Cruisingthesuitelife

As promised, I am reporting back about our experience with Jayleen. Please have patience with me as I write a detailed report with pictures (hopefully) of our three weeks of Alaska cruises (B2B Princess immediately followed by a HAL cruise).

 

 

For now, I will tell you that we did have a good time during our two whale (northbound and southbound) watching tours with Jayleen. We enjoyed our experience so much that we have booked with her for northbound and southbound 2018.

 

More details to follow when I get my review posted.

Thank you so much for getting back to me, that is great to hear. I will look forward to reading your review - thank you for taking to write one :)

I believe it was about $240.00 per person

Thank you :)

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This is brilliant thank you! Will you be doing a review?

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It is brand new. We got an e-mail from the concierge the day before cruise. He said it was offered to suite guests first, then would be available to all guests once onboard.

That's brilliant thanks for letting me know. I'm in a suite next May so fingers crossed. Would you mind letting me know how much it costs?

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The formal nights are day 2 (Hubbard Glacier) and 5 (Icy Strait), which is Saturday and Tuesday.

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Hubbard Glacier there was a special smaller boat wildlife explorer that got much closer to the glacier. It was amazing.

I'd love some more information about this please. Was it something you pre-booked before the cruise or was it only available to book once on the ship? Thanks :)

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I'm really sorry this happened. I do agree that far more could be done by the hotel and warning people is worthwhile but would help to know where it occurred.

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I have already booked for May 2018. In the weeks leading up to the relevant date being released I monitored fares that were already released and how they changed. Alaska Airlines fares typically seemed to drop a day or 2 after they were released and this was the case for what I booked too. I do agree with setting an amount you will pay and then purchasing. I had quite fixed dates and times, so jumped in as soon as they were what I was expecting and I feel comfortable knowing it's all confirmed and not having to stress over getting it sorted.

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Sounds like a great idea.

 

Thank you

 

Lou

It is definitely an option to consider but just make sure you price up all options as I considered open jaw but it would have raised my total flight price by £600 per person...

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Our overall itinerary is as follows;

Fly to Seattle

A few days in Seattle

Fly to Anchorage

Overnight in Girdwood

Couple of days in Seward

7 night southbound cruise

Few days in Vancouver

Fly to Seattle and then home

Cruisingthesuitelife,

Are you going directly or via stop offs.

Thanks

Lou

So to help a Numpty further, It looks like you are both suggesting Flying from UK to Seattle is the way forward and then a flight from Seattle to Anchorage.

 

After the trip a return flight, bus or train from Vancouver to Seattle.

 

Crusingthesuitelife can I ask how much you have found your flights for please just to give me some kind of guide. When are you going ?

 

Thanks again for all of your help.

 

Lou

All our flights are direct. My Mother, who I travel with, and I both have mobility issues, so indirect flights, layovers and the necessary assistance is more hassle than it's worth - it's difficult enough on direct flights!

We have used miles as full or part payment on all our flights, so the prices aren't going to be reflective of booking without miles. From general research in economy/coach it was just under £900 pp for LHR - SEA return, $200USD pp for the SEA-ANC and $200CAD pp for the YVR - SEA. This was for flights late May/early June. Sorry I cannot be more help on that.

I live in the UK and did Alaska 2 years ago. I am also returning next year.

In 2015, we originally booked Virgin from Heathrow to Vancouver return but a few months after booking they cancelled the route and we were moved on to BA. We wanted to spend some time in Seattle and also worked out it was far easier to fly from Seattle to Anchorage than from Vancouver. We did an internal flight up to Seattle from Vancouver with Alaska Airlines - this was the way that worked best for us but other more reasonably priced options are available. After a few days in Seattle, we flew to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines and hired a car to get to Seward for our Southbound cruise. We then flew directly home from Vancouver after the cruise.

Next year the only real difference is that we have chosen a return flight to Seattle instead of Vancouver. Virgin now do this route (as well as other airlines) but when it came to booking we could get the flights far more reasonably priced with BA and the flight times were much better. We have booked our internal to Anchorage with Alaska Airlines again, they have so many flight times each day and were more reasonable than other airlines. We will fly from Vancouver to Seattle after the cruise for our flight home - this time booked with Delta.

When booking for next year I did look at flying from different European airports but the saving, if any, was negligible and just not worth the hassle of more flights.

The 48hr on board cancellation policy is relatively new and as I understand it, is across the whole RC fleet.

Weren't guest services able to help if the shore excursion desk was closed?

What is an AJ dock?

There are several docks for ships in Juneau, AJ dock is the name of one of the docks.

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It is walking distance but I believe they also offer a shuttle in case you don't want to or aren't able to walk.

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Great review so far, thanks for taking the time. Congratulations on your 29th wedding anniversary :)

Took a quick visit to Farnborough Airport today where the Red Arrows are based for a couple of days. I've always been fascinated by planes and seeing these guys up close left me a little awestruck... so much so I barely remembered how to operate my camera to grab a quick shot!

On the way home I passed a number of rather gorgeous cars on their way home from Goodwood Festival of Speed. I ended up behind this rather gorgeous McLaren P1... I dread to think what that private numberplate cost!

While shooting the bees buzzing around the blooming cactus in the backyard, I saw this little green beast climbing around on the Sago palm flower. I had the 100mm macro mounted and closed in for a tight shot. It reminded me why they feature so many giant bugs in horror movies.

 

 

Dave

[emoji50] WOW!

This was a 'back to the wetlands' weekend for me - so here are a few highlights of a brutally hot and humid summer day in the swamp:

 

A very close up side profile portrait of a black-bellied whistling duck, from about 6 feet away:

 

Purple gallinule looking up and stretching to get at a nice juicy flower bud:

 

Closeup of a red dragonfly:

 

A big wood stork, just after having a dip in the water to cool off, now trying to dry himself off by spreading his wings to air out:

 

A juvenile tricolored heron, still brown in color having not developed his adult coat yet, but practicing his hunting/fishing technique in the shallows:

Absolutely wonderful photos, thank you for sharing them.

We booked the car on Feb. 15th for a June 12th pickup. I did it online through the Avis website. No money down, we paid at the time of pick up. I would reserve it as soon as you know you're going to need it. I'm guessing there were at least 40 cars in the lot when we picked our car up. There were zero in the lot when we returned. From my research I knew this was a popular choice in Skagway. There were 3 ships in port that day so it's easy to see why all the cars were rented.

Thanks, I appreciate the info, that's good to know. [emoji1]

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Thanks for taking the time to do your review, it is really great. Your photos are brilliant. If you don't mind me asking, how far in advance did you book your car in Skagway and did you just book it online through the Avis website? Thanks:)

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Nice ~ that is a lot of teeth :D

Thanks! His expression was pretty much mine when I saw his teeth! ;)

Oh goodness, glad they are all OK.

Made a new friend today :)

And then after the cruise you can start planning your next Alaskan cruise.

For some people, Alaska is only possibly a one time option, so making sure you do at as right and as suitably for you the first time is the best way forward.

If OP is happy with their choice after their research (which is what virtually everyone has suggested) then nothing a group of strangers can say will change their mind.