Back From Alaska
in [Cruise Ship]
|
From: Marcia on 9 Jul 2010 16:55 Tom K wrote: > On 7/9/10 1:41 PM, Marcia wrote: >> I'm not going to do a complete trip report, because most of you know >> more about this cruise than I still do. ;-) However, I do want to make >> some points relative to my pre-cruise questions. >> >> I don't know what other cruise lines are like, but when we first boarded >> the Sapphire Princess in Seattle, it was sell, sell, sell. They also >> gave us a card to have stamped in each of the stores to be entered into >> a drawing. While we didn't bother with it, all we heard as we were >> leaving port were muffled announcements calling out the numbers of the >> winning cards. That was a major step down from my only other cruise, >> when they played the Love Boat theme as we were leaving port. I think >> the first moments of a cruise should be special, but that's just me. >> >> Our room was in a perfect location. It was steps away from the center >> elevators on the Baja deck, and our balcony was way more private than >> the ones we could look down on. The last time I was on a cruise, I had >> the room to myself. It did take a while to get used to only 2 outlets in >> the room for hairdryers and phone and camera battery chargers. Plus the >> bed felt like a cement slab. Again, I don't know if that's the norm on >> cruise ships or just the Sapphire. >> >> We had anytime dining, which worked out well. However, some rooms were >> better than others. We never had any problems getting a table for 2. The >> Pacific Moon wasn't much, the Savoy was a little better...although the >> waiter we had didn't have much personality. We ate in the Santa Fe room >> 3 times, because we loved Michael, the best waiter. The few times we had >> breakfast or lunch in the big traditional dining room, the Maitre D' >> there always seemed annoyed, so I don't know if traditional dining would >> have been any better. I also don't quite get what the Vivaldi dining >> room is all about. It seemed to be a combination of traditional dining >> and some reservations. We did get to eat there the second to last night, >> which turned out to be lobster and Baked Alaska night. They do have >> Baked Alaska in the anytime rooms. We asked Michael about it on our last >> night in the Santa Fe, and he said they did the parade at least in that >> room. >> >> My travel agent told me when I got back that the reason we were in >> Victoria such a short time was that the ship needs to make a stop in an >> international port. We just about had time to take the shuttle downtown, >> take a look at the Empress Hotel and walk through some of the shops and >> then wait in a very long line to take the shuttle back to the ship. We >> did get our passports stamped when we got back by some very funny >> customs guys...or whatever they were. >> >> We took our own luggage off the ship, because my niece had an early >> flight. We discovered a shuttle service that took us to the ship from >> the airport Doubletree where we stayed the night before the cruise and >> from the ship back to the airport...both trips were $12 per person each >> way. >> >> Marcia > > Marcia, thanks for the comments. How was the inside passage? What did > you do in the different ports? We're going to Alaska the first time in > about 6 weeks. > > --Tom The only excursion we paid for was the railroad in Skagway. The weather was so bad in Ketchikan and Juneau, I'm glad we had nothing planned. We just walked around and looked in the shops. Tracy Arm was spectacular and not what I expected from watching the web cam and seeing some videos on YouTube. It just feels magical. I have some of my pics posted on Facebook. Marcia
From: Marcia on 9 Jul 2010 17:01 Jeff Gersten wrote: > Too bad you had so much rain. I hope we have better luck with the > weather, especially in Juneau where we have a Mendenhall Glacier hike > excursion booked. > > Having the cruise include Glacier Bay was a must for my wife. I'm glad > you found Tracy Arms a worthy substitute. > > Was there a naturalist aboard? If so, how were his or her talks? Were > they repeated on one of the television stations? > We thought about going to Mendenhall Glacier, but we did get to see Sawyer Glacier at the end of Tracy Arm and another glacier from the ship on the way back from Skagway. We're not much into hiking or wildlife, so that was enough for us. ;-) There was a naturalist on board. We didn't go to her talks, but we did listen to her describe what we were passing in Tracy Arm. We kept the door to the balcony opened and the volume of the tv high enough to hear her. She was wonderful. I'm not sure if her talks were on television, but they may have been. I watched the weather forecasts before we left, and it was originally supposed to rain everywhere. Happily, we had a great day in Skagway and it didn't rain as predicted in Victoria, either. Marcia
From: Carol ann on 9 Jul 2010 17:56 My husband and I enjoyed our cruise to Alaska in 2000. So much of that trip seems to have changed post 9/11. Our stops were Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Glacier Bay. We went in May and the weather was cold but was not busy. We took a helicopter to the M. glacier and hiked with a guide and learned a lot about glaciers in Juneau. In Skagway we chose the native american totem pole demonstration and were not disapointed. In Ketchikan we choose a cooking demo in a local bed and breakfast and a town and area tour that included a trip to the local museum. We had a ball on this trip. It was on the Veendam (Holland America). Our trip included a two night stay in a hotel in Vancouver, the 7 day cruise to Alaska, a 2 night stay in a hotel in Seattle and the round trip airfare. We will go back as soon as I find a trip that has a good price. -- Carol ann Message origin: TRAVEL.com
From: Marcia on 9 Jul 2010 23:37 Carol ann wrote: > My husband and I enjoyed our cruise to Alaska in 2000. So much of that > trip seems to have changed post 9/11. Our stops were Skagway, Ketchikan, > Juneau, and Glacier Bay. We went in May and the weather was cold but was > not busy. We took a helicopter to the M. glacier and hiked with a guide > and learned a lot about glaciers in Juneau. In Skagway we chose the > native american totem pole demonstration and were not disapointed. In > Ketchikan we choose a cooking demo in a local bed and breakfast and a > town and area tour that included a trip to the local museum. We had a > ball on this trip. It was on the Veendam (Holland America). Our trip > included a two night stay in a hotel in Vancouver, the 7 day cruise to > Alaska, a 2 night stay in a hotel in Seattle and the round trip airfare. > We will go back as soon as I find a trip that has a good price. > > Sounds like you had a great cruise. I was just so happy to be away from our 105+ temps for a week. :-) Marcia
From: Ari Silverstein on 10 Jul 2010 01:35
On Fri, 9 Jul 2010 16:56:53 -0500, Carol ann wrote: > Carol ann "Step to the light! Step towards the light!" -- Ari Silverstein, C.T.A; C.T.A.S, FREE Cruise Travel Advisory Services www.cruisequick.com - able to offer some of the lowest prices and best value added in the industry. (not affiliated) |