Disney Cruise Review - Disney Wonder - Alaska

Each trip we take, I write down a few notes at the end of the day in a journal.  The word I saw over and over again after our trip on the Disney Wonder was FANTASTIC.  Whether I was referring to the food, the entertainment, the crew, the staterooms, or the ports of call, I used this word over and over again.  Hopefully I will not be as redundant in this post but fantastic was how I felt about each day!

We took a 7 night cruise that left from Vancouver, spent two days at sea, spent one day viewing the glacier at Endicott Arm, and spent three days in the cities of Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

I think I'll hit on food first because it was fabulous.  Disney Cruise Line offers "rotational dining," which means you rotate through three different dining rooms each night while on board.  Each dining room is themed differently.  Our dining rooms aboard the Wonder were Triton's, Tianna's Place, and Animator's Palate.  Triton's was also open for breakfast and lunch each day.  We did a lot of meals at Triton's because we enjoyed a sit down meal over going to the buffet at Cabanas.  

There were also options on the pool deck each afternoon which offered pizza, salad, sandwiches, soft-serve ice cream, fruit, chicken nuggets, fries, etc.  We found this was a great option after excursions, if all other dining options were closed.  It was a little chilly as it was outside but on a different cruise, the experience would be totally different!

Our final night we dined at PALO, the fine dining restaurant on the Disney Wonder.  PALO was FANTASTIC.  Advanced reservations are needed and it costs a little more but it was well worth it!  The views we had from the restaurant were also exquisite!  Dinner began with fresh bread and a charcuterie plate.  Among the four at our table, we had calamari, caprese salad, gnocchi, lobster pasta and halibut.  The dessert menu was also wonderful.  The chocolate souffle was my favorite dessert!          

entree at palo

Palo dining room

Dessert at animator's palate

There are a number of "adult only" areas on board if you're traveling without kids or if you just want some time away from the little ones for while.  Each night after dinner, we enjoyed shows at Azure, which is adult only after a certain time each day.  There was also an adult only bar and lounge in the same area of the ship.  On the pool deck, there is an adult only Cafe, lounge area, and pool. 

If you want to experience an adult only area, there are youth clubs for kids ages 3-12 where you can drop off your kids so they can have tons of fun in the themed areas and be supervised by the Disney Crew members.  There is also a nursery for those younger than three.  

The spa, Senses, is also a great "get away."  We purchased the cruise long pass to the rainforest room in the spa.  With that we were able to use the sauna, two steam rooms, hot stone loungers, and aroma therapy showers.  Because we were on a slightly chilly, Alaskan cruise, the hot stone loungers were my jam.  After spending some time outside, they were the perfect way to warm up and relax.  I would take my book, a journal and relax!   

Our Stateroom

Speaking of relaxing, our room was also a great place to unwind.  While we only had two people in our stateroom, we were more than satisfied with the space.  We had a queen size bed, lots of drawers, a fairly big closet, room under the bed, a couch, a desk and a split bathroom layout.  Many of Disney's staterooms have a split bathroom, which has a shower and sink in one small room as well as a toilet and a sink in another small room.  This feature is great for families, especially when many people are trying to get ready in a small space together.  We had a port hole, which we were very happy with.  A balcony would have been nice, but we could not justify the extra expense when we did not think we would be able to sit on the balcony for long periods of time due to the chilly weather.  Just having the port hole (and it was a pretty nice size!), allowed us to see a lot of beautiful country side while in our room. 

Last but not least, the crew was amazing.  Everyone was extremely nice and accommodating.  Even now more than a month after our cruise, our family continues to talk about Andre, Putu, and Luis our main server, assistant server and stateroom attendant (respectively).  They learned our names throughout the week as well as our preferences.  The people aboard the ship worked very hard to make it an incredible experience for us all.    

Excursions: Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and Adventure Karts in Ketchikan