Current Alaska Sailings

[islandchick]

We will be sailing July 9th and would really appreciate any info on the current Alaska cruise from anyone on it. Would love to hear your opinions and any daily info including menus. 

[tullbja]

We're also the July 9 cruise, and like you, are looking forward to comments from current cruisers.

[SantaFe1]

We sail on the May 30 cruise and do the Denali extension pre cruise on May 25, also Vancouver post cruise.  I will try to remember to post as we go along, but maybe refresh this in ten days, so I remember.  

[CILCIANRQTS]

We’re on July 9.

Suggestions for Juneau?? 
TKUIA.

[islandchick]

3 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

We’re on July 9.

Suggestions for Juneau?? 
TKUIA.

If you have never taken the helicopter and dog sled tour then I would say find a way to take it. I took it several years ago and it is a fantastic memory for me, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a breathtaking flight with views of snow covered mountains and glaciers and then landing in a dog sledding camp where we took a dog sled for about an hour into the beautiful Alaskan scenery. I do see that it is sold out on our cruise so I would look at a private tour instead or if you are staying in Anchorage or Seward there are similar tours you can book. I would book as soon as possible and get on the waitlist for our cruise. , I know this is an expensive tour and not everyones cup of tea so my second suggestion if you cant get a tour that you want would be to take the gondola up the mountain and hike the short hike up on the top (I have seen a really large black bear up there) then maybe go roam around town and find a local place for lunch. There are options to buy tickets for Mendenhall Glacier, but if you do it make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship as there are large amounts of  people waiting for the bus back (also this has become very expensive- used to be less then 10 bucks a ticket , I think it is about 50 now)

Edited May 21, 2023 by islandchick

[CILCIANRQTS]

7 hours ago, islandchick said:

If you have never taken the helicopter and dog sled tour then I would say find a way to take it. I took it several years ago and it is a fantastic memory for me, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a breathtaking flight with views of snow covered mountains and glaciers and then landing in a dog sledding camp where we took a dog sled for about an hour into the beautiful Alaskan scenery. I do see that it is sold out on our cruise so I would look at a private tour instead or if you are staying in Anchorage or Seward there are similar tours you can book. I would book as soon as possible and get on the waitlist for our cruise. , I know this is an expensive tour and not everyones cup of tea so my second suggestion if you cant get a tour that you want would be to take the gondola up the mountain and hike the short hike up on the top (I have seen a really large black bear up there) then maybe go roam around town and find a local place for lunch. There are options to buy tickets for Mendenhall Glacier, but if you do it make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship as there are large amounts of  people waiting for the bus back (also this has become very expensive- used to be less then 10 bucks a ticket , I think it is about 50 now)

Thank you!
We’ve done the helicopter onto a glacier (which we considered a “life experience”), but this adds a whole new dimension. We’ll look into it - 

assuming they don’t travel across any crevasses!

[duquephart]

3 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Thank you!
We’ve done the helicopter onto a glacier (which we considered a “life experience”), but this adds a whole new dimension. We’ll look into it - 

assuming they don’t travel across any crevasses!

 

Where the pumas lurk.

[dd57]

14 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

We’re on July 9.

Suggestions for Juneau?? 
TKUIA.

I took the Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari thru Viking last time.  The glacier part was meh - it has receded that you don't see much of it - but the whale watching was incredible.  The tour was done with Gastineau Guiding and if you go to their website you can see what is like:  https://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/discover-alaskas-whales/

 

 

[islandchick]

6 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Thank you!
We’ve done the helicopter onto a glacier (which we considered a “life experience”), but this adds a whole new dimension. We’ll look into it - 

assuming they don’t travel across any crevasses!

FYI, it looks like they have this helicopter dogsled excursion in Skagway still available. 

[CILCIANRQTS]

4 hours ago, dd57 said:

I took the Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari thru Viking last time.  The glacier part was meh - it has receded that you don't see much of it - but the whale watching was incredible.  The tour was done with Gastineau Guiding and if you go to their website you can see what is like:  https://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/discover-alaskas-whales/

 

 

Thanks!

[islandchick]

On 5/20/2023 at 9:22 PM, SantaFe1 said:

We sail on the May 30 cruise and do the Denali extension pre cruise on May 25, also Vancouver post cruise.  I will try to remember to post as we go along, but maybe refresh this in ten days, so I remember.  

Just reminding you as requested. Hope you are having a wonderful time in Denali. Would love any thoughts you have on your cruise but also would love info on food, daily activities, timing of special events etc. Thanks

[Meander Ingwa]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:11 AM, duquephart said:

Where the pumas lurk.

Sly Smothers Brothers reference.   Bravo!

 

[duquephart]

16 minutes ago, Meander Ingwa said:

Sly Smothers Brothers reference.   Bravo!

 

 

Figured someone would catch that one. Dates you (and me) 😊.

[CILCIANRQTS]

You can get arrested in Florida for dating yourself. 😉😎

[SantaFe1]

On 5/27/2023 at 8:56 AM, islandchick said:

Just reminding you as requested. Hope you are having a wonderful time in Denali. Would love any thoughts you have on your cruise but also would love info on food, daily activities, timing of special events etc. Thanks

We are currently on the Denali pre-cruise extension.  The train ride from Anchorage to Denali was spectacular.  The six-hour tour of the park was great and we saw lots of animals.  The rest of the extension, not so good.  Just sort of dead days driving around doing nothing.  I wouldn’t do it again, especially for the price.  I think many of us on this extension are just looking forward to getting on the ship.  That happens Tuesday.  So I will pick up from there.  

[haydn12]

We decided to not do the extensions at the end of our cruise as it seemed to expensive.  We are ending up Anchorage.   Instead, we are going to do another week at Lake Geneva and the Wisconsin Dells. 

[duquephart]

4 hours ago, haydn12 said:

We decided to not do the extensions at the end of our cruise as it seemed to expensive.  We are ending up Anchorage.   Instead, we are going to do another week at Lake Geneva and the Wisconsin Dells. 

 

One of the biggest tourist traps on the planet instead of incredibly beautiful and unspoiled wilderness. Have fun.

[SantaFe1]

We boarded Orion yesterday.  There was a big group of about 100 from the pre-cruise extension, but boarding went smoothly.  We had our favorite, Asian Panorama at Chefs table last night.  It was very good, but the recipes had been changed a bit.  We enjoyed the premium wine pairings.  Today we went on a five hour excursion to Resurrection Bay, at the entrance to Kenai Fjords National Park.  It is a wildlife cruise, and we saw all 24 of the animals they advertise you might see.  Just a wonderful day.  And, they said, a “beautiful” day because it was the first day in two weeks it hasn’t rained in Seward.  Off to dinner at Manfredi's tonight. 

[cmmaxwell03]

15 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

We boarded Orion yesterday.  There was a big group of about 100 from the pre-cruise extension, but boarding went smoothly.  We had our favorite, Asian Panorama at Chefs table last night.  It was very good, but the recipes had been changed a bit.  We enjoyed the premium wine pairings.  Today we went on a five hour excursion to Resurrection Bay, at the entrance to Kenai Fjords National Park.  It is a wildlife cruise, and we saw all 24 of the animals they advertise you might see.  Just a wonderful day.  And, they said, a “beautiful” day because it was the first day in two weeks it hasn’t rained in Seward.  Off to dinner at Manfredi's tonight. 

Soooo excited for you!  I will stay tuned in to see what information you have to share.  You know we are all here to hear the good and bad stuff.

 

[Jjg34219]

8 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

We boarded Orion yesterday.  There was a big group of about 100 from the pre-cruise extension, but boarding went smoothly.  We had our favorite, Asian Panorama at Chefs table last night.  It was very good, but the recipes had been changed a bit.  We enjoyed the premium wine pairings.  Today we went on a five hour excursion to Resurrection Bay, at the entrance to Kenai Fjords National Park.  It is a wildlife cruise, and we saw all 24 of the animals they advertise you might see.  Just a wonderful day.  And, they said, a “beautiful” day because it was the first day in two weeks it hasn’t rained in Seward.  Off to dinner at Manfredi's tonight. 

That tour in Seward was our favorite one!

[cmmaxwell03]

I'm curious to know what activities/entertainment they offer during our sea days.  It's on my list of topics to look up on the forums.

[CILCIANRQTS]

13 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

We boarded Orion yesterday.  There was a big group of about 100 from the pre-cruise extension, but boarding went smoothly.  We had our favorite, Asian Panorama at Chefs table last night.  It was very good, but the recipes had been changed a bit.  We enjoyed the premium wine pairings.  Today we went on a five hour excursion to Resurrection Bay, at the entrance to Kenai Fjords National Park.  It is a wildlife cruise, and we saw all 24 of the animals they advertise you might see.  Just a wonderful day.  And, they said, a “beautiful” day because it was the first day in two weeks it hasn’t rained in Seward.  Off to dinner at Manfredi's tonight. 

Great news!
We’re doing Resurrection Bay in July.

Thanks for the review.

[duquephart]

The Kenai Fjords tour is excellent.

[CAFs]

On 5/29/2023 at 5:32 PM, haydn12 said:

We decided to not do the extensions at the end of our cruise as it seemed to expensive.  We are ending up Anchorage.   Instead, we are going to do another week at Lake Geneva and the Wisconsin Dells. 

I grew up in Wisconsin Dells!  Yes, there are a lot of touristy things to do there -- and many are fun for tourists!  The best "nature" things are the Upper Dells boat trips and the "Original" Wisconsin Ducks (which rides on the Lower Dells river.)  40 years ago, my husband drove Ducks.  And I made fudge downtown.  Have a fun trip there, and a fun trip in Alaska.

[Jjg34219]

1 hour ago, cmmaxwell03 said:

I'm curious to know what activities/entertainment they offer during our sea days.  It's on my list of topics to look up on the forums.

We only had 1 sea day…we were so tired from being on the go that we just took a day to relax in the pool area