judynorth

Great videos, Tony. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Thanks, Tony. I look forward to seeing them all.

I did not realize Butchart was so far away. So is it worth taking up our entire night? I don't mind going there if it is worth it. We are trying to do something we can't do elsewhere for each excursion, so I'm not sure we would just want to walk around inner harbor as an alternative.

 

And thanks for all of the good feedback so far.

Butchart Gardens is beautiful particularly if you like flowers. I think it is well worth the trip. If you have the time you can be dropped off at the inner harbor after the garden tour and take the shuttle back to the ship.

Tony, do you have more videos from your cruise? If so, I'd love to see them. Could you post links to them?

We have visited Ketchikan several times and most of the time just walked around town. However, on our last visit there we took the city bus to Totem Bight Park. It was great. The bus at that time cost 50 cents each way and there is no fee for Totem Bight. The park has many totem poles and is on the water. We watched a Disney ship sail into port from there. We returned to town by bus and walked around town, took the funicular up to Fox Lodge and back down, and walked along the waterfront before boarding the ship. It was a fun day and cheap.

My panos turn out junk.

 

Couldn't be the camera and lens combo - it being the same as Dave's, so it must be ... :-)

 

Great shots!

Have you tried Autostitch to assemble your panos? It is free and it does a good job of putting pictures together both horizontally and vertically or a combination of both. You need to make sure that the exposure is the same on all of the photos that you use or they won't look right. In my P&S there was a pano setting that I used. I haven't tried panos with my DSLR yet.

We did a float trip in Haines and loved it.

You'd be surprised at how many people eat at the food court at Costco. Consumer Reports just listed them as #6 out of the 68 largest supermarket chains in the US for all around quality and service, which also gave them a top rating for "Store-Prepared Food Quality".

 

Their pizza is among the best if not the best in town and is very cheap. $10.00 for a gigantic pizza, for something like less than $2.50 for a very large slice plus soda. They also serve huge top quality hot dogs or polish sausage dogs @ $1.50 which includes a large soda including refills and kraut added if you want it. In addition they have four or five other items some of which are fairly nutritious. Portions are large, much more than I can eat, I don't believe any item sells for over $4.50. Family of four can walk out of there, stuffed, for less than a ten dollar bill.

 

Yes, but I can get that at home. Had a Costco dog yesterday. :rolleyes:

Judy,

 

We will have a car. In which direction are these? Will we hit them going to girdwood?

Here is the website for the Moose's Tooth:

http://moosestooth.net/

3300 Old Seward Highway

Arctic Roadrunner

5300 Old Seward Highway

They are both south of downtown. If you can only go to one go to the Moose's Tooth. It will be crowed so go early.

Can you book a similar excursion through the ship? It might be worth it for the peace of mind.

They pick you up at the ship for this excursion and then drop you off at the tender dock. It is an early excursion so you should have plenty of time to go to the National Park. I understand that there are pedicabs that you can take to get there but it is a nice scenic walk out to the park if you have the time. It is well worth your time to visit. There is a loop walk where you can see lots of totem poles. Sitka is a lovely town.

We really liked the Moose's Tooth in Anchorage. They have unusual pizzas and great salads. I can't remember the pizza that we had but it was different from any that I had had before and it was excellent. I got the raspberry vinaigrette spinach salad and loved it.

We also ate at the Arctic Roadrunner burger place in Anchorage. It is an order-at-the-counter place. It was a little hectic and crowded but the burger was fine.

Both of these are away from downtown so you would have to drive there.

What brand do you have?

 

I hope we won't have drenching rain everyday. We get more than enough rain in Louisiana.

My first (and favorite) rain jacket was an LLBean Gore-Tex jacket. Just recently I replaced it with a Columbia jacket with their version of Gore-Tex. Both are unlined and large enough to wear a couple of layers under them. I definitely think it won't be a waste for you since you live in an area that gets lots of rain. I wear mine all the time here in coastal Virginia when it is raining. As a matter of fact, I wore it today.

Thanks for the info.

We haven't tried the device yet but I will try to remember to post here with our experience. I hope it does the job. I'll miss being able to review the photos though. I guess my camera screen will have to do until I get home.

It is a Western Digital, 2TB in size, battery powered, and connects with wi-fi. You set it up so that when an SD card is inserted the photos on the SD card are automatically copied to the hard drive. It comes with a USB charger, and can be plugged into any USB port on an PC to charge or act as any other external drive. Price is $199

We just bought the 1TB version of this today (on sale at BestBuy). In the past I have taken my laptop but it is relatively heavy. The WD external drive was a lot cheaper than buying an ultrabook which I would only use a few times a year.

Coco33, I have always had to remove my laptop from its case and put it in a separate tray at security. Also, I would never pack it in checked baggage. It is just too tempting to steal it.

"Packable " is going to be key. Thanks. :)

I wear my rain jacket on the trip to and from the cruise so packing isn't a problem. My rain jacket is unlined so it takes up little room when I take it in a daypack on excursions.

On our first AK cruise I made the mistake of thinking that a water resistant jacket would be enough. BIG mistake! I was soaked to the skin after a couple of hours on deck going into Tracy Arm. Never again. My rain jacket that I have now is waterproof and breathable.

For those of us that won't have our passports, which Skagway excursions are recommended? Is it worth taking the train ride that allows "no passports?" Is there any other local/non ship tour that would still be fun/memorable without going into the Yukon/crossing borders?

On previous trips to AK you could take the roundtrip train excursion without needing a passport since you don't get off the train. I don't know whether that has changed or not. We always take our passport with us and keep it in the safe. If we need it on an excursion we take it out and keep it with us. They will remind you on the ship to take it with you if it is needed. I remember having to show it both times we entered and left the Yukon but I don't remember if we had to show it in Victoria. Since we have passports we just make it a habit of taking it with us when we fly or cruise - just in case.

I've taken Gore-Tex on the last 4 AK cruises and it was perfect for me. (I won't tell you about my first AK cruise when I had a water resistant jacket and spent hours out in the rain in Tracy Arm. Talk about wet. :eek:) Gore-Tex is light weight and no water gets through. I know that I would sweat so much in heavy rain gear that I would be soaked to the skin and miserable. It might not work as well as the non-breathable wear if I stayed out all day in heavy rain but I don't intend to do that. I will seek shelter if it gets too bad.

Thanks! We did a good bit of research on the itinerary, but we hadn't heard much about the Coral itself. We'll be in Alaska, so I'm sure we'll be happy, but that's good to hear!

There are some great viewing locations on the Coral that most of the pax won't know about. If you go all the way forward on the B, C, and D decks and go through the doors marked Crew Only (don't worry, it's OK) you will find a great viewing balcony. Since most of the pax don't know about these places they are usually uncrowded. It is unshielded so it will be colder then on the Lido but you don't have blue panels tinting the view and it is easy to duck inside for a bit to warm up.

I always thought that the Coral was a happy ship. Everyone on the crew was friendly and happy which made for happy pax. The smaller size is much better for AK, IMHO. So many people prefer the big ships but I like the smaller ships for AK.

I just called to see what the price would be, and it's $541! $341 more than the other rental car and transfer. That doesn't even include the deposit of $541. I realize no matter what, they will require a deposit. But that's too steep in my opinion.

 

My rental vehicle in Anchorage is only $120. As much as I would love to drive myself to Anchorage, I just can't justify the price.

Talk about taking advantage of the tourist! The $150 difference might be worth it to have the extra time but not almost $350!

For those who have taken the bus from Denali to cruise ship through Princess, does it make any stops? Does it stop for lunch?

I haven't done it but I would guess that there would be several stops. That is a long trip.

Lisa, have you thought about renting a car in Seward and turning it in at the Anchorage airport? I know that it is more expensive to do a one-way rental but it would let you maximize your time. It would also save the cost of the transfer to Anchorage. The drive to Anchorage is beautiful and you could stop at the wildlife center and Portage Glacier on your way to Anchorage, visit Alyska and Girdwood and stay somewhere in that area. The next day you could drive north of Anchorage and then back to the airport for your flight. Just a thought. :)

In mid-May you shouldn't be faced with lots of people.

Luxury cruise lines don't usually charge for internet access but then you pay twice as much for the cruise. On mass-market lines such as Princess, HAL, RCCL, etc. charge but usually offer packages that give you a bit of a discount. Using your phone on the ship is also very expensive - as much as $7.95 per minute. :eek: You'd do better to wait until you are in port.

I've been stewing over what to do about a jacket for months now. Time is up. We leave for Alaska in just one month and I still have nothing to wear. We live in the Deep South where we see some moderate cold but not sustained or with wind chills making it feel colder. We get by with sweaters, mostly.

 

IOW, I feel like I am going to need a ski type (puffy) jacket. I'd hate it if I were forced to stay inside b/c I was cold. I'm thinking about a TNF Thermoball Hoodie, does that sound like a good plan?

 

DH is a deer hunter so he has lots of Under Armour pieces to wear under his Columbia rain type jacket and pants. Should I just follow suit or will l be cold without a ski coat? Remember: early May, first cold weather cruise ever, Cajuns on board. Thanks in advance!

As several people have said, the most important thing that you will need for AK is a waterproof jacket, preferably breathable. The one mentioned earlier is a good one. You can use it later as a raincoat at home. It will be cold when you are there. We have been to AK 5 times in May/early June. You should definitely dress in layers rather than in a big, bulky jacket. At the glaciers I wear thermal underwear, light weight down or fleece jacket, sweatshirt, and rain jacket, headband and gloves. I am a Florida girl and although I have lived in Virginia for years I still feel the cold like a Floridian. If your first port is Ketchikan, that is a great place to buy fleece, hats, and gloves at a very reasonable price.

BTW, the Coral is a great ship for AK. Just the right size.

We are booked September 2, northbound from Vancouver on Princess Coral. First-time cruises and very excited!

We've cruised on the Coral twice, once to AK. It is a great ship for AK. Have a great first cruise.