JohnGinPBG

Love this great collection, scubacruiserx2!

Here's a hooded merganser mom and chicks in Haines, Alaska last year.

Silver Shadow at anchor in Sitka, Alaska and also sandwiched between two biggies in Juneau.

34 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

Super appreciate these great pictures, details and these helpful follow-ups.  Keep it coming!!

Happy to oblige! It's fun to relive our wonderful vacation last year.

Your day 2 will be a long one on the bus. Suggest you sit on the left side today for the best views.

The highlight for us by far was the visit to Martin Buser's sled dog facility. Martin is an engaging guy, and his dogs are wonderful. The visit with the dogs, the orientation to the Iditarod (where Martin is currently racing) and the sledding demonstration were all fascinating.

Unfortunately, it's a long way from Alyeska to Denali, but the views improve as you get closer. You'll be thrilled to arrive at the Grande Denali Lodge, which is a wonderful property. And the payoff inside Denali on the next day makes all the travel worth it.

40 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

Look forward to any and all suggestions, tips, best loves from doing this trip, etc.  Plus, visuals, etc.  Fire away!!! 

Our 2018 Silversea pre-cruise Denali trip was very well organized and featured spectacular scenery and great wildlife encounters. Here are some tips and highlights for day one.

Suggest you sit on the right side of the bus going from Seward to Alyeska to get the best glacier views. 

Alyeska resort is beautiful and really first-class. I highly recommend the mountaintop Seven Glaciers restaurant  for dinner - the food and views can't be beat. We ate in the bar and had a fine light supper. On the cable car ride down, we spotted a mother black bear and three cubs milling around very close to the hotel. Very exciting!

If you're looking for a fun activity, you could take a hike on the Winner Creek trail to get into the Alaskan wilderness. Not too strenuous, and you can go as far as you like.

Here's an insider tip - they hid our coffeemaker in the closet. Came very close to not finding it!

3 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Denali, etc. As we have experienced, it is important to consider carefully BOTH your pre- and post-cruise options.

Terry, Are you doing the Silversea Denali trip? If so, I have a few tips (and several hundred photos!).

For anyone visiting Ketchkan, here's a tip. If you have an extra hour, there's a very worthwhile museum with historic and beautiful native totems and art - the Totem Heritage Center. It's too far to walk, but you can get there on a 10-minute ride on a free city bus. Get away from the t-shirt shops and experience authentic native culture.

A short story about that incredible sunset. It started out great and kept getting better and better. The small group of passengers at the stern kept growing as the color in the sky became more intense. 

At its peak, the group was almost screaming in delight - it was a phenomenon unlike anything seen before. The sky was on fire. And then a rainbow appeared and was unlike any rainbow anyone had ever seen

It was the last night of our first-ever cruise and it happened to be July 4th, so the "event" had special meaning for us.

Terry, keep an eye out at the bow sailing north through the inside passage. Sunset alert!

We sailed from Seward to Vancouver on the Shadow last June/July. Had a starboard cabin.  First full day was a sea day and Hubbard but was overcast and rainy so not much to see. If it had been clear, we might have possibly seen  18,000 ft. Mt Saint Elias on port side. As for Hubbard, the captain turned the ship full circle several times so both sides could get a good view. As for on-deck viewing,  crowding was not an issue. The opposite was true.

Agree with Unibok on the inside passage. Either side gives great views. We spent lots of time on the deck outside the Panorama lounge with 180-degree views including two spectacular sunsets on the final two nights.

One tip. We approached Vancouver early in the a.m. and passed under the Lion's Gate bridge around 6:30. We were the only people on deck to capture this. have a great cruise!

On 2/24/2019 at 3:11 PM, TLCOhio said:

On 2/24/2019 at 2:25 PM, GolfMommy17 said:

how/where do you get info on how many ships/passengers are in port?  that is very interesting information!  and i agree with all your comments about how wonderful the tips are!  happy sailing!

There's a wonderful site called cruisemapper.com that tracks every cruise ship in the world in real time. You can also look at every port worldwide and review ships that will be there on a given day. Plus many other features. Highly recommended!

We're sailing on the Cloud in May 2020 from Dublin, up the west coast of Scotland with many island stops and then on to Iceland. 

Any info on excursions on this itinerary would be appreciated.https://www.silversea.com/destinations/northern-europe-british-isles-cruise/dublin-to-reykjavik-e4200529012.html

2 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Where and how best for sampling sea otters, raptors and bears?  How is best to avoid the massive crowds, etc., while doing these four specific locations in Alaska?  

 

 

Terry,

I may be wrong, but I think the only place you'll see sea otters is Sitka. If you want to avoid the crowds in Skagway, take the ferry down to the non-touristy town of Haines. Beautiful surroundings and lots of good excursions offered by SS and a local company called Rainbow Glacier Adventures. On our photography tour, we were the only people, so we essentially had a private tour.

In Sitka, we had the ultimate whale watching adventure with Captain Paul Davis of Gallant adventures. His boat only holds 6 passengers, so he can go where the bigger boats can't. We had whales so close to the boat that we got sprayed! Add to that close-up sea otters, a grizzly, seals and a massive sea lion, puffins and thousands of other sea birds and it was an unforgettable 5-hour trip. He even maneuvered the boat into a cave! It was the highlight of our entire Alaskan trip and worth every penny.
 

Hey philw1776,

We did the pre-cruise Denali trip and it was excellent. The tour operator was fantastic - all details handled with style. 

We had incredible weather and got a great view of Denali on the Tundra bus and then again the next day. You spend A LOT of time on the bus and trains, but they are comfortable, the scenery is great and there are no alternatives if you want to see Denali. We spotted grizlies, Dall sheep, caribou and moose - the big four!

The Grande Denali Lodge is an amazing location and the food is good. The stop at Martin Buser's Iditarod dog place is a blast!

At Alyeska, we took the tram to the mountaintop for dinner and cosider that a must. Outstanding fod and views. On the way down, we spotted a mother black bear and three cubs right in the back of the hotel and wandered over for some closer pics. The next morning, had a super hike on the Winner Creek trail.

Hope your trip to Denali was as great as ours.

We did Alaska last year on the Shadow and it was incredible!

In Sitka, we independently booked a whale watching/wildlife tour on a 6-passenger boat and it was amazing. Lots of whales up-close, sea otters, a grizzly, seals and sea lions, puffins and thousands of birds. The captain even took us into a cave. Highly recommended. Contact Capt. Paul Davis at Gallant Adventures.

If you like to hike and save a few bucks in Juneau, we took the Mt. Roberts tram and then hiked way up into the mountains. Great views despite some rain. Followed that up with a bus to Mendenhall glacier and more hiking.

We did theMisty Fjords float plane in Ketchikan with Island Wings on a rare sunny, clear day. They offer a longer tour than the others and included a landing on a lake. Good value.

Enjoy!

We sailed last June from Seward and did the pre-cruise Denali trip through Silversea. I believe they offer that on all Alaska cruises.

The last leg of that trip was a train from Girdwood to Seward and there were many Silversea passengers on the train besides the tour group. The train didn't get into Seward until about 6:00 PM and as soon as we were onboard we had to rush to the muster drill. The train was, I believe, a regularly scheduled Silversea-only run from Anchorage.

Bottom line is we didn't board until after 6 for our 7 PM sailing so I don't think you'd have any problem boarding at 5.

You'll love Alaska! We did the 4-day pre-cruise Denali trip. Pricey and lots of time on a bus but well worth it.

To the 2019 Alaska cruisers, if you want a whale watching/wildlife adventure of a lifetime, check out Gallant Adventures in Sitka. Captain Paul and his 6-passenger boat take you places the larger boats can't go. On our 2018 excursion we saw many whales up close, sea otters, sea lions, hundreds of birds and a grizzly. Go for the 5-hour tour and you won't be disappointed. Book early as he fills up quickly.

You should not feel disappointed or misled by this survey. It's simply market research and every company does it. The Silversea CMO didn't create the survey - it was 99% likely done by an outside firm. They know that probably 10% or less of people will complete the survey, but that's OK. If you don't want to answer the questions, don't.

As for their objective with this survey, Silversea wants to learn about their future customers. I sailed on the Shadow this summer and would estimate that the average age of the passengers was about 65. Twenty or 25 years from now, these folks will not be cruising. Silversea needs to reach out to the next generation of cruisers at some point and they're just trying to gather some information that will help guide their future marketing.

Don't take it personally. (And I can't believe you posted the entire survey.)

Thanks for the great videos! We sailed on the Shadow in Alaska in June, in Suite 531 BTW, and your video really took us back to our wonderful cruise.

We sailed on the Shadow in Alaska this year and are booked on the Spirit for next October. I have been dealing directly with a SS representative.

Before I booked the Alaska cruise, I asked the rep if he could provide something extra to "sweeten the pot". He immediately offered roughly 5% of the cruise fare per person OBC, which certainly came in handy.

For the Spirit booking, I simply asked for some OBC and he again threw in the 5% pp. I believe SS agents are authorized to include the 5% OBC if asked. He didn't even have to check with his boss.

Good luck!

I personally loved the Bvulgari toiletries. especially the soap and shampoo. A question: Is it tacky to stash a few away (every day) to take as Silversea souvenirs?

It did not detract from our overall enjoyment of the cruise.

Given old menu at lunch, ordered items that were no longer available. New menu delivered and dropped on table. Starter chips and salsa arrived at same time of main dish. Four different waiters at dinner. Hot rock not hot enough to cook steak Still raw after 10 minutes. New stone no better.

Davey, we considered scuttling our Spirit Cruise after your scathing report, but betting on them making fixes in the next year.

We considered an Alaska RV tour and here was our takeaway. RV rentals are very expensive. Roads and RV parks are very limited. From Anchorage, you can basically only go north on one road. This can take you to Fairbanks and beyond, but I'm not sure you would see anything better than the train route from Anchorage to Denali.

If I were to do the trip again, I'd arrange a trip to Kenai Fjords or Katmai National Parks. My opinion, the scenery would be much more spectacular.. Tours abound. They're expensive, but everything in Alaska is.

Take a look at this: https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

Working on the next once-in-a lifetime now. Two weeks in the Swiss alps, two weeks in northern Italy and a cruise on the Spirit from Venice to Athens.

One tip for Haines - the best (maybe only) tour company there does a great job and can fix you up with something that suits your interest. https://tourhaines.com/ Great group and very knowledgeable about the area.