moposh

Glacier Gardens is out by Mendenhall, so you will not want to take the city bus back to the ship dock (~10 miles and close to 1 hour by bus) just to return to Mendenhall (back the way you came from) by shuttle. You'll see what I mean if you look at Google maps. You should probably get a taxi or rent a car.

I did look at a map and Web sites. I was hoping to just take city bus to glaciers, but then I read about the walk from the bus stop.

Will the glacier bus pick up near the gardens or does it only pick up at the port?

Thanks.

A much more ad-free link is this one:

 

http://www.destinationalaska.com/

That's 2013. Guess 2014 is not available yet.

What is the white bus? How long would you estimate I should allow for a trip to the Glacier, round trip transportation included? I also want to try to see the Glacier Gardens, going there via city bus. I guess after the gardens, I'd have to return to the dock to catch the glacier bus because I don't want to have to hike a mile to the glacier visitor's center. I would be doing this in the afternoon because I plan to do another excursion in the morning. Do you think it's doable or should I pick glacier or garden to see? Thanks!

Thanks Cindy. I wondered if tour size might be an issue. I'll probably book through the group you did then. Sounds like ISP might be a good place to whale watch.

I'll look into the toursaver, but not sure if that would be a good deal for me. And I can't take advantage of the Alaska Air deal since their flights from my area aren't that great.

Why did you decide to do your own thing in Denali, rather than stay on the tour?

I hope you have a great trip and birthday! Happy 50th!

Hi Cindy,

I just spent three days reading your thread. You offered so many great ideas, suggestions, comments, things for me to think about for my upcoming Alaska cruisetour, along with beautiful photographs. I really appreciate the time you took to post such a detailed description of your trip. I admit, I was a little so-so about going to Alaska--wanted to, but I don't like the cold. After reading your review, I'm totally psyched to go.

Why didn't you book your whale watching trip through RCI? The price is pretty much the same.

I think I'm going to be in sticker shock when it comes to paying for meals in Alaska.

If I have any other questions, I hope you don't mind if I ask you. Thanks so much!

Are these your hiking shoes?

Anyone tell me what drinks are offered free on the ship? Just tap water?

Like others have said, lemonade--which is what I mainly drank; milk, juices. I didn't get the soda package my second cruise and was quite happy. And saved a lot of money!

Probably also tea and coffee, but I didn't drink those.

Also, use a clean plate each time you go up to the buffet. It's amazing how many people don't know to do that!

I got tired of always being told to use sanitizer when I walked into the DR or WJ. I'm like some of the rest of you. I wash my hands and probably just had. Plus, I carry my own sanitizer. I preferred to sanitize AFTER touching the menu.

Thanks so much. I'll read both your reviews.

The beds were fine in 2009 and that was a 15-night cruise, so if they'd been uncomfortable, I would have been unhappy. Maybe they've replaced them since then, but they were fine--not hard, not too soft--in 2009.

I redeemed for the first time and did it online and then booked my cruise. I thought you had to do it that way. Then I didn't book the cruise I thought I was going to. Ended up calling RCI and booking through the phone. Someone from Rewards called me the next day because the cruise I was booked for was not the same as what I put on the redemption. I also thought Alaska cruise for two was inside cabin when it's actually outside, so they just gave me $2,500 off the cruise. Happy with the service I got.

One thing we always do is bring a ziplock bag for the tv remote in our cabin. Saw a special on 20/20 about the dirtiest items in hotel rooms - remote was top of the list!! And yes it works fine through the plastic bag!!

Great idea! I hate touching remotes in hotel/cruise rooms. I will be doing this. Do the stewards leave the remote in the bag so you just have to have one bag and not one bag per day?

Thanks everyone. I just wanted to make sure I didn't HAVE to make payments along the way. I plan to, as that will be easier on the wallet than paying a huge chunk at one time.

Yes, I booked directly with RCI.

Has anyone done a landtour before or after their cruise? I have a 4-night landtour scheduled before my Alaska cruise and I'm just wondering what to expect. It looks like only transportation, hotel, and some entry fees may be included, but I'm on my own for all meals.

Thanks for any help!

I've got a cruise booked for August and paid the reservation fee ($250). Will RCI email me when I need to make payments or am I just supposed to go online and make a payment? I know I have to pay it all before June 1, but can't find anything about if I'm supposed to make payments before then. Does anyone know? Does RCI expect payments at certain dates or as long as they get the remainder by June 1, they don't care? Thanks!

Let this be a lesson to everyone to double, triple check the room before you leave!

When I cruised last, they really pushed you using hand sanitizer as you entered restaurant, but then you handled the menu, which I thought then negated the hand sanitizer.

Hope everyone feels better soon.

Last time I cruised they didn't keep the life jackets in the room. Have they changed that again?

Might be fun to do bed checks. LOL

I don't know anything about fibromyalgia so can not help. My husband has bone cancer and tires easily so for our cruise in August we will be renting a scooter for him to use.

 

Would renting a scooter help you?

Fibromyalgia is a form of arthritis and can be quite painful/debilitating.

They've got to get everybody off the ship before people can board. But better early than late!

Fantastic review and pictures. Thank you!

Your daughter looked like she wanted to take that Husky puppy home. Don't blame her. Cute!

I'm going on an Alaskan cruise from Seward to Vancouver in August. Looking forward to it much more after seeing your pictures.

I would love to do an Australian cruise sometime, but that's probably a long time in the future.

So basically i can get on 3 weeks and 2 days from.............right now!!!

Don't you mean 3 MONTHS? :p Sounds like someone's excited.

Have fun!

I'm glad RCI has gone non-smoking. There were certain public indoor areas I couldn't go because of the smoke.

I guess they don't want smoking on balcony in case people take it inside the room. It is very hard to get smoke out of a room.

This is my suggestion also. We found out the hard way that the ship did not carry any (or were out of stock). We were sold a $44 bottle of lotion at the spa that was guaranteed to work (it didn't). Luckily for us our table mates has brought several travel sized bottles with them and gave one to my daughter. We never travel without Aloe - daughter puts it in the refrigerator!

 

P.S. Yes, we do use sunscreen...we just forget to reapply - we are working on that!

Yes, aloe is a must. I didn't take any on second cruise and I desperately needed it. I refused to pay the high price at the ship store and took a mini detour to supermarket on excursion in Costa Rica to buy some. Lesson learned!