ShipsandDipper

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

The third option would be to take a hit on the OBC and rebook a cruise both of you can enjoy together before 3/31/24 FCC deadline.   I personally would not enjoy going on a solo cruise while Mrs Ldubs was at home working (and I'm pretty sure vice versa).  

This would be my vote.  My relationship with my husband is worth more than $900 Aus. worth of cruise credit. And I would be VERY unhappy with a spouse who booked a cruise that conflicted with one of my two busiest times at work, called my business a “silly reason” to not cruise (rather belittling), and went without me.  

From the reports I've seen, it's small, so difficult to get in, and books up quickly.  Find out where to go to book once you're on the ship and go there immediately to try to get a reservation.

We aren't Australian, so it wasn't our national holiday, but we were on an Antarctic cruise with a lot of Australians over Australia Day.  The ship put on a special meal of Australian favorites, and there was quite a party.

I would book that connection if both legs were Icelandair (in fact, I think I have).  Unless something goes really wrong, you should be fine.  

If you have the opportunity, take it!  On our expedition with Quark, they provided the sleeping bag (mummy style) and pad. We just had to bring ourselves and clothes.  We were joined by some seals sleeping nearby on the shore.

We booked an off-road tour with a private company (KamchatinTour) and enjoyed the day Immensely. Both guide and driver were awesome. We were lucky to get a sunny day, and our driver made a picnic lunch for us that morning (we ate in style—he pulled a folding table and chairs from the truck and even had a tablecloth!). 
 

The tour company sent a voucher we used to get off the ship (so we didn’t need a visa).  I’ve never felt so scrutinized—Russian officers set up a table at the end of the gangplank and studied our passports both as we got off and then as we got back on.  That was separate from the actual passport control, which was done inside the building.

On 6/15/2020 at 8:12 AM, Island gecko said:

We were told that is fine as long as he is crated. 

On 6/17/2020 at 4:39 AM, chengkp75 said:

Was it the cruise line that approved you leaving the dog crated while you go ashore for the day?  I'm surprised, as most do not allow the dog to be left unattended.

 

On 6/17/2020 at 5:27 AM, Island gecko said:

The cruise line explained that as long as it was not left out and unattended it could be. We want my husband to experience all Alaska offers and there's some stuff unsafe for the dog. I've spoke to three different people in the department regarding it so hopefully no issues. 

Please, please think through all scenarios before you leave your dog crated and unattended in your cabin while you go ashore.  Things don't always go according to plan.  What if you miss the ship?  What if there is an emergency on land (like the earthquake in New Zealand) or on board the ship while it's docked (like the fire aboard the Oceania Insignia while it was docked in St. Lucia)?  You might not be able to get back to the dog.

I would not leave any living animal, particularly one as precious as a service dog, crated and alone on the ship while I went ashore, no matter what the cruise line might allow.  

I've done this a couple of times with no problem.  But I weighed the risks and did it only because it was a short cruise and I wouldn't have been devastated to miss it if something went wrong and I didn't get to the port on time.

Just be sure you have signed the passport.  I forgot to do that once with a new passport.

80+ whales of three different species in Antarctica, all around the ship, everywhere you looked, for a couple of hours.  The ship's historian, who had been sailing Antarctica for 40 years or so, said he had never seen anything like it.

Baby hammerhead sharks alongside the ship in Galapagos.

26 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

We're sailing on the Celebrity Millennium this October, heading to Yokohama from the Tokyo Disney resort. I've been completely unable to find any information on the Tokyo Disneyland website detailing bus information between TDR and Yokohama Station (as you mentioned above). 

 

If you could share a link, or even the name of the bus/coach so I could research, I would be incredibly indebted to you!

 

Edit: found it! Question: was there luggage storage on the bus? Or is this more a city busy/public transport situation? Thanks

Glad you found it.

It's a coach-type bus with luggage storage underneath.

7 hours ago, Smeecanada said:

 

My understanding is that there will be a shuttle to Yokohama Station.  I was hoping someone would be able to tell me where to go and which trains to take.

 

We can also go Yokohama Station and get a bus to Haneda Airport and then a Airport Shuttle bus to Tokyo Disneyland.

There is a bus directly between Yokohama Station and the Tokyo Disney Resort.  It's very convenient (we took it the other way, from the park to the station).  Directions on the Tokyo Disney Resort website (tells you which stop in the station, complete with map (which is very useful) and gives you the timetable).

We went with Quark and were quite happy.

It's going to be hard keeping things under 2 weeks, though.  We spent about 8 days (4 on each end) traveling to and from Antarctica proper (it's 2 days just sailing across the Drake Passage).  

A couple of times we have enjoyed taking a kayaking tour out of Seward into Kenai Fjords.  You take the water taxi out to get close to a glacier.  And one of the best times we ever had whale-watching was on a water taxi coming back from a kayak trip.  A humpback was leaping and breaching a few dozen times.

We used Kayak Adventures Worldwide and very quite happy both times.

The Galapagos Islands.  Lots of close-up opportunities when you visit land.  And sea lions and turtles played with us when we were snorkeling.

We had a group of 11 on Dolphin Jet Boat Tours.  It was a bigger boat (30-some people), but the really nice thing is that they were able to re-accommodate our whole group when NCL swapped port days, 3 days before the cruise left. 

We just finished Tokyo to Seward on Azamara Quest 12-25 May.  We were pretty lucky with the weather overall, though we did run into a storm that caused us to miss Kodiak (after leaving Dutch Harbor we had to stay on the leeward side of an island until the storm subsided, and then we didn't have enough time to get to Kodiak, so we skipped it and went on to Homer).  Our day in Russia was sunny and the nicest day they had all week--they were expecting rain the rest of the week.

For much of the trip, the Pacific and the Bering Sea were nearly flat--the exception mainly being during the storm, and even that wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  Weather alternated between overcast with some rain, foggy, and sunny, but even when sunny it wasn't particularly warm while underway.  Dutch Harbor was pleasant, and Homer was sunny.  Leaving Homer we ran into a fog bank, though, and the next day Seward was overcast, raining, and downright cold.  The only good thing about that is that we finally had a reason to have lugged along the Antarctic-issued parkas; the rest of the trip we didn't need them.  Memorial Day Weekend, but it didn't feel much like the unofficial start of summer!

Alaskans mentioned how the season was just getting underway.  So if you'll be in Alaska much before the week before Memorial Day, there may be closures/shortened hours.

4 minutes ago, thunes said:

i'm debating between the car rental option (`$350) or seeing the Kenai Fjords with an airport transfer ($224 per person)

Oh, ouch.  I thought our car rental was steep at $269.  

The nice thing about the car was that in addition to doing a boat tour, we had time to go out to Exit Glacier and walk around out there first thing in the morning.  After the boat tour, we took our time driving up to Anchorage.  The bad thing was that it was a really, really tiring day.  It probably would have been nice to have had an opportunity to nap on a bus.

Docked two weeks ago (18 May 2019) on Azamara Quest.

Transport from Seward to Anchorage seems pricey however you do it.  

We rented a car from Hertz (only option for Seward to Anchorage) and were able to leave our luggage in the trunk all day while we were in Seward.  I asked at the Hertz counter if Seward had any issues with theft from cars (been reading about other places where you don't dare leave luggage in a car, even the trunk), and was assured it does not.  

40 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

We did a Vancouver to Yokohama itinerary followed by a cruise around Japan in the fall of 2018 for a nice B2B pairing.  We are scheduled for a cruise around Japan followed by the TP crossing to Vancouver in the spring of 2021.  We spent some time in Tokyo in 2018 after we left the ship, and will spend time in Japan in 2021 before we board for the B2B.

 

Hope you enjoy Seward.  We drive down from Fairbanks almost every summer.

 

 

It’ll be interesting to compare the time changes on the west-east to the east-west. We’ve been moving an hour forward every day since our last Japan stop and tomorrow have the interesting experience of a second Sunday May 19 as we cross the International Date Line tonight. We were trying to decide if it would be easier to be going the other way. 

We’re on a Yokohama to Seward crossing right now.  They tend to happen spring and fall. 

Yes. There are likely to be a lot of families and kids. We were on Harmony OTS in January (so not even a school break time) and were astonished at how many kids there were. I think to get away from spring break crowds, you’d want a 10-day or 2-week cruise. 

We arranged private tours in Muroran and Kushiro through Shore Excursions Asia. Just took the tours the last couple of days and were very pleased. 

On Quest now and there was a card on our coffee table about fruit baskets available on request.