kawagama

We did a sea kayak trip with Southeast Sea Kayaks, a local company. It was great! There were just two of us on this tour with 3 or 4 guides, as some were still training (early may). We even got to see humpbacks quite close! They provided all the gear and then even a delicious snack on their mother ship. Worth trying it out!

A good compact camera that has a zoom lens. I didn't have that and missed some great shots of eagles and other wildlife.

Hello!

I think I read another post of yours about fog! Ugh! We'll have to risk it, we DID book flights just a few days ago and are not spending a night after the cruise! I have to put it out of my mind or I'll stress about it. LOL!

 

I'll look into staying on Murano for a night!

 

Did you do Montenegro on your own? I'm wondering if we should book a tour - I think we might. We are in port for odd times on all of our stops. Montenegro is from 1pm-8pm.

Sounds like your timing is similar to what ours was in Kotor. And yes, we did it on our own. We walked around the old town and then climbed the 1500 steps up to the top of the fortress. It was hot, sunny and hard, but we did it (and we are 65 and 64). Well worth the effort--the views were stunning. Afterwards, we simply relaxed in the old town and wandered around poking into shops, returning to the ship in time for dinner.

And sorry to scare you about fog. Nobody else I know who has gone through Venice in the fall has run into this problem. It was just bad luck for us i guess.

Kotor, Montenegro is beautiful! The old town is fabulous to visit and the entry into Kotor itself is stunning. We just did it this past October.

We stayed in Murano for one night and I highly recommend that if you haven't booked hotels yet. It was great! We stayed at Murano Palace, which was nicer and cheaper than in Venice itself.

Just a recommendation about pre and post cruise. If you haven't booked flights yet, you might give yourself a day after cruise just in case of any port issues. On our cruise, we ran into fog. This delayed our departure by more than half a day. It also messed up the itinerary for us. For those returning from the previous cruise, many missed their flights home as they weren't able to disembark until 5 PM instead of the 6:45 AM in their itinerary. Fog can be an issue in Venice in October and November. We had no idea, so now I feel I should warn future travellers of this possibility.

We did Alaska with an identical itinerary as #4, also with HAL, but with a different ship (Noordam) in 2016 in early May. I think we were one of the first ships up. We bypassed Tracy Arm (I guess because of ice), which was disappointing, but the other ports were great. Loved Skagway! Such a great old town. It also allows you to take the White Pass train trip which was the most popular excursion when we went. We didn't do that; instead we hiked up part of the Chilkoot Trail and then floated down the river in a rubber raft. There were only 4 of us along with the guides. It was awesome! We enjoyed the HAL ship; even more so since our recent trip on an RCI ship of the same size. HAL was just classier, in our opinion.

If money isn't an issue and you are the adventurous kind, check out Un-Cruise Adventures. We saw them while on our HAL cruise in Glacier Bay. They sure got up close and personal with the glaciers--so much more than we were able to do. The ships are smaller, so they are able to go into smaller bays and inlets of the Inside Passage. They are pricier than mainstream cruise lines, but from what I could determine, the passengers get a much more intensive and personal experience on their ships. Wish we could have afforded to go on that.

I'll try to field this question. Here is my list of "good" things to do in these ports, all based on personal experience, but obviously there are hundreds of other good things in these ports that I have not done:

 

Ketchikan:

hiking the Rainbird Trail

kayaking Orca's cove with Southeast Sea Kayaks (http://www.kayakketchikan.com/guidedtrips/)

 

Juneau:

Mendenhall Glacier Trek with Above and Beyond Alaska (http://beyondak.com/trips/mendenhall-glacier-trek/)

Mount Roberts Tramway and hiking trails at the top of the mountain

 

Icy Strait Point:

walking the nature trail

 

Anchorage:

Alaska Native Heritage Center

bike rental and riding along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

car rental and drive Turnigan Arm to the Alyeska Tram and to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

 

Homer:

Natural History Tour from the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (https://www.akcoastalstudies.org/)

Free shuttle to the Pratt Museum and Alaska Islands and Oceans Visitor Center

 

Kodiak:

hiking in Ft. Abercrombie Park

 

Sitka:

Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest (ship tour)

walking to see totems in Sitka National Historical Park

hiking the Gavan Hill Trail

 

Victoria:

Miniature World Museum

renting bikes and riding the Galloping Goose Trail

I second the ideas for Juneau and Ketchikan. We had a great trip with Southeast Kayaks. We were the only two people booked on the trip we did. Saw humpback whales close up, enjoyed a delicious snack on their mother ship, and had several new and eager guides helping us along. It was awesome. Mendenthal Glacier in Juneau is well worth the trip. We did that without a tour. Just got on a bus that took us there and then spent as much time as we wanted wandering around, enjoying the scenery and taking pictures.

Check out the website Alaska Shore Excursions. It's a generic site that lists excursions in various cities in Alaska. That's where we found all of ours. They are cognizant of the ship timetables too, so will make sure to get you back on time.

Having only been on two cruises, I am no expert, but I did see a big difference between HAL and RCI. On HAL our experience was that there were sanitizers everywhere you looked--in hallways, outside elevators, near all food venues--literally everywhere. On RCI we were squirted by a waiter when entering the buffet restaurant--not the dining room. I did not see sanitizers anywhere else. Also, on HAL, in the buffet restaurant, the public did not touch utensils. They had servers serving people according to their choices. If there was any way to help yourself, foods were already dished out onto plates or into bowls that sat on separate plates (desserts or small appetizers primarily). On RCI, anyone could touch any of the utensils and foods in the buffet, so despite being squirted on entry, all it took was one person to touch their nose or mouth and then touch utensils after entering. So, in our experience, I think HAL had the safer approach. We also did not get sick with noro on either, but did get colds on the RCI ship.

We stayed in Murano this past October for one night after our cruise. It was beautiful! We stayed at the Murano Palace, which was absolutely wonderful. Cute hotel, reasonable prices, especially compared to Venice proper. Nice breakfast. Murano was busy with tourists shopping for glass during the day, but as soon as evening came on, the tourists cleared out and the town was quiet and lovely for walking. We enjoyed a delicious fish dinner for 4 and then wandered around the town afterwards. The owner of Murano Palace has a son who owns a restaurant as well. We had lunch there and it was very tasty. Sorry, but I don't remember the name. If you stay at the Palace, the owner will tell you the name of the restaurant. Michelle Obama ate there once too! The best thing about Murano was being able to take a vaporetto to the airport the next day! When do we ever get to do that?!

I will warn you, however, about Venice and fog in October. We had no idea that this was a thing at this time of year, but the start of our cruise was delayed significantly due to fog. Consequently our itinerary was changed and we did not get the cruise we signed up for. Very disappointing. Ships were blocked from entering the port because the port was closed for the fog. Once it lifted, the locals decided to have a small boat regatta in the canal (apparently they really hate cruise ships and will do this from time to time to upset schedules), which then delayed our cruise even more. The folks who were on the previous cruise ended up missing their flights home as well. It was quite the mess. This was with RCI. We would not cruise with them again because of how everything was handled.

Venice, on the other hand, was beautiful!

10 hours in Kotor itself might be a little lengthy. We were there in October and chose to simply walk around the town. The old walled city is the most interesting and there is an awesome climb up to the fortress that one can do for 3 euros. It's 1500 stone steps to the top and it's a pretty gruelling climb--depending on age and fitness level. We are 64 and 66 and made it to the top. It took about 3 hours to go up and come back down, I would say. Otherwise, the walled town is small and doesn't take long to navigate. Very pretty, however. And the entry into the port of Kotor is absolutely stunning! We came in around noon with bright sun, but sailed away at sunset, which was very beautiful. It was our favourite port on our cruise. We didn't stop at Dubrovnik, so I can't compare.

We stayed at Casa Rezzonico in the Dorsoduro area. It took us 10 minutes to walk to the cruise terminal from our hotel with our luggage (with very few bridges to cross). The hotel was comfortable, with a lovely breakfast, and an easy walk to all the sights.

After our cruise, we also stayed one night, but had trouble finding something in Venice that was reasonable, not booked, or that was willing to book for one night. So, we went to Murano and stayed at Murano Palace. It was fantastic! The owner is wonderful and the hotel was lovely. And, we got to take a boat to the airport the next day as Murano is half way there. Some lovely restaurants on the island, which is quiet in the evenings. We were there this past October.

I very much like cruises that begin and/or end in Venice. Once one arrives at the airport in Venice, it's just a 20 or so minute ride via bus to the transportation hub of the city, the Piazzale Roma. From there hotels, etc, can be accessed either by walking or by water taxi. It's strictly a walking city (no motorized vehicles, only water transport) with tons of history everywhere.

Once aboard one's ship, ports in the eastern med are pretty close together, and you can visit other Italian ports, Greek island ports, ports in Croatioa, Montenegro, Slovenia, etc, etc , etc. There's SO much to see!

It's one of my favorite places in the entire world.

Agree on the ease of reaching the port and Venice as a beautiful city to visit. Be wary of time of year, however. We recently booked a cruise out of Venice in October and were delayed by almost a full day due to fog and the port being closed. The consequence of this was that our itinerary was drastically changed and we did not get to see the Greek Islands that were on the original itinerary (and the reason why we booked this cruise). Also be aware that Venetians are not pleased with the big cruise ships coming through their canal and will sometimes stage small boat regattas in the canal to prevent the ships coming and going. This also happened for this particular cruise and delayed it even longer. Personally, I would never book a cruise out of Venice again.

We went with HAL on the Noordam--smaller ship. Went in early May, so did not get into Tracy Arm. Did spend several hours at the Mendenhal Glaciier (beautiful and inexpensive to get there). The captain did about 3 or 4 360s in Glacier Bay, though, which was awesome. Not sure about kid activities on the ship as we didn't need to worry about that, although there were kids. Our itinerary, however, only had 3 ports, so we spent a fair bit of time on the ship. If you want to get off more often, check the itineraries closely.

We went the first week of May--I think we were one of the first ships up the coast. Pros: we were the only ship in each of our ports, so the towns weren't crowded; early spring is beautiful with some snow still on the hills and beautiful bright greens everywhere; good deals on the ships. Cons: cooler weather for sure; some ice still in Tracy Arm, so we bypassed it.

We also booked a balcony, but it was hard to use for the most part. It was a bonus in Glacier Bay, however. We were able to avoid the crowds on the decks while the captain did his 360's

I think it would depend on what happened and when. We've only been on two cruises. The first was okay with some very nice aspects. The second--well, not so much. Different lines. There certainly were similar things about both that we didn't like both times. This has made us wonder whether cruising is really for us. I know for sure I won't ever go again with the second cruise line, even though some aspects of that trip were fine. IF I were ever to try a cruise again, I think I know better now what to look for and what to avoid--based on both experiences. The couple we went with on our second (and most recent) cruise had never been before. Based on their experience, I don't think they will choose cruising again. So, I think that if you like cruising as a form of vacation to begin with, even with a bad experience, you will probably choose a cruise again, albeit with a different line. If you are testing the waters, and have a negative experience, it is more likely to turn you off this form of vacationing.

We "laminate" our luggage tags with clear packing tape which we always seem to have on hand in the house. Works great!

Lay out all the clothes you want to take on a bed. Then take half away. Think about what you wear in a week at home. You can re-wear dresses for dinner (nobody will notice), mix and match pants and tops for evening wear too. Same for shoes. You can easily get caught up in the "I have to bring all this formal wear and accessories" syndrome, but really, anything a cut above sloppy is fine for evening wear. That should reduce what you bring by quite a bit.

The last two times I travelled I rolled all my clothing--t-shirts, skirts, dresses, pants, sweaters--and nothing came out badly creased. Clothing fits better this way, is easier to locate if you have to live out of your suitcase pre or post cruise, and suffers much fewer wrinkles and creases. Try it! And be sure to unpack and hang as soon as you can.

Yes. It's massive. Lots of seating.

Our recent experience out of Venice was not great. Venetians are not happy with cruise ships in the Guideca Canal and will sometimes create situations to prevent ships coming or going. This happened to us just a few weeks ago. There was a "gondola and small craft regatta" in the canal and 4 cruise ships had to sit and wait until it was over before they could proceed to the port. This delayed even further a cruise that was already delayed due to October fog. Consequently our itinerary changed and we did not get the cruise that we originally signed up for. Very disappointing. If I were you, I would choose to depart from a different port. Visit Venice because it is beautiful and worth the visit, but start your cruise elsewhere. I would never choose Venice as a starting cruise port again. As a matter of fact I recently saw an article in Business World that said the central Venice port will no longer be used for cruise ships by 2022. Instead they will start further down the mainland from the commercial shipping port.

I love sea days & won't book a cruise w/o at least 1, though I prefer at least 3 per 7 days. And the older I get, the more I need a sea day every couple of ports.

 

Not look at the full itinerary? I can't imagine doing that! How can anyone NOT know where they're going before they agree to go?! Of course, I choose a cruise based on the itinerary, not the actual ship so "where" is #1.

 

Itinerary + sea days = my kind of cruise!

We recently came back from a cruise that was suppose to be very port intensive. In its original itinerary it was only meant to have one sea day--the last one--before returning to home port. Due to some unfortunate events, the captain changed the itinerary and instead of one sea day at the end, we had two sea days at the beginning, two dropped ports (which were the main reason why we chose this cruise), and the addition of another random port. We had chosen this cruise for the itinerary, were happy at the thought of getting off the ship every day, and were quite happy that our last day was to be a relaxing, packing, reminiscing sea day. Unfortunately, this is not what happened in the end. On top of this, the other couple we were with finished their books while waiting all day in a terminal to board the ship. Consequently, they did not have new reading material for the two sea days, and this particular ship did not have a library or a shop that sold books. They advertised a library, but that turned out to be nothing more than a paltry cupboard with a handful of paperbacks--most of them in foreign languages. So, not being the drinking, gambling, or lie on a deck chair in the sun all day types, we found these two sea days a bit challenging.

If you Google the port cities' tourism, you should get lots of information on things to do in the ports. We booked all our own excursions when we went. The prices were not all that much cheaper than on our ship, but the numbers were certainly smaller. In Skagway we hiked a portion of the Chilkoot Trail and then did a float trip down a river--there were only 4 of us on the trip along with 2 guides. It was very personal and informative. Out of Ketchikan we found a kayaking company that took us kayaking from their mother ship. Again, we were the only 2 on this excursion, so it was very personal. Lots of information on line and the towns aren't that big, so you don't have to worry about being delivered back on time.

As for Vancouver, it is a beautiful city with lots to see. Gastown downtown is interesting, as is the Granville Island Market. Stanley Park is a must see as well. Paying a visit to University of British Columbia is worth it too, as the grounds are gorgeous and there is a museum of indigenous art works there that is open to the public. If time allows, and you have a vehicle, do go over to Vancouver Island. Victoria is lovely, but so is much of the rest of the island. The small town of Coombs is eccentric with its "goats on the roof market". From there you take the one highway through massive old growth trees to Tofino on the Pacific Coast. Gorgeous! There are also many smaller islands, home to many artists, between Vancouver and the island that are fun to explore. So, lots and lots to see and do if you have the time. Enjoy!

Those are Beaver feeders. To keep the Beavers out of the backyards and away from the domestic animals they place the feeders at the end of the driveways. It also provides easier access for the Beavers from the designated Beaver lanes that run along the side of many of the streets in Atlantic Canada.

Bahahahahahahahaha. Love this answer!

Thank you all for the many and varied suggestions! I see that there is hope out there that we will find a good fit. Having just come back, we aren't planning another trip just yet, but once the madness of Christmas goes by, and dreariness of winter sets in, I'm sure we will start considering future travels. I know I will for sure. Still hope to see those Greek islands one of these days.

Let's see...

 

1) Your husband is a boat builder

2) You want an enriching cruise

 

May I suggest http://texas200.com/!!!!!

 

(I've done it twice, can't get my wife to go with me for some reason!)

Perhaps my husband should go with you! ;p

Here's the thing. HAL and RCI are vastly different regarding activities. If you found sea days boring on both of these lines, I think you are going to find sea days boring on any ocean going cruise line.

 

I agree with the recommendation of a river cruise.

 

Also, consider a port intensive Alaska cruise. The sea days on Alaska cruises are typically in scenic areas, such as the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm or Hubbard Glacier.

Thanks for the suggestions. We did Alaska with HAL in May 2016. Glacier Bay was gorgeous for sure. Could not get into Tracy Arm (sadly), stopped at Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway--all lovely. We found that much of the scenic cruising, such as Inside Passage, was done at night on the way north. In all fairness, HAL did have some naturalists on board, and some of the activities were decent. We appreciated the library and games room on their ship, and the way open dining loaned itself to meeting other travellers--which we really enjoyed. Royal seated us only with our party of 4 all week, at the same table, with the same servers, so it wasn't conducive to meeting others.

We will look into river cruises and those offered by much smaller ships. That may be the answer. My husband builds wooden boats and loves sailing. We are not opposed to being on the water. Just have different interests I guess.