Brandis

For our upcoming cruise in 2 weeks with Radiance of the Seas, the pre-purchase price with RCL for the gondola is $48.99 ($55.00 onboard) for both adults and children.

As I understand it, they need a permit to even drop off or pick up fares at Mendenhall, the admission for the visitor center and the photo spots is separate and on top of that. No permit needed if you drive in your own car, just the admission ticket (or National Park pass, I think)

Our friends bought the Deluxe Drink package as well and it doesn't show on their card either. Maybe they now scan the barcode?

22 minutes ago, brlrph said:

We visited Denali on a princess land tour a couple of weeks ago and did the natural history tour. We were too early for the Tundra wilderness tour.

Do you mean too early season-wise or the start time of the tour?

31 minutes ago, goofygame said:

What are the differences between the two tours?  I'm doing the Royal pre-cruise and the lack of pre-tour information is annoying.  

I agree, the cruise documents which you receive about 30 days before the cruise have some more informations, but still not very detailed! Since they don't give any times either, makes it hard to do plans for individual tours in Talkeetna or Denali.

The "basic" Natural History Tour only goes up to where the gravel road starts, the Tundra Wilderness Tour is almost almost double that distance, turning back where the landslide happened a couple of years ago. I believe, before the landslide, it was even longer.

Going further into the park probably increases the chance to see wildlife, which is the main draw for me. I think the shorter tour stops at an abandoned cabin, but when we did the longer tour in the past, one of the many stops (they make bathroom breaks every 90 mins.) was also near an abandoned cabin we got to visit.

We're doing a pre-cruise with Royal Caribbean and the Natural History Tour is included. The program says that an upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour could be booked with the guide on the train the first day for $42 or so, which we would like to do if it is available.

I'm surprised that NPS would be able to oversell tours, I was thinking that the cruise lines probably would buy entire busses and NPS would keep those separate from the busses they sell to the public. I've dine the Tundra Wilderness Tour twice in the past, and it was all people from the same tour group on the bus.

Regardless of which tour we're doing, are they usually having the earlier tours for the groups, starting around 5:00/5:30 or could it be anything?

 

On 5/29/2024 at 4:44 AM, Shmoo here said:

Generally it's the insurance companies that make those restrictions.

What insurance? Don't they usually make you sign a waiver that you could die and they are not responsible for anything?

We were 1 point shy of D+ before our TA cruise 2 years ago. As they had a 2 nights cruise just before doing the TA, we booked that one as well and on the first day of the 2nd part of our cruise I went to the Diamond Lounge attendant and he activacted the D+ status for us as it normally takes a couple of days after the cruise to become effective. That way we could use all the D+ perks from day one of the TA.

Thanks. It's not so much the cheesecakes that we go to the CCF though, I love their avocado eggrolls with tamarind sauce.

I don't think I'll be tempted to eat Swiss food abroad, we don't even eat it much here either.

I have fond memories of Old Spaghetti Factory in Whistler, probably will give it a try again in Whistler.

There used to be a fun monastry-themed place on Water Street in Gastown, I believe near where The Old Spaghetti Factory is as well. I think it was called Brothers or something like that.

Any recommendations for good breakfast places around Chinatown? I heard Jam Cafe is good.

@martincath Thanks for the detailed explanations!

I somehow remembered we just could walk off the ship when disembarking in Vancouver. We’ve done the formalities onboard before on other cruises, very convenient, I wish CBP would do the same on cruises into FL. I wonder how they do it on NB cruises from Vancouver to Alaska, I imagine those small Alaskan ports are not equipped to handle that many passengers for border procedures.

Yes, we finally can apply for Global Entry, which is great!

Not all in our group have Global Entry though, so I assume we won‘t be able to use the Nexus lane.

We plan on going to WA on a Monday, would that help with wait times? Also, what about the Abbotsford / Sumas crossing, better or worse than Bellingham.

Speaking about food, this just reminded me of the most amazing Italian restaurant in Glacier, WA. We had excellent homemade pasta there many years ago. Ironically (based on your comment about Mexican food) it is a Mexican restaurant now 😂 I was hoping on doing Cheesecake Factory in Bellingham though, as I like it and it‘s something I can‘t get in Switzerland (don‘t judge me) 🫣

I‘m aware of that, just wondering if there any specific procedures. 
 

We‘re doing plenty of stuff around Vancouver and Whistler and one of them is driving down to Everett to tour Boeing.

Are there any special requirements / pre-registrations to disembark a cruise from Alaska in Vancouver as a traveller from Europe?

I believe the eTA (Canadian version of the ESTA) is not required when arriving by cruise ship. 

Anything to consider when doing a day trip from Vancouver to the US (and back to Canada the same day)? Since we fly into Anchorage we do US immigration with ESTA (and our case, GE) already, so I don't think there is much else when entering the US by car a couple of days later.

I find it pretty hard to find much useful information regarding crossing the border by car, most information is about airports.

If you don't feel like lugging the cup around all the time, you could break it, to get to the RFID tag in the bottom. Then you could stick it on an old hotel card with magnetic strip (not the cruise card, as it probably interferes with the RFID chip in that card) and just get the regular glasses they have near the soda machines anyways.

Just be careful when breaking the cups, don't cut yourself.

4 minutes ago, fenton04 said:

You will be fine.  What’s the worst that can happen?  

At best, nothing. If I put it in the check luggage, it might delay delivery to the cabin or delay boarding. As I said, just going through the options 

The only reason we booked the speciality restaurants separately by room was so that each room could use their own OBC to pay for it. When we called afterwards to have them linked so we can sit together, they can‘t do that. 
But hopefully it‘s not a big deal to do it onboard.

Incidentally, I noticed today, that one of the Diamond Plus perks is that you get the second guest for free if you book a specialty restaurant for the first or second night. We were charged for both, will have to look into that with them as well.

I already have one. Some hotels don‘t have that many plugs, and since we have 2 CPAP, I already need 2 plugs for that. After the cruise, we stay in AirBnBs.

Just want to be prepared, we‘re talking Alaska, after all. While the Anchorage Marriott should be fine, Talkeetna Lodge, while a very nice hotel, is a bit more basic and Denali Park Village even more so.

I‘ve stayed in some pretty pricey hotels in Alaska that didn‘t have TVs in the room at the time. Looking at you, Skagwy Westmark!

We booked through a US based travel agent. They put in the request to link our bookings so we sit together in the main dining room. But the speciality dining apparently goes through RCL regardless.

10 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Or just plan on turning over the strip to the ship (I'd pack it in my CPAP bag and carry it on and hope for the best) and remembering to reclaim it when you disembark. 

That es my plan all along, I just try to find out, which way will be the least hassle.

We're flying into Anchorage, do the pre-cruise there, then sail down to Vancouver and stay a few more days there before flying back home.

Thanks!

I actually called RCL to have our dining time for Samba Grill to 7:45, which he could do. But when I asked about linking the bookings so we would be placed at one table, he told me that they unfortunately couldn't do that. So my best option probably is to see a Maitre d' as soon as we are on board.

As I wrote before, I won't need to charge all the other stuff most time while on the cruise. The power strip is just for the pre- and after cruise hotels.

Plus, on the ship I still can use the 2 prong European plugs Radiance has in the cabins as well.

30 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Why do you have to charge 7 things in one place?  CPAP needs to be by the bed.  I get that.  A phone (or two) might need to be by the bed (for an alarm).  While I can see the convenience of having other things by the bed, it's not required. 

 

If it's that necessary, get a multiport USB power block.  The phones, watch, iPad, and headphones can all charge off of that.  https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Charging-Station-Adapter-iPhone/dp/B0BN3PHRVZ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=AZ0DDGX9CVX46&th=1.  Pretty sure they're allowed on cruises. 

I do have one of those, but again, with a Swiss plug, so I still would need another adapter for that. With the power bar, I only need one of those. I prefer to travel as light as possible.

13 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

rcldining@rccl.com - 2 weeks before sailing.

Thanks! Almost there 🙂

Do you think they can also help in merging 2 speciality dining reservations? We originally wanted to book Samba Grill for 5 at 8.30, but since we wanted to use the OBC from separate rooms, each party had to do their own reservation. So I booked for 3 but when our friends tried to book for 2, the latest time available was 7:45, so that's what they chose. I then called the reservation hotline, I was told they could change our reservation to 7:45 as well but we would be seated at separate tables since they cannot merge bookings.
Of course I could wait until we board to ask if they can seat us at a table for 5, but if I can do that ahead of time, I think chances are better.

Does anyone have the e-mail adress to send a seating request for Radiance of the Sea's dining room?

We both need a CPAP, plus 2 phones, a watch, an iPad and headphones, that makes 7 things to charge, never had a hotel with that many plugs, especially not in one place. And since we have different plugs, only one adapter is needed for the power strip. 
 

On the ship, that‘s less of a problem, as we usually won‘t need all those things at the same time. After a 10h flight, it’s a different story and we‘re then only 1 night at each hotel.