afn10305

6 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

We were in the Falklands in 2015 while on a B2B2B which included Antarctica.  If your reference to air fare is in reference to a trip the the Falklands (at least in 2015) the only flights to Port Stanley were a weekly flight to and from Heathrow and another weekly flight from Chile.  The air fare into Buenos Aires is generally reasonable (even in business class) so cruises out of BA are an option.

We're cruising out of BA, but it wasn't exactly what I would consider reasonable since it costs about the same amount as our entire 14-day cruise in a club balcony stateroom.  Totally worth the upgrade to business class though, as we'll get to spend time in the airport lounge in Miami, as well as getting meals on the flights. YOLO! 😁👍

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Envious! I have not been there. I can handle the cruise pricing but the air from where I live is a nightmare. It is on my list!

Yup, airfare is not cheap, but because of my husband's work we can only do BIG travel every other year (odd years). What we give up in even years, we make up for when we can. 👍 

Eventually when he retires, we'll be able to take advantage of better times and prices for travel. The SA itinerary just appealed to us.

11 minutes ago, Coral said:

I was probably referring to whoever said "they go online to the cruise line's website and book".

 

Some people use Big Box Stores (think buying in large quantity) as their TA. I consider these agents as order takers. Order takers work for agencies that when you call - you tell them what you want and they book it but do very little else. If you need help, they are not really there.

 

Others book on their own. Again, this works well when everything goes well. When things don't go well - it helps to have someone on. your side.

 

If you are using a AAA agent and they seem to care about your interests - I would consider them an agent. I doubt they discount but that may not be important to some, especially on trips that have you boggled. I would make sure whoever you are working with has been to Alaska.

 

I have to admit - my first time in Alaska in 2002 - I was also confused. I had done Europe land and many Caribbean cruises at that point but never Alaska. For some reason - Alaska does seem to baffle many of us on our first cruise. After you have been there you will appreciate Alaska and find it easy to navigate.

 

I would recommend Alaska by Cruise Ship - by Anne Vipond. If you can find Rachel Cartwright's book Alaska Cruise Companion, that is a good one also.

@Coral

Okay, thank you.  This deeper explanation makes more sense to me. 👍

We actually already booked an earlier cruise for next year for the eastern coast of South America (including the Falkland Islands and passing through the Antarctic) but had no issues deciding on our itinerary, with flights and lodging booked just on our own. 

We had been putting off Alaska for many reasons, but it was just time to to "get on board" since many friends and family members had gone and told us it was fabulous! Now that we have booked and have direction planned (with the help from our friendly AAA agent) we are not feeling so boggled.  We even got in on their recent Memorial Day travel event, so received some more OBC, and lots more goodies included. 😍

We'll still be perusing the Alaska boards to get more info, but it's nice to make this decision and move forward.  I also keep hearing people say "your first cruise to Alaska won't be your last one!" 😁

20 hours ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

Coral, you gave very thought provoking information.  I appreciate your words.  

@Coral

Coral, I also appreciate your perspective, but having never gotten TA help before it's just a new experience.

Also, I would like to confirm what you mean by "I still use a TA. She is a real TA, not an order taker."  It's difficult to tell which one of us you were replying to, me (afn10305), the OP (MtnSeaGirl), or Cruisin Karen?  Are you implying that AAA agents are not "real" travel agents and just order takers, or something else?

I just want your honest opinion besides what you have already stated, because we are also well-traveled cruisers, and have luckily never had issues booking on our own even cruising around Europe, the Mediterranean, and the east coast of Canada.  HOWEVER, Alaska just had us mind-boggled, and what the AAA agent did for me was get me to focus on what would fit our needs and wants. I can see using a TA for more in-depth planning and travel to places when not cruising, but I'm also aware that TAs get "commissions" from recommending preferred service partners, and even some do charge small fees.

Again, I just would like to have you confirm the meaning behind your statement.  I have no skin in the game, either way.  👍

2 hours ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

Enjoy your trip!  I'm glad your AAA was able to help you.  Ours up here is not up to speed on Alaska for some reason.  They specialize in Europe and Disney.  

@MtnSeaGirl

Well I have to be honest.  This is the very first time I gave up control to someone else. I am so used to doing my own bookings, but like you, I didn't even know where to start. Also, the HA website is not the easiest to navigate.

It was SO much easier when the AAA agent pulled out his paper catalog of Alaska sailings on both Holland America and Princess. Once we figured out that we wanted to include a land tour and at the beginning, it was simpler to narrow down the itineraries.  The next step was picking the dates and ship.  There were some very small issues along the way, mostly on the Holland America side, but I am happy that our agent was able to get it done. We also had a Mariner # from 20 years ago, so while it didn't initially show up on my login, it is there now! 👍

I should say we will be booking our own flights and hotels, and we still haven't yet decided if we'll fly into Seattle first or Fairbanks.  There's already a roll call for our cruise, so hopefully we'll be able to collab with others there. 🤞

@MtnSeaGirl et al.

Thanks to some good information here and from our AAA travel agent, we Florida folk finally booked our first Alaskan cruise for next May 2025 from Holland America. 

We haven't worked out all the travel logistics yet, but we're doing the 10-Day Signature Denali D0L on the Nieuw Amsterdam with the 7-Day Glacier Discovery Southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. We'll be flying into Fairbanks with a land tour and two nights pre-cruise at the McKinley Chalet Resort - Denali Park Hotel.  We would have loved to do more, but my hubby still works, so we're trying to squeeze in what we can, and still maybe get over to Seattle too.

The harder part is going to be determining the best excursions for us, so we'll still be researching more for sure.  Thank you all for the input.  Thank you MtnSeaGirl for starting the thread. 👍

On 5/7/2024 at 12:20 PM, Duane S. said:

enjoying the live feeds and info, many thanks to those who give us all this great info.

 

wife and I are considering a 14 day Alaska cruise next May, thought I would ask current cruisers if they felt like 14 days would be too many?  there are numerous 7 day cruises and some that involve land events but I am not sure I would enjoy the logistics of the land portions, planes trains and hotels, so we are looking at the 14 day which is all ports from Vancouver.

So I am interested in your opinions on my dilemma, 7 or 14 days, what do you all think since you are doing it right now! This is our first trip to Alaska so we know nothing, lol.

 

thanks in advance to any who are kind enough to respond,

@Duane S.

We're  having similar conversations and dilemmas in choosing.  We are not novices to cruising by any means, but we're also looking at next May for our first-ever Alaskan cruise. 

My hubby is still working so as much as we'd like to do a 14-day, we're thinking more of like 9-11 days with a couple of days land tour included.  We would really like to do a northbound to southbound itinerary with a land tour first, and somehow also spending at least a day or two in Seattle since we have some cruise buddies who live there and it's another destination on our bucket list. We're hoping to book something before this weekend.

I'll be reading more on this thread too, and will be interested to see what folks reply to your request.  
 

34 minutes ago, Coral said:

90% of the cruises from Seattle spend less time in ports and usually only have 1 glacier day (one extra sea day of not viewing much) verses if you cruise from Vancouver one way North. I look at Seattle 7 night RT cruises and they just don't interest me. They are not in port very long. The only exception would be if you can find an 11 or 14 night RT Seattle cruise.

 

You can easily take a one way cruise and still spend time in Seattle. Many cruise lines will do a transfer from Seattle airport to Vancouver pier.

 

I have friends in Seattle who have done several Alaska cruises from Seattle. They don't go to Vancouver because Seattle is easy for them.

Thank you for this insight. 👍🏻

On 4/19/2024 at 7:14 AM, MtnSeaGirl said:

Green eyed jealous...I mean genuniely happy for you.  Talk about memory making!  Jusy looking at some of the DIY, I have become increasingly convinced this will not be a one and done trip for us (God willing).  I do admit, I also want to spend some time in the coming years on cruises in Greece, Italy, Spain,  Land trip to Ireland/Scotland.  Would love to see Austria as well.  I wish I had not spent the number of cruises in the Carib but they seemed good at the time...and still do...just wish I had been a little wiser.  Thinking about cancelling our 8 day in the Carib next March and utilizing that $ for one of my other bucket list trips.  

@MtnSeaGirl it seems like we have similar cruising sensibilities. 🥰

After so many cruises to the Caribbean we're now thinking like "you've seen one island, you've seen 'em all!" I mean how many monkeys or sloths can I hold, how many times do I want to hear "lady, lady-- let me braid your hair?!"  🤣  Don't get me wrong, cruising anywhere is still our vacay of choice, but we are now on the hunt for something different.

We have some Europe/Mediterranean under our cruising belts, but the bucket list seems to be growing longer. Have even been dreaming about a transpacific or Asian cruises.  While my husband is still working it's a little more challenging to plan any kind of travel and he doesn't have a job that allows for "summers off". 

We have some cruising buddies who live in Seattle, so they have done Alaska many times and we asked their opinions too. That's our other *kink* in the thought process of WHERE to cruise FROM since we've never been to Seattle either and we could potentially meet up with our friends there first.  OH, the decisions... 🤔

1 hour ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

So...you will do a nice post cruise trip report on Cruise Critic, and I will say THANK YOU in advance.  Are we blessed to have so many good tips on this board?  

My hubby is usually the one that likes to write reviews. I think we need to book one first! 🤣

On 4/17/2024 at 8:06 PM, libtrek said:

Well, we leave in about a week and a half. Because hubs has Alzheimer’s it makes our cruise different than most. I try to simplify everything. The itinerary the Jewell follows is great scenery most of the way, so if we don’t move around much, we still have something to look at. We too are Sapphire so enjoy the extra fancy dinners and free laundry. I can pack less which makes things easier. Any specific questions? Mary Lou

I don't know what to ask. My hubby is still working so it's trying to fit something into a certain time frame (for him to take PTO) to start, and then figuring out from where to cruise and whether or not to add a land tour first.  I've read a lot about how much time is spent on transport for the land tours so we're already reconsidering that. 

Obviously there is just too much in Alaska to do just one cruise.  We had been shying away from Alaska for many years because for our money and time, it's about equal going to Europe from where we live. I much prefer Europe, but my hubs wants to visit cousins in Colorado for a couple of days either going or coming, and attaching a cruise trip to that made Alaska a natural choice. 

I guess I would appreciate it if you could come back here after your cruise and give some thoughts and opinions about how it went. 😊

23 hours ago, libtrek said:

Good question. I would eliminate Carnival, we’ve outgrown them plus they go from Seattle. I would go with Princess or NCL. We tried Celebrity and meh. Lately we’ve done NCL Jewell. Smaller ship, good port times, does inside passage. I like their drink package (included). You do have to pay the tips but if you have a Bloody Mary in the morning, a few drinks during the day, wine with dinner, and a nightcap, you’re ahead. Staff is excellent and the ship was refurbished just pre Covid. Mary Lou

Mary Lou,

I would be interested to hear more about your upcoming NCL Jewel plans for the end of April and May. We just hit Sapphire for the Latitudes program and are open to any cruise line really that fits our time frame and itinerary, but have more CruiseNext deposits available.

On 4/16/2024 at 10:18 AM, MtnSeaGirl said:

Thank you, thank you!  We plan on 3 days precruise.  We will not have a car of our own as we plan to book the precruise portion thru the ship.....at least we think so as Alaska is new to us and for some reason seems to be intimidating; not sure why.  

Ditto for us Florida folks MtnSeaGirl!  We are experienced cruisers, but first time considering Alaska, so are having trouble trying to figure out what will work best for us.  We're planning for summer 2025 and want to maximize our travel there.

On 4/15/2024 at 7:10 PM, oaktreerb said:

How many days do you have for precruise?  Do you want to do a cruise tour or plan your own land tour?  If you look at Holland America offerings for 2025, the itineraries will probably be the same for 2026.  You will want 2-3 nights in Denali, Fairbanks is optional but included in some tours.  Alyeska would be a nice place to stay if you do your own tour and have a car.  You want to cruise on a ship that sails through the inside passage to Vancouver.  Glacier Bay is amazing and a national park, Skagway is Gold Rush history with national park exhibits.  Sitka is beautiful with Russian history and is very scenic.  Most ships stop at Ketchikan and Juneau.  

 

Hope that helps you get started on your research!

Thank you for this info oaktreerb.  We're in the talking stages of our first-ever Alaska cruise and possible land tour for summer 2025, so will be following these forums as well.

11 hours ago, Mark_T said:

If you do try MSC don't forget to do a status match, Sapphire should get you Gold on MSC...

Yup. That's why we've been considering. 👍🏻

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Oh! I also should have mentioned that I think NCL's specialty dining is generally better and there is more selection of specialty dining in their ships.

Thank you. 👍🏻 We just turned Sapphire on Latitude rewards and had been contemplating a future sailing on MSC.

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Made it home safe and on time! See you all again when I start my 10/25 Live Blog!

Jamie, so I am curious and would like your honest opinion.  With regards to food and drink how does MSC stack up (or not) vs. NCL?

We're in Quebec City waiting to board the Pearl on Friday. 

5 hours ago, broberts said:

 

I have an older version of Word, so I thought a picture might help. Right click in a new Word doc to produce this popup. The center button under Pate Options is the paste merge.

 

It produced a couple of pages, the first of which looked like

 

 

 

@broberts

Thank you SO much!  Once you told me about format merging, I was able to recreate my document and save it as a PDF. I would not have ever learned that little trick without your assistance! 👍🏻

On 9/11/2023 at 4:00 PM, JamieLogical said:

 

The price for this sailing was really good. It may be a bit cool by late September, but I am hoping we will still get to see a lot of beautiful fall foliage. My last CA & NE cruise was last fall and it was over Halloween, so much later in the season and we still enjoyed nice weather in ports, though not many leaves left on the trees by then. It's definitely a different experience from a Caribbean cruise. I am not a pool deck sort of person, so it doesn't bother me if it's too cold to lay out by the pool. I will say my first CA & NE cruise was the first week of June back in 2018 and it actually snowed on deck. That one was so cold that it really did force everyone indoors and made the ship feel much more crowded than it otherwise would have.

Hi @JamieLogical

We actually met you on the Breakaway two years ago to Bermuda, and right after that cruise DH and I booked a NE cruise on the Pearl which we're FINALLY taking next week! WOO-HOO!  Of course, we've been on several cruises since then, but going to the Caribbean now sort of feels like you've seen one island you've seen 'em all to us.

So, we Floridians (who are also not pool deck sort of people) wanted to try a different adventure.  This one goes from Quebec City and ends up in Boston.  We are so excited as we've not been to any of these ports before.

I look forward to reading more of your posts about the Canada/New England area.

43 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

You should be able to get no lines with a Paste Merge Formatting in a New Word doc. All the color is lost, but the graphics and layout are preserved.

I'm not at a computer right now. Would you be kind enough to tell me under which menu I would find the Paste Merge Formatting?

6 hours ago, broberts said:

 

An interesting problem. One can get close using paste merge formatting, but it seems to lose all the color. 

 

I did find that highlighting a section and using Chrome to print to a pdf file produced reasonable results, but it's finicky and I didn't have time to see if the entire post can be done in one operation to two pages.

Yes, @broberts

Thanks for trying. If you can even get it to a point where it's a word doc with regular font and no lines, I can go back in and redo font color, type, and size.

I've even tried just snipping in parts as jpgs and pasting to word, but the snips are too big to fit on the page. If all else fails, I may have to end up typing all from scratch, but I'm hoping to avoid that.

5 minutes ago, broberts said:

You could paste without formatting. Of course you will have to add back the formatting.

 

If you provide a link to the post you are trying to copy, (copy and paste the post #) I can check for other options.

Thanks @broberts!

If I knew how to paste without formatting, I certainly would try that.

Here's the link to the post I would like to copy and paste to WORD, then edit and upload as a PDF.  (That, I know how to do.)

Post #159
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2816315-ncl-pearl-october-6-2023-quebec-to-boston/page/7/#comment-66074073

Hello.
This might be a long shot, but it doesn't hurt to ask...

I'm hosting a Meet & Greet on an upcoming cruise and have already nicely posted information to our roll call forum about it. BUT, I wanted to cut and paste what I wrote on the roll call to a WORD document and be able to save it as a PDF version so folks can print out if they want.  The issue is that when I copy and paste from the CC forum, every single time it makes lines around the wording sort of like frames or cells.  Does anyone know how to remove whatever these frames are in my draft WORD document?
 
I'm attaching a <snip> from the WORD doc, so you can see the "frames" I'm talking about. (see blue arrows pointing to frames)  I've tried choosing "NONE" for borders under DESIGN, and "NONE" under DRAW-- FORMAT BACKGROUND-- RULE LINES, and even NO BORDERS under TABLE DESIGN to no avail.

Any help someone can give me to eliminate these lines would be very much appreciated. Next time I'll know to create the WORD doc first.  😝

We decided to bite the bullet and go for something nicer, price be damned-- 
1) because this will be my birthday vacay, and 2) we don't want to be "hauling" anything anywhere! 😅

We decided to go with however, booked on a little less expensive travel site than direct.

Harborside Inn Of Boston
185 State St, Boston, MA, 02109 
https://www.harborsideinnboston.com/

The visuals of a full-size mattress by a college student does not surprise me since we live in a college town, but it's too much for this retired person to even consider. 🤪
 

Hello again, 
GOOD NEWS!

I just wanted to let you all know that with some encouragement here and a special shout-out to @casofilia, I finally got through to the right special events person who was "surprised" that when I asked again, that the original M&G request had "disappeared". 

I suspect the hijacker slunk away quietly and will most likely still be at the Meet and Greet.  

Because of that, I have since done my due diligence for our future cruises.  Yes, it seems crazy to have to do this, and I won't likely get answers from Special Events on the future cruises yet, but at least I have made my requests known.

Thank you all for your guidance.