Jim Avery Posted June 4, 2023 #51 Share Posted June 4, 2023 I used to run a freight ship up to points north and all the small towns in Alaska (or BC) even if just a fish processing plant, have spectacular views. Lots of wildlife too. Few towns have the range of stuff to do that Ketchikan or Juneau does. But you will never lack a view barring the sometimes frequent pea soup fogs. We were there in May and one town which is not all that great was Valdez. The location is stunning though and we were entertained by an otter family right below our balcony. We were scheduled to dock at the Valdez city dock but got bumped to the more distant new port for containers, etc. At the city dock was one of the large supply barges. Tug towed barges are the cheapest way to get bulk supplies of alll sorts up there. My ship carried more high value heavy cargo Northbound and frozen seafood of the season Southbound. The barges arrive when the barges arrive Very weather dependent. But when they do arrive you can bet everyone in town has something on that barge they are looking for. Hence us getting kicked to the curb so to speak. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 4, 2023 #52 Share Posted June 4, 2023 1 hour ago, Jim Avery said: one town which is not all that great was Valdez. Agree. It was somewhere between rain and snow in Valdez a couple of days ago, and as we just had the included tour, we elected to make it a sea day and stayed aboard. Yesterday in Juneau it was sunny and we thought the town looked just beautiful. My husband just laughed at me when I said I could live there, though. We, too, have been amazed by the scenery. The mountains just go on and on. Never a moment without them. About to disembark in Skagway for a streetcar tour of the town on another sunny day. And again, mountains everywhere. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Avery Posted June 4, 2023 #53 Share Posted June 4, 2023 Skagway is great. One of the best ever excursions was from there. No not the train. Helicopter to a glacier with a dog sled camp on it. Got to meet the dogs and go sledding. Of all the ones who rode on the back of the sled just guess who was the ONLY one to fall off???? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackdogmolly Posted June 4, 2023 #54 Share Posted June 4, 2023 The Skagway train is great too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duquephart Posted June 4, 2023 #55 Share Posted June 4, 2023 44 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said: Agree. It was somewhere between rain and snow in Valdez a couple of days ago, and as we just had the included tour, we elected to make it a sea day and stayed aboard. Yesterday in Juneau it was sunny and we thought the town looked just beautiful. My husband just laughed at me when I said I could live there, though. We, too, have been amazed by the scenery. The mountains just go on and on. Never a moment without them. About to disembark in Skagway for a streetcar tour of the town on another sunny day. And again, mountains everywhere. And jewelry stores. Watch for the guy just outside the door who all but drags you in. I think about half of Skagway is owned by cruise lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmmaxwell03 Posted June 4, 2023 #56 Share Posted June 4, 2023 32 minutes ago, Jim Avery said: Skagway is great. One of the best ever excursions was from there. No not the train. Helicopter to a glacier with a dog sled camp on it. Got to meet the dogs and go sledding. Of all the ones who rode on the back of the sled just guess who was the ONLY one to fall off???? I was so disappointed when they said we are not stopping in Skagway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 5, 2023 #57 Share Posted June 5, 2023 6 hours ago, duquephart said: And jewelry stores. Watch for the guy just outside the door who all but drags you in. I think about half of Skagway is owned by cruise lines. I think Skagway, the town, is about twelve square blocks of tourist traps! Lovely scenery, but nothing better than what we have had every day. Not my favorite port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jjg34219 Posted June 5, 2023 #58 Share Posted June 5, 2023 8 hours ago, SantaFe1 said: I think Skagway, the town, is about twelve square blocks of tourist traps! Lovely scenery, but nothing better than what we have had every day. Not my favorite port. Agreed! And we did the train excursion. It was just ok in our opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tas353 Posted June 5, 2023 #59 Share Posted June 5, 2023 On 6/3/2023 at 6:42 PM, cmmaxwell03 said: For those of you that have cruised on a Viking AK cruise this year, how was the embarkation process? From the research I have done, it looks like we enter through a large beige warehouse type building and then walk across some pavement to the little red tent and board the ship. I am wondering if you recall how long the process takes from start to finish? I know it could be different when we cruise in September so I'm not expecting the same results. Sail date 9/7 and room type is a PV1 We did this cruise last august. Embarkation was very smooth. The warehouse was big and they had many people to check us in. It was easy and timely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandchick Posted June 7, 2023 Author #60 Share Posted June 7, 2023 SantaFe1- Other then the Taste of Alaska event, has there been any other special events or special dinners and if so can you tell me what days they occurred on? How is the rest of your cruise going? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 7, 2023 #61 Share Posted June 7, 2023 (edited) We were just commenting that there haven’t been any of the big splashy dinner events that often happen outside or on the pool deck, we were hoping for a salmon BBQ or something. I think this cruise is just too short for that. Edited June 7, 2023 by SantaFe1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmmaxwell03 Posted June 8, 2023 #62 Share Posted June 8, 2023 In regards to lunch, are all dining venues open except for the 2 specialty restaurants? Or is the MDR only open for lunch on sea days? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 8, 2023 #63 Share Posted June 8, 2023 1 hour ago, cmmaxwell03 said: In regards to lunch, are all dining venues open except for the 2 specialty restaurants? Or is the MDR only open for lunch on sea days? MDR only open for lunch on sea days 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmmaxwell03 Posted June 9, 2023 #64 Share Posted June 9, 2023 2 hours ago, SantaFe1 said: MDR only open for lunch on sea days Bummer....thank you. Part of my trip planning is determine which venues are open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and/or drinks only. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullbja Posted June 9, 2023 #65 Share Posted June 9, 2023 Are the binoculars in DV cabins sufficient, or would you recommend bringing our own? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 9, 2023 #66 Share Posted June 9, 2023 21 minutes ago, tullbja said: Are the binoculars in DV cabins sufficient, or would you recommend bringing our own? OMG no. Bring your own. The wildlife are often too far off to take with an iPhone. But just enjoy seeing them through bingos. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootoir Posted June 9, 2023 #67 Share Posted June 9, 2023 On 6/4/2023 at 11:51 AM, cmmaxwell03 said: I was so disappointed when they said we are not stopping in Skagway. Why did they cancel the stop in Skagway? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAFs Posted June 9, 2023 #68 Share Posted June 9, 2023 7 hours ago, Scootoir said: Why did they cancel the stop in Skagway? Skagway limits the number of ships because of a rock slide that hit the port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullbja Posted June 9, 2023 #69 Share Posted June 9, 2023 11 hours ago, SantaFe1 said: OMG no. Bring your own. The wildlife are often too far off to take with an iPhone. But just enjoy seeing them through bingos. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scootoir Posted June 10, 2023 #70 Share Posted June 10, 2023 On 6/9/2023 at 6:28 AM, CAFs said: Skagway limits the number of ships because of a rock slide that hit the port. Thanks for that info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 11, 2023 #71 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Just an end note, as we left the cruise yesterday and are spending a couple of days in Vancouver. Through no real fault of their own, the wifi on this cruise was and apparently always is pretty bad. The Viking daily says pretty much daily that you will either have no or interrupted service. It was really sort of a pain, and we were so glad to check into the hotel yesterday and have good Internet service. So just be prepared… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmmaxwell03 Posted June 11, 2023 #72 Share Posted June 11, 2023 4 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said: Just an end note, as we left the cruise yesterday and are spending a couple of days in Vancouver. Through no real fault of their own, the wifi on this cruise was and apparently always is pretty bad. The Viking daily says pretty much daily that you will either have no or interrupted service. It was really sort of a pain, and we were so glad to check into the hotel yesterday and have good Internet service. So just be prepared… Thank you for that information. We are on the same itinerary in Sept. It is good to know what to expect. While you were in ports in Alaska, was it any better? If so, we can keep our internet usage minimal while on board and then make up for it while in port. Any other tips you have will always be appreciated 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaFe1 Posted June 11, 2023 #73 Share Posted June 11, 2023 7 hours ago, cmmaxwell03 said: Thank you for that information. We are on the same itinerary in Sept. It is good to know what to expect. While you were in ports in Alaska, was it any better? If so, we can keep our internet usage minimal while on board and then make up for it while in port. Any other tips you have will always be appreciated 🙂 Actually, I think it was better at sea. The ports are surrounded by the ever on-going and wonderful mountains, and you are just sort of boxed in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandchick Posted June 13, 2023 Author #74 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Bumping this thread. For anyone on the last cruise or the cruise boarding today, please give your input on everything. All info is appreciated. Especially interested in special events, food and beverage reviews, and any photos. I hope everyone boarding today is having a wonderful time. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmmaxwell03 Posted June 13, 2023 #75 Share Posted June 13, 2023 9 minutes ago, islandchick said: Bumping this thread. For anyone on the last cruise or the cruise boarding today, please give your input on everything. All info is appreciated. Especially interested in special events, food and beverage reviews, and any photos. I hope everyone boarding today is having a wonderful time. Agreed! I love to hear about embarking in Seward and disembarking in Vancouver. Haha...and any and all other details you can share 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now