AKJonesy

I also suggest HAL and based upon what you said about your lifestyle. Even though I live in Alaska, we still do cruises because it's a less expensive way for us to get down to SE Alaska from where we live. In the summer, you will see more kids on HAL than once school season starts up but HAL doesn't really cater that much to kids anyway, so that's why we like it. It's more laid back. There are a few ships to pick from and a few itineraries. Weather really starts dipping down in September, but it's still lovely. No matter what time of year you come, you will still need to prepare for weather.

I would. I've been on the KF Tour and it was so rough and all I can say is that I kissed the ground when I got back. Maybe they should NOT have gone out. One thing I do suggest is that the day of if tickets are still available is to check the marine weather at the Harbor Masters office which is right by where the tour is. If seas are high, then make a decision. I also suggest people to the 26 Glacier Cruise as an alternative. Yea, nothing worse than being seasick and if you are prone, the other option are the drugs but that makes some people groggy. It's just not fun.

It's what I hear about on the boards as a big complaint. In the case of this poster, it's just the one day rental, but in the case where there are add on days, the cost of the car, gas, accommodation and food can get pretty far above what the daily cruise and taxes are. It's just another perspective and that is why I try to offer more options if there are options available IMHO.

I agree w posters who say get a rental so that you are not just stuck downtown and have limited options. Yes, I do think the Sealife Center and KF Tours are worth it, but if you can get a car, you can get into some great things to do. I am DOUBTFUL you will get a car this late. Not knowing your cruise dates, I put in some bogus dates on TURO in Seward and there were vehicles available. I have used Turo successfully; it's like an Air Bnb for cars. Check the ratings. I did see some 5 star ratings, and being that it's Seward, the car will probably be close by. So, that is an option. I like the nooks and crannies of places. Last summer, we had a wedding down in Seward and we stayed right near Miller's Landing. I always thought of it as kind of well worn, but we walked a block to Miller's Landing and had a nice breakfast and decent coffee and watched all the people getting ready to go out fishing. Very nice views from there of the bay. Don't worry about the bumpy road; it's only a few miles. The road to ML is right next to the Sealife Center to the right following the bay. Go over to Resurrection Art Coffee House for some coffee and pastries. It's not same old same old. You will enjoy it; trust me. Then head out to Exit Glacier. I noticed you talked about not hiking. You can drive to the visitor's center to get a sense of it and see the signs from where the glacier has receded. Pretty interesting. The glacier is viewable from the road. If you can walk up to the face of the glacier on the well established walkway; it's worth it. Trust me. Make it an adventure. You are not just here for the cruise and you gave yourself extra days which many people don't and it's a shame they don't. I like the other posters talking about a rental car and going to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and then I suggest Girdwood for dinner. Sure, it's a day trip, but the drive is lovely and there are photo ops along the way. In Girdwood, if you go, I suggest Jack Sprat; opens at 4 for dinner. No reservations. The Double Musky also a favorite opens at 5. No reservations. Lines do form so the earlier the better. You can take the Tram from the Alyeska Hotel up the mountain for fabulous views and you can get a little walk in up there. You will have views of the Turnagain Arm and the glaciers. There is a snack shop up there; don't eat there. Save your dinner for the suggestions I gave. If you are interested in this kind of thing; let us know and we can give an itinerary of more suggestions and times needed. You built in extra days which many cruisers do not; they fly in and get to their cruise. Our state has so much to offer. Allow yourself some additional adventures while you are here.

I just did a search for Hertz because I know they have a Seward location and the problem in addition to price is going to be availability. If the OP or others have a very long wait, it may be best to take the transfer and then get a car; if available or reasonable enough. I do agree, a car is best option for someone with a longer wait for flight then head down Turnagain Arm to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Alyeska for tram or hiking, Girdwood for dinner, etc...anything but sitting at airport. It's doable. Just don't stay down there too late in case of unexpected problems on Seward Highway.

The 26 glacier cruise gets back to Whittier at 6:20 and the Glacier Quest tour gets back at 4:45. If it were me, I would do the 26 glacier cruise. I think we got to Anchorage at 7:30pm.

Is that the thrifty Minnesotan in you? We are transplants born and raised in St. Paul and moved to AK 20 years ago.

also tagging @Steve in Omaha . @The Postman what is fairly inexpensive? Most of the complaints people have is on the cost of rental cars here. I have seen them in the $175 range/day. You can get them cheaper, but you need to be on it because they won't last.

Keep your eye on rental car prices and you might ask about that in a separate thread or read some of the cruise reviews or topics that include rental cars. Prices for rental cars are INSANE here and if you see a good price, you really do have to grab it. Will things get better in a year; I personally doubt it. Just an FYI to you. Another option depending on how many days pre or post cruise, you could rent an RV also and then you kill two birds with one stone; rental and accommodations. Accommodations are also insane here; at least at the hotels, and dumb down your expectations. A place that we normally rent in winter for $150 goes for $375 in summer. Just sayin.

I'll address a couple of your questions. I think you will be bored to death waiting in the terminal for an 11:50 pm flight. I don't know when you can check your luggage in, but if you are going to go out and do something, you want to have your luggage checked. Yes, you can take a bus to downtown from the airport. You would take the bus directly to the main terminal downtown. I will say it's a little creepy with some of the people there ( I'll leave it at that), but I have taken the bus and I feel ok about it. Now, saying that, you might just feel better off taking an uber or taxi from the airport and get dropped off somewhere downtown like the Visitor's Center cabin or somewhere like that. You can do a few things downtown and then you can also grab some dinner before heading back to airport. Downtown check out the Visitor's center cabin, the Ulu Factory down at Ship Creek ( a few blocks to walk downhill then back up), rent a bike or walk the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, the Alaska Law Enforcement Museum (free last time I was there), the Anchorage Museum (fee) make sure to take the free tour with the docent to get a little more out of it, Ship Creek to watch the people fishing, shopping, eating, etc. At the airport, you can walk over to Alaska Aviation Air Museum. It's a bit hard to tell you how to walk over there, but you can just ask someone. What I'm getting at here is that there is also small aircraft on active taxiways and then the road that leads to the arrivals and departures for the airport so you can either cross at your will there, or you can cut through the employee parking lot and head to the stop light then walk to the museum. I also recommend walking around Lake Hood looking at all of the seaplanes and watching the takeoffs and landings. Look at a google map then look at it in Satellite mode. Maybe someone can better explain this. I'll link you to some things later, but have to pop out for now. If you can rent a car (doubtful) and extremely expensive, you can get around anywhere to many other places. If you do that then we can give you more things to do.

Go to wind alert dot com. Wind alert would be all one word. Then near top go to Live Wind then just drag the map to that area. Sometimes I want to know how strong the winds are. Strong winds mean waves.

6123 perfect and don't worry about being behind the elevator. We were behind the elevator also and it was quiet.

I would be guessing only. Normally, when I post about noise, it is above or below areas where chairs and carts will be dragged or moved, where the music walk is because you can definitely hear that, or where the World Stage is because again, you can hear those performances. The casino? I don't know. Hopefully someone else can chime in on this.

No I have not stayed in 6102

It looks like your duplicate post was taken down. For anyone else, that's deck 6 in case you don't have the names memorized. There are staterooms both above and below the A staterooms so that is good. If I had to comment on any stateroom that could be an issue, it would be 6102. It has a connecting space not separated by a hall or space. I don't know what that small space is, but that is the only stateroom I might avoid. Everything else looks good to me.

You can always find something wrong if you want to. If you are talking about people; that's one thing. But, it seems like you are talking about HAL. IDK, I guess I'd like them to answer the phone more quickly, but covid did a number on people working, so really can't blame HAL. I guess if I could book a suite 9 out of 10 cruises, I'd be pretty happy. Honestly, I don't get the reason for the post.

We do have a few advancing glaciers which can be seen from various excursions although the majority of our glaciers are retreating.

You can keep your eye on updates directly from NPS here: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/conditions.htm Excellent information post #4

Antarctica most expensive but it was a bucket list. Recently we did a 14 day port heavy cruise to Caribbean and after the previous San Diego to FLL being a flop I wanted to have a port heavy cruise. We went on many excursions and ate many times at the specialty restaurants. Upcoming trip to SA for 31 days will probably end up being the most expensive because we've never done anything more than 21 days and prices are going up each year.

By any chance, can you link that. I can't find it.

OK a couple of things. I am linking you to a website to see if it will help you here: https://girleatworld.net/visit-japan-web-how-to/ Next, I don't think you need to do this at all but it is encouraged to make the process easier. So, in the end, if can't get it done, don't panic. But, the website might help. Next, I'm not sure HOW you are struggling. Are you struggling because the website isn't working for you? In that case, you MIGHT try using a different web browser. When I use BRAVE, some of the websites get a little funky, so when that happens I use Chrome or something else. Finally, go over to your Roll Call for YOUR cruise here on cruise critic and ask this question. You did not provide enough information for me to link you directly to your roll call so I can't do that unless I have your SHIP on Princess and Departure date. By now, your fellow passengers have probably completed this and they can help. If you can't find the roll call, just give me the information ship and departure and I will link you to your roll call.

If you do the stop at Alyeska in Girdwood, it is NOT free. It is free if you hike up but IMHO that hike is aggressive and you are exposed to the elements so you must carry water. You just can't do a quick drive by for Girdwood. The tram ride and the further hike up to where the glacier is commands at least 1.5 to 2 hours. If you want to just take a tram, then do the Juneau tram. It has nice views of the harbor and there is a shorter easier hike up top which I do recommend.

Antarctica. Bucket list once in a lifetime trip. The why is obvious. It's Antarctica.

The truth is NO, you don't see much of Alaska when you take a cruise only unless you do some kind of excursions you will be limited to what is at the ports. That is, if you just pull up and get off the ship, you will be met with the usual stores catering to cruisers. There are definitely things to do in the ports, but you have to put in a little effort to participate and I suggest you do. Look at whats in port dot com for Alaska and you will get a decent idea of what you can do there other than just getting off the ship and walking around. I personally don't like the combo of the cruise and the bus tour. You will spend a long time on the bus from either Whittier or Seward going to Denali National Park. It is definitely convenient and you will see some nice views but you don't get out when you want to and of course there is much you will miss, but again, there are things you will see that you would not see if you just did the cruise. But, I am speaking for myself. I don't like bus tours. It's hard to know how much effort you want to put into it and there are so many things you could do. You could do a pre or post cruise trip on your own. Keep in mind, that is going to take effort on your part and the prices here are very high. I mean VERY. So, I also like to recommend an RV trip. But, are you that kind of person that wants to camp vs hotel?. You can really get in there in an RV where you want and when you want. You can stop when you want, eat when you want, see what you want, etc. But, it's going to take some effort to plan that and you have to get on the other forum for that where all of those questions are answered everyday. A lot of people just end up doing the cruise combo land because at the end of the day, it's convenient to let someone else do the work and all you have to do is show up. You see a lot, but you have to endure the long bus ride. So there are plusses and minus's to both.

You didn't really give an idea of what kind of food you like. My husband just met up w some friends who were here on a cruise and the wife insisted on seafood. They all went to Simon and Seaforts and loved it. S&S has a nice view of Cook Inlet and it's downtown. It's walkable from the Hilton. https://www.simonandseaforts.com/menus/ Another place I like is Glacier Brewhouse. Again downtown. Both of these places have a nice atmosphere. Glacier Brewhouse doesn't have a view but decent food. They have their own flagship beers if interested. https://www.glacierbrewhouse.com/ Kind of a fun place on same street as Hilton a few blocks down is 49th State Brewing. Views, outside dining, decent food but more casual and it will be busier. https://www.opentable.com/r/49th-state-brewing-company-anchorage People like to go to Humpy's but it's overrated.