LeftcoastBC

Im going on cruise May 17, I will post what happens when I return. As far as what I have been told by immigration and Canada Border Serv Agency, I will have NO problem getting on ship because Im boarding in Seattle. Its Vancouver they said would be a problem. However, if the DUI is over 5 yrs old, they will let you on and in Canada just for a one time event they call a rehabilitated. If its under 5 yrs, you will have a problem entering country. I am just not getting off at the Canada Port because mine is only 2 1/2 yrs old.

I keep wondering why you mention Vancouver. You do not go there. Am I missing something.?

Anyone cruising out of Vancouver would have had the Issue with getting into Canada at a border crossing well prior to boarding if they were going to have an issue at all.

The Poster Lorey2007 may have an issue but not you. The only advice I can give to that poster is to Contact CBSA personally. Or perhaps the "US Direct" program is operating again this year and he/she is on a Cruise Line that offers the service.

Even though you're good with walking the route .

etc etc etc

I'm thinkin' that this will work too. :rolleyes: Well done.

Thank you for the advice! What is the duck tape for, and where do we put it? Shoes I would assume?

You're welcome.....

You can use the duck tape for everything from making a clothes line to holding luggage together to using it on ankles for plantar faciitis in a pinch . Or taping up do not disturbs signs !!!!!!:D

Enjoy your cruise.

Answers in RED and very specific :D

So, here are my questions:

1. Will weather/climate/etc. drastically change depending on if we leave on August 22 or August 29? As in, how wishy washy is the weather in Alaska, and does it really matter when we leave?

 

A. MAYBE B. Always wishy washy. C. No

 

2. What should we pack? Clothing, accessories, technology, etc?

Clothing to dress in layers. T shirt/Light Sweater/Waterproof outer shell for outside. Country Club casual for the ship. Duck Tape.

 

3. What excursions do you recommend? What should we avoid? What are some things you wish you would have done, or wish you wouldn't have done?

 

A. Whale look see/ Train in Skagway / City Bus through the Valley in Juneau. B. Nothing C.done it all. D. Nothing

 

4. What are some things we should do/see/experience in Seattle if we decide to stay for 2-3 nights after the cruise?

 

Ball game at Safeco field and have garlic frys. Space needle & mono rail. Eat in one of the great restaurants

 

5. Any other advice/tips/hints/etc. you'd like to offer.

 

Use room service a lot it's free with small tip for whom ever brings it. TV in room has lots of modes.

 

Thank you for taking time to read this, and for any help you give!

 

Amy

Last Advice: Don't sweat the small stuff.

Enjoy.

Personally if the thinking is for an extended day in the park. A rental would fit the bill for a first time visitor for sure.

I don't recommend a rental if doing the downtown thing as parking is really expensive and elusive but for the park. Good idea.

There will be parking somewhere and you can "Do:" the park roads at the posted speed and then "Do" it again taking in the different roads.

I have never ever been completely shut out on our visits. It may take some time to find the perfect spot but you are exploring anyways while looking.

Take your time and enjoy the Park.

Obviously details not factual as it's from a first time poster....😇

Zenith

Horizon

Infinity

Century

Mercury

Solstice

Another smaller WAS better fan....

But of course they were newer back then too and the S class has way better beds.

when I spoke to CBSA and US Immigration that services Canada (many locations but the NY location is the one to call that is the main location that services Canada), they both said the same thing. I will not be approached by canadian officers unless I attempt to get off the ship in Victoria. ONLY because I am boarding in Seattle and loop. They said if I got into Canada somehow and I was boarding Vancouver, I would NOT be able to board unless deemed rehabilitated or they gave me temp residence visa (TRV). If and only if I want to get off in Canada I have to apply. I'm not bothering, as long as I get on ship and see Alaska I'm not pushing the envelope. they said you only see Canadian officer when getting off ship in Canadian port. There is NO Canadian officer in Seattle, only US Customs/immigration and they will let me on ship. I have read almost every thread and post regarding this and It seems Im the only one that has spoke to anyone. All are guessing and/or just going to ship and see what happens. I'm only posting this to give people hope that they can get on. However, its totally different if boarding ship in Vancouver. Now, as long as I am told the info correct, it looks good for me right now. I still will be uneasy until i am on board.

SORRY I didn't want to confuse an issue that is already just that.

But if you or anyone else is boarding a ship in Vancouver the only Customs/Immigration people you will see are US Authorities. They clear the ship if the first Port is in Alaska or South Bound into the US.

So going back into the US technically is what happens and is a non issue for a US citizen.

On an odd occasion south bound and the first stop is in Canada there is no Immigration check by anyone other that your cruise line check in of required Docs.

It's likely that CBSA folks in the East that answer the phones are unaware of that pre clearance set up here in Vancouver. They have their own issue back there.

For you I agree that you will not have an issue boarding in Seattle and in all likelihood not in Victoria either.

Enjoy your cruise.

This always seems to be an issue for those that are planning a cruise. As mentioned no one ever seems to come back and tell you what happened. Likely a good reason of this.. it's not likely an issue and they don't care anymore.

I believe your chances are pretty good for just getting off like everyone else. They(Canada) will be aware of your record. If asked.... the important move is to "Own it"

As far as boarding a ship in Vancouver goes. You would already be in Canada having entered somehow. Getting on to go to Ak. is an American Immigration check and little if anything to do with Canada. All the agents are US.

Returning on a closed loop from Alaska you are once again subject to Canada's rules and who knows on a bad day someone might not allow you to land from the place you started. But really really unlikely.

DUI is a real buzz killer up here in more ways than this.

With no disrespect to the OP. ( who actually may be the first "Negative review reader" to return to his/her thread after their cruise)

I think in the future when ANYONE posts a similar question it should be the duty of the next person to ask the question..

Where did you read those reviews?

No one else should carry on any further until that question is answered.

Would save some time for a lot of people I think.

Or perhaps we should just have a stock answer eg:

"Ship" happens sometimes but X ships almost always are in great shape and all those negative reviews are usually wrong. If something is really wrong you will have read about it here in this forum.....

I bet posts about all the X ships that are about to leave the fleet sooner or later end up like this one. 4 of the ships I have cruised have gone...they were all in great shape when X finished with them and continue to sail today. There were others also that I did not make it on. The one final cruise I was on did have some issues but not as many as the previously retired one. The issues were as a result of Inventory handling. But the ship was just fine as we all knew it would be.

I know this will not work but wouldn't it be nice if for once we got our act together in a common plan. :)

I saw that you were a first timer. That's why I mentioned it. The only people that take off their own bags are those that are travelling very light.(Hardly anyone) and those that want to catch a very early flight.

The rest of us ALL put the bags out. Lots of funny stories about newbies that forget to keep clothes to wear next day or lock themselves out in the hall semi clothed.

It's just the way things happen. :p

Oh on short cruises there may be more folks that pack off their own. Simply if you can carry it all you can go through the procedures a lot quicker cause you do not have to find your luggage in the big hall. The bags are supposed to be looked after in groups so you end up in the hall at the right time and place as does your luggage.

But sometimes ship happens with so many bags and people involved. It's all normal.

Thanks so much for the info every one. It really helps. I booked it for 10:30am just in case. Besides, if I arrive early I can tell them. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one using them. Thanks for the advice on carrying my own luggage off. I'll be sure to do that. About the taxi, $60 only...that's not too bad. Maybe I'll try that on my next cruise - I can feel myself getting addicted already.

Thanks again everyone!!!

If you are in no hurry I would not go through the hassle of doing all your luggage by yourself.

You put your "Big" bag(s) out in the hall the night before with coded tags pertaining to your disembark time . You keep clothes and personal need items (and family valuables) in the cabin with you and then all you need is a small manageable bag (the one you used to board with the same items) to carry off...

and then meet your luggage in the dome on shore when your code/colour/time is called.

Easy peasy !

Maybe if you were from above the Arctic circle and wanted grass and sun fine, for us and probably many other cruisers, a waste of space. Maybe all the so called comfort dogs and true working dogs would have a better place to, well enjoy LOL

One does not have to be a dog or above 60 lol. I found the nice green grass in the middle of the ocean quite a treat. Didn't have to cut it or nothin'

Put me down as just North of the 49th. :)

Terry,

 

We are looking to goto the Caribbean in Jan on the Reflection. We don't plan on getting off the boat because we have been to the Caribbean so many times. This cruise is basically for us to see what Celebrity is about and whether we are gonna make the jump from Princess.

Go with either one under those parameters for sure. Actually which ever one has the best deal going or can offer most OBC.

Where can this be documented? We've had the perk on quite a few cruises and never saw a rate increase over what we usually spend on our cabin category of choice.

Having been watching the prices almost everyday (I know get a life) it was quite obvious that the price went up (more than the 1-2-3 promo) on the cruise I was watching and the next day a 1-2-3 came out.

I have also read that since the Bev packages the number of waiters in circulation to serve you seems to have gone down. The incentive is not to deliver drinks to you & fewer staff to pay. It's all about the bottom line.

Really people, it comes down to one (TWO) thing'S

 

WASH YOUR HANDS!

WASH YOUR HANDS!

WASH YOUR HANDS!

WASH YOUR HANDS

WASH YOUR HANDS

repeat after me....:rolleyes:

and Luck

Coincidentally I was reading about hiking the Appalachian Trail last night and one article mentioned that noro is common when it is most crowded-starting in Ga in the spring.

 

I got noro on a cruise and was confined for 4 days, so I support all measures they take to limit the spread.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

and every time you mention this sad occurrence I have to say Hello ....

HELLO

and mention the noise that came from the cabin next door to me each and everytime they locked you in. The crying was quite loud. But you did followed the rules.

That ship had no balconies :mad: and Noro is another reason to think about a balcony for sure on a longer cruise. Just in case for fresh air.

Was on the last Zenith cruise. We had the disadvantage of a full blown Noro response which added only negative aspects of the cruise but of course not at all caused by the change out.

From reading about other end of life with X cruise ships I think we did better than the others to that date.

There were a lot of New "Owners" On board with various recording & measuring devices but had no effect on us whatsoever.

Main issue that we felt was that they put sales on all the X items in the stores and started boxing up other inventory that would not remain on the ship. Everything else ended up in one store and we were in a Warehouse clearance mode for a lot more of the cruise than was comfortable for the pax.

I don't know if they learned enough to make the end of the Merc and Galaxy any better.

It was not horrible or anything just not thought out well at all.

There is for sure a different feel about the cruise being the last. Staff in all departments are going to have a big change in their lives one way or the other. Some will stay with the ship and some will go to a new one. Others will have the end of a contract. There was nothing negative it was just different.

I would go again if I had a strong connection to a ship. If I didn't I would not.

The Zenith, size, crew and all those intangibles that you get from being on board more than a few times was and will likely remain our favourite ship. Not that I miss the hard beds and no balconies :). She did have the very first Martini bar and Sudi changed my life. Lol

Confirm . after noon. Is just fine.

Public transit of course would be the least expensive and you need correct Canadian change. So I suggest you check on their website for that. I am not familiar with Victoria's rates.

http://www.bctransit.com/regions/vic/

From downtown, take the #75 directly there. Some #75 trips leave from Royal Oak. In this case, take the #6 or 30/31 from downtown to Royal Oak and transfer to the 75 from there.

The Garden tour ticket costs the same for everyone. So all tours will likely mark it up and be competitive to some extent.

Getting the ticket downtown and using a tour available would still be in the general area of all the others.

Here's the link to Tourist Center

http://www.tourismvictoria.com/plan/visitor-centre/

The gardens of course are not cheap High & shoulder season within a few bucks of each other and about $32.00

Oh no..just when I thought that I finally figured out that you can't believe anything you read on the Interweb. This will test my theory. Fingers crossed.

Think I'll print this out for my next CD/HD to read. ;)

Hi all,

 

We want to ensure that everyone is enjoying the music on our ship, and we never want to have music that is too loud, or too low. We have looked into the issue, and we will make sure that the volume is corrected on all of our ships. This process may take a few days, but rest assured we have passed on your feedback and want to provide the best cruising experience for all of our guests.

Does anyone know if the cruise ships have that map to distribute (or any map) like they do for Nassau? I've printed off the map, but especially the blue line looks to be pretty hard to follow as there is no street name I can see.

Do not fear that blue line. :)

You can go no further left (going in) or Right (coming back) you would end up in water and I'm sure you wouldn't need a map to know you had made a deviation. Really it's an easy and enjoyable walk.

That map is way better than anything I have ever seen handed out in Ports.

You do not need to take a tour to SEE the gardens. You just need to get there. Your options are. TAke a ships tour :(.... take transit from outside the Port gates (takes a while but you have lots of time) or get to downtown and buy tickets for transportation and the gardens at the Tourist Info centre in the NE corner of the inner harbour. You will have lots of time depending on how much you really like flowers.

Pub crawl. I'm out of that. ;) sorry but I know there are lots of great pubs in the city and most are walkable around the downtown.

Major League Baseball ...if you are there in season.