OhJinkies

You haven't mentioned whether you're spending any time inland after or before your cruise. For my cruise, I'm doing a DIY post-cruise tour. I'm taking a flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna into Denali National Park, which will land on a glacier. There are a couple of companies that offer this - I'm flying with Talkeetna Air Taxi. When I booked the tour last year, the price was $370.

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Thanks for all of the info and photos! I am booked on an aft facing balcony for a northbound cruise on the Sun in early June! I have already booked all of my excursions, including a flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle from Island Wings. This will be my first trip to Alaska, and I'm spending some time touring on land after my cruise. I'm so excited!

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I sailed on the Epic back in 2012, in a Solo Studio. The "bathroom issue" is really a non-issue if you are sailing in the Studios. You will have separate "cubicles" for your shower and toilet, and the counter and sink are part of the main room. I didn't feel that the room felt claustrophobic or cramped, and it had plenty of storage space. Unless you're out on the pool decks, there's not a whole lot of outdoor space – that was the only thing that I didn't care for on the ship. But if I needed to "get my ocean fix," it was easy enough to do. I enjoyed the Solo Lounge and the opportunity to have group dinners. I also met up with some fellow Cruise Critic passengers and enjoyed a martini tasting – the bartenders were quite generous with the samples! Finally, I really enjoyed the spa. There's a good-sized thalassotherapy pool, heated tile loungers, and more loungers out on the aft balcony.

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Hi, I'm a solo cruiser who will be aboard the Sun departing from Vancouver on June 5. I'll have to look for Casey!

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I've lived in Florida all my life, and definitely have found a need for gloves! The last few winters been have been mild, but we have had some doozies in the past (I'm talking about mornings where I had to scrape the ice off my windshield before I could drive to work). I have some cashmere-lined leather gloves that are wonderful. They are tight fitting, and good for driving and other general use. I brought them with me on a trip up to New England last fall, and they came in handy. I bought them so long ago, that I don't have the purchase information anymore, but I would recommend something like that.

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OhJinkies! Thanks!! I appreciate you sharing this information, sounds exactly like me.

:D Happy to help -- I've been planning this trip for a couple of years! CruiseCritic and TripAdvisor have been wonderful resources. I love reading the trip reports in this subforum!

My cruise is coming up in June, so I can't make any recommendations, but I'll share my research. Like you, I also love photography. And while I'm not the most outdoorsy person, I'm eager to get outside, do some light hiking, and enjoy the beauty of Alaska. Here's what I have planned during and after my cruise:

Juneau: I've booked a Smartphone Photography Hiking Tour of Mendenhall Glacier with Adventure Flow (just look them up on Google). They provide RT transportation and a guided hike of Nugget Falls Trail and Trail of Time (about 3 hours) with lots of opportunities and tips on getting great photos of and around the glacier. This company also offers more adventurous hikes as well.

Knik Glacier: This is in the Mat-Su Valley, like the Matanuska Glacier, but is about one hour from Anchorage. I've signed up for a tour that combines an off-road vehicle with a jetboat ride to get an up-close view of the glacier, with an hour on shore of Glacier Camp. I'm hoping for the late-day Photography tour, but am currently booked on the morning tour awaiting availability of the later tour.

Anchorage: After having to reschedule my return flight, I now have more time in Anchorage and decided to spend my final evening taking a late-evening sunset photography tour around Cook Inlet Coast, the Turnagain Arm, and the Chugach Mountains.

I just thought I'd share some cool ideas for enjoying the scenery, wildlife, and getting some great photos!

I'm doing a post-cruise DIY tour from Seward. I am going to take a Kenai fjords cruise, then take the train up to Anchorage. Overnight in Anchorage, then Rent-A-Car and drive to the Knik Glacier area for an off-road and boat tour to see the glacier. Overnight in Wasilla, then up to Talkeetna. I'm doing a flight seeing tour from Talkeetna into Denali National Park – with a glacier landing. I may add a jet boat tour while in Talkeetna. Then back down to the Girdwood area, sightseeing around there, and end up back in Anchorage for my flight home. This is a six-day itinerary.

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We have also disembarked in Seward, but we have never cruised on NCL so I have no idea regarding their self-disembarkation procedures. We have always just "dinged out" our sea pass cards, walked to the luggage hall to pick up our luggage and left the ship.

 

Seward is not as touristy as ports such as Juneau, Ketchikan or Skagway. I haven't looked at their 2017 cruise terminal schedule, but in the past they have never had more than one ship in port at a time and don't even receive a ship a day.

 

If you look at Google Earth you will see the small boat harbor. The cruise terminal is one one side and part of the town on the other (the town is rather long and narrow). From a docked ship you can look across the small boat harbor and see the Harbor 360 hotel in addition to both Ray's Waterfront and Chinooks restaurants.

Thanks, I pulled up Google street view to find my hotel and the bakery meeting place. There is one other ship in port that day -- the Seabourn Sojourn, but they arrive at 7 AM and only have 450 passengers. I'm hoping to be off the ship close to 7 AM. Thanks for the info, it really helps that I don't have to wait in a line to go through Customs!!

We have done the Kenai Fjords excursion upon arrival in Seward. The vendor we used picked us up at the ship when we called them. You will not go through customs as this was done when you boarded - for us, anyway since we boarded in Vancouver. We don't schedule this ahead of time....we wait to check the weather when we arrive in Seward - it can be really bumpy in the Gulf if the weather is windy or rainy.

Thanks -- what ship were you on? How long did it take for you to disembark?

I'm not doing the tour with one of the big operators -- it's a smaller craft (15 pp max) via Alaska Saltwater Lodge. I handpicked this for the more intimate experience, and there's too much risk of the boat reaching capacity if I don't reserve! We have a meeting place not far from my hotel, so I'll need to drop off my luggage first, then walk down to the bakery where we're meeting.

I'm cruising into Seward on the NCL Sun on June 12 -- the ship is scheduled to dock at 5 AM. I'm not sure what time they actually start disembarking passengers.

I have booked a small boat cruise of the Kenai Fjords and need to meet up with the group at 7:45 at a location near the Seward Boat Harbor.

If I choose to carry my luggage off the ship, how long on average does it take to fully disembark? Do I need to go through Customs if our ship departed from Vancouver?

By the time I exit the terminal, is the small boat harbor area within walking distance, or should I take a cab?

Thanks!

Thank you so much for that info! I was aware of the two larger tours but not the smaller one, and it definitely sounds more my style (and glad to hear it has bathrooms too!). I will have to check it out. :)

Glad to be of help! Can't wait for my cruise and DIY land tour!!

Reviving this thread.... anyone done the Kenai Fjord cruises?

My Alaska trip is coming up in June, so I can't give a review -- but I'll share my research and my decision.

The two primary tour companies that cruise Kenai Fjords are Kenai Fjords Cruises and Major Marine. Their boats hold around 150 people, more or less - lunch is either available on board or on Fox Island, depending on which company you cruise with. The meals may be buffet, salmon, prime rib, etc. They also offer various perks (fog-free windows, heated seats, free use of binoculars, etc.) and are worth checking out.

But I decided that I didn't want to have to jockey for viewing space with over a hundred other people, and the whole lunch thing wasn't really a priority for me. So I found Alaska Saltwater Lodge - they also do tours of Kenai Fjords, but their 45-foot vessels top out at 15 passengers max. They have bathrooms (that's important to me, LOL) and do serve lunch -- but it looks like simple wrap sandwiches and cans of soda. But for me, it's not about the meal, it's about getting close to beautiful scenery, glaciers, and wildlife.

So I'd recommend you take some time to think about what's most important to you and choose the company that you'll be most happy with.

Keep things as easy as possible then - pop into Rogue, literally inside Waterfront Station, for dinner before your tour. Good selection of PNW beers, a broad pub grub menu that is almost identical to, but consistently better-prepared than, Steamworks just down the block (same owners - brew their own beers here so that may be of interest despite the worse food).

 

If you're running late and just need something fast, there's an A&W franchise inside the station also (IMO the best of the fastfood burger chains), and you could easily walk past Meat & Bread on Pender for a superb sandwich.

 

Forage is just a block from your hotel for a nice dinner - a very Vancouvery option, pretty much everything on the menu is sourced locally.

Thanks, martincath, for the dinner recommendations!

Well, I took the plunge -- I made a reservation at the Blue Horizon and cancelled the Hampton Inn.

I'm not sold on dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, but probably don't have time to linger long over dinner, either. The tour starts at 7:30 PM in front of Waterfront Station (tickets haven't gone on sale yet for June). So I'm going to poke around Trip Advisor for dinner recommendations, but if you'd like to make any, fire away. I'm not much of a seafood eater, and a great burger or slice of pizza is perfectly fine by me. I can do a nicer dinner on Sunday night.

xlxo there are sketchy neighborhoods in Vancouver?!?

Sorry to hear that – there were some good reviews on that hotel. I'm on my way across town right now, but I will have to check out the Auberge and the Blue Horizon when I get home. Would both of these be good options for getting away from the stadium traffic?

Thanks again!

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How about something radical -- what if I changed my hotel? I'm thinking of something in the Gastown area (convenient for dinner and ghost tour) and the Skwachays Lodge seems to have good reviews and rates. Would the post-game traffic be any better getting there from the airport?

Thanks for the airport advice -- I just wanted to make sure I can go back into the terminal after I clear customs.

xlxo - I probably won't be able to do the Spaghetti Factory for dinner (that would have worked out well if I wasn't trying to avoid the post-game traffic by eating at the airport). That leaves me with Sunday night to get some dinner. But maybe the ghost tour will stop by there!!

I feel like maybe I'm stepping beyond the normal level of asking for advice, but I'm hoping that those of you familiar with the airport can help me.

My trip is going to be two weeks in duration, so I will have one checked bag, as well as a carry-on. I will need to retrieve my bag from baggage claim before it disappears. Is the main terminal (where I can get something to eat) accessible once I pick up my bag?

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I'm sailing on the Sun in an aft balcony – 9277 -- to Alaska this summer. I'm sailing solo, so the size will not be much of an issue. First time to Alaska and on the Sun. Can't wait!

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Wow -- thank you so much to xlxo, martincath, and UrbanTrekker!! I feel so lucky to get some advice from locals!

Martincath, I totally did not see that other ferry stop when I first looked on the map, so thanks for catching that and finding me a shortcut!

Xlxo, thanks for the advice about eating at the airport -- that may save me from post-game traffic! Would you say that most of the people who attend these games drive/park, or use local transit?

Can't wait to see Vancouver for a couple of days before my cruise.

Much thanks to you all!! (and Dennis -- I hope you feel better soon!)

Good point about the soccer match - I'd definitely abandon any thoughts of dining around the hotel with it being so close to the stadium. Another good reason to get yourself over to Gastown to both dine and do your tour. Check what the refund policy is for both tours - if one of them will guarantee you being able to swap it to another night should your flight be late, that would make me choose that tour over t'other (while I've done Forbidden and enjoyed it despite the cheese - as in cheesey acting, rather than a food tour!) I haven't toured with Ghostly so can't fairly compare quality.

 

We have plenty of experience coping with a 3 hour timeshift - lived in Toronto and remain frequent visitors - so our general experience is you'll be tired around your normal bedtime, but if you force yourself to stay up doing things that keep you mentally alert until 10pm you'll sleep like a log, then spring awake still on the early side local time - 6am or so - and spend the next three hours bemoaning the fact that most Vancouver restos are lazy b*ggers that don't start serving breakfast until 9am!

 

Since your food tour starts very early for lunch, a big brekky won't be needed so I'd suggest an early, leisurely walk to Granville Island via a Timmies (the one on Davie at Howe involves the least detour from the shortest walk over Granville bridge - about 50mins/2.2miles - or head down towards Chinatown via the one at Pender & Abbott, then go eat your brekkie inside Dr Sun Yat-Sen park's gazebo before continuing on to the Seawall. Walking the whole way around to GI would be over 3 miles, but you can hop on a ferry at any of the stops aroudn the creek - maybe after checking out the Hinge Park Beavers which are much more active early). Ferries are available much closer if you don't fancy walking that much - but I figure someone signing up for two walking tours likes to walk!

 

Stay up until 10pm again and you'll be on PST proper when you wake up the next day.

Thanks -- by "Timmies," do you mean Tim Horton's? I do need to check it out, but my hotel serves a free breakfast beginning at 6 AM so I'll probably eat there, at least the first morning.

I was planning to walk to the False Creek Ferry at David Lam Park- by my estimates it's about a 20-minute walk from the hotel. I do enjoy walking tours but don't want to exhaust myself before the morning tour even begins!

And thanks for the dining advice -- I'll look up some places in Gastown for dinner the first night.

Thanks everyone for the info - including information on the soccer crowds!

I love ghost/history tours -- there are a couple of Gastown options that include a 7:30 PM tour with Ghostly Vancouver and an 8 PM tour with Forbidden Vancouver. They're both under two hours long. I haven't booked either one yet. My cruise leaves on Monday so this is my only opportunity to do one of these tours.

The next day I'm doing a Granville Market Food Tour (with Vancouver Foodie Tours) starting at 10:30 AM, though, so I don't want to exhaust myself.

I booked my air travel to Vancouver back in August and the airline just pushed my arrival time 10 hours later than my original schedule. I ended up cancelling and booking a new flight that arrives at 4:20 PM (my original flight was scheduled to arrive at 12:30 PM). I had been looking forward to doing a walking tour that evening but am worried now about how long it will take to get out of the airport, get to my hotel and get settled in, have time for dinner, and catch a tour around 8 PM. I'm thinking that it will just be too much of a rush after a long day of travel. I'm flying from Orlando, FL at 7:30 AM.

Can any of you help me estimate how long it would take on average, on a Saturday, if my plane touches down at 4:20 PM, to get my luggage and transfer to a downtown hotel on Robson St. (it's the Hampton Inn)? Are we talking an hour? Two hours? I don't have a transfer lined up and will probably just take a taxi (or Uber if it's available).

I just need to decide whether it makes sense to book a tour that night or just forget about it. TIA!

Thanks. The videos are no work of mine - just to get things right.

 

Well, I am a tour guide sometimes - sort of. I guide lots of friends and members of German sports groups in my home city. But I do it privately (as a volunteer so to speak) and not by profession. I don´t charge money and I always try to visit local venues with my groups in order to give some business to the businesses.

Plus, I do lots of tour planning not only for my own cruises but also for family and friends.

Thank you -- I'm researching a Baltics cruise for 2019 and would love to start from Germany (my great-great grandmother was from Bavaria). If I travel around northern Germany via train, do you have any suggestions on what I can do with my luggage while I'm visiting the towns?

Thanks!