We woke up to a chilly Canada morning on our first full day aboard our Disney Wonder Alaskan Cruise. The family woke up between 6:00-7:00 AM, and we enjoyed easing into our first sea day. The Mickey short cartoons provided a perfect audio and video accompaniment to our lazy morning. While the family stayed cozy I took the opportunity to complete our last load of laundry prior to us mobilizing for the day. I set up the GoPro time lapse on the veranda with hopes to catch an overview of our travels through the Canadian and Alaskan shoreline throughout the day.
With a fun day ahead of us, we rolled ourselves out of bed to get cleaned up and embrace the day. Emily had us booked for a character breakfast at 9:45 at Animator’s Palate. Hunter and I had a hankering for a breakfast before our breakfast, so we went up to Cabanas to grab some food to bring back to the room. We managed to secure a couple of plates of pastries and fruit for the room to snack on while we finished getting ready.
When we were all dressed and ready we set out on our first activity of the day, Anna’s Chocolate Scavenger Hunt. The night prior, our stateroom host left a sheet of clues that would guide us around the ship in order to complete our challenge. With a bit of time to kill before our character breakfast, we focused our attention on the aft clues near Animator’s Palate. Each Frozen themed clue led to an oval sticker on the wall/ground which were fairly obvious to spot. The kids had fun figuring out where to navigate the family based on the clues provided.
After knocking out a few clues it was around 9:45 and our breakfast reservation. We strolled over and checked in at the scantily attended Animator’s Palate. Breakfast was fun as our servers did a great job of delivering our food and drinks along with some good jokes. Minnie, Goofy, Mickey and Pluto made their way around the restaurant for quick photos, high fives and autographs. Our servers even made different hats out of napkins for the boys to wear during the experience. I would definitely recommend the character breakfast for a fun, quick change of pace to the standard Cabanas breakfast.
After breakfast we completed the final clues of our scavenger hunt, which took us to the forward section of the Disney Wonder. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture a few photos of the family in the ship’s porthole sitting windows. This also positioned us near the merchandise shops which were open for browsing, making Emily and the boys quite happy. After a bit of browsing, the boys decided to use their gift cards on a Mickey plush and an otter plush. We picked up a few little things at the store before returning to our stateroom for a chill break.
The boys enjoyed the rest break but were ready to flex their newfound freedom and check themselves into the Oceaneer Club. This provided a perfect opportunity for Emily and I to head up to the upper decks to take in the Alaskan landscapes. We heard the captain mention over the intercom that we were taking an alternate route since we made such good time overnight. This detour would take us through the narrowest passage of the journey which we wanted to see first hand. We grabbed our cameras and binoculars so that we wouldn’t miss a thing. The air was crisp as we worked our way to the forward of the ship where the breeze of the water was most intense. While we were admiring the view out the front the ships horn blasted in our ear causing a mild heart attack.
After taking in the sites for a bit we thought that we should message the boys to meet us for the view and some photos. These cool dudes of course took this opportunity to grab a few slices of pizza on their way up. We took a few photos and admired the view for about five minutes before they headed off to get some ice cream and eventually make their way back to the Oceaneer Club. Em and I stuck it out until around 1:50 when the Disney Wonder made it through the narrow passage (above). It of course looked much tighter from a distance but put us very close to the shoreline, providing some amazing close up views. We captured our last photos and videos and hustled to Cabanas and grabbed a few plates of lunch before it closed to prepare for dinner.
Lunch was nice and cozy from our table inside overlooking the wonderful nature out the Cabanas windows. Three plates and three desserts later we were over nourished and ready for some time off our feet. We headed back to the room for an afternoon chill break. The boys played at the kids’ club until after 4 when we called them back for a room service snack and dinner preparations. Hunter snuck a nap in, but his brother wasn’t successful in getting any sleep.
It was formal night on the ship and it was also the Captain’s Reception in the atrium. We rolled out of our relaxed beds, got showered and dressed in our finest, and were ready to go by 7:30. Since we were in our fancy clothes there were many photos to be captured prior to dinner. Emily wanted to get a photo with her flowers, which she adorned with some festive flags. Once ready, we headed down to deck three and spotted our first priority, the free drinks! Emily got us a wine and beer while I waited in line for a family photo with Captain Daniel.
After our quick photo with the Captain we enjoyed the music and festivities in the atrium. We tried stepping out onto deck four promenade but the cool air and wind made it uncomfortable and impossible to get a good photo. We snuck back inside to the Promenade Lounge on deck three to enjoy our second round of free drinks. The boys were all dressed up but that didn’t stop them from being goofy dancing to the lounge DJ.
The clock read 8:15 which meant it was time for our dinner seating. Tonight we got to enjoy dinner at Triton’s restaurant and deck three. We were greeted by the same seater from the night before who had trouble locating table 75 for us at Tiana’s. He was much more successful this time and we all had a good laugh.
Dan and Adi greeted us for our second dinner with the dynamic duo. Adi informed us he was new to DCL but you could tell he was working really hard. We really enjoyed both of their service and company. We ordered the fried pierogis, shrimp and lobster app, and all got a bowl of French Onion soup, Hunter’s new food favorite. For dinner, Hunter and I had the Chateaubriand Steak and Emily got the shrimp and lobster appetizer as her meal. Sawyer got cheese pizza that he didn’t care for (so fun with a picky kid). Dessert was by far the highlight of the evening as Dan brought us out one of every dessert and two Grand Marnier Soufflés, Emily’s all time favorite. We had a blast trying all of the different desserts including strawberry shortcake sundae, creme brûlée, and a couple others.
After dinner Hunter and Sawyer went to kids’ club and Emily and I went back to the room to change and prepare for the next day’s activities in Icy Strait, our first port of call. After the boys had their fill of the Oceaneer Club they checked themselves out and returned to the room and were greeted by the Stateroom Santa surprise.
I hope you boys enjoyed your first day at sea
Exploring the Disney Wonder and hanging with Mickey
Your Alaskan adventure has truly begun
I hope that your summer cruise is filled with great fun!
You’ve completed your task and met with the Mouse
And captured a photo aboard his floating house
For this I award you your Stateroom Santa prize
In your sea stocking a gift for you guys!
I am off for the evening and your cozy beds await
For more adventures await tomorrow at Icy Strait
I will return again tomorrow with another Santa clue
But until then enjoy sailing the waters blue
We relaxed for a bit before getting ready to retire for the night. Everyone was excited for our day at Icy Strait where Emily booked us a Kodiak boat tour through the vast waters around the coastline. We had our fingers crossed that we would spot a moose.
