CCJack

We are booked on our 1st Alaska Cruise (7/15/16 NB ROS, 12 night cruise tour, Mountain Panorama 5A).

 

A couple of questions:

 

1) I see the shore excursions are quite pricey! We may be interested in doing no excursions or the smallest of excursions on a stop or two, to budget for some bigger excursions elsewhere. Also, sometimes we like to have a slower day with just a half day off of the ship, etc. Which of the ports are best for this, perhaps with a downtown to investigate on your own, etc. I assume there is not much to do at Icy Strait Point, so that may be an excursion day.

 

How about Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway ?

 

2) For whale watching tours, how rough are the seas? My wife complains about sea sickness occasionally but is not super sensitive.

 

3) General advice on excursions would be appreciated. Fishing doesn't really appeal to us. Nature walking, wildlife, and history would.

 

thanks.

If it were me, I would take the money and keep the Guaranteed Cabin. We have been on a lot of cruises, and by and large, there are not bad balcony cabins, especially on newer ships. The one obstructed view cabin we had, I loved. Granted it was Caribbean and not Alaska, but the obstruction provided some shade and wind protection while still offering great views ! I don't think Explorer has any of those anyway.

We took a taxi from the ship to Columbus Circle. We then walked the rest of the way. I thought it was an enjoyable walk of about 1 or 1 1/2 hour. I thought it was an excellent way to go because it is a nice walk and see things along the way. A couple other Gaudi sites are on the way if you plan your walking trip correctly.

We also took a ship tour to lake bled and loved it. My photos there are some of the best I have ever taken. Personally , I do a lot of excursions on our own but not with a long drive from port.... I am nervous about missing the ship. We did have a nasty traffic jam on the excursion as we approached the lake, all roads seem to converge into one entrance road in a valley.

We were on the epic last summer and embarked in Rome. It was an excellent choice, embarkation in Rome was a breeze since there were so few people. For our day in Barcelona we took a very short cab ride to Columbus monument. Cabs waiting outside the ship. We then walked all the way to sagrada familia....it took about an hour and a half but very pleasant. We took a route that led us by 2or 3 other gaudi buildings. Even stopped for coffee at a cafe in the way. If you walk with no stops probably an hour but that is no fun. We booked a guided tour ahead of time. I don't remember the time but perhaps 11 am or noon. We would have left the ship early about 8 am. It was a wonderful day. We were told the basilica only has services one Sunday a month. If they let you book a tour time it will be open, you don't need to worry about worship times. I think the other services are elsewhere.

I would suggest vaporetto to San Giorgio and then climbing the bell tower there. Much less crowded than San Marco and I think better views of venice. I think a 5 year old would love it. The bells, when they go off can be very loud if you are up there, I think a kid would like that.

On a recent Caribbean cruise of ours, we left an island port at 6 pm and the next day were at another island. The islands are quite close especially compared to the long distance traveled on other days. During the captain's talk, I asked why leave at 6 pm, if you left at 9 or even 10 pm it appeared to me the ship would sill have plenty of time to make the next island. At least the captain was honest... his response..."Because we cannot open the casino when we are in port."

I would be surprised if you find a tour that will do this. Your best bet would be to get off the ship early as possible and have a transfer car pre arranged to take you to Vatican. Then you could go to the mass (expect huge crowds) spend the remaining part of the day elsewhere in Rome and arrange for a different pickup spot for your return transfer. I think it would be really good to see the Pope, but if you are on a cruise and in Rome only one day, that will eat up much of your time.

We did a 3 day pre cruise and stayed at the hotel mancino 12. We couldn't have been happier. Small hotel, reasonable priced, good air conditioning, excellent location. We had 4 however, and thus booked two rooms.

We took a ship excursion. I think we were in alberobello only a couple hours. When we were there it was very hot and two hours was plenty. It is not a short bus ride, I think more than an hour. However the guide was excellent and the narrated trip was enjoyable. If I remember correctly the bus takes you back to the ship but they stopped in the city center and let people off if you wanted. You then have to find your own taxi back to the ship. Bari was a larger city than what I was expecting....we went to the ship since we were tired....

Yes, this is an Easter cruise, and I thought perhaps they were learning from the airlines... overbook... then try to figure out how to kick someone off at the last minute !!! We got our Jr. Suite. No upgrade, but did get a few $ off by booking the GTY. Cabin is right in the middle of port side, no complaints....

I love balconies, but I tend to vote for the 12 day outside cabin rather than the 7 day balcony. In Europe, you spend less time on the ship than you do in the Caribbean, and therefor less time on your balcony. Most ports are not that attractive, you will be looking at freight yards and shipping containers. Of course the European excursions are lovely, but just the ports may not be that attractive from the ship.

thanks to all the advice. It ended up showing our cabin number just today, 2 days before departure.

Having sailed on all three, I really think the Allure is my favorite ship. Especially because there were no crowds, at least where we liked to hang out. The central park area as well as Boardwalk were rarely crowded and I would say empty much of the time. The areas that are crowded would be the buffet (on every ship) and pool deck on sea days, etc.

 

I think the only slight drawback to the Allure size ships ( and also the NCL Epic) is the change in entertainment schedule. You no longer go to the main theater every night after (or before) dinner. The theaters cannot hold the number of people they now have on the ship. Thus you get one or two primary shows in the main theater for a week and other entertainment in smaller venues. The Chicago production on Allure was fantastic, so that makes up somewhat. So the entertainment on Allure was very good, but I do think you get less of it. I suspect all cruise lines are going to start following this model.

 

That said, I would definitely choose allure or oasis if I had the choice.

 

Have fun.

You will want to relax ! European ports can be exhausting, three is so much to see and do little time. Catch up on your relaxing during sea days. With a big ship like that you will not get bored....

can someone be more specific as to what I should look at on my online account.

 

If I click on my reservation # and it displays cruise summary. it still says GTY for cabin. Will this change, or do I have to go all the way to print a sea pass to see if it is updated. Just curious, your cabin is listed in several places. Right now they all say GTY.

 

Also, what do we do with luggage tags if assigned at the pier?

 

thanks.

When do people typically find out their cabin number for a GTY category. We are 7 days out and no cabin number. At least it doesn't say on our reservation on the RCCL website. We booked through a TA however.

 

When have others found out?

Don't forget my favorite spot on the ship... the small public decks on both sides that are way in the back of the Deck 11 and 12 (I think) corridors. They are covered, but there will be sun at least on one side. Hardly anyone knows about these. You go down the stateroom corridors and just exit out the door clear in the back.

Can any one recommend a transfer company from MIA to the port in Fort Lauderdale. I know there are several who advertise online. thanks.

We have sailed on RCCL maybe 6 or 7 times and only once on Norwegian, but that was recent (last summer on Epic out of Rome.) I really think I would give RCCL the nod in all categories - especially main dining room food as well as the ship. In our case, the NCL Epic had the only dates that worked for us out of Rome, and the price was very reasonable - and of course we had a great time on the Epic too. No real complaints, but just not quite as nice. If price were the same, I would go RCCL.

I am sorry if this has been asked before, it seems like it would happen all the time. We have a "W" category cabin on Liberty April 17. It is a Jr. Suite guarantee. Without a cabin number, what do we put on our luggage tags. You drop off bags before you check in. We have not heard from our TA on a cabin assignment yet. thanks.

I booked through a TA a Jr. Suite guarantee, but my RCCL website reservation says category W. When you look up that category on RCCL it says guaranteed deluxe cabin, or something like that. No reference to Jr. Suite...

 

Is anyone familiar with this category identification?

 

thanks.

As long as you can walk a bit, I don't see a need to stay near the cruise ship ports or P. Roma..... You may save some steps on the first day with your luggage, but you make up for those steps by then walking more on the rest of your stay.... We stayed at al ponte mocenigo and were very pleased. It does require a Vaporetto ride with luggage when you arrive, but when you exit the Vaporetto and very short walk with no stairs to get to the hotel. It is in a quiet neighborhood. Getting to the hotel with luggage really wasn't a problem or a big expense for us.

 

Have fun.

CruiseMom42.... I would also be interested in your notes... You are kind to supply such information to all.....I won't distribute... email: 21 jack j @ gmail dot com... not spaces anywhere...

 

another question...

 

for our group of four I am considering transportation to Herculaneum or Pompeii. I don't see any train prices listed in the post (perhaps I missed them.) Would a taxi be about the same cost or only a little more with less hassle than taking the train? Any advice...

 

thanks.

excellent post ... thanks.

 

A couple questions....forgive me I have not been there, but this alternate group exit at the end of the sistine chapel.. Is this walking past people who have been waiting in line for 2 hours and somehow blending in with a group to get in the front of the line.?? This sounds more like cheating than a shortcut. Maybe I am missing something.

 

Also, I have not seen any posts about ticket costs for Vatican Museums, approximately how much are they?

 

thanks again for an excellent post.