wolfie11

April 17th

I’m coming over from Japan and doing two more cruises after that. I’ll be one of the lecturers.

I will be on this cruise as well.

Fat Bear Week at Katmai National Park October 2-8. Vote for your favorite pudgy ursine!

If you want to wait until 2026, Virgin will be cruising Alaska. They have frequent sales and include a lot you would pay extra for on other lines. Plus they won’t spend half your time onboard trying to sell you overpriced art or hook you up with a shopping host. The food and entertainment are amazing.

Google your excursion name and 2025. Plenty of independent vendors will pop up and you can see their prices for next year.

Not sure why you would want to go to Anchorage as it’s a long trip for nothing much there. You would have to rent a car from Avis in Whittier.

Viking. Small ships, easy to negotiate and not as much walking. Lots of others in their 80’s onboard. Free included shore excursion. Good food.

I was on the Panama and South America cruises earlier this year. I played Zoom trivia with my group at least twice from the ship on my phone with no major problems.

I don’t understand why your excursions were non refundable. My understanding is that if you book a shore excursion with Viking and the port is cancelled, your money is refunded pretty much immediately. If you booked independent, third party excursions through someone like Viator, this is in no way Viking’s problem. Ports are frequently cancelled or changed especially in areas of the world where weather can be marginal. It’s up to you to be aware of the cancellation policies of a third party excursion and it’s the risk you take for saving some money by booking independently.

Worked for me a few hours ago.

Late July is on the early side for Neets and it is only black bears, no brown bears there. Hubbard small boat for me is a must do. The ship seldom gets closer than 3-4 miles and often over 5 miles from glacier.

There are 73 registered whale-watching boats in Juneau. They all go to the same locations and watch the same whales. They are in constant contact with each other about where the whales are feeding. Agonizing over whether your particular whale watching tour is better than someone else’s is pointless. In fact, the more responsible and ethical your captain is, the less likely you to have a great whale-watching experience. On busy ship days this year, passengers complained that there were too many boats (I heard up to ten) surrounding the whales and they never got in close to see them. NOAA is watching carefully, especially the small boats that only take six passengers, to make sure they’re not crowding the whales and disrupting their feeding.

It never makes good financial sense to sail empty when they could have paying passengers. I can see sailing the Suez empty, because, you know, bombs, but not the North Pacific. I have done that transit in April before and it wasn’t bad at all. I’ve done it in May with 20 foot seas. NCL starts sailing Alaska in April and by May 11, there will be plenty of ships already there.

I’m wondering if they’re waiting to give the Orion more time to fill up. Frankly mid-April’s not a great time to be in the northern Pacofic.

Much ado about nothing. The ship took a medium size piece of ice on her port side and as the ice floated down the side of the ship “bank effect” pulled it in and it grazed the side of the ship. No damage, although the paint might have needed a quick retouch.

If you look at the Alaska port schedule it shows the Sea (now the Venus) arriving in Vancouver on May 11. We know she’s arriving in Tokyo on April 17, so those would be the dates for the North Pacific Passage.

I’m looking at the Venus from Tokyo to Vancouver North Pacific Passage cruise April 17-May 11, 2025.

Officials reported one passenger was airlifted to Whitehorse Hospital in serious condition but no one else was seriously injured.

Posted by the Naturalist on Royal on Facebook. He’s over the moon at getting within 1000 feet of John’s Hopkins. He’s been on Princess for 16 years and it’s the first time he’s been there!

The only shows on the big ships that I like and go to are on Virgin. I refuse to set foot on a Monstrosity of the Seas ship, which is where the big box lines are putting all their effort into shows. Not only are the productions on their smaller ships insipid but the crowded theater is a great place to pick up COVID.

The Falklands are the most frequently missed port in the world. I’ve been there a number of times and am batting about 50-50. The Falklands Islands are the best for penguins outside Antarctica. Volunteer Point and Bluff Cove are the best spots. You won’t regret it. You will see plenty of the countryside driving out to the penguins. Stanley is small but tons of history. I usually do my penguin tour and spend the rest of my time walking around town taking pictures. It was a repair station for sailors my ships demasted while sailing round Cape Horn, and a whaling town.

I’ve been up there a number of times on research boats and small vessels. It’s a beautiful place. I’ve seen a few bears close to the entrance and hundreds of seals. There are several glaciers back there and John’s Hopkins is even more impressive up close. Also, a chocolate waterfall!

After September 1 cruise ships are allowed to go up John’s Hopkins Inlet. It’s a very rare treat to do so. I’m assuming you did cross the line and proceed up the fjord instead of sitting at Jaw Point for an hour.

Hubbard is regulated by the Forest Service. I don’t think it’s technically part of the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. It’s out of the way on a Southeast Alaska round trip so the only cruises that usually visit are one-ways. I have been on Princess southbound ships that do both Glacier Bay and Hubbard.