elililly

We went in the beginning of June and LOVED our balcony. I wouldn't do an Alaska cruise without a balcony.

Yes, some days are colder, and a jacket was needed. Other days were warm, and you could be out there in shorts. It's Alaska, and temps change, alot.

We went in May and used our balcony daily. Cruising glacier bay I stayed on the balcony all morning and afternoon. If I got cold I would step inside and look out window till I warmed up!

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I could find very few park free for the week and no shuttle anymore to the port.

Last September we stayed at Wyndham French quarter which had free parking for the week but we taxied back and forth to the port. Also when booking to find that rate you have to click on other rates to get to that deal.

The savings paid almost for our room so we did it instead of parking at the port.

Good luck!

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Just returned in May from cruise and we were in town at 7am on Sunday.

The stores were open at 7 when we got off the ship. I asked at a shop and they said they are always open when a cruise ship docks. I was able to do all my shopping before an 9 am excursion.

This was not the case in Skagway where most shops did not open till 9 on a weekday. There were a few that we went into waiting on the others.

Enjoy!

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I was there about 4 yrs ago. I have fair skin/ red hair and was going to rent the clamshells till I saw them. They looked hot and not user friendly.

We walked the beach till we went past the pirate ship and there were trees that shaded really well. We used 2 loungers all day though spent most of the time in the water. I also think the pirate ship had bathrooms that were close too.

We stayed until the last tender boat and I was only slightly sunburned from the water cause our loungers stayed shaded the whole time. I pulled the loungers to where a tree was between them. I also wore a big hat as usual.

I also brought my own blow up floats for the water and used them as I do at every beach and nothing is ever said.

Enjoy!

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On getting Mom on the ship.

We waited for a pusher since I knew it would be uphill ramps. Mom was carrying her bag on her lap and I was rolling my bag that contained a 12 pack drink.

He seemed to not have any issues getting her on the ship. I did look

At the door jams on the floor and we hit a few snags but I could tilt the wheels.

Mom also was able to eat dinner and watch shows in a reg chair for the comfort factor. Although after she walks a bit she loved that wheelchair. She did walk the wheelchair places on the ship but we never left it in our cabin cause it would be used before we got

Back. She also needs to hold onto

Something when walking and that fit the bill.

We also got a $100 in fives and ones in a bank envelop. I had that

In my purse and could easily access it for tips for the pushers since my hands were always full. We spent about 50 including the airport.

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Yes the wheelchair is a transport chair . I bought it cause I can lift it in and out of my car.

At home mom uses a walker w a seat so I was not that skilled with maneuvering the chair.

I went back and forth

On taking the walker vs wheelchair. Mom walks 10 ft then wants to rest a little bit. I thought we may never make it to dinner that way! Also read here to remember the ship is moving and unsteady. Mom is unsteady too so thought the wheel chair would be safer.

On the way out of our hallway I had to lift the front wheels over a ridge. The rest of the ship was great.

The second morning mom received a floor map that highlighted a wheelchair route from front to back of every floor.

Also in there was a name and number of the person In charge of special needs on the ship.

The train was the best for wheelchairs.

The towns were not. Skagway has boarded walkways that were rough to roll over. Ketchikan had very narrow sidewalks.

In Juneau the bus took us to Mendenhall glacier. Mom walked up the stairs of the bus. Wheelchair fit underneath. At glacier I pushed on photo point trail. It's paved but I was sweating due to the up and down hills.

At tramway in Juneau I rolled mom on the tram. We wanted to see the bald eagle and we had to walk to that as it was packed dirt which was wet

Due to rain. Very easy to fall.

I wanted to do a boat tour but mom does not like small boats. Not sure how much she would have seen sitting on a boat either.

Ketchikan next time would be lumber jack show. Not for me but think mom would like it.

I did learn and observe a lot on this trip being with someone in a wheelchair. We took a rain poncho but an umbrella worked better for her to use and me in my rain jacket pushing her.

The rain was the biggest obstacle off the ship.

Her wheelchair got wet in Ketchikan so we had to put towels on the seat and back for the trek for dinner. We both could have used

Rain pants for that day. I thought

About taking boots but it was so messy

When it rained I would have ruined mine. Now hiking boots would have been good but I was limiting items to take.

Hope this helps !

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Thanks Julie!

The photo book is planned for next week. Thankfully my camera got a lot better shots but she did enjoy sending pics to the grandkids from the ports!

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Just returned from legend. Room 8128 though. I found the TV plugged into an extension cord that had an extra outlet we were able to use.

Hope that helps

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Overall we had the time of our lives on this cruise.

I researched a lot on these boards and read last years reviews .

I did also know myself and what works for us. Our balcony was so worth it. This will more than likely be moms only time in Alaska. We could not run back and forth to either side to see the wildlife or mountains on the upper decks but we did see a ton of mountains and glaciers and wildlife from our room that was warm and had a bathroom.

Our excursions were short and sit down type. No great adventures in helicopters or dog sledding which I would have loved but this was moms adventure.

We dressed for the weather and not to impress others . I'm hot natured so I took less layers and a rain jacket . Moms cold so she brought more layers and thick winter coat.

Mom bought too many souvenirs than needed but she had fun shopping and going in the different stores. Great entertainment for her.

Moms word for the week was Wow! To the snow, wind, cold, mountains and glaciers.

She said many times that she never thought she would see the things she saw and go to Alaska . She thought she was too weak and old but she surprised herself on what she could do.

If you can Go

Spend the money on this adventure

It will make you say Wow! At what you see

Ask Any questions and I will try and answer

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Special needs

From these boards I knew to contact special needs before we boarded.

A few hours later I received an email from them asking to check a form of what I needed.

I asked for a shower seat in the room. When we arrived in the room there was no shower chair so I called right away and one was delivered.

At the port we were seated in a special section and given zone 6. I needed a pusher for mom cause I knew I did not need to push her up the ramps to get

On the ship. I did not want to hurt my back the first day! We had to until zone 8 was boarding due to the lack of pushers. I saw a total of 2! No big deal to me but if you want on the ship fast get there super early . We arrived at 11:30 and our checkin time was 11.

They pushed mom to just on the ship and then I took over.

So I had read here that you have to wait and wait for an elevator due to it being full and others running in front of the wheelchair. Thankfully we had the opposite! People would see us and hold the door for me and if we stopped on a floor when they saw us they didn't want to crowd us.

My rule when I cruise with my husband is we always walk down the stairs and only use the elevator to go up many floors. After this cruise I am even more adamant about leaving the elevator free for those that need it.

Muster drill

We kept being sent from one place to another. Then on 3 we could not even get off the elevator the hall was so congested. Finally finding the place by spotting others in wheelchairs i realized I would never get mom here in an emergency!

We were asked if we were in the same room and out cards were scanned. We were in a go thru hall way with seats.

We always brought the wheelchair in our room except one night when we were just dropping off something. Our steward knocked on the door to tell us kids were playing with it so beware of leaving it or a scooter unattended.

I did tag the wheelchair very well plus used a marker on the seat. I also put an address label taped to a bar code o the metal part. I was a little paranoid of someone accidentally taking it thinking it was theirs. We would have been up a creek without that chair.

Getting off the ship , mom would be pushed down the ramp by the crew and then pushed back on ship by the crew.

I talked to the excursion people about the excursions being wheelchair friendly. We only had one problem.

The totem park we were taken to was packed gravel in Ketchikan and since it was raining it had puddles too many to avoid. Mom had to walk behind her wheel chair.

I feel the guide should have told us this at the port while loading moms wheelchair . We would not have gone.

When we arrived at the park I questioned him seeing the parking lot and he said there was no problem in the wheelchair.

The first dip I hit gravel and mom about fell out so she starting walking then.

I went to the excursion desk and voiced. My complaint and they guy said well it was level so it was accessible.

The train ride was great. A special car was reserved with a chair lift. The person could decide to either stay in their chair or sit on the seats. At the end a person came and let

Us off by the chair lift.

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Dress

Mom and I had decided that this was going to be a very casual cruise.

We were flying so I limited our luggage to 2 checked pieces plus moms carry on w her medicine.

We re wore almost everything. There were plenty of times pictures were taken but we didn't pose once. Real pretty backgrounds that you don't see in the southern beach cruises. Like lighthouses, train, icebergs and snow and northern nights.

I wore almost everything I took:

Black tshirt short sleeve

Leopard jacket

2 turtlenecks black and brown

Black pants

2 jeans

A fleece pullover

Short sleeve shirt

Rain jacket not lined

Swim suit

Black flats and tennis shoes

A leopard shirt that looks like jacket / shirt but is one piece.

I wished I had brought rain pants or the sweat suit like outfit that had the rain restraint pants popular a few years ago.

Mom brought many shirt/ jacket as one piece and 2 jeans and one black pants

I also bought her a cuddle duds long sleeve shirt for underneath and she wore on port days.

Formal nights were not that formal and the second night a couple sat night to us in jeans. I knew that it would be that way in Alaska so we took items we could wear the next day after dinner. We also saw dresses and tuxes but they were few and far between.

Elegant night

On lido deck in Seattle

Front deck sailing into Victoria

At the airport

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Food

The food to me was wonderful. In the morning I would get a pizza about 5 am then would wait for the buffet to open and take mom a bowl of fruit and bacon.

Fruit was available the entire cruise as were whole bananas. I would take them to the room for afternoon snack.

The bacon was crispy on the buffet if you moved it around I could find the crispy ones. I also had the Danishes and they were good too.

Seaday brunch was available the sea day and Victoria Day but not

Glacier bay. We would go about 10 and then not eat lunch. I had eggs Benedict and the steak. Very good. Mom had pancakes and ate them all.

We also went to lunch almost everyday in the dining room. Good also.

One afternoon we had a cheeseburger and hot dog from the grill on lido deck. It was good but fries were a little cold.

We had anytime dinning since I knew 3 nights we would be in port at night and not sure when we would want to eat.

We sat in the same section and were taken care of every night . There was an Alaskan section on the menu that had salmon cooked all different ways and another fish or shrimp every night.

The rest of the menu was the American menu.

Mom ate flatiron steak twice, lasagna , prime rib, pork chop, roast along with a salad and either baked potato or whipped potatoes .

I ordered many appetizers and main courses nightly. I almost always ordered the fish/shrimp/crab selection then fried chicken, prime rib, and lobster.

We always ordered desert too! Cherry pie, bitter/blach ? , cheesecake, mouse, banana split, chocolate melting cake.

We went to dinner about 530 each night and were finished about 7. When we left there was a waiting list.

We ordered room service 3 times twice for lunch. Blt's and roast beef along with cookies and cheese cake.

Eating in the dining room was so much easier than doing the buffet with a wheelchair.

We were spoiled by the service and food all week.

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Victoria

We arrived about 730 but did not get cleared until 8 pm. We waited until the crowds cleared to leave the ship. We had nothing planned but did want to shop a bit.

There was one store on the dock at the very end. Very crowded but its owned locally which I like to support. I found a small painting of A Victoria lighthouse by a local artist, the exchange rate was nice too. It was posted on the door and they do take US money .

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Thanks for the comments. Mom had the time of her life.

Moms energy leaves after about 3 hours so we did a short excursion and then we rested.

I would go on the lido to walk the whole ship but mostly I stayed in the cabin with her and enjoyed the balcony.

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Ketchikan

We arrived at 7 and our excursion was at 9. It was rain then mist then rain. I wanted to go

To creek street for pictures and I needed a Harley shirt for my boss.

I took mom to the lobby and she read while I ran to creek street.

Creek street was beautiful and deserted at this early hour which was great for pictures. I would have loved to have gone back when it was bustling but there was no time.

The stores in town were open this early so

I went back and got mom to shop beforehand. We went to Tongass trading store w coupons. Thankfully

We were the only ship there. The sales lady found every item of the coupons. Mom was happy!

We then walked the street

And went into the other stores .

Totem park

So it's raining and we get to the state park and the whole driveway is gutted with rain filled pot holes. I ask if I can push the wheelchair and am told yes but in reality no.

Mom pushed the wheel chair

Through the park and did not enjoy herself at all.

We ended at a gift store and mom liked that the best! Warm and dry. It was very

Informative but we endured it not enjoyed it.

Later I brought my concerns to the excursion desk and they said it was flat so it was accessible!

Another couple that I had met at breakfast went on the same tour. They started at the gift shop and never went further since it was in a scoter.

After that we went back to the ship and changed our wet clothes.

We left a 1pm and it rained the entire time.

At Tongass trading store I felt had the best prices especially

Using the coupons from a free book we picked up in Juneau that had coupons for every port!

I could have shopped much longer in town that day.

That morning I was on the lido deck when we passed a lighthouse on starboard side. It was a rocky island with a lighthouse. It was between 5-6. I had left my camera in the room and missed it but is was very unique and would have been a great shot. We did not retrace our entrance into town but kept going down the passage.

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In glacier bay was the first time I saw the sea lions in the water. It took me about 10 sightings before I could identify what I was seeing.

They would float by the ship and you would see something small and black. If you kept looking at it it would flip to go deep into the water and that was when you would see the body and tail.

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Trying to get the picture to come through

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As we started to approach margerie glacier we started passing many icebergs. Once we got to the glacier they said we would be there an hour and we slowly did a 360. It had starting misting but the decks were packed from what I saw.

Our steward had told us he would clean the room and we could be on our balcony. When he arrived he took our pictures on the balcony. So nice!

After the 360 we slowly made our way out the bay and then went

To jaw point for 2 more glaciers. One Reid and the other I can't think of. One was really blue. The other we could not get that close to due to birthing season of seals.

The ranger signed off a little before 1 pm. He gave a talk on the ship we did not attend and there were things to purchase on the deck from the ranger station.

Later I saw they had a photographer taking pictures of people in front of the glaciers. I would have wanted that if I knew it was happening. I guess it was on lido deck. The pictures I saw were beautiful w people bundled up in front of margerie.

The last picture was a beautiful mountain behind the glacier but the fog seems to cover it. That is the one that had the birthing seals.

Leaving glacier bay

I felt that the port side had the better views today.

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Glacier bay

What a day! I brought breakfast back from the buffet for mom everyday. I stayed at the buffet a while each morning eating w others and enjoying alone time while mom slept

In.

Well I was seeing such amazing sights before 8 am that I had decide we would not leave our balcony till late afternoon.

We ordered room service about 10 for coffee and cookies and noon for sandwiches.

We were given a map the night before from the park service and we followed it all day. The Rangers came on the ship about 8 and you could hear them thru

A channel on TV . I would sit

On my bed watching the jumping up to see something. Mom then would go

On the balcony too. This kept her

Warm and comfortable. It was not that cold but I put on the hat cause I thought I looked better in it! Mom wore

Her

Jacket from yesterday. It was $20 from the tshirt store. It was

Lined in fleece and mom said it was warm.

Margerie glacier

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We were given an option in departing either in town or the ship. We choose the town and it stopped right behind the white pass store.

The store had many interesting items and we bought the book$5 that had many pictures of our journey.

The town

This was behind the store and where

We were dropped off.

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Skagway

We were here 7 am to 10 pm. Our excursion was the train ride that lasted 3 hour.

Since it was not raining we walked into town for shopping. It basically was one street. We walked all the way but once in town we noticed the

Buses and took one back for $2 a person. Some stores were not open but we went to tshirt store and called home and by that time everything was open 9am.

Later after the train ride this is where we were let off. So we shopped more since it was warm and dry.

Visiter center

We bought popcorn at the shop and it was so good. Mom would eat on it every night. The Christmas shop was very nice we carved wood ornaments and Santas. I thought the prices were very reasonable and bought a few things. I liked that a story was provided on the item about the materials used.

The train

As seen the train was right by the cruise ship. We went back to the room and are room service then headed down. I wore turtle neck and jacket. Mom wore her coat.

We were directed to the special needs car and a ramp was lowered for the wheelchairs. Each car had a bathroom and stove. I took off my jacket as it was hot in there. Bottled water was provided. We were told we could go out on the end outside and I stayed there the whole way up taking pictures.

It is true to sit on the left side when going up. The right side was rock wall and a few waterfalls. All my pics came from the left side going up. Then I went inside and sat for the ride down to enjoy the views. Since our car was not

Full we stayed on the left side.

We went to the border then the engine went to the other side to pull us down the mountain. There was were all the snow was right at the train.

This was moms best excursion. I asked later if she thought the 8 hr

Would be something she would like and she said no that this was just right.

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We then were taken back into town and given a ticket to the tram.

We walked around a bit and shopped. I felt that the best prices were in ketchican but we found shirts for $10 which we bought .

The tram was easy to enter by wheelchair and we were up the mountain.

The best views I felt were right when you got off the tram out the windows. We walked through the gift shop but thought it was overpriced and then went to find the eagle.

The eagle had someone to tell about her and to make sure flash is not

Used and soft voices. We then walked to the overhang for pictures

We spent about 30 min at the top and it started raining which was our sign to

Head back to the ship.

The wheel chair got stuck getting back on the tram but thankfully some strong men jumped in and got her out.

Everytime we arrived at the ship mom was pushed on thankfully as I would not have been able to push her up

The plank

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Ports of call:

Juneau

We arrived at 2pm. On the way into port , I saw 2 whale tails and the small Dolphins off my balcony.

We did the excursion Mendenall glacier and mt Roberts tram. Our guide on the bus was Jerry and he informed us if the history of town while also pointing out eagles and nests on the way to the glacier.

I had read here that photo point trail was paved at the glacier and that is what we took. We saw others in scooters and I had no trouble pushing mom. The trail was 1/3 m long.

At the end a ranger was there to answer questions. Thankfully we made the walk between rain showers. We then went to the visiter center.

At the center there was an elevator in the back that was very helpful. We saw a short film, had a ranger talk, and tough an 200 yr old ice from a glacier

There was a wall of windows that looked at the glacier which was nice along w a gift shop.

We stayed at the glacier about 2 hours which was plenty of time to us.-

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I enjoyed Ketchican the best as I could see spending hours exploring the town and creek street. My mom liked the train ride in Skagway.

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