Trip log, day two. At Sea sailing Canada’s Inside Passage.
9-Night Alaskan Cruise on Disney Wonder
July 16, 2024
Personal Navigator – Day 2

Ah! A much needed relaxing day at sea after a travel day, walking around Vancouver day and a rocky embarkation day experience. We are now 4 hours back from Florida time and my internal clock is not adjusting. Not going to fight it, as I love to get up early enjoy the tranquility of a quiet cruise ship. 1st order of business is a load of laundry and 5:30 AM is the ideal time as the closest launderette to our room was vacant!

After sailing 2 different cruise lines over the last two spring break weeks, I can tell you having self service laundry is such an awesome amenity. This amenity is even more important on during a cold/wet itinerary like Alaska when you are traveling with much bulkier clothes.

Set a timer on my watch, grabbed an Americano at Cove Cafe then settled into a nice spot in the French Quarter Lounge until it was time to move the clothes to the dryer while Emily was in the gym.

It was a foggy morning with the fog horn sounding every so often as ships do in foggy conditions. I received a message that the red light is still flashing on the GoPro. Not sure what to expect with the fog, but it still could be cool since it has been recording continually since yesterday afternoon docked in Vancouver.

Isabelle discovered the breakfast of champions in Cabanas, and brought some back for each of us to enjoy.

Part of the fun of the Alaskan cruises are the various nature talks onboard. Disney will bring on a guest speaker for presentations on various aspects of Alaska ranging from general history, glaciers, and wildlife. This morning, in the Walt Disney Theater Debbie Douglass presented Welcome to Southeast Alaska: Our Journey North to the Setting Sun.

Afterwards, it was an ideal time to walk around Sea Treasures, Mickey’s Mainsail and WhiteCaps. Here are some pictures of the Alaska specific merchandise.

Sea Treasures

Mickey’s MainSail

WhiteCaps

The jewelry store, Diamonds and Wishes, outside Animators Palate on deck 4 featured a Crown of Light x Disney Cruise Line collaboration that seemed to be heavy on concierge keys. I did my best to talk someone currently sailing on the Disney Dream to buy the $3600 ring, then walk out of the concierge lounge and have people kiss his ring. Trust me, this sounded funny in an iMessage exchange. If it were me and I was part the merchandise development team, I’d find a way to add in RFID, and offer this in place of a DisneyBand+ for guests to use around the ship.

Around lunchtime, we returned to the pool deck and ate at Daisy’s De-Lights and Pinocchio’s Pizza. Boy oh boy, the pizza needs help. The Wish established a new level of quick service pizza and the Magic Class is far behind with pre-cooked pizza crusts and the inability to keep up with the pool deck demand on a sea day. I thought Sorrento’s Pizza on RCCL’s Wonder of the Seas was the worst, but at least that is made from fresh dough. 

It’s Tuesday, and about the time I’d normally head to Oak Trail for a round of golf. Unfortunately, it is closed this week for maintenance which is the first time in ages that Disney scheduled course maintenance to coincide with my vacation. To keep our short game in somewhat of a serviceable condition, we signed up for Chip-It Golf in the Lobby Atrium.

There were was a good turnout so each person was given 3 shots. First ball you earned the score the ball landed on, second was opposite, so if it landed on the center 15, you received -15, and the final ball was double score. Unlike real golf, the goal is to score the MOST points. I believe I finished -3, while Isabelle tied for 3rd!

Just down the hallway was our next activity, Disney Cruise Trivia in French Quarter. If anyone on the trivia development team is reading this, please review and update some of the time dependent. For example, Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point is now open for Disney Cruise Line.

We all stayed in French Quarter Lounge for DCL Blog Alaska Cruise Trivia, which over 80% was developed by Isabelle. Here is a copy of the trivia if you are interested in hosting your own little trivia event.

Afterwards, we hung out until I received a message from home that required an immediate sea day phone call. Thankfully, Wi-Fi calling worked flawlessly. In the past, I’ve relied on FaceTime Audio and Video to communicate if needed, but today required calling a landline number.

As we sailed north, we were approaching our narrowest passage within the Inside Passage.

We took this opportunity to take some photos out on deck 4, as well as inside since we were dressed for formal night.

We went years without taking a single picture onboard; extend a complimentary digital photo package as part of the Castaway Club perks and magically, we start taking pictures onboard, which can be downloaded often within an hour by visiting the following URL while connected to DCL-GUEST https://photos.disneycruise.com/Photopass/shuttersUI/home (this is not clickable since it does not work off the onboard guest network)

We didn’t really do ourselves any favors as we were a tad late arriving at our dinner table in Animator’s Palate due to the group photo session.

Given the fact we were about 10 minutes tardy, our serving team was much improved serving the standard Animator’s Palate dinner menu.

Isabelle and I managed to get to Movie Music Trivia in Crown & Fin and heard the 2nd question from the entryway. It takes a team, and we really needed the team from the opening whistle tonight.

There is really no other reason for sharing the following picture other than to say “the Golden Mickeys are TONIGHT!”, and the area outside The Walt Disney Theater was set up to welcome guests the show.

To close out day 2 at sea, I present the previously mentioned time-lapse that started the previous day in Vancouver and captured our trip up until the evening as we sailed thought the narrow area of the Inside Passage.

Complete Trip Log Index

• Pre-Cruise – ✈️ Travel Day from Orlando, Florida to Vancouver, British Columbia & Pre-Cruise Day in Vancouver
• Day 1 – Vancouver, Canada
• Day 2 – At Sea
• Day 3 – Ketchikan, Alaska
• Day 4 – Glacier Viewing (Stikine Icecap), Alaska
• Day 5 – Juneau, Alaska
• Day 6 – Icy Strait Point, Alaska
• Day 7 – Sitka, Alaska
• Day 8 – At Sea
• Day 9 – Victoria, Canada

We love it if you considered joining us on our next DCL Blog Cruise in May 2025 as we sail from cay to cay. We will be returning to The Bahamas visiting both Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay. Click here to learn more.