jormot

We leave next month for our 1st cruise to Alaska. We don't intend to bring waterproof boots but wanted to get some experienced opinions. None of our excursions require them so we are thinking sneakers will suffice. Can I get thoughts from those who've been?

We are going on the Ruby Princess to Alaska in June. I am wanting to make some dinner reservations at the specialty restaurants. Which nights are typically the formal evenings on this itinerary? I reached out to Princess but they were unable to tell me :confused: Thanks all!

Our biggest concern is getting off the ship in a timely manner at each port. Has anyone had issues with this on these larger ships? We don't want to just be reaching the port an hour after docking.

Ideally I would love to take one of the longer cruise this however it doesn't work with my husband and my work schedule which is why I was looking at the shorter route. It still has an overnight in St. Petersburg and visit several other ports but cuts out some of the sea days which is fine with us. Does anyone else agree that the ship is too big for this cruise itinerary? Should we wait until a later year and see if another option would be better? We'd like to go sooner rather than later but not at the expense of an overall good experience.

Hello all. We are looking at the 9 day Scandanavia & Russia cruise from Copenhagen in 2018 on the Breakaway. We are not big cruisers and have only sailed once on Carnival and we'll be sailing this summer on Princess to Alaska. I have a few questions however that hopefully you guys & gals can help me with. The reviews on the Breakaway are fairly poor here on Cruise Critic and I am hoping you can shed some light on why and would you recommend this cruise or not? Yes, we want a decent experience but honestly we want to visit these ports. It's a port intenstive cruise with only two sea days so entertainment etc is not our top priority. Good food would be great but again we'll be eating in port as often as possible. What would be your opinion on this? The alternative is a Princess cruise but this works a lot better for our work schedules. Thanks for all your help!

We are probably the odd men out that we want to spend as much time off the ship as possible. We are just using it as an economical way to see Glacier Bay and some of the Alaskan ports. We are coming in early but want to visit Vancouver for a couple days prior to sailing so we want to see Seattle in the morning prior to sailing. Which is why I'm looking at the latest time we can board.

What time are we required to board the ship for a 4pm departure? I know many people board early but we want to explore Seattle before we depart and would like some time to do so. Just curious what time we should make sure to arrive at the port by.

We are contemplating the Yukon Rail and Bus excursion in mid-May via Chilkoot tours. Are we mostly going to be seeing snow this time of year? We don't want to do a 7.5 hour tour and all we see is a bunch of snow vs the beautiful landscape everyone talks about. Thanks!

I'de also like to know which cruise this is. We are also cruising Alaska next year via Seattle.

I realize no one can predict whales & what might be seen on any given day but I want to purchase this excursion with realistic expectations. We will be in Juneau around the 20th of May. what can we expect on a whale watching excursion? Is it most common to see two or three or is it common to see 20 or 30. we went whale watching on the East Coast and were horribly disappointed to only see the back maybe two whales after several hours on the water. Should we go in with the mindset that this might be the same experience? As I said, I know it's impossible to predict what might happen on any given day but I also know that several people on this website have gone whale watching and I want to know what your experiences are.

I don't 100% trust trip advisor. Has anyone had personal experience with Dolphin Jet Boats? We want to to a small whale watching tour but we have the Northstar Trekking glacier trek booked at Noon so we need an evening whale watch. Dolphin Jet Boat offers a 5pm and then Allen Marine has a 5:30pm tour but it has about 150 people. I really wanted to do H&M but they leave at 4:30 which only leaves us 15 minutes between tours. Cutting it too close for me! Hoping to hear some real reviews from the experts on this board!

We want to do this excursion at some point during or cruise. We also want to do a whale watch in Juneau and the Glacier Point Wildness safari in Skagway. We are in Juneau from 11am-10pm and Skagway from 6:30am-9pm so I'm hoping to find a fit in one of those two ports where we can do two excursions. I have a few questions from. First, I know the helicopter tours can be cancelled. Is there a port (Juneau or Skagway) in which they are more likely to be cancelled? Is there a time of day that they are more likely cancelled? Second, since this is our first cruise how much time should we allow between excursions to make sure we can do both? For instance, in Skagway we would have 45 minutes between the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari and the Temsco Helicopter trek. Is this enough? Thanks so much!

Does anyone have pics of the recent menus for the Princess ships to Alaska? We have never cruised Princess and are curious what the menu's look like. We can only find caribbean menus. Thanks!

Does anyone have pics of the recent menus for the Princess ships to Alaska? We have never cruised Princess and are curious what the menu's look like. We can only find caribbean menus. Thanks!

What is the policy for dining in the specialty restaurants during formal evenings? We would rather not get dressed up but don't want to eat in the buffet. Not that we won't dress nicely but not formal per se.

We considered doing a day trip via the Clipper since we'll have a few days in Seattle prior to the cruise. Unfortunately we have to be back to work so staying in Victoria is not an option. Has anyone done a Victoria day trip from Seattle?

We are on the mid-May Ruby Princess cruise out of Seattle. We get into port at 7pm. Does anyone know if they will be offering this tour early in the season? And if so has anyone done this excursion in the evening like this? Thoughts? Could you actually see any of the gardens? This will be our first cruise to Alaska and I'de really like to see the gardens. Thanks all!

The cruise is in mid-May. And according to Princess we are tendering. I don't know if that could be different once on the ship.

We are looking at a Princess cruise that tenders in Sitka and Juneau. How often are ports missed because of weather in Alaska? I know there can be quite the issue in the Caribbean but not sure if it was the same in Alaska. We would hate to miss a stop and would rather look at a different option if missing a port is a real concern.

Has anyone done the Helicopter & Glacier Walk in both Juneau and Skagway? I know there are two different companies and curious what everyone's experience is with each. Would prefer to go in Skagway since there is less we want to do there but want the best experience possible.

We are planning our first Alaskan cruise for 2017. I'm finding some really good sales for backpacks but I'm not sure we'll even need one. We plan to do a glacier walk (they provide a backpack), Misty Fjords flightseeing, and a 4x4 tour in Skagway. Can anyone think of a reason we would need a backpack? Thanks for the advice!

Great review! One question, did your mom & her boyfriend enjoy the 4x4 tour in Skagway? That's one of the options we are considering. Thanks!

My DH and I are going to Alaska for the first time in May. We have decide on the Glacier Trek in Juneau and Misty Fjords floatplane in Ketchikan. We are looking for something to do in Skagway. What was your favorite excursion? We are looking for something active where we can see a lot. This will most likely be our only cruise to Alaska b/c if we go back we'd like to do a land tour. Thanks!

If possible, do you remember which two nights were the formal nights on this cruise? Thanks!

My husband & I are in our late 30's and every year when we start planning next years vacation we bring up Alaska. Our biggest deterrent is the amount of down time in transit. We would cruise R/T Seattle & there is a lot of time at sea. We are very active & have walked 10-12 miles daily on our last vacations but were bored to tears in Jamaica with all the down time. What would you consider to be the best age group to cruise Alaska? Do we go more active now while we are still young & energetic & save Alaska? I know this is all a matter of perspective but I'm very curious what you all think!