Heidi13

You can take children on a bus without an approved child seat. I believe approved car seats are also not mandatory in a taxi. We would never have taken the kids/grandkids without a car/booster seat, but I have seen kids entering taxis without seats. As per the previous post, it is a short scenic walk from Ogden Point to downtown.

On Viking Sun, the crew often handed out blankets, to those that wanted them, when entering Star Theatre. It was on the cooler side.

Spent 3 months in a cabin above the boats. Didn't experience Jim's issue, as he had already retrained the deck ratings. You do hear a faint electric motor occasionally, which is topping up the accumulator systems, which is required to launch the Survival Craft in the event of a power failure. Most pax probably didn't even hear it.

Please see posts 25 & 26 for the answer. Having completed 2 seasons R/T from Vancouver followed by many years on the BC coast, I have experienced the differences.

Hecate Strait definitely isn't scenic, as all you see is the top of mountains on the horizon. Queen Charlotte Strait is probably OK the first time, if you don't live close to mountains, but after seeing it every day for 2-weeks per month, it pales in comparison to the really scenic areas of the coast.

Princess used to have their best 4 ships in Alaska - Diamond, Sapphire, Island & Coral. Of those ships, I believe only Sapphire remains in Alaska. She is a traditional Grand Class that was built in Japan, so has vastly superior build quality to the Italian & French built ships. She also doesn't have the additional deck with 500 extra pax that started with Caribbean Princess.

A cruise originating in one country and disembarking in a different country is classed as an International Voyage, so Cabotage Laws are not applicable.

As a non-cruiser, I'll suggest your summation is quite accurate. Personally, having spent many 30+ days at sea (continuous) voyages on cargo ships and also a cruise ship, I never once got bored. Our last cruise, as pax, had > 35 continuous sea days, and even on the 25 hr days, there wasn't sufficient time to fit in everything and get a full night's kip. However, we aren't interested in the glitzy cruise shows, marriage shows, pool games, etc. Much happier attending educational lectures, good music or sitting in a quiet nook/cranny reading a book, or working on photos, while watching the ocean. In Alaska, we usually booked mid/end June at the Solstice, so as to maximise daylight. Rather than attend a cruise ship glitzy show/marriage game, etc, we prefer enjoying the spectacular scenery. Having spent many years navigating BC waters & a few years in Alaska, I never get tired of the scenery. If pax are bored on any cruise ship, perhaps they need to reconsider their choice of holiday.

Lots of variables, especially whether the ship is alongside or tendering. It is at the discretion of the Master, but is normally 1/2 hr when alongside and 1 hr when tendering. It is printed in the Viking Daily, but the definitive time is posted at the gangway.

Back in the days when we sailed with Princess, the Sapphire and Diamond were our favourite ships. They are standard Grand Class ships that were built in Japan. The build quality is significantly superior to those built in Italy or France. Your concerns are valid regarding mid-September. In addition to decreasing daylight hours, you have a greater chance to experiencing one of the first storms. Unfortunately in Alaska the weather is constantly changing, as I did 2 complete seasons and almost every week had different weather. However, I believe from your original post, the Grand departs 4th Sept and the Sapphire departs 7th Sept, so really not much difference. If the difference was only 3 days, my personal preference would be Sapphire over Grand. Note - while I used to work for Princess and cruised with them, we have not sailed Princess since 2015, so I have no current knowledge of the condition of each ship.

If food is a key consideration, perhaps you may also want to consider one of the smaller ship premium cruise lines. Although highly subjective, the premium cruise lines generally have superior quality meals. The Inside Passage runs from Olympia all the way up to Skagway, but the cruise line marketing types usually promote the waters between the Canadian mainland and Vancouver Island as the Inside Passage. You should also consider, when Northbound, these waters are cruised at night. Comments on the 4 options - # 1 Royal Princess - in my experience this is the 2nd worst option, as these ships do not manoeuvre well enough for Alaska Cruising. Way too big and they don't have a Prom Deck. Having to sail up the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver reduces the hours in Alaska. - # 2 Ruby Princess - is a super Grand Class. The Grand Class was an exceptional class of ship built by P&O, but after Carnivalisation, they added another full deck of cabins (500 pax) to the same hull. Basically a really crowded ship. R/T Vancouver it only does SE Alaska, so you don't experience Prince William Sound - # 3 Grand Princess - of your 4 options, in my opinion this is the best ship. It was the lead ship of it's class. Dating from 1998, it is getting a little older, but still a great design. Probably also the best itinerary. - #4 NCL Encore - in my experience, this is the worst option. Similar to Royal Princess, the ship is too big for Alaska. Being R/T from Seattle, you will spend > 2 days in the Pacific Ocean and less time in Alaska ports.

If you are sailing R/T from a US port, you can stop in any foreign port. However, if you are sailing to Alaska from a US Port, unless it is a R/T cruise, you must visit a distant foreign port. BTW - worked this coast for almost 35 years and Victoria Island is a new port for me. The City of Victoria is a port often visited by cruise ships. It is located on Vancouver Island.

Unfortunately, there are no tentative times, when booking ports. The cruise line will submit a request to a port for space on a specific date and times. Submitting a request is hardly a tentative time. Once the first port is confirmed, it still isn't tentative, as it can easily change based on subsequent ports. You also need to consider the entire itinerary, as once the first port is confirmed, if different to the requested times, it may impact the 2nd and subsequent ports. Failure to receive confirmation of requested times can actually result in port changes. My definition of tentative is the entire itinerary is confirmed, but they are still working on ship's agents, shore-ex, stores, bunkers, etc. Therefore, nothing is tentative until the entire itinerary is confirmed.

Haha!! on the ferries, those were the suites.😁

The UK notes that have been withdrawn from service are still and will remain legal tender in perpetuity. When a new series of note is introduced, with enhanced security features to prevent counterfeiting, the existing notes remain in circulation for a number of years, with considerable notice provided prior to removing the old notes from service. With the notice provided, it impacted the ex-pats mostly, who had wads of old notes in the safe for future trips.Wasn't an issue for me, as I sold them to our local bank before the deadline, so they became their problem. Totally agree with the culture issue, as I find it hard to believe that citizens are happy continuing to use old technology notes that are easy to copy/forge. Although I rarely carry cash, I much prefer the new plastic (polymer) notes over the old paper ones.

Although scran was also used in UK when I was brought up, those are all my guesses. C-130, also known as Hercules.

The 20's and 50's were withdrawn on the same day in Sept 22, as I had some of both notes in the safety deposit box.

Here is a link to the BoE regarding how to exchange the old paper notes. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/exchanging-old-banknotes#:~:text=your UK bank-,Exchanging old notes at the Post Office,not have a bank account.

A great and valid question. As a retired mariner and camera enthusiast, who carries both binoculars and cameras with long lenses, these are my thoughts. When on a moving ship that also has some inherent vibration from machinery, magnification level is a key consideration. With binoculars, they normally suggest 7x or 8x as being the highest level to ensure a clear picture. Having used binoculars at sea for 40 years, especially on cruise ships, I can comfortably use 10x and provided the ship isn't moving significantly, routinely use 12x. On full frame, from memory I believe 12x would be similar to about a 600 mm lens. One of the key specifications for binoculars, at least when we were using them on the Bridge, is field of view. When searching for a buoy or other navigational object, a larger field of view made it easier to locate them. Since my largest lens is a 70-200 with a 2x doubler, that is about the equivalent of 8x binoculars, or the recommended max for use on a ship. My standard 10x50 permafocus binoculars have a significantly higher field of view than my 400 mm lens, therefore it is much easier to locate wildlife, etc with the binoculars, then switch to the camera for photos. My binoculars don't have the same clarity as Swarovskis, but they meet my needs for identifying things I then capture with a camera. I also consider the light gathering and depth of field. My x50 binos are big and heavy, but they let in lots of light and have depth of field from about 12' to infinity. In low light situations, I find the binoculars have an additional advantage for finding wildlife, etc over searching with a lens.

If you have any paper 20's and 50's in the safe, I believe they will also need to be changed at a bank before you can use them. Not so sure about the 20's, but since I had some paper 50's in the safety deposit box, I sold them at our bank in 2022, before they were removed from circulation. Hopefully some of the UK members can confirm.

The best views, especially when navigating in confined waters, are from the Bridge. Therefore, generally there is little difference between port & stbd over an entire cruise. Personally, I have been subjected to fwd and aft cabins too many times during many years at sea, and as a pax prefer to avoid the potential pitfalls of both areas. When scenic cruising, my preference is to enjoy a fwd facing deck, fwd facing lounge, or just wandering around any of the outer decks.

Correct, nobody refuses the money, but you also don't hear the comments.

Smaller denomination Sterling notes should be available from your local bank, but I suggest ensuring that they are the new style plastic notes and not the old paper notes. I believe the paper notes have been withdrawn, so would need exchanged at a bank. Tips in a foreign currency are never refused, but from experience of carrying golf bags on the Old Course, foreign currency tippers may not be held in high esteem, as you must trudge to the bank or post office to exchange them. Based on my experience years ago, we generally only had 1 nationality that tipped in their own currency.

On the BC Ferries, which is our equivalent to Alaska's ferries, they used to pitch tents in the lounges at night. So yes, sleeping on the deck does happen.

Since I quoted the original post, I was commenting on the fact all optional and included tours must be booked online prior to the cruise. The OP stated no option to book onboard. The OP did not qualify application to shore-ex within the first 2-days. We tend to book longer cruises, so if the OP is factual, this policy is ridiculous and completely unnecessary.