jdpc3

I am curious as well.  We are scheduled to leave on the Glory in 9 days and have received no info about the subsitution for our Freeport stop.  Not that it's a big deal, as long as I am not at work, it's still vacation!!  It would just be nice to know in order to schedule an excursion to take the place of our Freeport snorkeling that was cancelled.

Thanks for the awesome detailed review!  Two thumbs up!

We sail on the Glory 9/22 and need all the info we can get...loving your review so far!!!

Thanks for the posts about this!  We are scheduled for 12:30 on the Glory in September and I had been wondering if we could just carry everything on and not have to wait hours for our luggage to re-appear.  We will each have a rolling suitcase and a backpack (wine, meds, electronics).  Sounds like it's completely doable!   

We did an Alaskan cruise and we way overpacked!  Follow the advice of everyone on here and pack less!  Just take a few laundry pods and do a load or two.  Also, we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near the airport and they (for a small fee) provided transportation to and from the cruise port.  I think other hotels had similar transport.  So, you might want to check the hotels in and around the airport to see if they still offer this.  Way cheaper than staying downtown and it was so easy!  They picked us up at the hotel and dropped us off right at the port.  When we debarked, they were there to pick us up right on time.  Took us (and our luggage) back to the hotel and then we caught the free airport shuttle to the airport.   

Thanks for the review! We leave on the Ecstasy in 11 days!

Pleae write a review when you get back!! I'd love to read it. We sail on the Ecstasy April 30th! :D

Hands down best sleep I've ever had on a cruise!! I went on a cruise about 5 years ago with my two teens and I volunteered to take the upper. I am plus size, 5'5, and was about 45 yrs old then. I had no issues whatsoever. I could sit up without hitting my head on the ceiling. I slept like a rock every night and even enjoyed a few afternoon naps.

The ladder does hurt your bare feet just a little but, hey, it's only a few steps...just move fast! :D

Not any storage. I used a little travel alarm clock...just sat it at the head of the bed in the corner, no problem. I did read a tip somewhere that you can put one of those command hooks (or two) on the wall right near the rail, and hang a little bag to keep eyeglasses, phone, etc...

Happy Cruising!!

I would be interested as well! We are sailing 4/30/16...just wondering what some of the activities will be, what kinds of shows they have, and which nights are elegant nights, etc...

Thanks!

Oh, and I forgot! We took the train ride in Skagway...loved it. We also kiked out to Nugget Falls at Mendenhall Glacier...got awesome pictures!

Hubby and I went to Alaska 7 months ago for our 50th birthdays. Two things...and you'll probably see this on many other threads about Alaska:

Layers! Early mornings in port can be quite chilly...40 degrees and windy. But by the afternoon , it may be almost 70 and your down to short sleeves. Our Glacier Bay day was cold and rainy. I had on a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a thick, waterproof jacket and was still cold. I saw numerous folks standing at the rails, to see the glacier, wrapped in blankets and wearing their Carnival bathrobe as a coat. It's all about the wind. 50 degress and no wind is way different than 50 degrees and 15 mph wind.

Shoes: The best thing I took was my sturdy, water resistant, hiking shoes. My regular sneakers were fine for the ship but, with rain, all the walking, and some "nature type" excursions, the hiking shoes were great. They kept my feet dry and warm.

Be sure to check out the weather forecasts for each port before you leave and that will help a little in your planning.

It was our first trip to Alaska but hopefully not our last. It was beautiful!

Have a great time!!

Love!! Just ordered them from Amazon for our cruise in 18 days!!! Thanks for posting about them!:):):)

48 days until our first Alaskan cruise!! Looking forward to leaving the 100 degree temps here in Arkansas for some 60 degree temps in Alaska! :D

We were booked on the Fantasy for April 30, 2016 out of Charleston and happy about it! I took my first cruise on her in 2007 and another in 2010...would have been like seeing an old friend. :) We were surprised when the email came saying our ship had been switched to Ecstasy. No explanation, just "we will automatically transfer your booking".

Oh well, can't really complain! It'll be a "new to me" ship, a new destination (Amber Cove) and an awesome vacation...so woo hoo!! :D:D:D

Just perusing the threads...saw this...gotta have it for our Alaska cruise in 69 days! Just ordered it. Thanks!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-SurgePlus-3-Outlet-Charger-Protector/dp/B00ATZJ5YS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434399378&sr=8-1&keywords=belkin+usb

I would love to see the Funtimes as well! We cruise in 83 days!

seriously? I've been on 18 cruises and the lines are no longer now than they were 18 cruises ago! In fact the lines at guest services are only bad usually on the first and last nights of a cruise. People wanting to make cash deposits on their account or settling up their bills. I don't think the real issue has anything to do with how many people are working but more so that people have become increasingly impatient! Lines have been customary at banks, grocery stores amusement parks ect but patience has gone out the window. Everyone wants to be waited on now!

 

Fttf has nothing to do with how long the lines are at the guest services desk. The people in line aren't being helped slower to encourage people to purchase fttf. If you are looking for a reason for the longer lines you might want to consider the increase in cash deposits on accounts and the issues with credit cards some guests have. While being helped at guest services on our last cruise two of the people in line had credit card issues and rejections. The others were putting extra money on their accounts. I'm hearing more and more people leaving towards cash deposits because they can't get a credit card or they can't afford the holds being placed against their debit cards.

 

As far as rooms being unavailable again this is nothing new it's always been 1:30. The room stewards can't possibly have every single room available the minute they begin embarkation. Nothing has changed with the exception of fttf and platinum/diamond cabins being ready sooner.

 

Tendering is again an issue of patience. People with excursions booked through carnival get priority tendering along with fttf anc platinum/diamonds. Everyone else is advised to wait and again patience comes into play. Instead of following the announcements people show up wanting to get off right then and are upset with having to wait. 18 cruises later nothing has changed regarding that.

 

The only exception to the changes is that those who absolutely do not want to wait are given the opportunity to pay a premium to be first. The limited amount of fttf guests have no impact on my cruising experience.

 

We cruised the breeze in april and saw nothing out of the ordinary that we didn't experience on our first cruise several years ago. No conspiracy and certainly a much improved cruises experience on an awesome ship!

i agree!!!!

I've sailed on the Fantasy twice and loved it both times. Always fantastic crew, nice, clean ship!! Was supposed to sail on her again in April 2016 but they switched ships and now I will be on the Ecstasy. I was looking forward to sailing on her again...would have felt like going back home.

I tend to like the smaller ships/less people type.

For what it's worth, I cruised with my two teens several years ago, and I took the top bunk. BEST sleep I have ever gotten on a cruise. HANDS DOWN!

The getting up and down certainly wasn't as bad as I had feared.

I'm a cacher and I cached in Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria last summer. I didn't realize there was anything in Tracy Arm... I'm wondering if they'll let me go back and log it now haha We didn't go crazy at each port, but tried to do a few. What I would definitely do is search for the caches you have at each port by fav points and try to plan some of those.

 

In Juneau, we rented a car (which we loved and recommend). There are a bunch of earthcaches at Mendenhall Glacier and a few physicals as well. We unfortunately couldn't get to the one side of trails though, as it was closed for bear activity. There is a cache that is at the visitors center along the docks that you should check out. We did some caches further out from town and enjoyed really nice short hikes :) One we did was called Sink or swim and we had to wait until low tide to walk across a land bridge to a grab a cache.

 

Ketchikan we only did a TB hotel cause we were lazy that day :p

 

In Victoria we did a few of the virtuals around, since our time was limited.

Thanks for that info...it helps!!

Would love any information you come back with!!! We are going the same places in September, except we will do Glacier Bay instead of Tracy Arm. It will be a MUST for us to grab some caches while on the cruise. If at possible could you send me a message on here when you return? Let me know what caches you found and how you got them (private tour, car, ship excursion). Would really appreciate any info at all. Happy cruising!

Been on several Caribbean cruise before I started geocaching. Boy, I could kick myself for not knowing about it sooner!!!

Hubby and I are taking an Alaskan cruise 9/1/15 (Carnival Legend) and will want to get a few caches along the way. Anyone else? Or any cachers out there have advice or tips on caches to look for in Juneau, Skagway, Seattle, or Ketchikan? Would love to hear from you!

I used AT&T texting on a previous cruise and just checked in with my kids (teens) once a day. Cost me around 5 or 6 bucks...that was it! :)

I love to hear the "doink" the seapass card reader makes!!

Ha!! Me too!:D