Online Check-in

The time is here! It is about time for us to leave.  Just a few notes before we go.

Online check-in with Disney Cruise Line:
When it has you fill in the onboard charges for you room (charging priveleges), please go through the list and be sure to check that you accept financial responsibility for everyone in your family. I know kids are scattered in different rooms, but you can go down a list with everyone on it when doing the onboard charges and be able to put a check next to everyone in your family even if they are listed in someone else's room.
If this is not done, then the adult listed in that room will have to take financial responsibility. This will still not be a problem, because we need to make sure at port that none of the kids have charging priveleges. Anything that a kid wants to buy or charge will have to be done on their PARENT's room key.

Examples of the DCL staterooms

CATEGORY 11 (inside stateroom)

CATEGORY 10 (deluxe inside stateroom)

 Pictured above: a vew from the far wall. I don't know what that white spot is in the middle of the picture...

 

CATEGORY 9 (deluxe oceanview stateroom)

Please make sure to read the next post as it has some reminders and a listing of the rooms. Thanks!

Time is coming up!

Just reminding everyone who hasn't done so yet to please try and check in online at http://www.disneycruiseline.com/ before leaving for the trip. It will make things alot easier and quicker when arriving to the cruise terminal.

I am hoping that everyone has received their luggage tags for the rooms that they will be in. I know that everyone is all mixed up in different rooms than what is on their original reservations, but due to saving Richard and Karen the most money on this cruise, and the amount of kids to adult ratios, there was no other way, I will try and contact Disney in the next few days to see if there is anyway to put everyone in the real room that they will be in, but I have a feeling it will have to wait until we are at port.

Disney's policy is that as long as everyone is legitimately on a reservation, they do not care at all what rooms people will actually be in during the cruise. I have tried in the past to switch at guest services and they have told me this. So instead of switching people on the reservations, they will just issue new room keys to everyone for the real rooms they will be in.

Everyone will just have one more card to have to keep with their original keys. They will have a key to their "old" room and a key to their "real" room. The REAL key will just get them in and out of their room. Their original key given to them at port will be their charging key and the key to get on and off the ship at ports.

Once again, I am really sorry for all of the confusion and everyone being in different rooms. I know it is a pain and is confusing, but I will try and get it taken care of at the port and if it can't, then it should be as simple as having 2 keys instead of 1.

Here is the final list of where everyone will be: (You should have received luggage tags for these correct rooms---it doesn't matter whose name is on the tags, it is just for your luggage to get to the correct rooms.)

Richard, Karen and Tyler: #2558

Michelle, Jared and Chase: #2016

Dan, Heather, Aubree and Evelyn: #2014

Michael, Melissa, Madison and McKenna: #2583

Kory, Sharese, McKay, Erica, and Kason: #2601

Leif, Julie and Jefferson: #6049

Charles and Stephanie: #5139

Jon, Braxton, Landon and Jason: #6101

Hayley, Courtney and Isabelle: #6613

Taste of Alaska menu

Specialty Cocktails
Lemonaskan – Vanilla Ice Cream, Lemonade, Lemon Juice & Agave Nectar (non-alcoholic) **Will cost extra

Appetizers
Green & White Asparagus Spears – with a spicy garlic-tomato aioli
Trio of Salmon – Smoked Salmon, Gravlax & Salmon Canape rolled in a potato wrap with a sill and sweet mustard sauce
Cheese & Carrot Souffle – with watercress salad and light wine cream sauce
Alaskan King Crab Legs – with butter sauce and fresh herbs

Soup and Salads
Yellow Pea Soup – garnished with sour cream and bacon
Creamy Velvety Fish Soup with Cod Dumplings and Dill
Crispy Garden Salad – mixed greens with red and white radishes, cucumbers and ranch dressing
Mixed Green Salad – watercress, frissee and arugula leaves, dressed with a citrus dressing and breaded Tilapia filets

Main Courses
Roasted Dill-Scented Chicken – with braised leeks and onions over linguini pasta with a chicken jus
Honey-Mustard Marinated Alaskan Salmon – with sautéed spinach and new potatoes with an Aquavit sour cream sauce
Juniper-Spiced Elk Tenderloin – with leaves of brussel sprouts and baby carrots on tiny noodles with a black current sauce
Grilled Vegetable Tower – layered zucchini, Portobello mushrooms, red peppers, eggplant and pearl pasta in a light tomato-thyme broth
Roasted Pork Tenderloin – served with truffle cauliflower puree, wild mushrooms and red wine reduction
Glazed Duck Breast Salad – on field greens with caramelized pears, raspberries, green cabbage, fingerling potatoes and a cardamom scented vinaigrette
Marinated Sirloin Steak – with thyme flavored parsnips, potato gratin and a cognac-peppercorn sauce
Tofu Pot Pie – with seasonal vegetables and a light herb cream reduction

Cruise at a glance

Here is a quick summary of the cruise, main entertainment and dinner menu type per night: This is someone else's experiences onboard the first alaskan cruise on May 3-10, but it is good to know the line-up.

Tuesday - Vancouver port deparure 5pm (Everyone has to be onboard a lot sooner than this though.)
Evening attire: cruise casual
WD theater - Let the Magic Begin
Dinner Menu - rotational

Wednesday - At Sea
Evening attire: formal
WD theater - The Golden Mickey's
Dinner Menu - Golden Mickey's

Thursday - Tracy Arm
Evening attire: cruise casual
WD theater - The Comedy and Hypnosis of Ricky Kalmon (entertainment subject to change for each cruise)
Dinner Menu - rotational
There was a scenic narration, unable to hear on deck 10 due to volume restrictions. Listed from 1:45 to 5pm
There was a special deck cookout option but did not go as we enjoyed the views from deck 10 all afternoon.

Friday - Skagway
Evening attire: cruise casual
WD theater - movie special (African Cats) ---(this will probably be POTC or Cars for us)  :)
dinner Menu - Taste of Alaska

Saturday - Juneau
Evening attire: cruise casual
WD theater - Toy Story the Musical
Dinner menu - rotational

Sunday - Ketchikan
Evening attire: semi formal
WD theater - Showtime Michael Holly
Dinner menu - captain's gala

Monday - at sea
evening attire: cruise casual
WD theater - Disney Dreams
Dinner menu - Till we Meet Again

Please check in online!

Hi Everyone!
The time is getting closer now, only a little over 2 months to go!

It sounds like everyone is getting their pre-cruise plans underway and have it all planned! Except me! I better get going on it.

I did want to make sure to mention that check-in with DCL is now available to everyone. If you go to http://www.disneycruiseline.com/ there will be a tab top right that says Planning Center. After that there will be a drop down menu and you click on My Reservation.

When you enter in your reservation number and birthdate of anyone on that reservation, it will bring up your info and allow you to do the online check in in a tab over to the left. Everyone can also do any reservations for Spa, shore excursions, register kids for kids clubs (which is free except for kids 2 and under), etc. All this is good to do before being overwhelmed when arriving to the port, especially the online check in because they assign your terminal arriving time depending on how soon you check in.

When checking in, it will ask for all your information including passport numbers and their expiration dates, addresses, credit card that will be on file for onboard charging (there is no cash used on the cruise), flight info- if any, all that good stuff. It will make you fill out 2 or 3 forms and then have you print out the cruise contract signature page at the end. Make sure you print it and bring it, if you sign in online, you have to bring the form from online.

Here are the reservation numbers if anyone needs them: Kids are all scattered amongst all the rooms so I am just listing the adults' names:


Charles and Stephanie Adams: 24094728

Richard and Karen Adams: 24082835

Daniel Adams: 24094729

Heather Adams: 24094725

Mike and Melissa Adams: 24094726

Kory and Sharese Hall: 24094727

Leif and Julie Bjarnson: 24086014

Some info about parking at the PORT

Hi everyone,
For those of us who are driving, it looks like there is a long term parking lot called CruisePark for cruise passengers located right by the port. It is pretty easy and convenient to use it, but it is pretty pricey at about $17.00 per day/$120 for the week. It is located between the 2 cruise ports of Canada Place (which we will going out from) and Ballantyne.
Their site makes it seem like parking is in pretty short supply at the cruise terminals and that reservations at least 30 days in advance are recommended

Check out their link:
http://www.cruisepark.com/home.php

Here are the services that they provide:

"After a long day(s) of driving, all you really want to do is park your car and board your ship. Cruisepark will take every measure to ensure that your parking experience is expedient and efficient as possible. All you need to do is drive in to our facility and we will take care of the rest. We will unload your luggage, park your car for you, return your keys and transfer you to your terminal of departure.
Cruisepark is proud to offer all day shuttle service to and from your cruise ship terminal at no extra cost to our valued passengers on Sundays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Our shuttles run continuously throughout our days of operation approximately every 15-30 minutes to ensure that our passengers are transported in as timely of a manner as possible.

Not only do we offer long term parking while you’re on your cruise, but also the satisfaction of knowing that our parking facility is a fully gated surface facility with 24 hr security onsite."

From what I have been reading and researching, most hotels in the downtown Vancouver (especially near the port area) do NOT have free parking.
There is a Best Western that has a parking package that is about $259 (not sure canadian or US) a night and includes up to 8 days of parking, they also provide the transportation to the port> For those that are staying the night before, this might be a good option.
http://www.bestwesterndowntown.com/hotel-vancouver-park-and-sail.html

Most people say that hotels in the neighboring town of Richmond (near the airport) has free parking while on the cruise, it's just getting to the cruise terminal that is the catch.

If anyone else finds anythning, please comment and let us know. These are the only 3 options that I could find.
Thanks!