Alaska Cruise Questions- thanks for assistance

[douchermansusan]

Going on 7 day Tour to Alaska. North from Vancouver to Seward

 

Where should we stay in relation to boarding ship we will be there a day early. Can you do priceline and specify an area near there? Is the boarding downtown? Is downtown a good area etc?

 

What would be the top few things to do while in Vancouver?

 

Specific to the Summit is there a preferred place to be in the dining room. Upper or lower etc?

 

What would the top side trips in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait,be for this cruise?

 

Is there any not miss things we should do at the end of the trip in Anchorage or will we be tired, broke, and want to go home.

 

Thank you very very much SUSAN

Friday, June 3, 2005Vancouver, British Columbia--05:45 PMSaturday, June 4, 2005Inside Passage (Cruising)----Sunday, June 5, 2005Ketchikan, Alaska07:00 AM02:00 PMMonday, June 6, 2005Skagway, Alaska10:00 AM08:00 PMTuesday, June 7, 2005Juneau, Alaska07:00 AM09:00 PMWednesday, June 8, 2005Icy Strait, Alaska09:00 AM06:00 PMThursday, June 9, 2005Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)08:00 AM10:00 PMFriday, June 10, 2005Seward, Alaska07:00 AM--

[huskie395]

You did'nt say what cruise line. Went on RCCL 2 years ago and had an awsome time (we did the trip south bound after a land trip)Juneau is a nice town to poke around in mendenhall glacier is about 15 min trip by bus from the dock $5.00 I think don't miss.If you have lots of money you can take a helecopter ride and land on the glacier.There is also a tram (Roberts mountain I think)8 or 10 bucks.Skagway,The town is cool but DO NOT miss out on a train ride on the White Pass RR (sit on the left side going up the mountain onthe one way trip on the 2 way it does'nt matter but everything you want to see is on the left the scenery is awsome)Ketchican,totom poles,lumberjack show If you are or are not going RCCL you can still look at the shore excursions that are offered in these towns by going to there web site www.rccl.com

[douchermansusan]

Ours is northbound Celebrity Summit

Thank you very very much SUSAN

 

 

 

Going on 7 day Tour to Alaska. North from Vancouver to Seward

 

Where should we stay in relation to boarding ship we will be there a day early. Can you do priceline and specify an area near there? Is the boarding downtown? Is downtown a good area etc?

 

What would be the top few things to do while in Vancouver?

 

Specific to the Summit is there a preferred place to be in the dining room. Upper or lower etc?

 

What would the top side trips in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait,be for this cruise?

 

Is there any not miss things we should do at the end of the trip in Anchorage or will we be tired, broke, and want to go home.

 

 

Friday, June 3, 2005Vancouver, British Columbia--05:45 PMSaturday, June 4, 2005Inside Passage (Cruising)----Sunday, June 5, 2005Ketchikan, Alaska07:00 AM02:00 PMMonday, June 6, 2005Skagway, Alaska10:00 AM08:00 PMTuesday, June 7, 2005Juneau, Alaska07:00 AM09:00 PMWednesday, June 8, 2005Icy Strait, Alaska09:00 AM06:00 PMThursday, June 9, 2005Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)08:00 AM10:00 PMFriday, June 10, 2005Seward, Alaska07:00 AM--

[Hate 2 W8t]

Scroll down a little further on the main boards page. You will find a section for ports. Alaska has its own board with tons of information from really great folks! You will be surprised how many people are multiple visitors to Alaska. Also, we have very kind Alaskans that spend time answering questions and giving advice.

 

Have a great trip!

[mii]

We are sailing on the Infinity at the end of May first part of June. By the way this is our 3rd trip to Alaska. I woould recommend in Juneau to do Capt. Larry's whale watching tour. In Skagway, the White Pass R.R. In Icy Strait this will also be our first time there, we have no planned excursions but are just going to walk to the town of Hoonah and just check out the sites. You really have to go to the excursion section of Celebrity and see what is intereting to you. In Ketchikan we are just going to wander around town but there might be other things that interest you. As someone stated above go the the Ports of Call Board and look under Alaska. There is a wealth of info there.

 

marilyn

[Sun R Bunns]

We agree with the others on the white pass RR. We did a salmon bake in Skagway that was great too. Keep you camera ready, we saw bald eagles on the dock at Ketchikan when we pulled in, of course you should alway be on the ready while during an Alaskan cruise.

[Bruin Steve]

Vancouver...We stayed smack in the heart of downtown at the Sutton Place for two nights post-cruise (we did Southbound)...Great hotel, great location (Burrard and Robson)...Robson is the primewalking/shopping/restaurant street of Vancouver...Other places to see: Stanley Park and Zoo is popular for tourists...Granville Island has trendy shops, galleries, restaurants...

 

Summit Dining Room? I don't know if you get that much pull in picking your own table...Best table we ever had on an M-Class was on the lower floor along the large rear window...GREAT views (Captain's table is along the center of the window, but there are a few nice 8-top round tables to either side...

 

Ketchikan: Probably the "top" side trip is a flightseeing tour over Misty Fjords (expensive), but, we just got off the ship and booked a 3 hour bus tour around town and down to the Totem Pole village...

 

Skagway: We heard mixed reviews on the railroad...Our daughters' friends who had taken it all found it crowded and boring...Our girls love horses, so we ended up booking a tour with Southeast tours that took us through the pass by van and up into the yukon for horseback riding at Emerald Lake:

 

http://www.southeasttours.com/yukon_horseback.html

 

Juneau: Here's my ABSOLUTE NUMBER ONE excursion of this trip: We did a glacier helicopter landing with Coastal Helicopters...DO NOT MISS THIS...

 

http://www.coastalhelicopters.com/t_icefield.htm

 

Icy Strait Point: Here, the choices are limited...All are through the local Hoonah Tlingits. Most spectacular might be the flightseeing into Glacier Bat (again, very expensive)...We chose to do our whale watching HERE...Hoo Kook, who posts on Cruise Critic as "Hoonah Tlingit Boy" was our outstanding guide...The town really isn't that much and there is time after whale watching for a little shopping...We saw an incredibly large number of whales on this trip...

 

Anchorage: I guess the question is how much time you're planning on for a post-cruise? We did a six night pre-cruise (remember, we did it southbound)cruisetour through Celebrity...and are very glad we did...we got to see an awful lot of the interior...But, frankly, Anchorage was my least favorite stop...If you have the time, head up to Talketna and/or Denali...

 

Have fun...

[flashdog_1]

I don't know how to transfer this thread to the Alaska board, but that's where it will do the most good.

 

i can't talk about Vancouver, but can tell you that the upper level of the Cosmopolitan dining room, say 50' in from the entrance, on Summit is closer to the musicians and this I appreciated. i understand the lower level is noiser because there are more people.

 

We are doing a north to south trip Seward to Vancouver.

 

After doing my own research and realizing that I probably will not be able to return to Alaska, I'm doing the following excursions:

 

These are just the choices for two mid 60s ladies who don't want too much walking yet want to see and experience as much as we can in Alaska that we can't do in Alabama!

 

Juneau - a.m. helicopter flight over Mendenhall Glacier & a landing & walk around on a glacier $185 each thru Mighty Great Trips. They'll pick us up at the dock. p.m. Public bus ride to the Glacier Gardens where you ride in an electric car and go to a high level for a scenic view. $20 pp. Bus will be $1.50 each way.

 

Skagway - Musher's camp with dogs pulling WAGON (includes a narrated tour of Skagway on the way to Dyea, with stop at an overlook for photo op) $110 booked from ship vs. $420 to do a dog SLED ride by helicopter in either Juneau or Skagway. This is still iffy. We are thinking of cancelling it and renting a car to drive to the Yukon and stop at a dog wagon camp in Caribou Corners where it's just $52. Or just to play with the puppies, $2 without the ride. Scenery is spectacular. Advantage of renting a car is that you can stop and take pictures or take a walk which the train ride does not have.

 

Ketchikan - a.m. the Duck amphibious bus that turns into a boat when you go into the harbor! $35 booked from ship. p.m. float plane trip to Misty Fjords with a landing on a lake, and walk on land $195 with Alaska Seaplane Tours. Both excursions will pick us up at the dock.

 

icy Strait Point-tender into shore. shuttle ($3) to Hoonah and walk around, maybe go by taxi to the Marine Highway dock. Many whale sightings even from land. Go to Icy-Strait-Point.com and see the beauty

 

You will love summit.

[Hillbilly]

Can't remember out of what port, perhaps, Juneau, but the flight to Taku Lodge for the Salmon Bake is not to be missed. Book early, limited accomodations.