wcook

And that includes gratuities/service charges/whatever you want to call them. Such a better system.

Great memories. I’m bringing one of these bad boys on my next cruise

I’ve cruised with people who got back after all aboard time but before the ship left. The crew gave them the same “welcome back onboard” they give everybody. Nobody lectured them about being late or anything like that.

I think the culture on board is changing, along with culture on land. Less shuffleboard, more candy crush. But I don’t think starlink had anything to do with it.

Old joke: Ranger: There are both black bears and brown bears in the park. You don’t need to worry about black bears. They are as scared of you as you are of them. Wear a bear bell so they’ll hear you coming and you won’t have any problem. Tourist: What about brown bears? Ranger: Those are very different. You don’t want to come across a brown bear. Pay attention to any bear scat you see along the way and if you see brown bear scat, turn around and get out of there. Tourist: How can we tell if the scat is from a brown bear or black bear? Ranger: Oh, that’s easy. The brown bear scat will have little bells in it.

Or just call it the Jones Act for simplicity 🙂

* Maximus

I’m far too cheap to pay for fine dining, but that sure does look good. Paired with a couple caipirinhas….

I’ve research the heck out of such question, but never actually been. So take this for what it’s worth. Both itineraries are great. You have plenty of time to do most excursions in ports, and sufficient scenic glacier viewing. The much bigger issue I’ve found is with scheduling flights. Both Vancouver and especially Anchorage are a pain to schedule flights from where I live on the East Coast. Also keeping in mind the transfer between Anchorage and Whittier needs to be planned for. It’s too early to look at flights for 2025 but looking at 2024 should give you a good idea. I had to plan out the entire trip both ways before seeing that SB was right for me. Planning out the whole trip was also eye opening for the total cost and time required.

If they have a problem when you get to the MDR just take them off and go barefoot.

Zihuatanejo. Mexico. Little place right on the Pacific. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I'd like to finish out my beach trip. A warm place with no memory.

Just my opinion - everyone should do what they feel comfortable with: Any “bus sized” tour, or any tour arranged through the ship: No tip necessary, small tip ($5) if the guide or driver does a great job. ”Van sized” tour in a poorer country where guides rely on tips: Small tip almost always, larger tip ($20) for a great job.

The “other” terminal in San Juan PR is a giant open warehouse space. My one time departing there was a problem and nobody could board. Thousands and thousands of passengers backed up with no place to sit, no air conditioning, etc. for hours. Making it worse was the absence of anyone from the cruise line to offer assurances and explanations. Really put a damper on the start of the cruise. Luckily, this is becoming a thing of the past as the lines are mostly building beautiful terminal buildings, at least for their main home ports. Good.

Kids: We don’t want to go unless there will be lots of other teens on board. Parents: OK. Since there’s no guarantee we’re sending grandma to watch you guys while we go alone. Try not to get in too much trouble. And did we mention that with the money we are saving not bringing you we’ve upgraded to a super nice suite!

Regardless of who is to blame and what compensation is appropriate, it sucks for the passengers and I sincerely hope things get better.

Because passengers are getting sick of the low advertised price with tons of nickel and diming. One of the joys of cruising is the all-inclusive pricing. It’s why cruises don’t charge for shows or the MDR. It’s one thing to charge for “splurges” such as a spa treatment or specialty dining. But things that are common everyday items, they should be included. IMO.

I thought this was a nice video explaining the rules/details (from 2023) and lots of video showing the experience on a glacier day. EDIT - Just noticed you are on the Sapphire. Different class of ship so things will be different. But I’ll leave the link.

It took me a while, but I’ve realized cruising is not the way to visit bucket list destinations. Especially as the more exotic the destination, the more likely things are to go wrong. Cruises are great for visiting Cozumel, where if you miss port, oh well, we’ll have have sip margaritas by the pool on ship. Not so great for the person who has dreamed their whole life if visiting a particular port.

Interesting. Never been to Alaska but assumed formal night was when you wore your nice flannel.

Never seen it, but looks fun.

From a cruise standpoint, you can’t beat the private “islands.” If I can only pick one, Disney’s Castaway Cay.

Depends on if the “tradition” is captain goes down with the ship, or captain is last to leave the ship.

And this is why I always go a naked cruises 😉

Can you find any trip reports from people who did that sailing in prior years?