kGCAL

we are considering coming back again next year.

Majority of people on the cruise ships rarely bother to spend time doing wildlife watching(except of those who came to this board:)). But we really enjoy spending a few hours each time out there search for opportunity to spot some whales in the water, or a bear on the shore. For that, having binoculars for each person is a great plus. Do not bug rock bottom budget binoculars, which is a waste of money and you don't get enjoyment out of it any way. We don't want to spend top dollars for the high end either since we only use them for our trips. Like several other posters have said, try to get a pair in the middle ground is the best. Between $100 and $300, there are many nice binoculars out there. We use Zen-Ray VISTA 10x42 and our kids use Olympus 8x42. Both are very nice and quite affordable.

we are very happy with VISTA binoculars

I second the recommendation of waterproof binoculars.

I have read a few posts about the seas being rough departing Seattle in route to Alaska. We have sailed 8 times and have never run into what I would consider rough seas. We are sailing Alaska for the 1st time in a week and will be armed with Bonine as usual. I am getting a bit nervous about rough waters now...is May typically rough?

My friend got so sick on the Day 2 cruising out of Seattle. If you are prone to seasickness, yes, definitely pack your medicine

remember the Alaska weather is very localized. It might be raining in one location and sunny a couple of hours later in different place. Just wear layers and bring rain parka

if you have specific excursions in mind, you'd need to call each vendor and ask what they can do for you.

You might want to look at the Northern Lights coupon book to see if there's anything of interest. The discounts are similar, 2 fer, but it's a much cheaper investment.

Check groupons.

Check with your roll call. You might find another single who would be happy to share the cost. The trick will be finding someone with similar interests.

I feel that we only saved $50 after the cost of the book.:confused:

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply! We aren't the hiking type, so trails don't matter much. I guess the real question here is, is it worth the time to see it? There's tons to do for us in Juneau and we're having trouble with only 8 hours in port.

Thanks again

For us, it is more like a typical tourist thinging. Got to go there and take a peek and shoot a few pictures. :)

Princess, NCL, HAL are the most established lines for Alaska cruise

We bought a pair of 10x42 Zen-Ray VISTA binoculars for our daughter for the upcoming July cruise. There was a coupon available (SAVE15) that helped us save $15. Not sure if it is expired.

My DH used his expensive Swarovski birding binoculars for all of our travel. But I found it sufficient to use less expensive binoculars ($100-$300). I just won't allow him to spend another $2000 on a pair of binoculars.

Oceaneer's Club/Lab is open roughly 9:00 am- midnight every day. I don't know if that's the age group you're asking about.

our kids will be 5 and 7

We are planning to make a reservation at Palo's. I have a question: what do we do with kids while we are there indulging ourselves? LOL Does kids program run through dinner time so they can stay there?

hopefully, they will station Frozen characters on all DCL ships

got a dumb question: is concierge level stateroom same as suite? Do they have concierge balcony or ocean view rooms?

really enjoyed your review

For B2B, probably need minimum of $6K

once your on land use it... any ship phone fee's are going to be high

 

 

Uncle Fester sailing from Las Vegas

 

Married on Monarch of the Sea 07-07-07

Celebrity

Princess

RC

Carnival

NCL

make sure you are not on ship roaming service

it is an easy drive. Try to shake off the driving responsibility. ;) The scenery is so great that it seems almost unfair to the driver who has to focus on the road

we just opened up the folder from our Alaska cruise a few years back. It brought back so much vivid memory. Bring camera!

we took a pair of 8x42 and a pair of 10x42 with us during our last two trips to Alaska. It's hard to imagine what the trip will be without them.

We were on the last cruise of the season (mid Sept) and the weather was so bad we were glad we hadn't paid for a balcony. When we wanted to go outside, it was a quick walk to decks where we could move side to side and weren't "stuck" seeing the views from just one balcony. If I had to choose between booking a balcony and shore excursions, I'd take the excursions and book an oceanview.

we barely spent much time in the cabin. It really didn't matter whether we got balcony or inside stateroom. By the time we are going back to our room, it is dark already