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18 minutes ago, USNA 72 said:

The site in this post has all the docking info for Alaska this year.

 

Thanks but that doesn't answer the question. Princess says one thing and CLAA says different. Who do you believe?

Sailing Ruby Princess June 29, round trip San Francisco. We will be in Ketchikan on July 5. My itinerary says water shuttle. Cruise Line Agency of Alaska says we are at dock 3. Who do I believe?

Also, my itinerary still shows Victoria but I believe that was changed to Prince Rupert.

Why isn't Princess updating its itineraries?

On 5/2/2022 at 7:11 PM, compozer said:

If I recall, we were told our airline carryons are too large.   Do you remember?    We have very nice carryons and I never check them - and don't want 5 other things piled on top of them under the bus.  I want to keep them with me - will they allow them on the bus and train?   And I do not want to take a duffle bag just for the bus/train rides.

 

Thanks

On the train space is very very limited. Only a backpack or something small like that will fit. Especially if you are in the older dome top car where you have to sit 4 to a table for the whole trip. There was barely any room under our feet for the backpacks. The dome top train car where you are all sitting facing the same way like a bus has a little more room at your feet. As they are both clear dome tops there is no overhead storage for small suitcases.

Just like on an ocean cruise on a big ship be prepared mentally for itinerary changes.

We did Memphis to New Orleans in October 2021. The river was low so we missed a port or two and had "river days" where we just floated down the Mississippi. Disappointing but enjoyable none the less.

Warning - we were on Deck C, room 320. There was an issue with the engine and we were subjected to 24/7 very loud engine noise. We could not sit outside our cabin and use the common veranda to sit and talk. Very disappointing. I talked to an engineer and she said this was normal. If I had known I would have gotten a room on the other side of the boat. No noise over there.

I agree with Babcia7. We need reviews and pictures. Can't wait to hear about all the wonderful things on board these ships.

We are also on board Ocean Victory on August 20 cruise Vancouver to Sitka.

Need some help from those on Ocean Victory this summer. We get in to Sitka on August 30 and need transportation from the port to the airport. According to google it is 4.9 miles. AQV is charging $49 per person. I'm thinking a taxi might be cheaper but there is not much online as Sitka is so small. I read that they don't have Uber so that is out.

What have you found? I would be willing to pre book if I could find something reliable.

I need some help. Google is not being my friend on this.

AQV wants $49 per person at the end of the trip to drive us 4.9 miles to the airport.

Does anyone have a better solution? We are on the Ocean Victory from August 20 to August 30, 2022.

We have done a cruise tour with land first three times. Two in Alaska and one in Ireland

The first time we put our "nicer" dinner clothes in a garment bag and sent that to the ship. We each had a large piece of luggage and a carry on for the land portion.

The second time we each had a very large piece of luggage and a back pack for during the day. Same for the third time.

Had no problems with not separating "land" and "ship" clothes. They are just trying to cut down on how many suitcases they have to lug from stop to stop on the land tour. They also pick up your suitcases at your room every morning and deliver them to your new room every day.

Do what you are comfortable with.

On 4/25/2022 at 6:09 AM, Babcia7 said:

We're also booked on the August 20th cruise from Vancouver to Sitka.  We're also doing the pre-cruise trip aboard the Rocky Mountaineer, Calgary to Vancouver.  Very excited about both!  I'm wondering if AQ will suggest a packing list for their expedition cruise.  We were told that they would provide rain suits and that we would each have a locker to store our boots, etc. Looking forward to the adventures!

I would love more info on the "rain suits" and "boots". Do they provide both? Are they only used for excursions? Where did you get this info?

We only have one excursion booked so far but it does have the possibility of getting wet as it explores glaciers.

Late May, early June can still be quite cold. Especially when you add wind factor because the ship is moving. The added wind can make it feel a LOT colder. Sweatshirts and a water proof/resistant windbreaker would be the minimum. I think yoga pants will not be warm enough if you plan to be outside for glacier viewing.

When we embark close to home I bring a warm winter jacket to wear on deck. A beanie and hand warmers for your pockets don't take up much luggage space too.

On the other hand, I have done this cruise in late June, early July and was worried about sun burn because it was so hot while viewing Glacier Bay.

The interior of the ship is kept at a nice temperature. I usually bring a light sweater to have during the day as sometimes I find it a little cool. My husband, on the other hand, is always comfortable.

Always check the predicted weather in your ports right before you leave home.

I started a roll call for this voyage last fall. No replies on it yet.

I find it cumbersome to find roll calls for the "other" cruising companies that are not big.

Go to river cruising roll calls, type in August for month and look for the title above.

We are booked for August 2022. We took the FCC issued from a canceled Mississippi cruise and applied it to an Alaska cruise. They are very expensive because it is a very small ship (175 passengers I believe). Applying the excess FCC made the price much more palatable.

Really looking forward to the small ship experience. We have been to Alaska quite a few times but the smaller ship will allow for adventures to new places.

Looking forward to reviews of the ship and experience after she sails in May.

3 hours ago, flviking said:

We have ATT for our cell phones. $50 or $100 for a 30 day cruise plan depending on the data and minutes you want to buy. Far more affordable.

Have you used this on board a ship? You still have to connect to the ship's wifi as there would be cell signal out at sea. Just curious if this works in the middle of nowhere.

Just to let you all know he has decided not to go (and I agree with him). It isn't worth risking his job. I am beyond disappointed as that means part of the family won't be there. For what it is worth, he is a 31 year old who probably would have felt awkward on the ship. Really not his type of thing. He was only going to keep Mamma (me) happy.

This was to be a family trip that had been cancelled in June 2020. There is no way to cancel or change dates now because of all the people involved.

It appears no one has actually made a phone call from Glacier Bay. I don't think we will chance it.

It's just disheartening to take a family trip without one of the family. Especially when this was supposed to be a celebration of a family member being 10 (now 12) years cancer free.

Thank you for all the replies.

On 3/20/2022 at 7:27 AM, 1025cruise said:

Just curious what type of job requires someone to call in on approved PTO or get fired. Whether or not I had a signal, that would be a hard NO for me.

He is a poker dealer at a casino. July 4 and 5 are blackout days for vacation so he can't sign up in advance. He would have to call in each of those days and use his "points" to take the days off. If he doesn't call in before his shift it counts against him and would lead to termination.

He will have vacation for the days before and after (we board June 29 and return July 9) but MUST call in for those two days. Very frustrating.

He has AT&T.

Thanks to those who responded already.

Need some help, please. Is there ANY cell phone service in Glacier Bay? Can you use the ship's tower to make phone calls that day?

We are not (too) concerned about cost just availability. My son HAS to call in to work that day or he will lose his job.

Final payment is soon so we are trying to make a decision.

Please tell me if you have used your cell phone (not an app like WhatsApp or Facebook, those won't work for him) while in Glacier Bay.

On 2/13/2022 at 5:04 PM, Calliope said:

My husband and I are on the same trip with you. Hopefully, our tickets will come tomorrow from the travel agent.

 

There is one question that you can answer here for myself and the English women with the Covid testing questions. Is Covid testing offered by the American Queen Co. during the check in at the hotel the afternoon before or is it now our responsibility to find a testing location and be tested?

 

Thanks.

We did Memphis to New Orleans in October 2021. American Queen Voyages provided testing at the hotel in the afternoon before embarkation. You check in for the cruise then test. It is the swab in the lower part of your nose test not the brain swab. We had the results back in the early evening.

EDIT: I just read some other posts. It seems things have changed (as they always do). Please check the current requirements on their website. It looks as though you now need to do your own test 48 hours before embarkation. Sorry.

We are doing our first Celebrity cruise in May 2023 (12 days Hawaii to Vancouver) on the Eclipse. Because of that I have been haunting the Celebrity board here on Cruise Critic.

It has really concerned me that there are very few posts with information about the Eclipse.

We are Platinum cruisers with Princess so I have been trying to learn all things Celebrity.

Thanks for any info on this ship.

22 hours ago, NMCruiser55 said:

Yes, Aspen Suites Hotel. The cruiseline booked the hotel. My husband says it looks to be downtown. He also says there are restaurants nearby. Warning: he's not particular on restaurants. lol

Just went to their website. $299 for one night. Pretty pricey. Is it cheaper through the cruise line?

17 hours ago, NMCruiser55 said:

We are going on the Ocean Victory June 6 from Sitka to Vancouver. Looking forward to this cruise.

Are you staying in Sitka beforehand? We have one night there after the cruise before flying home. I'm having trouble finding a hotel that is near the downtown and walkable.

We are on Ocean Victory (American Queen Voyages), Vancouver to Sitka in August. I believe this is the first summer of cruising for this ship.

We had excess FCC from a cancelled cruise on the American Queen from October 2020. We used the bulk of the FCC to cruise the American Queen from Memphis to New Orleans in October 2021.

Really looking forward to the very small ship experience.

A couple of things to try.

Clear your browser history.

Try another browser. If you used chrome try firefox. Or any other browser.

Sometimes computers just get bogged down with info.

Hope this helps.

One hint I discovered that helped me a lot.

I had been struggling to enter my sailing information onto my phone. What a pain!

Then I read that you can download the app to a chrome book or iPad. 

It makes it so much easier to enter your information from the computer. Just sign in with your booking number and enter away!

The only problem I had was with my passport. Mine had expired so I needed to submit a new one. Couldn't get the scan to work so I just entered it manually.

And now I am green lane for my April cruise.