tetleytea

So, $100 per cabin, per day? $700 for a typical sailing. And for that we get Starbucks, $100 off per ship-booked excursion, a couple more specialties. The $$$ don't compute.

I just passed this up. It was $200/pp, and I thought that was a bit much to go canoeing. No? Should I do it after all? I haven't sailed yet.

I came close to sailing HAL, but no, not this one. I wouldn't mind missing Juneau and just sailing Tracy Arm the whole time, since I've been to Juneau enough times already. If I ever see a bullfrog on a cruise, I'll think of you.

I would say a lot of this bidding is just market intelligence.

I got off the phone about my "bamboozled" problem/questions: Although yes, the booking statement breaks out the $20/per-person, per-day charge for the beverage package, the way it actually works is not so simple. In order to drop the beverage package, we have to re-fare the cabin, so in effect it is all one big, comprehensive charge for one single bundle. We already knew that to be the case for the Haven (when beverages are a perk), but it turns out to be the case for this MA cabin as well (one category below Haven). It's all marketing, sure, trying to get all they dollars from you they can get, but this one doesn't cross the line by any means (unless they indeed are selling alcohol which they know to be out of stock). They're allowed to offer bundle deals.

In Alaska I am not a shopper, but in the Caribbean I have turned into one. A lot of these earlier posts seem to be comparing the prices of the cabins themselves with the other itineraries. You have to look at the total cost, because who knows what mind tricks Marketing is playing with you if you don't. Alaskan cruise cabins are cheap this year, but it's because flights are anything but. And then rental cars and float plane trips are through the roof. And helicopter trips, but those have always been nuts. I have come back from the Caribbean before regretting that i did NOT shop more.

Only issue I had on the Caribbean a month ago was that my plumbing went out (and then back on again) while we were not even in the cabin. Traditional deck plan, nothing particularly stood out to me as old.

Sounds like yes, I am right to hold out for the 10-hour tour. Last time I was in Juneau port for that long, I rented a car. I got good value for the car that day.

Go up to Seward from Vancouver. Land tour for a week. Sail back to Vancouver out of Whittier on a different cruise line.

Morning is when they want us for bear viewing.

The raft trip in Haines involves a jet boat from Skagway to Haines as part of the trip. Although that is probably the difference between a ferry boat and a tour boat.

I intentionally got just below pool deck for Alaska, because I wanted to be able to run to the observation lounge or pool deck right away to catch some wildlife or scenery. But if everybody just hates that deck, maybe I should be asking for a lower cabin price.

That's exactly what I'm wrestling with. I'm already the top Club Balcony Suite; one upgrade and I'm Haven. Minimum bid is $650. I just don't think I can get there unless we find some new Guests 3 and 4.

Note that my actual question was what happens to the cabins vacated due to positive covid testing, which has to happen within 48 hours of sailing. And whether our bidding process figures into that at all.

I would actually not do a pre-cruise portion more than a day long, for precisely that reason. Been there, done that. Not worth it. A big part of the problem is the high-risk activity you do while you're out doing your pre-cruise portion.

Another difference is, the shore excursions in Alaska are obscene expensive, and no one speaks Spanish. The shopping isn't much better, unless you do the doorbusters.

They cease covid testing after that.

If they already have your $3k, that's water under the bridge, but they also get your cabin back, to backfill--and that's not water under the bridge. It's like having a Mercedes for trade-in vs. a 1978 Camino.

I rafted Ketchikan and Haines (Skagway). Based on what I know, I would do it in ISP, because there is much less civilization in the area and there are less other things to do. Skagway is usually about going deeper inland, toward the Yukon.

What I make work is balcony midship but close to the stairs and the top deck. And a good pair of tennis shoes.

I want to do that tour, but just can't get to the $200/pp tab just to paddle a canoe. For $200 I could just buy a kayak.

Will bids be accepted in order to backfill people in higher categories who tested COVID positive? Or is that process basically all over 48 hours before the cruise? The question's moot after August 1st, but it's not August 1st yet.

Mendenhall. Alaska Brewery. Auke Bay. Glacier Gardens. St. Therese. That'll make a day of it right there.

i see the $280 beverage package charge on my booking. I upgraded from MX club balcony "suite" to MA club balcony "suite" ("suite" in quotes, because Holland's vanilla balconies are bigger than Norwegian's "suites"), and for some reason the Free At Sea was only <$100 more than not having it on the MA class cabin. It was like $300-$400 for on the MX class. All told, MA was $500 more expensive total, and (thank goodness) that was already reflected in the booking bill. I picked the MA category specifically to be on the Observation Deck. I figured most people probably don't like the noise, but because this is Alaska I wanted the Observation Lounge and Deck 16 to be immediately accessible, so I could access either the starboard or port side if there's a wildlife sighting. Plus breakfast, coffee, and drinks are all right there in the lounge. But I certainly wouldn't have paid $500 more for that if Free At Sea was not part of it. The so-called $85 "value" for the specialty dining, I assigned $25 value. How often do you pay $85/pp at a restaurant? Let alone when food is already paid for in the MDR?

You mean the "Free at Sea" program charges more in gratuities than my wife would spend just buying 2 drinks a day on her own? When do I see this charge on my folio? I saw a $30 gratuity bill when I paid for the cruise, and I thought that was for the Free at Sea. Trying not to feel bamboozled.