Vancouver to Alaska on the Disney Wonder, 8/26 - 9/2 2013 : Part 3

Guest Writer Wednesdays

By: Gaylin

August 28, 2013
Day 3 of the cruise to Alaska

Woke up to a very foggy, chilly morning. Today is the day we go up Tracy Arm Fjord to the glacier. The fog was very bright so we knew there was sunshine behind it, it just needed to burn off. Had breakfast at the buffet again and went out on deck, only to head back to the room for another layer of clothing! Being in a fjord that is salt water filled with slowly melting icebergs means it is cold out. We wandered around inside and out for the morning until finally the fog burned off at about noon. Our first iceberg!

On deck at the front of the ship there was a food station set up where they were serving soup in bread bowls and cookies all afternoon. Unfortunately I couldn't eat the soup (again, stupid allergies). But I could have hot chocolate! It is very interesting cruising up the fjord, the scenery is beautiful, some areas are tree filled and others are completely bare, this is where when the glaciers receded they stripped all the top soil off down to bare rock. Right at the front of the ship the wind was fierce so we never stayed out right at the front for long. There were other covered or protected spots on deck to watch from. There are lots of blue polar fleece blankets provided by the ship and many people were using them for wraps.

And finally, the glacier! There was lots of floating ice in the water but we didn't see the glacier calve.  

My traveling companion had mentioned that she was too tall to sleep in the bunk bed so we requested the queen bed be separated into two beds. If you do this, be prepared . . . they are very narrow beds.

It turns out that cruising to see glaciers is very tiring so I had a nice nap in the afternoon!

Dinner that night was in Animator's Palate again, only this time the walls did change to colour during the meal, so awesome. We had such awesome table mates, they made all the dinners we had together so much fun.

In case you were wondering if the weather stayed nice that day, this is me being a big goof after dinner! I won't be in the running for Top Model anytime soon.

After dinner we got changed and went walkabout on the deck. To our surprise on the pool deck there were two chunks of glacier ice! We had a great evening on deck, saying hello to people, admiring the view. Once the deck was nearly empty we walked around singing Hakuna Matata and laughing a lot. Such fun.

Sunset from deck, so beautiful.

This is the lovely hallway to the Walt Disney Theatre and on either side, stores! We chatted the the cast members and one of they gave us each a free Disney pin! A little touch of magic.

After we went to the stateroom, about 10:00 p.m. there was a great shuddering vibration, felt like it was right below our room. About a minute later the room filled with fumes, a lovely burnt diesel smell. I stuck my head out the door and there were quite a few people who were getting dressed and going up on deck. I was in my Mickey nightshirt and was in no hurry to get dressed . . . so we waited and the captain announced that one of the 5 turbines had over-revved and smoked up the engine room. There was no fire and they were venting the smoke. It took about 15 minutes to clear the air in our room. I did find out later that people up on deck were panicking, running on deck, looking for other people in their parties, worrying about their children . . .
We weren't worried, we settled into our new skinny beds and watched a movie!

Please click here for Part 1, and here for Part 2!