AKJonesy

I've been in that angled room with the angled balcony and liked it for the fact that you have more room for the footstool. Honestly, what's most important to me is that the balcony is covered, which they are, and that the staterooms are away from noisy areas.

We always do 5:00, and this reminds me of a Seinfeld episode :). But anyway, we don't eat lunch so by 5:00 we are hungry. Then after, we take a nice leisure walk on the Promenade, mostly by ourselves because everyone else is in the bars or getting ready for dinner. Then after, we head to a show; not to bed. :)

I would agree with both #2 and #3. I avoid 7 day cruises out of Fort Lauderdale when I know there is a school break. I don't see college kids. I think they would avoid HAL and go for the shorter sailings (3-5 day) booze cruises. What I see on HAL is parents with their school age children and as one of the posters said, they CAN overrun the pool areas, but then, they are KIDS, so that is what they do.

Join your Roll Call on cruise critic. Then you will be communicating with people who will be on that cruise. The Roll Call probably won't pick up for awhile because it's fairly far out from it's sail date.

Maybe they got the word, "your not welcome here" - :)

It's a hop skip from there to downtown...an easy, quick Uber ride. Probably worth it considering sky high prices of hotels in downtown. ALSO, it's an 8 minute walk from Hyatt House to the bus stop on Arctic (route 35) which takes you straight to downtown in minutes. https://www.muni.org/Departments/transit/PeopleMover/Documents/!2023 Documents/Service Change/System Map.pdf

You are going to get sticker shock for accommodations here. There are a couple of really nice apartments on airbnb in downtown that I would recommend over a hotel. Look at the reviews and check out the location. If you find a place and want an opinion, get back to us here.

Upvote #3 post if you want to stay in hotel. There are two apartments downtown on airbnb for about $100 less with excellent reviews that I would recommend also, but they would be a number of blocks from the RR.

Find another stateroom. No way unless you go to bed very late.

I agree, this stateroom looks pretty good. I was more concerned about how close this stateroom was to the World Stage but it is on deck 4.

You mentioned two teens and that trail hike would be nice for them. Also, the tram going up the mountain would also be a fun thing to do for them. By June 26, I'd say good chance you can do more than just take the tram up with a quick look around. By then you "should" be able to hike up further, which to me...is the adventure; not riding the tram. But, before you buy a ticket there at the Alyeska Hotel for the tram, just ask if they've opened it up. You can get a look at the webcam at Alyeska now but obviously, you are going to see snow. Plus, we are dark until at least 9am right now, so don't bother looking at the webcam 🙂

Most of the time when I make an assumption about some situation, I find that there is a reasonable explanation. Saying that, I'm not siding with the "pier runners". I agree with another poster on booking private excursions because too many times we've had "those people" that think they bought the whole bus and are on "their time" vs. "our time" and constantly hold everyone up. Deep down, I do enjoy watching and laughing at pier runners. It seems to be more common on Carnival.

I think I used HAL once to book a cruise. We are currently 4 star Mariners so we have a lot of cruise days under our belt. I have used an online discount cruise booking agency for years. They have beat HAL's best rates every time except once. On our latest cruise, we paid 2K less than the best HAL fare. That's a lot of extra $ to spend on excursions and upscale dining! I also have my own cruise consultant and I get to PICK MY OWN ROOM, so I'm not getting the lowest guarantee rate. You have to be careful on the guarantees. They can put you in a horrible place. So, I've had great booking and cruising experiences this way, but many people do just book directly through HAL.

You didn't mention when you are coming. That would make a difference to me going to Alyeska. Just riding the tram at Alyeska Hotel to the top to me isn't the attraction; you also want to hike up the mountain a bit from the tram. If we have a slow melt or if it's early in the season (fall), hiking up away from where you get off the tram could be closed. Also, outside the back of the Alyeska Hotel and right near the tram is the entrance to the Winner Creek Trail. I don't know if the "hand tram" is going to be open, but this is a beautiful hike. https://www.alyeskaresort.com/hiking-trekking/ I agree that going to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) is worth it, but DON'T just do a drive through. You really need to park your car in the parking lot and walk it. This will give you opportunities to see the animals up close. I take all of my friends and family there when they visit. If I understand you correctly, you said that you could get a rental car if it's worth it. I guess I'd opt for the rental car then you can really immerse yourself in that entire area and see all of the sites including Portage Valley, Girdwood, the Turnagain Arm and AWCC. If the bus, just does a drive through at the AWCC, I wouldn't do it.

I had a Go Pro for years and used it in a number of ways. I mounted it on my snowmobile and helmet. I had a mounting stick to use for selfies. I used a tripod and I also had a mount for my chest. The problem with the Go Pro is that it's small and holding it still is very difficult. You don't want you vid to be bouncing around so you need to get the settings right. It's more about the settings then pairing that up with the right accessories. It took me awhile to get good vid content. Also, it took awhile to learn video editing. My Go Pro originally came with a video editor, but there used to be aftermarket editors. Look at content on you tube and other places. There are some good "beginner guides" out there. Watch vids then practice before you go.

I don't want to take the discussion in a different direction, but I just wanted to mention another possible option for anyone that might want talk and text instead of an internet package. We have used Cellular at Sea a number of times, but most recently on our 31 day South America trip. We purchased Cellular at Sea through our mobile ATT plan. It cost $100 per month for talk, text and a tiny bit of data. We did NOT opt for data or the land portion. This has saved us a few times. But, most recently we had a major snowstorm that knocked out power for a few days, caused a lock out on our boiler (heating) and a few other problems. Friends and neighbors told us about the storm, and we were able to instruct them on turning on the generator, and fixing the boiler lockout. Also, it was nice to talk to our kids when we were out at sea. On the long transatlantic sea days we will also do this. As I said, this is just another option in case people are only interested in that type of access. Maybe there are other standard plans that people have through their mobile contracts that I'm not aware of. I just wanted to mention it.

The problem with STAYING in Girdwood at the Alyeska Hotel is going to be sticker shock. I just checked and your two day stay is $1100 and trust me, as much as I love Alyeska, it is not worth it. However, you could stay in a BnB but it is more conducive to having a car. I didn't check on prices for Bnbs, but they will be probably half the price of Alyeska. I'd give Midnight Sun and Car Rental a CALL and see what kind of prices they have on rental cars, then you can get out of town (Anchorage) and either head to the valley or down to Girdwood area. Both the valley and Girdwood would be great options and you would not be disappointed. If you do the rental car, I'd spend that last day out and about after your late check out since you have a late night flight. Then, return the rental car before you head to the airport. Also check Airbnb in Seward but look for a place close to downtown and not north of town.

This is kind of tough because you have not left yourself much time to do anything. You will have to disembark in the morning which means that you can't check in somewhere until the afternoon. I was going to suggest another place in Seward, but I don't think it's worth it with your time and you will just have to hassle the next day getting up to Anchorage. With the limited time you have, take the ship transfer up to Anchorage. At least you will have a nice drive up and see some beautiful scenery. Plus, you won't have to hassle with figuring out transportation. Find a place to stay in Anchorage (hotel, airbnb). You are going to have plenty of daylight well into late evening so you could get a vehicle and head out from Anchorage for the afternoon/evening and the next day. You really didn't mention your interests, and I could make some recommendations if I knew what you would like to do and your abilities. Whatever you choose, it's going to be expensive so you just have to accept that and budget it in. Midnight Sun Car and Rental has decent rates as compared to the National rental companies.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train/schedules

Nieuw Amsterdam due to Tamarind restaurant. Don't spend your extra days IN Anchorage.

You said, "inside cruise" but then said you are flying into ANC. I assume you mean that you are taking a cruise from Anchorage (Whittier port) or Seward. What cruise are you looking at? It makes a difference.

Take the cruise coach transfer and then grab an Uber or cab from the airport to your hotel. Signs clearly mark where the cab stand and Uber pick up area is. The hotels are not far from the airport or the train station. If you are looking for information about the train, go to https://www.alaskarailroad.com. The least expensive will be the coach transfer with your cruise.

Try Halfacts.com as well

Look on the back of the daily program. On our voyage on some days it was BOGO 1/2 off and on other days it was BOGO.

We have been "parking" at Midnight Sun parking and car rentals for years. The people are super. You might consider a "van" rental. They have 7 and 12 passenger vans. According to their website, the 7 rent for $200 per day and 12 for $300 plus taxes. It's called Midnight sun car and van rental. They provide pick up/drop off service to ANC airport which is very close. Just a thought.