aroundtheworld96

I have been eagerly anticipating the 2025 Norwegian Fjords itinerary and would’ve been ready to book today but was extremely disappointed by the offerings… on both the June and July cruises the first stop only has a port time of 4pm-10pm.. allowing time for embarkation and disembarkation that doesn’t allow for much of an excursion. To fly to Southampton from North America and spend what ends up being only 3 and a half days in Norway is not worth it to us. I think we will instead do a Norway road trip so we can spend our whole week there and instead look for a warm weather winter cruise. Very disappointing in comparison to the 2023/2024 itineraries…

We were on in May with stops in Sitka, Juneau, Skagway and Haines. Sitka was the only stop we had to shuttle, the rest were all right in town.

I am curious to know what sailings have The Key for over 40$ a day? We are booked on a late 2024 Med cruise with a tender-heavy itinerary (3/5 ports are tender ports). The Key is currently showing 29.99/per day which seems to be average. We have been debating waiting to see if it goes on sale, but hearing it can go up above 40$ makes me wonder if we should just getting now, I would imagine The Key would be quite popular on an itinerary with so many tender ports, perhaps it is less likely to go on sale at all? Curious to hear any thoughts...

I am considering purchasing "The Key" for our 2024 Mediterranean cruise on Voyager which has a tender-heavy itinerary (Mykonos, Zakynthos and Kotor). I see that The Key offers priority for tendering, but I am trying to get an idea of what that looks like. Is there a separate line for people with The Key? Or do you still have to make your way through the regular line? I am trying to find more specific information to determine if it makes more sense to just book RC excursions at tender ports (not really keen of having to push my way to the front of the crowd) or if this is something that is more organized. Thanks!

Thanks, I did see the boat tour but the times I am seeing leave at 8:30am which wouldn't work with our disembarkation time. I also thought the drive might be scenic and would allow us to not spend the entire day on the boat if we a combo of driving and a fjord but tour. But if anyone has insight on that I am open to suggestions!

After much deliberation the cruise that worked best for our schedule and for the best price includes a stop at Alesund and not Geiranger. However, the port times in Alesund are quite generous (8am-7pm). I have done some research and am wondering if it would be feasible to rent a car and drive round trip from Alesund to Geiranger? It looks like there are car rentals near the cruise ship terminal, and from what I can see the drive is about 2 hours each way. So, I assume even with adding extra time for stops (we would want to do the Geirangerfjord boat tour which looks like it takes 60-90min) we should easily be able to make this drive, but would be interested in hearing from other who may have done it or are more familiar with the area if there is something we are not thinking of. We recently did an Alaskan cruise and rented a car in Skagway and drove the Klondike Highway, it was one of the highlights of our trip so this option is very appealing to us if feasible. Thanks in advance for any tips!

I have a cruise coming up next week with a group of 4 friends - there was a request from the friend group to swap room assignments, so we called RC today to have 2 of the passengers swap rooms. I was assured when we did the room swap that the excursions would not get changed, as everyone had selected the different excursions they wanted. However, the system immediately updated and swapped the 2 people's excursion - this is a bit complicated to explain so in case this isn't clear - Person A and Person B swapped rooms. Person A is now listed under all of Person B's excursions, and Person B is listed under all of Person A's excursions even though we were told this would not happen when we swapped rooms. I of course called RC back to swap the excursions back to the right person and was told this is not possible, they said the only way to do this would be to cancel all of the excursions and re-book them under the right person. We do not want to do this as we booked the excursions during 30% off sales and the prices are significantly higher now. So my question is - does it matter who actually goes on the excursion/do they check? Can Person A go on the excursions Person B's name is on and vice versa? Or would the shore excursions desk be able to sort this out for us? Would appreciate hearing from anyone who has had a similar experience as I have some very stressed out friends who want their shore excursions back!

We are doing a cruise with RCCL this May similar to #3 with the addition of Skagway. We had very specific dates to travel and were restricted to Vancouver round trips, so found that RCCL had by far the best price for what we were looking for. If Glacier Bay is important to you, there are other ways to see it. For instance, you can take a scenic flight with Mountain Flying Service out of Haines over Glacier Bay. Since OP says they are ok missing Glacier Bay, and I can understand that there may be additional factors in this decision, based on this question I would recommend the one way itineraries if you have the time/money. These will take you further North and if you have a bit of time pre/post cruise you can see even more of Alaska! Keeping in mind that flights will be more expensive since you will need 2 one way flights rather than a roundtrip. If you don't have the time to explore Alaska further on the one ways and would prefer not to spend the extra money on flights, then the roundtrip from Vancouver would be my choice.

Thank you for the insight, I think I will stick with the RC cruise - we typically cruise RC so I have a slight preference to this line (the ship has much more activities than the Celebrity which is a huge bonus for the sea days) and the dates just work better for us. An extra port day would have been nice but this really seems to be a case of quality over quantity in terms of ports!

Thanks - What I am finding online suggests that it is possible to get views of fjords on tours from Alesund and Stavanger, but I am trying to determine how accurate this is. Time of year is also a factor with the Celebrity cruise being earlier in May I would want to make sure all of the activities I want to do are operating.

I posted some time ago about an RCL itinerary I was interested in. I did book it at the time (refundable deposit) but came across a Celebrity itinerary that also seemed appealing and was looking for opinions. Price is very similar with Celebrity being $200 more than the RCL cruise but also one night longer. Here are the 2 itineraries, with dates - RCL Cruise - Anthem of the Seas (7 night) Sun, May 12: Southampton - England (Depart 5:00 PM) Mon, May 13: At Sea Tue, May 14: Bergen - Norway (11:59 AM - 7:00 PM) Wed, May 15: Olden - Norway (7:00 AM - 5:00 PM) Thu, May 16: Geiranger - Norway (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM) Fri, May 17: Haugesund - Norway (11:59 AM - 6:00 PM) Sat, May 18: At Sea Sun, May 19: Southampton - England (Arrive 5:30 AM) Celebrity Cruise - Silhouette (8 night) Sun, May 5: Amsterdam Netherlands (Depart 5:00 PM) Mon, May 6: At Sea Tue, May 7: Haugesund - Norway (7:00 AM - 6:00 PM) Wed, May 8: Olden - Norway (9:00 AM - 7:00 PM) Thu, May 9: Alesund - Norway (7:00 AM - 4:00 PM) Fri, May 10: Stavanger - Norway (8:00 AM - 4:00 PM) Sat, May 11: Oslo - Norway (11:00am-9:00pm) Sun, May 12: At Sea Mon, May 13: Rotterdam - Netherlands (Arrive 6am) Main pros to the Celebrity cruise that I can see is one extra port day, and longer port times. Pros to RCL cruise is that the 7-night itinerary is easier in terms of taking time off work, and has Geiranger as a stop which I hear is an amazing port. Would love to get some insight on what people would choose between these 2 options!

Thank you for this - I was aware the glacier was retreating but those numbers really put things into perspective! The glacier retreating is partly why I was considering the kayak/canoe tour - wasn’t sure if it worth just going to see on foot from a distance but perhaps the view from the water won’t be all that much better… As for the lodge I am seeing mixed reviews for the Juneau salmon bake, but figured doing the Fin Island Lodge in Sitka might be more similar to the Taku lodge. So many tough decisions to make on a budget!

Thank you this is helpful! Part of my concern with flightseeing is as you said that it often gets cancelled, and it would be disappointing if everything else we want to do is sold out. The budget will not allow for both Taku and Glacier Bay flightseeing so we are looking at choosing between these 2 options. We definitely plan to go to Totem Park in Sitka but since we have 7 hours we thought we would have time to combine that with something else. The lodge excursions are around 250$/person so just trying to figure out if it is worthwhile or better off to stick with the cheaper kayaking. and thank you for the advice on the rental car, that we have booked already and it should be waiting for us at the dock when we arrive!

Hello! I am having a very hard time finalizing my excursion choices for my upcoming Alaska cruise, so thought I would come here for feedback. The 2 options are listed below: Sitka (12pm-7pm) Wilderness Sea Kayaking excursion (12:30-3:30) Afterwards walk around on our own Juneau (9am-9pm) AM Mount Roberts Tram (weather permitting) Taku Glacier Lodge Tour (1-4) Walk around town afterwards Skagway (7am-4:30pm) Rental car - drive Klondike Highway to Carcross/Emerald Lake Haines (6:30pm-10:30pm) Takshanuk Mountain Trail Tour (7-10) OR Sitka (12pm-7pm) Wildlife Quest & Fin Island Lodge or Alaska Bear & Silver Bay Homestead Experience (1-4:30) Afterwards walk around on our own Juneau (9am-9pm) Mendenhall Lake Kayak with Gold Creek Salmon Bake (10am-3pm) Walk around town afterwards or Mt Roberts Tram (weather permitting) Skagway (7am-4:30pm) Rental car - drive Klondike Highway to Carcross/Emerald Lake Haines (6:30pm-10:30pm) Mountain Flying Glacier Bay Flightseeing (1 hour) Some additional detail - we are a late 20s/early 30s couple, active, particularly interested in nature and always up for a good view. I suffer from bad motion sickness so we are not considering any whale watching tours as my previous experiences whale watching have not gone well. The cost between both plans is comparable. There is definitely room to play around with both of these itineraries and mix and match activities - but key to us is doing at least 1 lodge/meal type of experience, do one flight experience, and do one kayaking experience. So what I am looking for now are objective opinions on which tours people prefer. Though the overall cost for both options are comparable, the cost of the Taku Glacier Lodge tour comes to close to 600$ CAD per person which is hard to justify for a 3 hour tour. Does it make more sense to spread the money out over a few bigger tours like option 2? I would love any input to help my indecisive mind make a decision 🙂 Thank you in advance!

I struggled for some time choosing an excursion in Sitka and eventually settled on the "Wilderness Sea Kayaking" excursion available through our cruise line. It is advertised as a guided kayak ride with beautiful scenery and the chance to sea some marine life. We chose it because we wanted to do something active and it was also one of the more affordable tours (99$/person). Since the tour is only 3 hours, afterwards we plan to hike the totem park independently. It seems to be very easy to do on your own, and from there you could walk to the raptor center if that is of interest. From what I have understood, only Fortress of the Bear is not accessible by foot once in Sitka.

I was casually browsing RCL cruises as my husband and I (early 30s) have been discussing a Europe trip for next/spring and came across this cruise to Norway that was offered for what seems to be a very good deal (I am seeing 1000USD per person with all taxes and fees on Anthem of the Seas). However I have not done that much research into Norway and am wondering if this is a good itinerary? Would we be missing any major cities/sights by choosing this itinerary? Bonus for us is the start/end location in Southampton is a much cheaper flight from Canada than flying into Norway, the dates work, and Norway is of interest to both of us. We are both very active and outdoorsy so I am just trying to get a sense of what there is to "do" in these places and if this would be a good trip for us. My initial google searches are showing lots of fjord cruises and nice towns to walk around but I am hoping someone better versed in Norway travel could provide input on this itinerary. Thanks in advance for any input! Sun, May 12: Southampton - England (Depart 5:00 PM) Mon, May 13: At Sea Tue, May 14: Bergen - Norway (11:59 AM - 7:00 PM) Wed, May 15: Olden - Norway (7:00 AM - 5:00 PM) Thu, May 16: Geiranger - Norway (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM) Fri, May 17: Haugesund - Norway (11:59 AM - 6:00 PM) Sat, May 18: At Sea Sun, May 19: Southampton - England (Arrive 5:30 AM)

In Vancouver the Capilano Suspension Bridge is a very popular activity that the kids often love. There is also the cheaper Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge which is similar. If you want to see some views/scenery there is a gondola at Grouse Mountain. Stanley Park is another great place to go (great views from here since you mention liking the scenery). If your kids are strong bikers, you can rent bikes to go around the park, or you can just go for a walk. The Vancouver Aquarium is also in Stanley Park and has some awesome attractions for kids. When I went many years ago they offered an experience where you could interact with and feed the sea otters and it was a huge hit! I am not sure if they still offer this specific activity but I am sure they have all sorts of programming on.

We will be cruising to Sitka in May 2023 and I was also having a hard time choosing an excursion in Sitka... We are very outdoorsy and avid nature enthusiasts so I was having a hard time finding an excursion that was really about exploring the nature outside the city that didn't involve being on a small boat for many hours (I have post-concussion syndrome so get motion sickness easily). We finally settled on an excursion called "Sitka's Great Adventure - A Back Country Hike". I haven't seen it available anywhere other than through the cruise, but it seems to include everything we enjoy most - a bit of kayaking, hiking through the forest, a campfire, nice views... Just an idea that may be a bit different than the typical tours that keep coming up 🙂

Thank you for your reply, this is exactly the kind of opinion I came here for! We are interested in ocean wildlife and have gone on quite a few whale watching excursions in Canada and in the South (some more successful than others) but I struggle with very bad motion sickness (concussion history) so I am hesitant to go on a long whale watching expedition, however it is something I am considering including in our Sitka plans and am here to get a sense of if it would really be worth it or not 🙂

I rather spontaneously booked an Alaskan cruise on RCI for early May 2023 (gotta love Black Friday sales...). I am looking for a bit of help figuring out the best options for certain ports. The cruise has stops in Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and Haines. I have a pretty solid plan for Juneau (Mendenhall Glacier + Tramway Hike) and Skagway (Rental car to Emerald Lake and back) but am particularly looking for help with Sitka and Haines. This will be a couples trip with everyone in their late 20s/early 30s. We are definitely on a tighter budget (150$/day max). Are biggest interests are nature, we are fairly active and mostly just want to enjoy the scenery (any wildlife would be a bonus!). Here is what I am thinking so far.. Haines - Our stop here is a short evening stop from 6:30pm-10:30pm. Right now I see 2 options. 1. 2.5 hour Chilkoot Lake Nature and Wildlife Viewing Tour with Rainbow Glacier Adventures. This tour is 99$ per person and is appealing as we would get to see the Chilkoot Lake area but seems expensive for a short tour that is really just driving around, especially since the odds of seeing wildlife are low at this time of year. 2. Car rental in Haines. Cost is approx 150$/car. This is clearly a much cheaper option (we will be between 2-4 people) but I am not sure if we will miss out by not having a tour? Does a tour guide really provide that much extra value in this area? With a rental car we would also be able to drive in the opposite direction and see both Chilkoot Lake and Chilkat River areas but we also have to account for the time of getting/returning the car... Sitka - I am at a loss for what to do in Sitka. Most of the tours I see involve very touristy things like Fortress of the Bear, the eagle preserve, etc. or city tours which is not all that interesting to us. Are there any hikes that offer good views and are easily accessible? Is there something I am missing? I have also seen a lot of whale watching/kayak tours but at around 150$/person and up, I want to make sure it is actually worth it. We are not planning a whale watching tour anywhere else right now, the idea of spending our time off the cruise in another boat is not all that appealing but if it is the best way to see the nature/wildlife sights then it may be worth it. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!