Foggy Bay

We were on this cruise too, and I loved reading along!  What a great recap of it all.  My husband saw the little yappers up on the aft pool deck, laying on the couches with owners.  It really makes me angry when people cheat the system.  We have a dear friend who is blind who has an actual, fantastic, very well-trained service dog, and to see the "not service dogs" being passed as such is really disgusting, in my opinion.  I am going to mention it in our survey.

Loved this trip--it was so relaxing and nice.  Loved the thermal spa, loved the food, loved sitting on the veranda reading, loved it all.  Reading your blog here is like having a scrapbook of the trip--thank you so much!  I hope everyone had safe travels home--ours was happily uneventful, other than a plethora of crying children on both flights.  

Konigsdam ROCKS.  Best cruise we've had.

I had a massage on the first cruise I was ever on, and the sales pitch--well, the sales PUSHY PUSH--was so bad I've never booked another massage aboard ship, ever.  It really ruined the experience for me, and clearly, I still have bad memories from it!  It's really too bad--I would have probably bought something at least, but after fending this lady off for 10 minutes I was done.

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Yes, you choose the wine when you get each bottle.  If you want reds you can order different ones.  You don’t need to decide in advance what wines you want.

Thank you SOOO much!  I've been wondering how this works.  

Question on the wine package--I've purchased one of the packages for my husband for our upcoming trip, but he's a red-wine-only-guy.  Will there be an option to choose that?  I've not ordered this before.

It finally just randomly worked--they perkily let me know I was all set!  Yay!  I think it's a website problem with the sale, but it's like restaurants being shocked that it's busy at lunchtime.  

Anyway--all set for Vancouver to Tokyo in September!  Woot!

Well, I take that back.  I am trying to book a cruise next year, and I've tried Chrome, Chrome Incognito, Firefox, and Edge.  I get different error messages on each of them, but in any case, I can't submit payment.  Chrome gives me the 404 error trying to find the cruise, Incognito tells me they are having technical difficulties, Firefox and Edge both say "bad input."  

What a mess.  I wonder how many people just give up.  

I finally got it to work by using the Incognito function on Chrome.

Ugh. There's a PS. I have just surfaced from the most evil four days with noro. I'm so pleased it waited til I was safely home, but frankly, I'd rather have food poisoning! At least that's quick. I didn't even think it was possible for a person to sleep twenty five hours almost straight. My sympathies to those who suffer(ed) this at sea!

Hi Chefestelle,

I'm so sorry you got the noro bug after the trip! It was quite disconcerting hearing that the cruise had several people down for the count with the announcements from the captain each day. My cruise ended up being quite the bust with a sinus infection--ended up in the infirmary Christmas Eve afternoon and never had another meal outside room service, nor did I get out of bed except to disembark. :( I later read a health report that said 57 cruisers and 10 crew had noro during the trip and now I wonder how many after! Poor you.

Up until then, we had enjoyed the cruise, and I enjoyed reading your review. I was not the lady in the lovely gown...but I did wear all my sparkly gear until I began wearing pajamas. :)

May my next cruise be better!

No. I'm sitting here in San Francisco pretty much done in. Virgin America had no desire to help their stranded passenger. United fell all over themselves trying to book me on a flight but couldn't without Virgins co-operation. There is an angel named Caroline at the HAL emergency number who has got to have major karma credits. I have to say the stress and pressure really got to me but DD held up well and I am very proud of her. We are on a very early flight to San Diego but it's not the worst I've taken. We are holed up at the Crowne Plaza where we are going to have room service and go to bed. Tomorrow is another day and I'm going to be on that dam ship no matter what!

Oh my gosh. You will make it in the a.m., and we will all sail away on our Christmas Cruise. Say hi when you see me--I'm a 6' tall lady and hard to miss. I hope tomorrow goes smoothly for you and we will see you on board!

Ugh. Too much stress with these connections! The line up was too long at YVR for security and immigration so no time for a bite of lunch even though our flight is delayed by 15 minutes. That means we get to San Francisco 15 precious minutes later where we couldn't have our luggage checked through to San Diego because air Canada doesn't have a partnership with Virgin. So we have 75 minutes to disembark, collect our luggage, proceed to virgin ticketing, check our bags again (and pay again) and go through security again before blasting down to terminal 2 (the furthest from international terminal) to make our flight. [emoji33][emoji16][emoji22][emoji22][emoji22][emoji22]

Did you make it?

Based on experience living in SE Alaska for a lifetime, I'd go for June. Usually ok weather, long days, and the people in the towns aren't burned out.

Hahah! Exactly. Less likely to get run over as you stand in the street to take pictures. :D

Getting super excited too--Christmas at Sea--ahhhhh!

"Sea" you all soon! :):):)

Weather in Alaska is a crap shoot...

Haha! Exactly. As a 30 year resident of Alaska, 20 in SE living on a boat, crap shoot sums it up. I didn't want to use the word "crap" in my post so was more gentle in my response.

It always cracks me up when people say, "Oh, our weather was perfect the whole time!" My brain goes, "Really???" but my mouth goes, "Oh! That's great!" It can be fabulous, and it can be dreadful. In every case, it's magnificent!

What is the best month for weather in Alaska? When I went in early Aug. the airplane and helicopter tours were constantly being cancelled due to fog and low cloud ceiling?

I lived in S.E. Alaska (Sitka and Ketchikan) for 20 years. Southeast is a rain forest, so you risk rain at any time (Ketchikan averages about 160 in. a year). May, June and July are your best bets--some years are wonderful all summer long, some are horrid all summer long--May, from what I understand is less expensive from a cruise standpoint, so that might be your best bet, but I would lean toward the latter part of the month. The king fishing is good in late May and June too. :)

The airplane and helo tours being cancelled are with safety in mind, of course. There are so many great things to do and places to see in Ketchikan, Sitka and Juneau even if it's raining!

As long time cruising liveaboards in Alaska, our little ship was named Princess (after moi, naturally). The handle Princess was taken, Princess1, Princess2, etc. etc., all taken. Our favorite bay is Foggy Bay--it's a great jump-off for Canada when headed south across Dixon Entrance, and it's a fabulous little hidey-hole if you are getting your buns whupped on the high seas coming north into Alaska. (Don't tell the Customs people in Ketchikan, please.)

All of you Alaska cruisers, look to starboard as you enter Alaska northbound, and you will see the best little quiet peaceful bay--Foggy Bay.:)

Worse, I had traveled in black undies, which in late summer severely limited my clothing options, both aboard and ashore. Black undies showing through pastel/white cotton/linen may be an edgy, trendy look on a thirty year old, but trust me, it does nothing for a lady of a certain age.

Hahaha! Oh my gosh, this one made me laugh in sympathy. Black undies should come with a little alarm that says, "Beep! Do you really want to be wearing black undies?" I won't elaborate on my black undie story.

Not on a cruise, and I've forgotten various things over the years, but the one that still takes the cake is when my husband and I took a weekend break in Anchorage, from our jobs in Fairbanks. We got halfway to Anchorage (a long way), and he looked at me and said, "Did you put the suitcase in the trunk?" I said, "No...I thought you did." Well, neither of us had--waayyyy too far to drive back and get our luggage, so we spent the weekend in the same clothes we had on, with WalGreens toothbrushes/toothpaste and hairbrushes. Our motto: These People Will Never See Us Again Anyway.

We still talk about that trip!

I hear you! After my first experience with trying to sell me all kinds of junk that I'd never use, I now start my appointment by telling the therapist up front that I am not interested in any products and do not want to hear about anything when the treatment is finished. Just a hint FYI.

Do they listen? I had virtually no need for a body brush (I mean, I might need it, I just didn't want to buy one) but "no for an answer" was clearly not being heard. I'd love an ocean going massage again--I might try your approach. I will report back!

Oh dear.:( Just about everyone on CC is helpful. Just a few oddballs like in real life, LOL.:D

Yes. I'm allergic to being yelled at, hence my reluctance to ask a question that has no doubt been asked before, somewhere, by someone.

It can be used for any charges that appear on your bill except cash advances and the casino.

 

Whether you lose unused OBC depends on the source. Any from HAL or Carnival will be lost if unused, while any gifted from a TA or friends or family, or purchased by yourself, will be refunded.

 

But - even if you have some unused from HAL or Carnival that is non-refundable you can still get some of it in cash. One way is to go to the casino, charge money to your onboard account in a slot machine, play a few spins, and then cash out. If you prefer not to do that, you can go to the front desk and take a cash advance. There will be a 3% fee, but at least you get 97% of what you would otherwise lose.

 

If you still have some that you can't spend, I suggest you go to the front desk and INcrease your HSC, so at least the money will go to the crew rather than to HAL. :)

Thank you! Wow--great info. I'm glad I asked...it only took me 5 months to get up the nerve.

Thank you, Lizzie! I had to look up HSC. :) We have the Signature Beverage package too, so I'm hoping we won't end up with a shocking bill at the end like in the past. ;)

I appreciate the quick answer!

Forgive what will probably seem like a stupid question, but here goes. For our upcoming cruise, between the DH and I, we have $400 in OBC. What can that be used for? What if we end up not using it all? We don't plan to get off the ship on the Mexican Riviera cruise, and I haaaaaated all the upsell intensity when I had my one and only massage on my first cruise....so if you had $400 in OBC with those caveats in mind--what would you do? We've never had OBC on any cruise prior to this one, hence the "duh" question.

Happy Anniversary, Merry Christmas, Bon Voyage, and Thank you. I hope I read your post right. I sure hope "Stressful fall" referred to the season and not an accident.

 

Roy

Ha! I should have capitalized "Fall." No--events during the Fall season, not a literal fall. Although a "fall" might have come with pain meds, which could have helped with "Fall." :D

How exciting! 10 days til cruise time! I received a call from corporate today to see if I had any questions. She was a very nice young lady. DD has already packed her casual clothes. We are also packing glittery dresses because even if regular cruises don't go formal, I'm sure people will sparkle up for Christmas. I can't wait!

Packing all my sparklies for the same cruise! Can't wait too!! :)

My DH and I are set to leave on the Mexican Riviera trip on Dec. 20, for our 30th wedding anniversary (dang, those years flew by!). When we first booked, it seemed so far away. I've been on these boards reading and dreaming since then.

I really am filled with gratitude for this space, and for all of you on this site. I've had a very stressful fall, and whenever I was just at my most stressed out and upset, I would get on CC and just mentally cruise away. I love all the comments, the posts, the boards, and it truly has been my little Happy Place for many months now. Thanks to everyone who posts, comments, participates and even lurks.

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)