thegoaliegirl

My Mother in Law recently did. She purchased two items and both were horrible. One was supposed to be a top, instead it was a very long dress. The other item was way off as well, nothing like was pictured. She says the return process is hard, so she might not even return them. So of the two items she purchased, she was happy with 0 of them.

Last summer I did the 6 hour tour with Major Marine to Holgate Glacier. Plus: saw lots of sealife (transient Orcas, Finn Whale, stellar sea lions, harbor seals, otters, puffins, etc) and the Glacier was amazing. The lunch was nice. Cons: there is a stretch where it is very rocky and 2 of the 6 of us were motion sick and missed some of the trip. Still,. it was really nice. I believe the 5 hour (with Major Marine at least) is more protected. We booked over Black Friday weekend and got a GREAT price. We had a rental car, so no bus or train experience.

My personal vote is for DIY, especially since you said "we like scenery, wildlife, moderate hiking, and adventure." There is a lot to do in Seward. I'd suggest spending a few days there- take a boat tour to Kenai Fjords (I did the 6 hour with Major Marine, book Black Friday weekend, can book open ended dates and still get best price) and another day do Seavey's Ididaride dog sleds and Exit Glacier as they are near each other. Exit Glacier has some nice trails and great views of the Glacier, even if you don't hike all the way to the glacier. Byron Glacier (near Portage Glacier and the Whittier turn off) is another easy to hike to glacier but would not work if you are taking the train. After Seward, then take the train to Anchorage.

I had a great experience with Seavey's in Seward- but I do not believe they are in Skagway. Going on the assumption that you meant Seward, it is a small scale business and their only income comes from when they are doing tours but their expenses are still high, as the dogs still need to be fed. In fact, their food costs will be higher, as they also received the leftover buffet food (prime rib and salmon) from the Kenai Fjords boat tours. Please have patience while they figure it out. No Alaska season is going to be hard on the AK economy.

Princess has a great kids program. Dining room has a good kids menu and the buffets have lots of kid friendly options. On the Royal, they had a section of the buffet for "kid friendly" foods (plain pasta, mac and cheese, etc). Kids clubs are for ages 3 and up and my kids (now 6 and 8 ) are crazy about the kids clubs.

I was there in August and while we didn't book one- there were many people selling whale watching tours while we wandered town. Don't remember the prices but there were lots to choose from.

I booked independently and biggest difference was that we had a bit of a walk to the depot (flat and easy). Our car was not incredibly packed- we had plenty of room on board and no issues being outside in the viewing platforms. Passed other trains and they seemed way more packed than ours.

I have not sailed in one but have priced them several times. The base fare is for 4 passengers since it is essentially two staterooms with extra living space. You don't get the 3rd/4th person discount- instead that starts at passenger 5. Passengers 1-4 are the same rate.

My kids are older but I’m still planning on going on our cruise. Planning on bringing extra meds/entertainment for kids/snacks. Also trying to make sure I have sanitizer/sanitizing wipes for hands before eating.

If you are checking bags, the earliest you will be able to check in will be 3 hours before your flight. After checking in, going through security then Canadian and US customs you will be in a segregated part of the airport. There are several restaurants, shops, etc as the area is rather large. I loved pre-clearing customs as it was so much faster than if we did it arriving back in the states, as I only saw a few people, not an entire plane full of people.

You are so very welcome. My kids are 6 and 8 and our last cruise was in Aug and they still ask at least every other day, if not daily, when their next cruise is. That gives you an idea of how much they loved their 2 cruises they've done so far on Princess.

Princess cruises has 3 ages groups for their kids clubs. The youngest group is ages 3-7. Then it is 8-12. So while your oldest is still 7, then they will be in the same group as the 4 year old. My kiddos absolutely love Princess and the kids clubs. They do a great job with them and there are so many activities for them all day (with lunch and dinner breaks).

I think the minimum age is 8 but no clue where I saw that. I don’t know if I will ever feel comfortable with my six year old in an upper. She is always upside down or sideways in bed. Until she stays put in her sleep, she won’t go in an upper, regardless of how old she is. I think not moving around in their sleep (and being old enough to be aware they are on an upper bunk) is more important than an age per say. My oldest was 7 the first time she went in an upper bunk.

My kids are 6 and 8 right now and we just booked their 3rd Cruise (our 5th) on Princess. For us, Princess is a great fit. There are kids but not over run with kids, so they all seemed better behaved. On our early Aug southbound sailing on the Regal there were 76 3-7 year olds and 147 8-12 year olds. Kids seemed to get extra attention from cruise staff, especially the younger ones. My kids love the kids clubs. Quite a few family activities onboard.

Are you going on the Royal? Know that it can only fit under the bridge in Vancouver at low tide. We had to leaves Ketchikan early to make the tide into Vancouver. Could mess with the ships arrival time. If flying to the US, you will pre-clear US customs. They say to allow 3 hours. We did it in less (checkin, Canadian customs and then US) but we had no wait to check in for our flight. Bags to the US cannot be checked in before the 3 hour mark.