donaldsc

I have never had any problems anywhere. One thought however. I have diabetes so I bring needles and testers. I bring a note from my endocrinologist saying that I am diabetic and listing what diabetes related stuff I may be bringing. This idea might be useful for other medical issues. Nobody has ever bothered me for my needles and stuff but it can't hurt. DON

Most stuff on Viking is of high quality. However I would estimate that the supplied binoculars on ocean cruises cost them no more than $5 each. If you feel that you need binoculars bring your own. DON

Thanks for the reply. However I was asking about Totem Bight specifically and I Ketchikan and Juneau in general. You mentioned Sitka. DON

How is Uber coverage in Ketchikan. . Can I get to and from Totem Bight by Uber. Not worried about cost but just about convenience. DON

I still think that the best solution would be to say that if he wants the guitar she isn't going and then she books a trip on her know. Based on his selfish attitude a divorce might also be a good idea. DON

I guess that I must have lucked out. I was able to make reservations. If my success was an exception that is a real problem. DON

I was thinking the same thing. Glad that you said it first. Alternatively leave him home or buy him a ukulele or a harmonica. DON

I was in a DV4 cabin. DON

A bit of a change of subject but we have booked on the Northern Lights cruise for 2024. When you get back please post your thoughts on the cruise and also on which excursions you took. DON

We are doing this in 2024 so I am thinking about this way in advance. I know that it will be cold and I am prepared for it. What I am sort of worried about is underfoot especially when we are out of the cities. We were talking to someone yesterday who did a winter Norway trip and they suggested that we bring strap on crampons and maybe trekking poles for balance. Are they really necessary. If we do a ship or private tour out in the country on aurora hunting trips will they be supplies or do we have to bring them ourselves. DON

You are an optimist!! DON

I have done 2 cruises w grandkids. One was with my 10 year old granddaughter. She stayed with us because it was just one of her. The 2nd was w two granddaughters aged 12 and 10. They were allowed to go out alone as long as they stayed together and checked in w us at defined times. All 3 of the kids were street smart and trustworthy. DON

There was a long thread on Viking dining issues that is still going strong. This was the response that I posted that might answer some of your questions. It is beyond understanding why everyone is finding it so complicated with dining arrangements. It is absurdly simple. 1. There are 4 restaurants on board. Two of them (the buffet and the main restaurant) are available every night w/o reservations. You just walk in and they seat you. You might have to wait a few minutes if you are at a busy period such as when the restaurant just opens but this happens on any ship. We typically ate between 7 and 8 PM and there was never any wait. 2. There are 2 by-reservation restaurants - Manfredi's which an Italian restaurant and the Chef's table which does 4 rotating menus over several nights of the cruise. The menu is usually available for 2 or 3 nights. When we did our Caribbean cruise we did 3 of the 4 fixed menus - Xiang which is Chinese, Asian Panorama and California cuisine. The by-reservation system is the one that some people appear not do to understand although it appears on this thread that some also have difficulty with the buffet and main restaurant arrangements. Depending upon your status you can make a reservation or reservations at Manfredi's and one of the Chef's table restaurants before you board. We had no problems getting advance reservations at the restaurant of our on the day that reservations for our cabin class opened although we did not get our preferred time. This does not mean that you will only be able to dine at Manfredi's once or at one of the Chef's Table however that you will be stuck with the time of your pre cruise reservation. 3. Once you get on board they open up additional reservations that you can book w/o problems and we did not have to rush to the dinner reservation desk as soon as we got on board to get restaurant spots. We reserved for 2 additional days when we got on board and could have gotten additional days if we wished. Again we did not get the exact times for our dinners although they were close. On the day of the dinner we appeared at the restaurant at the time we really wanted and never had any time getting seated early. To summarize. Four restaurants - 2 walking w/o reservations and 2 with reservations needed. Two reservations can be made before you board - Manfredi's and 2 Chef's table. Additional reservations can easily be made on board. The actual thread if you want to go through it is https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2868248-dining-reservations-no-longer-guaranteed/. DON

I am looking for a tour out of Skagway where I have a good chance of seeing bears in the wild. I know that there is the Fortress of the Bears in Sitka but I am not interested in that since that is basically 5 or 6 rescue bears inside of a tank. I have been to Anan several times were you see real bears in the wild and bears in a tank would just not cut it. Has anyone taken a tour out of Sitka where real wild bears were seen fairly closely like in a salmon stream or does anyone have any idea which tour operator I might contact. Thanks DON

They got my bathing suit mostly but not totally dry. DON

It is beyond understanding why everyone is finding it so complicated with dining arrangements. It is absurdly simple. 1. There are 4 restaurants on board. Two of them (the buffet and the main restaurant) are available every night w/o reservations. You just walk in and they seat you. You might have to wait a few minutes if you are at a busy period such as when the restaurant just opens but this happens on any ship. We typically ate between 7 and 8 PM and there was never any wait. 2. There are 2 by-reservation restaurants - Manfredi's which an Italian restaurant and the Chef's table which does 4 rotating menus over several nights of the cruise. The menu is usually available for 2 or 3 nights. When we did our Caribbean cruise we did 3 of the 4 fixed menus - Xiang which is Chinese, Asian Panorama and California cuisine. The by-reservation system is the one that some people appear not do to understand although it appears on this thread that some also have difficulty with the buffet and main restaurant arrangements. Depending upon your status you can make a reservation or reservations at Manfredi's and one of the Chef's table restaurants before you board. We had no problems getting advance reservations at the restaurant of our on the day that reservations for our cabin class opened although we did not get our preferred time. This does not mean that you will only be able to dine at Manfredi's once or at one of the Chef's Table however that you will be stuck with the time of your pre cruise reservation. 3. Once you get on board they open up additional reservations that you can book w/o problems and we did not have to rush to the dinner reservation desk as soon as we got on board to get restaurant spots. We reserved for 2 additional days when we got on board and could have gotten additional days if we wished. Again we did not get the exact times for our dinners although they were close. On the day of the dinner we appeared at the restaurant at the time we really wanted and never had any time getting seated early. To summarize. Four restaurants - 2 walking w/o reservations and 2 with reservations needed. Two reservations can be made before you board - Manfredi's and 2 Chef's table. Additional reservations can easily be made on board. DON

I use 2 wedge pillows plus a standard pillow and sleep on my back to keep my head elevated. It is hard to bring a wedge pillow on a cruise although you can buy blow up wedge pillows so I use 3 or 4 pillows on a cruise. I can't imagine ever sleeping on a single pillow ever again. Although I have not tried one of these - https://smartnora.com/ - or similar products they might work. If you buy one from Amazon you can return it if it doesn't work. DON

Good for Monterey. I am sure that they get enough visitors w/o extras from the cruise ships that bring minimal money into the city. DON

Try typing "very short ac plug strips" into Amazon. Lots of useful hits. You could even daisy chain 2 of them if there are not enough plugs on one of them. Just be careful of the total power load. DON

No casino is not a problem to me. That means more money for those of us on land. I don't see the attraction of shipboard casinos as nobody in the entire US lives further than a few miles from an indian run casinos. A tiny bit of exaggeration I know but at least if you lose money at an indian owned casino you support indians and not cruise companies. DON

We just did an air flight where there was a band group on board. One of the band members was bringing his 12 string w him on board. I was wondering where he was going to put it as it would obviously take too much overhead space. He put it in the coat closet at the front of the airplane. I am sure that he had to clear it w the airline ahead of time. Funny story about traveling w an instrument. My daughter plays the cello. Many years ago she went to music camp and had to take her cello. We ended up buying 2 airline tickets. One for Denise and one for Denise's cello. Don't know if that would work now. Check out this very funny video about traveling w guitar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo DON

As per Nini's post you should repost on the AK board. However I have done numerous AK trips and while the city of Anchorage may not be really worth it there is lots of stuff in and around Anchorage that is worth it. I have never done a round trip AK trip and would never do so in the future but I have done one way cruises. DON

If specific tours are a necessity it is always better to book ahead of time and not on the ship. This also gives you an opportunity to discuss your problems w your TA or travel consultant ahead of time. DON

Wines change from cruise to cruise. Any specific list of wines will be useless. DON

I would ask the cruise line about this before I got onto the ship. You don't want to have a problem and have to haul all the stuff home. DON