ccqueenanne

No getting lost - once you get out of town there is literally just the one road. I do recommend printing the pdf of Murray's guide before you leave home, or put the pdf on your phone to read. It's great for telling you what you are seeing as you drive. I printed the free 2020 pdf.

I'm not sure that I'd bother with the sat phone. The drive you'll do to Emerald Lake is the same that almost all car renters will do, and many, many tour vans/buses. Although I'd not call the highway busy or trafficky, in the remote case of a breakdown I can't imagine that it would be longer than 5 minutes before you see a car or bus.

When you arrive, you can either give your luggage to a porter, if you see one and have your bags already tagged, or you can take them through the line with you. First stop in the line is dropping your big bags at the bag scanner (you don't scan them yourself, you just drop them there). Then you'll continue through the line with everyone else through passport control, then carryon bag scanning, then check-in. Nothing to worry about - just get in line with or without your bags.

Pier 91: If spending a few dollars more isn't an issue, I'd recommend a taxi vs Uber/Lyft for getting back to the airport. The location to get a taxi is a much shorter walk and the lines weren't long at all when we disembarked on Sunday - less than a 5 minute wait. It's a bit of a hike to get to the pick-up area for ride shares, and then you need to connect with your driver (vs just taking the next taxi available). We were quoted $55 flat fare for a taxi to the airport. I don't have specific feedback on Pier 66. If your flight time and airline qualify, I'd recommend using (free) Port Valet for your luggage - you can find more info on that by searching this forum. You WILL encounter long security lines in the airport. If you cannot bypass via TSA Precheck or Clear (or a business class ticket), and your flight is prior to 1pm, I'd recommend using SEA Spot Saver to get a TSA appointment time and avoid the lines.

We ordered the Agnolotti our first lunch in Gigi's (7/3) based on reviews here. It was amazing, so cheesy and creamy and luscious, clearly spent a minute under the broiler for some nice browning. I did say that I really couldn't see/taste the veal - it seemed just cheesy/creamy. Second visit and it was the same, just delightful. The third visit the Agnolotti was totally different - the cheese on the top seemed more like parmesan than the expected mozzarella, and the filling was definitely veal. We realized we'd probably been eating, and enjoying, a different cheese Agnolotti (perhaps supply chain issues and they were missing the veal?). We'd loved the substitution so much we were disappointed in the genuine article. We didn't have time for a 4th visit to test our theory and see which Agnolotti we'd receive.

Yes, it was open, and very tasty!

Another request for West Coast ports, in case they are tracking...

I'm not Cleocruiser, but also did the exact same trip last week - same rental dropped at the dock, same visit to the musher camp and we drove as far as Emerald Lake. We got a Ford Escape. It wasn't the latest model, but it was very clean, everything worked - I'd absolutely recommend the rental company. Booking online doesn't seem to work - I emailed and got a call back on the same day. We finished the booking over the phone. We didn't opt for the lunch. I also recommend printing out the free pdf of Murray's Guide so you know what you are seeing, if you do the drive yourself (or load the pdf on your phone). You won't have cell service for much of the drive.

I brought it, then forgot to put it in my day bag before our drive to the Yukon from Skagway. Big mistake - eaten alive during our stops!

We just did the car rental and drive to Emerald Lake last week - we loved it, despite the lack of bear sightings. We loved having the flexibility to stop when when wanted vs when a tour driver decided. And instead of waiting for 20 people at each stop, we could be quick when we wanted, or take more time as desired. I printed out the free pdf of Murray's Guide, which allowed me to read aloud what we were seeing as we drove along. My husband might wonder what [this] was as we were approaching, and the guide always had the answer. As suggested in the Guide, we stopped at Tutshi Sled Dog summer musher's camp and played with adorable 4 week and 8 week old puppies, and learned about mushing. We didn't take the sled ride that was on offer. The Guide also shares information on bathroom options along the drive (stop in Carcross) and gas stations in Skagway. Had we not already visited on our last trip, we'd have also stopped at the Gold Rush Cemetery and Lower Reid Falls on the way back into town. My only regret is forgetting to buy the recommended doughboy treat in Skayway. We paid about $170 all in for our rental car, which included an extra $10 for having it dropped right at the dock for us, so we didn't have to walk into town to pick it up. We were also able to leave it at the dock and pop right back onto the ship with a couple of hours to spare. We spent about $40 on gas. We rented from Affordable Car Rental, which was less expensive than Avis. Booking online didn't work, but we emailed and got a quick response and finished the booking by phone.

We just did this drive last week. I forgot to update my ArriveCan onboard to add this extra trip into the app. At the border crossing there was nary a mention of the app. They checked our passports, possibly our vax cards (I don't remember - they were with the passports) and asked where we were headed and for how long. That was it. Just one more data point.

I put Victoria Operations, never thought of it again, and am now back from our cruise with no issues. Just one data point.

This is exactly our plan as well - we visit Skagway next Thursday. We've got the car reserved with Nils and it will be waiting at the port. But I don't think I have a code yet - did that arrive closer to your rental day?

We tested via OnPoint today with regular free at home tests that we already had on hand (Flowflex). It was very easy - we logged into a Zoom (husband and I logged into the same Zoom from two separate computers with one proctor). When I picked the appointment slot it said you could have up to 4 tests in one slot. She asked to see the (unopened) test box, then watched as I handed half of the contents to my husband. We held up each item as we unwrapped them. Then we tested and when it was done and we were negative, she had us pick up the test strips and hold them, and I think she did a screen grab. She had asked for my email, and emailed me the results which was a nice extra touch. You also get a link to download the results. It was $15/pp, though I've seen it for as low as $10.

For the folks who don't see the offer, one thing to note is that you'll only have 100 Offers on your card at a time. Add a bunch of other offers, then check back tomorrow (e.g. if you add 10 offers today, you'll have 10 new offers tomorrow). I had NCL yesterday, so added it and several others, just to "make space". Today the RCCL offer had been added, so I grabbed that. I'm hoping that the Celebrity offer will show up tomorrow.

Thanks for the heads up! I got $125 off $500 on my Blue Business Plus (no annual fee).

We did the option with Quito hotel at the beginning of the trip (but not the end of the trip, IIRC). We also flew in a day early due to long flight times from our location and added a night at the JW Marriott. IIRC X still handled our transfer from the airport to the JW. I'm not one for land tours, but in this case it seemed much easier booking via X than getting ourselves to Baltra to meet up with the ship.