go4ak

We will be sailing out of Seattle at 4:00 pm on the 11th of July on the Crown north towards Juneau.

The Aurora Forecast shows a 5 for July 11th and a 4 for July 12th and it shows visibility on the horizon as far south as Seattle on the 11th and Prince Rupert on the 12th.

We are obviously hoping to see them (even if we have to stay up and outside all night).

My questions are - 1) what are the odds of actually seeing it from a ship out at sea. 2) where would be the "darkest" part of the ship?

Thanks so much.

There is the Wyndham San Diego BAYSIDE that is right across from the cruise port. There are city views and ocean views. Large nice hotel.

It is also across from and walking distance to the USS Midway aircraft carrier that you can tour. There are also harbor tours and a tall ship tour. It's walking distance to many restaurants as well as the Old Town Trolley tour company. Also within walking distance is the San Diego Seaport Village. Lots of shops and of course... more restaurants.

About a block behind the hotel - you can take the red car city trolly to many other stops around the downtown area.

Is EZ check in something that you sign up for with Princess or with Alaska Air?

Would appreciate any info about it - sounds wonderful.

Thanks

Thank you, Colo Cruiser

Awesome spreadsheet. That is extremely helpful.

In trying to evaluate the value of the beverages and more card... what would the cost be for a glass of coke, or a hot chocolate, or a mocktail?

Speaking of mocktails? I know of the virgin pina colada, and the virgin bloody mary - but what others are available?

Thanks.

You walk around on the glacier terminal moraine.

If you do a You Tube search for Glacier Point Wilderness Safari many people have posted videos of their trips (including the walk).

I'm doing this excursion in July of 15 and really looking forward to it.

Oh yes, I forgot about the Chihuly exhibit - that's a must see. Thanks for the "warning" on the market.

Thanks again for all the advice.

We land at 10am and plan to drop off our luggage at the hotel and then hit the city running.

We plan on doing the Duck Tour and visiting the Space Needle, Pioneer Square and Pike Public Market.

We plan to have dinner down at the water front - maybe the Crab Pot or Anthony's.

Since two breakfasts are included with the room we'll probably have breakfast at the hotel (and just purchase the other two). Then head for the ship around 11am.

The Mayflower Park's rate is $409.00 so their pretty close. We save a little bit with the breakfast and transfer.

Thanks again.

Thank you so much for all of the detailed info.

We're from southern California - so we really don't have fear of traffic - but we'll certainly try to avoid it whenever possible.

Thanks Martincath for the street view link - that made my husband very happy.

Thanks Mapleleaves

We went ahead and booked a room at the Warwick.

They have a "cruise package" that allows for two American breakfasts and transfer from the hotel to the pier.

One room 4 people for $399.00.

Thanks again for your advice.

I will be on a Princess cruise that disembarks in Vancouver.

My family will be driving up to pick me up at the Canada Place Pier.

I plan on doing a walk off disembarkation.

If there is anyone that has done this - do you have any recommendations as to "where" I would try to meet up with someone arriving by car?

The plan is that I will call them when I'm getting off the ship.

I'm wondering if the cruise terminal is anything like an airport terminal - where I could say... I'll be at the arrival area at xxx. :confused:

Thank so much in advance for any advice.

Does anyone know which hotel Princess uses for a pre-cruise overnight?

Spending one night in Seattle (4 people) and not sure if we'll choose the Princess hotel or a different one.

Looking to probably stay near the Pike Public market.

Plan on seeing the sites and then taking a shuttle or cab to the port.

Thanks for any info.

The price of a cruise is exactly the same on the ship as if you did it at home the same day.

 

While on the ship, you should probably purchase Future Cruise Certificates ($100/person only in the names of people actually on the ship) that can be used at home to have a future cruise booked (with a TA or with Princess) with that same $100 down (already paid for with the FCC) and future OBC.

So, are you saying that you can purchase a future cruise certificate for 100.00 and then book any Princess cruise in the future? I was worried that I had to know the exact cruise that I wanted in the future.

Thanks for the clarification.

Thank you. That's what we were thinking.

I didn't think there was a significant change in weather or animals between 7:30 and 10:30. :-)

We are planning on reserving the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari out of Skagway. It will be through Princess and will be in July of 2015.

There are two times for this excursion 7:30 am to 1:45 pm and 10:30 am to 4:45 pm. We will be in port from 6am to 8:15pm.

Would one time be preferred over another? We're early risers so the 7:30 would be no problem.

Has anyone been on this excursion and have an opinion about it?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks so much. That info will really help in the planning.

FAR more successful sightings. I have gone to three of the fly in areas that are consistent for viewing.

What time of year have you been to these areas? Was one better than another? Would you mind sharing the names of the areas?

Thanks

I know for 2014 and 2015 the Princess ships don't stop in Sitka.

Do they ever?

Wondering if they only stop there every few years?

Or can you "visit" Sitka as an excursion from one of the ports where they do stop?

Thanks

The "hike" was really more of a nice walk. There was a well maintained dirt trail - very easy walking. Because we were seeing so much of the forest we all walked very slowly. It was maybe about 1/2 mile (if you call them I'm sure they can give you a better idea).

I can't really say what the trail was. We were dropped off in a dirt parking lot and after the walk kind of "popped out" of the forest above the visitor's center. We walked down towards the visitor's center and towards the glacier.

We had one woman on the tour that had bad knees and she would drop back a bit and then catch up while we were all stopped either taking pictures or listening to the guide. At no point did we feel that she was holding up the group and I really don't think she felt that she was. The walk really is at a nice slow pace.

I finally found the card from the tour and the name of our guide was Eric Oravsky. He was just amazing.

This past May it was Sandra (Sandy) Schempp.

Hopefully she's still there - she was AMAZING.

Thanks for the information.

So, what would be the best suggestion for seeing bears?

We're not able to take the flights and we will be there July 16th 2015.

Any thoughts?

Does anyone have any info (good vs bad) of the Bear Country & Wildlife Expedition via Princess in Ketchikan. We are looking at booking this in July of next year.

The Princess site says it the only "drive-to" bear viewing opportunity. It says it's on a Private Sanctuary where you walk on elevated walkways over bear viewing areas. You see bears catching/eating salmon, interact with a reindeer, watch a carver, see an old saw mill, and see birds of prey.

Would love to see bears - but really can't afford a fly-in trip.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

As someone who is a quilter and also lives in Alaska, I've never seen fabric in one of our Alaskan quilt shops which was either printed in Alaska or was unique to our state. I really wish I could state that I've seen fabric unique to Alaska (i.e., I've seen fabric with moose motifs, but moose aren't unique to Alaska), but quite frankly I haven't.

I wouldn't expect someone from Alaska to feel that their fabric was unique - but to us outsiders it WAS it's all so different and amazing it was very exciting. The OP is from Nebraska and I'm from So. Cal. Believe me you don't see much fabric around here with bears, northern lights, or Tlinglit symbols or patterns.

All in all still very fun to go to shops outside our area. And how lucky for you to live in Fairbanks!

My favorite was the Rushin' Tailor in Skagway. I actually bought enough fabric for an "Alaskan" memory quilt.

There is also a store called Changing Threads in Skagway

Juneau has Changing Tides and Rain Tree.

Ketchikan has a large store called Silver Thimble.

They all have websites to give you an idea of what they might be like.

They all had VERY unique fabric that you may find only in Alaska.

Until you want to just make a patchwork of misc. fabrics you might want to go with a pattern in mind so you know how much yardage you want to buy.

They all carry a wide variety of fat quarters and fat eighths. I didn't seen any jelly rolls or bali pops or other precuts.

If you have the time and can afford it, I would highly recommend it.

I took one out of Whittier this past May and it was amazing. You see several glaciers up close and personal. Glacier Bay is magnificent on a grand scale. The glaciers are huge and you do get close. But, on the smaller boat in Whittier you get really really close.

I truly felt it was one of the highlights of my trip. I would do it again in a heart beat.