SoloAlaska

Cabin consumption but I believe you can pay corkage and consume it in the MDR. Also you can bring a glass of wine from your cabin to the MDR without any issues.

I haven’t but I will say there are a lot of brown bears in the area of Icy Straight. I’ve been twice and bear had been spotted on the trail that morning up at the top of the gondola. There was fresh scat on the trail and let’s just say they love eating blueberries in September.

Bear can be hard to spot however in brush and there are no guarantees of spotting them but I’m sure you will not only see beautiful forests but also learn a lot about bears on the tour.

6 minutes ago, SirTomster said:

A couple of options

 

Lowest I found:  https://alaskacruisetransfer.com/rates/  

More expensive:  https://www.salmonberrytours.com/tour/anchorage-to-whittier-transfer-and-tour/

By train!:  https://www.alaskarailroad.com/

 

Additional:  https://www.anchorage.net/plan-your-trip/transportation/cruise-transfers/?view=grid&sort=qualityScore&bounds=false

 

Lots of options depending on what you want.   I am doing the Salmon Berry one to visit some sites on the way to the ship.

 

Salmon Berry doesn’t run the full cruise ship season sadly. I wanted to try them out after hearing so many good things on CC but my cruise is too late in the season for them.

3 minutes ago, Korimako said:

You're lucky - ours is checked at check-in. If it's over the limit - weight or size, it has to be paid for and travel as checked baggage. And it costs much more if it has to go as checked baggage at that point, so we all know to stick to the limits. Which is what I meant by concentrating one's mind!!!

I can’t imagine having to keep it under 7kg being an easy one. I’ve been known to fly with a 16kg carry on when flying on business. Just a rolling hard shell bag alone can easily weigh 2.8kg which would only leave 4.2kg for actual things.

This is also part of the reason I don’t take flights within Europe when traveling on business. I’ll fly in from Canada and then take the train from there. My luggage won’t fit the maximums.

Misconception is “you’ll gain weight on a cruise” not true for me. I eat what I want and have been known to have double deserts even and still can loose weight on a cruise.

What makes Alaska special is the nature. If you’re not interested in seeing nature then why book an Alaskan cruise.

Salmon fishing in Ketchikan ranges from $250-300 per person for a half day if you book it privately. Pretty decent price for an excursion of that length with very small group sizes. They usually can also arrange for any catch to be processed and shipped to your home.
 

Skagway is where I would look at doing dog sledding but it won’t be quite as you expect probably. Sled dogs don’t usually really run in the summer because of the heat but some tour operators have short tracks with carts you ride on that the dogs will pull. There are other excursions that are a visit to a musher camp which some people really love. I use to live with 60 sled dogs so I never bothered with these excursions but others will have more positive to say I’m sure.

Juneau a lot of people usually go whale watching but since that’s not of interest you might want to consider Mendenhall glacier.

This depends on your dates. When are you flying in and when do you want to get to Whittier. What time does your flight land if you want to get there the same day.

Haven’t had a photo rejected yet. The first one has worked every time.

Thank you so much for your thoroughness. I’ll be in Freedom next year for 8 days and this is already helping me get excited. Would love more insight on the solarium, I hope it will be my perfect escape.

4 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

If you spend $20-$50 you will have a hard time remembering it by the time you get home and likely no idea of it in 5 years. Take a helo ride to glacier for $500 and you will remember it when the glacier has receded out of view and like it was yesterday for the next 30 years. I say the later is more cost effective after adding the costs to get to AK. 

My free hikes are moments I remember forever. You don’t need to spend money to make memories. I will say I am not as old as you are but they are my fondest moments over many years. 30 years from now those views will be with me including glaciers, fjords, wildlife etc.

3 hours ago, toxicfairy said:

Just wondering how bad his leg was fractured. I wouldn't think for a fracture they would medivac even on land. I had a car accident obviously on land and when the ambulance came and saw my condition they called for a medivac. But I must have looked pretty bad I was conscious but my femur was broke and you could see it was right under the skin. I also broke my hip and shattered my heel, so I think my leg looked pretty bad lol. I couldn't see it because of the broken ball of my hip I couldn't sit up.

But I don't think for a simple break they would have medivac me.

I hope your husband is healing. Broken bones are no fun. 

This makes some sense. If you break your femur it has a risk of cutting an artery and you can bleed out quite easily. Broken hip is also a bad one. If a flight was available then why not. I once had a patient conscious and a helicopter was ordered but when she started stabilizing we told them they could stand down. It was the only chopper available for all of Nova Scotia at the time. Had there been another chopper that day we would have made a different suggestion. She had broken ribs and a broken hip along with other issues.

5 hours ago, Korimako said:

Are there no limits on size and weight of cabin baggage in the US?
Our national carrier's weight limit is 7kg and size limited to 118cm (H+W+D) including wheels.

That concentrates the mind wonderfully when packing one's carry-on!!

 

Limits yes but rarely enforced unfortunately from my experience in the US. I am Canadian and the carry on weight limit is that you have to be able to put it in the overhead bin unassisted which applies to the two largest airlines. The dimension limit is 53x38x23cm including handles and wheels but is not enforced consistently.

4 hours ago, julig22 said:

Seward Bus line - winter schedule, Monday-Saturday

Seward-Anc 9:30am-noon

Anc-Seward 2-5pm

Summer schedule (beginning May 1) - 7 days/week

All aboard is 7pm, so hours work quite well for NCL cruises anyway.

 

My mistake there are two bus lines running daily. Direct flights from Canada come in later than 2 pm so that makes it necessary to stay overnight in Anchorage or arrange a private transfer. If you’re flying in from the east coast of the US it’s also very tight to make a bus on the same day. This makes it almost necessary to stay one night in Anchorage and then lots of options the next morning for ship transfers.

35 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

yes, absolutely, it's so they are not a target for terrorists.

 

is there another reason?

 

 

indeed i have.

 

what i have witnessed, and what i find puzzling, is that the chinese will often go to a cafe and sit at a table for six or eight and place a pack of cigarettes or a pack of tissues on the table as a placeholder for the five or seven people not present. that lone gesture is supposed to make the table off limits for all others... for a half hour or an hour until the other guests arrive.

 

pushing aside strangers? i have never seen that nor would i identify it as being indicative of any aspect of asian culture.

 

 

indeed i have.

Canadians have had a great reputation while travelling for many decades it just took a while for Americans to start abusing it. Cultural stereotypes are shifting however, who knows what will come in the next decades.

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

Similar situation, arriving in Seward late April, before the train runs.  There is a bus that runs daily from Seward to Anchorage and NCL appears to be doing transfers - besides the thousands of passengers disembarking, they will have a similar number embarking, so need busses going each way.

 

As to post-cruise excursions - NCL seems to think waiting until day 50 to post them is a smart idea, saves them having to cancel excursion bookings when people get their flight info and find out it won't work (their words, not mine).  I disagree but thems the breaks.

Most of the buses only run on ship days. I only know of one company which runs its buses daily to Seward and they are very small and don’t have the best hours for cruise ships. I was trying to go to Seward a few days early but since my only option would have been either arriving at 3 am or taking a private transfer I ended up changing my plans. 

Depends on the size of the case. My preferred water comes in a case of 12 at 500ml each which would be within the limit.

It sounds like RCI did everything right in this situation. This is why people should always have travel insurance and passports. Your husband had a fracture, it’s reasonable to wait till the next port to get him to the hospital. It wasn’t like he had broken his femur with the extreme pain and potential of cutting his artery which may warrant a flight.

When you booked RCI recommended travel insurance and you choose not to get it. I never use the cruise lines insurance but if you travel outside the US more than once a year you should look into annual coverage. This will give you peace of mind for future travel wether it be a second cruise or any other types of trips you take.

The companies that provide these services are very well established. My cruise is after the end of the train season but I’ve cruised in and out of Seward before. It’s like any excursion you know when you meet up and you board your bus and away you go. NCL will contract these companies to provide transport especially since it’s earlier than the normal season. 
 

if you have the option of booking a transfer with a stop at the wildlife center it’s a nice stop especially if you have time to burn before a flight.

Alaska know cruises so don’t worry too much.

4 hours ago, floridafish said:

Ever been on a cruise out of the Med? Southern Europeans are notorious for cutting in lines. These trips also attract a fair amount of Asians and in their culture it's an endearing quality to push people aside when trying to get someplace. 

Say what you want about Americans but no doubt we're still the most patient and polite people, for the most part, on earth. 

 

Considering Canadians are culturally known for their politeness I’d say your ranking may be off. Patience and politeness is not really what Americans are known for internationally. There’s a reason American tourists will lie and say they are Canadian.

What if your waiting for luggage or your taxi gets stuck in traffic or there a construction detour…. This timing is waaaay too tight. You’re not a first time cruiser. I’ve boarded other cruises on the last group but never past. Also I had flown in the day before but was on an excursion which could be cut short if necessary. Flights are not flexible like that and the only reasonable choice is to change to an earlier flight.

1 hour ago, Beer Belly said:

I've got a question on tipping, figure I'd drop it here. We book Balcony cabins, usually tip the steward $150 - $200 for a 7 day cruise, Boss Lady sez I over tip everywhere we go.....is she correct ?.....am I overdoing it ?......I also tip at specialty dining even though gratuities are included when purchasing the package.

Yes boss lady is right. It’s ok to tip at specialty dinning even though tips are included but it should be a nominal amount not a percentage.

16 minutes ago, Mrearl said:

Celebrity free drink package includes gratuities in their drink package. 
Their 14 day cruises are basically cheaper due to not paying gratuities for the drink package.

They should not advertise free drink packages,it is not if you have to pay and additional $690 for gratuity 

I went back to look at longer cruises and interestingly enough the categories were all sold out except the suites for solos but when I put in 2 guests it miraculously had cabins available. Celebrity at its finest. For the 13 day cruises I looked at it was $66 per night for AI. So not a bad deal for what you’re getting.

I haven’t waited in line more than 10 minutes to get onboard a ship yet, wait in a short line to drop off luggage, wait in another line to go through security, walk up to the person who checks you in then off you go onto the ship. I hope this streak continues through proper planning as well as luck. I don’t need to be first on the ship but when I board depends on what I want to do on land first. My cruises aren’t ones focused on lounging by the pool so that’s never been an issue but the people who take up big tables all day at the buffet drive me nuts when there isn’t room for those trying to grab a quick breakfast or lunch.

1 minute ago, Mrearl said:

Celebrity free drink package includes gratuities in their drink package. 
Their 14 day cruises are basically cheaper due to not paying gratuities for the drink package.

They should not advertise free drink packages,it is not if you have to pay and additional $690 for gratuity 

I haven’t seen celebrity offer a free drink package. They offer all-inclusive options but you’re easily paying $120 a day for those items to be included. I just went to price out an Alaskan cruise and AI was double the price.

There are some decent solo deals out there. Come over to the solo boards for most of the info you need. Also you don’t mention which cruise line you’re trying to book with.  So far I’ve cruised celebrity and NCL solo and had a ghost scheduled for a RCI cruise but I now have a roommate. 
 

NCL is setting itself apart by being very solo friendly with gatherings every evening. They have solo cabins in almost every category on every ship.