rjeffler

Six pairs of shoes is not necessary. You will only need sneakers/walking shoes, one pair of flats and one dressy pair. Get smart!

Maybe you only need 3 pair, but I understand needing 6. I'm bringing brown flats, black flats, black dressy, brown sandals, sneakers and hiking shoes. That is as simply as my mind could take! :)

We'll be bringing 2- 29 inch suite cases and a carry on.

Right before we leave I'll go over everything and decide if I really need it.

The formal night clothes is killing us... Jackets, shoes, sweatshirts it's a lot of stuff.... LOL:rolleyes:

We have decided to forgo formal and just go dressy. For the women, that is 1 pair of slacks with 2 different shirts and 1 pair of dressier shoes. For the men it is 1 paif of slacks and 2 different shirts. I don't even think they are doing ties this time. We did dressy vs. formal on our last 2 cruises and still weren't the most casual people there.

Lots of great information, but I do have a question or two. We will be spending two days in Vancouver prior to our Northward bound Princess cruise to Seward. I have made plans for the Seward end, but am worried about Vancouver. We would like to see Bouchard Gardens in Victoria. Haven't heard them mentioned on this thread. Does anyone have an idea how to get there and a hotel to stay at not far from the Cruise ship dock. We may rent a car for those two days. Any suggestions? The hop on/hop off trolley sounds good.Thanks:)

I'm not sure about Victoria as we've never gone there. If the Gardens are something you really want to do, do it. My husband has always been infatuated with windmills/turbines. At Grouse Mountain (north of Vancouver) they have one that you can go up in, so that is our big plan for Vancouver...as well as the HOHO. The hotel we are staying at (Marriott Pinnacle) is just a couple of blocks from Canada Place. Almost any hotel in the downtown area will be good, but you need to think about parking a car. I would assume parking is at a premium and you will pay for it dearly. If you decide not to do Victoria, there is PLENTY to do in Vancouver to keep you busy for 2 days.

I cannot imagine your stress as I started planning my trip over 15 months ago and am still stressing out. I also like to stay at well known brands and am staying at both Hilton Anchorage and Homewood Suites Anchorage as well as lots of other hotels during our stay for $0! I used points for all of it. If you can plan for next year, it is still doable. Read my pre-cruise planning that I have linked in my signature. I really tried to do a trip with everything I wanted to do and save as much money as I could. I ended up with 9 days of hotels on points. That alone probably saved me almost $3000 as Alaska hotels are sooo expensive!

I understand your frustration with packing. I think I'm also bringing 6 pairs of shoes and I thought I was doing great. I'm of a different mindset than lots of people on this board as my family pack EVERYTHING we might want to bring. We are traveling for 16 days to include 7 days inland, cruise and 2 days in Vancouver. I tend to always be cold, but I hear Alaska is getting quite warm. So, we are checking a suitcase each and then bringing a carry-on each plus a bag with electronics and my purse. We will try to pack the first few days clothes in one bag so that we don't have to get into both suitcases every day.

I don't know about you, but I wear different things most days (although I have my favorites) and I'll want to do the same thing on a cruise. Yes, I will wash and wear something again later in the trip, but I like to have lots of choices. My mood changes and with that, my choice in clothing does as well!

So, for tops alone, I have 4 short sleeve, 6 long sleeve (2 can roll up), 2 sweaters and 2 dressier blouses. This doesn't include 2 t-shirts for exercise and 2 long sleeve t-shirts that can be worn under clothes for warmth.

My family will never get the prize for packing light!!

I know this is a stretch, but I drink out of a Tervis tumbler constantly. I have 2 that I swap back and forth. I use drink mixes and prefer refilling a tumbler to constant new bottles of water. It's probably the only green thing I do!

Just wondering if anyone that has already been to AK this year (or even last year) noticed if they sell any Alaska themed Tervis tumblers there. I would leave mine at home and buy one as a souvenir.

Otherwise, I'm traveling with my cup!

I know this is a stretch, but I drink out of a Tervis tumbler constantly. I have 2 that I swap back and forth. I use drink mixes and prefer refilling a tumbler to constant new bottles of water. It's probably the only green thing I do!

Just wondering if anyone that has already been to AK this year (or even last year) noticed if they sell any Alaska themed Tervis tumblers there. I would leave mine at home and buy one as a souvenir.

Otherwise, I'm traveling with my cup!

Thanks for the great tips! Did you check out the Toursaver book? If so' date=' did you find it of value?[/quote']

 

I did not. None of the tours I am doing are in the book. Wish they had been, though, as it could have saved me. I would have loved to save some on the Helicopter tour!!

Just a follow on to my planning as above. I've been watching everything and as I'm 17 days from my travel, I spent the day confirming air, car, hotel, tours, etc... Imagine my surprise, when I see that the car rental in Anchorage has gone down AGAIN! They wouldn't just adjust the price, so I had to make a new reservation and cancel the old one. I'll do it. My rental in Anchorage is now down to $116 from a high of $262. It pays to watch these things!

I tried to buy our tickets to Grouse Mountain today, but they won't even sell them yet. Have to try again next week.

Last item after that is to buy HOHO tickets for Vancouver. I'd really like to find a coupon, but if not by the end of next week, I'm going to bite the bullet and buy it!

I cannot say I've done this on the 'cheap' but I have saved a TON of money buy using Frequent Flyer miles and credit card points. I started planning my trip (06/06/14) last February. I have been trying to get every coupon and reduction I could. I even amended my rental car in Anchorage again today for another $25 savings.

We used Costco travel for the car rentals. Amazingly enough, they were always cheaper than any other place/coupon I could find. You do have to be a member though!

I also joined Groupon in all of the cities I am going to visit. Quite a few nice offers have come up. Even Seavey's Ididaride had a buy 1 get 1 a few weeks ago!

As for the cruise line, I'm a Platinum cruiser with Carnival and even I choose Royal Carribean for Alaska! I really wanted to take advantage of Vancouver again, though as we did it for 2 days a few years ago and loved it!

Check out the link in my signature. It has all of my pre-planning. I have 17 days to wait until we leave and I'll be sure to finish my journalling while I'm on the plane on my return home!

I'm 18 days from the start of my Alaska trip that I've been planning for 16 months!! Check out the link in my signature. I went through all of my pre-planning for this trip to get as much as I could for as little money as I could!! We are doing 6 days prior, the cruise and then 2 days in Vancover after. I also joined Groupon for Alaska and Vancouver!

I found 'Wall Pops' at my local Bed, Bath & Beyond. Google them. They are removeable dry erase 'dots'. They are about a foot across and stick right to the door. You can write on them and if you leave your dry erase marker there, others can write to you as well. When you are ready to go home, pull it off the door and back into your luggage. I've used the same set for years. It comes in a pack of 3, so you can let your friends/family try them, too! Really easy to pack as well.

To be fair, the 4 Royal cruises were probably luck and the 6 HAL sailings were because your fellow cruisers were all so old they didn't have the grip strength anymore to pull the magnets off the door and/or even read what they said, so they just walked on by.

That truly made me laugh out loud! I love it!! I've cruised Carnival 11 times, Royal and Princess and each is different depending on the time of year, length of cruise and location. I've had cabin decorations up on many and the most I've had taken is a pen and sticky notes....Maybe someone just had a really important note to write!

I started planning my 06/06/14 Alaska cruise in February 2013. I used points for every hotel and flight I could. I got credit cards for all of the hotel companies and spent on them for the required time to build up maximum points. Use them to your advantage. On our 16 day trip to Alaska, I'm not paying $1 for hotels! That is 8 nights FREE. 4 in Hilton, 2 Holiday Inn and 2 Marriott. For the airfare, I paid about $150 total for the 2 of us to fly FIRST class from Washington DC to Anchorage and then return Vancouver to DC. It takes a lot of planning, but it can be done.

I also subscribe to Cruise Fish. You tell them what cabin categories you purchased for the particular cruise and they email you if there is a price drop. Saved us $192/pp!!

You can read about my entire pre-planning at 'Not quite OCD Alaska, but close' if you do a search.

Get shopping, NOW!!!

I did a lot of reading/research before booking with Viking. They appear to be an excellent river cruise provider and that is what prompted me to book with them.

 

As I said in my original post, I am primarily an ocean cruise person and this was my first attempt at booking a river cruise. I read their "terms and conditions" section regarding making payments. It states that final payment was due 90 days prior to sail date and I assumed that was true for the cruise I wanted to book.

 

In all fairness to Viking, I do see where in their promotion description it does state that the trip needed to be payed in full by 4-30-2014. In hindsight, I should have been more attentive to the "big" print rather than the "fine" print.

 

Since the itinerary I was looking for is only provided by Viking, I can't go elsewhere. Totally different experience but I guess I will see Europe via a large cruise ship....

 

Ray

I don't know if you have totally decided against the cruise, but I would suggest you calling a travel agent. I'm booked on the Viking Kara for next year. I have a really big cruise/trip next month and also didn't want to tie all of my money up now. My agent was able to negotiate with Viking for the $500/pp deposit now and full payment by October (6 months prior) for the 2 for 1 pricing! Definitley worth it in my book! Also, got the $995 airfare rate, too!

It doesn't hurt to ask! You still have a few more days until the promotion ends.

I just got a notice of a Groupon in Seward (Anchorage group) for Seavey's Ididaride. 2 people for $71. It is good through June 26th of this year. So, if it was something you were thinking about, now is the time to act!

I also started one about my planning and trying to do as much as possible for the least amount of money. It is called 'Not quite OCD Alaska, but close'. Check it out for tips that may work for you!

I did one on the Carnival Dream a few years ago and it was one of the highlights of our trip. We weren't allowed to bring a camera with us, though, so that kind of stunk. We got to see all of the mentioned areas as well as trash disposal, brig, and morgue. It was VERY interesting. If you like cruising and have the disposable income, I highly recommend doing it on at least one cruise! They did also have a photographer meet us on the bridge and take photos of each person with the captain. They were delivered with some other goodies to our room later in the evening!

We're booked for the Radiance Vancouver RT in September 2015! This will be our first trip to Alaska. We're bringing the kids & both Grandmas. I've been doing a lot of research as one in our party uses a motorized wheelchair, which changes the types of excursions & transportation available to us. Luckily we live in Vancouver, so there's always a chance for glacier & whale tours on another trip. If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them. I'm also hoping to read a few reviews of this iteniary this May or from the charter this September. If anyone here is on either of these cruises I'd love to read your review after you return. :)

I'll be on the Radiance 06/06/14. My mother has mobility issues from a stroke 2 years ago so she uses a wheelchair when not at home. I started a thread 'Not quite OCD Alaska, but close' (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2007041) a few weeks ago that went through my pre-planning. I will make sure to do my review when I return so that others in our situation can know what we did. My mother has already said she will not get off the boat on tender so she will be staying on board in Icy Strait Point.

58 days until my departure!! I cannot wait!

Forgive me if I posted on the incorrect forum.

I am curious about the reason you folks are booking a year ahead. Trying to convince my DH that I could have the cruise paid for without digging so deep and also the prices may be cheaper.

We aren't newbies, but he never plans ahead, always last minute.

Thank you for your input.

I booked my 06/14 cruise in March 13. I booked the airline the day I could and got 1st class for the same amount of points you would use for economy. You can always cancel the reservation with a full refund but you can never get the room you wanted again!

I haven't been yet, but I'm scheduled on the Dog Sled w/Helicopter through ERA as well. We are going with friends and she wanted to do this as much as I did. We are considering this a once in a lifetime opportunity and just bit the bullet! Do what your heart wants most! Don't regret it later!!

Shoes are my biggest problem! We are doing a 5 day Alaska tour, 7 day cruise and then 2 days post in Vancouver. My issue is shoes!! I'm taking sneakers, hiking shoes, clarks mules, sandal, dress shoe. I cannot imagine 2 weeks with less shoes than this.

AND, if you buy from Vancouver Trolley online before you go, you get 2 days for the price of 1! We used them while in Vancouver back in 2010 and will use them again this June!

I did that on my first 2 cruises and had fine luck. Ended up on decks 8 or higher. I choose now, though, to pick my own room based on reviews, balcony size, location, etc... It is totally a personal preference!