disneyochem

Ditto the advice to explore Holland America and Princess cruises for access to Glacier Bay. In addition, both cruise lines will have many enrichment programs/activities on board that will make your Alaskan cruise extra special. I know most will tell you that you have to have a balcony/veranda on an Alaskan cruise but you and your mom will still have a wonderful cruise even if staying an interior cabin. There will be outdoor viewing areas for Glacier Bay as well observational lounges for views. Also by staying in a more economical cabin may free up funds for excursions. We have cruised Alaska in a wide variety of cabins (interior, ocean view, balcony, mini suite)—never had a bad cruise! If financially you can swing it, try to cruise out of Vancouver. You’ll find that the port times and scenery are better than a cruise out of Seattle. Enjoy!

I thought so too but after I said no, the survey ended. It was weird…

I got the survey this morning as well. I was asked to video tape my responses to three questions…….never have had a survey that asked that required that!

I too enjoy the coffee served in the Lido. My problem is that it is rarely put out for guests until about 5 a.m. in the morning. Yes, I'm a morning person and like to have my coffee first thing (about 4:30 a.m.). I bring Starbucks Via (freeze-dried) on board for early mornings--just add hot water! It works until the Dutch Cafe opens or coffee is available in the Lido.

I always check the port times on an Alaskan cruise. That sometimes helps me decide which cruise/itinerary to book! Not a frequent traveler to the Caribbean so I generally book based on itinerary.

And taking the tram to Mt Roberts in Juneau is less than $100-200 per person! OP, there are a number of activities to do in port that won’t break the bank! I would recommend splurging on a whale watching tour while in Juneau. It will be your best opportunity to see whales. That being said, you might be able to see whales from the ship during the cruise. This past summer, we had many whale sightings from the ships. One of our favorite was watching a whale from the back of the ship while in port in Ketchikan. It was frolicking around and was a joy to watch! In Ketchikan, I also recommend taking the public bus out to Totem Bight Park (we’ve done it a couple of times). Also while in town, you can walk to the Totem Heritage Center ($6 pp), visit the Tongass Museum, watch the salmon in Creek Street (depending on the month) and stop in at the Science Discovery Center. Skagway has great hikes of varying difficulties. I also recommend downloading All Trails but you can also stop by the visitor center for a map. We like to hike to the Lower Dewey Falls, Yakutania Point/Smuggler’s Cove, and the cemetery. There is the Klondike National Park as well that offers exhibits and Ranger-led tours for $1 pp. We’ll take a hike in the morning, have lunch at the Skagway Brewery and then take another walk afterwards. I love Victoria but I suspect your ship will be visiting the port in the early evening for just a couple of hours. There will be shuttles to downtown—I think about $5 pp? We’ve never taken them but prefer to walk into town. It takes about 20 minutes. If you have more time, the Hop On/Hop Off bus is an economical option. Alternatively, you could turn right out of the port area and just walk along the sea walk visiting the Ogden Point Breakwater. Beacon Hill Park is also a nice place to visit. Enjoy your planning!

So do we! We also each get a birthday cruise each year.

We took Amtrak to SD for our Thanksgiving cruise this past November on embarkation day. Arrived in SD around 1 pm, walked to the pier and then boarded. That being said, I did have back up plans—one-way car rental reservation, Metrolink, and Uber (would have cost us $150 from Anaheim to SD). We frequently take Amtrak to SD from Northern California—we usually travel the day before, stay at the Springhill Suites or BW, walk to dinner in Little Italy, and then walk to the pier. This past November was the first time taking Amtrak the day off but since we were only going a couple of hours, I wasn’t too worried. We always take Amtrak from our home in the East Bay to our SF cruises the day off. Only once did we end up taking an Uber ($120) to the port. We also like to take Amtrak the day we get off the ship in SD. The Surfliner leaves around 10 am—plenty of time for a last breakfast in the MDR, a stop at a deli for a bagged lunch before leaving.

Submitted a request via Stockperks yesterday for our June 2024 cruise. Got the approval by midnight. What I like about the app is that I can use it for getting OBC for Princess as well as HAL. No need (for me) to keep track of the OBC for two different cruise lines. It’s easy to find/use on the app. (I submitted a PDF with all of the important/personal info blacked out. Onc I was uploaded, I’ve been able to use the same document for both lines.)

Not only will you find it safe to walk, but the hotel also offers a free shuttle to the depot (at least it did last year!). Lots of great places to eat in Anchorage that are within walking distance of the hotel. It is an uphill walk to downtown though. We usually walk to dinner and then Uber back. We like the Glacier Brewhouse, Humpy’s, Simon & Seafort and the 49th State Brewery name a few. My recommendation is to get reservations if possible!

Let me give you my opinion about the differences between the two cruise lines in Alaska—go with Princess. Princess has a fantastic destination enrichment program onboard. There will be Alaskan food, drinks (using Alaskan sourced products), lectures, music, totem carving (on some ships), wildlife lectures to name a few. They don’t do any of this on NCL. There might be a wildlife expert on board but not guaranteed. Both cruise lines will have US park rangers on board during your Glacier Bay visit. You said this Alaska cruise will probably be ‘your one and done.’ It also sounds like you are willing to pay for unique (and $$$) experiences in Alaska. So the advice being given from folks who love Alaska and want you to fall in love with her is worth considering! Try to cruise out of Vancouver for better port times to enjoy those excursions. Cruising on a smaller ship will also give you an opportunity to cruise the Inside Passage which is worth the effort to cruise out of Vancouver. Whatever you decide, enjoy your cruise and planning!

And for most cruise lines, this means Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway port stops.

We’ve done the transfer from Seattle to Vancouver a number of times using different modes of transportation—bus, train, flight, rental car! (We have friends/family in Seattle and Portland so we sometimes we like to fly in early, spend the day with them and then head north.) There are two Amtrak trains that leave Seattle daily—8:30 am and 6 pm. My advice is to take train rather than an Amtrak bus. It’s much more comfortable and scenic! You can hop on the light rail from SeaTac and get off near the King Street Station. Once in Vancouver, you can Uber ($15-20 USD) to your hotel or hop on the Sky Train. We like to stay near Canada Place so it’s a short walk to the pier the next morning. I recommend Quick Shuttle if you want to take the bus. It’s a bit longer than a cruise line transfer but it will also deliver you directly to Canada Place. I would also look into flying to Bellingham, WA. The shuttle makes a stop there and sometimes we’ve found good prices on flights. https://quickcoach.com/ A one-way car rental is also an option. We’ve picked up a car at SeaTac, driven to the Vancouver Airport and took the Sky Train to the downtown area. Depending on the size of your travel party, it might be a money-saving option. We do this when traveling with 4 or more—works out cheaper per person. Of course, as mentioned previously, it is much more convenient to just fly into Vancouver. I frequently use airline miles/points to fly from SeaTac to Vancouver. I always get a pencil out and compare costs! We have a number of Alaskan cruises out of Vancouver this summer—two of those trips were flying to Seattle. Saved us over $700 to do so! I also track flight prices to compare costs.

Lots of great advice! I want to give you some feedback on our experience riding Amtrak. We frequently take Amtrak from the Sacramento area to LA and San Diego for cruises. Once in LA, we just Uber to San Pedro and stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and walk to port the next day. Round trip cost for two on Amtrak is around $200 and is about 7 hours each way. Cost of Uber normally costs us about $70-100 (RT to/from port). So it generally costs us about $300 in travel costs to sail out of San Pedro. (For a San Diego cruise, we get on the Pacific Surf Liner and stay the night in San Diego.) The worst part about the Amtrak journey is the bus transfer from Bakersfield to LA over the Grapevine. So you go from the train to a bus to an Uber. It works for us since we travel light. After cruise, we also just Uber to the train station and do the journey in reverse. Hubby is tall (over six feet) and really enjoys being able to walk around and stretch during the journey. Amtrak does experience frequent delays so be sure to build that into your planning (or have a Plan B). For our last cruise out of San Pedro, I priced out the cost of a one-way car rental (our home town to LAX) and ended up just driving and then Ubering to the port. Cost a bit more than Amtrak (about $100 more) but it was convenient for that particular trip. For our April 2024 cruise, we’re taking Amtrak both ways.

Have you considered doing the Princess Heart of the Rockies cruise tour? It is a cruise tour that tours Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, a Rocky Mountaineer trip to Vancouver followed by a Northbound 7- day Alaskan cruise? We did it this past summer—very enjoyable. Stayed at all of the iconic Fairmont Hotels and only 24 people in our group. We actually did a B2B so we ended up in Vancouver.

Always nervous when traveling by train! We’re in the East Bay so our train ride is only one hour. If necessary, we’ll Uber in or drive depending on the train status when we’re ready to board the train.

We changed our train tickets. Was scheduled to be in the City by 11am. Now we’re arriving around 9 pm. I think it’s going to be a zoo…..

Just received this information from Princess about the December 12 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise out of SF. IMPORTANT NOTICES DELAYED EMBARKATION Please be advised that due to an increased amount of silt buildup at our assigned cruise berth and severe low spring tidal levels in San Francisco Bay, Crown Princess will not have the necessary under-keel clearance necessary to berth on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, in the early afternoon. As a result, your embarkation has been delayed. Check-in will begin at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, December 12, and embarkation will begin at 8:30 PM. Please do not arrive early as seating in the terminal is limited. Guests who arrive early may leave their luggage and enjoy the surrounding area. All guests must be aboard by 10:30 PM. Please keep any essential items such as passports and other travel documents, medication, baby formula, and pajamas in your carry-on baggage as checked luggage will be delivered to staterooms late at night. In recognition of the delayed start to your cruise and to offset any expenses you may incur due to the delay, all guests will receive a $25 onboard credit. Thank you for your attention to this notification.

We have used Salmon Berry Tours numerous times. The first time was a cruise transfer to Anchorage. There was only one other couple taking the tour that day—it was great! We got picked up right at the pier and dropped off at our hotel. The driver personalized the experience for us. Very enjoyable. Since that first trip, we’ve been on a few tours with them. It’s easier for us to just take a tour with them instead of renting a car on a short, one day visit.

Just got off the Koningsdam —ate at Tamarind, not PC. Our group ordered multiple appetizers without extra charges. We were a group of 5 (three young adults with heathy appetites) and ordered every appetizer on the menu. Only two ribs an order so ordered another one so all could taste. Same with the tempura shrimp and veggies. One member of our party ordered two desserts as well! Made up for me though—too full to eat dessert!

I would say to expect kids and families and be pleasantly surprised if there are none! I teach at a California university--that is our spring break. I always cruise during this time and there seems to lots of families and kids--even on Holland America and out of San Diego. Don't see a lot of stereotypical college spring break kids, but a number of families are usually on a cruise during that time. I'm not on this cruise during my 2024 spring break but over on Princess (out of LA) for a 10-day Total Solar Eclipse cruise! But I am booked on the Koningsdam for my 2025 spring break!

It’s pretty easy to get from the cruise port to Emeryville. We take the train home after every SF cruise. Takes about 20-30 minutes regardless of whether it’s a weekday or not. We take both taxis and Ubers across the Bay depending on when we get off the ship—prices seem to be about the same. If we get off early (we’re self-assist), we normally just nabbed a taxi from the taxi stand right outside the terminal—always check though to be sure they’ll go to Emeryville! Later in the morning, we’ve found it quicker to just use an Uber. As an earlier poster noted, the Coast Starlight doesn’t arrive in Emeryville until late in the evening. When you want to store your luggage and spend your time will probably depend on when you head to Emeryville. You can store your luggage at the Amtrak station—they charge $10 a bag. I would call just to make sure they still do (it’s been awhile since I’ve used this service). So you could get to Emeryville, store your luggage and then explore the area—go back into the City? You could also store your luggage in SF, explore and then go to Emeryville. That trip might take longer on a weekday since then you will be traveling with commuters. Enjoy the train ride! We’ve taken the route a number of times and love it.

We’ve done a number of Disney cruises when the kids were younger. They didn’t enjoy them as much once they were of drinking age! 🤣. They like being able to find bars anywhere on a ship rather than in just one location!

I’ve done this experience twice—once with the hubby, once on a girls’ cruise. Both times we were comped (not in suites nor casino players)—not sure why we were offered but certainly took advantage of it! Both times I was able to have my dietary issues addressed (am a celiac); the second time I requested no octopus. I enjoyed the first time much more than the second—it was new, exciting and fun! The second time with the hubby, I really enjoyed watching him experience the meal. The food and wine were great. The service was exceptional. I was sent a survey afterwards (both times) asking about our experience as well as how much would I pay for a 360 experience. I equated it to a Chef’s Table meal. We will not pay to do this but to be fair, we’ve already experienced it! We’ve done the WMD, the Chef’s Table and other fine dining experiences on Princess and other lines. We consider them a ‘one and done’ experience and move on to try the next! I do recommend people experience the dinner at least once—it was fabulous. Enjoy!

We were on this cruise as well. It was a family trip— we spent time playing cards on board part of the time because we love to play games and there wasn’t anything else to do as a family! Our family members traveling with us are late 20 year olds. They mentioned numerous times throughout the cruise that there was nothing for them to do! Most of the games (Mario Kart, Cornhole, etc) were listed for teens or kids. No karaoke, no DJ and dancing, etc. They had brought their Nintendo Switch with them (even though I had told them they’d be too busy! Boy, was I wrong!) and would set up in the Crow’s Nest late at night and play games! They had just been on a Princess Alaskan cruise this past summer. Both of our kids commented on how much fun it had been and that there was so much to do! This was their first HAL cruise— we’ve booked for next Thanksgiving on the Koningsdam but we are exploring other options! I do agree about the quality of music—we would be in Billboard enjoying drinks and talking. The woman who was part of the piano duo was not very good—out of tune and flat—as soon as she started we had to leave!