SoloAlaska

On 6/22/2023 at 8:29 AM, Trueblueky said:

DW and I take several medications. We plan to stay in Spain for a while after the cruise. What do you do with medications? I figure to bring 4-weeks, just in case. What do EU and Spanish require?  Bringing original pill bottles doesn't make sense. Do you need copies of prescriptions? Photos of bottles? Is reentry to US an issue?

Bring original bottles is the best practise on all international travel. One tip is you can always ask your pharmacist for a smaller bottle with the label on it. Have your pharmacist dispense one month of each of your meds before you leave and your set to travel.

5 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Agreed. 👍

Most cruise lines put solos together on large (8 to 12) tables on "traditional" dining (first or second sitting), same table, same time, same waiters, same table-mates each evening.

I get quite envious of them cos they tend to be lively tables, head off together to other venues, and go ashore mob-handed.

Ships also put on get-togethers for solos - a breakfast, a drinks get-together etc early in the cruise.

 

JB 🙂

Celebrity didn’t last year when I cruised. It was a table for two against a wall for me. So I made friends and joined another table with a spare seat.

I did my first cruise solo to Alaska at 32 (F) and it was a pretty low occupancy (post pandemic). The one thing I found was that the crowd I met dancing the night away was the active fun people. Get out there and give people a smile and you’ll meet people. Don’t hide in your cabin is my biggest piece of advice. 

This sounds like you could be lining up one incredible adventure. Once across to Europe you’ll find traveling around without a flight very possible. The train system is incredible. A repositioning cruise to Europe and then back after the season is over is a great way to give yourself several months to travel wether by cruise or land through Europe. There are some solo cabins on different lines. With celebrity the cruises I’ve looked at were pretty much the same price for a dual occupancy interior or a solo balcony. 
 

One piece of advice is when you go to book make sure you’re able to be assigned to a communal table in the main dining room. I found the only part I didn’t like about my solo cruise was sitting alone for dinner. 

Since I saw my doctor (9 days ago) I’ve lost 6#. It’s more of a drop than I feel comfortable with but I know over the next few weeks I should get into the routine of 1 to 1.5# a week. 
 

To fit into that dress I was mentioning before I should be back to my pre cruise weight of last September which I found this week. 8# in 8 weeks is very reasonable for me right now.

Now to drink some water and make sure I stay hydrated.

This year will be my first time traveling with an injectable medicine. Since I will only use it once onboard it would be a waste to get a sharps container. 
 

Can I just go to the medical facility to give myself the injection and dispose of the needle there?

This will be on Millie this September 

Not all adapters have surge protection. We never use “fancy” adapters but instead by the very simple ones and make sure our devices are compatible. Items like hair straighteners in particular make sure they are dual voltage depending where you are using them in the world.

On 3/24/2023 at 4:29 AM, jclinard said:

You've missed the point.  

 

I've pulled up the last policy I bought. 

 

The first item is regarding losing baggage.  Everything I really need (medical equipment / prescriptions, electronics) is in my carry on.  The cash value of my clothing isn't very high.  The bigger problem would be replacing the items, but they don't offer a personal shopper to do so.

 

The second item is baggage delay.  Same issues.

 

The third and fourth items relate to medical and medical transport.  I've repeatedly stated that medical insurance should be purchased.

 

The fifth and sixth item is trip delay coverage / trip interruption.  Most of the qualifying events are not applicable, such as being called to military duty.  Delays aren't really a concern as I always travel a few days in advance of sailing.  Certain disasters / terrorism / war from the port of embarkation is likely to have the cruise canceled, in which case I can collect a refund (for both air and sea travel) from the cruise line (I learned to use their air services to cove this)  Death is unimportant as I don't need the money if I'm dead.  Sickness / injury, unhabitable house, or theft of passports are the remaining items that are would be covered.  The latter is unlikely as I keep my passport in a secure place.  I live in an area that has a low risk of natural disasters.  This pretty much leaves sickness / injury, or getting in a car wreck on my way to the airport.

 

My next planned trip has total cost of around $8,000, including airfare, cruise cost, and pre-booked hotel.  That would be the limit of my loss in the event I'm too sick or injured to travel.  I can afford that.  If I'm too sick or injured to travel, I wouldn't relish the thought of trying to file an insurance claim when I'm in that condition either.

 

The policy doesn’t offer a personal shopper but one can often be provided for free if shopping at the right store. We have experienced lost luggage in the last year and after that experience always travel prepared. List of measurements and style guide is saved in the cloud if our luggage is lost it just takes a quick email to a retailer and they can provide us with 90% of our missing items next day by mail (or next port).

My message is travel prepared and know the fine print as you’ve said.

I travel frequently enough so I choose to purchase an annual coverage. For under $300CAD I have medical and trip interruption etc for the year. Young and single with no major pre-existing conditions. The policy doesn’t cover everything but it covers what I need it to.

I just got an amazing new iron and can’t wait to use it. I don’t iron my clothing often but I’m a quilter and sewist so I iron quite a bit for that. My grandmother irons everything however which I find adorable. She’s the only person I know who irons even her underwear.

On 7/4/2023 at 8:30 PM, Travel-and-See said:

A couple of weeks ago I jumped on a last-minute deal to sail from Seward Alaska to Vancover on the Millenium. Last year I did an Alaska cruise on the Solstice and loved it so I was excited to return.  I'll try to keep this quick but please feel free to ask any questions and I'll go into more details. 

 

I flew into Anchorage and took Alaska Railroad down to Seward on the day of the cruise, I've visited Seward before so I had lunch and coffee in the town before I walked over to the cruise terminal. I was the only passenger checking in at the time so it was very quick and easy to get on the ship.  Once onboard I checked in at my Muster station (I watched the safety videos at the coffee shop earlier) and then settled in and explored the ship.  

 

CABIN - I really like Celebrity Cabins. I had an inside cabin on deck 2 (cause it was cheap $)  and I thought it was very well designed and functional. Smaller than inside cabins I've had on other Celebrity and Virgin ships, but still very well laid out and functional. The Cabin was serviced twice a day. I also really like the high quality soap that Celebriy provides. Little details like that really add up. 

 

BUFFET - The buffet is well designed with a good mix of seatings. It feels modern, but it also feels a little "modern nursing home" if that makes sense? I don't know... it seemed like it was designed to be both modern and for old people. There was a nice variety of food but the quality varied quite a bit. I felt the quality of buffet itmes was definitely a step down from my trip on the Solstice last year. The "Chef Special" station always had a long line. They used some sort of liquid egg to make scrambled eggs and omlettes, and there were no baked potatoes available except on the last day of the cruise. After being on a few Virgin cruises it did kinda gross me out to go back to self-serve buffets... I'm sad that cruise lines went back to that post-covid. 

 

Main Dining Room - I had most of my dinners in the main dining room and I thought the food was a step-up from last years Solstice. The hostess, waiter, and assistant waiter were all exceptional - pretty much perfect. I loved having "Anytime Dining" - it was so nice to have dinner whenever I wanted and still get the same waiter each night. 

 

Ship Design - Millenium Class is definitely smaller than Solstice Class but is a decent size. I like the glass elevators that look out over the ocean. The theatre is large and comfortable, nice size casino. The MDR is very nicely designed as well. On Solstice it seemed like the lounges were a bit more unique, on the Millenium most of the spaces looked the same just with different types of seats. The Solstice design seemed a little more intuitve, easier to find everything. The shops on Millenium were small, basic, and flet like an afterthought.  The main atrium was also pretty small, and it was hard to find a place to sit and enjoy the bands that played there. 

 

Entertainment - Probably the worst entertainment line-up I've ever had on a cruise ship. Granted, I've been spoiled by Virgin, but this was pretty low-bar.

Cheaza was the guest singer - she performed 2 nights of the 7 night cruise. She does tribute acts to Tina Turner and Whitney Houston. She's a lively and energetic performer but 2 nights was a bit much, especially when most of the other shows were music based shows. 

AJ Jamal was the comedian - he was great! Very funny. 

Duo VVO was the Acrobatic Duo performing in the ships production shows - they performed their own 2-person show one of the nights and it was INCREDIBLE. 

The rest of the nights we had the ship production shows Boogie Wonderland, Broadway, and Hollywood. - These shows were the quality of 6 Flags theme park shows. They were not very good at all.  The sets and lighting were well done but that's about all I can say. 

Entertainment around the ship was OK.... there was a duo from Brazil that was very good, and the Dixieland Night performed by the ships band was very good as well but everyone else was just average. The strings duo was actually very bad, not sure how they got the job. I was surprised there was not more variety like a juggler, magic show, etc. 

 

Lectures - Milos was the on-board naturalist.  He was great but they only let him do 2 presentations on a 7 night cruise. He said he wanted to do more. He was always hanging out up in the Sky-Lounge and was a fascinating person to talk to. Not sure why Celebrity wouldn't let him give more presentations.  Same thing with the on-board historian, she said she had hoped to give an extra talk as well.  Last year on the Solstice there were several presenations. I hope Celebrity isn't trying to phase these out. 

 

Kids - There were quite a few kids on the ship, specifically teens and pre-teens that were running around unsupervised. I'm quite surprised that Celebrity didn't put a stop to this, as they were definiely affecting the overall mood of the ship.  I love to just wander around the ship, especially at night, but I would often turn the corner and it felt like I walked into a middle school hang-out and it made me feel very awkward. They would wander in and out of the shows in the theatre, the comedian even said "hey who brought their kids along to ruin everyone else's vacation?" and lots of people applauded.  

 

Ports - Weather was great! There's nothing like sailing through Alaska with such beatiful scenery everywhere you look. Our first day we sailed past Hubbard Glacier - we were able to get very close and the captain let us out on the Hellapad! It was a sunny day so we could watch the glacier calve.. WOW.  We spent lots of time at the Glacier, he slowly spun the boat 3 or 4 times giving everyone multiple views. Seals were on the chunks of Ice.  Just a perfect day and honestly worth the price of the cruise alone!  Next day in Junea I took the city bus to Mendenhall Glacier - hiked to the waterfall and back.  AMAZING.  Next day in Skagway I attendned the Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show (very fun!) and rode the White Pass & Yukon train (which I HIGHLY reccomend). Icy Straight Point was a new port for me, I walked around and paid for the aerial tram.  At $50 - the aerial tram is WAY overpriced but it was a nice clear day with lovely views so I'm glad I did it.  Still feels like a rip-off though especially since they act like there are things to do up on the mountain and it's just a big gravel parking lot. In Ketchikan I took a city bus to the Totem Pole Park... very cool to see all of those poles (and WAY better than the Totem Heritage Center I visited last year).  Afterwards I walked around the boardwalk and along the Salmon stream. 

 

After we arrived in Vancouver I finished my trip by transfering to the VIA Rail train which I rode from Vancouver to Edmonton.  Fantastic train ride with the old dome cars.  I bought a coach ticket for under $200 - that's a tenth of the price of the Rocky Mountaineer and the same scenery. 

 

This was my first time back with celebrity after taking multiple cruises with Virgin - definitely things I like about both. I prefer the rooms on Celebrity (better designed), and the service is much better and more consistent. But the entertainment is much better on Virgin, drinks are better priced, and the food is certainly better quality over all. I also like how on Virgin there are lots of places to just chill and relax where on Celebrity there was always some activity happening in all different areas of the ship. 

 

I really want to travel on the Edge class of ships and see how Celebrity has designed the newest ships. 

Thanks for the recent review. I was on Millie last year and returning this year. The shows were about the same level as my high school shows (I went to an art school) and I was incredibly unimpressed. Sad to hear it hasn’t improved dramatically.

Hopefully there will be more than 2 sessions by the naturalist on our September sailing. Can’t wait to see Celia again, she was my favorite part of last years cruise.

I always have an annual coverage with how much I travel. From what I see with Cruise Care it wouldn’t cover a search and rescue if something happened while I’m out hiking. Make sure the coverage is enough to cover the risks you might have.

Ceilings are also magnetic on Millie which was surprisingly handy.

2 hours ago, Belle said:

It's Tuesday. Are you doing good in your eating? Ready to weigh on Thursday?

 

Have any tips for us in here that helps you stay on track and eat less?

I’ve been struggling with drinking enough water this week. Now I’ve started filling my 64oz bottle to drink through the day which hopefully will help. 

Can't wait for the weigh in, it's been a great first week.

So happy to have found this board. Over half of my clothing I bring on my cruise I've either sewn or knit. I cruise in 2 months to Alaska again and here is my must do list by September 7th:

finish knitting a dress (swim cover up) out of 100% lace weight hemp

finish knitting a hap shawl (very big square shawl) out of 100% tencel laceweight

finish a jumpsuit, Sirocco by Deer and Doe https://shop.deer-and-doe.fr/en/sewing-patterns/122-sirocco-jumpsuit-pdf.html

Finish a linen wrap dress, Elodie by Closet Core https://closetcorepatterns.com/products/elodie-wrap-dress-pattern?variant=39419157512326

Sew another jumpsuit but from a lightweight woven fabric, pattern undecided

Plus fixing my favorite cardigan

Hi everyone I am new to this thread. I have a cruise in less than 2 months but no specific goal before that one except I would like to fit into my favorite semi formal dress by then. March 2025 I have a family cruise and want to be my goal weight by then. 

23 hours ago, midnightferret said:

I put a deposit down recently and I'm so stoked for my first cruise that I can't stop daydreaming and planning, even though it's a ways away and I have plenty of time to figure this stuff out.

 

Husband and I are "carry-on or die" travelers. We travel pretty light and have done up to 10 days with just carry-on luggage. I don't think I'd have much of an issue increasing that to 14 days, but since cruising seems to come with its own set of rules, I'm wondering if I'm just being too optimistic? 

 

I noticed there are laundry facilities and/or services on ships, and I'm not above bringing primarily quick-dry underwear and other clothing to wash in the sink and dry in the shower if necessary, but I just wanted to see if anyone had done anything like this.

 

We plan to fly in the day before and either stay near the airport to get the cruise transfer/shuttle thing from there or stay near the cruise terminal and find our own way, if that matters. TIA for any tips or advice!

 

 

I highly recommend bringing something like Soak Wash which is a wash only (no rinse needed) to wash items as you go.

Last month I went to the passport office and applied for a renewal, got the new one shipped within 3 days. It was insanely fast I couldn't believe it. They were great to mark my upcoming trip as well to make sure I had it with plenty of time to spare.

On 6/27/2023 at 7:24 PM, sophiesmom said:

I have to agree with you.  I took a cruise on Celebrity last Christmas.  In many ways it was a huge mistake.  I had been recently widowed and didn't want to be home for the holidays by myself.  It would have been nice if the cruise line had offered some type of accommodations for dining other than eating all by myself,  That part was horrible.  By the way, I love cruises.  Now I am off the soapbox.

I was stuck at a table along a wall alone with tall chairs near the kitchen entrance, it was horrible. Only stayed at my dining assignment for one night and then I made friends and joined their group for dinner. They had one person drop out at the last second so a spare chair at their table and at a better dinning time. I had hoped for a communal table or at least to be near other humans with my dining room assignment.

On 6/13/2023 at 8:26 PM, thermal said:

I know this may seem trivial, but I love getting my passport stamped on the rare occasions I travel to different countries. 

 

Q: When you take a cruise to a different country, do you get your passport stamped like you would when flying in?  

 

Thank you kindly. 

This depends on what country you are from and where you are entering. You only usually get stamps when you apply for a visa which is either done ahead of time or at the port of entry. Coming from Canada as a tourist chances are you'll almost never get stamped. I travel on business often so I get stamps but not when travelling on cruises for fun.

If someone where travelling on a less trusted passport they are more likely to get stamps.

Also for random knowledge to a fellow Canadian, if you fill your passport with stamps you actually have to pay full price for a new one.🙄

I had mine custom made. It's made of recycled firehose and is a messenger style. Because the hose if so durable I can do anything to it and it won't be damaged. I used the airline specs to maked sure it was the perfect size, had them add the interior pockets I wanted plus a strap on the back so it can slip onto my roller bag. It was the best investment and was less than $200 Canadian.

On 7/3/2023 at 12:35 AM, sverigecruiser said:

 

You are packing too little if you need to do laundry during the cruise.

Or maybe not everyone owns 30 plus pairs of underwear they want to wear on vacation. Can you imagine the airline looses your luggage with 30 days worth of everything. There is no way here that the airline would cover the full replacement costs. Given the average costs of womens underwear (not including bras) that would be over $600 in underwear alone.

I find my 29" is always overweight if I fill it unless you plan on bringing things like pillows. A 26" packed well I end up at just under 50lb which is the max without oversize charges from pretty much any major airline. Yes you can go big but remember weight is the real limit you can't surpass. Packing cubes are great to efficiently pack your suitcase but also easily unpack once your in your cabin. I travel a lot and carry a lot of luggage when on business my biggest trick for big trips is to either have your laundry done part way for those everyday essentials like pjs, underwear, tshirts, etc or bring a leave in wash like Soak to hand wash a few items along the way. That way you don't have to bring as much to start. 

I wish they made a good stacking luggage set where I could have my medium suitcase with a small suitcase on top of each other securely while walking.

On 2/13/2023 at 11:29 AM, ashish6499 said:

We are planning to spend a couple of days in Juneau and then in Denali before the cruise. Assuming we fly into Juneau from NYC, spend some time there (go to Glacier Bay) and then head on to Denali.

So ideally I would like a cruise that leaves from Anchorage / Seward. 

 

Tracy Arm fjord also looks incredible. Thanks for the suggestion! 

 

So after reading all your comments (thank you so much!) it really comes down to choosing between:

1. Princess Sapphire

2. Norwegian Jewel

3. Celebrity Millenium

4. HAL Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Do you think one of these would offer a significantly superior experience to the others (assuming we get the 2nd highest cabin class)

 

Thanks!

I did my first Alaskan cruise as a single woman of 32. I went on millennium northbound and am returning this year southbound. The one thing to note was that the stage shows were horrible. The best part of the cruise to me however is the naturalist and all the presentations they do. one thing I wish I had know. Was to take the 6pm dinner time if you want to make it to the presentations.