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Gastineau are running the discover Alaska’s Whales on my cruise date for NCL, their photo safari excursion is not running in October due to the shorter daylight hours.

Another request, can you post about what happens at Skagway? I see for your sailing bliss will be the only ship in port and it’s listed for RRA pier, last year I believe the ships that docked there after the rockfall had to send passengers to shore via tender rather than gangway. Bliss is also scheduled similarly for my sailing in October.

A highly offensive bigoted name for a drink

The gotcha on the upgrade option during the cruise is that you can’t have used any of your free minutes, if you have used some of the minutes then you will be paying the full daily rate. Or you can also buy more minutes as required throughout the cruise.

If you’re anxious about appropriate attire for your preferred dining establishment on day 1 put it in your carry-on. I always have a few essentials in my carry-on in case after having had luggage go astray on past travels. Who knows when a trolley full of luggage might fall into the water..

I’m sailing on Bliss for Alaska in October so following with interest as I suspect the weather will probably be similar. I’ll be opting for the thermal spa pass rather than vibe for that sailing and I’m bringing a novice cruiser along who had originally planned an Alaska cruise for her honeymoon but the relationship broke up so instead she’s celebrating a roundy birthday. If you’re going along to any of the solo meet-ups please share their general plan for the week if it’s more than just the evening meet-up and dinner in one of the MDRs.

I suspect the Bird is trying to wind up everyone who posts negative comments about other ports/countries… but for those who’ve experienced Spring break the closest equivalent in Ireland is Rag week (raising & giving week) which is generally a different date in every college and everyone drinks to oblivion while giving money to charity. Some of the college cities here basically ban the students from the city centre that week. Oh and, in theory, classes are still in session during that week. When I was an undergrad my classmates objected to having to do our electronics lab overlooking the student bar. They decided to blow up every LED and Capacitor we could get our hands on .. stinkbomb wouldn’t come close to it. For some reason the engineering profs were the most resistant to cancelling classes that week.

On my first cruise I never actually spotted where the life jacket was stored in my cabin until I was packing which would have been far more useful info than anything in the Munster drill. Turned out it was under the bed in the storage basket the steward used for the throw pillows.

Was that $129 each?? It was about half that when I did it pre-covid and they also did a photo in the galley that we got a print of at the end of the tour.

I use a 1lt insulated wide mouth bottle, I put the ice in in the evening so I have it first thing if I’ve an early excursion in warm weather. No fridge in the studios and the ice bucket isn’t super insulated so even when it was a twice a day service the ice would be melted in the bucket overnight.

That capacity can be a bit of a moving target for some excursions. When I did the western Mediterranean there were a few excursions that had multiple bus loads so the excursion providers can add on buses as the demand requires but then there are others that have a strictly limited capacity. It would be great if they gave that info but I suspect there are a few reasons they don’t : 1. They want the money as quickly as possible 2. They need to be sure the excursion providers have sufficient capacity or will other backup providers need to be added I’m sure there’ll be more reasons. Also sometimes the available excursions listings change as provider contracts are renewed or cancelled, and sometime the providers have to cancel for an entire season. e.g. One excursion in Alaska that I saw mentioned as highly recommended was completely cancelled last year due to staff shortages at the business hosting the excursion but they didn’t know that until the season started.

Talking to an expert is a good idea and they would/should know any specifics for different countries. as I’m in Ireland our travel insurance providers offer Europe only / Worldwide excluding USA / worldwide including USA and we can have the price reduced if you have personal health insurance as long as that policy has a certain threshold for overseas coverage. And they also ask about pre-existing conditions and what level of medical intervention those have needed in the past. E.g. I’m asthmatic but have never been hospitalised by it so my premium didn’t get increased. My father fell ill on a sailing holiday in the Greek islands and had to be airlifted to Athens, unfortunately he passed away (aneurysm) but it was his health insurance that took care of everything, so much so that it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to claim a couple of hundred € from the travel insurance afterwards.

it’s definitely not 2 mattresses as I didn’t feel any divide like on Epic. It is supposed to be hypoallergenic bedding in the Studios but, as I experienced, bedding can migrate. The mattress was a European double size, which is smaller than king or queen size. You may want them to take away the throw pillows as I suspect they are not hypoallergenic. I kept them stuffed under the bed for my cruises. I will say I slept really really well on Escape and no itchy eyes or sneezing which would happen if there were feathers.

I’ll be sailing in October and trying to decide between 2 whale watching excursions. I’d be booking via NCL but from some digging I figured out the excursion providers Discover Alaska’s Whales - smaller boat run by Gastineau guiding Whale watching & wildlife quest - bigger boat run by Allen Marine. I’m hoping someone has experience of either of these companies and the likelihood of excursion cancellation if it’s a bit rough. Heavy seas aren’t a problem for me but I know some companies are more conservative than others. There is a greater chance of inclement weather in October hence my concern. (And before anyone asks it’s the only month I can sail for an Alaskan itinerary due to work)

I’m pretty sure it’s a door but it’s been a while since I was on Escape. i haven’t a clue about the mattress but I did find a feather pillow in my studio when I arrived and had to call housekeeping to ensure all feather bedding was removed. Apparently the feather bedding is only supposed to be in suites or haven cabins. You can notify NCL ahead of time about allergies and check if they have the right materials to protect you.

Phishing and smishing (text messages) is getting more and more sophisticated. the funniest e-mail one I’ve gotten had the actual legit company’s info about what to look for to see if was a legit email and their fake didn’t match the format their own mail listed. I also regularly get phone calls from “amazon prime” telling me there’s a problem with my renewal, makes a change from the “this is Microsoft and your computer has a virus” calls …. Those were fun to string along if I wasn’t doing anything else

I’m not familiar with the various gambling organisations but I’ve certainly met folks on the ship who were on free cruises via casinos. NCL themselves are running some special promos on this year’s Alaska itineraries for latitudes members.

No tipping in Ireland cos our bar staff are paid a decent wage. I still remember a friend who was working as a waitress at a local restaurant here running up the street looking for a group that had left a tip of £50, she thought they’d made a mistake until I asked what their total bill was and told her that sounded like a normal tip relative to the bill. I’d spent the previous summer in the USA so learned the standard tipping then.

I know how I feel after hauling a few boxes around and moving wetsuits all day at work so I always tip the porters, also if you tip them well at embarkation they’ll keep an eye out at disembarkation and get you to the fast lane at border control.

I used the €2 coins on a European itinerary but I switch to dollars for cruises out of the states

For those thinking of taxis the main app in use here is FreeNow (used to be HailO) and there are no rideshare operators like lyft or uber. The Discover Ireland website is a good option for finding general tourist info.

oh there is .. I had an Italian housemate in college who definitely had more than one too many Guinness' over the course of 12 hours . But in a short pace of time you're unlikely to sink so many pints, apart from anything else it takes a bit to pour it properly and to let it settle.

I just came across a news story this morning that the Natural History museum in Dublin will be closing again later this year. They are moving some of their exhibits to the Collins barracks museum while they undergo renovations to stop their roof falling down, the joys of old buildings. This round of renovations is expected to take 5 years as they're going to do a full renovation to bring the building to modern energy saving standards. They haven't announced a closing date as yet as they are still doing the planning and everything for the works.

As an Irish coastal girl I will emphasise hooded coat as you won’t want to be handling an umbrella in changeable conditions.

I’m sailing on Bliss in October and at the moment it’s the only ship scheduled for Skagway on that day so I’m hoping we’ll make it to the port but I’m keeping an eye out for what happens during the season. There’s a lot of @sea time on the itinerary already with only a morning in Ketchikan and a night time in Victoria so Skagway and Juneau are the only ports with a decent amount of time in port.