Mibele

 

BTW, if you pay a 100% surcharge, do you still get the shipboard credit the "missing" second person would have received? Suspect not!

 

On Princess you do :-)

Good stuff. Thanks, Mark, although I'm reminded that maybe the newly rich became that way because they washed their own clothes. I'll use the ones on deck 10 and 11 at the end of October, do a user survey and report back accordingly.

If you are on the October 25th from NYC, you will see me there! I'm staying on deck 10 - no where near the old or newly rich - staying in an inside ;-)

Enjoyed your review and looking forward to my first Cunard cruise late next month - transatlantic, NYC to London. Question - I thought I saw Zandra Rhodes was supposed to be on this fashion week cruise. Was she on your sailing? I knew her back in the early 90s when I was the assistant to her boyfriend and I wish I had booked this trip to say hi to them (if he sailed with her - he's 98 now!), but didn't see her listed until well after I made my plans.

:hearteyes::hearteyes: OATMEAL COOKIES!! :hearteyes::hearteyes:

 

ALWAYS the oatmeal cookies!!!!!!! :D

I Concur . . . :-)

Apologies if any of this is repeated information - I didn't read any of the replies! I went on a northbound cruise earlier this Alaska season (May 30th) and arrived in Whittier on June 6. Then we did Denali all on our own. Here is exactly what we did (this is from an email I sent to a friend of mine, so I haven't gone through it to edit it at all) The day long tour we took in Denali was my favorite thing about the land portion of the trip. They only do that tour starting on June 8 each year, so there will be less snow. We saw 9 different bear that day!

Rentalcar – the rental car prices at the airport are insane, because of more taxesthey need to charge – I found this Hertz not far from the airport. Theyare not open on Saturdays or Sundays (you can just drop the key off), and they(somehow) allowed us to both add a second driver and return the car to theairport at no extra cost – Sara is a AAA member – I am not.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/location/unitedstates/alaska/anchorage/ANCC12

HertzCar Rental – 414 K Street

SewardInformation: http://www.seward.com/- We did not stay here, but I wish I had!

KenaiFjords National Park: https://www.nps.gov/kefj/index.htm

Seward– Whale Watching/Fjord viewing tours:

https://www.viator.com/tours/Seward/Kenai-Fjords-and-Resurrection-Bay-Half-Day-Cruise/d4368-7166P4

https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/northwestern-fjord-tour/

https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/

DenaliNational Park: https://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm

ParkRanger Programs and Field Seminars - https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/ranger-programs.htm

Hereis the tour you should take – it is all day, but you get a great sense of thepark and unless you want to go back and do a bunch of hiking in bear territory,this is what I would recommend you do: https://www.reservedenali.com/tours-transits/the-denali-tour-experience/kantishna-experience-tour/- you go through the entire 92.5 mile road and make stops along the way forbathroom breaks and wildlife viewing. It includes lunch (eating on thebus) and snacks, but you probably would want to bring a few of your own snacksas well).

Eatingin Denali area – we ate at two different restaurants – Totem and The Bake –

http://www.alaska.org/detail/denali-park-salmon-bake

http://www.alaska.org/destination/denali-national-park/dining-and-nightlife

Whereto stay – I don’t know how much you want to spend . . . there are hotels withinthe park property which are insanely expensive – http://www.alaska.org/destination/denali-national-park/wilderness-lodges- they are privately owned places within the park on land that was theirsbefore the park was the park. I think they are all inclusive, meals,activities, tours, you can look into those if you want.

Westayed in Healy, which was about 10 minutes from the park entrance. https://www.tripadvisor.com/SmartDeals-g31007-Healy_Denali_National_Park_and_Preserve_Alaska-Hotel-Deals.html

Westayed at Denali Park Hotel - https://www.denaliparkhotel.com/

It is always luck of the draw on the glaciers calving. When I was in GB at the beginning of June, Marjorie Glacier calved almost the entire time we were there. Five minutes before we left a GIGANTIC section in the middle fell - it was like a fireworks finale. The entire ship cheered. It was amazing! We didn't go to Hubbard Glacier on that trip, so I have something to look forward to on my next trip to Alaska :-)

Scenic Cruising: Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay

We lucked out big time with beautiful weather both days. Hubbard was HUGE and calved several times. Glacier Bay, compared to Hubbard, was a bit of a let down. I had heard that you HAD TO do Glacier Bay if you were cruising Alaska. We had a super clear day, and it was beautiful, but Majorie Glacier and the other glaciers were not calving, so perhaps that led to some of the "letdown." If Hubbard is on the itinerary and not Glacier Bay, I would cruise that itinerary no problem. Best part about Glacier Bay was seeing the forest service people come aboard and then leave, as well as their talks and information.

And the Warner Bros. Studio Tour is a great thing to see also ;-)

You have my vote for this 10 day as well! It is nice to go somewhere other than the Mexican Riviera. Loreto and La Paz were both great stops.

I always decorate my door with the cruise theme (borrowing from the ports we will be visiting) and I have a little sign that I hang on the room number that says "adventure this way" so I can see it while walking down the hall and not have to worry if I am trying to open the wrong door. I know, I know, I could look at the name on the nameplate, but what fun is that?

On my Alaska cruise on Star leaving on 5/26 they offered an upsell last month of $249 pp for an oceanview to balcony. They STILL have balconies available and have not budged on the $249 pp. We leave in three days.

:(:(:( :( maybe you will be pleasantly surprised at your embarkation! Here's hoping :)

Island, 5/30, 7 day, Balcony (BE), $79, Mini Suite (MD)

Sailing on the Island May 30 - Northbound Vancouver to Whittier. Had E736, a BE balcony - last balcony in the row, had a great aft view also. Received an offer on Friday, May 18, for a mini suite for $79pp and grabbed it. So now we are located on Caribe towards the back of the ship.

The weather was my experience last year on a Vancouver to LA trip on the Star also. We skipped Astoria due to weather and had about 36 hours of strong gusty winds and occasional 20 foot waves out of Seattle. Lots of holding onto the walls :-)

Just got off the Star yesterday and thought I would post a review - hope it is helpful!

 

Itinerary

This cruise went from Los Angeles to Vancouver with calls in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Astoria and Nanaimo (Vancouver Island) with 2 sea days. On the San Francisco day they announced that we would be skipping Astoria due to weather and would be changing course to avoid the storm - so we ended up with an extra sea day. Things were really rocking and rolling for the next day and a half or so - sustained gale force winds and 30 foot (3 metre) high swells. The ship was listing so much to port at one point that it was like walking uphill to cross the corridor to the other side of the Horizon court! They even had a front page feature on sea sickness in the Patter talking about how rare it is - which was not really supported by the number of green faces I saw in both PAX and crew and the large quantities of Dramamine we saw them unloading to sell in the shops!

Thanks for your post! I always take food pictures and my friends laugh - but I enjoy looking at them later :-)

I've sailed out of Vancouver twice with no problems at all, thankfully, and am leaving out of there next Wednesday and we are the only ship in port, so I expect it will be a smooth process for me once again.

My mom and I got upgraded to one of those aft mini suites on the emerald deck - ours was a handicap accessible room with twin beds that DO NOT go together for a queen. Which was fine for us. Also, no tub since it has a roll in shower. Neither of us required that room. We received the upgrade about one week prior to the trip. The balcony was spectacular

I'm originally from Michigan and fly in and out of Detroit on a regular basis to visit family. While 50 minutes is a little tight, it is doable. DTW is a huge airport, but they have a shuttle that runs between the McCarran terminals, if your next flight is in a different terminal. The only negative might be any checked luggage. Hopefully, it would make the next flight. Hope you have a wonderful vacation next year!

 

To each his own. I don't want a social event, I just want the scone. Save a lot of time that way.

hahaha :-) some days, I like to go to the dining room for tea; some days, I want them on my balcony; some days they barely make it out of the buffet area

What a nice surprise for them when they check in ;-) I still bask in the lovely memories of a true upgrade fairy visit on a 10 day Mexican Riviera cruise when my mom and I were upgraded from a balcony to one of the sweet Aft Mini Suites with the HUGE balconies! She was beside herself the entire trip.

Fabulous!! Nothing else to say but fabulous :)

I've done both directions and and both port and starboard, and haven't noticed much of a difference. Our weather must have been good :)

Having traveled with a small child, the cookie was for the kid. We received one every day, but in the evening when they did the turn down service. I've also been on board when they pushed a cart around the pool with cookies and milk for everyone :)

I stayed there a few years ago and have a lovely stay. I am staying again in October pre-cruise. Very convenient to get to from the airport or the cruise terminal.

How did you get a picture of the Sistine Chapel? All I remember of that place was the people walking around saying SHHHHHHHHH and No Pictures Allowed! :-)

Sistine Chapel

I was on the Star in early November. Had a fantastic time - enjoy your cruise!

I got in line at 8am and got out of customs at 9:45. When I got in line, it wasn't very long, on the disembarkation side of the elevators. They didn't have much information at that time. I heard one announcement while we were inside the ship still, and once we finally got outside, all the Princess agents walking around didn't seem to know what was going on either. They said that it was a customs issue. I never heard computer glitch at that time, but it was still early in the day. I should have booked the B2B ;-) and stayed on the ship! Say hi to JC at the Passenger Services desk for me! HA!