Alaska- one year out - all excursions booked!!

[Petoonya]

1 minute ago, milepig said:

 

You may be a right. I’ve never actually canceled. 

I'm almost positively sure it's so. I just looked at the website.

 

A full refund (except for the amounts paid for air transportation, Cancellation Protection Plan and the $50 per person fee) will be made for written cancellations received by Windstar Cruises at least 121 days prior to the date on which you are to commence travel by any mode of transportation booked through Windstar ...

 

I think you're good.

[Petoonya]

4 hours ago, milepig said:

 

Temping, but I’d lose my deposit. 

if I could help with any questions you have about this cruise or O, or best way to arrange, let me know.

petuniafish@gmail.com

BTW, I grew up in Wilmette.

[milepig]

On 7/22/2019 at 6:45 AM, Petoonya said:

if I could help with any questions you have about this cruise or O, or best way to arrange, let me know.

petuniafish@gmail.com

BTW, I grew up in Wilmette.

 

Thanks, Petoonya.  I'm in Europe this week on Business and not really thinking about next June,  but will be wanting to book our air travel soon, but we have a bit of time to sort out what we're going to do. The four days cruising with no chance to get off ship (unless WS adds more those days) give us pause - 2 sea days in a row do us in - but others have said that you still have a good time, so we will talk when I'm back home and I will likely have more questions then, so I may take you up on your offer in a bit. -- Milepig

[Petoonya]

4 minutes ago, milepig said:

 

 and I will likely have more questions then, so I may take you up on your offer in a bit. -- Milepig

 

Have a smooth trip. Happy to help answer any questions I can help with. If you end up booking Oceania you need to book with an O Connoisseurs Club TA to get the most for your money. I hope things work out with Windstar but O is an especially nice alternative.

[westchestermom]

I just got off the Star Legend on July 18th. We had one sea day and three "cruising" days - Kenai Fjord, Tracy Arm/Endicott Arm, Misty Fjord, and the last day which wasn't billed as a sea day but essentially was as we sailed through the Inside Passage to Vancouver. There are no excursions except the expedition tours (kayak or zodiac) on the 3 cruising days and none on the sea days, obviously. Zodiac tours ran about 3-4 times during the day (1.5 hours each) and there were morning and afternoon kayaking sessions (2.5 hours each). We did two of the kayak tours (Kenai and Tracy Arm) and they were the highlights of our trip. 

 

On sea days we spent hours sitting on deck or in the Yacht Club watching the beautiful scenery go by and chatting with our shipmates. The only port we could've lived without was Icy Point. Although I was happy to support the native community that runs the excursions and the facilities on the island, we weren't sure our "bear search" was that good. We understood that sightings are not guaranteed, but there was more time on a bus than walking the boardwalk looking for bears. And if that's my biggest complaint after 12 days in an amazing place, I'm pretty lucky. 

 

However, if there had been no option to get off the ship and do something for 5/12 days, I would not have been very happy, so @milepig, I get where you're coming from. 

[ridethetide]

Icy Strait is known for its phenomenal whale watching.  Westchestermom, it is too bad you didn't take the whale watching excursion.  We were able to witness bubble-net feeding in Icy Strait both this July and last July.  We were actually considering the new Alaska itinerary for 2020, but if there is no kayaking available for booking, we will not book the cruise.  Besides the whale watching, the kayaking excursions were highlights of my trip.

[milepig]

Westchestermom, thanks very much for your post. It will be useful as we sit down with week to decide to buy the plane tickets or pull the plug.

[jmbklj]

milepig, could one option be changing your cruise date to another week where there are available excursions?

[milepig]

1 hour ago, jmbklj said:

milepig, could one option be changing your cruise date to another week where there are available excursions?

 

That’s one option we’re looking at. The big issue is all those days on board in a row in sight of land with no way to get off. 

[Pudgesmom]

My recollection is that there are two different ways to see the shore excursions. I don't have a cruise booked now or I would look. One way is to go through your booking by logging in. I'm pretty certain that way you'll only be able to see which are actually available. The other way is to log out of the website, look at the cruise itinerary and then look at the excursions. You'll see all of them whether or not they are already full. (I might have this backwards. :P)

 

This might give you a better idea of what is already gone and/or not there yet.

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Pudgesmom

[ridethetide]

On 7/29/2019 at 6:54 PM, milepig said:

 

That’s one option we’re looking at. The big issue is all those days on board in a row in sight of land with no way to get off. 

The kayaking and zodiac excursions with the Expedition Team are now posted and available for booking on those Alaska itineraries.  We just booked the June 19th cruise.  I also booked the three Expedition Team excursions for that cruise. Hope to see you onboard.

[milepig]

We’re on the June 19 Seward to Vancouver as well. 

 

I can’t cross check excursions at the moment since we’re en route to Iceland for our back to back to Dublin on the breeze and don’t have the Alaska booking info with us. 

 

WS: can you PLEASE return the logon to My Windstar so I can see all our bookings in one place without knowing the booking numbers? Huge hassle. Thanks. 

Edited August 18, 2019 by milepig

[milepig]

1 hour ago, ridethetide said:

The kayaking and zodiac excursions with the Expedition Team are now posted and available for booking on those Alaska itineraries.  We just booked the June 19th cruise.  I also booked the three Expedition Team excursions for that cruise. Hope to see you onboard.

 

Did you book the multi day pre cruise Denali trip that my TA was pushing?  We’re doing it ourselves for a fraction of the cost. 

[milepig]

1 hour ago, ridethetide said:

The kayaking and zodiac excursions with the Expedition Team are now posted and available for booking on those Alaska itineraries.  We just booked the June 19th cruise.  I also booked the three Expedition Team excursions for that cruise. Hope to see you onboard.

 

Thanks for the head's up that they were online now.  I found my booking number and just got the zodiaks for the three Crusing days - I noticed that the Kayaks were already gone for one of them, so figured I should jump on it. The other days I'll spend my time figuring out.

 

If you want to make contact, I'm windstarpig@gmail.com

Edited August 18, 2019 by milepig

[Redtravel]

First time I sailed Alaska was 22 years ago. Booked shore excursions in every port. Great tours that were costly.  The internet wasn’t good for finding private tours then. Just sailed Alaska in July.  There are lots of options.  Ship excursions full?  Not a problem. Look on the internet for things to do.  There are lots of private tours.  Leave yourself some time to relax, stroll through town, talk to locals, and enjoy the scenery.  Some ports run shuttles that are good.  While many people walk, there are good public transport in many towns. Skagway $5. Ride all day.   Sitka had small vans too. Mount Roberts tram is right at the dock in Juneau. Get out of town to see wildlife.  Whitepass railroad is a great trip.  Have fun. 

[ridethetide]

10 hours ago, milepig said:

 

Did you book the multi day pre cruise Denali trip that my TA was pushing?  We’re doing it ourselves for a fraction of the cost. 

We did not book the pre-cruise Denali trip.  This will be our third Alaskan cruise with Windstar, the first two on the Legend.  Last month, everyone I spoke to who booked the Denali trip with WS thought it was fantastic. The only complaint was that the lodge was not air conditioned, and Alaska was suffering a record-setting heat wave.  No doubt your trip with a private company will also be wonderful.  Hopefully, the wildfires will have calmed down by next June since they did result in reduced visibility at the start of the cruise.