nasellemom1

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think we are going to DIY, rent a car in Anchorage, drive straight to Seward. Stay there for 2 nights, thinking between VRBO or lodge/hotel, doing a Kenai tour and maybe glacier hike, maybe send the DH and kids fishing. Then the last day we'll head back up to Anchorage, take the day to explore the area and drive North and then fly out the following day. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I had really thought about Denali, but sounds like between the distance to get there, road being washed out and other factors, we'll stick to Kenai peninsula. 

Hello, so we've jumped on the Princess sale event and booked a cruise, next June 19-26th 2024, Vancouver to Whittier. We are a family of 4 (kids 13&12) We are very adventurous and enjoy getting outside and seeing the world. We've booked our return flight (June 29th) three days after our cruise. My question is, should we just add the additional days with Princess as part of a cruise tour or on our own. I looked at rental cars through Turo from Anchorage, very reasonable. But between all the options of hotels, food and driving I'm not sure which would be best for our family. Is there anyone with some insight? Open to any suggestions. 

We are also running into the same issue, have our land portion in late May and there were tours listed, but they were all showing sold out. Went in a couple days ago and now the are gone all together. My best guess is it's still too early for the land tours, maybe they are readjusting after last season still. 

I would post this under the RC general page on CC as well. May get more traffic that way...just a thought. We are cruising to Alaska in May on Princess and Princess already has excursions posted.

We have a Denali Explorer cruise tour booked for May, I have the option to book excursions for the cruise portion now but just wondering when I'll be able to book excursions for the land portion. This is our first Princess cruise as well, so any helpful hints or tips for the land and/or sea portion would be greatly appreciated. 

We are on the same cruise, staying at the Hilton LAX the night before. We plan on taking an Uber to San Pedro the morning of. Depending on traffic we will plan to leave 1.5-2 hours early. 

1 hour ago, scooter6139 said:

 

That just shows the excursion that can be done at Cabo and Ensenada, nothing specific to December sailing date.

 

As I said in my original thread, we are also cruising a similar itinerary in April.  That one shows available excursions.

 

I'm guessing it's just a bug in this sailing.

I agree it must be a bug, but how inconvenient on our first NCL cruise..

1 hour ago, scooter6139 said:

 

I posted this exact same question as we are on the same cruise, also in a Haven.  No excursions have shown up since booking early May 2022.  Also paid in full.

 

 

 

I used the chat on NCL through my booking and was told I would need to call the Shore Excursions phone number. I have to wonder if it has something to do with only being a 5 night cruise not 7? 

We are booked for a Mexican Riviera 5 day cruise on the Joy in December. We are currently 128 days out and are booked in a Haven suite. I thought excursions would start showing up around day 130? Am I wrong or do I need to contact NCL? 

We have a Haven Balcony booked for Mexican Riviera in December.  My question is;  will I be able to bid on a bigger Haven, or since I'm in that's where I stay. Also, when will I be able to put a bid in if I can. First timer with NCL here, so any help would be appreciated!!

17 hours ago, tundra1 said:

We booked ours in September, and by January we could see the options for the land portion.  However, besides Denali, there are not many options.  There were 5 choices for Dawson City and 3 for Fairbanks (the Salmon bake / dinner theater, an Aurora Borealis viewing excursion to a Yurt, and the Chena Hot Springs tour),  I had heard that the riverboat excursion is really nice, but that is not offered to us.  Dawson City offered the Tombstone Park excursion, a couple of Gold mining excursions, Diamond Tooth Gerties, and a Top of the Dome excursion to an overlook above Dawson City.  I am hopeful that other options will still be available, but have not heard anything yet.  That is why we decided to rent a car.

 

Just so you know, our group was not offered any excursions in Skagway.  I think we arrive too late after the White Pass Train ride to do anything else.

Thanks for the information. I actually changed to a Y4l to include those extra 2 nights. I really for some reason want to overnight in Skagway. Hoping to have the opportunity to see the northern light at some point. That's a bucket list item for the family! 

On 7/2/2022 at 8:35 PM, tundra1 said:

I am guilty of being a "planner".  I like to have my itinerary somewhat laid out in advance. 

 

We are on the Y6L, which is 10 days total.  The dates are August 24-Sept.3.  I would have loved to take a longer land/sea tour with a 7 night Southbound cruise, but because of my work, this was the best option for us. 

8/22:  We are traveling two days early to Anchorage, on a non-stop flight from O'Hare which arrives at 1pm,  and then driving down to Seward for 2 nights. The choice was 2 nights in Seward on our own, or the overnights in Whitehorse and Skagway, and Seward won out.

8/23:  We have the Kenai Fjords Tour with Major Marine scheduled for this day.

8/24:  We have a kayaking excursion on Resurrection Bay planned for the morning, and then we drive back to Anchorage and meet up with our tour group that evening. 

8/25:  Train to Denali, with an ATV excursion booked from 7-10 pm.

8/26:  Tundra Wilderness Tour from 7am - noon.  Hopefully we can fit in a hike around Horseshoe Lake in the afternoon, and then attend the Music of Denali show in the evening.

8/27:  Ziplining in the morning, and then we take a bus to Fairbanks at 2pm, scheduled to arrive around 5:30pm.  We might do the Chena Hot Springs excursion that evening, but I am not sure if it is worth it. We might just want to walk to a local bar and listen to music somewhere in Fairbanks, instead.  Any suggestions?

8/28:  Fly to Dawson City, unknown time.  There are no excursions offered for this day, so I am not sure what we will end up doing or what our timetable will look like.

8/29:  We have the whole day to ourselves, so have decided to rent a car and tour the area on our own.  We were thinking about going to Tombstone Park for part of the day, but we don't have that mapped out yet.  Again, any suggestions would be welcome!

8/30:  Fly from Dawson City to Whitehorse, board a bus to Skagway, ride the White Pass Train, and board the Koningsdam ship for four nights. There is no overnight in Whitehorse or Skagway before boarding the ship. It would be great if the bus stopped along the way so we could see the sights.  I would also love an hour to spend in Skagway.  We do gain an hour on this day going from PST in Canada into Alaska Time, but this day still looks pretty packed.  That is why it would be helpful to know our flight time and White Pass Train time.

8/31:  Glacier Bay

9/1:  Ketchikan:  Electric Bike and Rainforest hike excursion planned.

9/2:  Inside Passage:  Rest and relax!

9/3:  Vancouver,  Our flight leaves at 2pm and is a non-stop to O'Hare.  I have to work the next morning, so we cannot stay overnight in Vancouver.  That is on the bucket list for next time!

We have the same itinerary booked for May 23, do you remember how far out you were able to book excursion for the land portion? We are able to book and see what's available for Skagway and Ketchikan but not the rest. Just wondering when I should start looking? Thanks. 

On 5/20/2022 at 12:53 PM, no1talks said:

Here is something I don't think you've experienced in NCL's Haven...

 

The Yacht Club dining room (Le Muse) on Divina is nearly all the way aft on Deck 15. Yacht Club proper is situated nearly all the way forward, on decks 15 and up. Accordingly, you'll have a bit of a jaunt to take for your YC meals. Some folks like the "meal walk" and other YCers prefer the layout on newer ships, with the YC dining room included in the Yacht Club enclave.

 

I did notice this, thankfully we enjoy a good walk before and after meals. I am curious as to why they chose this layout. 

Hey everyone. We just booked a 7 day Mediterranean on the Divina for August 23', we will be in the YC leaving out of Civitavecchia. 

A couple questions;

1. I just put down the deposit for now, is it normal to not see any information in my booking? I cannot even see what room # we booked, the only options are to upgrade our drink package, which I thought we get anyway for booking in YC? 

2. What are the main differences between YC and say Haven on NCL (since that's what we've sailed) I noticed a quite large difference in price, MSC being much less? 

3 What is the vibe like for kids in the YC, mine will be 13 & 11 when we sail, they are veteran cruisers, so they know how to behave. But do many cruisers look down on kids in the YC.

4. Is there any advice you would give, this is our first European cruise. Is there any huge differences between a US and European cruise. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Why is there such a large price difference between YC and Haven? I have a Haven booked on the Joy in December and thought I got a good price. Went to price out a Mediterranean with NCL w/Haven and was shocked, so expensive. Then priced basically the same itinerary with MSC w/ YC and it was half the price. We have not sailed MSC before and this looks too good to be true at this point. Also, for ship comparison it would be Breakaway vs Seaside. Any insight would be helpful.  

Just booked two connecting balcony cabins on the Spirit for June 23rd for $1400 for family of 4. UNREAL!! Plus, we live within driving of Seattle, perfect. We weren't planning on going to Alaska but how can you pass that up. 

2 hours ago, travelingman said:

Don't know where you have looked but below are a few links.

 

This one is a tour company but gives some info also.  You can switch the town to Seward also.   Of note is this: Whittier rental car options are limited and can be quite expensive. For travelers arriving into Whittier by cruise and continuing onto a self-drive land package, we recommend booking an Anchorage rental car and taking the Park Connection Motorcoach from Whittier to Anchorage. The Park Connection runs a special cruise transfer coach on ship days, departing Whittier for Anchorage at 9:45 AM.

i think this is good advise.  And, the same thing might apply to Seward.

 

https://www.alaskatravel.com/car-rentals/whittier/

 

Try this link for Hertz in Seward.

 

https://sewardhertz.com/

 

and this one for Whittier.

 

https://www.avis.com/en/locations/us/ak/whittier/wt2

 

Stan

Thank you Stan, this is exactly what I was hoping to find. We ended up booking Celebrity Southbound out of Seward, along with using Alaska Tour & Travel, we will have 4 days pre-cruise from Fairbanks down to Anchorage!!

I am planning a cruise for my family of 4 this summer to Alaska. We are interested in both Celebrity and Princess, we've done a HAL Alaska round trip before, loved it but would like to try another line. I am looking at either Northbound or Southbound with multiple land days, we don't really have a preference at this point, however I am at a loss when trying to find a rental car to do the land part. We would ideally like to go all the way to Fairbanks but I've searched multiple sites and can't find any vehicles available. We also considered doing the land and sea with HAL, is this going to be our only option? Any help and tips would be greatly appreciated all the way around. 

I can't really comment of the 2 year old, but we started taking our kids when they were 4 & 6. For us, the kids club is what makes this a great family vacation. My kids have always loved it and want to spend more time there than with us. Best part is at night, they can eat dinner in the buffet with their friends  and you can go enjoy a great dinner kid free (again, not sure about the 2Y) As far as the room goes, I always spent time looking for bigger or odd shaped room that are in the same category but just a little more space,  we've never been in an O/V but I find it best to give each kids their own space for clothes and shoes. And try to start the cabin out organized, and hopefully things go smoother. Also, maybe buy a shoe organizer that has many compartments and hangs and then each kids has a couple spaces that they can access themselves. When I pack, each person has one suitcase and then we have one maybe two carry ons, makes unpacking and repacking easier on me. Cruising Carnival is so amazing with kids, no need to spend the extra money on Disney... every employee loves to see the kids and interact with them, and remember there will be so much for the kids to do, you won't really be in your cabin that much. Hope you guys have an amazing time. 

Booked Chef's Table for the end of this month on the Breeze a couple months ago, had to pre pay but have never gotten anything from the maitra d as well....

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Tips: 

1. Read the terms and conditions so you understand the promotions you signed up for: https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions
2. Shore Excursions will be posted online as soon as contracts are signed with the local tour providers. You're on a megaship with 4500 passengers, so a popular tour in a small port will sell out before you board. If you have the ShoreEx credit, you must CALL (not book online) - read the terms and conditions
3. 120 days prior to departure (June 23) reservations open for dining and main theater shows. If you have specialty dining with your promotions, prime time reservations will sell out quickly. Book as close to 120 days out as possible (130 days if you are in a Haven suite). 
4. You can use your dining credit to attend the Cirque show for an upcharge. Always by premium seats. 
5. Always register your kids for the Splash Academy as soon as you embark. And then always make them attend on the first night so they make friends.
6. All complimentary dining is Freestyle Dining (you show up when you are hungry and when it meets your schedule). You will be given a 4-top table for your family alone. Complimentary dining include the Tropicana Room MDR, Taste MDR, Savor MDR, O'Sheehan's Grill (open for seated dining 24 hours a day), and the Garden Cafe buffet. 

Enjoy the Getaway!  10 Days in the Med is amazing. 

 

This is all so helpful, thank you so much. Is there anything I should look to purchase in advance, ie. spa passes, early boarding, priority for specific things... 

Hi everyone, we are a family of four (kids 8&10) We just booked NCL Getaway for Oct'21 for the Mediterranean 10 day. Super excited. But overwhelmed, we are usually Carnival cruisers but they did not offer the itinerary we wanted. I'm hoping to get some advice or tips for what to expect on NCL. I will look at the Euro board for all the flights, hotels, and excursions but I am hoping to get some help with the NCL side of things.  I've been looking online at the website and it seems to be a very different cruise line compared to Carnival.  Any advice will be helpful unless you tell me to cancel....not going to happen :) TIA

We are also a family of four, kids 7&9. I agree that around a $100 a  day is a good amount to plan for. If you don't spend that much great, but at least for us it would be enough. With the kids there is the arcade, any specialty dining you want to do, photos, gift shops, build a bear workshop, and drinks(milkshakes, soda) to name a few...We always think we're not going to spend a bunch as we pre pay gratuities as well, but it happens. Better to be prepared than not! HTH

Thanks for the quick response, I was afraid the answer was no. I guess we''ll have to find other things to do in the meantime 😉

2 minutes ago, jdemps said:

 It's hard to find suite perks because i don't think Carnival is very proud of them...lol

I was thinking along the same lines, not too much included, but still very excited!

Long story short, we are sailing the Breeze, end of next month. Today I upgraded us (4) to a grand suite. We had previously had FTTF but since we got the suite I cancelled FTTF, but my question is will our room still be ready right away w/o FTTF since it's a suite? I can't seem to find this info on Carnival's website. Thank you in advance, also any tips regarding the suites would be greatly appreciated!!