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Another-Adventure

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    Baltimore lodging

    in East Coast Departures

    Posted

    On 9/6/2021 at 11:21 PM, Ellusionz said:

    Any unique places to stay the night before our cruise to Bermuda in May 2022? There will be four of us flying in and splitting the room so we could splurge a little for comfort and luxury! Would like it to be nearish the port but also near stuff to do for the night before. Thanks for any recommendations!

    We always stay at the 1840’s Carrollton Inn. Historic Inn just a couple of miles from the Port of Baltimore. Free gated parking, a huge delicious complimentary breakfast, and walking distance to many excellent restaurants and bakeries in the Little Italy neighborhood. 
    Each room is uniquely decorated and very comfortable! 
     

    https://www.1840splaza.com/

    • Like 1

    2018 Trip Reports Alaska

    in Alaska

    Posted

    CruisingJodi, 

    I have greatly enjoyed your review and awesome photos! I'm just in the beginning stages of planning our July 2020 cruise (a 30th anniversary celebration 💕)! I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with information and suggestions all the while trying to be somewhat sensible with a budget; however, your post has been delightful and reminded me to enjoy this experience and the reason we are celebrating! Thank you again! Angie😊

    What determines upgrade offers?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Next month we are sailing on Grandeur to Bermuda ( our fourth RCI cruise ) along with extended family (their first ever cruise). Last week, my sister got a call with an upgrade offer which she declined. I personally would've jumped on the offer; anyway, I called the next day, and they said there were no upgrades available. Now, I do understand that there are probably a very limited number of those available and they obviously found takers during that time period. My question is, how is it determined to whom those offers are extended? Is there any rhyme or reason, or is it completely random? I would think upgrade offers would be made to repeat customers first.

     

     

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    Which ship should I choose for our first Alaska Cruise (2019)?

    in Alaska

    Posted

    Alaska is definitely not cheap, but it is an amazing place. My first trip I skipped a few things I really wanted to do because of price, and regretted it later. I realized that it cost too much in both time and money to just get to / from Alaska to worry about saving a few hundred dollars by giving up an experience I would remember the rest of my life.

     

    Here are excursions we did and enjoyed:

     

    Anchorage

     

    If you have a chance to get to Anchorage at least 2 days ahead of time, I recommend taking the Alaska Railroad to Seward and doing a Kenai Fjords cruise. I would recommend a minimum of the 6 hour tour and preferably the 7.5 tour. You can take the train or bus back to Anchorage.

     

    We booked a transfer from Anchorage to Whittier with a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Refuge on the day the ship departed.

     

    Skagway

     

    Our favorite excursion here was a Bus / Train Combo trip to Emerald Lake with Chilkoot Tours. We did the bus first and added the dog cart ride at Caribou Crossing.

     

    Juneau

     

    Our favorite here was the Tracy Arm excursion with Adventure Bound. You may be tight on getting back before your ship leaves, based on the schedule I saw (6:30am - 5:00pm). You may see if your ship offers a Tracy Arm excursion, then you have no issues since they will wait for you.

     

    If timing doesn’t allow Tracy Arm, book a whale watching trip on one of the smaller independent boats. A visit to Mendenhall Glacier and Mt. Roberts Tram are also good options that can all be done with your port times.

     

    Ketchikan

     

    We did a kayak tour with Southeast Kayaks and then walked Creek Street, Married Man’s Trail and saw the fish ladder. Ketchikan is a good place to do shopping for souvenirs as well.

     

    Vancouver

     

    If you have the time (and budget) spend at least an extra night or two in Vancouver. We enjoyed the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour that included Stanley Park, downtown and other areas. We also took a combo tour of Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

     

     

     

    Thank you for these amazing suggestions! Was your time spent in Anchorage and Vancouver independent or as a cruise land tour? If there is little cost difference, would you recommend sticking with the cruise lines for the novice?

     

     

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    Need Help choosing Alaska Cruise

    in Alaska

    Posted

    Hi Bindi- i can only tell you my preference and i am going to Alaska for the third time this coming June- I have been in June and August. Obviously August is expensive but the salmon are running then so interesting to see in Ketchikan on the salmon ladder. Too warm in August to do helicopter to glacier and dog sledding so you would have to "settle" for one of the wheeled dog sleds through a short wooded trail. I loved 2nd week in June and i am doing it again but the third weeks this June- I prefer doing the land portion first and booked everything myself saving about half what the cruise ships charge. It is very easy. First time i flew into Fairbanks, rented a car and stayed there for one day and night and came down through Denail- staying there for two days before heading down to Talkeetna just for a short time in the town for lunch and shopping. Cute town. Continued down to Palmer to the reindeer farm where you learn all about them and you go in and can pet them and feed them and see the babies. There is also horseback riding there. Then onto Anchorage for one day and one night. Turned the car in. The entire trip from Fairbanks is easy because it is on one highway! In anchorage the hotel dropped us off at the train depot at 5:45 am the following day and the train left at 6:45 and we were in Seward at 11:00 for our SOUTHBOUND cruise on Royal Carribean Radiance of the Seas. (You check your luggage andf you won't see it again until you get your ship! They check it straight through to the cruise line which is fabulous if you want to do something in Seward when you arrive before embarking) I prefer to do land first because you have full long days and you will be tired and then you get a little more rest on the cruise although fun ports and excursions there as well. We did the helicopter to the glacier and dog sledding in Juneau, White Pass Railroad in Skagway,Whale watching in Seward before we embarked and then again in icy Straight Point. In Ketchikan we just did a self tour of the little town andf great shopping for souvenirs (inhere are three Tongass shipping stores here and if you get your souvenirs here save the redeipt from all three stores and when you get to the end at the last Tongass store give them everything you bought and all three receipts and they will ship EVERYTHING TO YOUR HOME FOR ONLY 19.95! this will save you having to drag it all back and pack it. Now it will take about two weeks for you to receive it because they ship it the cheapest way possible but still it is so worth it! I did a lot of expensive excursions so including there airfare from the east coast and back and the cruise, all hotels, meals,excursions, car rental, including the $525 dog sledding one i spent about $6000 for two of us. You can do it for less if you don't do the dog sledding and i also allowed $1000 for gambling! Have a great time. If you need specific info on where i stayed or prices for specific things just let me know.

     

    Robin

     

     

     

    Wow, Robin, this is remarkably helpful!!! I've been reading along this thread, as I, too, am overwhelmed with everything involved in planning our first Alaska cruise! I love to plan trips for my husband and myself, but there is so much to consider. I was most recently considering the northbound Radiance in July 2019; however, the pricing with the land portion via RCI seemed a little steep. Your price range sounds more 'doable'. If you don't mind, which category cabin did you book?

     

     

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    Which ship should I choose for our first Alaska Cruise (2019)?

    in Alaska

    Posted

    We sailed on the Radiance in May on the first sailing of the season and loved it. We picked it primarily for the itinerary. It was 9 days and visited 6 ports plus Hubbard Glacier. We spent 2 days in Vancouver prior to sailing and toured Kenai Fjords in Seward before transferring to Anchorage for our flight home.

     

    My recommendation for Alaska is to research the ports and excursions and find what interests your family. There is great information here, on Trip Advisor and the cruise line websites regarding shore excursions. Once you decide on what you want to do, then find an itinerary that spends the most time in the ports you are interested in.

     

    To me, the port times and itinerary are more important than the cruise line or specific ship. Due to the number of port days, longer daylight hours, beautiful scenery, etc., many people find they are only using the ship as a place to sleep, eat breakfast and dinner and as transportation between ports.

     

    As a general rule, one way trips offer more ports and time in ports than round-trip itineraries. Also, if you want to add a land tour before or after your cruise, a one way is what you need.

     

    If glaciers are important, you should also look at itineraries that include Glacier Bay. It is usually accessible by cruise ships while Hubbard and Sawyer ( Tracy Arm) can be skipped by the large ships due to ice and / or fog. There is a great thread on this Board comparing the main glacier options.

     

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    Your suggestions are very helpful! I am also just beginning to research for our first Alaska cruise! Thank you!

     

     

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    Starting to feel a little ehhhh about our upcoming cruise

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    We were on the Grandeur last year (no kids) and actually prefer it to some of the larger ships! I know our kids would have loved it at that age...... Especially since they have nothing to compare it with. Like any vacation, it's what you make of it! There will be plenty to do AND great opportunities for some special family time! I hope you have a wonderful cruise and make lots of sweet memories with your children!

     

     

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    Grandeur: Church service?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    We will be at sea on Sunday, and I was wondering if there is any sort of religious services offered? I realize that it would most likely be led by a volunteer clergy. Several years ago, we were on a Disney cruise which provided such a service led by a crew member who had volunteered to organize it. We were very surprised at the attendance and positive response from fellow cruisers! It was a brief (maybe 20 minutes) get together consisting of a few songs and short devotion.

     

     

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    Bermuda excursion question?

    in Bermuda

    Posted

    I could really use some suggestions here! We will be on Grandeur out of Baltimore next month for our first trip to Bermuda. We will really only be docked from 1:00pm on one day until 2:30 the following day. Early on, I scheduled two excursions through RCI (snorkeling 1:30-5:00 on the first day, and kayak tour 9:00-12:30 on the second day). While those do sound great, I'm now realizing that we will have little to no time for anything else! Should I keep both excursions? Try to see other sights? What would be the best use of our limited time? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

     

     

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    Port of Baltimore

    in East Coast Departures

    Posted

    When leaving from FL ports or Bayonne, we usually choose a hotel with a "park & cruise" option; however, I always dread that wait for the shuttle and trip back to the hotel. Question......how difficult is parking and traffic at Baltimore port? We are 6hrs away and would still spend the night before departure somewhere relatively close then drive in and park at the port. Any experience at this port would be helpful as we have never cruised from here before. [emoji4]

     

     

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    Price drop/Travel agent

    in Saving Money on Your Cruise - Tips & Advice

    Posted · Edited by WillieandAngie

    We have a cruise booked for 7/16 via our travel agent. I just received an online notification of a price drop from another site. My question is, do travel agents notify clients of price drops or am I eligible for this since we have booked through them already?

     

     

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    Passport???

    in East Coast Departures

    Posted

    I don't know if I understand the previous comments; I'm only speaking to my particular cruise and itinerary. Left Bayonne....2 ME ports followed by 2 Canada ports then Boston before returning to Bayonne. We did have to show passports in Boston. I didn't mean to be confusing; that was our experience.

     

     

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