nolegirl01

We just got off the symphony and there were water bottles onboard but when we went to coco cay, it was canned water only.

We were on the symphony last week and the pianist was everywhere 🙂 we found her outside the theater one night and another night she was riding the elevator up and down 🙂 

1 hour ago, Seville2Cabo said:

How do you know before the cruise what the theme is?  

On the app it'll tell you the different themes for each night. We had a formal night, a best dressed night, a Caribbean night, a 70s theme night, a white outfit night and I think 2 casual nights...

42 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Another one that seems to be on every cruise now is white night.   I finally bought a dressy white blouse...let the party begin.  😉 

Yes! we had that on the symphony as well, they had a white party at the solarium and it was so much fun!

Just got off the symphony and they had a formal night and a dress to impress night. By all means, this was not mandatory. I did see most people did get dressed up, which was nice but a lot of people also did not. It's your vacation so you do what you want! it's just a suggestion. We did like that they had a theme night (70s night) and that was fun! I wish they did more of those fun theme nights. We saw so many funny costumes haha

I took a water bottle with distilled water on my carry-on and told the TSA person that it was for my medical device and she just waved it through lol  🤷‍♀️

I’m on the Symphony of the seas now, just curious does anyone know where the starlink satellites are located on the ship? 

For those wondering, we are on the symphony right now and they have the normal insulated tumblers available. 

We are sailing tomorrow Dec. 24 on Symphony of the Seas and reservations for shows opened up about 40-45 days before sailing for us. I booked all our shows back on 11/14...

you all have been so helpful! thank you!!!

On 12/7/2022 at 7:37 PM, cw2go said:

I suggest looking at what your must haves are for each port first. For example one trip bears were on my must have list and I wanted to do them out of Ketchikan, that decided my month/options. There is a season for best viewing probability so I went stacking my odds in my favor, worked out great! That year meant June for me. 

May can still be icy getting to glaciers. There is no bad time but depending on what you're wanting most can determine better times. 

 

Pick a cruise line, that has a sailing with the most amount of port hours then look at excursions and make your list. Try not to worry about the ship if Alaska is really what you're after. Ive sailed Princess and Celebrity in Alaska. 

Alaska gives many people sticker shock, start planning your budget. For me tours are most important so the stateroom comes last but many people love a balcony, I am always top deck. 

 

Here are some tours I've done and loved...

 

Hubbard Glacier is massive and imo a must have. Glacier Bay is very nice and many will say you must have it but I was not blown away. Tracy Arm Fjord is beautiful but the glacier view can be limited because of weather/ice. 

 

Ketchikan:

Bears twice once to Anan and once to Traitors Cove with Island Wings.

Floatplane with landing in Misty Fjord Monument.

Adventure Karts. 

 

Skagway:

Rented a car and went to the Yukon on our own. 

Train Ride is gorgeous but no adventure. I'm retuning this July and will take the train and get off to hike to Laughton Glacier. 

Zip line fun but typical. 

The jet boat was super fun and much more educational than I expected. It was great!

 

ISP:

ATV's and the Zip Rider... A BLAST! Will be doing it again. 

 

Juneau:

Whale Watch got lucky with a bubble feed, it was spectacular. 

Mendenhall Glacier 

Canoed and hiked Mendenhall glacier, was able to explore an ice cave. HighLight of my life! 

 

If beginning or ending in Vancouver: 

Fabulous city, walk or bike Stanley Park. Very active city. We enjoyed this a lot. 

Can watch the floatplanes lands. 

Gastown area steam clock, enjoyed a drink. 

Aqua bus to Granville Island. It was just a time killer for us. 

 

 

If in Whittier meaning beginning or ending in Anchorage: 

26 Glacier Cruise with Phillips is fantastic. Lots of whales and otters. 

 

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you even more. 

 

Enjoy your planning, Alaska is amazing! 

Patty 

 

Super helpful thank you so much! I think our biggest challenge is picking which ports we want to go. I would love to go to every single one but of course that is not doable. So we definitely have to book a second cruise another time to see the ports we missed. This was super helpful in determining which cruise offers the ports we want to go. We are definitely adventure people so the ATVs, zipline perked our interest but I also want to see animals and see the glaciers! ISP & Juneau seem to be at the top of our list, would love to canoe and hike the mendenhall glacier, seems amazing!!

Do you have any experience in Sitka? one of the cruises we have been looking has a stop in Sitka as well... do you know what cool things we can do there?

I saw it on our sailing on the symphony for christmas and wanted to do it but that $158 a person price I thought was a bit much, so we decided to save money for more drinking 🙂  by the way that price did not include brunch, wine, or swag. It was just the guided tour around the ship, seeing how things are done and then a few mins on the bridge.

7 minutes ago, island lady said:

Eggnog...not really wine.  😉 

Yeah I just thought since you can bring water and soda and wine, maybe eggnog fell into a in-between category? lol I think the alcoholic portion of the eggnog will make it a no-no 😞 

Sailing on the symphony for Christmas and I know you can bring a bottle of wine in your carry on but can we bring a never opened, closed eggnog bottle? It does have a teeny tiny bit of whisky in it so not sure if they will let me. Just wanted to see if anyone has tried to bring something other than wine that's not a liquor bottle of course? I hate eggnog but this one is really really good and we always drink it on Christmas Day so I really hope we could bring it.

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

If you want off-season, May is a better choice, since it has a better probability of being drier and the days are considerably longer. May has the added bonus of still having snow on the mountains.

 - Visibility can be reduced significantly by precipitation, low clouds and even fog.

 - Businesses are closing down or have already closed for the season.

 

Would you say May is the best time to sail to Alaska? or are there any other months which you think are better? 

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Of the cruise lines in Alaska, Princess and HAL have the most experience. While we personally don't use Princess anymore, I worked and cruised with them for 40 yrs, and provided you like mega ships have no issue recommending them to others.

 

Another factor to consider is viewing glaciers. Many, myself included, will suggest that Glacier Bay is a must on any Alaska Cruise. Does it have the best glaciers - No, but having spent 2 entire seasons in Alaska and numerous additional cruises as a pax, I have never failed to get into Glacier Bay. With respect to other glaciers, I have only made it into Tracy Arm once and even Hubbard has been missed a few times due to ice.

 

If Glacier Bay is important to you, this further restricts your cruise line options, as not all cruise lines have permits.

ohh good to know! You rock, thank you so much for taking the time to give all this info! It's been super helpful!

Also we were planning on using Royal Caribbean to Alaska but I also read Princess cruises are great for Alaska itineraries.... which do you all recommend as the best ship or other cruise companies for Alaska cruises?

12 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Welcome to the Alaska Board.

 

You will find lots of great information on ports and itineraries and the pros/cons of cruising Alaska in many of these threads.

 

I noted you are planning to cruise at the end of September, which other than October, is potentially the worst time to cruise Alaska. The number of cruises available is reduced, as many of the ships from experienced Alaska cruise lines are already heading south, for a number of good reasons

 - Weather is always variable, but the probability of storms and rain increases significantly about mid-September

 - Daylight is significantly reduced by late September, since the longest day is about 21st June. If you want off-season, May is a better choice, since it has a better probability of being drier and the days are considerably longer. May has the added bonus of still having snow on the mountains.

 - Visibility can be reduced significantly by precipitation, low clouds and even fog.

 - Businesses are closing down or have already closed for the season.

 

Another early decision is how much of Alaska do you want to see, which can then limit your embarkation port. From Seattle, you must cruise R/T, so in a week they can only visit the touristy SE Alaska ports and the ships spend lots of time in the Pacific Ocean, which can be rough at that time of year. If you wish to see Prince William Sound or even take an pre/post cruise extension, then you are looking at a North/South bound cruise starting or ending in Vancouver. Vancouver based ships spend more time in the sheltered Inside Passage.

Oh wow thank you for this! I had no idea! We picked September because I read somewhere you have a greater chance of seeing the Northern Lights and also my birthday is in September. But after reading your very informative post, we might have to reconsider going in September.

Would you say the North/Sound bound cruises are better in terms of what you get to see and experience than the Round Trip from Seattle? We don't have a preference as we don't know since we've never been but if you say the North/Sound bound cruises ending or starting in Vancouver are better in terms of ports and things to see and do, we will definitely look into it!

Hey everyone! We are wanting to book a cruise at the end of September to Alaska. Since we've never been, I've been doing a little research on the best itineraries but I figured I would ask you all your opinions. A little bit about us... It'll just be my husband and myself, we are both in our mid-30s and loooove the outdoors. We also love doing cool adventures like atv riding, zip lining and even just great hiking. We love to experience new things and see new things. We are from South FL and have done mostly caribbean cruises so we are in a new territory. We are soooo excited to see the beautiful scenery up north!

Which were your favorite ports?
Which were your least favorite ports?
What was something that you did in a specific port that was amazing and would recommend?
Any tips and tricks for newbies to Alaska?

20 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

If you want bottles included in your drink package in your cabin, you need to pick them up at venues which have them. 

yeah we did this last time and it was no problem but just thought if it was doable to just have it delivered to our room so it's there when we board, just for conveniece... but no biggie, we usually go down to the nearest bar and pick up a few.

I know water bottles are included in the drink package, but do you guys know if I can request to send a small case to my room? I don't find paying the $8 to bring to my room but do you know if they will charge me for the water as well if I have the drink package?

Hey all! My husband and I will be on the Symphony of the Seas at the end of the year and wanted to know about the Escape the Rubicon escape room. Since this is our first time we wanted to know how it is . We thought it would be fun but wanted to hear about your experiences! Was it fun? is it worth it? Do you get paired with other people or will it be just us 2? thank you!

35 minutes ago, Ms411 said:

I was wondering the same thing. I would suspect that they will tell everybody who selects the transportation option to meet at a designated spot and everybody with a receipt/voucher will be taken to Coral World. Advantage is the group will probably be taken straight to Coral World with no stops along the way.

I hope so! I ended up booking it so we'll see what happens 🙂

2 hours ago, Ms411 said:

Yes, that's about what you'll pay a group taxi from the dock if you go on your own. Using Coral World transportation makes it more convenient.

hmm now I wonder if it's their own transportation or just normal public transportation. They do have private transportation but it was really expensive but now I'm wondering what public transportation entails, if it's their transportation with a group or just regular city taxi.

Coral world offers private or public transportation on their website when you are booking tickets to the park... I was thinking about including a public round trip transportation to my park reservation. It's $44 for 2 people, is that a good price? has anyone bought the transportation along with their park tickets?