Live? A test of Alaskan Wifi, AKA Our Alaskan Trip Report August 2018

[Grenouille21]

I wanted to start writing about our trip, and I like to take notes about the process so it helps me in the future! Also, I know I will forget things, and thus boil it all down to a bland unrecognizable mush if I wait until later to write about it. So I am starting now and I won't stop til its done!

 

Buckle up because I'm taking you along for the ride!

 

 

Depending on Wifi, this may be posted live, or it may be posted... not live? What do you call it? Later? That's not fun.

 

 

So stay tuned!

[fatcat04]

Good luck, have fun!! And thanks in advance for taking us along :D

[crystalspin]

Quite interested in how the (satellite) wifi holds up as you sail farther from the satellites' orbits. Unfortunately I won't learn your truths in time for our cruise sailing next Monday and finishing the packing tomorrow!

 

dr'spin has decided not to take his computer. He does have four partners to care for his patients while he's gone.

[Grenouille21]

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by! Geez now I have to actually post something! ;)

[Grenouille21]

About Us:

I am a teacher, as well as a travel agent. I mostly work with people who are booking vacations to Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Studios, or sailing on Disney Cruise Line, but I am branching out and learning other cruise lines and resorts as well. Teaching is my main job.

 

I love to travel (obviously!) and I love to take photos. These two hobbies pair well together! I tend to be sarcastic, which is appealing to some, totally lost on some, and downright insulting to others. I try to reel it in, but sometimes I can't hold back. I also like musical theater, nature, knitting (though I am 100% self-taught and thus a total hack), and walking. I sound like a barrel of fun, no?

 

I feel like I need to expand on my love of walking. Walking makes me feel more connected to the place where I am and the people I am with. I feel more connected to the land, the trees above me, the flowers below. I notice things more. My kids talk more. I listen more. We laugh more. I like to walk.

 

So when we travel, I like to walk in new places.

 

Anyway, back to boring details about me....

 

I am a single parent to my kids. Well technically I am divorced, and I could go into great detail but it will sound dramatic and it will be obviously one-sided (though also miraculously 100% accurate!), and anyway that story goes down much better with alcohol and I have no idea whether you have a glass in your hand at this moment, so suffice to say I don't wear the Single Parent label as a means of gaining attention or insulting anyone. I have been doing the vast, vast majority of the parenting since day one with each child, so I have earned the title of Single Parent, and then some.

 

Oh, and as I write this I am 44 years old, but on embarkation day I'll be turning 45.

Dear Future Me: Happy Birthday!! Signed, Past Me.

My daughter is 14, and she will be starting High School in the Fall. She has some severe food allergies, which can make traveling a bit scary. I'll go into further detail about our preparations later, but I am confident that she will be well-fed and safe in Canada and on board the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

DD enjoys theater, particularly musical theater. She has seen Hamilton twice, we are planning to see Dear Evan Hansen this year, we have seen Wicked twice, and she has starred in school/theater class productions as Joseph in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, one of the step-sisters in Into the Woods, Aunt March in Little Women, and various roles in a theater class production based on Hamilton. She pretty much loves all musicals.

 

Except Les Miserables.

 

I don't know why she doesn't like that one and it bothers me more than it should. What's funny about this is that she just had an appointment with our allergist, who is AMAZING, and the allergist was talking about musical theater and how her favorite was Les Mis. DD was all ME TOO and I was all WHAAAAA.....? Teens are funny.

 

She loves photography, like me. She goes away to overnight camp for 4 weeks each summer, and she spends most of her time in photography class, drama class, art class, tubing, and archery or riflery class. She has already earned three photography awards at camp and is one of the highest "ranked" photographers at her camp. She is enrolled in a photography class at her school this year, which is really exciting! She will be taking as many photos as I will on this vacation!

 

She enjoys traveling, though you wouldn't always know it in the moment. She can be VERY 14. She can also be VERY awesome, sweet, cuddly, and hilarious!

 

My son will be turning 13 in September. He enjoys building and making things. He has always had a passion for building Lego sets and he has always been able to independently build any set. He has been tested and he is extremely gifted in visual-spatial areas.

 

DS loves the outdoors. He goes away to overnight camp for 4 weeks as well, and his camp is very much based on wilderness experiences. They spend 2-3 nights per week hiking/canoeing and camping, and spend the rest of the week at camp. This is his favorite month of the year, and as I tell everyone: he spends 11 months of the year talking about the 1 month he spends at camp. Everywhere we go, everything we do... it reminds him of camp.

 

He has never really been terribly interested in sports. Sports were never big in my family growing up, so I don't really have a passion for anything sport-related. DS tried baseball for 2 years, but when his team won the championship he decided he couldn't ever top that and he retired, at age 8. He has said he will be coming out of retirement this year to play for his school team, but we shall see if that actually happens. He also said he is going to run on the cross-country team. This will be an interesting year!

 

DS has recently taken up skateboarding. He doesn't do tricks; he is not an aspiring Tony Hawk. He just likes that it looks cool and gets him to his destination faster. Mostly he likes that it looks cool.

 

He can be a bit moody, he is a pre-teen after all, but he is also sweet and hilarious most of the time.

 

Teenagers get a bad rap, but I rather like them. I used to be afraid of teenagers. Well not exactly AFRAID, but I had no idea what to expect and you know the stereotype teens have. When I was a substitute teacher I was terrified of being "thrown" in anything over 4th grade. Terrified! Then I found a few classes at one school where I subbed that were awesome. And a few that were NOT awesome! But the awesome outweighed the not awesome, and I found that I actually really enjoyed working with teens/pre-teens. When push came to shove I decided I still preferred to teach younger kids (I am currently in a 3rd grade classroom). Perhaps it was my comfort zone, perhaps it is because I would have to specialize in one subject and I am not sure I am passionate enough about one subject to teach ONLY that subject. Who knows.

 

The point is: my kids are fun and I like spending time with them.

Most of the time.

 

Except when they bicker.

 

Then I send them somewhere else.

 

And oddly enough, that's when they usually decide to get along with each other.

Dear Future Me: Don't stay up past midnight working on your trip report! Sleep is your friend! Signed, Past Me Who Wanted More Sleep.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great start. Happy birthday to you.

Thank you for telling us a little about your children and yourself.

Looking forward to your reports.

[kazu]

Happy Birthday!

 

Have a great cruise!

[VMax1700]

Dear Future You,

Happy Birthday!

I hope 'the flowers stay below' you for a long time.;)

 

P.S. I was a teenager once (or are you a teenager 7 times, you know age 13,14,15 etc?)

I ruled the world then. I bet you were a teenager too!

 

Have a great cruise!

[tompeter]

Great start! Great way to celebrate a Birthday, enjoy!

[Beachfrog]

Can't wait to hear more!

[Bruinboy]

Terrific, non-traditional start to Alaska Trip Live. BTW ... keep the sarcasm flowing.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Cruise_More_Often]

You are funny! I bet your students get a kick out of you. Much of teaching is entertaining. I'm looking forward to learning more about you and experiencing your cruise along with you and your kids. Have fun.

[SilvertoGold]

Dear OP: I have great expectations -- what a writer you are!

 

Enjoy Alaska and the N Amsterdam and thanks for undertaking this monumental task for all of us!

[totheworld]

we'll be embarking on that very same cruise on 8/25. Looking forward to reading more whenever you are able to post!

[puppycanducruise]

Happy Birthday.

Looking forward to reading more.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Thank you for doing this thread.

[Grenouille21]

So many visitors! Yay!

 

Thank you for all the birthday wishes!

 

So far the cruise is amazing! Breathtaking scenery and experiences despite less than ideal weather in Juneau.

 

I can't wait to write about it in depth!

[songbrd70]

we'll be embarking on that very same cruise on 8/25. Looking forward to reading more whenever you are able to post!

 

 

We are on 8/25 as well. :cool:

[Grenouille21]

What led us to Alaska:

 

We are a family of three, and we like to travel. We have sailed on Disney Cruise Line before, both to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, but this is our first non-Disney cruise! We have recently traveled to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, and Glacier National Park. We really enjoyed these vacations. Ok that is probably the greatest understatement of all time! Wow, understatement much?

 

The first time I ever visited a National Park was when I was in my 20s, and a friend invited me to visit him at his dad's house near Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. Now, I had gone away to overnight camp in Minnesota, so I had been "out in nature" but I had never been to a National Park, nor had I ever gone anywhere with the intention of doing nothing but hiking and seeing nature. That was not how my family vacationed when I was growing up.

 

When I was a child my family always vacationed in Florida, at the same beach resort and then at the house my parents bought when I turned 13. I loved the beach. I still love the beach! I feel "at home" at the beach. That particular beach was always a place that made me feel like everything would be OK. I felt like it washed away all my worries, and made me feel like a new person. It was great, and I never felt like I was missing anything!

 

But then there I was: just graduated from college, no summer job (I'm a teacher), my friend was away all summer, and he promised me some amazing scenery, great company (he was one of my very best friends and no we were NOT dating) AND he promised a stay in Las Vegas (another place I had never visited!) so I said why not and went for it!

 

That visit to my friend changed everything.

 

I fell in love with nature.

 

Hiking and exploring re-awakened a love of nature and hiking in me, and I wanted more.

 

I can't believe how long it took me to get back to nature. We visited Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park 2 years ago and I fell in love all over again.

 

When we visited Yellowstone, we ran into a family I know from work. Yellowstone has millions of visitors all summer, and I ran into someone I know there! That always happens to me. Always!

 

Anyway, they were on a road trip, and had done this circuit before. In our brief conversation they mentioned that while they really liked Yellowstone, they felt Glacier National Park was better.

 

I am a competitive person. If someone expresses a strong opinion about something I HAVE to experience it and form my own opinion. So guess where we went the next summer?

 

Yep, we went to Glacier National Park.

 

I spent the whole year planning this vacation, choosing our hotels/lodges, planning our hikes, and wondering if this place would ever live up to my expectations. Would this REALLY be BETTER than Yellowstone/Grand Teton?? How was that possible??

 

Well it was possible, and I fell in LOVE with Glacier. I'm talking I-Made-You-A-Mixtape love.

 

That's pretty serious!

 

So when thinking about where to go next, I was stumped. Glacier was so incredible, so amazing, such a transformative experience for me... where do I go next?

 

Well, it seems like Alaska is where you go next. I'm still not sure this trip will meet my expectations. I feel like we should be going farther into Alaska if I want to see/do anything that will come close to what we saw and did in Glacier. Believe me, I know everyone says how amazing Alaska is, how you will want to return... I'm sure I'll feel the love... but right now... I am not sure.

 

Have no fear, I felt this way last time. I thought Glacier would be OK, maybe one part would be cool (the days we would be at Many Glacier) but I thought the rest was just sort of filling time.

 

Yes, I know. I am embarrassed even writing it.

 

We did two hikes in Glacier that were really challenging for us (Iceberg Lake and Grinnell Glacier). It wasn't so much the distance; we walk A LOT at home and we can easily do long distances in one day. What killed us was the elevation gain. Our lovely city is FLAT. We are not used to climbing. So these hikes were a challenge and we overcame.

 

I don't see any of these challenges in our Alaska vacation, though we might have some hiking opportunities in Whistler.

 

I am sure Alaska will be amazing, but I really am sad that we won't be getting out there and hiking and getting into the land. That's what I have learned. I really like to get in there, hike, explore, and see the sights that you can't see from pulling over to the side of the road. And cruising in Alaska, we won't really do that.

 

I really hope I am surprised, and that I still have that feeling of coming out of this vacation a better person than I was when I went in.

 

About Our Journey:

 

We are sailing to Alaska round-trip from Vancouver, and we will be spending 2 nights in Whistler and 2 nights in Vancouver before we sail. We will be driving to Whistler, and returning the car when we return to Vancouver 2 days later.

 

Costco members: If you book your car rental through Costco: keep checking the price! I have saved hundreds by rebooking as the prices drop! You don't pay a deposit when you book, and you can cancel without any penalty, so keep checking the prices and rebook if there is a price drop!

 

We were originally picking up and returning our car to the Vancouver airport, as that seemed to be the best option. We would then take a fixed rate taxi back to our hotel. That makes the most sense, right? We all know that you pay more when you rent a car from one location and return it to another one. It is best to save money by renting and returning to the same location, always!!!

 

Well once I actually looked at a map of Vancouver, mapped out the route from Vancouver to Whistler and back again, and looked at where our hotel is... I realized that this was a really dumb plan. Why would we drive past our hotel, drive through downtown Vancouver traffic, and then PAY MORE MONEY on top of the car rental to get back to our hotel??? Even if we took the Sky Train to our hotel, that would still be more money in addition to the car rental fare!

 

So I started looking at options.

 

I played with different options and found that we could return our car a few blocks from our hotel, and since I am obsessive about checking prices I found that we could do that for less money than we would spend returning the car to the airport and taking any transportation to our hotel. We could even drop off our luggage at the hotel, then take the car to the rental place, and walk back to the hotel or hop on a tour bus (that was the plan anyway) and stop in at the hotel to see if our room is ready.

 

This sounds so much easier than driving past everything and backtracking!!!

 

Now, our family car is a Honda CRV. I do not like driving in unfamiliar places. I have been on too many road trips where we missed an exit, or hit traffic, and it caused so much stress. So for YEARS I refused to get a rental car. I have recently acquiesced and now I am OK driving around, within some parameters. One of those parameters is that I like to drive the same kind of car.

 

So we have rented Nissan Rogues, and Subaru Legacies. When I booked this vacation and decided to change to returning the car to downtown Vancouver instead of the airport, the only options were "Intermediate Car" or "Full Size Car" but there were no "Intermediate SUV" cars. I struggled. I really struggled! Can I actually drive a REGULAR car in an unfamiliar place? Is it worth the time and money savings? Will I be a ball of stress or will I be OK?

 

Well, I decided to do my due diligence and consult Google Maps Street View. If you are not familiar with Google Map Street View, you can drop a camera into the street/area and virtually "drive" or walk the entire route. I "drove" much of the Sea to Ski Highway and decided it would be OK to do this drive in a car, vs. a SUV.

 

Well lo and behold, because I check the prices obsessively, an SUV became available and I jumped on it and yeah, that's what we ended up with. Comfort above all else.

 

Keep checking prices and think outside the box! You won't necessarily pay more for returning the car to a different location!

 

Our Hotels:

 

I originally had us staying at the Marriott Pinnacle, because I had a great rate for that hotel. Then I kept hearing about the Pan Pacific, which is right at the port, making it so easy to embark. Well I am all about making things easy, so I called and managed to get an amazing TA rate, so I made the change to the Pan Pacific!

 

In Whistler we are staying at the Westin. We'll be close to the gondola, and close to the village, and we got a GREAT price, so there you go!

 

This cruise is a birthday present to my son, a birthday present to myself, and a graduation present to my daughter. We love nature and the outdoors, and this seemed like a perfect way to celebrate all of our milestones.

 

One of the ways I prepare for vacations is by doing research. It is partly the travel agent side of me, but it is also partly the mom-of-a-child-with-food-allergies side of me. I love to learn about where we are going, what we will see, and I love to have a plan of what to do and where to go and where to eat. When we sailed on Disney I marked DD's allergy on the reservation and spoke to the head server and all servers we encountered on the ship, and we were all set. DD was served food that was safe for her, and everyone went to great lengths to make sure she was safe.

 

I was worried about how Holland would handle allergies. Would they take the same precautions? Would they be able to alter menu items, or allow DD (and the rest of us- we don't eat the foods she is allergic to which avoids cross-contamination) to pick and choose menu items to make a meal? For example, on the night when everyone else fights over who can get into the MDR first for the much-coveted "Lobster Night" we need all traces of lobster OFF our plates. Would that be OK? This is what I have to deal with when we eat outside our home. Most restaurants and resorts have been very accommodating, but we have also run into some very uneducated individuals.

 

I posted a thread here asking for help, expressing my concern, and most of the replies were very reassuring. I was directed to this form: https://book.hollandamerica.com/specialServices/login.action?WT.ac=FAQ_ShipboardLife_AccCruise_CommitmentToService_SRI_PDF and told to call Ship Services, which I did. Turns out the form is all that is needed, but the call to Ship Services did help put my mind at ease. I had also marked her allergies in the reservation, and was commended for doing so by Ship Services. I was also directed to speak with the head servers upon boarding (already planned to do that), and to dine in the MDR as much as possible to avoid cross-contamination. I had planned for that, for the most part. I've already requested a table just for our party, to again avoid cross-contamination of DD's food, and near the window because I don't want to miss a minute of the scenery so hopefully that works out! I'll check out the buffet when we are on board and determine whether there are some safe options for DD there.

 

We'll have to vet the restaurants in Whistler and Vancouver as we go, though I'll do some further research before we travel.

[provencedelsol]

Congrats on setting the bar for your children on bravery and travel. No better way to become a good citizen of the world than travel.

 

Sounds like your DD's allergies are similar to mine -- virulent. Nothing that comes from the water, fish or shellfish. HAL is excellent about avoiding cross contamination. DO talk to the head waiter for your section the first night. This will enable the next day's menu to be presented at dinner and she can pre-order the meal. I try to avoid the Lido/Buffet for a couple of reasons, one being the allergy issue. The Dive Inn grill should be another safe option. I don't recall any items of concern on that entire menu.

 

Enjoy your wonderfully researched adventure! My DGD has just started the 3rd grade so I am a big fan of third grade teachers!

[fvalente]

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to hear more!

[Grenouille21]

had a whole pre-trip thing written up, and I've decided to scrap it and fill in the important bits as I go along, otherwise it will be next summer by the time I actually report on our vacation!

Testing my photo posting abilities...

 

Do you see this? Is it too big? What about the photo, is THAT too big, too?

[asebastian]

Photo is perfect. Great shot!

[st cloud]

That's Beautiful!

[jbhcw]

Great picture...enjoying your review so far...have a wonderful cruise!!

[Grenouille21]

Day 1- Flying to Vancouver, Driving to Whistler

We left for the airport while it was still dark. I maybe slept an hour, maybe I didn't sleep at all, who knows. Either way I was very happy to be greeted by a Starbucks on the other side of TSA. We all have TSA Pre-Check (actually DS does not as he is still 12 but I will get him signed up this year) and it is awesome.

So we made it through security and Starbucks in record time and waited at the gate.

We were so early, there was another flight departing from our gate that hadn't even boarded yet.

We started chatting with the two gentlemen sitting next to us, who ended up boarding that plane, leaving us to talk to each other.

Now, even though I had booked through my United Frequent Flyer airlines, we were flying on Air Canada. This was a bit nerve-wracking as I am a mildly anxious person and new things make me nervous! Why was the idea of flying on Air Canada making me nervous? I HAVE NO IDEA! It just was. I think it was the unknown. Will they have movies on demand on board? Will there be anything that I actually want to watch? Will there be anything my kids want to watch? Will they serve food? Will they all speak French?

So anyway... it turns out Air Canada is NOT scary, and our flight was awesome, except for the part at the beginning where it sounded like 100 bolts came loose and fell off the plane.

But we won't dwell on that.

I liked the screens on the seat that you could use to watch movies and/or check out how far you had traveled, or how far you had yet to travel. I watched Book Club and The Internship, both of which I recommend though I might not recommend both to the same set of people. I also watched this:

I also really love looking out the airplane window, which usually means leaning over at least one of my children.

It is worth every eye roll and moan from my children to get photos like the one I posted earlier, and the ones I am sharing now.

We arrived and breezed through Customs. There were kiosks where you tapped some screens and scanned your passports and headed on your way.

Keep your "receipt" from the kiosk! There are at least 2 humans who will need to check it before you can go about your business!

While I was expertly scanning my kids' passports, a woman who did not speak English approached me with her passport, and gestured that she wanted me to scan it for her. It was so odd! In no way did I look like an airport TSA employee. I was wearing athleisure and a backpack, for Pete's sake! I gestured awkwardly, attempting to indicate that while I am polite I am NOT Canadian, nor am I a TSA employee, and thus I was unable to scan her passport. Yes I managed to convey that entire message in gestures, because I am that talented.

Anyway, we got through security and went to pick up our car.

We ended up with a Mazda CX5. I'll admit, when the car rental agent said "Mazda" I may have rolled my eyes. When my son asked what kind of car we had and I told him, there may have been a groan. But I rescind my eye roll and my son rescinds his groan because that car had such PEP! I could floor it and it responded like it had been waiting all its life for someone to just underSTAND it. I doubt the car would last terribly long as an owned vehicle. We all know what happens to wild souls when they are kept too long.

So off we went on the Sea to Sky Highway, in our peppy car! The plan was to stop at Shannon Falls, Tantalus Lookout, Brandywine Falls, Train Wreck trail, Alexander Falls, and Callaghan Road/Olympic Park.

Half of those stops are quick walks from the parking lot. Half are walks or hikes of varying difficulty. One is a tourist attraction where you are basically paying for the right to say you've been somewhere that was once important.

Our first stop was Shannon Falls. However there was nowhere to park, despite 2 attempts. It was disappointing, and I wondered if each stop would be a similar disappointment.

Next stop was the Tantalus Overlook. Now, this is a roadside pullout, it is not labeled, and it is just around a corner. I had plugged it in to the navigation, and the Navigation Lady warned me it was coming, and I STILL had to swerve off the road at the last minute and scare the bejesus out of all 3 of us. So you might miss this one if you aren't ready for it. But if you manage to catch it, it is so worthwhile for the view!

Next was Brandywine Falls. Here you park, and walk a short distance on a trail, crossing train tracks at one point, to see the falls. You can then go farther and see the falls from another viewpoint, and then go even farther to see a wide panoramic view of the canyon. The whole thing is probably less than a mile, and very easy.

I am happy to say that we easily found parking and headed off on the trail. We passed an adorable covered bridge, and then crossed the tracks.

There was a tour group as we stopped to view the falls, and they were taking up all of the "good" viewing space, so we went farther down the trail and came back later.