4olivers

We will be there in July, 5 weeks from today!! We have the Chulitna River Raft excursion booked, looking forward to that!

It's a 19 mile easy float down the river to Talkeetna then we ride a bus back to the lodge that evening.

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There are FIVE ships in Ketchikan today (6/6/16)...and berth 3 isn't available. Attached is a bridge cam timeline from the 3 Princess ships.

 

 

 

Enjoy![ATTACH]387332[/ATTACH]

This may sound like a silly question but as a newbie (NEVER cruised before!) where do you go to find out how many ships will be in Port on your day? I've seen several posts about this I'm wondering how you find this information out?

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I have read where they do a kids dinner night on a couple of the cruises and I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if they do this on the Coral? Specifically in Alaska…

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We went with the Zen Ray Vistas (8x42) - can't wait to try them out in Alaska!! We also have a pair of Bushnell 8x42 so we can compare. I'll report back after our trip, 39 more days!

Thanks everyone for input!

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We leave in 40 days with our 2 boys (11,15) and our nephews (8,16) we are doing a land tour first then a week on the Coral Princess. I can report back after our trip and let you know how it goes! :)

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Just emailed you! :)

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If you know that you are going on specific excursions, the telephone is a wonderful device for asking questions and getting information.

 

 

 

DON

Notice that my question was not pertaining to excursions per se but more so about the true need in general, particularly from the ladies, if anyone found actual rain boots a necessary item.

Working in the telecom industry, I am very well aware of how to use a telephone and when it makes sense… Once again, I find some of the comments back on this forum ridiculous. This is a place where people should be able to come and ask questions, as I see done daily, and get opinions here which is what we are looking for, not sarcasm.

This board, reaching out to people with first-hand experience, in my opinion is the best place to reach out, ask questions and get information.

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I've seen several recommendations for the ladies to pack rain boots. I have waterproof hiking shoes (low, not boots) I'm wondering if actual upper calf length rain boots would be a necessity?

Are heavy winter jackets needed?

(We are traveling Coral, doing 4 days on land prior to 7 on the ship. Excursions include chulitna river rafting, ATV, whale watching, misty fjord wilderness boat tour, 5 glacier sea plane, white pass, ending with a full day in Vancouver.)

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I think I need to research this more :-/

I do use iMessage with most ppl I would need to communicate with but I need to figure out how the data packages work on the ship. Fortunately there are really only 3 days this is a concern - our 3 days at sea, everywhere else appears to have 3G or 4G connections in US

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I'm interested in texting back home to check in my elderly family members who actually do text. I suppose we will be better suited to get a wifi package

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What about texting? Anybody know how that works while at sea?

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7 weeks away for us!!!!!! I can only imagine our excitement level the night before!!!! Have a wonderful time!

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I'm interested in buying better binoculars than we currently own for our upcoming cruises. There have been so many instances on our past cruises where we wished we had good binoculars with us.

 

 

 

I will see my brother in law this weekend and he will bring his naval binoculars with him for me to check out before I hastily purchase anything. They are 7 x 50.

 

 

 

I will post when I return from my weekend after using them at the beach.

Great!!! Thank you!

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Ahhhhh ok! Didn't realize this, I thought the Alaskan cruise cruise season started in April.

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Have scanned various places, not seeing any current.

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To prepare for our Alaska cruise trip, we have done some extensive research before we purchased our binoculars. We also learnt a few things: (1) the binoculars need to be waterproof. If it rains, the moisture will not get inside the binoculars and ruin the whole trip; (2) 10x is great for distant viewing and 8x is perfect for whale watching on the cruiseship or boat with better stability; (3) we preferred 42mm over smaller size for brightness. We used to have a 10x25 TASCO binoculars. But the view was so dim that we hardly ever used it; (4) Don't over spend on binoculars. My DH is a bird watcher and he spent $2k for some top end Swarovski binoculars. For the rest of our family, we are very happy with $150 Zen-Ray VISTA binoculars; (5) besides size, make sure that you get binoculars with lens coated with fully multi coating to brightness.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

Thank you!!!! Roof or Porro Prism?! I only ordered one pr of the 8x25 so I may get 42's for the others.

I've seen several posts about the Zen-Ray Vista being a great option. Your answer was very helpful!!

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My husband and our 11 yr old son are both T1 and on insulin pumps. Thanks for posting this!

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Try typing "how to choose binoculars" into Google. You will get lots of useful hits.

 

 

 

DON

I did! Typically before I post here I always Google and then determine if I feel my specific question is best for CC or if I've gotten my answer...honestly there was so much stuff overwhelmingly flooding my computer screen from big ole GOOGLE that I felt by narrowing my question and posting here to some true Alaskan travel experts I would get some good quality, direct answers. [emoji39]

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Perfect! And I have ordered my sons 8x25 - think these would be ok from the ship? (Or raft on our float in Talkeetna, sea plane on glacier tour)

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Tried to edit this post....no longer can [emoji51]

I know there are a ton of other threads regarding binoculars and I have spent the last half hour looking through several but can't find some specific answers so maybe if I add on here someone could give me feedback.

What is the big difference between 8 x 42 or 10 x 42? I'm looking at 10x50 as well....

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A few questions regarding binoculars:

Obviously I know we need them for hopefully capturing some great sights at a distance. What would be the recommended brand/magnification for novice/tourist use?

We are a group of nine, should each of us plan to have our own binoculars?

I've seen many brands that are waterproof/fog proof and I assume from all of my reading up on Alaska that this would be the ideal way to go?

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[emoji102] what?

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I swear last week I saw a thread that said 2016 Trip Reviews, 2015 Trip Reviews, etc. now I cannot find and when I go to Princess Cruise Reviews, I get redirected to Trip Advisor?? HELP! Where are the reviews grouped together that are posted on CC?

would love to see your full review! Where can I find it?:confused:

So we are on the Coral 7/16-23, we should see the puppies?! How exciting!! Anyone who's done this...Any more details on this? Is it a day time thing whole at sea of something that they do on a port day?

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