I was incredibly lucky and got asked to 2nd AD on a Disney Cruise Line production to Alaska about 3 weeks before it happened. I knew Amy and George would be coming at this time, and immediately called Amy to tell her. I also got the good news I could bring guests along, so thankfully they just got to come be apart of our Alaskan journey! We had such a good time and made so many memories on this trip.
The first leg of the journey was to get to Vancouver, where we both took an early flight out, Amy and George with a layover in San Fransisco, and Mike and I with a layover in LA. Mike and I were greeted in LA by a Chinese dragon-lion dance, which was super random but so cool.
When we arrived in Vancouver, production put us up in the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, which was beautiful and had a stunning view of the harbour, where we could walk right to the cruise ship the next morning.
We had a small window of time to explore Vancouver while Amy and George were still on the way, so Mike and I took the free shuttle outside the hotel to the
Capilano Suspension Bridge park. Since it was after 4pm, we got the special cheaper priced tickets. I think we got the better end of the deal though because there was hardly anyone around, and we got the beautiful sunset views. We did the whole park in about 90 minutes too so there was no missing out.
We started off with a traditional Canadian snack, poutine.
This is important because we knew we were on a time crunch, and we hadn't finished our snack before Mike and I started on the scariest part of this park, the cliff walk. So here I am trying to not be scared on this cliff walk, while eating my gravy soaked french fries, it was humorous.
Next part of the park is the actual suspension bridge. It is super springy to walk on and you get a lot of other people on the bridge with you shaking it intentionally. The bridge is 450 feet long and 230 feet in the air above a river below it. It was initially built in 1889 but reinforced with steel cables now.
The third half of the park is the Treetops adventure, which is basically a bunch of mini suspension bridges over the beautiful wood.
I was weirdly getting progressively more nervous being on the suspension bridges and not more brave, but I think it was because I was reading all the signs of how things were made and actually being held up by gravity and not nuts and bolts and it was stressing me out. Super beautiful though.
The whole park at Christmas gets lit up and sparkly and twinkly, which I wish we could have seen. We got very lucky and saw a really cool looking owl who was sitting pretty close to the path though.
This was the end of our journey here, but we got our free certificates before taking the free shuttle back over to the city and our hotel.
We finally met up with Amy and George who made it to Vancouver, and all had a delish Turkish cuisine dinner at
Picado, before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep.
The next day we didn't have to board the ship til 11am, so we grabbed some local cuisine for breakfast, Time Hortons.
For a snack later we grabbed some all dressing chips, another "big" Canadian thing. These kind of tasted like a gentle bbq and salt and vinegar mix.
We were just so Canadian by this point, even the Canadian geese were thinking we were locals.
We did a little pivot through Chinatown and stopped at a bunch of the souvenir shops near the port to waste some time.
We saw the steam clock in gas town.
Our ship was in port by now, so we checked out the outside of it before boarding.
It was finally time to board! I had to board with the production crew and head to a meeting for a bit, while the other 3 found some exploration time.
We did get to meet up for lunch, which was Cabanas, the buffet that is usually open for lunch and breakfast.
And had to get my ice cream count going right away, so a chocolate and vanilla twist classic to kick us off it was.
One of the first films playing by the pool was Brave, which if you know Amy and I's relationship, that made us super emotional.
This ship is a little smaller than the Treasure and Wish I had been on, but it was nice that it was more intimate and less walking for me. Although we were at capacity, it didn't feel crowded, and there was a lot of deck space to be in the open air.
Our cabin was interior and very cozy, but you don't find yourself in there very often other than sleep.
We did however find ourselves in the hot tub often, which was nice since there were 2 in the adults only section. The pools were also heated to a pretty comfortable temperature. There is no Aqua Duck or Mouse on this ship, it's just a open slide, which is still fun.
We also didn't find ourselves in the gym at all other than to visit, which was probably for the best, since George was pretty much touching the ceiling.
I missed the Sail- A- Wave party because I was working, but the other 3 got to watch us kick off!
Our provided dining rotation, that night we started with Animators Palate. In our week long itinerary, we'd only be scheduled for dinner here twice, and we actually missed the second time, so this was our only experience here. I loved the surprise visit from Sorcerer Mickey at the end with the splash of colors appearing everywhere. This also somehow ended up being the only Mickey bar I got on the cruise, I am sorry to disappoint, I'll do better next time.
It was off to bed from there!
Day 2 was a day at sea, but it was also Glacier Day, and churro Mickey waffle day!
We spent almost the whole day on the deck keeping an eye out on the beautiful surroundings.
On Glacier day, we pass through the Stikine Icecap and icy fjords and saw seals, whales, and lots of Disney characters in their cute winter outfits!
As we drew nearer to the actual icecap, the water became so clear, it was stunning.
While I was working, Mike did the Glacier Explorer up close excursion. He got a glacier margarita and even saw a piece of the ice cap break off that was as big as a two story house.
The ship also brought a big piece of iceberg onboard so you could experience it up close and personal. Glacier day was a really fun way to have a great sea day.
As we got further away from the glacier, we found more characters inside visiting, before the big show tonight.
I was most excited to see Golden Mickeys because that is where I got my start at Hong Kong Disneyland. While the show is mostly very different, there were a few familiar numbers in it that made me heart happy.
That evening for dinner, we had Tiana's Place, com
plete with visits from Tiana and Louis and my favorite meal of the trip, shrimp and cheese grits, and baked alaska for dessert!My dessert was super weird and I should have just also gotten the baked alaska.
So we just got more ice cream instead.
We also did a little shopping, in case you couldn't tell from all the new DCL Alaska merch I am wearing in every photo.
Day 3 was Skagway, Alaska, our first real port. I had to work, but luckily a lot of what I was doing was in town and getting to experience Skagway as well. This is a gold rush town with a very small town feeling.
Skagway is known for its tasty
fry bread shop, which I actually got to taste, and it was a pretty good tasting elephant ear.
When he got back and I was finally off work, we all met up and did the small hike to the gold rush cemetery.
The cemetery is the final resting place for many individuals who lived and died during the Gold Rush era. Notably, it includes the graves of Jefferson “Soapy” Smith: A notorious con artist who was killed in a shootout in 1898 and Frank Reid, a vigilante who fatally wounded Soapy Smith. His grand marble monument is nearby, inscribed with the words, “He gave his life for the honor of Skagway”. The cemetery also contains the graves of children, miners, and early settlers, many of whom succumbed to illnesses, accidents, or the harsh conditions of frontier life.
Martin Itjen, can also be found burried here, who was a local promoter who painted a large rock gold and claimed it was the world's largest gold nugget. He had it chained to a tree in the cemetery to prevent theft.
If you make it to the cemetery, keep going a bit further on the path to make it to Upper Reid Falls.
At this point we said our goodbyes to Skagway and headed back on to the ship.
Our dining rotation had us back at Tiana's Place that night. Thankfully, when you repeat restaurants at the least the menu and experiences are different. That night our server made us these hilarious napkin hats.
I was the coolest, with a full on staff and everything.
It was a great way to the end the evening.
Day 4 we woke up in Juneau, the capital of Alaska.
While I was busy working, Amy and George got off the ship and almost immediately saw a bear! Then they went on a whale watching experience and got to see a pod of orcas, so I was extremely jealous, but I was so glad they had a wonderful wildlife filled day.
Mike went on a floatplane over a bunch of glaciers, and ending with a salmon feast at a private cabin.
I ended up having about two hours to get off the ship and pop into town to check out the capital. The town was a lot of small town shops with a beautiful mountain backdrop. Mike got to meet up with me for a few minutes after he headed back from his adventure.
I popped into the capital building for a quick self guided tour.
That evening back on board the ship, dinner was our third dining rotation restaurant Tritons. With beautiful Little Mermaid theming, all around the Disney Wonder, I felt right at home.
This was french onion soup night, which was also one of my top dishes.
Amy got the escargot because she is insane and did not like them.
That evening before the main show, the whales decided to put on their own show!
The main stage performance of Frozen was pretty comparable to the Broadway version we saw several years ago.
On our way back to our stateroom for the night, we had a little visitor run in at midnight! We tried to warn her the dangers of lurking around on the stairs and loose shoes.
Day 5 was Ketchikan day in Alaska, and also my last working day. Meeting us right at the end of the dock was one of Mike's old Seaworld coworkers, Jenna, so it was fun to see a familiar face!
Ketchikan was a cute little seaside town that is mostly famous for it's lumberjack show.
I was excited for this day because I actually got to see the lumberjack show.
This was also one of my favorite days cause I got to spend time with all my friends exploring Creek Street.
We hopped back on the ship for lunch and ice cream since it was right there
I may not have seen orcas and bears on this trip, but I did see a bald eagle which was pretty cool.
That night was Mardi Gras night at Tiana's Place for dinner. I love these dinner theater venues ideas, however, it's a little hard to hear anything that is going on in a restaurant setting over the talking. We had a fun time dancing
, eating beignets, and throwing our beads still.
The next day was our last full day and it was another day at sea but I had the whole day off! We had some classics for breakfast at the buffet, which I had only been to once before.
Mike and I started our day off very early with a 8am showing of the new Lilo and Stitch live action movie. I gotta say, as an avid live action hater, I actually really enjoyed this one.
With it being a day at sea, the ship had lots of characters roaming around to say hello to.
We also had the Frozen night celebration. This was rescheduled from earlier in the week due to bad weather, so it was a little weird doing it on the hottest day. If you have done any of the other ships, this celebration replaces the pirates night celebration.
After the show, we found some picky bits by the pool for our final lunch. The gyro stand and the impossible burgers were some of our favorites all week.
This ship had a range of activities we got to experience from new movie releases, to trivia, to dance parties, character meet and greets, live shows, and even baby races.
We got pool time and sun time and cold time, it really was the perfect mix of everything. That evening was our final main stage show, Dreams. This is a variety show where movies like Lion King, Tangled, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Peter Pan come to life.
We were feeling sentimental about leaving the ship and entering back int reality, so we lingered quite a bit on the outside decks that night before our final dinner at Tritons, where I said goodbye to shrimp my apparently new favorite food.
There was a goodnight from the Disney Wonder moment where all the characters came out and said a little farewell. The merchandise shoulder buddy designer of Hong Kong Disneyland just happened to be standing next to us and recognized George and Mike's shoulder buddies, and very kindly shared her Gelatoni one with us! So all in all it was a magical evening indeed.
Our final morning we had breakfast at Tritons and said our farewells to the ship and her crew. I am so honored to have been asked to join in this wonderful adventure and getting to bring those I love on it made it even more amazing!
We made it back to Vancouver for our flights back to Orlando together for one final day in Orlando before Amy and George returned home to the UK. We did some Target essentials before I heartbreakingly sent them off on a plane home.
This is important because we knew we were on a time crunch, and we hadn't finished our snack before Mike and I started on the scariest part of this park, the cliff walk. So here I am trying to not be scared on this cliff walk, while eating my gravy soaked french fries, it was humorous. 
Next part of the park is the actual suspension bridge. It is super springy to walk on and you get a lot of other people on the bridge with you shaking it intentionally. The bridge is 450 feet long and 230 feet in the air above a river below it. It was initially built in 1889 but reinforced with steel cables now.
One of the first films playing by the pool was Brave, which if you know Amy and I's relationship, that made us super emotional.
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