So, a few things...the highlight of the cruise (for me, anyway) was whale watching and the time Grace got to be a part of the Golden Mickeys (more on that later). This was definitely a trip of a lifetime (and I've been to Alaska twice already and loved every second, so that's saying something!). The ship was amazing, our room was great, the food good, our excursions were awesome, the weather was far better than expected, our servers were great, we enjoyed the shows, the outside decks, the characters, and just about everything.
Admittedly, we were NOT impressed with our room attendant. Like, at all. He never introduced himself, he lost G's Elsa doll in the folds of the couch when he made her bed the first night, and then he was no where to be found when we wanted to find the missing doll. Another room attendant came in and opened the couch up to find it. Yes, our room was clean and he left towel animals, but honestly, that unique Disney service we kept hearing about just did not describe our room attendant. Meh.
Our waiter, assistant waiter and even our head waiter were great and they DID embody that superior Disney service that we had heard so much about. Another assistant waiter (whose name we cannot remember!), a woman with what we think was a Caribbean accent, was also extremely nice. We stopped to chat with her every time we met.
My favorite foods of the cruise: First night of the cruise, in Animator's Palette: the butternut squash soup and the flour-less chocolate cake. And one night (I can't remember which one), we had chateaubriand and it was probably the best I've ever had. YUM.
Our room was the nicest we've stayed in, I think. It was definitely bigger than any of the others we've stayed in (and those had balconies!). It was roomy, comfy, and suited us just fine. I enjoyed the big window. We've had balconies on our two prior Alaskan cruises and, honestly, we didn't use them much. We spent more time up on deck. It was nice for the times we were out there, but I found I actually used our window more on this trip than I did the balcony on previous trips (mostly due to weather). I wouldn't hesitate to book an ocean view over a balcony in Alaska again.
We were in room 2086, which is midship on deck 2. I am prone to motion sickness, and was very ill on our very first Alaskan cruise. I put the patch behind my ear and four hours later, I was fine. And that ship was really moving! So, I've always put a patch behind my ear just to be safe and I put it on after lunch on embarkation day for this trip. Our ship was moving pretty well and the next morning, my mom noticed that my patch was in my hair. I was golden! No patch needed! Aside from the bad headache (which I completely attribute to the early hour we got up the day prior and lack of sleep that first night), I felt fine, and by midday, my headache was gone. Grace is not prone to motion sickness (lucky!!), so she was just fine the whole time. Others were not so lucky on that first sea day. We saw some poor kid toss his cookies in the trashcan by the elevators and quite a few people were absent from breakfast that morning. I'm guessing that if we'd had a cabin on an upper deck, particularly one that was more forward or aft, that I would have felt queasy. I didn't realize how much less movement you really feel when you're low and center on the ship. It was a very pleasant surprise.
Anyway, on with the pictures! Here's the first photo of the vacation: Grace at the airport, around 5:00am!
We cut things a little close. We flew in the day of embarkation! We've done it before and everything went very smoothly. Good thing, because we didn't want to miss the boat!
Think we packed enough? The black suitcase was filled with our FE items!
Meet Cliff. He goes with us on every vacation. Weird: okay, probably. Weirder still: he's mine, not my daughter's! But here he is!
Beyond exited! Why? Not because we're headed to the ship, no, but because she got to sit in the very back of the taxi mini-van. A first for her! LOL
So, we arrived at Canada Place Pier and after a myriad of lines, we queued up to receive our key to the world cards (which is when Grace noticed Mickey off to the far left) and then she finally got to meet the big cheese! Let this cruise begin!
First glimpse of our ship!!
Just before this picture, she ran up there and slid into the backdrop. She nearly took it out.
The waiting area inside the cruise terminal.
And the big moment! Officially on the ship!!
First meal on board the Disney Wonder! We went to the buffet at Parrot Cay. The fish was yummy. The beef...mooing. I couldn't eat it.
First Mickey bar of the cruise!
Decorations in Parrot Cay.
Elevators!
First of many port hole photos!
Our cabin (had to ask for the beds to be separated).
Vancouver.
Cliff in our room.
Checked out the kids' clubs.
And then it was off to the pool! This was the ONE thing Grace wanted to do on this trip. She got lucky: she went swimming on embarkation day and in Juneau.
I bet they could hear her scream all the way in Seattle!
She thought her hair looked cool and told us not to touch it!
Muster selfie.
View from muster station.
Muster.
'
Sail away party!
She had a front row view.
Cliff was partied out. ;)
More Vancouver.
Grace's favorite character! She remembers Goofy when she was 3, who picked her up and swung her around at Disneyland!
Lion's Gate Bridge.
MagicBand.
Animator's Palate, which meant our character breakfast was on the first sea day (the next morning).
Ketchup!
Grace's first dinner. This was later replaced with a gluten-free bun.
My first dinner. Meh. Chicken was fine, didn't care for the veggies (I HATE carrots and I don't like beets, so ya).
Best dessert of the cruise: flour less chocolate cake.
Grace's first dinner dessert.
I'm pretty sure she sat in EVERY port hole.
Still in Animator's Palate.
Check out her attempt at the worm, towards the end! We about died laughing!
Leaving Wavebands, after the dance party.
Pretending to sleep.
First towel animal of the cruise!
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