donaldsc

I realize that Princess is not at the Viking level but they have released some longer cruises. I just booked an 18 day cruise on the Princess Diamond, The all inclusive cost was only $4100 w only 4 sea days. We were looking at one of the Viking cruises but they were sold out. DON

You left out one parameter - eye relief. This is very important for those of us who wear glasses. With regard to your Swarovski comment and I would add Leitz to the mix - you should never try out optics that you can not afford. I would have bought the pair at the Leitz / Swarovski level but the divorce would not be worth it. DON

Don't forget that TSA rules for controlled substances apply only in the US. You will have totally different rules about meds in other countries. DON

I plan to take one of the 6 hour excursions out of Seward. Kenai Fjord and Major Marine offer what appears to be similar cruises. Any thoughts as to which is better. DON

+1 on that. The 26 Glacier excursion is almost as scenic as the Chilean Fjord trip. A hidden gem. DON

I have been to Alaska in different ways at least 10 times and I am going again this summer so I have some strong and perhaps different opinions on doing Alaska. Basically all of the large ship AK cruises visit the same ports (Juneau, Ketchikan and unfortunately also Skagway. I don't think it makes much difference which line since with an AK cruise you are there for what is outside of the ship and not what is in the ship. I am sure that I will get feedback on this statement. I don't think that Skagway is worth the stop but you are stuck with it. The only variable here is port time. Icy Strait point is a better stop than Skagway in my opinion and some cruises do stop there. The most important thing is to make sure that the ship goes to Glacier Bay which will be the highpoint of your cruise. Some cruise lines do not have permits to go into Glacier Bay so they go into Hubbard Glacier instead. While Hubbard Glacier is very large and very spectacular sometimes the ships can not get into Hubbard while you will almost always get into Glacier Bay. You don't want to end up with a cruise that doesn't get into any glacier at all which will happen if you depend upon getting into Hubbard. There are 2 ways that you can do AK 1) up and back which starts and ends in either Seattle or Vancouver or 2) One way either north or south bound. In my opinion the one way cruise is much better as it gives you more ports than the up and back cruise. The negative of the one way will be that the air costs will be higher as you will have to fly either to or from Anchorage. I realize that I have done a bit of meandering in this post but I hope that it helps. DON

The 2 lines are confusing because the names are so close. This is the one that we went on - https://www.aqvoyages.com/expedition-cruises/alaska-british-columbia/vancouver-to-sitka/?gclid=CjwKCAiA_6yfBhBNEiwAkmXy58NUW9AGjQlDbfUA9ik8oC1aAz3FTXzMRA7XJlLHu4mWifx2EvuvJBoCwcYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds. This was the ship - https://www.aqvoyages.com/vessels/ocean-victory/. As I said - the voyage was wonderful and I would love to do it again. DON

I did not really mean to have an lawyer. My thought was that many of us including probably me have given advice on CC that we thought was right but was not right. Some travel document questions are simple and easy to answer. Some are not simple but we think that they are and we may end up giving bad advice. DON

We did AK on American Queen last summer. It was a wonderful cruise. Very highly recommended. DON

This is not directed just at the OP but to travelers in general. I love it when people post questions about legal documents or required travel documents. None of us on CC are immigration lawyers so any answers we give them should be taken with a grain of salt. The questioner should go onto a government site to get the answer from the source. As many in this thread have sair - just get a passport. DON

I have never had any problems anywhere. One thought however. I have diabetes so I bring needles and testers. I bring a note from my endocrinologist saying that I am diabetic and listing what diabetes related stuff I may be bringing. This idea might be useful for other medical issues. Nobody has ever bothered me for my needles and stuff but it can't hurt. DON

Most stuff on Viking is of high quality. However I would estimate that the supplied binoculars on ocean cruises cost them no more than $5 each. If you feel that you need binoculars bring your own. DON

Thanks for the reply. However I was asking about Totem Bight specifically and I Ketchikan and Juneau in general. You mentioned Sitka. DON

How is Uber coverage in Ketchikan. . Can I get to and from Totem Bight by Uber. Not worried about cost but just about convenience. DON

I still think that the best solution would be to say that if he wants the guitar she isn't going and then she books a trip on her know. Based on his selfish attitude a divorce might also be a good idea. DON

I guess that I must have lucked out. I was able to make reservations. If my success was an exception that is a real problem. DON

I was thinking the same thing. Glad that you said it first. Alternatively leave him home or buy him a ukulele or a harmonica. DON

I was in a DV4 cabin. DON

A bit of a change of subject but we have booked on the Northern Lights cruise for 2024. When you get back please post your thoughts on the cruise and also on which excursions you took. DON

We are doing this in 2024 so I am thinking about this way in advance. I know that it will be cold and I am prepared for it. What I am sort of worried about is underfoot especially when we are out of the cities. We were talking to someone yesterday who did a winter Norway trip and they suggested that we bring strap on crampons and maybe trekking poles for balance. Are they really necessary. If we do a ship or private tour out in the country on aurora hunting trips will they be supplies or do we have to bring them ourselves. DON

You are an optimist!! DON

I have done 2 cruises w grandkids. One was with my 10 year old granddaughter. She stayed with us because it was just one of her. The 2nd was w two granddaughters aged 12 and 10. They were allowed to go out alone as long as they stayed together and checked in w us at defined times. All 3 of the kids were street smart and trustworthy. DON

There was a long thread on Viking dining issues that is still going strong. This was the response that I posted that might answer some of your questions. It is beyond understanding why everyone is finding it so complicated with dining arrangements. It is absurdly simple. 1. There are 4 restaurants on board. Two of them (the buffet and the main restaurant) are available every night w/o reservations. You just walk in and they seat you. You might have to wait a few minutes if you are at a busy period such as when the restaurant just opens but this happens on any ship. We typically ate between 7 and 8 PM and there was never any wait. 2. There are 2 by-reservation restaurants - Manfredi's which an Italian restaurant and the Chef's table which does 4 rotating menus over several nights of the cruise. The menu is usually available for 2 or 3 nights. When we did our Caribbean cruise we did 3 of the 4 fixed menus - Xiang which is Chinese, Asian Panorama and California cuisine. The by-reservation system is the one that some people appear not do to understand although it appears on this thread that some also have difficulty with the buffet and main restaurant arrangements. Depending upon your status you can make a reservation or reservations at Manfredi's and one of the Chef's table restaurants before you board. We had no problems getting advance reservations at the restaurant of our on the day that reservations for our cabin class opened although we did not get our preferred time. This does not mean that you will only be able to dine at Manfredi's once or at one of the Chef's Table however that you will be stuck with the time of your pre cruise reservation. 3. Once you get on board they open up additional reservations that you can book w/o problems and we did not have to rush to the dinner reservation desk as soon as we got on board to get restaurant spots. We reserved for 2 additional days when we got on board and could have gotten additional days if we wished. Again we did not get the exact times for our dinners although they were close. On the day of the dinner we appeared at the restaurant at the time we really wanted and never had any time getting seated early. To summarize. Four restaurants - 2 walking w/o reservations and 2 with reservations needed. Two reservations can be made before you board - Manfredi's and 2 Chef's table. Additional reservations can easily be made on board. The actual thread if you want to go through it is https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2868248-dining-reservations-no-longer-guaranteed/. DON

I am looking for a tour out of Skagway where I have a good chance of seeing bears in the wild. I know that there is the Fortress of the Bears in Sitka but I am not interested in that since that is basically 5 or 6 rescue bears inside of a tank. I have been to Anan several times were you see real bears in the wild and bears in a tank would just not cut it. Has anyone taken a tour out of Sitka where real wild bears were seen fairly closely like in a salmon stream or does anyone have any idea which tour operator I might contact. Thanks DON

They got my bathing suit mostly but not totally dry. DON