BirdTravels

It has been NCL’s Haven dinner approach for 14 years. Longer if you consider just suite breakfast and lunch. Why waste money and throw out food by provisioning for multiple dishes when you can provision for a set menu. As I mentioned earlier, most people will go for specialty dining many of the nights (we get 4 specialty meals on a 7 night cruise).

It was a courtesy hold. Take it. Leave it.

The channel really does not have to be dredged. It is not like there was a landslide that filled the channel. The challenge is that parts of the fallen bridge buried itself in the channel bottom. The plan is for all of that to be removed so that future periodic dredging of the channel doesn't all of sudden hit a steel beam buried in the bottom.

For @jjesq99, again, focus on the pick up point for your WP RR tour. They will have shuttles to town or over to the railway dock. Walking to town from the ore dock seems to be a bit further, but it has been years since we did that walk from the NCL Jewel.

The actual flight was done by Taquan Air. It was a NCL shore ex.

Highly recommend allowing kids to sign themselves out so they can hang with the other kids

Normally, within a day of check-in, you will get your vacation documents in email. The last page of the document is your luggage tags. If you are a frequent cruiser, you can invest in some luggage tag holders. Otherwise, just fold the tags as shown on the form and make sure they are securely fastened to your bags (we used to use clear packing tape to seal the ends). And even with luggage tag holders, we still put a tag on the top handle and the side handle of our bags. If you let the baggage porters write out a luggage tag for you at the dock, be very very very careful that they write the correct room number on the tag and that you can clearly read the numbers on the tag.

The OP asked a fair question because other cruise lines (not Royal) sell the laundry pre-cruise in their Cruise Planner at a discount to what they charge onboard. So,,,, if you know you will do at least one bag of laundry onboard (we do laundry on every cruise), it is to your benefit to pre-buy it. Don't think that every cruise line operates the same as Royal. In fact, Royal has some of the most restrictive, almost absurd, policies on what you can put in your laundry bag compared to other cruise line.

Juneau: Focus on the meeting point for your tour. If the tour operator picks up at the ship (almost always the AJ dock), you're golden. If not, try to get off the ship and onto a shuttle bus as quick as you can (assuming that the pick-up is at the base of the Mount Roberts Tramway / Goldbelt Tramway). That means being the the pushing-and-shoving crowd trying to get down to the gangway (get in line early). Then there will be a line outside for the bus to town. It is a 1 mile walk to town - we have walked it before, but normally just wait in line for the bus. The photo below is last year in Juneau. Skagway: Focus on the pick-up point for your WP RR trip. Cruise ship rides will pick up right on the dock. Some independent trips pick up in town which is a 15 minute walk from the end of the dock. Or catch a paid shuttle to town. Hopefully, the port has set up a way for you to walk from the ship to the end of the dock. In 2022, there were multiple landslides onto the dock and I guess that the port thinks that being in a bus provides more protection than walking through the shipping containers to protect you from falling rocks. The photo below is from last year and the shuttles the port was running on the dock Ketchikan: Hopefully the tour provider will pick you up from the dock. Float plane rides are great fun. But sometimes get cancelled if the weather is bad. We flew out of Ketchikan to go bear watching pre-pandemic.

We hope that it is not cancelled since we use the service every year (and are planning on using it this year). No need to muscle your bags around if the service will do it for you.

That's wherever the tour operator says your pickup point is. Ketchikan - Most tour operators pick up at the dock. Do not book a tour that picks up in town. You would have to allow a lot of time (hour+) to wait in line and catch the bus to town. Juneau - Most tour operators pick up at the dock. If you book a tour picking up downtown, you need to allow a lot of time to wait for a bus or a lot of time to walk to town on your own. Skagway - Most tour operators pick up at the end of the dock. Last season, you had to catch the tiny shuttles from the ship, through the landslide zone, to the end of the dock. That's 4500 people on 25 person vans. Allow a lot of time. Victoria - Tour operators pick up at the dock. All NCL excursions pick up at the dock.

But, you will still have great views from an aft-facing room

So, we have sailed in forward facing suites multiple times. We sit for hours watching for sea life (whales, dolphins, seals). It is magical. We much prefer Deck 9 with the large balcony. We have both chairs and loungers. Yup, when the ship is underway, full speed, it will be windy if you stand at the rail, but the hull sweeps the wind over your head if you are seated or standing back from the rail. And Yup, there will probably more people saying that they like aft facing rooms. Forward facing you get those unlimited views of where you are going and can track things (like pods of dolphin) as they get closer to the ship. We had an aft-facing suite in 2022 and if you saw something, it was moving away from you before you figure out what it was. While we sit comfortably on our balcony, everyone below on the bow are crowing to try and see over the front rails. And you always have the heated, warm view from inside the room every day.

We have been designated as cruise line VIPs a few times. For us, it was just a bit more handholding. Last year there were 3 people on the ship that had a VIP designation (me, the cruise director's boyfriend, and one of the officer's wives). On embarkation, we are directed to Haven check-in verses steerage check-in. When we got to our balcony stateroom, the General Manger had sent a chocolate box (a box made of chocolate filled with chocolates), a bottle of wine, and fresh fruits. And special treats daily. We got invited to several private parties. Each evening, when we were seated for dinner, the hostess would see the VIP designation on our reservation and would call the General Manager and either he or his Secretary (most times both) would show up and ask about how they could be of more assistance. Each evening, the restaurant Executive Sous Chef (head chef) would come out multiple times asking about our dinner order, it's preparation,,, always asserting that he would personally oversee it's preparation. On one of our beach shore excursions, the GM's office had arranged to have the tour provider to offer us anything we wanted. And the tour provider went out of their way to give us every upsell item they had (menu food versus beach buffet, endless stream of drink filled coconuts and pineapples). On disembarkation, the GM's secretary escorted us around the lines directly to security, then around the lines to the gangway. We were not allowed to disembark until the GM came to the gangway to thank us.

Sorry. They were NCL reviews which are probably OBE. The pandemic cancelled our last med cruise and we have been staying closer to home since.

It is a solid hull balcony to sweep the wind up and over your head. We have never had any problems seeing (unless you want to look straight down and see what your downstairs neighbors are doing on their balcony). We consider the forward facing penthouses the best rooms on the ship and try to always book one.

Hah? The Op is not jetting off on business. They are taking a closed loop cruise that stops in Canada from 8:00 pm - midnight where most people don't even get off the ship.

Totally inaccurate. Sorry. US Citizens For Cruises Leaving From a U.S. Port to the Caribbean, Bahamas & Florida, Bermuda, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Canada & New England, Pacific Coastal On cruises that begin and end in the same US port and do not sail through the Panama Canal or to any South American ports, you are required to carry one of the below documents: A Valid Passport OR Proof of Citizenship (see below) AND Government-issued photo ID (Baptismal paper, hospital certificates of birth, and Puerto Rico birth certificates issued prior to 7/1/10 are not acceptable.) State certified U.S. birth certificate Original certificate of U.S. naturalization Original certificate of U.S. citizenship U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad Enhanced Driver’s License (enhanced driver’s licenses are only issued in Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington) A valid passport card

First, it is one the absolute best excursions! The small boat's crew is always on the lookout for wildlife and while the ship keeps plowing through, the small boat will stop for whales, bears, eagles, and other wildlife. And while the ship may stop 5 miles away from the glacier, you'll be up front and personal with the ice. We have done the excursion 4 times (probably more). I would bump your dinner reservations out 60 minutes. The small boat usually meets up with the ship a little early, but it will depend on what the ship is doing (if it is in it's 360 degree turn). You will need a bit of time to disembark the small boat and make your way up from the tender deck to your stateroom to get ready for dinner. You will have all of your winter coats and gear with you. You want a heavy coat, hat, gloves. The goal would be to be outside on deck on the small boat as much as possible. Personally, after getting back on the ship, we like to go out either on our balcony or the ship's deck to take some photos from the perspective of seeing the glacier from the ship (versus at water level from the small boat). So, we allow time for that after the excursion ends. Tender door open at back of ship If you make your dinner reservations too early, you'll be watching the glacier from a restaurant window (if you're lucky)

The ship leaves at 1:30 pm. The excursion is scheduled to end at 6:15 pm.

It is a generic message that is not tailored to your booking. You can log on and make your reservations 130 days prior to departure. When you click on the "too early" link, you will get the reservation screen. Personally, we just do things ourselves so that we are confident that they are done "right" (the exact way we want). We find little/no value in the pre-concierge. We wait until we're onboard to build a rapport with our concierge and butler. The land-based concierge is just call center personnel assigned to handle Haven requests (regular or decaf coffee??? you get both by default).

There is no email address for specific concierge. There is a pre-concierge (which is just a call center) which has limited/no capability that you don't have yourself. If you are in the Haven, you will get an letter about 50 days prior to departure with their contact information.

They have cold plunge pools (older fashion, but the same idea) on the Jewel class ships. And some have hot plunges.

Unnecessary. Total waste of a lot of money unless you are traveling to somewhere you need it.

Frat party. Nothing we would every want.