More Alaska Cruise Questions.

Hope you don't mind some more Alaska questions.

1. We will be doing the land tour first. Sounds like we will be traveling by bus from Denali to Seward with a stop in Anchorage. Does anyone know how long the bus trip is from Denali to Seward? How long we will stop in Anchorage and about what time we will arrive at the ship? (Royal's pre-cruise info is pretty non-existent).

2. Since the cruise is mainly in the U.S., will the casino be open?

3. When we arrive in Vancouver, we will be there all day since we have a 7:30pm flight. For our day in Vancouver, would we be better off bringing Canadian currency or just use our U.S. currency and not bother with the exchange?

Thank you.

1. We will be doing the land tour first. Sounds like we will be traveling by bus from Denali to Seward with a stop in Anchorage. Does anyone know how long the bus trip is from Denali to Seward? How long we will stop in Anchorage and about what time we will arrive at the ship? (Royal's pre-cruise info is pretty non-existent)

In my car I would plan 9 hours to get from Denali to Seward. In a motorcoach it'll probably be more like 10, plus any stops. So plan on a lllooonnnngggg day on the bus.

In my car I would plan 9 hours to get from Denali to Seward. In a motorcoach it'll probably be more like 10, plus any stops. So plan on a lllooonnnngggg day on the bus.

Thank you. That's what I was afraid of. Good thing the ship doesn't leave until 8:00pm.

Most (if not all) places in Vancouver will take your US dollars, however, the exchange rate will not be in your favour, and the change will be in Canadian.

Many places will take a credit card.

You can also withdraw cash from an ATM while in Vancouver if you don't want to get Canadian cash before you leave home.

Vancouver is a great place to visit. Hope you enjoy!

Hope you don't mind some more Alaska questions.

 

3. When we arrive in Vancouver, we will be there all day since we have a 7:30pm flight. For our day in Vancouver, would we be better off bringing Canadian currency or just use our U.S. currency and not bother with the exchange?

 

Thank you.

We have a full day in Vancouver before our flight also. Do you have a plan for your time there? I am checking into the Vancouver Trolley HOHO bus tour.

At times like your layover in Vancouver I just go to an ATM and withdraw about $100CAD (more or less depending on plans) with my debit card. You can EASILY spend that much while you're there. It will simplify the transactions with taxi drivers, small purchases, etc. Your bank will probably have a more favorable exchange rate - my credit union doesn't charge much at all for the transaction.

A cool thing to do that should be handy for you is FLY OVER CANADA. It's right on top of Canada Place. It's a virtual reality hang glider ride where you fly over various locations around Canada. It's VERY cool - when you fly through a cloud you'll get a slight water mist on your face. I did it twice while on an overnight prior to a cruise a couple years ago. It's about $40CAD per person and takes about an hour total. We thought it was awesome.

Good luck!

 

2. Since the cruise is mainly in the U.S., will the casino be open?

 

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That’s a great question. I didn’t even think of that.

Casino is closed in port, but open when at sea in the evenings and on sea days. Closed in Glacier Bay.

We have a full day in Vancouver before our flight also. Do you have a plan for your time there? I am checking into the Vancouver Trolley HOHO bus tour.

I was thinking of doing the HOHO bus/trolley as well. I need to do a bit more research on it.

At times like your layover in Vancouver I just go to an ATM and withdraw about $100CAD (more or less depending on plans) with my debit card. You can EASILY spend that much while you're there. It will simplify the transactions with taxi drivers, small purchases, etc. Your bank will probably have a more favorable exchange rate - my credit union doesn't charge much at all for the transaction.

 

A cool thing to do that should be handy for you is FLY OVER CANADA. It's right on top of Canada Place. It's a virtual reality hang glider ride where you fly over various locations around Canada. It's VERY cool - when you fly through a cloud you'll get a slight water mist on your face. I did it twice while on an overnight prior to a cruise a couple years ago. It's about $40CAD per person and takes about an hour total. We thought it was awesome.

 

Good luck!

FLY OVER CANADA sounds awesome. I think we'll be checking that out. I'd better add it into the budget. :)

Casino is closed in port, but open when at sea in the evenings and on sea days. Closed in Glacier Bay.

Thanks for the info.

We have a full day in Vancouver before our flight also. Do you have a plan for your time there? I am checking into the Vancouver Trolley HOHO bus tour.

I highly recommend the Hop On/Hop Off Bus plus Capilano Suspension Bridge. There are free buses to take you to Capilano.

I highly recommend the Hop On/Hop Off Bus plus Capilano Suspension Bridge. There are free buses to take you to Capilano.

Will the Hop on/Hop off take us to Capilano Bridge? Or if we take the free shuttle from the pier, can we catch the Hop On/Hop off at Capilano Bridge? It looks pretty cool.

Will the Hop on/Hop off take us to Capilano Bridge? Or if we take the free shuttle from the pier, can we catch the Hop On/Hop off at Capilano Bridge? It looks pretty cool.

There are a few HOHO vendors, look and see if the stop is on the route map.

Doing a HAL Northbound cruise that ends in Seward, Alaska. Ship arrives at 4:30 AM. Has anyone taken such a cruise and will it be a problem connecting to an 11:30 AM flight out of Anchorage?

The ship arrives at 4:30 but disembarkation may not start until around 6:30. You may want to check as to when the first transfer leaves. It is around 3 hours to Anchorage from Seward.

Will the Hop on/Hop off take us to Capilano Bridge? Or if we take the free shuttle from the pier, can we catch the Hop On/Hop off at Capilano Bridge? It looks pretty cool.

I got info on this board (Canada(Alaska/Pacific Coastal) port of call board) from a person living in Vancouver, martincath. There is a wealth of info, I suggest you do a search using that name. Vancouver Trolley was suggested. I researched the website, and as Budget Queen suggested, there are a number of tours offered. One included Capilano Bridge.

Also suggested was dropping luggage at CDS Baggage at Canada Place (pier) to be transported and stored at the airport. Martincath suggested booking independently rather than using the ship's service as it was easy and less expensive.

Will the Hop on/Hop off take us to Capilano Bridge? Or if we take the free shuttle from the pier, can we catch the Hop On/Hop off at Capilano Bridge? It looks pretty cool.

While the shuttle is operated by the Trolley HOHO folks, Cap is way too far out to be on the loop. You do have a few overlapping stops (Canada Place and Blue Horizon Hotel immediately spring to mind, and I think another couple of downtown hotels have stops for both outside too if you compare both maps).

Cap is a very impressive bridge but frankly it's outrageously overpriced, IMO still so even if you do all of the bells & whistles (treewalk and cliffwalk) as well as the bridge. Grouse Mountain, which charges basically the same price as Cap and also shuttles you from downtown for free, provides for 2 or 3 times as many activities and much, MUCH better views. Even though as a local I'd get a full year of entry to Cap for the same price you guys pay for one day, I still visit Lynn Canyon from a qualitative experience point of view - the bridge is higher and the canyon narrower so the view of the white water below absolutely kicks that from Caps ass six ways to Sunday; it's very natural with the only development in the park being some trails & bridges, the Eco centre (where park rangers give talks, run summer camps etc) and the cafe (which is better value than the one at Cap too).

Plus, few tourists ever visit Lynn so it's nice & quiet rather than having literal hordes arriving by multiple busloads most of the day. The downside - without your own car it's a hassle to get to, transit involves at least an hour, one or more transfers, and 10-20mins of walking depending exactly which buses are used. If you're only in town for a short pre- or post-cruise stay, time is more important than money so Cap's convenience wins out - but try going AFTER you've spent the day on the HOHO as this will both reduce crowds (significantly - all the cruise tours will be long gone whether pre- or post-) and saves you cash (discounted entry from 5pm). Since the HOHO basically shuts down between 5 and 6pm even in summer, but we have good daylight until much later (after 9 in June).

Unfortunately for you OP going late isn't possible, you'll need to be at the airport by ~5:30pm or even earlier depending how nervous a traveler you are (3 hours preflight is the official party line, but 2 hours is usually an hour more than you actually need for even US-bound flights). I would strongly consider using CDS Baggage to send your bags to the pier for you, so you don't need to worry about returning anywhere and can maximise your touring potential. $40 for the first 4 bags (NB: same price in CAD or USD, so save yourselves ~25% by paying in CAD!) means you can easily take SkyTrain from any Canada Line stop near where you are for a whopping $4.10pp or less. usually faster than a cab too, 26minutes from end to end, and you can use Credit Cards to buy tickets.

One correction to info above - FlyOverCanada is almost half the price noted. Depending whether you buy in advance or not, and book a time slot or not, tickets run from just over $20pp. It is a cool ride, super convenient for cruisers (but again, it will therefore be busier earlier in the day as folks are killing time before boarding/after disembarking).

The downside to Cap, Grouse, Lynn and any other out-of-the-city attraction no matter what the price is time - e.g. Cap is a one hour site that gets padded by the long queues to more like 2 hours minimum on-site, plus at least an hour travel time. That's a very hard sell IMO when you don't even have a full day - in comparison, you could spend a full 3 hours inside Stanley Park and barely see a fraction of it! Unless you have a suspension bridge, ski lift, grizzly bears or the like on your bucket list, I'd advise staying in town over ANY of the out of town attractions - you still won't have close to enough time to see all the good stuff but at least you'll waste much less of your day traveling between things.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words Gloria!