peisahm

I think K50 nailed all your Qs except these; 3 hours pre-departure (1:30pm) isn't terrible advice from HAL on your 2-ship Saturday June 24th. Personally I'd slide that even later though - even with just 2 ships the peak busy time could run through 2pm, especially if a lot of people follow the Princess/HAL documents which suggest boarding from 1pm or later. Leave your bags at the Hyatt, go do some sightseeing, go back for them at 2-2:30pm, walk to the pier and you should breeze through with minimal time spent in any queues.

 

If you are the kind of folks who must be on-board ASAP then K50's suggested time is the way to go - you'll definitely be able to drop bags with the longshoremen by 10:30am (on a 2 ship day you could probably slide this as early as 9:45am), and you'll beat most fellow pax to the pier (there's a big bump just after noon thanks to Amtrak arriving with same-day cruisers up from Seattle). While they probably won't start processing anyone until after 11am, so you will definitely be queuing for as long as it takes them to start processing, you should get through the various security/US CBP/check-in stages fairly quickly if you arrive early. Even if you were the very first people at the pier and were first processed at all stages, the earliest you could possibly get on board would be around 11am.

 

 

You can always get lunch on board - the buffet will be open right through - but if you want a sit-down lunch that stops early enough that if you go sightseeing and arrive at the pier any time from 1pm onward you almost certainly will not be able to get into the dining room (I'm most familiar with Princess, who lock it down at 1:30pm). We used to push for our 'paid for' lunch but then realized that our wasted time in the queues is worth way more to us than one extra meal on-board; now we show up late after getting a massage (for a fraction of the cost of the ship spa, with our regular RMT so better quality too) then lunching somewhere good downtown.

Thanks,

May just enjoy a leisurely morning at the hotel (checkout isn't until noon) then take a walk around the city. Hubby isn't fond of queques. Looks like there are lots of food options in that area to pick up something light before we sail.

Don't forget.... that's $31 CDN..... making it $24 USD. What a deal for door to door service for the carload!

Well, we are Canadian so not as much of a deal for us. Wish our cruise price was in CAD!!! lol. The CAD hasn't been stellar lately

We always take ginger pills on vacations/cruises. They do a wonderful job of preventing motion sickness for us. And there are no side affects.

Ginger lozenges, Chimes ginger chews, Gravol, and scopolamine patches will be in my luggage

No Uber or Lyft in Vancouver at this time . Yes you can comfortably do the walk. If raining I would take a cab for the short distance to stay dry. I would arrive around 10:30 - 11:00 to board. There will be uS customs clearance before boarding the ship.

Wow, kind of surprised there's no Uber or Lyft in Vancouver. Cab it is :)

Thanks, definitely will take a cab if it's raining, don't need to start our cruise with wet clothes

We are flying into Vancouver and staying at the Hyatt Regency before catching our ship at Canada Place the next day. We plan on taking a cab from the airport (I think it's a $31 flat rate), or would Uber be available and a cheaper option?

Our ship departs at 4:30pm, a few questions:

- googlemaps shows this as a 10 minute walk, is this realistic for the area (traffic, etc.) - we will have carry-on rolled luggage and a backpack only

- what time should we be there (HAL says 3 hours before) is this reasonable?

- what is the earliest we could get on the ship, and would we be able to have lunch on the ship?

- do we go through customs at Canada Place (Alaskan cruise)

Thanks in advance

It was a private excursion with Coastal Helicopter, http://www.coastalhelicopters.com/. We have friends that will be doing the same excursion next month.

We finally decided on the 'Taku Glacier adventure by air, water and ice'. We booked it through the ship but looks like it's operated by Coastal. Now to read up on how to not get motion sickness, wish it was simply mind over matter :o

I'm always espousing the virtues of the Upper Dewey Lake hike in Skagway--something you can do all by yourselves on foot from the ship. If you have a sunny day, it's absolutely gorgeous. VERY steep at parts, a good workout, but so very beautiful.

Here are a few of my pictures: http://www.melindabrasher.com/2014/09/skagway-alaska-upper-dewey-lake.html

Sounds great, will add this to our list of things to do in Skagway.

This is the only tour I recommend. The other 2 are simply- too short. TIME is the biggest feature with glacier trekker and frankly 3 hours isn't a lot. Forget the 1 hour- you barely get out before you are turning back. Other significant issue with anything shorter is the tour moving only as fast as the slowest person, which- again, my experience and opinion is a poor choice, since the range is unpredictable.

 

If you just want a slow basic walk on the ice and aren't at least, basically in shape, the level 3 isn't for you.

 

I'm no mountain climber, and am older, but have no issue with walking a few miles at a good pace without "resting".

Ok, we should be alright then. We are in our mid 40s and casual shape. Did a Rick Steves Europe tour last year that was classified as 'active'. Lots of stairs and we did our own hike down the lower part of the Schilthorn and took the stairs up the Eiffel tower so I hope we'll be ok on this.

When I booked the extended glacier trek, the suggested fitness guideline was being able to hike five miles over mixed terrain. This is meant to approximate the overall workload of the experience - lots of semi-crouched walking, firm and deliberate stepping to anchor your crampons into ice, pulling the crampons back out. You don't go that far from base camp, but moving requires extra effort that adds up. There's also the option to climb an ice wall, which is more about coordination and leaning your weight forward than physical strength or endurance.

 

I'm into heavy lifting and some cardio, and I found it enjoyably strenuous - not too difficult but I was tired afterward. Spousal Unit doesn't do any dedicated exercise, but is in reasonable casual shape (can ride his bike around town for a few miles and uphill at a strenuous pace), and he got along fine as well.

Thanks! That helps :)

Spousal Unit and I enjoyed the Level 3 Extended Glacier Trek with Northstar Trekking (Juneau) and the Triple Adventure Tour (hike, bike, and float) with Sockeye Cycling and Skagway Float Tours (Skagway). Check out my review and photos if you wish. :)

Have a question for you about the level 3 extended Glacier Trek... how 'good physical' shape are they talking? Are they just warning the people with mobility issues it is more intense or would you need to be someone who works out regularly and hikes mountains?

I will be sailing on Nieuw Amsterdam RT from Vancouver, an itinerary that does not include scenic cruising of Tracy Arm. But there is a special excursion for those who decide to book it. The ship stops (or slows) near Tracy Arm (before reaching Juneau) and lets the people who have booked the excursion off onto a small boat. The ship continues onto Juneau and the excursion goes into the Fjord and then meets up with ship in port around 6 hours later. It saves time for the excursion because you don't have to wait until docking in Juneau to head back toward Tracy Arm. So we will get into Juneau around 2 or 3 pm after having already done the Tracy Arm, still with around 7 hours still to explore Juneau. I just have to find another excursion for late in the day if we decide to take this one.

Which date are you sailing? We're also on the nieuw Amsterdam leaving June 24. The Tracy Arm excursion is waitlisted for our cruise. Any idea what the ship will see on the way to Juneau after dropping the excursion people off?

It was a private excursion with Coastal Helicopter, http://www.coastalhelicopters.com/. We have friends that will be doing the same excursion next month.

Thanks, we'll be in Juneau on June 26 :)

We landed on it and walked around. That is the best part. You can see photos from our landing in our review at LINK. Here is one of them.

 

Which excursion did you do? So many on HAL to choose from

Thanks, I got the great lastminutetravel rate of $87/night that I read about on this forum :D

Now I just have to find the cheapest way to get from FLL airport to the hotel

Cruise booked, hotel booked, now just the flights and excursions

sorry everyone, I looked on page 2 and saw the same question. Looks like the Intercontinental it is :)

Not sure which to choose between the Intercontinental or the Hilton Downtown in Miami; are there better things (restarurants, shopping, etc) within walking distance to one or the other?

Is a cab to POM cheaper from either of these hotels?

rooms nicer, pool nicer, etc????

Help me decide

I am a little concerned about soot and view in our aft balcony. I have read some bad things about the aft balconies on deck 7 on Liberty.

Anyone have any pictures or reviews?

We recently cruise on LOS and had JS 7414. Our friends were in 6710, which is directly below 7708 and they enjoyed it very much. We loved our location and we were directly above the Presidential suite. I think it's a great location and you would be fine there. I think that either 7708 or the 9404/9406 would be fine for you.

We have JS 7414 booked for 10-10 on Liberty. Was there sun area on the balcony or was it a totally covered balcony? Was it stuffy or was there a breeze? I love the idea of the larger balcony but have been reading some bad reviews of the 'superstructure' on deck 7 aft balconys.

Do you have any pictures? Was there much soot on your balcony? Was the stateroom itself nice, quiet, etc????