kctwinmommy

GT is actually one of my favorite ports because it is so simple. We have done the beach hanging out, with some time by the pool for one stop. And then this past year, we opted to pay for one of the cabanas at Margaritaville. We split it with the other family we traveled with, so it was like $60 for each of us. It worked out especially well since the wife of the other family was just starting cancer treatments, and had just had surgery a few weeks before, so she really loved having the shade, private cabana, a/c, etc... But otherwise, the pool and chairs are all free for the taking. Yes, the food/drinks are expensive, but that's all we got (some nachos, calamari, and a round of drinks).

We did this cruise July 2015 and it was never even chilly in port (I wore short-sleeved shirt at every port, see photo in my signature in our favorite - Skagway).

Skagway was the only port where I was comfortable in capris for awhile on the deck during the afternoon. We did an early morning excursion, we came back to town around 1:30-2:00 p.m. and walked around for a bit. But we were tired, so we went back to the ship around 3ish and changed. My son was running around in a t-shirt in shorts by then. For us, every other port was still pretty chilly, jeans & long sleeves. We were also there in July (2016).

I have heard that the Fun Shops on board will have very reasonably priced jackets as will all of the ports. You'll be able to buy it if you feel you'll need it AND is a souvenir that says Alaska on it so it does double duty LOL!!

Yes! We're from Chicago but I didn't pack a heavy coat. I had rain gear though. So I ended up picking up a jacket in the Fun Shops. It was fleece on the inside and then waterproof outside, it says Alaska stitched into the fleece part too. It was great! And I think it was like $25-30. I've used it dozens of times since I've been home from our cruise last summer.

Going on the Carnival Legend to Alaska on August. Celebrating one of my kids graduating from high school, the other from college and my 50th birthday. We're going early to spend three days in Seattle. Who knows when we'll get to do this again. I must admit that in my research I greatly under budgeted for a hotel. We're staying in the Hampton Inn near the Space Needle. Has anyone done the Mt. Rainier tour?

So, we rented a car with the possible intention of driving to Mt. Rainier. However, we didn't want to get our rental until like 10 a.m. so we could return it 24 hours later (and use their shuttle to the cruise ship). By starting at 10 a.m. we knew we didn't have anywhere near enough time. It's a pretty good drive out there, plus traffic, and then the actual time spent there, trying to hike around, etc... I've been told it's a pretty long day trip if people try to do it. We went to Snoqualmie Falls instead, and then found a small mountain on the drive back that we did some hiking at. Just saw some beautiful scenery.

I live an hour north of Seattle and used to work in downtown. Whenever I have relatives come over we take them on the UNDERGROUND TOUR! It is pretty amazing.

The space needle is not that big of a deal and imho is better viewed from afar. Pikes Market is fun, but it will be packed. The Museum of Pop Culture is nearby so your kids may like that. There is so much to do. . .But don't skip the Underground Tour!

Yep! We did that tour!! It was really neat and interesting! And I also agree, we skipped the Space Needle and went up in the Sky View Observatory instead. It's cheaper and better views. And way less crowded. Plus, the ticket is valid for all day visits, so we went once during the afternoon and then again in the evening for sunset.

My biggest advice is the splurge on your excursions. Do something at every port, and don't even consider price as a factor. Do WHATEVER you want to do, you are in Alaska, and may not get back!!!! Do a helicopter tour up to a glacier, lots to choose from, pick whichever appeals to the group, but do it.

Haha! That's the same advice we tell everyone who says they're considering this cruise. I know many people go more than once, but I bet a majority only do it one time. We did everything we wanted to do. We did the helicopter onto a glacier - which was awesome!! But you're right, don't wait and think you'll have a second chance.

would rather have something close to the airport as well as the cruise terminal and places like the Space Needle. I admit I know nothing about the area, so excuse my ignorance if none of those things are relatively close.

Thanks!

You won't find that as they are spread apart. We found staying near the Space Needle worth it because it was much cheaper and we could use the monorail ($1-3/ride) to get into the city quickly. Then we used a shuttle to get to the terminal. As I just posted, I have all the info in my trip reports. Hopefully it can help you make some decisions. :)

I have trip reports for all of this, in my signature. I have one for our 4 days in Seattle as well as for our July cruise. Hope it can help!

Not sure why people think calling is safer than doing yourself online. The rep you talk to is also doing it on a computer. Granted, it's not the same front end but still the same reservation. Just as likely their system will mess up too.

When I do call, I plan on saying right up front that I've heard from others that their reservations have been screwed up, so I want them to take their time with it! LOL! I can also then verify everything with the rep while I'm on the phone with them still.

I think the rep is directly connected to the back end mainframe. Not that it's foolproof by a long shot, but I suspect there are fewer layers to mess up. Additionally, if there is a screw up, you are already on the phone with the rep who now has to fix everything. Better yet to call during normal working hours, when the Resolutions people are working, because the fix might require their intervention.

Yeah I was planning on waiting until during the week to do it. And while I understand the point that people can make a mistake, I can at least verify everything with the rep while I'm on the phone.

Thank you! That's what I was thinking - of calling instead of doing it online. It's sad that their system is so screwed up!!

So, since I'm new to RCI and I remember hearing some horror stories recently, I wanted to ask. Are there any problems with cancelling an excursion? Our cruise isn't until July, so we're within the time to still cancel without penalty. I'm just concerned that they screw up our whole reservation if I do it online. Has anyone done this recently, and been successful and not had any crazy problems with it??

Thanks!

Our Mediterranean cruise was cheap - the airfare was staggering! And if Carnival cruised Northern Europe, near the UK, they would absolutely have to ensure their pool heaters could heat the water - or close the pools and advise potential passengers of the absence of swimming. Also, Europe is very, very port-intensive...for potentially two weeks+ at sea. That's quite a pace!

We're doing a N. Europe cruise this summer, on RCI. But they only had one cruise with that exact itinerary, which I thought was odd. And being that we're going in the middle of July, the cruise wasn't a cheap one, and neither was the airfare! :( We have 4 ports on an 8-night cruise, with each port lasting between 12-15 hours! So we're definitely going to be able to enjoy each stop.

Haven't heard a thing about Zika in months. Insurance won't cover you. On most islands, if you stay away from the forest, you'll most likely never see let along get bit by a mosquito. I think the hype is mostly over regarding it

While not super recent, we were on a cruise in November and we definitely had way more problems with mosquitoes and we weren't in any forests. We were on the beaches at all 3 stops. It was the worst in Curacao, and noticeable in Grand Turk as well. Now, not saying any of us got Zika from it, but they were definitely there.

Yep, we did pretty much the same as everyone else said. My son, now 13, wears nice shorts and polo shirt for dinner, except on formal nights, then we do make him wear a tie, dress shirt, and pants. He is just now wanting to dress up though, so I actually had to go buy him more dress clothes. Of course, in another year, he'll need it (he's going to a Catholic H.S. and they have to wear shirt/tie on some days). He even wanted a suit coat, which I found at a decent price at Burlington Coat Factory! But he is usually in Nike, head to toe any other day of the week! LOL! And yes, after dinner, he's back into his comfy clothes. I haven't forced the dress shoe thing mostly because his feet were growing all crazy and nothing fit comfortably. I have wide feet myself, and I know it's no fun to wear uncomfortable shoes. Nobody really looks at their feet anyway, and his shoes are usually a black color/style, so they're not standing out really.

So we went in July, not June, but we still had pretty chilly weather every day. Only for a few hours in the afternoon while in Skagway did we have nice, warm weather where I could sit outside in capri pants. I talked about how I packed and what I needed, or didn't, in my trip report. It's in my signature.

Since you asked, think of a cross between

 

Judge Judy on a rant

 

and

 

a chainsaw.

Haha!!! My husband said it's a cross of Kathy Griffin and Rebel Wilson! :')

We didn't really care for her either. I have no problem with a dry sense of humor either. Like someone else said, she was a bit too much at family shows. Again, if I'm in the comedy club, I expect it. But not at the morning shopping show, or whatever.

Now, having given my opinion on her, it didn't really impact my cruise. I just ignored her for the most part and we had plenty of things to do and keep us busy. I've never picked a cruise because of a ship or cruise director, I pick an itinerary and go! ;)

Good to know we don't need to hurry in the morning. We're also on the Indy this summer, staying at the Holiday Inn the night before. We'll just take our time in the morning, no reason to hurry up. And we're close too, so that helps.

Dont look at the comments to the article about it on the cruiselawnews.com site, they are creating a petition to carnival to get 50% refund back for everyone who was on board. Some guy also posted that he feels it should be reimbursed by the estate of the guy who passed away or by the ******** account that was put together to help with funeral costs

 

IMHO, this:

1. Is even more ridiculous and insensitive than just complaining and demanding a refund from carnival and

2. What 23 year old has that kind of money? Unless he had travel insurance (which, if it is ruled a suicide, will likely not be covered as an accidental death), the family is going to have enough trouble scraping together funeral costs and paying off any debts and loans, credit cards etc.

 

If anything, they should get off their high horse, put themselves in Brandon's family's shoes, and donate to the cause rather than demand payment from them

Wow! You warned me, but I had to look! These people are just crazy, IMO. What if the port had to be cancelled for a storm? What if they had to skip a port because of a dangerous situation in that country? Both of those things happened to us. Did we complain? No!! We enjoyed our cruise. Personally, I wouldn't purposely take a short cruise to begin with (just because of something like this), but no matter what, it can happen, it does happen, and you move on!!

I wonder what ever happened to the group of people who had that group page on that "other site," where they were making all sorts of demands! I completely agree with you though. On our cruise in 2015, we had to be rerouted from St. Thomas to Dominican Republic. At that time Amber Cove had just started accepting ships, but wasn't even fully done, so many things weren't open. I know there was a couple on board who was supposed to get married in St. Thomas, and most (or all) of their guests had flown in there to attend it! I thought that was an odd thing to do, and obviously, they missed that port and getting married there. No idea what ended up happening though. We were rerouted due a to tropical storm.

I had no problem clicking directly on the Florida departures forum and I see everything. I'm on a laptop though, if it makes a difference.

I'm going to have to think about what we want to do, so I can ask questions later. I didn't want to lost this thread though either. LOL! We'll have a pretty long day in Oslo this summer on our cruise (7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.), so we have options. It's my husband, myself, and our teenage son. We know we want to do the Viking Museum and I was looking at the Royal Palace too. We weren't planning on doing any ship excursions, just seeing them on our own.

We're taking a car service to Southampton from London the night prior to our cruise & staying at the holiday Inn Herbert Walker so we can walk to the ship the next day. We will have the full day in london but then pay more reasonable price for a hotel by going down that evening.

We're doing similar, although not any time in London that day. We're flying into Heathrow and then heading to Southampton for the afternoon. We want to go to the Maritime Museum there (forget the exact name), but I know they have some Titanic stuff on display as that's where she set sail from. We figure we'll be exhausted (since our flight arrives at like 6 a.m.), so we can just crash early in Southampton that night and be ready to board the ship in the morning.

We are also doing the Holiday Inn. It seemed decent enough for one nights sleep, nothing fancy, which is fine. And it's close to the port so we don't need a cab or other transportation to get us to the ship.

We're doing our London stuff when we get back, which is why we don't need anytime there before. We're staying another 6 days after we dock.

Oh man...I completely forgot about these kinds of things! Maybe I should just leave things the way they are...

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, in my original reply when I said to ask the kids. But you could ask the teachers.

I would like to be able to talk to them except this cruise was a surprise from the very beginning. They don't know about the November plans so I wouldn't want to share about the move to May. I will use a visit to my sister in Biloxi as an idea though. ;) Accomplishes the same thing. 😊

Ahh... got it! Good luck!