grsnovi

I can't think of any down side. We'll be on her again in August. We absolutely love Tamarind, so book that for (at least) one of your evening meals.

People... (shakes head sadly)

I don't remember the last time we were >assigned< a dining time. It seems that once HAL went to their "Anytime Dining" they also seemed to transition away from automatically assigning people to "Early" or "Late" seatings. We also like to sit in a large group. When you arrive for "anytime" they maitre' d will ask if you would like to sit at an already started table - we always say yes and that allows us to meet people. With assigned seatings and tables we would often find that half the people wouldn't show up because they had arranged to dine in a specialty restaurant that night which made the whole "don't serve the table until everyone is there" problematic. 

On 6/16/2019 at 10:03 AM, zentraveler said:

Is the coffee on these ships really that bad?

It depends... I like a good, strong cup with character and I have no complaints about what I get in the morning in the Lido or brewed in the Exploration Cafe. We've also had room service coffee and I can't remember NOT drinking it but it didn't leave an impression one way or the other.

Besides the 2 HAL ships there are three others in Juneau according to https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/juneau-port-407

I'll be there with our grandchildren and their parents in 7 weeks (or if you prefer: our kids and their kids). Looking forward to our 4th AK cruise.

43 minutes ago, iancal said:

2700 passenger ships

Wow, that's a lot of cruises!

Usually there is a sommelier's wine event in the Pinnacle Grill on the last sea day that's fun (if you like wine).

6 hours ago, kevingastreich said:

they are requesting people to show up at the cruise terminal at a designated time

They have been doing that for a while and they may start enforcing it at some point however for all of our boardings in the last couple of years we have never seen a total crunch in the departure lounge. They will assign you to a group when you arrive and you'll have to wait until they're ready to board that group. Rooms have been ready so you don't have to lug your carry-on around with you and often luggage is already in the room. Seems they have gotten a lot better at the pre-cruise logistics.

We sail out of Seattle frequently since we live down the road in Portland, OR. So, no clue on the cab fare. How long to SEATAC will depend on when you arrive and traffic. It shouldn't take much more than a half hour if the roads were empty. As far as hotels, again, since we live in Portland, we don't stay however we have stayed in town at the Best Western Plus Pioneer Square and I was quite pleased. It is convenient to downtown and reasonably priced. It wouldn't likely be my choice if all I was doing was flying in to sleep and then getting on the ship. I seem to recall that they can load/unload (at least) 2 cruise ships where HAL docks these days. There may be room for a third (I'm sure a local will correct me). The facility is large enough that we never felt crowded waiting to board and we've always parked right there so schlepping luggage to the car is always easy.

We like mid-ship and have learned by experience that you don't want to be under the pool deck where they rearrange the chairs at the crack of dawn.

Not sure that you'll be offered an Antarctic landing on an Alaska cruise...

It probably has to do with the fact that not more than 50 yards from the gangway you'll find a LOCAL vendor selling coffee and there is probably some sort of "non-compete" clause in their docking license.

5 hours ago, Csteg said:

We are there 1pm-10 pm. Would you do Mendenhall Glacier first or would it be too crowded

I guess it depends on when the other ships arrive. It isn't that far from where you'll dock. Assuming that all you plan to do there is drive, park and walk out as far as you can, then back and through the (smallish) visitors center there you probably won't spend more than 2 hours. You don't really get very close to the face of the glacier when walking there from the visitor's center. We took a helicopter up once and that was fun. If the other ships have arrived at 6 or 7 in the morning you might do it early (on your way out). If it's too crowded keep going and do it on the way back (but I don't have a feel for where the rest of you day is going to take you). This about as close as you can get walking.

We had Vista 4111, this photo is with my back to the sliding door going out to the balcony looking at the bed with the cabin entry in the very back.

No fun when you're hoping to get away to the "...last frontier..." and 11 thousand others had the same idea. We'll be there again in a few weeks and we're looking forward to getting out of our little box. You'll find something that will make your time in port enjoyable. Have a great cruise!

Wow! A full week! Patience is certainly not my strong suit and I'm sorry you're unhappy however I'm not certain everyone has had or will have the same experience. My experience is quite different: we had an issue with a shore excursion while in Norway. HALL made it good. We were pleased.

We'll be taking our 4th AK cruise in August. Our first was in the month of June years ago. I'll be wearing jeans. I'll also be taking shorts. Be comfortable. It will be cool and wet so be sure that whatever you bring to wear you're set for that. Remember that with advice you get what you pay for and you've pretty much gotten the whole gamut in just a few replies. 

Looks like either: 1) they broke whatever was allowing the countdowns to work or 2) the intentionally killed CD clocks. Maybe POA can figure it out? I took the code out of my signature,,, I know it's 74 days until I cruise...

hmmm, looks like the signature/countdown clock thing is either broken or completely disabled (again).

Congrats! Have a great cruise!! We'll be sailing on E'dam again this August.

We were in 4111 last summer in Norway and heard nothing from the elevator (same location just on deck 4).

I didn't feel crowded on K'dam and generally I don't like crowds.

I've seen whales between us and the shore at 5:30 in the morning sitting on my balcony with a cup of coffee. We might have been 100 yards from shore and we were moving pretty slow as we timed our arrival (not sure where we were - I have it written down somewhere).

We always take Bonine in the morning and neither of us has ever had a problem. I would be inclined to think maybe your illness that evening wasn't seasickness.

We've also had Tlingit tribal representatives on board with educational talks.