Juardis

The glacier cruises we're taking do not allow tripods. However, my tripod does have one of the legs that can be used as a monopod, but I doubt I even take that since I typically hand hold and I want to be able to point and shoot quickly. The tripod is mainly for our balcony on the big cruise ship and maybe out on the deck just so I can use a cabled shutter release and keep my hands in my pockets :)

It means that when you are on a small vessel and you are using a long lens - the smallest movement will take your shot away (make it blurry at the very least) Small boats tend to bounce and yaw a lot.

 

If you are on a small boat excursion, good luck!

 

Thanks all. The 80d is a 1.6x crop camera and I will be bringing my 10-22 and 15-85, just wondering on the 70-300. I think you guys answered it.

We're headed to Anchorage next June, going to Kenai Fjords and taking an 8 1/2 hour small boat cruise as well as the Prince William Sound 26 Glacier Cruise before boarding our large cruise ship headed south to Vancouver. Will pass by Hubbard Glacier and go through Glacier Bay. Other stops include Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, but none of the excursions we have planned there require a telephoto. We have a balcony room on our ship and I plan on taking my tripod.

I have a Canon 80d. I have a 70-300L. For Kenai Fjords, Prince William Sound, Hubbard Glacier, and Glacier Bay, I am seriously considering renting something longer to take in place of my 70-300. At this point, 100-400L II, but could be talked into something longer I suppose. I see the value in having a longer lens, but not sure I'll need it. A question though.

If I rent a 100-400 (or even a 150-600), is 100 TOO long. I mean, in Kenai Fjords we could, theoretically, be within 100 yds of whales (or closer) and I'd hate to have a lens that was too long in that situation. Maybe that's a problem while on the big ship too? That would kinda steer me to a 18-400 for example if 100 is too long (or 150 if I rent a 150-600).

My main lens is a 15-85 so I'm covered on the short to medium length. Just questioning my long lens choice.

P.S. I emailed them and they stated they can store our luggage.

You are correct in your assumption. The first glacier you'll see on your cruise ship is Hubbard. Taking the 26 Glaciers Tour is a great idea. We plan to take it just before we board the Golden Princess.

Wow, what a great trip report! And your son is so precious! It looks like all three of you had a great time. Thanks for taking to time to post a trip report.

I can't confirm how many they accept per day but we had a group of 10 this past June. We used 2 coupons for 8 of us. Since we were a group of 10, that filled the plane, they gave the remaining 2 of us (without a coupon) 20% off.

A big thanks to you, cruiseguy1016! It was your trip report that got me interested in the TAT and the Northern Lights coupon book. What a great deal!

and do they only accept a certain number of coupons each day ?

Sorry I did not ask that question.

Thanks mapleleaves! We called TAT and confirmed there are no time restrictions.

I've read the 25% off coupon for Talkeetna Air Taxi tours at Denali was available in the 2017 Northern Lights coupon book and was good for a party of 4. Was the coupon restricted to certain tour times? The 2018 coupon book is not available yet so I'm unable to consult it for the fine print. Thanks!

K 2 is an excellent vendor, I've flown with them several times. Are you only there 1 day? It can be an advantage to book early flights, then perhaps have the chance of rescheduling. I'd actually hit the flights options at my first available, if a priority. Schedule at your first opportunity, if you are round trip Anchorage.

 

I have flown all the routes, and my clear preference is always the summit flights. No greater example of the beauty and vastness. :)

Thanks Budget Queen. Unfortunately, there is only 1 summit flight and it takes off at 6:30pm on the day we're there and we need to be back in Anchorage that night. So yeah, 1 day only in Talkeetna and summit flight not an option.

After my cruise this June, ... then drove up to Talkeetna the next day. From there, I took a flightseeing trip into the Alaska range, and I was very fortunate to spot Mt. Denali. We flew right past its peak, and landed on Ruth Glacier. That's as far as I got into the Denali national park.

Hi OhJinkies (I sound like one of the 7 dwarves :)), we're going June 2018 and, pre-cruise, heading to Seward first, then Talkeetna . Just wondering what flight seeing company you used in Talkeetna, which "tour" did you choose, and what time of day did you fly? We're thinking K2 Aviation, the 2nd most expensive tour (Grand Tour w/ Glacier Landing), and leaving around 11am. We weren't planning on driving to Talkeetna the night before, but we could if getting the 9:00am flight gives us better odds of getting the flight in due to weather. Thanks.

We only had about 4, 4 1/2 hours to tour Mallorca. We were originally supposed to have about 7 hrs, but NCL shortened it to 5 hours, so realistically, that left us with 4 to 4 1/2 hours to tour. We booked Miguel Corral with mallorcatourguides for a private tour. The dude is very professional, very personable, very flexible, and spoke English pretty well. I booked him for a private tour for my family of 4 when I thought we had 6 hours in port. We settled on an itinerary that mainly included a stop and tour of the Castle, then a minivan ride to Valldemossa, Deia, and Soller with stops in Valledemossa and Soller. Well, when we finally got off the ship, we changed the itinerary on the spot given the new time constraints and did the Castle (with quick tour, but quick is all you need there), trip to Valledemossa and about 30 minutes to walk around (we could have stayed longer if we wanted, but we didn't), then a quick drive over towards Deia and a stop at a VERY scenic bluff overlook. After that, we went back into the city down by the Cathedral and walked around for a couple hours. Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and the Cathedral was closed for the afternoon, but a tour of the neighborhoods around the cathedral was both relaxing and interesting. All and all, a most enjoyable afternoon and I highly recommend it. I feel we saw the best of the Island in a short period of time. Even my 22 and 25 year old sons enjoyed it.

Dinner and show at Tablao Cordobes, right on Las Ramblas. Very intimate, close up setting and very passionate dancers. The real deal.

My family seconds this recommendation, but just to clarify, it's dinner THEN show, not dinner while watching show. The food was OK but the dancers were great. Even my 2 sons (22 and 25) liked the show. I wasn't sure what to expect but I enjoyed all of it, from the singing to the guitar players to the dancers. All of them seemed to be "into it". As stated above, very passionate about their art.

I did extensive research trying to find a hotel room for four adults (me, my husband and our two sons who's are in their early 20s). After countless hours, I gave up and booked two rooms at Hotel Jazz.

Hi Michelle,

Not the voice of experience here but your itinerary is very similar to what I am planning in July.

 

On your embarkation day, if you are doing the tour with BDT, ask them if you will be in a vehicle that can take your luggage as well. We are doing this and BDT will take our luggage with us and drop us off at the port. Gives us a little more time and saves the cost of a taxi to the port.

 

Cheers

Steve O

Steve, That's a great idea! I have sent BDT an email to see if they can do the tour and then drop us off at the port. Thanks!

Yes, take a look at Kayak to get a general idea. We are paying $1150 per person for a direct flight from Charlotte, NC. We booked about 5 months ahead. I checked a couple weeks later to see if prices had gone up or down and they were up to $1300. I've read the airlines will NOT be dropping prices due to oil/gas prices going down. Bummer!

Your plan appears to be workable.

We used Barcelona Day Tours for a four hour tour of Barcelona and it was great. We saw all the Gaudi structures.

 

We did Montserrat on our own, and saved some bucks, but you are limited by time. Doing Barcelona and Montserrat in one day will be a long day for you.

 

Don't miss going inside Sagrada Familia and go up the tower.

 

Also, here are some tapas and restaurant tips:

 

Regarding our tapas tour, one of the restaurants is located on the corner of a large market about 100 yards east of the Cathedral Square, across the street from the Gothic area. The name of the restaurant was Cuines Santa Caterina.

 

We had dinner at ATN, which was located close to a Roman excavation of tombs just off Las Ramblas on Canuda Street. The restaurant was open, even though it was about early by Spanish dinner standards. We had a wonderful meal with great service. Separate checks were not a problem with a party of six and credit cards were accepted.

 

The next day, we had dinner at small tapas restaurant near the Plaza Sant Just on Palma De Sant Just. That restaurant, Bodega LaPalma, was not modern like ATN, but small and rustic. The tapas were excellent, with large servings for very reasonable prices.

Thanks for the feedback and the restaurant information! I'm also glad to hear that you had a good experience with BDT.

Is your cruise round trip Barcelona? Ours was and we were able to Montserrat on the way to the airport. That gave us 2 and a half days in Barcelona pre-cruise. On one day we took the train to Girona.

Hi, yes, we are round trip Barcelona. We won't have a ton of time though to get to the airport on the day of our departure. Thanks!

I'm trying to pack in as much as possible during our pre-cruise visit to Barcelona. I’m hoping you kind folks can help me fine tune my itinerary. We are a family of four with sons who are 22 and 25 years old. They don’t have any interest in art so no Picasso or Dali sightseeing for us. We do want to see as much Gaudi as possible and would love to squeeze in a trip to Montserrat. We arrive Friday morning and our cruise departs on Sunday (we have to be on-board no later than 4:00 pm). I have spent countless hours on these boards and trip advisor, and below is what I have come up:

Friday: We are scheduled to land at BCN at 8:45 am. We’ll take a cab to the hotel, which is near the Las Ramblas, and drop off our luggage. If we’re lucky, we will make the 11 am Runner Bean Old City tour. If not, we can DIY using the Rick Steves’ guidebook. After that, we’ll wander along the Las Ramblas and then head to the hotel for a brief nap (I doubt I’ll sleep a wink on the plane). I’m thinking about making reservations through Barcelona Day Tours for their dinner and flamenco show at 6:45 pm. I know the flamenco dance is not native to this area but still want to see it.

Saturday: I’m thinking of booking the 8 hour Barcelona & Montserrat combination day tour through Barcelona Day Tours. It includes Park Guell, which is on my must see list. Plus, my husband and I really want to see Montserrat. I’ve already booked a tapas tour through Barcelona Taste at 7:00 pm. Hopefully, we’d be back in time for that.

Sunday: I’m thinking about booking a 3.5 hour Gaudi tour through Barcelona Guide Bureau. It includes entrance into Casa Batlló and Sagrada Familia, which are on my must do list. Hopefully, the hotel will store our luggage while we’re touring. When we get back, we’ll take a taxi to the port.

Is the above itinerary too ambitious? Is there a better way to see everything that I’m trying to pack in? I’m a little nervous about touring before getting on the ship but would rather see Gaudi than sit by the pool. Our first day is a sea day so we’ll be able to re-charge then. Any insights on how I can fine tune or improve this itinerary would be greatly appreciated!Thanks! Michelle

Thanks for the detailed review. I'm sure it helped a lot of folks who are getting ready to sail.

We were on the May 31 Liberty sailing, the week just before you, that went to the Western Caribbean. I agree there was too much smoke in the Promenade area. We also loved the band called Music Boardwalk. I also miss the live band by the pool but did enjoy the Serenity area that had some shade. We had a blast overall, as did the two other couples with us.

We were on the Liberty last week and loved it! The crew works hard and every meal was great. I loved the shaded area with chairs on the Serenity deck. You could also go up to a counter nearby for food. My only complaint was the cigarette smoke in the casino/promenade area. We loved the band that played in that area but hated the nearby smoke (I'm super sensitive to it). You are going to have a wonderful time!

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Hey there billys5764, I'm enjoying your pre-cruise blog. We are also from NC (Charlotte) and will be on the May 31 Liberty sailing. Like you, I don't think I will use a TA again. I had the same experience as you. Mine seem irritated when I insisted she contact Carnival to see if we qualified for a price drop. We did, to the tune of $127 for the two of us. That's not a huge sum of money but worth it to me.

Back in 2008, we took our son on a high school graduation cruise. The friend he selected to invite was his girlfriend and she too was only 17. I did not have a letter from her parents and didn't need but probably should have one just in case of a medical or other emergency. The girlfriend and I shared a cabin while my husband and two sons were in the adjoining cabin. We had a great time and I'm sure you will as well!