misspCO

Thank you.  I had the same question.  

A related question, how long does it generally take to debark on the morning the ship docks? (no tender)   And for tender ports, is there information somewhere on how the tender process works?  

Arizona Memorial tickets can be purchased ahead of time on Reservation.gov    I don't know if the NCL excursion will allow time for the Arizona if you have your own ticket.  

We have one extra day in Honolulu prior to our cruise so we are going to try to get Arizona tickets and also purchase a tour from a tour company independent of NCL.  I'm trying to figure out the timing and logistics.  

Hi, everyone. As with many first time cruisers, I'm in information overload mode and am hoping I can get some help to narrow things down a bit. Should I also post this on one of the 1st time cruise boards?

This will be our third trip to Alaska, second time to SE AK, but our first cruise. We're a little late in our planning...eek! We're trying to coordinate the cruise with an overnight bear viewing trip and our window of travel is sometime very late July to September. We would like to do a one way cruise and don't really mind whether northbound or southbound, before or after our bear viewing and land portion, nor do we have a particular departure port preference, other than I've read Vancouver departures have better scenery and we'd like our departure/arrival to be as simple as possible as far as flights, transportation to dock, etc. I understand that September tends to be wetter in SE Alaska so we'll probably try for a little earlier.

I tried to search these boards for my first question but couldn't seem to locate much. Is there one cruise line or ship which has more comfortable beds than another? I know, "comfortable" is subjective. My DH can sleep just about anywhere, but my ol' shoulders and hips like a little cushioning.

We aren't really too concerned about ship amenities, entertainment or food, except that I have a severe shrimp allergy and I avoid gluten. We'd probably like nice public or outdoor viewing areas as I imagine we'll not spend much time in our cabin except to sleep. (Probably interior...we'd rather spend our $$ on activities and excursions.) I don't mind luxury and good service, of course, but realistically, we are pretty used to sleeping in a camper or a Super 8 and DH will be hard pressed to find anything except jeans to wear to dinner.

Time in port is another item of importance to us. DH wants to try to go salmon fishing somewhere and we'd like to do a whale watch. We love beautiful scenery and wildlife. I like history and local culture/crafts/museums, as well.

Thanks for your advice and suggestions.

This will be our 3rd trip to Alaska and we're considering a cruise for part of it. I'm used to eating a gluten free diet and don't usually have much trouble managing that, but I have recently developed a severe shrimp allergy. Does anyone have experience with cruising with food allergies, and more specifically choosing an Alaska cruise with dietary restrictions?