Alaska Cruise & Holidays in NYC with Travel Mom Monique

I’m the founder and host of Wine Oh TV, which takes viewers to the heart of wine regions around the world. We currently air in distribution with CBS in the West Coast markets on CBS Bay Area, KCAL Los Angeles, KMAX Sacramento, and KSTW Seattle.

I’ve been covering food, wine, and travel for 15 years now. What I love about wine is how it brings people together. And what I love about our version of the show is it’s really about community, about connecting and coming together. Wine is the through line, but it’s really about community and connection.

I’m a single mom with nine-year-old twin daughters. After losing my husband and their dad to colon cancer in 2019, I’m just honored to have adventures with my daughters in this new way.

I’ll start by saying I paid the full price for everything and booked it at the last minute. When I start looking at traveling as a single parent, it’s really the only vacation I take, so I want it to be for my girls and me. What’s going to be fun for my daughters? But what’s also going to be fun for me?

I happen to love Disney. I grew up in Southern California, so it’s in your blood. One thing I’ve wanted to do but haven’t done is go to Alaska. Alaska seemed like one of those places that would be hard for me to navigate alone, so a cruise would be a great way to do that. And Disney, of course, knows how to make it fun for everyone. So, I booked the 7-day Disney cruise to Alaska from Vancouver.

I did the thing that everybody told me not to do because I am also frugal. I didn’t want to spend one night in a hotel, so I booked the flight the same day as the cruise. And thankfully, it worked out. We took an early flight from San Diego to Vancouver, got off, and went straight to the ship, where we queued up. They were very fast and efficient, and we got on there, and it was just so magical.

It was my daughters’ birthday present. Their birthday is August 4th, and they told me they didn’t want anything for their birthday, no presents or a party. The cruise left the day after their birthday. They woke up on their birthday, and I think the magnitude of what they told me hit them, that they really wanted nothing. So I had Mickey and Minnie call the house on their birthday and say, “You’re going on a cruise tomorrow.”

What I appreciated about this adventure was that it was a great thing to do on a cruise because you could see the beauty and bounty of Alaska. It was such a magical experience. I didn’t know what to expect.

As I booked at the last minute, many of the excursions were already booked. I was able to book whale watching and a rainforest hike. On our first adventure out, what I learned from our extremely qualified tour guide, who worked at the University of Juno, is that Disney makes sure everyone’s excursion is just a little more magical. He said usually there’d be 12 boats out looking for whales, and we were the only ones. He said we may or may not see whales, and we had so many whales come to us. They went under the boat. He said all the years he’d been doing this, he’d never seen anything like it. We had baby whales, moms, and dads. It was super magical.

What I love about Disney ships is that the entertainment is Broadway caliber. We love to go to shows. And the actors and the characters they have are very good. They’re Broadway trained, so you get these Broadway caliber shows, which is equally a part of the adventure.

We also did the thing that I said I’m never going to do, which is the photo shoot. They lure you in with the “free” photo shoot. It’s not really free when you get to look at the pictures and see what they cost. And this is a pro tip if you do want to do it. They wanted to do it in the studio, but I said, Let’s do it out on the ship. They were resistant but eventually said yes. My daughters did the Disney Princess Magic thing where they got all pretty before, and I threw a dress on, and oh my goodness…literally the best photos of us that have ever been taken in our lives!

The magical whales, the beauty of Alaska, and we hiked in a rainforest. The girls loved the whales and the rainforest hike, where they got to learn about nature, which they really love.

I could have spent a couple more days, as you don’t have the breadth of time to understand the community like you would if you were on your own adventure. But I didn’t have to think about anything. It wasn’t too crowded. The weather was perfect—70 degrees. It was a totally great experience. I think they knocked it out of the park.

That was a different kind of magic..New York City magic. We hadn’t been to New York together, and my daughters have been obsessed with Home Alone. So I thought New York is magical during the holidays. I lived there in my early twenties. Making it happen at around Christmas time is its own unique challenge. And I decided to do another surprise this time.

They said they didn’t want anything for Hanukkah or the holidays either, so I thought they’d catch on this time. I wrapped up gifts – two outfits, emerald green skirts with pink poofy shirts and headbands. One of my daughters loves snow globes, so I bought an authentic Radio City Rockette Snow Globe on eBay, and I wrapped that up. My other daughter is interested in fashion and animals. So I found a picture of a lady walking a dog on Fifth Avenue at a thrift store. They opened the gifts and were like, “Oh, thanks.” So I had to tell them we’re going to New York, and they were so surprised. Then we went the next day on the 26^th.

I booked well in advance, and I’m very glad I did. Some of the things I never would’ve thought I needed to book so far in advance, but one of them was Tea at The Plaza. I reached out about four months in advance, and they said to get back in touch 90 days out to book. I made a note to call 90 days in advance. I woke up at four o’clock in the morning and made the reservation. They were sold out within an hour. And I’m glad I made the reservation too, as you couldn’t just walk in and look at the decorations this time of year anymore, because of the crowds and security.

We went to see the Wicked matinee in the pouring rain. It was so magical. We loved it. We did the stage door, and Prince Charming and Glenda signed the playbills.

We did another thing, which I learned about and would recommend to anyone. I’m sure everyone knows to see the Rockettes. I booked the tickets to see the show and the backstage tour. I timed the tour right before the show tickets, mainly because I’m interested in that stuff. It was $20. It was very inexpensive, and you also get to meet a Rockette, which I thought my daughters would like. So, we did this great backstage tour. It took about 45 minutes, and there was a really small group of us. They gave us the history of the Rockettes. We got to meet the Rockette, but then, bonus, we didn’t have to queue up for the show line, which was bananas to get in. You can book it on the website. We loved it.

We stayed at the Thompson in the Central Park area. And the other thing we did, which I booked last minute, as I overheard a flight attendant telling someone. If you want ice skating, don’t go to Rockefeller Center, go to Central Park. I got tickets online and could also book an ice-skating lesson. The girls got a lesson and skated. It wasn’t crowded, it was very easy, and it worked out great.

We were there for three days, which was perfect. And we’ll go back again to visit Lower Manhattan, where I used to live.

Why do you think it’s important to travel with your kids?

🚢 🐋 🌎 🍎

Thank you for joining us, Monique!

You can also find Monique and Wine Oh! TV on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.