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On 2/21/2020 at 10:20 AM, KristyMisty14 said:

Is this at the pub or ?

No - Icy Strait Brewing is right in Hoonah - it was a little closer to the ship (relatively) on the edge of town when we went in 2016 but it looks like they moved a bit further in and have expanded their offerings. I don't recall any food when we were there. Icy Strait Brewing

We're doing the Eclipse cruise out of Vancouver this year, the Icy Point itinerary. I'd LOVE to go to Sitka as I've not been there yet and it looks really neat but our options were limited by time off factors and because we're going with a group of friends. Icy Point is okay, we stopped there in 2016; it's a really small fishing village with a built up cannery museum. I don't think you can go wrong with either option overall. 

15 hours ago, SuperCrewBear said:

 

I'm from not too far from you in Oklahoma. 🙂 There's an interesting little place we've ate at a couple times when our cruises have stopped in Victoria. It's about a 15 minute cab ride from the dock. Their specialty is Poutine from Montreal. If you don't know what poutine is... Ha Ha  It's a dish from Quebec that's French Fries with brown gravy and cheese curds. There's several varieties where they add maybe chicken, beef, mushrooms, grilled onions, etc.  It's called La Belle Patate (The Beautiful Potato) on Esquimalt Road about a mile or so from the central business district (Government Street).  It's kind of a fun place - one big table and a few stools at a window counter plus a couple small tables on the sidewalk - it's mostly locals picking up stuff to take home. There's also excellent burgers and "steamies" (hotdogs).  I've become friends with the owner just from eating there.  It's cool because it's away from the tourists - he says there will be cruise passengers come from time to time though. He said people from the South REALLY like his poutine. Ha Ha  We'll take a cab back to Government street to do a little shopping and then it's close to time to get back to the ship - there's a shuttle one can take or just walk (about another mile).

 

 

Lol this is in my 'hood. It's the best poutine in town.

We took our then 9 year old to Grease on Harmony in 2018 and she loved the show. Went again in November and she walked out at age 10 commenting "that was really inappropriate" because she understood a few more of the jokes. 😂  She still enjoyed the show and would probably keep watching it. There are definitely some crass parts but they aren't any worse than in the Travolta/Newton-John movie version so you can always give it a re-watch and judge. 

17 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

Hi 🙂 I will be glad to share it and will go get it in now. Make sure to read the info a page or so back about the tour (and also some elements apparently may not work offline, so check that and be prepared to be online). We so loved the week that we spend in BC the summer of 2018. My brother in law is from BC (maybe a couple of hours NE of there), but this was just a getting to know Vancouver trip (and Bowen island) and we loved it!

Hi 

Thanks I got the email link, did reply as I used a email variation on here so drive didn't like me clicking through from my real email.

What part of BC is your brother in law from? I've been to lots of parts of the province but having feel living in Victoria for over half my life (!). It's pretty beautiful! If you're ever coming this way hit me up for some suggestions! 

Hi! @AlohaLivin I just found your thread/post today. I would love to use the Three Amigos map, if you're still okay with sharing your hard work! It's our first visit to PR in a couple weeks and I think your map sounds like my vague plan! Please use jenn.gcbf at Gmail for com. 

Thank you for sharing your hard work. I've read through the whole thread so hopefully won't mess up anything!

Just found your review, looking forward to the whole thing! We're on the Nov 17 sailing with a number of the other commenters! Should be a great time. We've also booked the Radisson at the Port and are doing the KSC + airport transfer on departure. WE have an overnight flight from the west coast Friday-Saturday so are getting in early Saturday morning, renting a car for the day to check out Disney Springs and whatever else strikes our fancy. Grills is looking like a good choice for dinner that night if we get to Cocoa Beach before that time.

Just adding another vote for the museum, it's one of our favourite places.

The BC Legislature is open for tours between 9am and 5pm and it's a pretty neat looking building inside and out. The website says self guided tours end at 4:30pm so you might find the time a bit tight but it's pretty historical for around here.

For pubs - Garrick's Head is a fav for food and beer choices...if you just want good craft beer I suggest going a little further north to the Pandora Street side of Market Square to the Drake Eatery. The food is small and a bit trendy but the beers are the best. Swan's Brewery & Pub is across the street, they have good food too and their beers are drinkable.

Enjoy your visit

we rented a car through Avis in 2016 for about $80; easy, quick walk from the docks to the hotel where the Avis is located. Took a few minutes and our mini van full was off to Mendenhall Glacier with no issues. Was great, we got to spend the time we wanted and stopped at the actual Alaskan Brewery tasting room on the way back to town.

If the ship is offering the zip line tour then it should work out fine since they won't sail away without passengers on an excursion booked through the ship but if it's booked on your own then definitely don't do it. We're going for the first time in November and at this point I think we're just going to do our own thing with cabs.

We were on Harmony last May and they had those groups of kids together then too. I think that's part of the reason mine wasn't really into the club like she'd been on other cruises but on the other hand Harmony has way more to do than ships she's been on in the past. I was hoping they would be separate this time (November) but should probably not expect it.

7 minutes ago, FPP777 said:

An option to this great idea^^^^^^

 

The coffee shop does not have Baileys. They have some other off brand of Irish Cream. I can taste the difference as I really like Baileys. What I normally do on the way back to my room in the evening is to stop at a bar and get a shot of Baileys. I leave that in the fridge overnight and add it to my Americano in the morning.

I bow to your superior planning skills...I will be doing this in November!! Thanks! 😊

On 7/20/2019 at 10:39 AM, taymorel1 said:

We are doing anytime dining on Harmony in November. I just recently booked and they said that was the only dining available. I have never done anytime dining before.  Since you cruise next month, post back and tell us how you liked it. I am a little nervous since we have only done traditional dining and we love that. 

We had MTD on Harmony last May and generally had 6:30 reservations each night. They were actually great about seating us at the same table every night (except for 2x) so we got to know the wait staff well and they were both lovely. We were at a table for 4 every night (3 of us) and didn't sit with any other passengers. It was really nice, although we do like the dinner with strangers aspect too. Might have to see if we can mix it up this November. I assume you can request to sit with other people but they never offered and we never asked.

even better - specialty coffees + a shot of Bailey's to get the morning going 😉

Hi

I can only comment on the one I've done; haven't actually made it to the beaches in St Thomas and first visit to St Maarten will be this November but we did do a kayak/snorkel/beach walk tour in St Thomas the first time we were there. Not sure if it's the same excursion you're considering but it was really great. The paddle was about a mile with a stop over a jellyfish area, went to a beach with great mangrove snorkeling and then a walk to a blow hole. It was a really great excursion. Just don't pick up the giant land hermit crabs!

7 hours ago, UKWLDCruise said:

It was for me and my sisters family, you moved round in a group and were given free time at all the major exhibits plus as I said when you needed a bus to see things they had one set aside for you so no queuing. 

Awesome, thanks! I appreciate the review. Sounds like a good way to spend our pre-flight time for something we can't do anywhere else.

On 6/24/2019 at 10:51 PM, UKWLDCruise said:

When I did this a couple of years ago it wasn't a set loose tour, you did have lots of free time but you moved around the place as a group.  Such as when the coach took you out to see the pads and crawlers they had one set aside waiting for our group.  

 

The excursion had us waiting outside the door for KSC to open and we had plenty of time.

Would you say you got more for the $$ doing the excursion? Trying to figure out what the VIP part means and if we want to spend the money for 3 of us to do the excursion. The luggage holding alone is a big plus over trying to sort that out ourselves.

Thanks

We were on Harmony last May and had My Time dining. We tend to eat early so had made the reservations for 5:30 or 6:00 most days ahead of time in the cruise planner. It always worked out just fine for us (party of 3). They actually made a significant effort to seat us at the same table every night to have the same waitstaff. I'm sure they will accommodate you.

Hi

Your posts are making me even more excited! We leave at the crack of morning tomorrow to fly southeast across North America to leave on the Harmony on Saturday! Our first time! Very excited.

I absolutely loved your photo of the Abyss and the sunrise in post 106. Enjoy the rest of your sailing!

From what I've been reading, I think you can find more consistent snorkeling on St Thomas but I've only been to either island once each and we didn't go to the beach on St Kitts. We did do an excursion on St Thomas that was a kayak, snorkel, beach walk and really enjoyed it. We'll be going again in May and have booked a Buck Island snorkeling trip. We do plan to go to the beach on St Kitts this time and have our own gear so can see what the beach snorkeling is like for ourselves.

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We were there 7 years ago and opted to pick a likely looking cab driver at the port. He drove us around Basseterre a bit, up to Brimstone Hill (which we got to before most of the tours so there were only about 10 people there at the time), then to Romney Manor for a bit. The driver showed us the house he was born in and had a great personal interest in history so he told us lots of interesting things. He took us back to the port and we walk to a restaurant he recommended, which was fantastic. I can't remember now what we paid but we agreed before hand for two of us (I think in the range of $40-80 USD).

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Through what company?

 

 

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There is a shop in The Empress hotel that has tea things. There is also The Bay downtown and Murchie's Tea across on Government St. You could try looking at both online to see if they might have what you want. Finally there's Special Teas on Yates St (just off Government St). They do have tea wear but I'm not sure they have full English tea sets.

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Well this is an exciting cruise critic find early on a Friday morning (hi from Victoria BC). We're cruising on Harmony for the first time in 57 days so your live posts might help me make it through!

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Full disclosure, I haven't been in n Nassau yet but in my research there's a zoo/botanical garden or might be worth spending the entrance fee for the aquarium at Atlantis. Those are things I'd do with mine if she was still that small.

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