texasweather

I personally would do the whale watch over Mendenhall. I was on a cruise last summer and did Mendenhall, and don't get me wrong, it was an enjoyable experience but not a bucket list type excursion.. the glacier we saw from our cruise ship (Dawes) was much more impressive. This year, I did a whale watch in Juneau and it was absolutely incredible. We got to watch a pod of whales bubble net feeding, it was magical.

Thank you so much for this thread - it has helped me immensely in finalizing my rough outline of what my 2024 cruise is going to be! I have a July 2024 cruise on a courtesy hold with Celebrity, northbound out of Vancouver. I think booking the package in Seward with Harbor 360 & Major Marine makes all the sense in the world, and I'm so excited! I'm going to call them as soon as I decide to proceed with my deposit and see if they'll let me book my 2024 reservation. Thanks for that tip! From what I've been reading, booking the 8.5 tour is best, but I also saw their warning about seasickness and it's making me a little nervous. No one in my party is particularly prone to it, but I'm wondering if anyone who sees this who has done this tour - how bad are the waves? I know it'll vary day to day, but does anyone know if things like the pressure bands or ear patches may be sufficient for a cruise like that?

Following, and will likely be throwing in my two cents as I was on this same sailing!

We just walked around town and shopped.. not much to do in town itself but I did find it had the most beautiful setting of our stops.

We were there on Serenade on Thursday. We were not able to get very close and did not see any calving, but I’m a first timer and was completely awe-struck regardless. The captain said there were too many large ice chunks to get any closer. The small boat excursion got suuuper close, I’ll have to spring for that one someday but it was just so expensive.

Enjoy!! I just got off RCCL Serenade today.. Sitka was my favorite stop. It was the most beautiful setting of the 3 in my opinion!! 😍

Coming back as promised - we self carried our bags off the ship about 7:45. No lines at customs, a small line (~5 min) for a taxi, and we were through customs at the airport and sitting at our gate by 8:45 am! PLENTY of time. To be fair, I have Global Entry so I got to skip a couple lines at the airport, but even if I didn’t have it, there would have been more than enough time to make our 12:45 pm flight with lots of extra time.

I embarked on June 26 and am going home today. Everything went INCREDIBLY smoothly both getting on and getting off. Honestly easiest cruise boarding experience I’ve ever had. As long as you have your documents, apps, and everything in order it should be smooth!

I think most of your questions were answered but I thought I’d chime in. My flight is 12:45 pm post cruise. We walked off the ship this morning at 7:45 and made it to the airport (taxi), through security and to our gate by 8:45 am! I couldn’t believe how fast and smooth everything was. To be fair I have Global Entry so there were a couple lines I got to skip, but even without that, I would have had PLENTY of time to make a 12:30 flight.

I hear you. I had it February 2021 and my taste/smell is still not back to normal. Most foods and smells have returned, but some, including some of my favorites, are absolutely vile. It’s pretty sad, but I can’t complain - the only taste and smell my dad has experienced for the last 18 months is rancid garlic. I stayed in that stage about 7 months and it was AWFUL - I feel so bad he seems to be stuck there. 😔

I have the $125 off $500 on my AU’s Platinum. I just read all the fine print and can’t figure out if “cruise bookings” would include excursions. It does say it excludes onboard purchases so who knows.

Thanks for this! I think I'll just have to hope for a day with good conditions... I REALLY want to take the small boat excursion but at $1,176 for 4 people, I just can't justify it.

I'm looking at the same (except it's Hubbard glacier explorer, from Serenade) - it's the only excursion I REALLY want to do, but it would cost $1,176 for a family of 4... I just don't think I can justify that. I hope viewing from the ship still provides a good experience!

Well, our lives just got a whole lot easier - the US is dropping their testing requirement to return to the US as of Sunday!! https://thepointsguy.com/news/us-dropping-return-covid-testing-requirement-air-travel/

That is very encouraging! Thank you for sharing your experience!