Sailin Gal

We stayed there one night pre-cruise in 2018 and it was nice.

On 5/11/2021 at 6:34 AM, bigrednole said:

My issue is weight becomes an issue and airline baggage fees if we don't use Southwest. Because we plan on snorkeling while cruising, we will take our own fins and masks to use. It took a long while to find fins and mask that work properly for each of us. It adds weight to the bags. I weighed my suitcase out to be ~12lbs. With the fins and mask, it is just under 20Lbs. That leave ~25Lbs for everything else. Worse case scenario is we do take a rolling duffle. That bag would just have 3 sets of fins, masks, and snorkels in it along with shoes.

 

Check out the backpacks designed for swimmers.  We always take our own snorkel, fins, and mask when we bareboat in the Caribbean.  We each carry a TYR 45L Alliance backpack as our carry on.  It holds our snorkel gear and necessities for an overnight stop very easily and freed up a lot of space and weight in our (paid) checked luggage.

14 hours ago, jennybenny said:

Mine is the nickname my college roommate gave me. People usually assume Benny is my DH, but it's not his name 🙂 

I chuckled when I first saw your handle on here, because that is what DH calls me.  Over the decades, it's been shortened to just 'JB'.  😊

I'm a sailor - as in sailboats.   ~~/)~~

I have used a door decoration on Carnival, Princess, and Norwegian.  I take a small piece of removable mounting putty to attach it.

Bored and I really don't want to start on spring yard work. 

Yes

I’m still a two-wheel fan.  We have both, but after some rough pavement chewed up the wheels on my big  2 wheel Samsonite, we replaced them ourselves with inline skate wheels.  It was very easy and inexpensive, and I havent found a surface yet that they don’t roll well on.

On 2/2/2021 at 9:33 AM, bookbabe said:

We have a May 2022 Alaska cruise booked, and during my research I found this site.

 

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewing.when

 

At the bottom of the general wildlife viewing article there’s a link to specific calendars for the various regions.

 

I’m assuming that since the guide is done up by their Fish & Wildlife dept that it’s pretty accurate, but I have no first hand experience for that yet.

Great site, thank you for sharing!

We went first week of June a few years ago, RT from Seattle.  We saw whales, eagles, seals, and a couple bears. I like layers that we can easily add/remove and pack in a bag or backpack when off the ship.  Take a rain coat and make sure it's really waterproof before you go (water repellant doesn't cut it when its cold and wet).  We re-waterproof our rain gear and backpacks periodically with 303 Fabric Guard. Raincoats make an excellent wind-blocking outer layer, too, so we wore ours a lot.

Our first cruise experience was not good.  Let's just say it was the perfect storm of large family group drama, one of us recovering from an illness, and one having panic attacks with all the crowds.  The one great thing that came from that cruise, though, was our snorkel experience at the reef in Grand Cayman.  I fell in love with floating over a reef just watching all the colorful coral, fish, and other sea life.  It took 6 years for us to get on another cruise, but in the meantime we had taken our first bareboat sailing charter in the BVI, and that was where I found the magic, making our own itinerary on the fly and snorkeling and sailing as long as we wanted every day.  We've done a handful of cruises since and really have enjoyed them.  We just booked Alaska for 2022 on Princess and are really excited about that, but I know I will always be more anxious to get back on a sailboat in the Caribbean, just the two of us.  

 

I won't cruise some place warm without a balcony because I spend hours and hours out there. 

 

In 2018 I did an AK cruise on the CCL Legend (Spirit class like Miracle) with my mom, niece, and nephew.  Mom and nephew were in handicap accessible cabin 8234, which is a 'bowling alley' balcony.  Niece and I were in a nearby interior cabin.  We sailed the first week of June, RT Seattle, and rarely used the balcony because it was too chilly when the ship was under way.  Even when cruising Endicott before boarding the excursion boat, we opted for watching from inside one of the public areas, or from a table by a window near the pool on Lido most of the time.  We always kept the TV in our room tuned to the bridge cam, so even in our cabin, we could see where we were heading. When we did go out on deck for viewing, there was never a problem finding a place to watch from.  

 

I told DH if we cruised AK, we would get an interior cabin and use the difference, which as you pointed out, is substantial $$$, for excursions or add ons at the beginning or end of the cruise.   I just booked AK on Sapphire Princess for Aug '22, and went for the interior, but then took a very inexpensive (like $50) upgrade to an obstructed OV just to be able to get some daylight in the cabin.

 

I hope you enjoy AK on Miracle as much as we did on Legend.  I'm a huge fan of the Sprit class after that sailing.

The most popular beaches for the Tortola stop will be Cane Garden Bay, Brewers Bay, or a boat ride over to White Bay on Jost Van Dyke. They're beautiful, but will be very crowded on port day.

 

If you're more adventurous and want some elbow room and quiet, I would rent a car for the day. Look at the satellite overlay on g.maps and see what beaches look good to you. Keep in mind if you're going any time soon that they are still in the process of recovering from the hurricanes.

 

The Baths and/or Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda are what I would consider a 'must see' stop for the BVI. Spring Bay is literally right next to The Baths from the beach, but doesn't require the hike up and down the hill trail. So for anyone mobility limited, this is a better option, and a beautiful beach as well, but no facilities like the top of The Baths.

 

If you like snorkeling, The Indians is an amazing site. It's off the coast of Norman Island, so requires a boat ride. The Indians is DH's favorite snorkel site in the BVI, so we stop there on both the first and last days of our sailing trips. You may also be able to get an excursion that includes a snorkel stop at The Caves (as in Treasure Island Caves) which is really fun.

 

No matter what you do, you'll have an amazing day!!!

A roti, West Indian curry, or stewed conch. Washed down with Caribs.

It looks like the next ship scheduled for Tortola is Disney Fantasy July 17.

If you are going to SE Alaska, take raingear. Even if its an inexpensive poncho. Its a rainforest; odds are you will get rained on. We were in Ketchikan on a rainy day last week, with 3 ships in port, and couldn’t believe how many people didn’t have rain gear, and were carrying umbrellas. Narrow boardwalks, packed with people looking all around and taking photos while brandishing umbrellas made for quite an eye-level-hazard obstacle course.

 

If you are going on an excursion that will take you into the woods, take footwear that you don’t mind getting muddy. There were plenty of street puddles on the way back to the ship to stomp through and wash the mud off ;)

Sailing in three weeks on Emerald Princess and would like to know if any ships have gotten to the glacier or close enough for good viewing. We are trying to decide whether or not to stay on the ship or get on the catamaran.

Thanks

 

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Just returned Tues from Carnival Legend AK sailing. We were scheduled for TAF last Thurs May 31, but there were too many icebergs so we had to go up Endicott to Dawes glacier instead. It was beautiful. We booked the excursion that Carnival offered, and It was an amazing experience. I dont know who the tour operator was, but they did 2 rounds of the excursion. The early group transferred from ship to boat when we entered the fjord, and then they met the ship and swapped groups at the glacier end. Group 2 rode the excursion boat back out to the opening and boarded the ship there. So both groups got one way through the fjord by ship, up close glacier time on the excursion boat, and one way through the fjord by excursion boat. The scenery was spectacular, and we saw seals, bears, mountain goats, and a whale. I think this was my favorite excursion because it was so surreal to be that close to the glacier, feeling

the cold air off it, hearing the thundrous cracking before it calved, and to have the boat weaving through the blue icebergs. If you plan to stay on deck to take photos when the boat is motoring, wear ample layers as the apparent wind is quite cold off the water. I hope your trip is as memorabe as ours was.

We will be staying at Hyatt Place.

 

How do you like it?

Very pleased with it. Indoor pool' date=' good free breakfast, very clean, super comfy beds, pleasant staff, walking distance to the space needle, and Walgreens across the street for any last minute items. We are in a double queen room that also has a sectional seating are, coffee bar, and desk, so lots of room.

 

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Depending on the marine forecast, 'Seasick' by Larry Joe Taylor

[emoji33]

 

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We are currently at Hyatt Place on 6th near the Space Needle, departing from pier 91 tomorrow. The Hyatt has a free shuttle that runs to 4 specific locations hourly by reservation, but not to pier 91. They will arrange a car for you from Ace's, $10 per person to the pier.

 

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Flip flops like Sperrys that are made for boating and have siping, non-slip soles. No burn, no slip, meant to get wet.

You are correct. If you are on the railroad dock, the ferry leaves from near there. If you are on a further dock, you can get a ride to the ferry or walk.

 

Thank you :)

We (4) requested waitlist for early dining 3 months prior to sailing, and received confirmation that we had been changed within 48 hours. I hope you have the same good luck!

You'll need about 90 minutes between tours. Haines is a 45 minute ferry ride from Skagway. Carnival doesn't track what people book for timing between tours. That's up to the passenger to track.

 

I’m confused. The excursion Includes transport to the ferry, and the ferry ride to Haines. So I would expect the 11:30 start time to be ‘show time’ on the dock outside the Legend to leave for the ferry dock. Am I missing something?

Does anyone know if it is possible to do the train excursion that returns at 11:15 am, and the Haines Takshanuk 4x4 excursion with an 11:30 start time? We are on Carnival. They recommend :30 between excursions, but their website will let me book it. I know the ferry to Haines doesn’t depart until noon.