Photos From Juenau

When it comes to Alaska you never know what the weather will be like when you visit.

Those stores that we avoid that you see all over the Caribbean.

Well an iconic place of Juneau.

The Governor's Mansion.

Love the pictures. You are so right about how fast Alaskan weather changes. I will be there in early June. On one of our Alaska cruises, it was beautiful outside when our shipped docked. The sky was blue. It was sunny and clear. We had an early excursion to Mendenhall. By the time we got there, it was cloudy and raining. We had planned to go up the Mt. Roberts Tram after the excursion. When we got back into Juneau it was so foggy. Visability was non existent, so we skipped the tram. All of these weather conditions took place in about 4 hours.

shellgirl61, wising you a wonderful time on your upcoming Alaska cruise.

Keith

You are very welcome.

Keith

Great pictures!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you Tyskie.

Keith

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures! We are booked on our first (and probably only) Alaskan cruise this June. Sailing from Seward to Vancouver on Radiance of the Seas on 6/22/18. We are flying into Anchorage on 6/20, spending 2 nights to acclimate to the time change, and spend a day in the Anchorage area.

While we are very much looking forward to this trip, we are warm weather vacation people. We have enough cold weather here in New Jersey! It is also very expensive to go to Alaska. Airfare, etc. Treating my hubby to 1st class flights. He is a very happy camper.

After cruise we are spending 2 nights in Seattle, then 4 nights in San Francisco. Encore flying home.

Yes...a BIG trip. I love reading everyone’s tips, and appreciate all the tips.

Any tips on grabbing a bus from Vancouver to Seattle?

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures! We are booked on our first (and probably only) Alaskan cruise this June. Sailing from Seward to Vancouver on Radiance of the Seas on 6/22/18. We are flying into Anchorage on 6/20, spending 2 nights to acclimate to the time change, and spend a day in the Anchorage area.

 

While we are very much looking forward to this trip, we are warm weather vacation people. We have enough cold weather here in New Jersey! It is also very expensive to go to Alaska. Airfare, etc. Treating my hubby to 1st class flights ��. He is a very happy camper.

 

After cruise we are spending 2 nights in Seattle, then 4 nights in San Francisco. Encore flying home.

 

Yes...a BIG trip ��. I love reading everyone’s tips, and appreciate all the tips.

 

Any tips on grabbing a bus from Vancouver to Seattle?

You are very welcome and thank you for your nice comments.

Believe it or not I am not a big cold weather person either.

The key for me and my wife is to dress for the weather no matter where we sail.

We learned that many years ago when we were unprepared for how windy/cold with the wind chill and rainy it was in Iceland and after that we made sure we always had the right clothing. ;p

Wishing you both a wonderful cruise.

Keith

Any tips on grabbing a bus from Vancouver to Seattle?

Take the train instead (it's a much more pleasant trip, with no need to offload your stuff at the border for immigration).

But if you want to head to Seattle as soon as you get off rather than wait until late afternoon, you can spend US$50ish to get a bus right at the pier (QuickShuttle - price depends if you want downtown Seattle or Seatac) or spend as little as US$1pp (but more realistically $15-20) plus a ~CAD$12 cab fare on a Bolt bus from the bus station (only goes to downtown Seattle, so if you have a hotel out at Seatac add another $30 for a private car or $3pp for LINK light rail). Greyhound goes from same place, similar pricing to Bolt for couples with Companion Fare discount, but route is longer.

Renting a car one-way should also be considered - totally flexible in timing, and unless you get pulled for secondary inspection also no need to schlep your bags out of the trunk at the border like you have to on a bus. Shop around all companies and rates <$100 all-in are quite feasible, so for 2+ people this can be a very good value option.

Best advice I can offer though is to stay in Vancouver instead;-)

Thanks for the tips!

I would love the train, but it does not leave until about 5:00pm, and it is too late to change our travel plans to stay in Vancouver for the night and take the early train the next morning. We have so many reservation already booked.

We are traveling with my sister and her hubby, so we are 4 people in our 60’s. None of us have any physical limitations. Renting a car would be difficult to cram all of our luggage in, unless we get a large vehicle. We are staying at the brand new Embassy Suites in Seattle, right next to the King Street station. We are then taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight train to San Francisco, a 23 hour overnight trip. We booked a bedroom sleeper.

So...looks to be a bus to the King Street Train Station. Is this possible? Yes...really wish we had booked a night in Vancouver. We originally did have a night there, but dropped it further back in the planning process. Boo-hoo! Oh well...live and learn.

This is a difficult trip to book. We usually just fly to Florida...and hop on a cruise the next day. Easy. Or...drive 45 minutes north to Bayonne NJ and hop on the Anthem of the Seas...even easier!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures.

Brings back great memories.

Celebrate the fog...

or go to church...

(Both taken on Douglas Island.)

Beautiful!!!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures.

Brings back great memories.

You are very welcome.

Keith

Thanks for the tips!

I would love the train, but it does not leave until about 5:00pm, and it is too late to change our travel plans to stay in Vancouver for the night and take the early train the next morning. We have so many reservation already booked.

Shame - next time!!!

 

We are traveling with my sister and her hubby, so we are 4 people in our 60’s. None of us have any physical limitations. Renting a car would be difficult to cram all of our luggage in, unless we get a large vehicle.

Or two small cars - either could be the cheapest option, it's totally dependent on how many cars of which size get booked the other way. Lots of small cars up from Seattle = dirt cheap small car one-way rentals back there. Lots of SUVs or Minivans - those get the best deals. A frequent poster/cruiser/Seattlite who comes up a lot to Vancouver has scored <$50 rentals on nice SUVs in the past... so it's worth checking, and rechecking.

 

We are staying at the brand new Embassy Suites in Seattle, right next to the King Street station. We are then taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight train to San Francisco, a 23 hour overnight trip. We booked a bedroom sleeper. So...looks to be a bus to the King Street Train Station. Is this possible?

In that case Bolt would be ideal (actually goes to just a couple of blocks from King Street, 5th & Dearborn) but Greyhound isn't that much further away - and four of you will save a metric buttload of cash even including cab fare on both ends in comparison to QuickShuttle. Bolt also has newer buses, better legroom, and free WiFi onboard compared to QS. The one downside to Bolt actually plays in your favour - they don't release tickets until pretty close to departure, rarely more than 6 weeks out and often only 4 weeks. This means you may as well keep checking car rates up until you decide to lock in Bolt tickets!

 

 

Yes...really wish we had booked a night in Vancouver. We originally did have a night there, but dropped it further back in the planning process. Boo-hoo! Oh well...live and learn.

So for next time, you know what to do - a) take the nicer train (Cascades is the nicest train Amtrak have - it's a real train from Europe that's actually capable of driving at a decent speed when the track allows, not a glorified double-decker bus) and b) hang in Vancouver for a few days first!

You can go all the way to Eugene OR on the Cascades (Coast Starlight overlaps at the stations from here to Seattle) but personally I'd do Vancouver to Portland since that the other real goodie on the Left Coast you're missing this time. I may be just a weeeeeeeee bit biased, since we own homes within 5 minutes walk of both VAC and PDX stations, but despite the fact you will enjoy Seattle and SF I feel that you have chosen your post-cruise vacation spots similarly to how Indiana Jones' evil companion did in the cavern of the

Great pictures

Great pictures

Thank you.

Keith

Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you and you are very welcome.

Keith