SoloAlaska

If your phone is unlocked you can look at getting a travel SIM card for your trip. This is what I do when I’m traveling in Europe.

No, anything with a heating element is probably going to be on the no list. The only exceptions are usually for hair styling tools.

Only if the transfer is a tour. For example sightseeing for 2 hours before going to the airport could be eligible but if your going directly to the airport it isn’t.

I have never had to find out about a stapler since I use the sleeves. When I was in Civi there wasn’t really porters you just brought your luggage in a short line to a table and I had forgotten my print out so blank labels where available. Porters aren’t everywhere in the same way. Haven’t experienced anything but dropping off my suitcase yet in the three ports I’ve cruised out of. I like being prepared and independent. Going through the process easily and seamlessly is always my goal. If I forgot something then I’m thankful for those blank tags but why not try to be prepared.

Are their solo gathering held every evening? Usually they are at 6pm. My last cruise had zero supplement so there was a ton of solo travellers.

My go to checked luggage is fully waterproof. If it got covered in liquid I’d ask if it could just get washed down and I’d be happy since nothing inside would have been impacted. I use a very large pelican case.

I cruised out of Vancouver during restart. It was the last week that required Covid tests in order to board and it was such an easy boarding. Ok I will say there was a lot of walking but there were no lines. It was late in the season with a smaller ship and the only one in port that day. So far in my 3 cruises I haven’t had a bad embarkation process. Personally I like the southbound voyage because I like finishing with the inside passage. Also when I get off the ship I can just hop on the skytrain and head to the airport for an early afternoon flight. By the end of a cruise I’m more than happy to avoid getting on another coach bus for a transfer honestly. If you want to spend a few hours downtown Vancouver there are luggage storage places as well.

In total my excursions will cost me under $200 this year. I mostly plan to hike and explore but this is my third time on an Alaskan cruise. Excursions are expensive but aren’t essential in my opinion. My first time in Ketchikan we saw a bear right in town but the people on the bear tour saw nothing… you can’t predict wildlife. All Trails is great. Skagway I love hiking to Lower Dewey Lake and going for a very cold swim. Yakutania Point is suppose to be an easy trail with a beautiful view, I actually met the trail developer last year but wasn’t feeling well enough to even try it. Victoria has the absolutely most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen. Just walking around the downtown touristy area is worth it. Juneau can be a great spot for whale watching and I did a tour with a company that had a stall at the dock and it was incredible. excursions in Alaska are expensive but they aren’t essential to enjoying Alaska. Don’t compare to others and just get out and explore.

Considering Celebrity, Royal, Holland, Disney, Carnival, Princess, Oceana, Cunard, Regent, and NCL all go to Icy Straight Point.

I love Alaska in September personally. Work is too busy in the spring and I don’t cruise during the busy season when kids are out of school so September works. Yes it rains but you’re in a rainforest. I’ve heard people complain about it being cloudy and how it ruined their trip…. Don’t come to Alaska in September if you can’t handle some rain. in 2 cruises I’ve never missed a port or had an excursion cancelled. One time it was too windy and foggy to go in the channel for Hubbard glacier though which was unfortunate.

The question is what do your kids consider dressing up. My idea of dressing is putting on a nice dress and doing my makeup for dinner and I truly enjoy doing that even on non formal nights. Wearing a floor length gown or tux should be reserved for formal nights however.

I was told I could when I asked after final payment. Contact your TA if you have one and try.

Ok I’m a woman in her 30s without kids and the only reason I will go on RCI is as a family trip and I didn’t have a say. If you can go on VV I say go for it, it’s a brand dedicated to our demographic. NCL has great value with the FAS program especially for those who like to drink if you’re looking for a more mainstream line. 8 nights was my shortest cruise and I couldn’t imagine wanting less. The big difference is the shorter the cruise usually means a party ship but trust me we still had lots of fun on the 15 night cruise I took. good luck picking the cruise. As long as you all go in with a good attitude you will surely have lots of fun.

Personally I would probably go with Celebrity because of the balcony for a similar price. As a celiac I would recommend set dinning time but I know celebrity even has lots of options in the buffet.

I find the pictures on my iPhone are better than what you see in real life.

Or have travel insurance just in case you miss the flight.

You can but do you want to is the question. My next cruise is carry on and backpack. Before leaving the hotel I put my daytime essentials in my backpack. My rolling bag I don’t feel like dragging around as I explore the ship.

What I consider dressed up is different than what you might consider. Also the cost of luggage keeps going up and up and it’s just insane now. I’ll be packing in carry on only for my next cruise but will have a dress for dressing up still but it definitely won’t be a gown.

When I travelled to Vancouver for work I swore by hiring a black car service ahead of time. It was only slightly more expensive than the taxi and so worth the reduced stress. Vancouver is pretty early to disembark and pretty quick usually. You won’t have to do Canadian customs at the airport because you’ll do that at the port but you’ll do security and then US customs at the airport.

NCL is testing facial recognition but from what I’ve seen it’s actually slowing down the process.

Hi ladies I’m back. cruise was great until I got really sick. Ended up spending many days in bed and took me about 2 weeks to recover. Then it was the holidays and getting back home and back to work. I haven’t weighed myself in a week but since the last weigh in on CC and last week I had lost 9.8lb. I’m still finishing unpacking my office but eventually will be settled into my new work from home situation. This week I’m joking the gym as a way of getting out of the house on a regular bases.

I’ve done all of these and also went to dinner with new friends some nights. Specialty dinning we ended up going as a group since someone had a reservation. For the MDR the solo meetups work well or if you’re late coming back from an excursion then ask if there is a solo table going or if you can start one. By the time the first person was ready to order there was 3 of us at the table. Since you can text on IPhone without being on your wifi minutes it was really handy to make plans with new friends onboard. Whomever had unlimited wifi they would reach out on WhatsApp to those who didn’t have iPhones to let them know the plan.

A single cruise and cruising solo is two very different things. I know single cruises use to be a thing but not sure how much they are now. We were talking about this at Christmas since my uncles only cruise was a singles cruise way back in the day. NCL has lots of solo cabins now with pretty much every category and there should be a solo meet-up every night before dinner. My first night on Gem almost 200 people showed up but that number later in the cruise was closer to 30 which was a nice size group. There were reserved tables in the MDR we would go to as a group and the solo coordinator was great. if your looking for solo you can just book your own trip after some research but if your looking for singles cruise then that is usually done as a partial charter.

Summer is not the time to see the northern lights especially in the north. You need darkness and the point of going mid summer is for almost 24/7 daylight. If you’re going for a lightshow then go in the fall. Also northern lights are never guaranteed. The sun has to do its thing, you have to be in the right area for that particular solar storm, the sky has to be clear, and the night has to be dark for it to all work out. This is part of what makes them so special.

September but that’s still a big maybe. In two cruises in September I saw them once and they were barely visible unless you knew what you were looking at. The cruise before mine had a great light show however. Does NCL offer a wake up call for northern lights? I know Celebrity did and also had the Aurora forecast daily by the onboard naturalist. You can look up the forecast daily to know if you should be keeping your eyes open.