K_e_short

On 12/18/2018 at 10:14 PM, dyeadave said:

If you come to Skagway and wish to go north of town, in any way, do not forget to bring the permission , in writing , notarized, from the other natural parent of the minor child to be taken taken over the border, as well as the other pertinent papers. 

DD

Thank you for that reminder. I'm Canadian and will need to have a letter from his Dad as we will not be allowed on the cruise ship without proof of permission to leave the country.

Of course if we cross back into Canada that won't be an issue (but getting back to Skagway will be).

Thank you for the post. I"m cruising on the Jewel to Alaska in July.

I'd love some updated pics. The ones on this site aren't updated. 

9 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

In Skagway, consider renting a car and driving up into the Yukon.  Visit the Carcross Desert, stop for a (brief) look at Emerald Lake, but continue on a few miles to the Robinson Roadhouse ghost town.  Plenty of outdoor time and fun activities for both kids and grownups.  Map - https://goo.gl/maps/rWUossdrvU12

 

 

Oh yeah. I could rent a car. Great suggestion thank you.

I actually have been to the Yukon (Girl Guide camp many years ago which is when I did a day trip to Skagway).

18 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

In Ketchikan, given your son's interests, two ideas quickly popped into my mind -- the Deadliest Catch crab fishing boat, and also the Lumberjack show.  Both have had a number of reviews.  

 

In Skagway the town itself is essentially a small walking museum with a number of buildings owned by the National Parks Service opened as small museums.  The NPS has a junior ranger program in one of the old saloons (Skagway had an incredible number of saloons), but at the age of 12 he most likely will be too old to enjoy that program.  Some kids that age find the White Pass and Yukon Railway of interest, but he sounds like an active sort of person who may find a train trip too confining.  But it is easy to walk up to the historical cemetery on a nice day, and there are a several other walks.  Perhaps renting a car that day and driving toward Emerald Lake with a number of stops along the way?

 

In Juneau, given your description of his interests, I doubt the Alaska State Museum would be of interest.  Perhaps a trip out to Mendenhall Glacier or a trip up the Mt. Roberts Tramway?  Whale watching?

 

You mentioned the Titanic.  The north had our own version of the sinking of the Titanic -- the sinking of the Princess Sofia.  It sank tragically in October, 1918 after it left Skagway on its last run of the season going to Vancouver.  A number of notable folks were onboard, and the sinking itself (plus how the recovery was handled) was a public relations disaster for the Canadian Pacific steamship company.  Vanderbilt Reef, on which it ran aground, can actually can be seen on Juneau's limited roadway north of the community.  There is an excellent book on the topic by two Canadian historians (Ken Coates and Bill Morrison) titled "The Sinking of the Princess Sophia:  Taking the North Down with Her."  Sometimes it can be hard to find good reading for a twelve year old, and this is a book which is well researched but is not long and is very readable (by which I mean it isn't academic in nature).

 

Oh wow thanks so much for the detailed answer. I am going to look up that book to buy it for him.

Thank you for letting me know what excursions wouldn't be good. I was thinking seeing the glacier would be a good idea.

18 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

 

 

On 12/1/2018 at 3:20 AM, fbhorn said:

I know what I’m replying to is old, but I sailed on the Sky this past March and spotted one of the backdrops for photos while crew was putting out Emesis bags due to rocky waters. My friend and I swore this was the staircase from the titanic movie and were convicted it was an omen that our ship would sink!!

 

 

My son and I had our picture taken with that backdrop on our last Carnival cruise.

He has watched the movie about 1000 times and he was convinced it was "the grand staircase."

21 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

What kinds of activities does your twelve year old like to do?  Before folks start offering ideas it would be helpful to know his interests.

Swimming, outdoor things, cruise ships, waterslides, cruise ships, Titanic... 😛

I guess he's a typical boy who would play minecraft and watch YouTube videos all day. 

Are there tours that would be too boring (historical ones) for a preteen? Anyone brought their child(ren) on a tour before?

My son and I are going on the Norwegian Jewel in July 2019.

I have read most of the posts in this section but wanted to get some suggestions.

What are the best excursions for a 12 year old?

We're stopping in Ketchiken, Juneau, and Skagway.

I've already been to Skagway and remember just walking around the small village so perhaps a half day tour so we have time to wander.

Thanks

2 hours ago, saintsfan777 said:

Change from Pepsi to Coke

I know I sound completely petty and and it is totally a first world problem but I agree. I am not a fan of pepsi. The decision to not buy the unlimited soda package was based on the lack of coke products.

I am a lifeguard and swimming instructor in Canada. 

Cruise lines are slowly staffing their pools with lifeguards, however it is very expensive. Even in Canada certain pools are not required to have a lifeguard as long as signage is clear and certain other elements are considered (hotel pools, pools within apt buildings, etc).

Slides have a completely different set of rules in that lifeguards are not needed, only slide attendants. Based on training (or lack thereof), international rules and regulations, and condition of the slide, I'm not surprised an accident such as this occurs.

It is very sad and disturbing when anyone gets hurt, but water slides are dangerous, more so when rules are not followed.

(In this case there should have been a system to confirm visually that the first rider has FULLY EXITED THE SLIDE before letting the next rider in)

Totally agree that the casino deals that Carnival offers aren't that good.

I was at the casino a lot in March on my first Carnival cruise. Enough to get freebies on board and am constantly getting offers.

The issue is that none of them are on my holidays when I can actually go on a cruise.

My home casino offered me a NCL cruise, $2400 savings. It's a cruise in the summer. To a place I want to go. 

On 11/23/2018 at 8:36 PM, Nola26 said:

My land based casino offers are for insides with a specific list of cruises. Duration can be 3,4, 5 and 7 night, maybe there have been 11 nights too. When I call to book sometimes the agent has other options to check.

 

Inside to Balcony with those certificates can be pricey. We would like to upgrade on our family cruise, but I decided we will try the bidding process. If we lose we will just have to deal with the tighter space for the week. A sacrifice I will suffer through for a week in the Caribbean in February, lol.

I am doing the exact same thing. My son and I are doing an Alaskan cruise and we booked an inside cabin. I would like a balcony but the price difference was way too much. 

I apologize for jumping into this thread.

I am cruising in July through a CAS offer through a land casino.

Do I get to go in the shorter line? Any other perks? I'm cruising out of Vancouver.

TIA

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The ship looks really great! We have sailed on the Jewel multiple times to Alaska and the Mexican Riviera (now taken over by the mega ships). 

 

NCL does behind the screens tours through the shore excursion department (for a fee). The offer an abbreviated BTS tour for their top tier customers.

 

There is also  a free walking tour of the public areas on embarkation day. 

Sorry I misunderstood. The original message seemed to imply that only the highest level tiers had that option.

Yes I paid for the behind the scenes tour on Carnival as well.

Thanks for the pictures, especially the inside room. My son and I are on the Jewel next July. There always seems to be an abundance of photos of the balcony rooms and suites, but none of the cheaper rooms.

Very cool you can look into the bridge.

BTW Carnival Cruise Line does ship tours for anyone, not just the highest reward level.

I would totally do this. And not just to save money. I think it is a waste of time, water, supplies, etc. to change sheets every day, towels, etc.

When we stayed at Disney All Star we only wanted the room cleaned every 2-3 days and the staff got upset. They even put a bag of soap, towels, etc. by our door.

Same thing when we went on our last cruise. We kept trying to tell our room steward to only come every second day but he was amazing and cleaned every day.

Last March we went to KSC after getting off a cruise.

We had already booked Cocoa Beach shuttle and so the price to and from was quite low (We paid $200 total for 3 people - airport to hotel, cruise ship to KSC, KSC to hotel, hotel to airport).

I think it's cheaper to buy tickets online. We did because we bought the lunch with an astronaut option and that way we didn't have to wait in line to get tickets.

I'm saving $2400 CAD by using the free cruise voucher I received from my local casino. ($3000 CAD instead of $800 CAD)

I consider that a great deal.

I am going on the Jewel next July with my son on one of those "free cruise offers." It's a 7 day Alaskan cruise Vancouver to Seward.

I chose an inside cabin, deck 10, A1 level I think. I didn't ask about the upgrade as I wanted an inside cabin (yes I'm weird).

We had to pay:

$140 per person = $280 admin fee

$204.24 per person = $406.24 port/taxes

Total for 2 people = $688.24.

This included one option (drink package, $50 excursion credit, etc). I chose the wifi.

I then had to pay $2400 CAD for flights to Vancouver/Seward.

The other out of pocket expenses will include:

1 night hotel in Vancouver ($150 CAD)

transportation to and from airport in Vancouver ($20 CAD)

transportation to and from port in Seward ($65 per person US)

luggage on flights 😞

drinks on ship

excursions

My 11 year old son and I are going on the Jewel in July.

He will be disappointed that there is no water slide but I'm not sure it's a big deal in the summer in Alaska.

As others have said the water slide isn't the reason I booked the cruise.  I'm not paying a fortune to have my son go on a water slide on a cruise. i'm paying a fortune to see glaciers.

Always happy at the amount of information I can find on these boards.

My family did Carnival Sunshine over March Break this year. Son and I loved it, hubbie was not a fan.. so... looking at a summer cruise (August 2019) just the two of us.

With the upgrades/renovations etc would the prices go up after the renovations are done or does the online price reflect that now? I haven't booked yet and am just curious.

Was on Sunshine March 11th - 16th and had problems finding a deck chair on sea day. We had gone on a tour in the morning and thus didn't get to the pool until 1pm.

I moved people's stuff off their unused deck chairs twice and magically those people showed up quite quickly to return to their chairs. I finally went down to Guest Services and asked them to call up to the towel kiosk where a lovely staff member found me a chair.

That was the only problem we had on our whole cruise and I put the problem completely on selfish, demanding, and rude people and not at all on the cruise line.

I will also say that the way the pool is set up is difficult for those that are actually using their deck chairs but going to get food, drink, etc. The line ups as so long that you can be in line for food for 20 minutes.

Be warned the WiFi on the Sunshine was absolute garbage on my cruise a few weeks ago. I had the premium and boyfriend had the social — they both barely worked. We never complain but had to make a note at guest services it was THAT bad.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have read on here that others have experienced the same issue. Thank you for the heads up.

You can buy the internet package in 24 hour increments, but do consider the entire cruise package if you are planning on doing this more than 2 or 3 times

You only save 15% if you purchase ahead of time and are charged for every day of your cruise. Depending on how long your cruise is you will save money only buying the days you will use it.

My cruise is 5 days long so $24 ($12 X 2 days) is much cheaper then $51.25 ($10.25 X 5 days).

You can purchase a 24 hour access (1 day) plan. 24 hours from date/time of purchase

Oh awesome. Thank you for the response. Any idea how expensive that is?

I should also rant that I am very good at reading everything online and couldn't find anything on their website. :(

We are on the Carnival Sunshine March 11th - 16th.

I have a question regarding accessing internet.

I am not interested in purchasing a wifi plan as it's too expensive for our budget.

We do not need to check our email, Facebook, banking, etc every day but I would like to be able to check it once in the middle of the trip.

Is that a possibility or is it either buy the wifi package or nothing?

(I do know about the FunHub. Already have the app on my phone but I know that only gives you ship info).

TIA