Greysandy

We are doing the same back to back this summer with a day in Whittier. I had found an app based electric bike rental service that is located right outside the fudge shop in town. We will probably rent the bikes to ride around and then go on a hike, and possibly lunch at the seafood market others mentioned.

Very easy city to stroll around. We walked through the totem park and then to the Sitka Raptor Center, which is next to it. On a different visit, we took an Uber to the Bear Sanctuary and he came and picked us up an hour later, probably cost about $25.

We did visit Mendenhall via the bus a few years ago. It took about an hour to get there and another to get back. A taxi would cut that time in half.

It seems odd that there are only two options in April for San Diego departure and 3 options from Fort Lauderdale. Maybe they sell those options as last minute sales?? I was hoping to see a more extensive list from San Diego.

14 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

I’m starting to research the 3 week European Sojourn cruise.  Did you take this cruise?  Would you recommend it?  Thank you.  

I would definitely recommend the 3 weeks rather than 10/11 days.

Here’s my long and opinionated review that I wrote once we returned:

On 3/16/2024 at 3:29 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

The Asian station grills fresh for you exactly the vegetables and protein you want. I eat that pretty frequently.

This sounds like exactly what I would like! I may have to negotiate with my husband on this type of dining. Or go by myself like you 😀

Thanks for the information everyone. I just got an upgrade offer for our Solar Eclipse cruise from an interior. We would be happy with any upgrade.

On 11/5/2023 at 11:07 AM, 57redbird said:

There's a difference between what I would order & what I would be served in all the restaurants on board....I avoid soybean & canola oils so that makes things difficult....maybe next cruise I will just grin & bear the consequences....NOT!

That is also my goal, but wow is it challenging on a cruise or in a restaurant to avoid industrialized seed oils.

On warmer cruises, they sell out so the daily rental is not available. Plan accordingly.

Most of them are too sweet for my palate, but my favorite so far is the Penicillin, made typically the best in the Ocean bar. It can be terrible if made incorrectly (like we had in just about every other bar).

• 2 ounces blended scotch

• 3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• 3/4 ounce honey-ginger syrup*

• 1/4 ounce Islay single malt scotch

• Garnish: candied ginger

We have been to Tracy Arm a few times, but I am definitely planning on doing this excursion next year on our 28 day Summer Solstice Alaska cruise.

Great idea! We have done the two week Cruise tour, then two of the two week Alaska trips, and next year we are on the 28 day Summer Solstice trip. But I'm completely confident that we will do the Northbound, then Southbound piece together of cruises some year in the future. I really love your idea of pairing a HAL with a Princess cruise to switch things up!

Have a wonderful time! We did this cruise about 10 years ago when it went to St. Petersburg. We absolutely loved Helsinki, Tallin and Stockholm. Tallin is easy to walk, as is Helsinki (we took a bike tour there first). We have spent several days in Copenhagen before, so hopefully you have a bit of time there also. It is a lovely city.

22 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Does anyone have any recent information on Viking's laundry prices on their European longships?

 

Thanks.

Someone had posted a recent list on a FB group. Here are a few highlights:

underwear or bra 4 Euros

shorts 7 E

pants 10 E

shirt 8 E

polo shirt 6.5 E

tshirt 6 E

I will be washing many "travel" items in the sink...

7 hours ago, Josie201 said:

I enjoyed several (too many ...?) of these recently on Koningsdam.  I know the ingredients as I took a photo of the menu.  Bulleit Bourbon, pineapple juice, honey syrup and cinnamon.  Does anyone know the proportions of each?  Thought I'd mix one up to enjoy with the Derby this weekend (I don't like mint so mint julep are out).  TIA.

 

You can make the honey-cinnamon syrup with 1/2 honey 1/2 warm water with a dash of cinnamon. The proportions look reasonable, so you could start there and adjust if it's too sweet or too boozy based on your palette.

I found this online:

https://www.gastronomblog.com/the-whiskey-lush/

Whiskey Lush Cocktail

• 1.50 ounces whiskey
• 1.25 ounces fresh pineapple juice
• 1 oz spiced honey simple syrup
• 3 dashes bitters

Since we are teachers, we tend to sail over Thanksgiving almost every year because it's easy and we don't have to fly to do the California Coastal or Mexican Riviera. It has certainly become much busier with children in the last year or two, even being overbooked because there are so many children in rooms with 2 adults. So we just book a cabana to get some peace.

1. 2 Week Alaska cruise to Kodiak, Sitka, Homer (along with the common AK ports). We like this 2 week itinerary much more than the half land based and half cruise tour. We are booked on the 28 day Alaska June 2024 (already sold out).

2. 20 day Mediterranean including Santorini, Athens, Monte Carlo, Corfu and so many more, only one sea day. The Big reason this one tops the list is that we booked it after the Italian Captain sank the Costa ship, and bookings were down, so we got a Veranda for 20 days for $2,000pp.

3. Mexican Riviera on the Koningsdam, every year. We can take the Amtrak train 2 hours to the embarkation. We don't care about the ports and mostly spend all day in our cabana, then have a specialty dining dinner, then listen to great music.

1 hour ago, HeinBloed said:

 

dam ship or non-dam ship???

Probably Noordam or Westerdam. We don't spend much time on other cruise lines, except for our upcoming Solar Eclipse cruise on Princess.

Thanks for the reminder about bringing less clothes.... My husband still insists on bringing way too many socks and underwear, even though I have the dehydrated laundry strips and am will to pay for laundry on the ship. 😂

We had done a renewal of vows on the Zaandam 12 years ago and it was literally a private party with the Captain and the activities director, and was amazing for the ~$125 we spent.

We did another about 7 years ago and it was a mass wedding in the piano bar (can't remember the ship). That wasn't very memorable but still an okay value for the price paid.

We eat in the specialty restaurants mostly on a 7 day cruise, but on longer ones spend more time in the MDR. I also like the quick and easy option of a big salad with some protein choices on it from the Lido. My husband prefers to be waited on. So we compromise.

I especially like the Carvery options in the Lido. Brisket or crispy pork belly have been amazing on recent cruises in the last 1 - 2 years.

I am booked on the 28 day Alaska cruise June 2024 on HAL and it sold out pretty quickly, considering it is over a year away. We booked immediately but others commented that the pricing was going up almost daily. After seeing that much demand, my guess is that Princess will also offer a similar cruise. We have done several 2 week cruises to Alaska (no land portion) and really enjoyed them so we cancelled other plans to go on this itinerary.

I guess it is a good thing that my expectations are tempered by this thread 😬. We are sailing on the already sold out Solar Eclipse cruise April 2024 on the Discovery Princess and did not book the 3 or 4 day cruise prior to this one.

We typically sail Holland America where you can book a cabana immediately after booking your cruise, but the cabana area is not as lovely as the Sanctuary.

Thanks for the review. I also enjoyed the insight about how you can do this for a fairly reasonable amount of money. 

HAL is still listing Monterey as one of the ports for 11/23 Coastal cruises, but with Montery's city council voting to not provide port/tender services there, I'm wondering if HAL will pay for that themselves or cancel it one week beforehand??? HAL is letting us book Monterey excursions, which I'm not doing because I expect it will be canceled.