GlitterFemme

For what it's worth, whale tours out of Juneau were still seeing humpbacks in mid-October 2023, so seeing them isn't out of the question.

I haven't, but only because I stopped eating red meat before I learned to cook. So I can't be the target market for this class 🤣

As part of NCLH Oceania should sail out of Pier 66, and this year's schedule shows it doing so https://www.portseattle.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/2024 Regular Season Sailing Schedule 3.14.24_0.pdf

Initial booking for the classic and premium beverage package are both on sale for 35% off on one of my upcoming cruises. (The other doesn't have any savings for the flash sale...it's been fascinating to see how much lower the prices are, and how many more sales there are on top of the lower prices, on an Eclipse sailing to Bermuda than on an Edge sailing to Alaska.)

Does it have to be exactly eight characters? My passwords are much longer than that, and when I changed it I got into my account again, but trying to log in on the app or log out and back in on the website I got the "password incorrect" message again.

As others have said, you should be able to enable WiFi calling (this should be done in advance) and then, when you turn on airplane mode, turn WiFi back on. It's not true that airplane mode doesn't turn off WiFi, but it is true that you can turn it back on while leaving Cellular data off. You should also be able to just turn off roaming on your phone, so it doesn't connect to the ship's Cellular tower and rack up roaming charges. That's the concern here. If you do that you will still be using WiFi to call and text though, so you should still set that up in advance. The ship will be on local time, so you don't need to worry while in port, but the best thing to do is to disable "set automatically" under "time zone" in your phone's settings. (This might be phrased different on an iPhone but the setting should still exist.) Ship's time changes overnight to avoid confusion. There will be a note left in your stateroom letting you know to set your watch back one hour overnight. Once you disable the automatic time zone setting you can do the same with your phone, by selecting Anchorage/Alaska/GMT -08:00 as your time zone. Otherwise your phone will switch at whatever point the ship actually crosses the line, so it won't be accurate for shipboard activities.

Thank you, this is so useful! Do you recall if there were sections of the menu he couldn't choose from or if everything was available for the flight?

Thank you! That's so helpful.

I'm traveling with someone who wants to see a pink sand beach and is extremely (medically) sensitive to sunlight. They'll have all of their UV-protective gear, but I was also thinking of taking the shuttle to Horseshoe Bay Beach either early in the morning or late in the day when the sun isn't so strong, just to walk on the beach for a bit and get to experience it. How late do the shuttles return from the beach to Royal Naval Dockyard? If we go over in the evening, do we risk missing the shuttles back, or are they still going close to sunset? We're not keen to get up at sunrise on vacation but can if it's the best way to do things. We'll be in Bermuda in mid-May, so not yet the full-on summer season but it seems like things should be starting to pick up by then, and there will be two ships at the Dockyard.

When I asked this question I was told there is both a 24-hour pass option and a 60-minute pass option. If you really need an hour or less it sounds like you should be able to pay for just that.

I was thinking of asking to take a photo of whatever list the cabin attendant has, for the same reason!

The last shuttle from downtown Ketchikan back to Ward Cove will be scheduled for 11:45am, so unless your independent excursion will be returning you to Ward Cove, you should plan to be in line before that (and remember the shuttle pickup point is itself a bit of a walk from the more downtown piers). Everyone's comfort level is different, but Ketchikan via NCL is one place I would personally think about doing a cruise line excursion, to be sure of being back on time. Especially with the 1:15 departure. When I was there in October departing Ward Cove at 4 (last shuttle from downtown 2:30), I just had breakfast and walked around town for a while, and that worked out well. You can pick up a downtown walking tour map at the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau if you want a little more structure. For start time, we docked at 7 and I think as one of the first people off the ship I was downtown about 8, so yes, I would do 7:30 at the earliest if you're booking an independent tour. (Ward Cove schedule: https://wardcoveak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2023-Ward-Cove-Port-Schedule-7.17.2023.pdf)

Thank you! Nothing is "of course" for me when it's about a place I haven't been yet.

If there's no single-use plastic, do they serve iced drinks in glass? Is getting a hot drink in a mug an option (if I don't bring my own), or just paper?

Is it normal to get an email confirmation when signing up for Go Green? I've signed up for two upcoming cruises and not had any confirmation, but posts I've seen here led me to believe I would still be enrolled. So it sounds like they don't send out email confirmations, but then are sometimes refusing to award points without "proof" it's impossible to have? Have others gotten email confirmations? Should I ask my stateroom attendant to write something out for me?

It looks like in 2024 it will be 90 minutes before departure, so the last shuttle would be 2:30 https://wardcoveak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2024-Ward-Cove-Port-Schedule-w-Shuttle-8.29.23.pdf

Yes, but are the same desserts available at lunch? That's the part I always hear people raving about.

I believe you'll find the verb form is "ellipt" 😂 and to do Pilates is to pilat.

If the excursion out of Key West is the most important part of the trip for you, Key West is only a four hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale. You could rent a car and go before or after your cruise so your bucket list experience isn't dependent on a port stop happening as planned. Doing it that way you might also be able to choose a day no ships are in port, and avoid the crowds.

I'm ready for part two but I'm also really curious why you'd prefer to be the only solo cruiser on the ship.

Everyone talks about Sagrada Família but I think my favorite Gaudí site was Casa Milà. It's gorgeous; it had IMO the best, most informative and engaging audio tour; and there's an exhibit on Gaudí's furniture and fittings (door handles, etc) and how they were designed with the human body in mind that I absolutely loved. It also has the advantage of not being a church, for those of us who are not super comfortable in churches. My other favorite place I went was the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site. I think it doesn't get talked about as much because Gaudí is so synonymous with Catalan Modernism and architecture in Barcelona, but it was stunning. There are exhibits both on architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and on the practice of medicine during the time the site was a functioning hospital. And for me it was just mind-blowing to be in a hospital that was so beautiful. That's not something we expect hospitals to be, and it changed the entire feeling of being there. I hope you have an amazing time. I only flew in one day early and did a whirlwind architecture tour (I also saw Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Casa Vicens, and many of the facades on the Passeig de Gràcia) and I would go back for longer in a heartbeat. I would particularly love to make it to the Palau de la Música Catalana and see more of Lluís Domènech i Montaner's work. A caution since I wish someone had told me: Sagrada Família's ticketing site is clear about how many stairs are involved in doing a tower view (there's an elevator most of the way up but you have to take the stairs down), but it doesn't really talk about what the stairs are like, and while I could have figured it out knowing they were tower stairs, I didn't think about it. They're very narrow, slippery stone spiral staircases, with no handrails on either side and only emptiness up the center. It's also mostly dark, since there are only windows on the outside. The view was lovely, but it can be seen from elsewhere, and if I had known what the climb down would be like I would have skipped it.

I did it alone in October and I am not a hiker. (I'm reasonably fit, just not sure-footed.) There were a couple places with more incline than I would have preferred especially with everything pretty wet, but it was fine. And the dawn views from the point were worth it. There's also a pretty view from the Skagway Footbridge on the way to the hike, if you don't end up having much time.

I was there in mid-October 2023 and on a nine-night cruise we never had a night that was clear enough to see them even if they had been out.

I will also say that I was planning on walking somewhere from Ward Cove this past October, and watching out the window on the shuttle I didn't feel good about the road actually leading in and out of Ward Cove, which didn't look great for walking at all, let alone if a shuttle had to get by you while you were on it. And the North Tongass Highway didn't look great for walking on either. I love to walk and to check out local coffee places, but after getting back from town I decided it wasn't worth investigating the place a mile from Ward Cove if it meant walking on those roads.

The last shuttle will be listed as 11:45am https://wardcoveak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2024-Ward-Cove-Port-Schedule-w-Shuttle-8.29.23.pdf