THIS IS A POST WORTHY OF ITS OWN BOOK! (and maybe it will get one)
DISNEY MAGIC ALASKA CRUISE
May 27-June 4, 2026
Depart: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
We told Owen, Kellen, and Kai that we were going on a cruise back in February and they were threatened with no on-board ice cream if they told Emily. They were very good and keeping the trip under wraps for almost 4 months. Emily was told about the cruise the day before we left and she couldn't wait to pack up! We scheduled a character call from Mickey and Minnie to get excited for the trip and put this picture up on the TV. This is our ship- the first and original of all the Disney Cruise Line ships, built in 1998.
Wednesday, May 27
TRAVEL
Kellen and Kai had their Championship Track Meet day 2 of 3 this day. We packed up the car with all the travel luggage prior to the meet, attended the meet, and then left for Canada straight from the meet. In fact, we left the meet a little early, or as early as we could. Kai skipped the last event line (with other participant's permission) to get to the front so we could leave before 6:00pm. We got dinner on the way out of town and drove 6 hours to Surrey, British Columbia, staying the night in a high-rise hotel downtown. But close enough to feel comfortable getting to Vancouver in the morning.
Kellen and Kai at their last track meet of the season. Waiting in line for long jump.
Thursday, May 28
EMBARK
Day 1 Countdown is OVER!!!
Breakfast at the hotel
Driving into Vancouver across the bridge
At the port a couple hours before boarding. We got there with plenty of time to spare and were not rushed or worried at all.
Right at embarking but just before walking onto the ship where they called out our family's name- our first family picture of the whole trip!
Matching shirts for Day 1.
After getting the lay of the land with the ship, visiting and getting registered at the kids clubs, finding our rooms, decorating our doors, and going to the sail away party (which was really loud, rambunctious, windy and cold- but they had blankets on deck for passengers), we had our first rotational dining at Rapunzel's Royal Table.
Rooms 2554 and 2556 on deck 2 with porthole windows, right near the elevators. SUPER convenient and not noisy at all.
Rapunzel and Atilla Buckethead at Rapunzel's Royal Table.
Isn't Rapunzel the cutest?
They were "getting ready for a big birthday bash for Rapunzel and hadn't yet found Flynn Rider."
Kai- blue; Kellen- green
Friday, May 29
SEA DAY
Today we explored the ship, delivered Fish Extender Gifts, met the characters, and chilled at the kid's clubs.
First family event of the day: The Royal Gathering. We had reservations for this event first thing in the morning. Mom made these sign boards for us to all gather the signatures of the characters on the ship during our time.
Of course, ours had our own individual names on them. (Mom also made a bunch more as fish extender gifts- an on-board gift exchange for which you sign up prior to the cruise.)
We got registered for the Royal Gathering when it first became available before the cruise and the whole family got to meet the princesses all at once.
Rapunzel was so spunky and lively
Cinderella was sweet and attentive.
Look at how enraptured she is to Emily talking to her and telling her all her stories.
She could just keep going and going and Emily was ALL in talking about ALL the things.
Ariel was chatty, witty, and clever. We pulled out our sign boards for her to sign and she said they were the neatest thing and asked where we got them. Mom told her she made them. She gasped and said, "You did? Humans make the most amazing things!" HaHa
Mom, Dad, Emily with Alaska Minnie
On the ship we randomly ran into Belle (Beauty and the Beast), and she stopped to talk with Emily for a minute in the hallway (noone else was around). They talked about dresses and books and Belle said she'd ask Emily about the book she's reading when she sees her again in a few days. She wasn't rushed and she spent some real time focusing all her attention on Emily even for just a few short minutes. It was very sweet.
Dinner this night was at Lumier's. It was not a show and dinner, like Rapunzel's Royal Table. It was more "fancy" and kinda formal- but not formal that we had to dress up or act any different.
Kellen tries Dad's escargot (snail) at Lumier's for dinner.
All of our rotational dining dinners were fancy, but not too much food.
We ate just about everything on our plates and sometimes we ordered more than 1 plate! Cuz we can...
Every night our stateroom attendant (Suardana Suardana- same first and last name- from Indonesia) left us a folded towel animal and sometimes included Bunny in with it. We were also left chocolates on the bed. Bunny stayed in the room the whole time- we were so busy AND we didn't want to lose her!
Saturday, May 30
STIKINE ICE CAP, GLACIER DAY
Kellen got up early to stand in the Glacier Day Mickey line for an HOUR! But he was #5 in line!
Poor guy didn't have a jacket and it was 55 and windy- he was freezing! But he stayed the course, and the rest of the family (not Owen- he was with his friend group) joined him later for the picture.
Note: Mickey was originally on the open deck of the ship, but it started raining (see how the ground is all wet?) so he was moved to under a pergola/umbrella and the line followed him in orderly fashion. People understand about order and maintaining your place in line.
Captain! Iceburg ahead! Oh wait- lemme finish my ice cream cone, first.
So much ice cream! Every day, a new flavor!
Flavors of the Day: strawberry, pina colada, chocolate, mint, mango, blueberry
Alaska Iceburg Daisy Duck
Glacier in the background
Dad, Owen, Kellen, Mom
Duckberg (haha)
On Glacier Day the kids club got to play outside on the top deck, even in the sprinkling rain
Meeting Chip N' Dale
Kai: black jacket/ Kellen: green jacket
USING THE FORCE
OWEN
KAI
KELLEN
Winter in Elsa's Wonderland
Dinner was at Lumiere's again. This time, the French treat was caviar.
Dad ordered it, some tried it, some didn't. It was more like a small garnish on a cracker than a spoonful of red bait fish eggs from the store. Kellen got to have his meat cut up for him by our server, Edy.
Owen and Emily both got character sheets as well!
It's a fun way to make the cruise more special, rather than just the plain white ones.
Our towel animal for the day, discovered when we returned to our staterooms that night.
Sunday, May 31
SKAGWAY
We didn't know how big of a deal Skagway was until the end of our time there.
Its scenery is majestic (enormous mountains) and its history is full of old western tales of gold mining and a new frontier town.
Our ship got front and center placement at the dock closest to town. Other ship passengers had to walk quite a bit further down the docks to get to their ships.
See? Majestic Mountains
KAI took this picture from the train we took up into the mountains; the White Pass Railway
We took the White Pass Railway up into the mountains where we passed into Canada, but did not exit the train and then came right back into the United States.
We were in car 509- same as our telephone area code
Our ship at dock as viewed from the city
We also toured and visited some real actual sled dogs and their puppies.
Everyone who wanted to got a chance to hold a puppy.
Owen and Kellen
Kai and Emily hold puppies
Even Mom got to hold a puppy.... they were soft and fuzzy.
Dad got caught in the gold panning jail after we all practiced our hands at gold panning.
We didn't know we would get to keep the real gold flakes we found in our pans, but the family all together panned about $160 worth of gold! We put it all in our $40 ornament for our tree.
Family with the Skagway Mickey Head.
At the end of our Skagway visit- back at the ship.
Kellen, Kai, and Emily wanted to go back to the kids' clubs so we took them back on board and then came back out to the town.
Dinner at Animator's Palate (night 1 of 2)
Dinner that night was at Animator's Palate. The pictures on the wall are really screens that show Disney images being 'drawn' and then colored in throughout the dinner time. At the end of the night Magic Mickey came out and danced around the restaurant.
Our towel animals for the day, including the eye stickers we gave to Suardana.
Monday, June 1
ICY STRAIT POINT
Our next day we cruised over to an island and port, which is owned by a Native Alaskan Tribe. It is the only privately owned cruise port in the world. It is primarily a cruise port with port adventure type stuff to do around, but if you wanted to go the nearest town, it's a 20 minute car ride over to Hoonah, which is also the canning capital of the world.
Our day began with a Whale and Marine Mammal Cruise off the boat- on a smaller boat.
It was not a super well-attended port adventure, so we had plenty of room to move around the little boat and see the sights.
The mountains in the background are called the Fairweather Mountains because you can only see them in fair weather, which they only have about 9 days a year. Today was a good day for us!
Sea lions on a sea buoy
After the whale and mammal cruise we walked into Icy Straight Point to see what there was to see.
And then we did ALL the things:
*rode a scenic gondola
At the top of the hill where the second gondola drops you off and you can hike to the pond, shop at their makeshift stores, take the Zip Rider, or go on a 4 wheeling land excursion.
*took a small 1 mile hike to a nearby pond at the top of the hill
Mom and Emily with the pond in the background.
Sally Squirrel, Kellen, and Kai break on a log waiting for people to complete their 'business'.
Owen naps at the end of the hike while waiting for people to be done with their 'business.'
*completed a high ropes and obstacle course (Dad, Emily, Kai)
Getting ready for the high ropes course
Dad and Emily have fun on the course
Kai completes the rope bridge and then they're all done- walking back to check in after 2 hours
*rode a ZipRider Line (Mom, Owen, Kellen)
This zip line is the tallest in the world at 1,330 ft- taller than the Empire State Building!
It goes from the top of the mountain straight down for 90 seconds to right at the port. See our ship down there?
Owen and Kellen getting ready for the excitement of the ZipLine
Owen and Kellen rethinking all their life choices as they're getting their final strap in for the zip line.
They had a great time- even if we didn't get a picture of them right after they got off the ride.
In memory of their achievement (being brave and going on an extreme ride with Mom), they got a commemorative t-shirt for their efforts.
*walked around the scenic area of the port
Dinner tonight was at Rapunzel's Royal Table, where they continued Rapunzel's birthday celebration from the first dinner night AND they found Flynn Rider!!
DCL got a Flynn who looks JUST LIKE HIM!!!
This is the MAN OF THE HOUR!
When we discovered Flynn Rider at the restaurant, we also found that the ONLY person in our family who had their signboard with them was Emily (because Mom had it in her bag). We made the last second decision to try and get down to the room (on the floor below us) and get all the signboards so everyone could get Flynn's signature. Dad decided he would be the one to go. It was a SUPER close call. Flynn kept getting closer and closer to our table, and we knew if we didn't catch him while he was at our table we'd be out of luck, and this was the ONLY time he would be seen on board during our cruise (eek! the pressure!). Flynn finally got to our table and literally 10 SECONDS LATER Dad walks up with everyone's signboard. It was LITERALLY not a second too soon or late. The stress was REAL (especially on Owen's face, who would have been dead inside if he missed this one).
Dad rescued the day!!
And everyone got Flynn's autograph.
Owen tried clam chowder. Not his favorite, but he tried it.
Kellen and Kai were off with their friends while Owen, Emily, Mom, and Dad got pics with the Rapunzel lantern.
At the end of the day we came back to our staterooms to find these fun towel animals: frog & monkey.
Tuesday, June 2
KETCHIKAN
We didn't get into Ketchikan's port until 2:00, so the morning was spent on board doing ship stuff.
Goofy got a hug out of Owen (awwwww....)
We made sure to make time for Mirabel and Bruno.
We got everyone there, except Kai.
Bruno thought Kai might be caught or hiding in the walls with the rats, so he and Emily knocked on the walls calling out for Kai to see if they could find him. HAHAHA!!
In Ketchikan, we walked around the city a little bit and went to the Disney special edition of the All Alaskan Lumberjack Show. It was fun, and next time we'll do something else around town.
Ketchikan is supposed to be one of the rainiest places in the United States, but the day we were there it was 80 degrees!
Dinner this night was at Lumiere's again, so we didn't hurry back to the ship or dining. Rather, we took our time in port and just picked something up from the ship deck when we got back on board.
Back on board and after dinner, we went to a magic show while Dad enjoyed the sunset from the stern.
Fishing the Inside Passage
Kellen competed in The Emperor's New Groove Game Show in D-Lounge.
He won!
Bear towel animal in the room at the end of the day
We ordered room service including Mickey bars, a charcuterie plate, and milk & cookies
Wednesday, June 3
SEA DAY
We went out to breakfast this morning at Lumier's.
Owen had a late night the previous night, so he slept in.
This was a character-and-ship-delights day. We met some new and old characters; Emily, Mom, and Owen went on the the Aqua Mouse water slide- even though it was cloudy and chilly (we were the ONLY ones on the attraction so we went on it again and again and again and the water was warm enough to be comfortable even though the air was chilly); kids spent some time in their kids clubs; and we hung around on the ship.
Kai was recognized for his hyperflexible ankles in the Edge Group Talent Show;
Kellen won the Classic Tunes Star gameshow
Emily was recognized by the kids club for being an exceptional friend.
It was reported that she noticed a smaller child (maybe 3-ish) who slipped out of their chair and fell on the floor and Emily went over and helped them up back into their chair and comforted them.
There was also a time to do a scavenger hunt on the ship in the morning; Mom and Dad and Emily went around the ship looking for the Frozen symbols and identifying the ship's location.
Meeting Daisy
We found Goofy charging through the ship walkways giving high fives
PLUTO!
SPIDERMAN!!
EVERYONE GETS TO BE A SUPERHERO WITH CAP'T AMERICA'S SHIELD
Spiderman got Owen thinking about being a superhero.
Owen asked Spiderman how he goes to the bathroom when he has his suit on.
Spiderman's reply: Mr. Stark gave me this awesome suit- although it's not as awesome as his because he doesn't even have to take his suit off to do his business. But I have this thing right here in the middle of my chest and when I need to go I just tap right here and suite kinda disappears and I can do what I need to and then I tap again and the suit comes back!
Kellen and Kai got to meet up with Thor, who was super impressed with their flexibility.
Kellen
Kai
Last day hangout with Edge Friends:
Dinner that night was at Animator's Pallet, where we all got to draw and color our own character, which was then animated an shown to move and dance on the screens on the walls.
Our server, Edy, suggested that maybe someone in our party was celebrating a birthday or anniversary or something special...? So we said Owen was celebrating a birthday (he wasn't) and they came out and sang to him and he got a special birthday Sunday. It was super fun, even if it wasn't completely accurate.
We're all on there!
Dad, Mom, Emily, Kai
Dad (right)
Mom, Emily, Kai, Kellen
Owen (left)
Our drink server, Mao, just LOVED on Emily so much; she made these origami creations every day for dinner.
Our towel animal this night
Thursday, June 4
DISEMBARK
boo :(
Kellen and Kai made some great friends on this cruise.
They had fun WhatsApp conversations and also some fantastic close-our goodbyes:
Disembarking- they give you tags with characters on them the night before, which you can attach to your luggage placed in the hallway to have crew take off the ship. Then, in the morning, you wait for your character to be called to disembark. We set our luggage outside the room the night before so they took the majority of our bulky stuff away, and in the morning we just had minimal backpacks and a day bag or two. We had breakfast about 7:30/8:00 and then waited in the D-lounge on deck 4 to be called up. After our tag was called (we had Minnie) and we trudged off the ship, we picked up our luggage in the port with few hiccups and nothing we couldn't fix or find ourselves (not all our luggage was together. One or two bags got grouped with another family, but we just looked around the area with all the luggage dropped in neat lines and found what was ours, collected it, and walked out to the car. Easy.)
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