sharpgirl

Booking the train online is easy and not expensive. If you have time ride up and bike or hike back down. The fjord rib boat ride is probably a great adrenaline junky ride, but just watching them is a real disturbance to the fabulous scenery in the area. The area seems ecologically fragile and the rib boats seem out of place.

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You might also look at flights out of other airports ... check air carriers you would consider flying and check for origination/destination. We often fly domestic (on points) from Dallas to a cheap European hub in the US. Good luck! That July 1st NCL out of Hamburg looks like a great cruise. We board the Jade on July 15 when it pulls back in[emoji3]

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I took a NCL Spirit cruise in January. I ate my usual omelette and fruit for breakfast. At lunch stuck with protein snack or salad. Got plenty of walking in and ate small meals at dinner, often skipping dessert or just having a few bites. I drank plenty of Bloody Marys and consumed the garnish as an afternoon snack. Lost 2 pounds on the cruise. Ate at all the various restaurants and had what I wanted. There was lots of healthy, low fat low carb dishes. [emoji4]

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We book our tickets using our legal/passport names. People must wonder if we are criminals when we don’t respond to Barry & Cynthia. We’ve spent our entire lives as Mark & Cindy and don’t even recognize our legal names. This must be a problem for many others?

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A laptop is pretty heavy. Although I use an Apple tablet at home, I travel with an Amazon Fire tablet. They are lightweight and inexpensive, so if I lose it along the way I’d be sad but it wouldn’t ruin a trip. Great to stream or play downloaded Netflix, email, social media etc. great for using wi-fi and downloading all of our Kindle travel books.

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This happened on a cruise I took last month. One of of our participants dropped out and offered to pay. But we had a wait list and called that person’s cabin we’re able to fill the vacancy. When I had to cancel at the last minute in the past, I paid up. It is only fair to the vendor and others on the tour. The ship excursion office wouldn’t have refunded my money on that short notice either.

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I changed my regular booking to a casino discounted one...kept my original booking number and my price discounted 20 percent just last week. All my perks stayed the same [emoji4][emoji171] one happy cruiser!

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Hi Sharpgirl,

 

 

 

I was wondering if there's anything you "miss out on" by taking the bus... does it still go to the visitor center and everything that the excursion would do? The excursion descriptions make it sound like the tour bus driver has a special pass to go through the Tongass Forest, so I wondered if they end up at a different viewing point? Also, how long would it take if we walked instead of taking the bus - and is that even possible? Thank you for the info!

Your excursion might go places the city bus doesn’t. It seems like the bus stop was at a parking lot and then there was a hike to the glacier. Where we went was a beautiful waterfall to our right, the face of the glacier to our front and a beautiful pond between us. The pond/glacier fed a creek to the other side and the salmon were running. The visitors center is just off the parking lot — it is beautiful up there. Mark remembers the hike to the glacier as about an hour along a trail. Perhaps others who have made the excursion and the on-your-own path will chime in. Google Earth might answer some questions too. We recall the trail winding through a wilderness area through the trees (Mark says brush). We left after breakfast, went to town for lunch and then did a small group whale watch with a very small group. Out in the water that day, there were about 4 larger (maybe 100-200 passengers) boats all after the same whales. There were several ships in port that day—too many. The time before when we were in Juneau we went up Mt Roberts on the tram and checked out the bird habitat. Only ship in top that day but miserable, cold and wet. We’re looking forward to our next visit to Alaska. Make that a one mile—not one hour—hike. Easy terrain, people and children of all ages along the way.

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We’ve been to Alaska a couple of times, once inside and overland & the longer trip from Seattle r/t to anchorage & Kodiak. On those trips we’ve made several whale watches—each one of them a disappointment (especially compared to a great whale watch out of Boston where we saw over a dozen whales breach). Out of Ketchikan we took a fun boat trip with the guys from Deadliest Catch . No whales but lots of other wildlife and family friendly education and photo opps.

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In Juneau skip the ship excursion. From port you can catch a local bus to Mendenhall Glacier for less than $5. It runs every half hour or so and it is a great morning or afternoon adventure.

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On our first cruise we were waiting for our table mates. The two top beside us caught our attention—a newlywed couple were being very loud. When she stopped for a breath, he said “just give me five seconds. She stormed off in a huff. A few days later there was an instant replay in front of the elevator. For years we’ve used “just five seconds” between us as a conflict alert (in our vicinity—never between us) and occasionally we toast that couple, who we are certain didn’t make it!

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We like HAL best--great ports, multi-generational families, interesting people, good food, great service, and lounges with live music. Fewer unsupervised kids running in the halls; seldom elderly people who don't outdo me everyday. Especially Alaska. Throw me in that briar patch.

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We've had both the lower room with a river level window and a French balcony. I preferred the lower room. There were plenty of places indoors and out to watch outdoors even when the roof deck was closed mist if the way inti Budapest. The French balcony was pretty useless. Enjoy your cruise. I love the river cruises.

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Seriously? You are irritated that Princess has a Loyalty lounge for its repeat clientele? Hate to break it to you, but EVERY cruise line has something similar. In fact, while on Royal Caribbean, there are reminders of this all over, special sections by the pool, in the showrooms, entire lounges off limits to those who are not in the club. Never have I felt shut out on Princess. The lounge you reference is open to the general public 99% of the time The Elite lounge function is held for only 2 out of 24 hours.

Okay, the lounge is closed maybe 8% of the day, so it is open 92% of the time

 

I have never seen paper plates and plasticware at the buffet. 🤣

 

And there are chairs in every stateroom. Not couches, but there has always been at least one, if not two chairs.

 

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There was a hassock -- no back -- at the dressing table, no chair. I sailed mid-late Aug 2016. Not paper plates; plastic plates. We called them Melmac in the '60s. And the one thing that will keep me off Princess was booting me with a "hurry and finish your drink" because we are only open for platinum or diamond (or something like that). Watching the sea go by with a drink in the observation top deck is always the highlight of my day. We were hardly out of port and I was done.

What would you change? That's the thread - right?

I love your tag line. I love a cat or three or four.[emoji76]

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Things that keep me from sailing Princess again-

1/ closing the observatory-windowed bar for happy hours only for high level loyalty folks;

2/ refusing to honor reservations in the MDR with a "we don't take reservations" even while holding the list with our reservations (which had been honored both nights previous);

3/ no chairs or sofa in our stateroom; and

4/ plastic plates and glasses in the buffet. I don't use those at home and I don't want to use them at sea.

Also I missed history and travel lectures. And why do they send warm weather ships like the Caribbean Princess on cruises to Scotland? More diversions than art gallery viewings, sales and auctions.

Princess isn't high on my list.

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Rasmie I had read the other thread too. Thank you for pointing it out...others that read this thread may have missed it.

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Bless you for this post! We'll be in port in a few weeks and we rented a car, hoping to muddle through. Buy do we have ideas now!

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I was treated for a herpes viral eye ulcer aboard a the Caribbean Princess. The doctor was great; had the three meds I needed and called to check in me two or three times as followup. I was out $130--a bargain. Come to think of it I don't think I ever filled a claim with my travel or health insurance. They provided all the paperwork I needed to make the claim and to pass on to my regular MD.

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Try Buddy Pouch...they make several models and fold over your waist band.

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I'll be checking my upcoming HAL fiord junket for a big group. Sounds awful and we had a similar shut out in the MDR aboard the Caribbean Princess last August--won't be sailing Princess again as a result.

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