Alaska Early June balcony vs obstructed view

[akyraty]

I've booked Noordam Alaska Northbound first week of June. I'm considering up grading from an Obstructed view room (UpperProm) to a veranda room. I wouldn't find the obstruction bothersome - in fact my SO might quite like looking at rigging, we'd likely not be in the room much anyway.. However morning coffee on the Balcony sounds so enticing - but in June?? maybe not so much?

 

One other question .. we have 9 hours in Vancouver to get to the airport; I know its a 40 minute train ride. I've read there is storage for Luggage at Canada Place? Thinking of renting a bike for a ride to Stanley Park or along the sea wall if there is somewhere to leave luggage for a few hours - has anyone out there done this and would recommend?

[Keith1010]

For Alaska your best views are from the public areas of the ship both inside and outside. I like being on the top deck so I can enjoy views of both sides and the front and that back. While you can get some views from a balcony of a room you don't take it all in. So I would not be concerned about that. What the weather will be like is anyones guess. Key is to layer.

 

I can't answer the second question but sure someone can.

 

Keith

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I cannot answer your second question either but as far as a balcony goes we have used our balcony far more going to Alaska than we do the Caribbean. We usually go in May but have gone early June several time. The days are longer that first week of June so after 9 at night you can still see daylight and that is often times when the whales are most active. We have done some great whale watching from our balcony. Been late getting to dinner because of using our balcony. The ease of having your own balcony for viewing is a must. Especially if they announce seeing whales granted you have a 50/50 chance it is on your side of the ship but if you have to leave your cabin to run to an open deck you can still easily miss the action :D

[Aquahound]

I've booked Noordam Alaska Northbound first week of June. I'm considering up grading from an Obstructed view room (UpperProm) to a veranda room. I wouldn't find the obstruction bothersome - in fact my SO might quite like looking at rigging, we'd likely not be in the room much anyway.. However morning coffee on the Balcony sounds so enticing - but in June?? maybe not so much?

 

Personally...I would never cruise a place like Alaska and not have a veranda. I recommend upgrading.

[SilvertoGold]

The luggage guys for HAL are usually ready to take luggage by 10:30 am. If you arrive early enough, check-in early, board the ship by noon, skip lunch, you would have until about 3:30 pm to go out and ride around.

 

If you stayed a night in Vancouver, then you could do this easily.

 

June is a good month for fog. Or it might be 25C or 10C or it might rain the whole time. Not to spoil your fun, but it is really hard to tell! Alaska is very tricky for weather and consequently balconies.

Edited April 3, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[CowPrincess]

Short term luggage storage at Canada Place: http://www.cdsbaggage.ca/

 

About the balcony. If you have already priced out shore excursions, and can still afford a balcony, then definitely think about it. BUT my opinion is that spending time IN Alaska, doing things away from the ship, is a better use of money. So I seldom get a balcony for Alaska :)

[akyraty]

Thank you. Interesting feedback. We have a full itinerary with excursions. A veranda - not cost prohibitive, simply bonus.

 

I had not taken long daylight hours into consideration; thank you for the reminder laffnvegas. With that, I'll pony up to nonobstructed, even though I believe I've picked the least obstructed of obstructed view rooms.

Looking left will be an issue with the rear end of the lifeboat in the way.

I will hop on a veranda if HAL offers pre-cruise upgrade. I'll pack a tarpaulin to wrap around the blanket i'm wearing, sit outside in my coffee cocoon.

 

Thank you for the Link CowPrincess, I'd searched but couldn't find.

I will call about storage for a few hours - should the fog hold off..

 

Packing super light, layers, layers, waterproof layers.

Advance apology to those at formal night. His tie will fit in my purse but I draw a line at dinner jacket.

[xlxo]

One other question .. we have 9 hours in Vancouver to get to the airport; I know its a 40 minute train ride. I've read there is storage for Luggage at Canada Place? Thinking of renting a bike for a ride to Stanley Park or along the sea wall if there is somewhere to leave luggage for a few hours - has anyone out there done this and would recommend?

CDS at the cruise terminal offers two services.

• $6 for carry on and $8 for checked luggage storage til 4pm
  
• for $40, they will ship up to 4 pieces to their airport location. I recommend this option for you.
  

CDS is located right next to the car rentals.

[akyraty]

fantastic ... thanks so much

[kamac56]

We have done a few alaska cruises and always get a balcony, I will see if I can find the picture of a whale I took off my balcony. I sat out there quite often with coffee and LOVED IT.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[kamac56]

And INCREDIBLE sunsets!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[akyraty]

that's a cool pic! We sea kayaked in California a little while ago - a whale breached 20 feet from my kayak. I'm now thankful for left handed whales. I'm sure I'd feel safer under these larger vessel conditions.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

One of our six cruises was Alaska, and it was the cruise we splurged a bit to get a nice corner balcony cabin. I'd like to do another Alaska cruise someday, but we'd probably wouldn't feel the same motivation for the balcony cabin as our first Alaska cruise. The serene water and forested hills along the inner passage would be enough to make it worthwhile, and spotting a whale or two from a public spot would be a bonus.