gpb11

Yikes. I would have ditched the cruise if I had to pay $900 to get back on. I do agree with one of the posters that they could have had some time in the Keys.

Looking at my credit card bill from my drive-to-KW trip in July with my wife, $900 doesn't get you very far... Even with port fees refunded, they possibly came out ahead by getting on the ship. :cool:

We tried FTFF once. It was nice to be able to go straight to our cabin, ditch our stuff, and change to go up on deck.

The time we needed assistance at guest services it was nice to just walk up to the side-line and get served quickly. Got a pissy comment from some sour faced harpy in the regular line though, I guess she didn't realize there were two queues. Just ignored her.

Made no difference at our ports since we didn't have tenders and we didn't have excursions we were hurrying to.

Debarkation had no benefit from FTTF since we usually do self-debarkation anyway.

As for availability, it's showing as available for the cruise we have booked for later this year but have only paid deposit on. I don't think we'll buy it though.

Sorry, box wine is not allowed.

Are you saying it's not listed as allowed or are you saying you've actually been denied bringing it aboard? If so, which port?

@new_cruiser_75 - nothing in the policy talks about boxes, it only talks about bottles. So, you'll be taking a risk bringing boxed wine even if you were together. That said, we've taken boxed wine a few times with no issues. Usually three 500ml boxes though a couple times we've taken a pair of 1L boxes. Never tried boarding separately though. I'd not have much confidence in bringing two 750ml bottles solo either.

Yes, you can bring sodas on board from the ports of call. Same rules apply, 1 12pk of unopened cans per person.

Thanks, that is what I expected but it's been a couple years and things change.

(I didn't find it specifically addressed in any of the policy/FAQ docs)

Any current info on bringing canned sodas in from ports of call?

JMHO but I'd say "none". Put away the myriad screens for a few days.

The 2 best things in Fairbanks in my opinion are the car museum and the Alaska museum. I spent several hours in the museum and have been to the car museum 3 times - the first time for almost a full day. It is one of the best car museums I have ever been to.

 

With regard to North Pole, I would personally disagree w the suggestion that you visit the place. We drove through the place and the best part of the town was the restroom in McDonalds.

Great example of how different personal preferences can be.

• We did visit the Santa Claus House in North Pole AK and enjoyed it, bought some gifts for family. We knew it'd be kitschy.
  
• We then drove out to Chena Hot Springs. We were reminded of Cocoon and left disappointed. Probably pretty neat in winter, not so much so in June.
  
• We enjoyed hiking up to Angel Rocks a lot more. Great day hike if you have the mobility to do it.
  
• We have zero interest in a car museum.
  
• The Museum of the North was neat, but I wouldn’t go back. Being the last day of our trip it repeated a lot of what we'd seen or heard about previously.
  

On CC, I've seen photos where people saw sea lions (seals) & otters - we didn't see any of those animals on our early June cruise.

 

On our next AK cruise we chose July so that we could see bears

In early June this year we saw plenty of sea lions and otters. Also saw bears in Denali and on the bus ride back down from Carcross.

In all of our backpacking trips we've never bought or had the need to use any bear spray. We always put a couple of small brass bells on our packs that make a little noise. Bears don't like noise and will go the other way when they hear you coming.

Agreed, I've done tons of backpacking and never carried bear spray. Not that it isn't appropriate for some circumstances, but cruise ship passengers are very unlikely to be in those circumstances (disregarding those who actively seek a Darwin Award).

Reminds me of the technique for determining the species of bear from its scat (feces) if you should find some on your trail. Black bear scat tends to be smaller, contains plant fiber and the remnants of berries, and sometimes some squirrel fur. Grizzly bear scat contains bells and smells peppery. :cool:

Thoughts....

• in your planning.... which month's have you short listed. May is cool and cheap. September is wet and cheap. July is warm and statistically dryer.... it also cost more. June has more daylight.
  

With Denali in the mix, be sure to know the dates for when the shuttle and tour bus route lengths change.

What is walkable from the HAL hotel, the west mark?

I mentioned Thai House on 5th earlier, we ate there and it was very good. It's a fairly close distance. There are some others also within a block or two of there. Check out Yelp for descriptions, reviews, and locations. Use Google Street View to go up Noble to 2nd and 3rd streets and down those to Barnette. You'll see what I mean.

The on-property restaurants were good too and not out of line with the other options. Don't automatically assume them away as a possibility.

Also - there's not really a "HAL" property and "Princess" property since both companies are divisions of Carnival and jointly operate the land tours/properties under the "Holland America Princess" company.

I'd like to know where the hotel is in relation to downtown. The map looked like it was in center of everything

See https://goo.gl/maps/wXn83As5gMz

The Westmark is a little bit southeast of what one might consider "downtown", but there's also not a lot there in "downtown". Fairbanks seems very spread out and not concentrated into a central downtown area based on what I saw.

The above is based on two nights at the Westmark in June this year and our wandering/driving around.

The bath robes were put in the room for a purpose.

Certainly. Where you seem to differ from others is in your interpretation of that purpose. IMHO they're for when you're in the room and *maybe* even if answering the cabin door. They're not for strolling through the public areas. That's *my* opinion though.

They are absolutely appropriate attire to wear to the pool/hot tubs/spa. To put on street clothes over your swim suit, and to get those clothes wet when going back to your room is silly. If you have a normal bathing suit cover up, that would be ok too.

I respectfully disagree on the first point, and the second situation would be a sign of poor planning. A pool cover up or t-shirt is fairly typical, with a towel wrapped around you on the way back if needed.

Those that are offended will be just that: offended. Shouldn't have any impact on you- or your choice of cover up. Enjoy the hot tubs!

Each to their own. Speaking for myself, I try to be respectful of others sensitivities. I consider it just a part of living in society. I realize others may not share that view and will do whatever they feel like without a care in the world for the others around them. That is certainly their prerogative.

Too bad the Volendam doesn't have them. We really enjoyed sitting in the aft hot tubs on Noordam in early June as we left a couple of the AK ports in cloudy drizzle. :D

One thing though... the hot tub air jets were blowing *cold* air when engaged, which wasn't that enjoyable. After the first time we didn't hit the bubbles button again.

Also, they have a bicycle-share program as an option to consider, though I don't know if there's a location near your hotel. See fairbikes.com for more info.

I have also seen them eating in the Lido in robes.

There's always a Cousin Eddy aboard the ship it seems. :eek:

I am unsure specifically since we were at the Westmark a fair ways away. We at at Thai House "downtown" on 5th Ave and it was good. We also ate at Sam's Sourdough Cafe and it wasn't terribly expensive relatively speaking. They may be a bit further than you wish to travel. Also remember that Fairbanks is not exactly a low cost place. ;)

I do suggest checking something like Yelp if you don't get much in the way of suggestions here.

We did a Mendenhall & Whale Watching "photo" oriented tour through HAL that was handled by Gastineau Tours in Juneau and had 12 people, so a little bigger than your 6 people. We also did the Kenai Fjords w/ Fox Island Dinner tour in Seward via Kenai Fjord Tours.

While there is certainly overlap, the two were substantially different. I'd certainly recommend both if you can do so.

Also realize there's a bit of luck of the draw in weather and whale activity. In Juneau it was gray and cloudy, and the humpback whales we saw were not doing a whole lot. Still worth going as we were up close with some stellar sea lions. On the Kenai Fjords tour not only did we have much better weather than either Juneau or Glacier Bay for glacier viewing, but we also encountered a humpback that was breaching over and over and over. For our trip, the Kenai tour resulting in lots more great photos than the Juneau tour, but it could also have easily been the reverse. No way to know until afterward. Knowing what I now know today I would book both of them again.

Juneau:

Kenai Fjords:

why do Americans, if you travel, not all have passports

I suppose the basic reason is that with such a huge variety of different places to visit without leaving the US, many Americans simply don't have a need for one.

Is there a better itinerary to pick? Which one has the best ports? Haven't picked a cruise line yet as we want to see which ports are best 1st.

Start by figuring out what "best" means to you... it means different things to different people, and others idea of "best" wont' necessarily match yours.

Since you know nothing about Alaska, Coral's advice is spot on.

Begin by learning what each of the ports has to offer. Consider if you want to go inland too. Then you can decide which of those things are important to you and that will help immensely in figuring out which itinerary is best for you.

Most people here will tell you to chose the cruise line last. Choosing where you want to visit, how long you have for your trip, when you want to go, etc. will often narrow your choices down substantially. Then consider how long each options spends in the ports you're visiting and compare. It may turn out that your choice of cruise line is made for you by your other preferences.

To be honest I never use my debit card at home either, only in my banks ATMs. I've had fraudulent charges on credit cards three times over the years. All three times the credit card company identified the activity. Only impact was activating a replacement card and remembering to use the the new number in future transactions online. (I don't do auto-pay so didn't have to make any changes there)

A friend had her debit card number stolen and her checking account cleaned out one afternoon before her bank called her about it. She got it sorted out with the bank and got her money back, but she had a nightmare of a time dealing with bounced in-flight checks and ACH bill payments. Hours on the phone.

Imagine that happening while on a cruise and offline for a week?

Of course the OP is going in September. ..far from any midnight sun.

Yes, true for the OP. Though still handy if they stay up late and don't wish to be bothered by a 6:30am sunrise.

I was replying though to Sequim88 who expressed a concern about the "midnight sun" and I tossed out a suggestion that I thought might be helpful to any others concerned about such matters.

We booked our first ever inside cabin for next year on the theory it will get us on-deck more - plus much darker in the midnight sun.

Which reminds me... we were very happy we'd packed a handful of wooden clothes pins. They really helped close up the gaps in the curtains in our cabin and the subsequent hotel rooms during the land tour.

Just about all establishments take debit cards for payment, just as in the U.S.

Not responding specifically to you, Lady Arwen, but using you comment as a discussion springboard.

Worth a read: Nine places you should Never use your Debit Card

I have a couple of different no foreign transaction fee credit cards that I use when travelling abroad. My debit (ATM) card never touches anything but my bank's branded ATMs.

Right by the pier in Ketchikan is a sign and rain gauge displaying how much rain they get there every year and it was just an unbelievable amount of rain and it wasn't quite mid-July. Now I can't even remember if I saw that in Juneau or Ketchikan?

That would be Ketchikan. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchikan,_Alaska

Average of over 150 inches precipitation per year.

Southeast Alaska is a temperate rainforest. It has that climate designation for a reason.

(from http://www.pitt.edu/~mabbott1/climate/mark/Images/Thumbnails_of_Alaska_images/thumbnails_alaska_images.html )

she would like to be able to have some private time on our balcony and just wondered which side would be better

Heh, just remember they have lots of video cameras on the ship and those balconies may not be quite as private as they seem!

As for "which side":

Except on sea days where any land is a blip on the horizon, you'll have pretty scenery 360 degrees around you. If I were booking another trip tomorrow I might book the opposite side from last time just for variety, but more likely I'd book whichever cabin had the quickest/easiest access to an open deck.

We sailed out of Vancouver and our port side balcony was nice for viewing Stanley Park as we went by. I can't speak to Seattle though.

Ports... Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, all were channels so great viewing each side as we came in and great viewing as we left going the other direction. We were port side to the dock in Juneau, Skagway, and Seward. Toss of the coin there as I understand things, you may dock either way.

As we departed from Juneau and Ketchikan we were sitting in an aft deck hot tub so side of the ship mattered little. :D