We made it to day 4, a technically a day at sea, but we will be sailing to a glacier. We will be sailing either Tracy Arm Fjord to see North Sayer Glacier, or Endicott Arm to view Dawes Glacier. All signs point to Endicott Arm, but we will know for sure around lunchtime when we arrive at the fork in the road.
However, first things first – time to do a load of laundry. If you are awake and out of your stateroom early, early morning is a great time to wash clothes on a cruise. Over the years we’ve tried a few different methods for managing our dirty clothes starting with pop up hampers. These worked well for keeping our stateroom tidy, but were not ideal when having to traipse around the ship to find an open washer. I’ll ask again – why isn’t this information available in the Navigator App for the Magic and Dream Class ships with launderettes sporadically placed across multiple stateroom decks. Back to my point, we found a backpack laundry bag in the back to college section at Target a few years ago, and it makes it so much easier to walk to the launderettes with a load of dirty clothes.
It was still early and good hour before French Quarter opened to buy a coffee & Emily went off to the gym. Rather than sit around without caffeine, I went out to deck 10 to see the morning views of Alaska. The wind chill was something which gave me the idea to walk laps on deck 4. However, I was not layered up enough to walk in these temperatures.
Instead, I walked laps around the ship looking at stateroom door decorations. I spotted a lot of familiar looking itinerary maps on stateroom doors, my favorite were the couple that removed the watermark and put on a travel agency logo (NOT PICTURED).
I encourage and enjoy seeing the creative ways folks use the base itinerary maps to decorate their stateroom doors and make into cruise group gifts, but adding on company branding kinda implies collaboration and well, that kinda crosses the line.
Since this is a longer cruise, there was a Gold, Platinum, and Pearl event in the Walt Disney Theatre with a behind the scenes look at Frozen, A Musical Spectacular. The event started with a welcoming by Captain Robert and included an under the stage tour by way of a live camera feed with Cruise Director Trent along with various crew members from the entertainment team. A scene from Frozen, A Musical Spectacular was performed then reset with live audio and lighting changes to allow the audience to hear the comms and see the set change behind the scrims. It’s a fun opportunity for Castaway Club members on these longer voyages. Although, it is not the same as the meet & greet receptions that often culminated with a special guest for a photo op. On the way out of the theatre, we were given Mickey Rice Krispie treats.
As I mentioned earlier, today is technically a day at sea even though the itinerary states, Glacier Viewing (Stikine Icecap), Alaska. Glacier Viewing is just that, viewing of a glacier from the ship as it cruises.
Therefore, it was time to find some loungers on deck 4 and wrap up in blankets to enjoy the afternoon views.
Not sure what is happening, but it seems like the loungers on deck 4 are slowly disappearing. In total, there were only 13 out on the starboard side and unofficially about the same on the port side. Maybe my memory is foggy, but I remember there being an abundance of loungers available on deck 4 except in the areas of the benches and shuffle board zone during our last Alaskan cruise.
CHECKS THE ARCHIVE: After searching my photo archives we have this photo from Hubbard Glacier day on the Disney Wonder in 2019. There are about 14 loungers in just this one picture.
We settled into chairs as we began to arrive at the mouth of the two fjords. Sure enough, we entered Endicott Arm around 11 o’clock local time.
The Disney Wonder came to a full stop to allow guest on the Glacier Explorer (DG01) Port Adventure to transfer to the smaller boats which will take them much closer to the actual glacier and offer an incredible photo op of the Disney Wonder, the real reason to book the excursion.
There were 2 smaller boats picking up guests before sailing ahead of the Disney Wonder into Endicott Arm. Once at the glacier, passengers were transferred back to the Wonder and a new set of guests boarded for a ride out of Endicott Arm where they transferred back where at the entrance. The port adventure sounds incredible, but I would only be doing it to take photos of the Disney Wonder from a unique vantage point. I would be totally fine booking a photo op tour where they take a few people out in the rescue boat or life boat for a photo and bring you right back to the ship in say a 30 minute excursion.
Crew Members were on deck with a complementary hot chocolate, coffee, and chocolate chip cookies roaming cart. There was a second cart selling spiked hot beverages along with an DCL Alaskan tumbler.
It is the middle of summer in Florida, and we are not accustomed to this weather. Any unused blanket or scarf in our group was added on for more layers to keep us warm. Like father, like daughter.
Isabelle braved the upper decks for some of the more popular character photo ops.
We were all nestled all snug in loungers bundled up and wrapped in blankets. Around the lunch hour our group set off in small batches to eat lunch at Cabanas. A few used this time to thaw out and dine in, while others including yours truly, Emily & Isabelle returned to deck 4 with to-go plates comprised mostly from the mediterranean offerings. This was by far the only good day for Cabanas lunch & the offerings were delicious.
You know you are getting close when you start to see blue ice!
Koda, from Brother Bear, made an appearance on deck and stopped for some pictures.
Koda was the only character photo op, but photographers were out to take photos with Dawes Glacier.
We spent a good amount of time with the starboard side of the ship facing Dawes Glacier.
Our time viewing Dawes Glacier was over and we gave our spot to the Silversea Silver Muse. It was one thing to see the excursion boats near the glacier, but you really get a sense of scale when another cruise ship is between you and the glacier.
Shortly after we turned around and proceeded to sail out of Endicott Arm, we reached a confluence with a defined line in the water where the mountain runoff flowing from one tributary was meeting the runoff from Dawes Glacier.
Guess what? Another time-lapse. This time from deck 4 starboard of the Disney Wonder as we cruised Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier.
Overall, we had a lovely time out on deck 4 during the Wonder cruise in and out of Endicott Arm. Except for the time it took to run up to grab Cabanas for lunch, we spent just about 6 hours on outside enjoying the views.
After such a busy, busy cold day outside, we were in no shape to go to a proper dinner. The majority of our group went to diner at Palo while we opted to order dinner from room service while watching Pete’s Dragon.
The crispy plant-based chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries continues to be the sleeper hit of the room service offerings.
Buffalo WingsAll Hands on Deck Cheese PlatePlant Based Chicken
Afterwards, we decided to go get beignets from French Quarter Lounge. We tried to order a glass of wine from the Sommelier Bin. Key word is ‘tried.’ On the menu at the French Quarter Lounge, none of the wines are more than $12.50, and a glass from the Sommelier Bin is $13. The bar server explained to us that he would check with the Sommelier to see if there were any open wines, which there were not. This leads me to believe that in this particular location, they may be using bottles that guests may have ordered by the glass in the MDRs. At other locations (such as Cadillac Lounge, or on the other ships, Keys and Meridian), they usually ask if you would like a red, white or sparkling & provide you with a glass from an open bottle. We have even had servers go to other bars check for open bottles (which we of course did not ask them to do). We have had some great luck in the past, but today, no such luck. No worries, we just grabbed something from the menu and enjoyed the atmosphere.
We were served what I would describe as warmed Kings Hawaiian rolls with powered sugar or a very doughy non-glazed doughnut.
Tiana really needs to visit this establishment because these are no where near authentic beignets. I can say this because, I indulged in many of these delicious treats that one time I went to New Orleans a few years ago. Ok, I get it, to make beignets well takes a dedicated prep area and fry station. It is amazing to watch them created at Cafe Du Monde, and even at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter. In all fairness, I suspect this is 100% due to the logistics of making fresh beignets to order, and these are simply the easiest, most cost effective way to offer a dessert experience in the lounge. Just rename them on the menu. These desserts from French Quarter Lounge are tasty and delicious, they just are not traditional New Orleans BEIGNETS.
Does Tiana know this is what her bakery on the Wonder is passing off as “beignets”? pic.twitter.com/p4SjsPppjT
The portholes in Crown & Fin were calling our name and we arrived during a lull between events where it was nearly empty. We settled into seats near the porthole.
Isabelle ordered the La Paloma from the Zero-Proof menu and I picked up a CLUE board game that is new to me, Clue Sabotage on the High Seas. Outside of the nautical theme and the fact I love playing CLUE, this was a collaborative game meaning you are all on the same team trying to solve the mystery of the missing captain.
I proceeded to spend the next 40-minutes spanning 70s Music trivia, re-organizing the cards and attempting to read through the instructions. Looks like a fun team game, hopefully, we will have some time later this cruise to play and the game is not disheveled.
We returned to our stateroom for the night and I saw that my dry cleaning was returned. For us, it cheaper to send out dry cleaning on a cruise compared to locally on land. Sure, it’s dirt cheap on land without the cover charge of cruise fare, but in terms of the service cost, I’m a fan of sending my tuxedo and other dry cleaning items to the onboard laundry team. Emily will send her formal dresses out as well. They do a terrific job.
Our stateroom host told us they are not allowed to decorate the towel animals with personal items anymore. Whomever had a bad experience, I am sorry you had a bad experience. Our host was so excited when we told him he was allowed to do whatever he wanted, including nothing at all and that we’d be happy to verify this to his boss and his bosses boss and so on up the chain to Mickey.
BeforeAfter
What a busy day. I tell ya, taking in the fresh Alaskan air and views is exhausting. Time for bed.
If you need help falling asleep, I have another time-lapse for you to watch. The following is a slightly different time-lapse from the one shared above of Endicott Arm. This is similar to the previous 2-day time-lapse from the vantage point of a starboard verandah starting shortly after we departed Ketchikan on July 17th, our time in Endicott Arm, and continues to sunset on July 18th.
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.
