dd57

$9.50

Gastineau Guiding. https://www.stepintoalaska.com/

I'm not a solo cruiser, but on the first day of our last cruise I went on a different excursion than my husband. Lunch on the excursion was at a restaurant with a long table set up. I sat down sort of in the middle and people started sitting at both ends away from me. Then 2 couples came over and asked if I was alone. We had a great time together. Well, my husband caught COVID a few days later so I turned into a solo. Those people from the first day excursion would talk to me whenever we met. We ended up seeing each other at the World Cafe and move near each other so we could talk. People can be so nice.

Those magnetic hooks are really useful for hanging up damp raincoats.

Like Dreamercruise, my TA's OBC show up before boarding and can be used to book excursions. Given TanyaLorna's answer, this obviously varies with the TA. If you don't see it on MVJ, then ask your TA.

Same with our b2b2b in the Med. 21 days of 10 hours of walking thru historic sites was not relaxing. Nor was our Baltic cruise. The land trips we have done to Europe were a lot more relaxing because we didn't feel the pressure to fill up every day and could just enjoy the local culture. On the other hand, we are going to repeat the RT LA to French Polynesia cruise because it is relaxing . That's the nice thing about land trips and cruises - you can choose to do whatever you want.

That's correct. And if you can't finish that 3rd glass of wine and take it with you, that's OK. Some people go to the World Cafe for appetizers and a glass of included wine and then later go to the Restaurant for dinner.

Or you could save space and instead of a raincoat and a windbreaker you could get a lighjt option like this: https://www.amazon.com/Raincoat-Lightweight-Waterproof-Packable-Windbreaker/dp/B09NCSZBZT/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Light%2BRain%2BJacket&qid=1685470580&sr=8-5&th=1 This is just an example; there are lots and lots of rain jackets like this. They are usually sized to go over warm layers.

I was asking about border control regulations on reentry, not really caring about individual cruiselines. I assumed that you had to have a passport to renter the US after being in Canada; I had no idea WHTI existed until researching your answer. Learn something every day from CC.

oops

We were elite on Princess when the cutbacks began to change the experience: the extra chair in the rooms were removed, wifi hours were limited, and service began to slide as room stewards were given more rooms and waiters were given more tables. After twice being served food I was allergic to, despite ordering ahead and discussing it with the waiter, and wasting part of the vacation being sick, I started looking around for a new cruiseline. Viking Ocean had just started and I was intrigued, especially after reading the Tell Me Why thread in this forum, but the higher cost gave me pause. So I built a spreadsheet comparing the cost of an Inside Passage cruise on both Princess and Viking. I compared a V category to a similar sized room on Princess - a minisuite. Then I added in the things that I wanted and had to pay for on Princess: unlimited wifi, wine/beer at lunch and dinner, speciality coffees, DIY laundry midcruise, and an excursion in every port (using the cost of similar excursions when we had gone to Alaska on Princess). It ended up the cost for Viking was $10 a day more expensive. It was a no brainer to try Viking. Well, except now we're hooked. I don't know if that cost relationship is still true, but the quality of the experience is night and day.

Well, I'm no expert, but since Carnival ships are not US flagged vessels, they must stop in Victoria for a RT Seattle cruise, and passengers will have to go thru immigration/customs in Seattle when disembarking. So wouldn't Carnival require a passport to board?

I did this cruise in August 2022 - no ceremony.

It is first come first served. And they can show up really early unlike the ocean ones. As soon as I book, I check MVJ to see if they are there.

Most likely the red leather luggage tags.

I have seen warm sunny weather and cloudy cold windy weather in those places. Layers are the way to go so you are ready for either and everything in between. If your puffer jacket is the packable kind, which can act as a layer, I would take it. If it is a heavier jacket, I would instead take a fleece, wool layer (like a sweater), and rain/wind shell. It can be really cold when you are standing outside viewing the glaciers.

Viking requires a fit to travel form for their Antarctica cruises even though there is a physician onboard because of the remoteness like Gourmet Gal said. Is this river cruise to someplace exotic?

When we have done an extension on a Viking river cruise, the tours on the extension showed up and had to be reserved. The tours on ocean extensions did not show up and did not have to be reserved. Another river/ocean difference.

I took the Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari thru Viking last time. The glacier part was meh - it has receded that you don't see much of it - but the whale watching was incredible. The tour was done with Gastineau Guiding and if you go to their website you can see what is like: https://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/discover-alaskas-whales/

Damson is a kind of plum.

I used the heated floor overnight to dry some thicker items like socks. The floor in the shower and under the sink is heated too so there out of the way areas to use.

This got me worried that we wouldn't be docking downtown right near the museums and restaurants like we did the last time we were in Valdez, but a quick check of the Alaska cruise port schedules shows we will be downrown again. https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250

We took the Pristine Alaska extension and stayed at the Denali Park Village hotel. As our bus was approaching the hotel, our tour guide turned to us and said that the adventure part of our tour was about to begin... then reminded us that we were in a wilderness area and not to expect a 5 star hotel. We all wondered what she was talking about until we got to our rooms and then started laughing. She had a great sense of humor. But the hotel was clean and comfortable.

I have found that it varies with the excursion and where the trip is. For example on one excursion in Alaska, they knew I needed gluten free and so gave me a Nature Valley oat granola bar. When I pointed out that it wasn't gluten free they said they thought since it was an oat bar it would be ok. They didn't consider cross contamination in the factory, which is why the product wasn't marked gluten free. I was quite hungry on that one. Other excursions in Alaska went fine. You should, however, sit down with guest services to go over the excursions with meals and ask that they double check with the providers, and again tell the servers on the excursion. In Iceland the restaurants had not been told in advance but they were very accommodating in helping me know what I could eat. Maybe Viking knew they could take care of it.

I may have looked silly with my lace up hiking shoes and 3/4 pants, but my feet didn't hurt after hours of walking on cobblestones, I didn't slip on the rain-soaked wet rocks in Marksburg Castle, and I enjoyed every minute of all of my excursions. But everyone's feet are different, and you know what works for you. If it were me, I would bring those cute shoes you showed, which would be fine in the evenings and on easier excursions, and a second pair of lace up shoes for the more strenuous days. Could you post a link to those shoes? They are really cute.