the freeway in Skagway, but I'm not sure it's walkable).
  • Day 5- Juneau- 9:00 AM- Best Of Juneau- This is a long day, but I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully William will nap at some point. We will also be bringing our osprey baby backpack and I hope we have enough time to get to the waterfall. I prebooked some nursery time at 7:30 PM, because I would like to go to the adult lecture on Ketchikan. I wonder if they will just be talking about the excursions though...I guess we could always leave and get a cocktail.
  • Day 6- Ketchikan- 7 PM- Palo Dinner! Woohoo! With a little extra time for a glass of wine or a cocktail. (I messaged Ketchikan Transit to confirm that they are running their bus lines on Saturday, we may want to go north a bit and I read previously that they don't run on Satrudays...but the schedule surely looks like they do.)
  • Day 7- At Sea- 9 AM- Princess Gathering. 10:30 AM- Couples Massage with a little time for a coffee or tea.
  • Day 8- Let's not talk about it.
I really geeked out last week and poured through the Navigators posted from the first Alaskan cruise of the season. I realize that they Navigators might change (And ALL the more fun! I will be bringing my highlighter)

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And for those worrying that I might need a vacation from my vacation...Don't worry. My husband is very chill and relaxed and we balance each other out well. I think he might have felt like I was running him a bit ragged on the first couple days of our Honeymoon (must march over to Carsland and get a fastpass, ASAP- then get back over the Disneyland to ask if there is any availability on the Lilly Belle, which there wasn't...but as we were talking to some castmembers about our detailed plans....boom...magic). So on the third day- Andrew said we had to go on his speed. :)

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(So the CMs asked us to meet at the train station after our corn dogs- when we arrived- they had tickets waiting for us for the Lilly Belle. That alone is spectacular...BUT...the real magic? Two conductors waiting on the station when we were done to give us some treats to help celebrate our Honeymoon... Magic. So magic. And this is why I'm so excited for a Disney cruise... even if nothing extra special happens... Disney is just special. And I've been told that Alaska is pretty special too!)

Sounds like William is stirring from his nap. We will be going to Denver today to visit the Disney store to see if there is anything fun that William can wear on our cruise. I also need to get some more clothes, because of the aforementioned weight loss (Good problem to have).

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(Post Baby Minus 2 Months, Post Baby Minus 15 Months)
 

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