Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/40418
BEFORE BEING SWEPT AWAY BY THE ICY Alaskan landscape, we had a full day at sea to indulge in some of the ship's amenities. The cruise package includes the room, most meals and entertainment. Shore excursions, alcoholic beverages and some specialty drinks are extra and will be charged to our room. But on Day 2 that didn't stop us from sipping special coffees on Deck 9 while Thomas and a bevy of other kids splashed about in Mickey's Pool, seemingly oblivious to the West Coast wind that had most adults, us included, bundling up. While Thomas was baking chocolate chip cookies in one of the kids' clubs, we warmed up in one of the pool deck's two hot tubs. Afterward, Dan expanded his microbrew lexicon at a beer tasting in the Diversions sports lounge while I took in a talk on port shopping. At 11 decks, the Wonder is smaller than Disney's new 14-deck Disney Dream, which currently sails to the Bahamas, but it cuts a sleek fi gure, with bright yellow trim along a 290-metre-long black hull. Inside, a grand staircase, tapered pillars and oversized port- holes call to mind the golden age of ocean liners, while swirling wave patterns in the car- peting and banisters accent the art nouveau decor. Though we spot subtly placed Disney characters in the bronze friezes and railings, the only in-our-face reminders that we're on a Disney ship are the bronze statue of Ariel in the lobby and the Disney art on the walls – including rare animation cells from the company's archives. Though, just like a visit to one of Disney's theme parks, we never know which characters we're going to run into: we spot a beaming Belle (of Beauty and the Beast fame) sashaying down a hall in her canary-yellow gown; Peter Pan perched on the ledge of a porthole; Goofy cruising the pool deck. But, unlike a theme park visit, there will be ports of call, where we can ven- ture beyond the white-glove pampering and Disney characters for the day. "TWO YEARS, TWO MONTHS AND TWO DAYS," says conductor Stephen Caulfi eld about how long it took to build the White Pass & Yukon Route railway, based in Skagway. It's Day 4 of the cruise and our fi rst shore excursion. Sport- ing a silver beard and immaculate black uni- form with gold buttons, he bustles back and forth between the 11 vintage rail cars, tend- ing to passengers and checking that every- thing is OK with the connecting platforms. Completed in 1900, the narrow gauge railway promised an easier journey north than that made by thousands of stampeders during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98. The railway, which parallels the White Pass Trail, one of the original stampeder routes, snakes over 177 km of tight curves and steep grades, climbing so high (to 914 metres) that Thomas asks of the trees and boulders below, "Why do they look like toys?" Stepping out onto our car's platform, we hang onto the railing as we roll through a tunnel; icicles PARK N FLY 1/2H 42 WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 201 1 (lobby) ©2011 Disney