I wish I hadn't ..... and ... I'm glad I did .....

[pappy3393]

We learn a lot from our experiences and sometimes we learn even more from our mistakes.

 

What are the couple of things from your previous Alaskan cruises that in retrospect, you wish you hadn't done? Conversely, what are the couple of things that you are mighty glad you did do? These "things" can be related to the ship, shore excursions, length of trip, people you were with, etc.

 

Since this is my first trip to Alaska and my very first cruise, I can only speak in hypotheticals, so here are a couple of hypotheticals for illustrative purposes only:

 

I wish I hadn't ... taken that mega ship and instead opted for a small ship experience. :(

I wish I hadn't ... tried to arrange my own flights in and out of Vancouver.

 

I'm glad I ... listened to the Budget Queen and took the glacier helicopter excursion.

I'm glad I ... bought a good camera with a 300 zoom lense for all of those wildlife pictures. :)

[beckers]

I am glad I spent the extra money on a balcony. Being able to look out ALL hours of the day and night were priceless. I remember one morning about 4 am when the ship was really moving along and rocking back and forth I peeked out side and it was foggy with all these little mini icebergs floating by it was so cool. I snuggled back in bed and laid there pitching back and forth it was so romantic.

[beckers]

I wish I hadn't had so much fun now I want to go back again !

[FreesiaE]

Well, apparently I mixed up the word "Alaska" for "Antartica" and thus packed for some cold weather. It was close to 80 degrees and sunny most every day we were there. The store keepers said the only place with AC was something called a Fred Meijer, and that they had all been several times to escape the heat. Oh well, best to be prepared I suppose!

[phdiva]

Wish I hadn't - believed that Cemetary Falls was a short walk from downtown Skagway.

 

Glad I did - keep going all the way out the Cemetary Falls ... it was beautiful!

[lansingisland]

I wish I hadn't waited for my tender number to be called to disembark. I waited 2 hours and my driver left!

[Happy ks]

After the cruise, I felt as though we hadn't seen much of the ship. Also, the day we visited Hubbard Glacier, we enjoyed it all on our balcony. When we got home and looked at pictures, I wish we had gone up on deck and gotten some larger shots.

 

I wish I had seen a little more of downtown Sitka and gotten out of town when we were in Ketchikan.

 

I'm glad we didn't try to stay together as a group. We were travelling with family and friends, it was good to go our separate ways and have more to talk about at dinner.

 

I'm glad we made our own travel plans and did not allow the cruiseline to decide what was the best flight for us. I'm also glad we found an online site hellobc.com that we found great hotels rates, cheaper than anywhere else (except perhaps Priceline).

 

I'm very glad we spent time before and after in Vancouver, it is a beautiful city and we would love to go back there for a vacation.

 

Most of all, I'm glad to have had cruisecritic and the Alaska board to ask questions, especially to know what questions to ask.

[Thoth]

I'm glad I spent the $$$ to go on 2 Alaska cruises. Super vacations!

I'm glad i spent the extra $$$ for shore excursions such as the train at Skagway, the airplane/boat to Misty Fjords, and the hike at Juneau.

i'm glad I took some dressy cloths. Dining is much more fun in a coat & tie.

I can't think of anything I regret!

[Bill S]

Like Thoth . . . . .

I am glad that we have taken 2 Alaska cruises and had a verandah for at one of them.

 

I am glad that we took the Pilot's Choice helicopter glacier tour-one of my favorite pictures of me and DW resulted!

 

I am glad we did the Misty Fjords combo tour: boat in, float plane out.

 

I am glad we took the wildlife excursion both times in Juneau.

 

I am glad we took the otter & whale watching excursion in Sitka.

 

I am glad we visited the Mendenhall Glacier and visited Glacier Bay on a stellar day!

 

I regret not visiting the Raptor Center in Sitka.

 

However, the good news is that we are going back again, in May on the Oosterdam! I am very glad about that, and this time I will remedy the only regret mentioned above! :)

[Host Caroline]

I wish I hadn't gone to Totem Bight in Ketchikan last trip.. just not "my thing" and could have gone kayaking instead.

I wish I hadn't rented a car to drive from Seattle to Vancouver -- the Quick Shuttle is just less hassle for point-to-point transportation and saving a little money for the inconvenience wasn't worth it.

I'm glad I did it: 11 night from Vancouver to Anchorage (yes, we docked IN Anchorage) on the "original" Island Princess.. a wonderful, wonderful cruise, the best of the 5 to Alaska we've done

and the Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest in Sitka (was discouraged from doing that 7 years ago: a great example that what isn't one person's cup o' tea is a wonderful brew for others!;)

Raptor Center is great facility... definitely worth NOT missing this time around:)