judynorth

What ports? We travel in June. Rented a car in Juneau. Two excursions in Skagway. Van trip to Yukon with Dyea Dave the cruise excursion in the afternoon to liarsville for salmon bake and gold panning. Ketch an we are just eating lunch and walking around and Totems some way. We also go to icy straight point where we'll whale watch privately with fishes.

You can take the city bus to Totem Bight Park in Ketchikan and see the totems there.

We are taking the HAL 14 night cruise on the Statendam on July 27. It will be our 50th anniversary celebration cruise.

We have done 5 AK cruises. This will be our 6th. On the first 2 we booked balcony cabins but used them very little. The one exception was going through Tracy Arm in the cold rain on our first cruise. I'm not one to just sit on the balcony and watch the world go by and in AK it is cold out there. On our other cruises we booked OV cabins and didn't miss the balcony at all. I like to be able to see out though so I haven't tried an inside cabin. On HAL the difference between an inside and an OV is only a few hundred dollars at most whereas a veranda cabin is at least $1000 more. For us, the OV is a good compromise. You save a lot of money and you still have a view.

I checked with my TA again and found that, although we could get the anniversary sale deal on our particular cruise, we got a much better price with our past passenger discount and the OBC from the consortium that our TA belongs to. We saved about $400pp on the cabin alone.

We have done the trip both ways - motor coach and rental car. By all means, rent a car. It is so much better since you can go at your own speed stopping when and where you want and for as long as you want. We used Murray's guide and it told us more than the guides did. It is an easy drive. No way of getting lost since there is one main road. Drive as far as Emerald lake which is beautiful. Be aware that you will need your passports with you since you will be crossing into Canada.

If you decide to rent a car don't wait since there aren't many for rent and get to the rental place early for the best selection. (it has been a while since we did this so things might have changed.)

It looks like you have great plans for your first cruise. You should enjoy all the excursions that you have picked and will see and experience lots of the best in Alaska. If you are anything like we are, you will fall in love with AK. We are going on our 5th AK cruise to celebrate our 50th anniversary. If we lived in Seattle I'd be tempted to go every year!

Which excursion lets you see puffins otters Eagles and whales all in one excursion in Sitka?

 

We are Silia g on the Celebrity Millenium on May 12 and Sitka is our first stop on May 14.

 

Would appreciate your help. Thanks

It should say in the description of the excursions in Sitka if you check online at the Celebrity site. We took one of the two boat excursions offered in Sitka when we sailed on HAL. It was a great excursion and well worth the money. It is best at low tide though because you can see the sea stars clinging to the shore at low tide.

thanks judynorth--that doesn't apply to all trips though, right? just a select few?

 

thanks!

I thought it applied to most Alaska cruises. Are you booking through a TA? If so, contact them and see if your cruise is included. Ours is but our TA said that we get a better deal with the past passenger discount. I want to check with her to make sure that this is true since it appears that we should qualify for both.

thanks for your input everyone!!

 

Mobius--I wrote you back--appreciate your help!

 

My travel agent doesnt work on the weekends, but hoping to book on Monday.

Be sure to ask about the Anniversary Sale going on on HAL right now. It gives you excursion credit, a dining package, and lower deposit.

We have cruised both Princess and HAL to Alaska and liked them both. However, we are returning this year and will take HAL. We are doing a 14 day cruise which visits some of the smaller towns. We did the same itinerary in 2011 and loved it. One big difference between Princess and HAL is ship size. Princess ships are almost too large for AK unless you take the Coral or the Island, whereas HAL ship are smaller. Our ship, the Statendam, carries 1250 pax. Also HAL visits Sitka and Princess does not. HAL has a higher percentage of older pax but their beds are to die for and the beds on Princess are like concrete slabs (unless they have changed a lot). And you can get unlimited laundry for $7/day on HAL so that you don't have to spend one or two days washing clothes.

All of our previous cruises to AK have been in May/early June. The only places where we encountered mosquitos was on a hike into the woods at Taku Lodge and at a city park in Anchorage. We have been into the Yukon twice with no problems at all. This time we are going in late July/August and are a little worried about mosquitos then. They seem to like me a lot and I really don't want to be their next meal. :eek:

This sounds like the excursion that we took on our first AK cruise. We felt at the time that it was priced way too high for what you actually got on the tour. I posted on another thread that we took the city bus to Totem Bight Park and enjoyed it very much and it cost 50 cents pp for the bus. And on the bus ride you even get to see Walmart. :)

I'm renting a car and driving to the Yukon and back. $140 for the day.

That's what we did and loved it. You can stop when and where you want. You can't get lost since there is only one road and the driving is very easy - no steep climbs or hairpin turns.

Ketchikan is a great place to use public transportation. On our last visit we took the bus to Totem Bight Park and walked the trail there. We even chanced upon a tour and listened to some of the guide's stories. We gave a donation for the free hot chocolate at the visitor center and then caught the bus back to town. It was a bonus that the bus driver was a great tour guide. The rest of the time in Ketchikan we walked around town, visited Creek Street, and took the funicular up to Fox Lodge. All in all, it was a great day and very inexpensive.

Paula, just returned last week from Grandeur and found the beds fine, very comfortable!

Some beds are better than others. We had one that was really sway-backed but the other was fine. Of course, we were in steerage (deck 2) so we might get the oldest mattresses there. ;)

Lovely

 

Our Monarchs left PA at the beginning of September.

Thanks. They must just be getting to the tip of the Eastern Shore because one of the park rangers commented that these were the first that he had seen. I only saw two on Thursday. I'd love to be there when the masses of them come through.

We don't have much color yet but the monarchs are beginning to come along on the Eastern Shore of Virginia:

Beautiful birds -- what kind are they?

 

What are the red flowers in pictures 1 and 2?

We had those flowers in Florida when I was a girl. We called them bottle brush. Can you guess why? :rolleyes:

You might want to just wait until the initial rush is over. Another option is to take a cab to the beach. If you are going to Horseshoe Bay one advantage is that the cab will take you right down to the beach and the bus lets you off at the top of the hill. I don't know when your ship arrives but if it is mid afternoon you might want to spend the 1st afternoon at the Dockyard. Then on the second day you shouldn't have a problem getting bus/ferry tickets or passes. If you arrive on Sunday (like we will be doing) the ferry to St. Georges will not be running and most shops in St. Georges and Hamilton will be closed.

It looks like some variety of date palm (with all the dates gone).

Beautiful and the music was perfect.

RCCL has an excursion to St. Georges scheduled for Nov. 4. You are supposed to take the ferry to St. Georges to begin the tour and then back to the ship after the tour. I don't know if it is mistake on RCCL's part to offer the tour or if the ferry to St. Georges will be running an extra few days while the ship is in port. Our TA is going to check it out for us and I will post again if she finds out anything helpful.

Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg:

Wonderful photos!

Fall in Colonial Williamsburg:

Enchantment of the Seas anchored off Newport RI