Friday, 10 October 2014

Day 3 - Tracy Arm: Afternoon and evening onboard




Making our way back to our stateroom, we met Mickey in his raingear (though honestly, it was a clear, dry and sunny day!)

Mickey   Mickey 

Whilst DH had a sleeping DD2 in the room, I took DD1 for her first swim in Mickey's pool.
They provide floatation devices for those who cannot swim/ are not strong swimmers.
They pretty much come in one size only and it was a bit big on DD1, but did the job. Specifically for the Alaskan cruises, the pools are heated.

Mickey's pool with pool vest

According to Disney, US Public Health do not allow swim diapers in cruise ship pools - only fully toilet trained children are allowed. They have a mini splash pad right next to the pool to accommodate kids still in diapers.
On the Disney Wonder, this is directly under the Mickey hand water slide.

Mickey's Splash Zone  Mickey's Splash Zone  Mickey's Splash Zone Mickey's Splash Zone

At some point during the day, I went to check out the Vista Spa and Fitness Centre (in the misguided hope that I'd find some time to fit in a run on the treadmill or some form of workout...). The facility is not very big - I was trying to figure out where exactly they held the yoga classes and other group classes (apparently they moved some of the gym equipment to make room. I cannot say for sure, since I never did make it to a class). They had many small private rooms for the various spa treatments - overall it was a very serene and clean space.

I picked up the list of treatments and free classes - Vista Spa Classes and Treatments Menu with Pricing - yet another service we did not take advantage of.


Dinner that evening was at Triton's again. As we headed back to our room to get changed for dinner, we noticed the photographers had set up in a corner on Deck 3 midship for casual group photos.

Back in our room, we discovered our towel animal of the day and Personal Navigator for Day 4 (Skagway port of call).
Elephant towel animal


We took the opportunity to do family photos, which came out great. The dress code for dinner was cruise casual, but as you can see DD2 was not cooperative and insisted on wearing a particular t-shirt instead of the dress I wanted her to wear.
  DWD-140820-LSP8x10-14517698  Family photo  Family photo

The food was great again, and the servers were amazing with their attentiveness and entertainment. The kids got Minnie bows to wear.

Minnie bow from napkin Minnie bow from napkin

DD1 then tried her own napkin headwear, which turned out quite well I think. And of course, DD2 had to copy her!

napkin hat napkin hat

Levi presented the crayon/ matchstick puzzle of the day (http://www.puzzles.com/puzzleplayground/Giraffe/Giraffe.htm) whilst we were waiting for dessert.

After dinner, we decided to go to the Ricky Kalmon Hypnotist Show since since DD2 had napped during the day. It was not as busy as The Golden Mickeys show, so we easily found four seats in the centre middle of the theatre this time.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show - DD1 laughed quite a bit, though she didn't really understand what was going on. One of the triggers that Ricky set up, had one of the audience volunteers remove his shoe and hold and present it like a baby a la The Lion King' (to the music of "Circle of Life"). DD1 kept asking why he was holding up his shoe :)

As before, it was great to have a short walk back to the room after the show.

Next: Day 4 - our first port of call: Skagway

Thursday, 9 October 2014

Day 3 - Tracy Arm: the Alaskan shoreline a sight to behold

Note: this post is extremely picture-heavy, and may take a while to load.

Cruising in Tracy Arm
Tracy Arm is a fjord with fantastic views of a glacier. The ship cruised very slowly up through the fjord and back, which took the entire day.

After lunch, we got kitted up with our hats, mittens, scarves and jackets and wandered around on Deck 9 and 10. It was pretty busy on the decks with people milling around taking photos and just taking in the spectacular views. We were very lucky to have a clear, sunny day with no rain whatsoever. It was a bit chilly up on the decks though, due to the wind.

The water was brilliantly blue, the mountain tops green - such beautiful scenery, words don't do justice, so here are a few of the many photos we took.

IMG_4944   IMG_4945  IMG_4946  IMG_4947     IMG_4948    IMG_4949  IMG_4951        IMG_4954    IMG_4955    IMG_4956    IMG_4957    IMG_4960    IMG_4963    IMG_4972    IMG_4974     IMG_4976 


The kids were a bit bored, so we had scavenged some extra desserts from the Beach Blanket Buffet (blue Jell-o cups!) and then they ran around

IMG_4965    IMG_4979    IMG_4980    IMG_4991    IMG_5010 

Once again, we took every opportunity to get in front of a ship's photographer.DWD-140820-TracyArm8x10-14515689 

IMG_4984 

Icebergs of all sizes
IMG_4986  IMG_4987  IMG_4996  IMG_5001  IMG_5003  IMG_5004  IMG_5005  IMG_5006  IMG_5008

View of the Sawyer glacier at the end of the fjord
IMG_5011

 By this point, DD2 was exhausted and finally fell asleep. We were at the forward (head) of the ship, at which point the ship turned around to go back out to sea.
As you can see, DH found the weather 'pleasant' and ditched the jacket in favour of just a t-shirt.


IMG_5013  DWD-200418-TracyArm8x10-14514843  DWD-200418-TracyArm8x10-14514861  DWD-200418-TracyArm8x10-14514863  IMG_5014  IMG_5016  IMG_5017  IMG_5020 IMG_5025

Seals enjoying the iceberg chunks of the glacier that have "calved " into the water.IMG_5027 IMG_5028  IMG_5030    IMG_5034    IMG_5042   IMG_5045    IMG_5047    IMG_5056 

Next: the afternoon and evening's activities onboard.