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!

Will do!

Thank you so much for coming back with a report! Maybe I have a chance of making my flight after all! I'm on Royal Caribbean. We're planning to test on the ship the last day of the cruise, and if that fails, test Sunday morning in Vancouver while we are waiting to get off the ship. We'll self carry off the ship and then beeline for the airport.

From what I'm hearing, you're unlikely to make that. My flight is 12:45 and I've been told good luck. Editing to add: Maybe since you're flying within Canada it'll be different though??

I have no fact-based information, but my intuition tells me that since Royal is responsible for the damage, the priority to dock would go to any other cruise line that will be in port on the same day. It wasn't that line's fault so their itinerary shouldn't have to be modified.

I will be on Serenade.. which I have heard the older ships aren't as strong, but I'll hope for the best!

Does anyone know the cost of buying just one day of surf and stream? I'm hoping to do my proctored covid tests on the last full day (sea day) of my Alaska cruise next month. @BirdTravels had a good point, being an Alaskan cruise, there's really just the 2 sea days we'd be without connectivity.. that may have helped make up my mind. But if the price is astronomical to buy it for one day, then maybe I'd just buy the 1 device package and have us all log on one at a time to do our tests.

I got mine for $57.82 per day after all was said and done. (Serenade next month) I think it was a 30% off sale?

Ooo - good to know! I haven't been able to find an answer on if the ship's wifi is strong enough to handle the test? So I guess it is? I'm hoping to test the last day of my cruise too.

I'm not sailing out of Italy, but I was in Italy last month and used my eMed over there before flying home without any problem.

Glad to hear they make it fun! My 14 year old daughter is just sure it's going to be awful. Haha. As does my 11 year old. They wish they could stay together, sigh.