ams cruiser

I have an Alaskan cruise booked 6/30/18. I am over the moon happy that I found your post. i love the pics and all the info....thanks for taking the time to do all of this ! I can"t wait to enjoy Alaska!!!

I’m glad you found it helpful! I spent months on these boards reading threads and getting a lot of great advice. We had the trip of a lifetime and I know you will, too!

I am from montreal. In my opinion, you will have better weather in sept. The later in the year, gets colder, more change of rain. And the locals start to go into hypernation mode.

 

You could fly to montreal. Then take the train or bus to quebec. Remember that with the currency difference. Canada will be cheaper for you.

 

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We were hoping to find the perfect balance of fall colors and good weather! (Not asking for a lot, I know! ;) ) Maybe the October 4th sailing (Quebec to NYC) would be the sweet spot?

Flying into Montreal sounds like a good plan.

Appreciate your advice!

Montreal is a wonderful town with some unbelievably rich history and an "oh-so-European" ambiance. Great restaurants, museums and a terrific music scene as well. IMO, worth two to three exploration days.

Actually, if you are there for a few days, you might also want to consider a drive south to Fort Ticonderoga- it will put American revolutionary history in a whole new light.

 

And, at the other end (NYC), do consider Brooklyn including the Brooklyn Museum and the Botanical Gardens. Head to Coney Island and the NY Aquarium there.

Eat at Peter Lugers, The River Cafe, Frankie's Sputino on Court Street and, of course, Nathan's mothership. Walk the Esplanade in Brooklyn Heights and remember all the movies you've ever seen that included the view west to Manhattan.

 

Finally, if you do nothing else, get a slice [emoji487] at DiFara's on Avenue J.

 

 

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I can already tell that we're going to wish we had more days planned! Appreciate the suggestions, which I will bookmark for when the cruise gets closer. Right now, I am thinking Fall 2019 as a retirement celebration cruise.

(When planning for our Alaska cruise last summer, I read Cruise Critic reviews and the Princess and Alaska boards for months. It's a little harder to find information about Canada/New England.)

Not sure it would make much difference. If leaving from NYC the ship does go alot slower when you get closer to Quebac City ( Because of restrictions of whales)

Basicly it mostly boils down where you want to finish your cruise.

But not leaving Quebec? I was thinking it would be good to start in NYC with all of it's activity, and then relax a little on the cruise, but until I read SBtS's advice about following the fall color change (assuming are lucky enough to hit the sweet spot at all.)

Appreciate your input!

arriving Juneau on the Norwegian Bliss first week of June. Juneau in June

NCL does not list an excursion taking a helicopter flight to a glacier unlike Princess. Has anyone booked the local tour operator and what was your experience. As slots are few, I don't want to wait too long to book...the Bliss is in port for only 6 hours.

Thanks

Our excursion with Coastal Helicopters last summer was the highlight (among many) of our Alaskan cruise. Coastal has various options - we chose the helicopter/dog sledding combination with an extra landing to see the crevasses/blue ice. A van shuttles you to and from the airport. (I believe that the two of us paid $100 less than we would have booking a similar excursion through Princess.)

https://www.coastalhelicopters.com

My sled dog pictures are embedded in my review of our entire Princess cruise, including a pre-stay in Seattle, but if you scroll down, you can see pictures of our excursion.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2533305

It is important to have a back up plan, as we were told that 70% of Coastal's flights were cancelled in the month of July last summer, due to weather. Not all of the companies land on the same glacier, (Coastal lands on Herbert), and I've read that at times flights are cancelled on one glacier but not on another, depending on the specific weather conditions of each glacier.

Rain was predicted the entire week of our cruise, but we didn't see a drop the whole week, in fact, our musher was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt on our dog sled ride!

It was a fabulous experience!

OP: whatever you do (and it should include extra time in both NYC and Montreal), try to avoid Manhattan in mid-September when the UN General Assembly is in session. Depending on the year, it may also be time for "Fashion Week." Expect hotels to be at the higher end of their range of room rates. Also, traffic will be worse than usual due to security restrictions for the UN.

BTW, try both NY and Montreal bagels and spend some time in Brooklyn.

 

 

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Good to know and thanks for your reply! I think we are are going aim for an early to mid-October date, probably from Quebec to NYC. The Princess itinerary doesn't include Montreal. Would you recommend flying into Montreal before meeting the ship in Quebec?

recently returned on that itinerary leaving NYC on October 12 this year on princess Flew into NYC a couple of days early to see sights as had never been to any of the port stops before including NYC. Princess sails out of brooklyn (usually). The ports were all beautiful , but the fall colors were not as colorful as expected ( There was a lack of rainfall which muted colors this year ( luck of the draw i guess)

Seas although unpredictable were very calm with no rough days. Quebec city was a quieter fascinating city with plenty of interesting things to do, If flights are not easily available from the smaller quebec city airport, montreal is only a 3 hour drive away with many options to get there

We're hoping for fall colors, but realize it's completely out of our hands. Calms seas a definite plus! Thanks for hint about flying out of Montreal. Any thought about northbound vs southbound on this route?

The foliage changes from north to south, inland to coastal.

 

Keeping that in mind, departing NYC on 9/24 would be too early for the New England ports and a maybe for the Canadian ports. Departing NYC on 10/14, would be good for the southern New England ports but would be past peak the more north you go.

 

Departing Quebec on 9/14, would be too early at all ports. Departing Quebec on 10/4, maybe a little early in some ports but at least you'll be cruising in the same direction as the foliage changes.

 

If I were taking this cruise and wanted to see the foliage change, I would leave from Quebec on 10/4.

 

SBtS

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful reply! The idea of cruising in the same direction as the foliage changes make sense. My initial thought was that, fall colors aside, it might be preferable to end our cruise in Quebec, rather than New York.

I've never been to Quebec, and I loved my one vacation in Manhattan, but it seems like such a hustle-bustle city in which to end a cruise. (I could be wrong, but I thought Quebec would be a more relaxing place to spend a couple of days before flying back to the West Coast.)

Do you think the slight difference in itineraries (Saint John - Bay of Fundy northbound vs Saguenay River southbound) should be factored in?

Also, hurricane season aside, are the seas calmer going southbound? (We took our Alaska cruise out of Seattle, because of I had heard the trip up the coast from San Francisco can be pretty rocky.)

Thanks, again!

Having caught the cruising bug this past summer after a glorious trip to Alaska on the Ruby Princess, I am hoping to book a Canada/New England cruise in Fall of 2019 with Princess. Ideally, we would love to see the fall colors. I know that there are no guarantees about the seasons, but am considering October departures with the following ports:

New York to Quebec (either 9/24 or 10/14): New York, Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor (for Acadia National Park, Saint John (Bay of Fundy), Halifax, Sydney (Cape Breton Island), Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island), Scenic cruising of St. Lawrence River, Quebec (overnight)

Quebec to New York (either 9/14 or 10/4): Quebec (overnight), Saguenay (scenic cruising of Saguenay River), Scenic cruising of St. Lawrence River, Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island), Sydney (Cape Breton Island), Halifax, Bar Harbor (for Acadia National Park), Boston, New York.

I would appreciate any recommendations/insights about which itinerary might be preferable. We will be flying from the San Francisco Bay Area, so that will also be a consideration in booking flights/hotels, etc.

Thanks, in advance!

(I wasn't sure if I should post this here or on the Princess board, but I thought this would be a good place to start!)

We booked directly through Coastal helicopters in Juneau for a helicopter/dog sledding combination on Herbert Glacier. I believe we saved around $100 (maybe a little more) for two of us over the Princess price. It was a pricey excursion, but by far, the highlight of our Alaska cruise. Flight trips are, indeed, the most cancelled Alaska excursions for weather/visibility reasons. We had a beautiful, sunny day in early August, (our musher was in a t-shirt!), but were told that in July 75% of their flight trips had been cancelled.

I whole-heartedly disagree. The best whale watching (in my opinion, obviously) is through Gastineau Guiding, and it's excursions JNU-670, JNU-700, and JNU-705. 14 passenger boats for 700, 20 passenger boats for 670 and 705. Sure, you might find boats with fewer passengers, but they won't be as good as these: stable, due to inflated pontoons that add width and flotation for stability, great windows that 100% lift up and out of the way for the best photography, and enough space between the open decks (forward and aft for the 20-passenger boats, forward for the 14-pax boats) and the interior that you'll never have to stand behind someone.

 

Sure, Harv & Marv has market share, but their 6-passenger boats are V-hull so they're going to rock with the waves and lean as everyone goes to one side or the other, and they'll cancel long before anyone else because of it. The other boats in the <50 passenger range tip more and have sliding windows, so they're never more than 50% open. The bigger boats are certainly more stable, but lots of people means you're standing 4-deep to see.

 

That said, if your ship contracts with Gastineau Guiding, you'll have to book via the ship. It's worth it!

This sounds like a great company! How do you know if the ship's excursion is with Gastineau Guiding? Do they book independently, or only through the cruise lines?

We did a round-trip on the Ruby out of Seattle last July/August. Our favorite excursion, by far, was the glacier landing/sled dog trip with Coastal helicopters. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, it was a life-changing experience. In Skagway we booked a combination Yukon rail and bus tour with Chilkoot Charters and had one of the best tour guides we have ever experienced! In Ketchikan we did the Misty Fjords float plan tour with Island Wings, which was a glorious experience. We were in Victoria for only a few hours in the evening, and booked our only ship's excursion for an evening tour of Butchart Gardens. It is the only tour I wouldn't recommend, simply because it was too dark to see much. We would love to go back in the daytime, however. If you are interested in more details, I did a pretty extensive pictorial trip review (my first and only),including our pre-Seattle activities https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2533305 I got a lot of good information from Cruise Critic boards and Trip Advisor in planning our Seattle/Alaska cruise vacation. We had the trip of a lifetime!

How interesting. Never thought of this. Will have to look it up. We go in July on the Pearl.

We were so glad that we weren't on the ship's train/bus excursion. Mike, our Chilkoot guide, gave us helpful tips before we even boarded the train. One example was his advice for us to use the restroom on the train about 1/2 hr before we reached Fraser, right before they lock the restrooms on the train. By following this advice, we were able to hop into our mini-bus and head to the Yukon, while the big buses were waiting for their passengers standing in line at the train station restrooms.

As an added bonus, Mike was a former photography/visual arts major, and took fabulous pictures of us at our frequent stops (which he timed to be ahead of the big buses.) Thanks to his skill, we were able to take pictures of the train at different crossings in the distance, since he knew exactly when it was going to cross certain bridges!

Not to mention the bears we were lucky enough to see!

Thanks everyone. Booked Chilkoot; bus up/train down for July 3.

Have a wonderful time!! (We did the opposite and had great weather both ways.) Chilkoot gave us one of the best tours we've ever experienced!

Think you may have helped decide this one. Train up, Tour back. Thanks,

Glad to be of some assistance. One more thing to consider - we had the best tour with Chilkoot (Dyea Dave is also a popular company) and were so glad we didn't book through the cruise line. Our tour was small and personal, and we saw so much more than the cruise line train/bus excursion, who had to deal with the logistics of 40+ people getting on and off the bus at each stop. Our little mini-bus was out of the train station and on our way into the Yukon before the larger buses had even boarded their passengers.

We went with Princess on the Ruby. Here is a link to my (first and only) trip review. If you scroll down, you can see more details and pictures about our train/tour trip. I also found good information on Trip Advisor.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2533305

Have a great cruise!

We showed up a little before 11 on our Ruby Alaska cruise out of Seattle in late July. (I believe our "suggested" time was 1 p.m.) There were no lines, and we were sitting in the dining room by noon! ( There was a postcard in our cabin saying they were using an early boarding policy.)

Newmilford, have you considered a one-way train trip? We did a Yukon Rail and Bus tour this summer that we booked through Chilkoot charters. (Their driver picks you up at the dock and takes you to the train station.) It was one of the highlights of our week. We were in a regular train car, not the VIP, but were so glad that we only took the train one-way. The mini-bus picked us up in Fraser and took us into the Yukon and Emerald Lake. The tour back to Skagway was fabulous (only 12 people on our tour), and we were able to see different scenery (including a couple of bear sightings) than we saw going up on the train, not to mention frequent stops to take pictures and stretch our legs.

We actually considered the VIP car option, but decided we would rather do a one-way train trip, which was a great choice for us. It would have been fun to ride in a luxury car, but we decided we would rather see a variety of scenery.

Enjoying your wonderful review and looking forward to the next installment! We did this fabulous cruise in late July/early August, so am interested in learning about the differences in a September cruise.

That's an idea. I didn't realize that was an option until I re-read the fine print after final payment. Our thought process was that we would enjoy the fresh squeezed orange juice at breakfast, teas and coffees at IC, and mocktails at the piano bar. The OBC isn't the full value of the AIBP.

 

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We chose the $300 OBC for our 7 day cruise. I got the Unlimited Soda and More package (can't be shared) with includes mocktails (husband doesn't like sweet drinks)' and he got a coffee card for the IC. That includes 15 espresso based drinks and unlimited brewed coffee and fine tea that can be shared. We purchased a few large bottles of sparkling water that we shared at dinner, and still came out way ahead. You might want to price this option. It depends how long your cruise is. Looking at the Princess website, it looks as though it is $8.05 per person per day for the soda package, and $35.65 for the coffee card. On a 7-day cruise you could get two soda packages and 2 coffee cards for less than $200. On a longer cruise, the AIBP might be a better way to go, but keep in mind the OBC also increases. A Princess rep can tell you the exact amounts. We had considered keeping the AIBP, but realized we would come out ahead with the $300 OBC. (We ended up spending the OBC on the Ultimate Ship's Tour, which was one of the highlights of our week.)

I want to say it's been 4 or 5 years since she had it and still no issues, she said it's been the best thing she has done.

I just Googled acupuncture and motion sickness and came across quite a few testimonials for its effectiveness. A couple people mentioned taping an ear bead to one ear at a specific pressure point that the cruiser would rub when starting to feel nauseous. (One happy client mentioned she got the idea of acupuncture from reading the "Outlander" series in which Jamie gets acupuncture on board a ship while in the depths of seasickness! But, I digress...)

I'm definitely going to give it a try before my next cruise, which, unfortunately is not even in the dream stages yet.

So happy for your wife, as being seasick is a miserable experience. Thanks, again, for sharing.

I wasnt talking about the staggered boarding. Our info states that boarding doesnt even commence until 1. Thats why I was asking.

 

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Our information said the same thing for our 7/29 Ruby sailing. We decided to take a chance and arrived a little before 11, prepared to wait. There were no lines for any of the checkpoints, and we were in the dining room by noon! There was a postcard in our room saying that they were doing early check-in.

Thanks for such an amazing review!

 

On motion sickness. DW used to have terrible motion sickness like you do. She had to be in the front seat of the car with the air blowing on her or she would be sick.

 

One Cruise we were talking with our tablemates to dinner and one of the women there said she had terrible motion sickness until she got acupuncture and now she has no issues. So DW decided to give it a try while on the cruise and it worked like a charm! She no longer gets sick in cars and she only has to take a small meclizine when the ocean gets rough on cruises.

 

I would encourage you to look into it, either wait til your next cruise and have them do it on board or find a reputable acupuncturist near you at home.

Thank you for the acupuncture suggestion! This is one treatment for motion sickness that I hadn't heard about. I do see a wonderful acupuncturist from time to time - a woman from China who has been in practice for over 30 years - but have never asked her about motion sickness. Interesting that the effects last beyond the actual treatment period. I'll definitely bring it up with her next time I see her.

Most Princess ships have port coloured carpets on the port side and blue on starboard, and cabin numbers increase from the front (bow) of the ship to the rear (stern)

 

 

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Thank you. That would have been handy for me to try to remember! One good thing that came out of getting turned around, was that I got a lot of exercise going from place to place!

Did you go to Anna's Bingo game in Club Fusion last Saturday about 11:15 A.M.? We had never been to Bingo, so we thought we would give it a try. Anna announced that the Bingo game would be to get Bingo numbers any 6 together. Now, experienced, Bingo players knew that any 6 together, meant any 6 numbers in a rectangle, either horizontal or vertical. But, we were brand new, and we didn't know that !

 

 

So, we got 6 numbers together in a diagonal line that kind of bent around the card, then happily called out "Bingo" !

 

Anna came over, looked at our card, and said, "No. You guys got a "bongo". That's a non-bingo. Now, come with me out on the dance floor, because we have to officially check the computer."

 

 

LOL !! NEVER go out on the dance floor w/ Anna or any member of the entertainment staff. We were completely fooled, because we thought Anna was going to check the computer as she said.

 

 

WRONG !! She put on this silly song "Chicken Dance" because we goofed up and got "Bongo" and we had to do the "Chicken Dance" with her, while all the other Bingo passengers group laughed their heads off at us. AAARGH !!! That was totally embarrassing.. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

She's hilarious, and I know she's paid to be entertaining, but as a warning, NEVER go out on the dance floor with Anna, even if she takes your hand and says, "Now.......just come along with me, I have a surprise for you." :rolleyes:.

 

I suppose we could be excused for goofing up the Bingo because we are brand-new rookies to Princess Bingo......but still. -- EBC

I wouldn't have known that about the 6 in a rectangle either! Sounds like you were really good sports about the chicken dance. (I learned the chicken dance many years ago during Oktober Fest in Munich, but there in that instance everyone was dancing and there was beer involved!) ;)

Dog sledding is amazing, and Coastal was the way to go. My dogs have been on that glacier and I can say that they do a wonderful job with the dogs. Liked the photos of the "monsters"......

I'm glad to hear that they do a great job with the dogs from an "insider's" point of view! I was really impressed with Coastal.