AKJonesy

I can understand how those on the east coast might like to sail out of NY. I think that your transportation options might guide your decision. We used to sail out of Tampa quite a bit, but then my in-laws lived there so they dropped us off, so it was extremely convenient. I still like FLL and SAN because the airports are a hop skip from the ports and I like knowing that when I disembark, I don't face a lot of hassle just getting to the airport. I've been to NY/NJ many times so I personally have no desire to cruise out of there. Of course, I have to travel far enough to get just about anywhere so the idea of an eastern port city would not interest me.

Here is some information: https://frontiersuites.com/get-around-juneau/ Also check out the trip advisor Alaska Juneau forum and do a search on taxi, uber, etc. There is some information there that I just read, but you may also want to post a question specifically in the Juneau Forum.

I recently watched a documentary about a cruise ship with the latest and greatest environmental protection engineering systems. The $ was massive but I think the cruise industry will have to adapt to much more stringent requirements going forward. I was thinking how cool it would be to go on a tour on this ship to see this technology and what they are doing to mitigate their environmental impact. I do worry for the cruise industry because I do believe that no matter what mitigation efforts they may take, there will always be the naysayers that will criticize the industry. IMHO.

I would agree in most cases. But, when we were on a cruise, we had the biggest earthquake in recent AK history. We had significant damage to our home.

I haven't seen any reports of this problem since January. If you are concerned you might want to cancel or rebook, but there have been many cruise ships port in NZ since. Hopefully, these cruise ships are following the protocol that went into effect in 2022 and demonstrating they are mitigating for any potential problem.

There was another post I read recently and not able to find it now, but talked about how they didn't like the land portion and specifically the very very long transportation days and the early show up. As a few others said, do the land portion on your own. I recommend another land option and that would be to rent an RV here which is extremely popular. That way you have the accommodation and the vehicle in one. I had a big Class A and never had a problem parking. You can find parking; maybe a block or so away from your intended shopping area or restaurant; big deal. Anyway, it does take a bit more effort to plan the land portion yourself and that is why so many just choose it as part of the cruise pkg and let the cruise line handle all of the arrangements. But, one of the biggest reasons I prefer the RV is that you don't have to focus on the accommodations; where to stay, when to stay, etc. Also, when you have to arrange accommodations, then you are locked into that date. In an RV, if the weather is bad here, you can swap your plans around and go there. This is what we have done when we had many guests visit us. For example, if it was raining down in Seward, we'd go over to Homer instead then pop back to Seward, etc. Just giving you some more to think about.

The Shorebird Festival in Homer is a few weeks later, but the migration will already have begun before that so you might see some spectacular birds. You can go to Homer Shorebird Festival website and on you tube and see what people have captured for photos in years past. As mentioned, go to the Visitor's Center and there is a boardwalk there and bring your binocs as well. The Visitor's Center is very nice.

This article is pretty old.

@MrBill923 You are absolutely right about The Westmark. Oh, there is so much more I could say about that place but I'd probably get my post taken down, so I'll leave it at that. When people come here, I tell them to dumb down their expectations when it comes to hotel accommodations. Like you said...think Motel 6. On top of it, the unpleasant virus has made everything worse and prices sky high. @oakridger I agree with your comment about doing land portion on your own. You can control the schedule, price and more. If you need help, a few of us on here are also on trip advisor forums for Alaska where you can go to find and ask anything about your land based trip.

Sometimes people have made You Tube vids of staterooms as well. But the two mentioned by the posters are the most frequented. Keep the date in mind when the staterooms were posted on halfacts. Many of the photos have old configurations or outdated furniture.

I just looked into insurance for both the cancel for any reason and for the medical. The link that was posted to the insurance board has a lot of information. For your purpose the insurance sb pretty straightforward. I was looking at it from a medical perspective in case I got sick and especially had to be flown back home, so I had to dive deep. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/pre-post-travel-cruise/cancellation-protection-plan.html

Gel stickies for your mirrors and window.

Two things I suggest. Shut down your computer/tablet/phone and re-start it. Second, use a different browser. That is, if you use Edge, try Chrome or Brave, etc. These two things usually "fix" these kinds of problems. But, yea...HAL website is not the best.

I have a 31 day cruise to SA from Ft. Lauderdale in November. I haven't heard anything. What are people talking about here?

Twice we had a super early check in time and it didn't happen for an hour to hour and half later. Then, there are those ports that you don't go to early, like San Diego. We ask for a late check out at our hotel then head to the port and that has seemed to really work out nice for us.

Another idea are canal boats or Narrowboats. There are a ton of them with all kinds of itineraries based upon your interests; wine areas, biking areas, etc. If you are interested, I'd start by looking at some you tube vids. This is something we are going to do on the Mississippi, and I'd love to do a canal/narrowboat in England. T

I feel like I always get a deal but I think only once in 200 cruising days have I booked directly with the cruise line. To give you an example, on an upcoming 31 day trip which is also available as a back to back, we saved about $3k by NOT booking through the cruise line. Also, instead of booking it as a 31 day trip which was a little more expensive, we booked it as a back to back trip 14 day and 17 day keeping the same stateroom so there is going to be no move. That back to back booking was also less. I don't look for the nickel and dime stuff like the OBC, etc if I can get a decent price. When I can save 3K on a trip, I don't concern myself with a $100 OBC because I'm looking at how much I'm saving. I have rarely and I mean rarely seen the cruise line beat my online discount cruise booker, and I have a personal cruise consultant as well. So, for me, I'm not getting any better "experience" or any worries by booking direct through cruise line. I've used the same online cruise agency for about 15 years. - I don't know anything about the casino offers, but I hear they are great. You can probably do a search on "casino offer" on this site and get information. I don't think we can link to discount cruise sites otherwise I would do that. One thing to caution you though is that depending on where you live and how you get to the cruise port may matter. That is, if you are traveling from far and you need to get there by a flight, the longer lead time could be important. IDK. I always book a one or two day in advance of cruise hotel, airbnb etc. Other people are going to chime in here.

We were last on ship in March 2023 and still did buy the cans of soda in ports. Not sure what you mean but the soda cans are zero waste. All aluminum is crushed on board and taken off for recycling. Maybe I just don't understand the comment, but it really doesn't matter bc that is what I have done and that is how I responded to the OP; what I have done every time.

@roxievegas I am only addressing the question relating to bringing on soda. So, as you have already seen someone has posted that information from the HAL site. I am sort of tired of this policy because it DOES NOT line up with reality. I don't bring on any soda upon embarkation. EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY TIME I have been in a port after embarkation, I have brought soda back to the ship. Crew members do this as well. But, here is what I do so that I don't get anything confiscated. I ASK the security people when I get off the ship in port, "can I bring cans of soda back on the ship". EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY TIME the answer is yes and every time I have bought and brought the cans on ship at the port stop with no problem. I don't know where you are going, but I usually find a grocery store or two on my cruises and that is when I buy and bring back soda. Maybe it is just that at the embarkation ports they are more strict and don't want people doing this; IDK.

Go to Booking.com and put in Seward. I found a few places there. Sourdough Lodging, Exit Glacier Lodge. Sourdough Lodging is right in Seward. Exit Glacier Lodge is out by the glacier in Seward. Exit Glacier is highly recommended to see.

Is anyone associated with the military - a military retiree maybe? If so, the Seward Military Resort probably has a lot of space and far more reasonable. It MIGHT be worth it for you to rent a vehicle for the one day so that you can get into more accommodations out at Miller's Landing area or get something through VRBO or airbnb. Hotels are going to be probably insane then anyway. You might have to get creative but here is an example of a place at Miller's Landing. You might have to book 2 places. https://www.millerslandingak.com/oceanfront-inn-duplex-downstairs-suite/ You wouldn't have to try and get some kind of big vehicle...you could shuttle people...stuff isn't that far. Open up google maps for Seward and then tighten the search to Miller's Landing. There you will see various places on Resurrection Bay. Don't look at the google maps availability because it won't be turned on or accurate; instead use Visit Site under the calendar.

@NothingBeatsBaseball mind saying why u did not do the PJs Taxi. I like to know all these options plus it might be helpful to the op.

The person that posted the stateroom and gave a tour on YT said they saw a few maintenance workers during the week and that cruise passengers were not allowed: Rotterdam and Nieuw Statendam are same class ship.