RyanGT04

Alright, looks like it would be easiest if I leave the drone behind for this one. Not worth taking a chance on it not fitting in the locker or having to skip out on going through to Devil's Bay. Thank you both for the info!

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After a few searches I've found very little info about the lockers at the baths, other than most people say that they are out of the way and you would have to backtrack to get your stuff out of them. Doesn't the path eventually loop back around to where you got out of the cab (near the lockers), why would you have to backtrack? Or is the cab pickup in a different location than drop off?

The reason I am trying to find out is because I would like to take my drone bag and leave it in the lockers while we do our exploring, then grab my drone out of the locker and get some aerial video before we take the cab back to the ferry. Is this something that would be easy to do, with the location of the lockers, or is it not worth the hassle? I can't imagine the lockers would be in a location that would make it difficult for people to get there stuff out when they leave but that seems to be the case from what I've read so far.

Also, does anyone know if the lockers will even fit a medium to large sized backpack?

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You have a well thought out plan. I'd suggest you just speak directly with Lazy Otter. Your current plan eliminates needless backtracking, which is significant sine you don't have a lot of time.

 

I'll ask- what is it about H&M that has you conflicted? IF it is because of the "vendor", sadly the original are long gone, selling the business with the name years ago. It is not the same, A family member who continued after the buy out, left and started their own company. So, the "name" shouldn't be a reason a book.

 

Taking a whale watch should be with the priority to see whales. Is this a priority for you? Actually it's a same with flight vendors in Ketchikan, several top masters who are all in the same league.

 

Your trip is also a year away. So be open to changes and further fine tuning. It is common for people to read new things and determine- Wow- a better idea. :) No need to be "done".

 

 

Have a great trip~~~

Great info, thank you! We could probably make more time if necessary, more my wifes schedule than mine...and getting back home to the kids, just trying to keep it reasonable. The only reason I am conflicted about the whale watching is that I am trying to decide between that and the glacier kayak trip with Above and Beyond Alaska. I think that both would be amazing but our time in port will only allow one or the other. If the odds of actually making it into the ice caves were good I think I may lean more towards that. So far the only thing that is booked is the van rental out of Anchorage so I will continue to do homework up until we leave. All great information so far, thank you everyone!

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:cool:We've booked 4 rooms at the Captain Cook for our June 2018 cruise. Its sister hotel, The Voyager Inn, is across the street and is cheaper because it doesn't have all the "bells & whistles" ... restaurants and shops ... but it does have free buffet breakfast and free use of the gym/pool at the Captain Cook. Hope this helps.:ship:

That might not be a bad option, especially since we won't be spending much time there other than just sleeping. Thanks!

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Seward: here's another transportation option to look at: https://www.bearvalleyroadrunner.com/

What if you kept the rental car for the drive to Seward and back to Anchorage. And then the morning of your cruise took the train to Whittier? That would mean another night of hotel though, so maybe not...

Thanks for the info, I'll add that link to my list of options. I think with the extra hotel night and extra rental days, keeping the van through Seward might come out a bit more expensive than the other options but I will also keep that in mind.

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I highly recommend the Misty Fjords trip. After 11 cruises to Alaska, that is still one of my favorite excursions. Harv and Marv run a close second. Have a wonderful time.

I think the Misty Fjords flight was the first thing I decided we would definitely have to do. I thought Harv and Marv was set for sure too until recently when I read about the glacier cave tour...now in torn between the two [emoji53]

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You've done a good job researching. I just wanted to chime in on the hotel choices in Anchorage. We usually look for Comfort Inns when we rode trip. They have everything we need.

 

Having said that, the Capt. Cook is right in the center of downtown where everything is. The Comfort Inn is down by the Ulu Factory. It's a long walk uphill to downtown. Not a deal breaker but not as convenient either. They we also doing major work on the bridge next door to the CI and it was very loud. That would be temporary though.

 

 

We stayed in the Capt. Cook and would stay there again. Nice hotel.

 

Have a great trip!

Thanks! I was a bit worried that I was trying to squeeze too much in with too little time. As for the hotel in Anchorage, it does look like the Captain Cook location is a little more convenient but it will probably just come down to price in the end. If they are about the same I think we will go with Captain Cook.

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After lots of reading and planning, I think I have pretty much finalized plans for our first Alaska cruise next summer. Booking the cruise was the easy part, we picked southbound Coral Princess on July 25th and we’ll be doing a DIY land tour before we cruise. I just wanted to get some feedback to make sure I’m not overdoing it or missing anything that we really should try to see...I think I’ve got most of the highlights. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Not sure how long it will be before we are able to go back to Alaska so we want to make sure we make the most of this trip.

July 19 – Fly into Anchorage from St. Louis (no flight booked yet, too far out, so I don’t know what time we will be getting in). Looking at Captain Cook and Comfort Inn as possible hotels.

July 20 – Pick up minivan rental and drive to Talkeetna for Talkeetna Air Mountain Voyager tour, then continuing to Denali (plan on staying in a cabin near Healy since there will be 5 in our group and 2 hotel rooms are pricey). Maybe it would be better to do the flight on our way back to Anchorage?

July 21 – Shuttle to Wonder Lake (getting off at Eielson if weather doesn’t cooperate)

July 22 – Denali Rafting Adventure Healy Express in the morning, then driving back to Anchorage and returning rental car

July 23 – Taking Coastal Classic Goldstar to Seward. Plan on walking to/staying at Seward Resort.

July 24 – Northwestern Fjord Tour (haven’t decided between Major Marine or Kenai Fjords, any suggestions?)

July 25 – Seward Bus to get to Whittier for embarkation. I’m a little nervous about this part, I haven’t seen too much information out there about this company but it’s one of the few ways I’ve seen to get to Whittier from Seward without having to go through Anchorage. Trying to avoid wasting time and money backtracking. I also have read about PJ’s Taxi but many people have said that it is quite expensive. Please let me know if you have any info on what else we could do.

Provided we arrive in Whittier with enough time I plan on renting kayaks from Lazy Otter. Does anyone know if it is necessary to do an actual tour or would we be fine just going out on our own in Prince Williams Sound? Only 2 of us would be doing this and its $90 for a double kayak for the day or $325 for the tour and there is a minimum of 4 people needed. Just want to cruise around and see the sights.

July 26 – Hubbard Glacier

July 27 – Glacier Bay

July 28 – Skagway: Renting a minivan and driving to Emerald Lake. Later in the day taking Temsco Glacier Discovery helicopter tour.

July 29 – Juneau: Haven’t fully decided here, either Harv and Marv and then taking a taxi to Mendenhall Glacier or taking the Glaciers and Ice Caves tour with Above and Beyond Alaska. Hate to miss out on Harv and Marv but gambling on the fact that we will probably see whales on the Kenai Fjords tour (I know it won’t be quite the same as an actual whale watching tour). How likely is it we will actually be able to go into the caves at the end of July?

July 30 – Ketchikan: Misty Fjords with Island Wings then just walking around the town/shopping.

July 31 – Sea Day

August 1 – Vancouver: Not sure if we will have time for an extra night here (depends on flight times/prices and whether we will fly out here or Seattle)

Thank you to everyone on here for all the information that helped me in planning this trip!

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Just something to keep in mind. Many stores close for a couple of hours in the early afternoon in Marigot. The restaurants are open though.😊

I think we will be mostly looking for a restaurant in Marigot and doing more of our shopping back in Philipsburg so that should work out. I would do Marigot first but then if we did end up getting anything I'd have to worry about leaving it on the beach. We aren't big shoppers and won't be looking for jewelry, probably just liquor and souvenirs, would there be any benefit to shopping in Marigot over Philipsburg?

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Thank you everyone for all of the info. I have been leaning toward just going with the taxis, so this all makes that decision easier. This will be the last stop of our trip so the more relaxing the better 😀

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I have already rented a Jeep for the day for $100 but now I am wondering if it would just be better to take taxis, or any other public transportation, around instead. It would just be for 2 people. Still not 100% but we would probably just be going to Orient then Marigot and back to the port. Would have liked to do Maho as well but I think that is pushing it with time since we are there from 9-6 and would probably spend a decent amount of time at Orient. What would be best, keep the jeep rental or take taxi? Weighing cost, convenience, and time.

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Awesome, thank you for the info. We will definitely be early to get in line for a return ferry.

We will be in port on a Friday from 8:00-5:00 and so far it looks like we will be the only ship in port. I am planning on taking the 9:00 ferry to the baths but I am not sure what time we should pick to return, the 12:40 or 3:30. I would like to do the 3:30 to maximize our time at the baths but I am worried that that is cutting it too close. Do you think that we would be alright taking the 3:30 return ferry or is 9:30-12:40 enough time at the baths?

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I haven't come across any official Celebrity countdown app but this one allows you to set countdowns for just about any upcoming cruise.

 

https://shipmateapp.com

 

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I don't know if this is allowed so please delete if it's not. Is there a Cruise Countdown app for Celebrity Cruises? I know Carnival has the Carnival Hub app, does Celebrity have an app similar to that?

 

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I haven't come across any official Celebrity countdown app but this one allows you to set countdowns for just about any upcoming cruise.

https://shipmateapp.com

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I was looking into renting a car but wanted something a little more interesting than a sedan or jeep. Does anyone know if you can rent something similar to a Polaris Slingshot (image attached) on the island?

I have seen the scoot coupe rentals but they aren't quite what I'm looking for either and I have read some mixed reviews about them.