olemissreb

Chilkoot Charters....that's who we used too. Not Dyea Dave. And we were on a small maybe 12 person "bus". So much more personal.

We did our excursion thru Dyea Dave and they had someone come pick us up in a van near the cruise ship pier.

We did this independently...train up and van ride back. We went to the Carcross Desert and stopped at a farm with sled dog puppies and you could take a ride on a sled pulled by the dogs. We really enjoyed it.

My sister and I found out the hard way, that while we can travel together, staying in the same rental is not for us because our families were so different. So when we vacationed together, each family would get their own rental, but we'd get together throughout the week to hang out or do things...worked great. We all got to do what we wanted as individual families, but our kids also got to spend quality time together. Now she and I are going on a cruise in March '25 with our boyfriends and while sis and I are going to a couple things together and we'll do at least one excursion as a group, we'll be doing our own excursions too and then getting together at night to share what we did. Best of all worlds. I would not have any problems "surprising" friends or relatives and just doing our own thing and maybe getting together for drinks to share what we did.

$35 is cheap and if it's like the ones I've done on land, it should be a blast. The guys will just have to go hang in the whiskey bar while my sister and I paint...pretty sure they won't complain too much.

Is there a cost for this?

Ooooo this sounds like fun. I know my sister and I would enjoy it, but our SOs not so much (so they can hit the Whiskey bar). Hope they have it on our March '25 cruise out of San Juan.

Thanks. I linked to the International Day Pass on my last cruise in 2019, so that's not an issue for me. I will have to bring this up to the other 3 that I'm traveling with. We may decide there's another way to meet up and stuff like that, but this is an option.

I'm looking at possibly booking a VV cruise for 2025. Can you change the room they assign you or choose your own? I noticed in the dummy booking it said just like a hotel they assign rooms, but I can choose my own room when I stay at Hilton properties so maybe it's more like that? This would be our first trip on VV. I want mid-ship balcony with cabins above and below and not near the elevators (yep I'm picky). 🙂 Any booking help for future reference is greatly appreciated.

In my group of 4, we have 3 iphone users and 1 android (me). We are all AT&T customers and I noticed that AT&T has a special add on feature for people on cruises. Has anyone used that? And does it work just as if you were on land? Or does it work through Starlink? I've looked at it and don't really understand how it works...do we need the ships wifi? We all have FAS, but I may upgrade mine to FAS+.

Bring Him Home ALWAYS brings me to tears. Les Miz is my second favorite musical right after Sound of Music. Not sure I'll get to see Kevin Fagan on my March '25 Viva cruise though to hear him sing it.

Thank you! While we have changed cruiselines for this cruise, we're still stopping in Antigua and I think this is where we are going to send the guys while my sister and I go shopping. IIRC Cedar Valley isn't too far from the dock via taxi, so the guys shouldn't get lost/miss the boat. I hope!

I don't think my BF has taken a train trip like that yet...he just wants to at some point, so I'll try and make it happen only after our cruise. Of course my niece is getting married in Reno in 2025, so maybe we'll be able to make that a train trip and then fly back. So many choices!

I'm totally prepared to go solo or with my sister...which is really what prompted us to book the Viva in 2025. Of course she wanted to bring her boyfriend (for his first cruise), so it was a bit of an easier sell for my boyfriend. I'm hoping he'll fall in love with cruising after that. I've even agreed to look at a train trip since my boyfriend loves trains.

Well, once again, my blue card didn't have the offer. Maybe I'll get it when I've finished paying off the cruise and am ready to pay for gratuities and upgrading my beverage package.

Since I wasn't sure when I'd get back to Alaska, itinerary and port times were the most important for me...then I went with the cruise line that fit our vacation times. We didn't go to Glacier Bay, but we did get to Hubbard Glacier and it was spectacular. Hoping that in the next few years I'll be able to talk my boyfriend into a couple weeks in AK. He says he's not a cruise person, but I guess he'll find out in 2025 when we cruise Viva in the Caribbean.

I didn't have it on my blue last time, but I'll have to check it out again. Maybe I can use it since I need to make a payment on my 2025 cruise.

OMG my boyfriend is going to have to make some serious commissions between now and March 2025. He'll want to try at least 3 of those last 4 bourbons! Hope they still havs them in 499 days.

We did our own pre-cruise tour. Flew in to Anchorage and stayed at the Embassy Suites (free using points). We took the shuttle to downtown where we had rented an SUV for the week (cheaper than renting at the airport and even cheaper if you have an Avis Wizard number). The next day we drove up to Talkeetna and my oldest son took a flying lesson(Groupon) while the rest of us just enjoyed the town. Then we drove up to "Glitter Gulch" and stayed at a hotel there for 3 nights. We spent our time there doing whitewater rafting, a Midnight ATV tour, and a bus ride deep into Denali National Park. From there we drove over to an AirBnB near the Matanuska Glacier and spent a couple nights and even went hiking on the glacier. Then we drove back to Anchorage turned in the car and spent one more night at the Embassy Suites before boarding the Alaska Railroad (Goldstar service) for Seward. The railroad sent our luggage on to the hotel while we did a Kenai Fjords tour. The next day we had the hotel send our luggage to the ship while we toured the Sealife Center including a behind the scenes tour. I used coupons for the tours and for my family of 4, it was much cheaper than doing a cruisetour and it was all on our own timeline. It takes a lot of planning and research, but it was well worth it for us and dare I say a little bit more relaxing than what I've read of cruisetours. .YMMV

Please post about the Bourbons! My boyfriend and I will be on Viva in March '25 and he's a big bourbon drinker (his fav is Blantons). We'll probably upgrade our drink package just so he can have his fav(if they have it) at a somewhat smaller charge ('cause I suspect it will be over the max $ amount included in the package).

This is what we decided to do with my sister who hasn't had a drop of alcohol since 2004. She does like her Dr. Peppers and some mocktails/virgin daquiris, so it was worth it for us to just keep her package. We got Free at Sea, so for the price of the gratuities vs full price on other lines, it just made sense.

I've taken 2 cruises from San Juan. The first one we flew in day of the cruise and took a cab from the airport to the ship...much faster than the ship transfer we originally booked. The 2nd cruise we flew in the day before and enjoyed exploring Old San Juan. First cruise we didn't get on board till after 2pm and were able to go straight to our cabin. Second cruise my FIL wanted to get there right as the doors opened and we ended up waiting in the "lobby" and then had to wait for the rooms to be ready. Neither of those cruises were on NCL. For my March '25 NCL cruise on Viva, we're planning to take our time and get some exploring in OSJ before heading to the ship...probably have the hotel hold our bags and then head to the ship about 2ish. For me it's just easier to get on the ship and go straight to my cabin and so much fun exploring OSJ.

The Vibe sounds so nice, but is it really worth it on a cruise with 7 ports in 7 days? We may only do half day excursions, so we'd get at least a 1/2 days use out of it...plus I've been to St. Thomas, so may just stay on the ship. Sailing Viva in March '25.

Great! Thank you! I've got time before I can even book. Since I only have 2 credits, I'll have to decide where I want to eat and if I should add more credits.

So are the "flat fee" restaurants not covered by Free at Sea? 1st time NCL cruiser and 1st time ever having a dining plan.