slix1

Last port Cozumel and our excursion was Bar Hop. This is a great way to see the other side of the island. Great coast and amazing colors in the water. While there is no electricity, there are several bars using generators and solar. Great food and drinks but cash only. Tonight dinner was Teppanyaki and very good. We both had beef and shrimp.

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We were an hour late getting cleared at Costa Maya. We planned our own excursion with Native Choice and they waited for us. We picked the shorter tour to Chacchoben and it was very good. The guide was very interesting explaining Mayan daily life. Bottled water was available coming and going and there were clean toilets at the site. The cleared sites were very impressive and there were many other remains. The day was not to hot and much of the tour was shady under giant palms. With the extra hour we had not eaten in 6.5 hours. We were only vaguely hungry and laughed at how long it had been since we had that feeling. This was a great time to try Margaritaville. Cheeseburger and fish tacos were tasty. We changed our Teppanyaki reservation to Friday since it would be too soon to eat. Show was Million Dollar Quartet and was very good--at least as good as the Vegas version. We were headed to Savor when I realized the buffet had roast turkey. Yum. DH headed back to the casino and I am about to read.

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A sea day and a beach day are both for relaxing so we were not very disappointed at missing Harvest Caye. We had a great day and ended with a nice meal at le Bistro. Tomorrow Costa Maya and a ruin tour.

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The captain said it was too windy to dock at Harvest Caye. Today was big chance of rain but is fine so far. Reading and casino are high on our list.

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Internet on the Getaway is no better. I have quit trying unless in my cabin. Today was Roatan. We had been here before and loved the snorkeling at Tabayana but wanted to see a different place so I picked Little French Cay. The LFC greeters were outside security which is nothing like the email instructions. We had spent 20 minutes looking when an official directed us. LFC is tropical beautiful. It has a small zoo which I think is unnecessary. The day was hazy and very windy but that made the temperature good. The lunch probably was not appealing to many but I like Central American rice and beans. All and all it was a good beach day. Back on the ship we had a shower and small nap. Did I mention we had more than the two included drinks at LFC? We decided we could be ready in time to go to Taste before the show. The food was very good. I had fish and crab cake which was giant. This was our night to see Burn the Floor. Very high energy but the moves were repeated a lot. Worth seeing since it was free. Back to the Sugarcane bar since it is one of the few places that has live music. Tomorrow is the private island.

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So I am catching up with today Monday on our first sea day. Late breakfast and didn't check the M&G time so we were late instead of early. Nice weather and spent several hours on a sun deck above the pool. Plenty of chairs and there is a bar. I guess it is considered 17 since we took the elevator to 16 and walked up. The Escape has a mister area but I don't see one on the Getaway. We kept breakfast small for cruising but bigger than a normal one. Ditto for lunch since supper was Moderno as part of our dining package. We we sat on our tiny balcony and watched for flying fish. This balcony is noticeably smaller than any others. Enjoyed the salad bar at Moderno and we were too full for much meat but tried most of it. Did some bar hops at night to catch live music. Back to the Sugarcane and then to Fat Cats.

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I will ask about chat. Internet is very iffy. The sail away was strange with no live music or announcements from the cruise director. We went to the room and luggage was already there. We could not go down cabin aisles when we first boarded since the rooms were not ready. We had drinks and light lunch but it was so much we only wanted relatively light supper and tried the buffet. Later we spent several hours at the Sugarcane Mojito bar. Good music. Good start to the cruise.

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I will ask about chat. Internet is very iffy. The sail away was strange with no live music or announcements from the cruise director. We went to the room and luggage was already there. We could not go down cabin aisles when we first boarded since the rooms were not ready. We had drinks and light lunch but it was so much we only wanted relatively light supper and tried the buffet. Later we spent several hours at the Sugarcane Mojito bar. Good music. Good start to the cruise.

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We booked cruise in January. My husband was entitled to a balcony from Casinos at Sea and we only pay some fees with most of the cruise free. Great way to have a vacation. We flew from Texas to Miami on Sunday arriving even earlier than the 11:15a flight was due. I know many people play it safe and go a day early but this has worked for us before. We use the NCL shuttle for $16 each since they take the luggage right from the airport. The price might get too high for large groups and make a taxi a better deal. We had a mild discussion with the cruise terminal people since we should get to by pass the regular lines. We still have to wait with everyone to actually board. I think we got there at peak time but from getting out of the shuttle to stepping on board was not an hour. I will catch up to present later. Time to shower for dinner at Moderno.

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We booked cruise in January. My husband was entitled to a balcony from Casinos at Sea and we only pay some fees with most of the cruise free. Great way to have a vacation. We flew from Texas to Miami on Sunday arriving even earlier than the 11:15a flight was due. I know many people play it safe and go a day early but this has worked for us before. We use the NCL shuttle for $16 each since they take the luggage right from the airport. The price might get too high for large groups and make a taxi a better deal. We had a mild discussion with the cruise terminal people since we should get to by pass the regular lines. We still have to wait with everyone to actually board. I think we got there at peak time but from getting out of the shuttle to stepping on board was not an hour. I will catch up to present later. Time to shower for dinner at Moderno.

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I decided to not contest the internet package although the availability is bad. The best spot is in my room but no access from the pool decks and light email and posting seemed a good sun activity. I plan to post a short review of the first 24 hours but now is nap time.

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We took the NCL excursion on the Rebel Yell last Wednesday. Being on a cruise we didn't need food. There is a menu but no prices online with the webcam. We had 2 Painkillers, 1 Bloody Mary, and 1 beer. The Painkiller was tasty but I actually enjoyed the Bloody Mary the most. Our tab for the 4 drinks with tip was $46. We were on the early trip and while there were people on the beach, we were the first footprints away from the bars. The water is deep just right off edge of the beach which is why it is so quickly colorful. Small children would need to be watched but adults won't have any problems. There wasn't much current and it was great to bob in the cool water. We liked that there were plenty of chairs and plenty of both sun and shade. We shared a rum punch on the trip back since we felt no pain after the Painkillers!

We booked with Tours Plaza based on reviews and everything went smoothly. the driver who met us was different from the one in the email but he knew what I had requested so it was a great start. We spent half a day with Gerry and found him friendly and very easy to talk to as he showed us the island. We followed his suggestion for a snack/lunch at Playa Bonita and had great nachos, guacamole, pico de gallo, and beer. I will use them again when in Cozumel.

I used Tom's Port Guide for Ketchikan. I used half my day for a tour and bits of the walking guide for the other half.

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Ketchikan-02-26-2014.pdf

Just flew to Vancouver and was given the form on the plane. The customs and immigration procedure was very quick.

I also just went on the Deadliest Catch Tour. I had only seen parts of 2-3 shows but like the reviews. We were there on a dry day but the seats would have some protection from rain and there are heaters in the ceiling that we also didn't need. I didn't mind that all but one trap was preloaded with live crabs. I though they gave a good example of what they had to do hundreds of times. You could imagine that pulling up a trap once was fun and after 18 hours not so fun. I didn't mind that they tossed fish to the eagles. It certainly wasn't any large amount and they said as soon as the salmon came the eagles would be up the creeks. The guys made jokes but were not too corny and actually came across in an easy manor. My family ranged in age from 12 to 72 and all liked it a lot.

We went to the suspension bridge 7 years ago when our family booked a cruise just a few weeks before sailing. I had really wanted to go to Emerald Lake but all those tours were full. I finally made it to Emerald Lake this month and the trip into the Yukon was beautiful. My first trip was in September and the fall colors were beautiful at the suspension bridge. My advice is mixed. Go further into the Yukon if you possibly can. The bridge is fine if that is what is practical for your time at Skagway.

We just used Harv and Marv for a private tour for 7 people this month and it was great. I am sure it was startling to get that notice but at least it was found in plenty of time. They answered questions while I was deciding and generally were easy to work with. Good luck with whale watching!

We had a similar situation. We rented a car from Avis that had a big charge to return at Anchorage but gave us a little flexibility. This gave us the opportunity to go to the visitor center by Portage and take a short walk that gets very close to Bryon Glacier. We could have actually walked thru a large moraine and up the ice but decided it would be very dirty. We did see a moose just off the nice easy path. You also have to factor the one way tunnel. We popped out the tunnel at 9:00a and came back at the 11:30a. We had planned to visit the small PWS museum at the Anchor Inn but it was a very rainy day and we ran out of time with coffee and hot soup before our tour. All the tours are aware of the tunnel schedule and we get you back in time to rush out at the top of the hour whether it is your vehicle or a group transport. We enjoyed PWS even in a storm.

I have seen whales and beautiful scenery from the cruise ship but no wildlife. My ideal vacation doesn't include going into every shop close to the pier but I know some love that. Now if you are planning to hike or really walk the city there is no reason to book excursions. I personally would take a less expensive cruise line so that I could tour in every port.

It doesn't take much research to see that there are a small number of ports for Alaskan cruises. There are always multiple ships docked at each port. My first Alaskan cruise was roundtrip from Seattle but I just used NCL north from Vancouver and much preferred it for the two glacier days. You need to consider the cost of excursions in your planning. I budgeted $200 per person per port and that was all booked outside of the cruise line.

I just used Beyond Skagway based on Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic reports. I am not particularly a fan of trains. We were able to stop at many places to hop out and take pictures, see mountain goats, check for moose, and we got all the way to Emerald Lake. Beyond Skagway does have a combo with the train but I was extremely happy with our tour. I am sure this has to be booked ahead.

We just cruised sailing June 9 and being in Juneau June 12. This was our 2nd Alaskan cruise and we saw whales from the ship both times. However, we took a whale watching excursion at Juneau both times. The cruise ship could take hours and hour of staring at the sea and you should have binoculars. Auke Bay must always have whales since most tours guarantee you will at least see a whale from a distance. Whales blow 2-3 times and then dive deeper with a flip of the tail. Most are down 5 minutes or a bit longer. You should see them much closer on a whale watching trip which often includes sea lion sightings. However, there is lots to do in Juneau so a sighting from your cruise might be enough for you.

Make sure you are a fan of trains and that it is nice weather when you go. A few years ago we chose to take a different tour while most of our large group rode the train. It was lightly raining and they said the windows were fogged enough to block big parts of the view. We just this month used Beyond Skagway and had a great tour. The guide knew where to show us high mountain goats on the way up and we watched a bear walking down the side of the road for several minutes on the way down. I don't know if the noise of train cuts down on the chance of seeing wildlife.

We are just back and I initially had the same concerns about starboard balcony cabins. We had great views and the ship slowly rotated so that both sides could see. We went out of the cabin to view from the deck after our ship turned for the port balconies.