seadancer

Great to hear! All we'd ever heard of was the beaches. Pink sand is neat but we like to do several other things too. Is this a location where you can do different tours? We usually contact local companies ourselves instead of paying through the cruise line.

I read that the US dollar equals their dollar. Are most things that someone might want to buy reasonably priced or expensive? I read above that a case of soda was $30!

We'll have 1.5 days there. What shouldn't we miss?

Thank you again!

This is our first time arriving at this port and we'll have to fly home on the same day. We are thinking about taking a repositioning cruise. How far is the port from the airport and how much should we expect to pay? Is the Newark airport the closest to the port? Would 2 hours give us enough time to go through security?

Thank you for your help and input!

DH and I usually cruise the Caribbean and I've been thinking about going to Bermuda. We don't frequent the beaches but have been known to go every once in a while. We don't drink alcohol but love to try local food.

Any suggestions to explain to DH what there is to see there? What activities could we do? What about excursions?

Thank you for your help!

Thank you all for your input! I guess we'll eat lunch late and hope it lasts us until after 7:30. It might not be a big deal, it's just that we will be on the excursion from 4-7:30 and we usually eat at 6. We'll adjust! [emoji41]

This might sound weird but when the Infinity leaves port late in the evening (Icy straight point, Juneau and Ketchikan) around 10, 8, & 8:30, does the ship change the dinner times so we can go to Blu or a specialty restaurant to eat?

We know we can go to the buffet but in ISP, we arrive at 3:30 and go on an excursion at 4 that will last 3.5 hours. We would be returning between 7:30-8. We would rather eat at a sit down restaurant on the ship, rather than at the buffet.

Anyway, I guess it's not the end of the world![emoji4] I was just hoping for suggestions. One idea we had was ordering room service before we dock and take some sandwiches on the excursion to tide us over.

Thank you!

I recommend you wait until the Fall to look at hotel rates. Maybe even January. At this time, hotels have not set their prices for 2018. If you do choose to book a hotel..... book it with a cancellable/refundable rate as you are likely going to find something cheaper later in 2017.

 

Looking at a similar date for June 30, 2017 with 3.5 months to go as an example on booking.com in USD for two people.

• $158 Days Inn
  
• $203 Century Plaza
  
• $209 Blue Horizon
  
• $216 Rosedale
  
• $224 Empire Landmark
  
• $257 Holiday inn
  
• $266 Sutton Place
  
• $295 Auberge
  
• $343 Wall Centre
  
• $343 Hampton Inn
  
• $381 Westin Bayshore
  
• $381 Pan Pacific
  
• $388 Fairmont Waterfront
  
• $394 Shangri La
  
• $399 Marriott Pinnacle
  

• $224 Raddison Vancouver Airport
  

YWCA shows a room with a bathroom for around $115 USD.

 

Keep in mind.... June 29, 2018 is Friday before a long weekend. There is also a fireworks show during the weekend. Thus you are choosing to be in the city at peak rate.

I used Orbitz and was able to book a great price for our hotel. I normally don't wait until so close to the date, 3rd of June, but I had to wait for my tax refund. I'm glad I did! [emoji16]

Thanks for the suggestions for breakfast restaurants too!

OP - if you're in the Sutton (or a nearby pricier hotel like the Fairmont) Boulevard might be convenient/cheaper than a hotel buffet. Not somewhere I'd be going to as a breakfast destination though. Medina, Twisted Fork, and Catch 122 are the great brekkie spots I recommend as worth going out of your way for; if it's just one convenient to the pier then De Dutch pancake house or Scoozies are the relatively good bang for your buck options.

 

Tip your cabbie, maid, airport porters as you would in the US; you don't have to tip at the pier (the Longshoremen are very well-paid and signage is in place attesting to the No Tip policy). Given your short stay, I wouldn't bother with getting CAD.]

 

Thank you for the above suggestions for breakfast. I'll have to look at google maps to see if any of them are walking distance from our hotel. We didn't want to have to take a taxi to breakfast and then to the dock.

 

You've all helped a lot. We really appreciate it! Any further suggestions would always be welcome. [emoji16]

Of course, it's all speculative right now...we're way more than 330 day prior to the cruise. However, based on this year's flight schedules, I estimate that we will arrive in Vancouver 4:10 PM local time the day before the cruise.

 

I am not sure we're allowed to mention private tour operators... are we? Regardless, we haven't booked with them yet. I'll post a question to them right now on their Facebook page about whether they have restrictions on hotels they'll pick us up from.

 

My fault... I'm sorry for that. I didn't think my question would balloon.

We have 76 days to go! [emoji322][emoji16] We can't wait! Any other suggestions would be welcome! We're thinking about eating breakfast at the boulevard kitchen and oyster bar. Then, grab a taxi to go to the dock to board the Celebrity Infinity!

Thank you all for all your feedback!

Thank you! We might have to wash them ourselves and then hang to dry. The clothes we are taking shouldn't be washed in hot water and need to be dried in low so they don't shrink.

We are going to Juneau and Ketchikan.

Thanks again! [emoji2]

Thank you for all your input. We arrive at 6pm the day before the cruise and leave at 1pm the day the cruise arrives.

Our plans are dinner around 7:30, breakfast the next morning, taxi from airport to hotel, taxi from hotel to dock and taxi from dock to airport. Someone mentioned taxi drivers can accept credit cards. What is the norm for a tip for the taxi driver?

Yes - there is one close in Juneau. I can't think of where it is in Ketchikan.

Thank you for your help! We will look for it when we arrive!

This will be our first time in Canada and DH and I had several questions:

1) Should we exchange US dollars for CAD? For tips for taxi to hotel, dock and airport?

2) We are supposed to tip at restaurants, etc. right? We know some Europeans don't so we didn't want to insult anyone.

3) What is the norm for tipping housekeeping at a hotel?

I know some of these questions might sound silly but I know that different cultures have different ideas and opinions about how to do certain things (customs). I'd like to follow the correct customs while we are visiting Vancouver.

Thank you!

Some of the nicer stores do ship home.

 

There is a post office on the main street in Skagway.

We're going to Juneau and Ketchikan, not Skagway. Does anyone know if there is a post office near the dock?

What was Seabreeze like? I've been fascinated by the old liners operated by Premier though I've heard both horror and love stories of the Premier product. I saw a video of the Seabreeze on Youtube and remember reading about its sinking in a book when I was young(er). It looked like a perfect retro and vintage liner to sail on. I saw your comment and thought I'd ask what stuck out to you about the Seabreeze.

By today's standards, it was small and intimate. She was a classic liner (built in 1958- under the name Federico C.) and it felt like you were truly going on a journey instead of a hotel like today's modern large ships.

Don't take me the wrong way....I love cruising on the mid to small size ships but there was something about those cruises. It was the first cruise I took DH on. He loved it and has a collection of items he has acquired from E-bay!

You could tell the crew loved the ship and you could see that by the way they acted.

Research Dolphin cruises because it was a better product under that company name than under Premier.

Either way, I shed a tear when I think of her at the bottom of the sea. Although, I would rather her be where she is, instead of being broken by the ship breakers in India.

Does anyone know if the gift shops mail them for you or do we have to find a post office? [emoji15]

You mentioned "clothes for a month"; since the typical cruise is 7N and the longest is a 9N and some sort of B2B would still be less than three weeks, you must be adding a week or two of on-land days. Finding a self-service laundry on land seems like your best option if you do not wish to use the ship's laundry.

No. That was just me exaggerating! Sorry for the confusion!

Thank you all for all your information! I really appreciate it! Does anyone know how long it would take to disembark if you take your carry on (only luggage) with you? For example, going through customs off of the ship?

I really don't want to do laundry on vacation but we are going to Alaska and don't want to bring enough clothes for a month. Airlines can get pricey with suitcases, etc. so, DH was wondering if there is a place where we can do our own laundry [emoji849]instead of giving it to the cabin steward and having the ship wash it in hot water (concerned it will shrink).

I told him I'd ask but I doubted anyone wants to do that on a cruise. I figured we could wash the clothes in the sink and hang to dry.

Any ideas or feedback would be welcome! Thank you!

Sailing on the 4th of June and flying home on the 11th. We are flying in on the 3rd to try to see part of the area and eat before falling asleep. The time difference between the east coast and Vancouver is a concern. We don't know if we'll be able to sleep on the plane.

Does anyone know how much a taxi would cost from the airport? Do we pay in US dollars or should we get Canadian currency before we leave (our bank?)?

Again thank you for all your feedback!

Thank you Urban trekker and martincath! Great information and ideas! We were planning to get Global Entry. Do you think NEXUS is better? Thank you again and everyone continue to give your information and feedback!

Doable....

• 7am dock
  
• 7:30am first walk offs where you carry your luggage yourself
  
• 8:15am catch cab
  
• 9am arrive at airport for your 3 hours of check-in, customs, and searches. Luggage, carry-on's, WMD's, ULU's, liquids, food, electronics, body, hand, and the random complimentary private VIP secondary experience.
  
• 12pm.... wheels up with dreams of returning to Vancouver as you ran out of time.
  

@seadancer: Which ship and date are you on? Need to plan for contingencies for multi-ship days.

Thank you! Celebrity Infinity. What did you mean about "need to plan for contingencies for multi-ship days"?

I also wanted to thank all of your wonderful feedback! Please continue especially if you've done a round trip from Vancouver! This is our first time.

Alaska cruise with only a carry on?

 

How is that possible?

No jeans, layering clothes, 3 in 1 jacket, pants, quick drying clothes and rolling clothes to pack. Since it's 50 ish degrees it should be fine.

I can't take my gowns but I was told that Alaska cruises are more laid back.

You can look it up on you tube "how to pack for a 7 day cruise" or "Rick Steeve's how to pack for Europe". Eagle Creek has one too.

DH has been wanting to do this for a while so we figured we'd give it a try.

It's an adventure! [emoji38][emoji322]

We were told that Infinity will dock at 7am. We don't want to do a "red eye" so we were wondering if we have enough time to disembark, drive to the airport (cab), and fly to Orlando (international flight)-carry on baggage only.

Thank you for your help!

We were wondering if anyone had experienced a fishing tour in Alaska. My DH likes to fish and was wondering if there were great tours in Juneau or Ketchikan.