Kathscof

I can't stress enough that anyone on a ship to/from Seward should be on a Kenai Fjords tour!!! 🙂

yes, anyone who was a meteorologist could do that 🙂 especially one who works at a weather place 🙂

interesante.....then I bet anyone could do that! and get even more perks if they worked for an actual weather place!

Not that I have particular experience, but the normal b2b procedures would throw a wrench in any amazing tours, as the 6 hour tours that leave at 11:30 (after you would be completed with your procedures) would get you back too close to the all aboard and the 8am tours (that happen in August I hope!) would have you not done with the b2b cruisers before checking in there. I wonder if you can just "self disembark" with the other folk (or arrange to) at 7 and go to the 8am tour to be back in time to "check back in" (completing b2b procedures and whatnot)?

neato! I guess my question was more "do they have the same access as the public or are there more things they would have to pay for to have access to?"

I even bet that "whoever" is looking at the raw data has to pay to get it from somewhere, so having an in house guy would be on TOP of the price of paying the people with the meters and radar and all the stuff one needs.....unless that all comes from NOAA for everyone for free? (I'm from Florida, so from June 1-December 1 I am visiting that NHC website multiple times a week hahahaha) You could just pay the meteorologists at the place that you pay for the access to the data from the meters and radar and all the stuff one needs to do what you need....just like bundling your home and auto! HAHA

Definitely didn't have to do with your sim card because you don't use it to use the hardware (your phone) you have to interact with the ship network. Unless you had an actual phone that does not work outside of Alaska, that's not it.

and here I am in Atlanta dying for the Ale House when the closest one is 45 min away HAHA (I made my friend drive there with me for my birthday in 2020 hahah)

exactly what I thought 🙂

if its the free internet its only with the app, right? I didn't think I could expect to use whatsapp when not connected to the actual internet....(though I did get ONE imessage while between ports last year hahah) Or are you talking about the chat within the app? Using the internet for only the app has nothing to do with your carrier since you weren't using it, just the hardware of your phone..... The private mac address trick was the key for me last year, sorry that you couldn't get on....

Ugh gross, I am worried about my parents’ street parking for our two week Alaska trip on Saturday.....not taking into account that my car has only been broken into twice while I have lived here for 8 years haha hopefully you get it all taken care of! (And way to go for the detectives for following up!) .....and the sass....if you’re “supposed to inform them”......wasn’t that what you were doing?!?!? Hahahaha

Hahahha maybe you’re a southerner at heart too! It’s hard to explain as how you said that Venetian cuisine has a lot of seafood, the coastal areas in the south also have a lot of seafood, but it’s just....”different”

I realized I don't like Venetian food last time I went there, so much so that I pitched a "subdued" fit and went to Rossopomodoro, an Italian chain restaurant from Napoli where I knew I would get the type of food I like 🙂 I like my southern food!

well, for the fact that they switched us with a SilverSea ship on May 29th on Radiance, with our capacity being 2400 and theirs being 500, I think they were going for the "having to tender the least amount of people" strategy....and if that is the case, we are good! haha I got REALLY excited when I saw that switch to Ore hahaha

called Bridge of Sighs! So...in my trip to Italy a while back, we passed SO MANY candy stores in Venice with this dark pink candy that looked like a tube with white in the middle....it looked SO GOOD and we didn't get any and then the rest of Italy didn't have it! So if you saw it and it looked good, don't miss it! hahaha

I went on Royal last year and am going again next week. Our first “check in time” is noon. But if you come in on the 6:45 train, you won’t be waiting around anywhere at all, ideally. You will be going on one of the many tours offered there which end around 5:30 (in order to get daytrippers on the return train). If you don’t know which to do, I would start looking into a tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park. It was my FAVORITE “excursion” of the whole cruise last year and it was before we got on the ship! It was cheaper than any small boat glacier excursion from the ship and I dare say it was a better experience, closer to the glacier, longer time there, more pleasant boat atmosphere. So so when you get done with your tour it will be just in time to get on the ship!

Just to ease your fears, NO ONE with any sense would drag their luggage over that unless they were going RIGHT there across the “street” (judge that guy hard)....the most you would have to do would be the tiny ones he has pictures of already, 6-10 steps up and down. Your hotel may very well not have any steps over any canals after you get off the water bus. The luggage folk can be helpful though! I think i took my carry on bag (that we had for 16 days) over that after I had lunch across from the train station and a magnum bar and my mom wanted to sit around at Burger King (hahahaha) while my dad and I took one last trip on the water bus down the grand canal. We took the water bus TO that spot, and that was the only stairs we dealt with and that was by choice.

I tell people that all the time and no one listens 🙂

well, don't feel bad, those are the normal ones 😉 it is a tiny port, and there aren't very many options beyond that....they are all good though!

unless your ship docked at Ward Cove (which is far and the excursion includes an arranged shuttle I believe), the downtown docks are easy to get from to the tour spot and many have said that booking through the cruise line is unnecessary.....

at least you got that straightened out! *selfishly hoping it will be resolved next week as I am on that train next Wednesday*

Alaska is apparently less formal than Caribbean cruises, but on my ship we have two "dress your best" nights where there is a more spectacular show in the theater, so I am treating it as a casual theater night, wearing casual dresses. It could very well be warm in July in Alaska, most of the suggestions will be to wear layers as it could be very cold one hour and then sunny and hot a few hours later. Check the forecast with the trending temps (and probably historical data) before you leave and you can have a better idea.

I have faith in you and your ability to do laundry! It will help your back too!

Not who you were asking, but there are many "water bus" stops along the grand canal, so you may not have to go over any steps at all depending on where you select your hotel. If you wanna splurge you can hire your own water taxi I believe that takes you to your hotel or as close as possible. Venice is not big, so with a water bus pass you can reach practically anywhere. I would suggest you seek out the neighborhood atmosphere you are wanting or near a location you expect to be spending a lot of time in. Pack light and you won't have to worry about heavy luggage! (though after taking a carry on with me all over trains in Italy for 2 weeks I wanted to chuck it out the window hahahah)

I was talking about Major Marine and the Kenai Fjords tours.....but there are other smaller outfits that might have smaller boats, but when you're supposed to stay 100 feet away, being atop a boat doesn't make much difference in distance (I know they may come up closer, but the boats can't "try" to get closer) I would say to start here: https://www.seward.com/things-to-do/tours/day-cruises-and-boat-charters/ and see if any would meet your desires