Sigyn

Determining what to pack for Alaska cruise. Plenty of time, but just got off one cruise and it's fun to start thinking about the next. Are there nice robes in the room in Aqua Class?

I can't decide whether it's worth the pricey upcharge to book Goldstar service on the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Anchorage. Has anyone done both for comparison?

I must not have. It was 24 years ago. My memory isn't what it used to be. 🙂

I've been to Seward before and I don't recall there being anything there to see.

We disembark from our Celebrity cruise on July 14 in Seward and want to spend one night in Anchorage before flying home. If we take the Celebrity train transfer from Seward to Anchorage, it takes us directly to the airport. How would it work if we simply book the train ourselves to Anchorage? Has anyone done this who can explain the process to me? Would we have help transferring our luggage from the ship to the train? I've already booked us into a hotel in downtown Anchorage.

I like this approach. I've been wanting to purge my closet and donate clothes, so I've been going this route as well and trying on clothes and donating items, some designer with tags still on, just to cull the mass of items in my closet.

Makes sense. I will have more trouble packing for our Alaska cruise next July than the Caribbean cruise I'm packing for right now. I mean, a July cruise to Alaska. That's just confusing!

I made a list this time since I pack for myself, my teenager and my husband. I did a document in Pages on my Mac and made a table with columns to check off each category for each one of us. If you knew me and how disorganized I normally am, you'd know what a big deal this is.

I checked on 12/19 and it's the new pricing. I had looked a few days ago and still didn't want to upgrade. We are doing a cruise to Alaska and spending upwards of $600 to $1,000 on each excursion, so I have to draw the line somewhere and the upgrade to the drink package seems like one place I don't need to spend more. The classic drink package seems reasonable enough.

It's on every AquaClass booking. Here's an example: yes, probably so

I booked an AquaClass cabin and it says that drinks are included. Which drink package is it referring to?

I checked in for myself and my husband and my son from my laptop. It was super easy.

wow, that sounds delicious. I want one!

NCL just changed the name of the Ocean Villa to Beach Villa. The size, price and description is exactly the same. The text on their excursion page has been updated to say Beach Villa but they haven't updated the video yet to say Beach Villa. It still says Ocean Villa: https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/NPI_45/Ocean-Villa-at-Silver-Cove I've been paying attention to this because I booked one, too, and we leave on our cruise in five days.

They're the same thing. It looks like NCL just changed the name of them.

My cruise is in five days. We leave in four. I have put together a few things, but haven't really started packing. I tried, but our cats got into it all, at 2 am, no less, so I closed up the suitcases and stopped. I did create a packing list. How soon do you start packing for a cruise?

My aunt just did a POA cruise - got off a day or two ago - and absolutely loved it. They're now spending a couple days on land. She's been to Hawaii a few times on land, and so this was a perfect way for her and her family (husband and adult kids) to see several islands at once. Personally, I've only been to Kauai for four nights, back when I lived in Los Angeles and it was a relatively easy flight over to the island, and while I absolutely loved it, after five days/four nights, we'd seen absolutely everything there was to do, and if we had been going to stay longer, I would have wanted to add in another island. It's not expensive to fly island to island, but it would take a half day out of your vacation to go to/from an airport and deal with that aspect of island hopping. All of this is my long winded way of saying I'd consider a POA cruise to either get to know the islands and pick one for a future land vacation, or after I'd done a land vacation or two to Hawaii and wanted to see more islands even if just for a quick stop on each.

It looks like most colleges do spring break in March and it peaks the second and third week of March: https://www.studentcity.com/plan-a-trip/when-is-my-spring-break/ But to show how varied public schools are, here's Los Angeles and Orange County spring breaks: https://www.lovecatalina.com/community-information/school-break-calendar/ Using just California as an example, Los Angeles public schools are out April 1-9, while Long Beach schools are out April 7-16.

that's the week our school district is off.

My son goes to Catholic school and they have the week of April 2-9 off, for whatever that's worth. I have a friend who worked in customer service in the cruise industry for two decades and she said spring break is March and April - any weeks in those months are full of kids, teenagers and college students and best avoided unless you want chaos. She said sometimes she even found poop in the hallways of the ships.

I only have Carnival to compare it to, so I'm thinking it will be a stunning win overall. 🙂

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We board the Prima in 8 days and you voice everything that I've been thinking based on what I've read. It seems that many of the people complaining are resistant to change. The ship is clearly different and many people are familiar with a standard type of ship for NCL, and this one does not fit in with their expectations. That doesn't make it bad, just different. I, personally, am looking very forward to it. I've never sailed on NCL, and I think the photos look gorgeous, and I cannot wait to board the Prima. I'll share my post-cruise report as well, the good and bad, if I find anything negative to say about it. That's very helpful to know about the shows and the balcony being empty at the start of each show. Thank you for sharing this info, and I look forward to your full review.

It's quiet, relaxing, and you don't have to deal with masses of people. It's a spa sanctuary type environment.

I based it on how many cruise lines discount the first night in specialty restaurants to encourage people to book, since there are fewer reservations that night. And how if I look even now at the Prima, on which we're sailing in 9 days, there are still reservations open for the first night at specialty restaurants and every single other night is booked. This article also supports it: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/cruise-dining-mistakes/ "It’s tradition for many cruisers to eat in the main dining room on the first night of the cruise. You’re still getting the lay of the land, and if you’ve selected assigned-seating dining, you’re eager to meet your waiters. Also, some avid cruisers remember a time when the best dishes, such as lobster, were served on the first night and don’t want to miss them – even though the cruise lines now often save their best dishes for formal night. Because of this mindset, reservations can be easier to get in specialty restaurants on the first night of the cruise. Some lines even offer incentives if you book a table on the eve of embarkation. Carnival, for example, offers a free bottle of house wine or 50% off the regular wine list to cruisers who choose to dine in certain extra-fee restaurants on night one."