Azfunseeker

Looking at booking a massage in Cabo at the Sandbar and just a bit confused. Frequent massager...used to undressing in a room alone. How does it work at the Sandbar? Do people get massaged in their swimsuits? I usually do a one piece suit on these trips, not winning any beauty competitions here and certainly a bit modest so trying to figure out how it works with so many beds in one place. I know...weird question but help a gal out!

On 3/11/2022 at 5:37 PM, Lorey2007 said:

Should be buy our tickets for the Mt Roberts tram from RCL, buy them online or buy them when we get to the tram.  We will be on Ovation what is the distance to the tram we're seniors can we walk or is a shuttle available through RCL?

If the weather is bad the tram isn't a good choice. Wait and buy them off ship, if the day is nice. Or...if it is bad in morning and clears up you can still go

On 3/10/2022 at 4:32 PM, rotoal said:

I was planning for us to try the "Big blue bus" in Juneau.   I have seen some YouTube videos showing people buying tickets for $45.00, the bus runs every half hour, which hopefully will give us the flexibility to see what we want to see in around Mendenhall.

 

I am not sure about rental car prices, but my experience in the last year or so is that prices are quite high.

 

If anyone has used the Big Blue Bus, please write back here.

We used the blue bus when we did Alaska a few years ago and planning to use it again now we don't have to have a ship-purchased excursion

We are scheduled for July 10, RCCL from Vancouver to Seward. This is our second "try" for the season. We booked a group January of 2018 for a June cruise that was cancelled. Unfortunately the June 2021 cruises were too expensive for us to re-book when we got cancelled, but the July cruise was a fantastic "deal". Fully prepared for it to be cancelled as well. But, if (big IF) Canada re-opens port and cruises are allowed to cruise it might be the best cruise ever...half price from our fantastic original group rate and maybe a ship half-full that is extra clean. So...we are sure hopeful that we get to go but realize it might be a long shot. I have spoken with a couple tour vendors that are planning to have a season. Major Marine in Seward is starting their tour season. I know, if the season happens, there will be lots of excursions/tour companies that might not happen but the things that we have on the group list most are taking local buses to so we should be okay. Fingers (and toes) crossed...

We had a group scheduled for a June 12th sailing which was, of course, cancelled. At this point Canada says ports are closed until July 1st. We re-booked for July 10th. Seemed we had nothing to "lose". We got a full refund or a 125% FFC and the rates are less than half of what we paid originally and airfare is less too. If Canada doesn't open the ports we will of course be disappointed but will again get the same offers so we felt like "why not".  Yes, there is concern on the C-vid virus, and we will take the necessary/recommended precautions but we are cautiously optimistic. 

Ultimately, however, all the responses of "who knows" are exactly right.

We've done an Alaska cruise before and are "tentatively" booked for July 10th this year. Last time we took the bus from Seward to Anchorage. Is there someone who has done the bus and also the train and can compare the two? If you took the train, did you do regular class (Adventure Class) or Gold Class (first class) which includes dinner, drinks and 2 adult drinks plus seating in glass domed car. If you did Adventure class, how expensive were the food/drinks on the train?

Trying to get info to help make a decision.

AZ Fun Seeker

Canada ports are closed to cruise ships until July 1st, so June cruises are not happening.

We are looking at doing a Kenai Fjords excursion in Seward at the end of our July Alaska cruise. I'm considering 2 different options and am wondering if anyone has experienced them to help me compare. The first is a 5 hour Kenai Fjords tour which goes by Bear Glacier and it looks like it is on a regular boat. It includes a Salmon and Prime Rib buffet. The second one is a 6 hour cruise on a high speed catamaran that goes to Holgate Glacier. It also includes the buffet lunch. Both include motorcoach transportation to the airport as well.  The first one does have an option that doesn't include airport transport and we could either take the bus or the train. Wondering if anyone has done both bus and train in the past and have wisdom on how to decide which to use (other than cost).

Totally do it! We did the drive and it was so scenic and beautiful. We stopped at Emerald Lake and then turned around. I had read lots of review that said the scenery past it was nothing new. I don't recall anything in the drive that was super stressful. My most favorite memory (in addition to the Hubbard Glacier) from the trip. 

We rented a car in Skagway and drove up the Yukon trail all the way to Emerald Lake. It was, for me, a highlight of the trip. Absolutely stunning scenery and Emerald Lake has to be one of the prettiest places I've ever been. It was easy to rent the car, drive all the way and make it back in time. It is a bit of a hike from the dock to the rental car, but not too bad. 

The train doesn't take you to Emerald Lake which is one of the most beautiful places on the planet! We choose to drive ourselves so we could be sure to get there.

Try to book as many as possible independently. In Skagway we didn't have enough time to take the train and then rent something to drive to Emerald lake so we chose to rent a car instead and do the Yukon trail by car. It was so gorgeous but nothing compared to the beauty of Emerald Lake. This was probably my favorite time on the whole cruise. We stopped and saw sled dog puppies, went through a museum and stopped for so many photos on the way. Here is one of Emerald Lake and the photos don't even do it justice.

For those of you who do lots of advance planning; about how early do dates release? Looking to do a group reservation for Alaska in 2020 and wondering when those summer sail dates may show up?

We have a group of friends (9 couples) going on a Cruise to Cabo and PV in March. Looking for a fun get-muddy ATV tour in either location that can handle all of us at once.

Yes...absolutely right! Hubbard Glacier. Sorry. :)

Will any car work or do you need an SUV?

 

 

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We had just a regular car. You may need an suv to go on some roads but not the main route

Looking forward to your review. We'll be doing a southbound on Radiance next June. You mentioned no piano bar. Was there no piano in the Schooner Bar or was it just that no one was playing at the times you were in there? We love to hang out in the Schooner bar after the show and listen to the piano player. It would be disappointing if we couldn't do this on our Alaska cruise.

There was a piano in Schooner, but not utilized very often. Nothing like the piano/bar you can typically find on other ships. We did hang out there frequently to watch scenery either before or after dinner. What happened the most there was the little trivia contest stuff.

Yes, the Murray's guide is a great tool!

Our days in Denali were the worst of our weather, but still very pleasant. The drive to Denali is quite scenic. Make sure to stop at all the lookout spots, you never know when Mt. Denali (formerly McKinley) will show itself to you. We had some rain and lots of clouds both of our driving days and the day we took our bus trip, but our first night there about 10pm the clouds lifted over the park and we drove in and got to see the whole top of Denali (and a moose!)

We stayed at Faith Hill Lodge. The owner, Mitchell, is a great cook and let us pack a lunch (for a charge) to take with us into the park. He is full of knowledge of the area. The location is beautiful, but know that the accommodations are very rustic. Everything in the area is really pricey. This was right about $150 a night, but was "iffy". I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you are good with very basic...meaning bed, door that didn't lock, no tv, bathtub didn't work, no storage, very "motel 6ish".

Ate one night at Black Diamond, excellent meatloaf and views. Next night we ate at 49th State Brewhouse. Excellent food, but a little noisier atmosphere.

We did the 8 hour shuttle bus trip into Denali. Our driver was Philip, who narrated the whole trip. (If you take the "narrated tour" you pay over $100 more). One of the best tips we got from the cc boards! We saw a moose with her calf, lots of caribou, a grizzly bear and some sheep as well as magpie and ravens. I'm not sure I would have made another 4 hours on the bus to get to the end of the road but glad we made the trip. You can get off and on this bus, but you are limited to getting back on one if it has space.

Seward was really pretty...I'm bummed we didn't get to spend more time there. One of the coupons I was most looking forward to doing was the all day Fjords tour there. It didn't start until the next day. (Bummer!)

One of the main reasons for the coupon book was the buy 1/get 1 for the train to Anchorage, although from Seward you can't use it Fri.-Sun., but there was a bus coupon that worked fine. We grabbed an early bus and had time in Anchorage. We took the bus to the airport and picked up our rental car. Stayed at a delightful B&B called Alaska Frontier Gardens. The host, Rita, was a fantastic chef and such a gardener! She must have all green fingers and toes, not just thumbs. Spoken by one who lives in Arizona and has only the ability to kill things.

We did the trolley tour, which was very interesting and right across the street is a free museum that has several movies about the earthquake and area. It was really nice.

Ate dinner the first night, based on Rita's recommend, at Humpy's which was very good. The fish people were looking for halibut...I had one of the best ribeye's anywhere. We also did the Aurora Theater show and a second dinner 9different night) at Moose's Tooth (pizza and brewery).

We parted ways with our friends as we wanted to spend a few days in Denali.

Here is a photo...it didn't upload last post.

After reading many reviews and seeing some photos, Skagway was a port I was very excited to get to. We had rented a car with Avis (right around $150) and planned to drive to Emerald Lake. Because of our long day in Juneau we had a shorter day in Skagway and the full day Yukon tour wasn't an option (they didn't leave until 10:30am). But...plenty of time driving. We saw a bear walking down the road and such beautiful scenery, topped off by Emerald Lake. It was just magnificent. As the sunlight changed, so did the color. It has to be one of the prettiest lakes I've ever seen. We stopped at Caribou Crossing and did the museum. Of note, they have a huge piece of Jade there. The puppies were really cute, although I didn't get to hold them because it was nap time. Because of all the tours stopping there we decided to eat lunch in Carcross instead at the Sourdough Bakery. Yummy....right decision!

It was an early morning the next day as we headed into Glacier Bay. What a day! It was cloudless, sunny and very calm. It was just magnificent. We saw and heard lots of calving. I'm excited to see some of the photos of another cruiser who had a telephoto lens and am so thankful she is going to share them with me. We stayed on Deck 5, right by a set of doors so we could keep going back and forth from side to side to see more. It was just so amazing.

We all really liked Icy Straight Point. It is just a small spot; they only let 1 ship in at a time. The walk off dock is really long, and quite steep (I'm guessing that depends on the tide) as we got in during low tide. We didn't do any excursions here, just walked around. The day started out really cold and windy, but ended up really nice and sunny. We walked from the port over to the Cannery museum area. There are a few little houses on the path and I just kept thinking about the view they had from their front window! The museum was pretty interesting and the shops were nice. I liked that they featured local artists. Being a crafter myself, I always appreciate the opportunity to meet local artists and support them. We saw whale blows from the shore. They do sell crab there, freshly caught, but pretty pricey. Not being a seafood lover has its perks here! We did the nature walk back and it was so pretty. It was the first place we could get a shot of the whole ship at once. Definitely worth doing.

The next day we were in Juneau and lucky enough to get 12 hours there. Based on recommends here we decided to do a Whale watch, glacier tour and also the Mt. Roberts Tramway. Our coupon book came in handy here. We did a combo Whale watch and glacier tour with Juneau Tours. It worked well...we did the whale watch first and then they had many shuttles from the glacier so we could spend as much time as we wanted. The day was perfect, the water so calm. I've been to Hawaii to whale watch but this was a bit more subdued. We did get to watch a mom/calf nursing for awhile. Pretty awesome, but not too much happening above water. A few tail spots and lots of blows, but no bubble feeding (which I was hoping for) also no Orcas (also on my list). The boat captain and naturalists were very knowledgeable. The glacier was great. I don't know why I thought we would be able to walk on Mendenhall from where we were. But, it was beautiful. We didn't see or hear any calving but the visitor center is very nice and the park rangers very helpful. We did about half the walk to nugget falls. I would highly recommend Juneau Tours.

We went back to the ship for lunch and one of the guys took a nap, the other some pool time. Us ladies went back into town and because the weather was so great we took the tram up the mountain. Very spectacular. It is really much more a ride up and down than anything else. You can go as many times as you like, you need to be lucky enough to be by a window. The view from the top is really quite spectacular. We did a little shopping, met up with the guys at Red Dog Saloon. The piano player was quite entertaining. It was a breath-taking day. I think I could live in Juneau (at least during the summers).

Leaving Vancouver is truly beautiful! It was the only night we had anything resembling a sunset. The following day was peaceful and relaxing as a sailing day. We attended the lecture from the Naturalist on board. He gave great info; we went to 3 of his 4 talks. My only comment was that he had such a relaxing voice I nodded off every time. I thought it was just me but all 4 of us had the same reaction.

We started seeing whales even that first afternoon/evening; mainly just blows and a few back humps, but exciting still! We also took some time that day to explore the ship and possible places to view the glacier from. The helipad is on deck 6, but you have to get to it from deck 5. It was so windy up there that day! Ultimately we chose to watch the glacier from deck 5, by the doors near the front elevators. It worked out really well...the ship does many "spins" around so we just kept going from one side of the ship to the other as it rotated. My husband also does a lot of walking after meals and he found deck 5 to be better than 12 because if offers some weather protection.

Day 3 we landed in Ketchikan and the place known for having over 202" of rain per year was dry, clear and very sunshiny! Most of the day was short sleeve weather with light jacket or long sleeve no jacket. We used our coupon book to do an excursion with Ketchikan Independent Tours...the 2 hour Nature Tour. There was no pre-cruise communication from them as to how to meet up, but we called when we got on land and they told us where to meet. We were the only 4 on the tour which was great and Jason (filling in for Justin) had great info to share on the area. Problem however...less than 1/2 hour into the tour the bus broke and we had to be taxi-driven back into town. Still waiting to hear about getting a refund. Would I recommend them....probably not. We went back on the ship for lunch then took a taxi to the Totem Poles. You don't need a tour to do totem poles...you can catch the regular bus (we just missed it and it only picked up once per hour). We did ride it back to town.

Can I just say WOW! We had such amazing weather for our cruise that I am really hesitant to ever do it again...afraid of disappointment.

We flew from Phoenix to Vancouver the day before the cruise so we could do some sight seeing. Low clouds in San Francisco gave us over an hour delay getting in and the shuttle to the hotel also took too long, so we didn't really get to start doing anything until after 5pm.

We stayed at the Quality Hotel South because of the free shuttle and free hot breakfast. No problems getting through customs or getting luggage, but it did take the shuttle twice as long as we were told to come and get us. The hotel is about 3 blocks from the train, which we made use of to go to the Waterfront stop and then walk a couple more blocks to get a bus to take us to Stanley Park. Living in the desert, but loving the green this was right up my alley! It is so beautiful. It was the beginning of the season though, so by the time we got there the horse drawn carriages and trolley were already closed. We didn't get to explore quite as much as I hoped, but it was really beautiful and peaceful. Ate at a great little brewhouse by the train stop and had Putine (yummy!).

The hotel was a good choice for us...totally budget minded as you will see if you continue reading. We booked all our own shore excursions and made use of a coupon book. If you are going this summer and are interested...we only used a few coupons and I would give you a good deal on coupon book. Message me your e-mail.

The next morning, we dropped off our luggage at the pier and then went up top to look around some. We did the Fly over Canada. It was great....beautiful. We were waiting for our travelling friends (first time cruisers) to arrive and get through the check in line. Getting on-board was quick and easy.

Our friends were really trying to save some funds so we booked inside cabins. 8527 and 8525. Close to the elevator and very adequate. On the positive side...being in an inside cabin on this cruise whenever we wanted to sleep it was actually really dark! For other cruises we love the window, but while I missed the view of the outside, having it be dark in the room when the sun never really sets was a perk.

I'll go into detail on ports and excursions we did but on the cruise as a whole, I would have these negatives (pretty petty actually). On our 7 night cruise we only had 3 towel animals. There were also only 2 musical production shows and the other options seemed really lacking. No piano bar, very little in the way of karaoke and it always started too late. Also...first time I saw "extra charge items" in the main dining room. I'm used to all the "specialty" dining options you have to pay for, but now they will sell you extra dinner options in the main dining and it seemed that the menu options suffered because of them even trying to "upsell" you there. We were on the My Time Dining and it isn't really a problem. I got an e-mail about a month before the cruise to make reservations. I did that, and then we never had to stand in line, just go to the head of the line. We got the same table every night, except 1 which was a huge error on their part and they bent backward to make up to us.