Travel

[nanny24]

My husband and I went 2 years ago in May. It can get very cold on the ship if you want to step out on the balcony or deck and see the glaciers, whales, etc. We had heavy coats, gloves, and caps on. Otherwise, going into the towns, some days were misty, so rain gear, or umbrella, and light jacket. We had one very rough day at sea, and the ship provided seasick pills for those in need. Please try to have a good time, that was our first cruise, and it was so much fun.

[SXMGirl]

@Sammijo10, we did our Alaska cruise last May and sailed out of Vancouver but disembarked in Seattle.  If you have never been to Seattle, you might want to schedule a tour.  We used NorthWest Tours and it was excellent.

As for the cruise itself, the first port will be Ketchikan, a sweet little town.  We had decided that we were not going to take every excursion, so for our first port we just walked to Creek Street and then to the Totem Heritage Center.  On that day, it was 65 and sunny.

We overpacked, but you will definitely need a raincoat (your cruise ship should provide umbrellas), heavy jacket, sweaters, and good walking shoes.  If you mix and match, you will not need to take as many outfits as you think.

We went whale watching and enjoyed it, but the water can be very rough.  Several people on the excursion were really sick, so you might want to call your doctor and get some type of prescription.  I am a long time boater, so no problem with sea sickness for me. 

Just be careful to wash your hands often and don't continue to eat anything that starts to taste a little off.  On our cruise, people started getting sick the last day, mainly because it was the end of the food that was brought on board and should have been tossed.  Don't do that to yourself.  DH was violently ill the last night, and I developed the nurovirus and am just getting over it. 

You will probably see orcas from the ship (we had two baby orcas swim next to use for a few minutes) and you will see the most beautiful scenery.  We had a balcony, and I do believe that if you are going to get one, it should be the Alaska cruise.

If you are going to be out on the deck, you probably will need to bundle up.  Also, you will have many dining choices, but we found that breakfast and dinner in the dining room had better food.  Normally, I just eat salad, fruit, and dessert on a cruise, but I seemed to need more to eat this time.  

I don't know if Sitka or Victoria are ports on your cruise, but if they are, you will like both.  Sitka is a great town, and Victoria has Butchart Gardens, which is really fabulous.

While Alaska was not on my bucket list, we loved it so much that we plan to go back very soon.  

Have a fabulous time!

[Sammijo10]

A big thank you to everyone for the advice!

SXMgirl, thanks for all the details on your May trip.  I'm learning to not over pack.  Last April DH and I traveled to France/Paris for two weeks.  My checked bag didn't catch up with us until 3 days before we left to come home. Luckily, I had one change of clothes in my carry on as well as most of my toiletries, but I washed underwear and socks, bought a couple tops and just made do. I never believed those people that could travel for two weeks with just carry on luggage, but I do now!  This trip will be a bit harder as my step-son's wedding is on board the ship right in the middle of the week long cruise.

I completely forgot about the illness aspect of crusing (besides the seasickness).  While I've not had trouble on small boats on a lake, the fear factor of that large ship has me worried.  I plan on getting some remedies from my Doc at my check up in March.

That's also good advice about the food. Lots of hand sanitizer as well.  I'll make a point of staying away from anything that might spoil within a week - that means sticking to cheese, ice cream and coffee and wine - no meat or vegetables!   We will be stopping in Victoria and Ketchican so I appreciate your suggestions there as well.  

[mcducky]

How fun!  I lived in AK and have been on 3 cruises there.  (cruises to show relatives AK).  

• big ships are kind of like big casino's....fancy, lots to see and do 
• I tend to get a balony cabin no matter where I'm cruising to.  I like the fresh air.  Your atruim room might  be a little noisy.  If a light sleeper you might consider bringing earplugs or something  similiar.  
• I personally love big ships...not keen on small ones.  Big ones are usually smooth sailing.
• You'll see lots of glaciers from the ship.  Some people enjoy going on glacier excursions.  I don't.  I think that's because I've seen them a lot and would rather spend my money on other things.
• Research the ports that you'll be going to.  Some have lots of really cool free or inexpensive musuems and parks.  Not sure which ports you're stopping at but know that they will be interesting.
• Layer dressing is important!  Dress is very casual in AK.  Blue jeans, hoodies, sweaters, etc.  Bring a hooded rain jacket.  I don't bring umbrella's; I'd rather just cover up in a light rain jacket.

[Alter Ego]

@Sammijo10 wrote:

DH and I are scheduled to take our first cruise to Alaska in May and I'm confounded by all the extras as well.  Checking out the beverage, dining, excursion plans is becoming a nightmare. ($130 pp for a two hour train ride?) Now I know why those all inclusive cruises are so expensive.  The prices for the extras are mind boggling.  And between air fare and the cruise, this is already costing $5000 before ANY excursions, extra dining or beverage or entertainment or spa visits.  If it weren't that DH's son is getting married on this cruise, it would be the LAST way we would chose to spend our vacation time. I was under the impression that no beverages were allowed to be brought on board a Royal Caribbean ship, but on this board I've learned otherwise. I have a long list of questions to ask RC when I call them!

I don't want to change the topic of this post, but how do those of you who very much enjoy the experience end up with a small/no bill at the end?

@Sammijo10 I'm responding to your question from the other post. If you've never cruised before, it could be overwhelming.

How do you end up with no bill at the end?  You simply don't buy any of the extras.  You don't need to buy any of the beverage packages, the internet packages, or specialty restaurants.  There's plenty of free food and drinks.  

To be a little more specific:  each cabin can bring on two bottles of wine.  Not per person.  Per cabin.  Last I heard, they are going back to adding a decorking charge, so simply bring something to open the wine from home and ask a bartender for a glass.  Heck, I've had decent wine that you unscrew! You can bring a case of water - I haven't seen any complaints that it's been turned away at the dock.  Of course, you can also fill up a personal water bottle with the free water on ship.  On some voyages, Royal sells 10 drink beverage cards in the middle of the voyage - the costs makes alcoholic beverages more reasonable (not worth it if you are going to use for lattes or cola).  The drink card can be shared.  But, I don't know if it will be on yours and when.

For internet, you will be mainly in the US.  Depending on connection, you can just check your messages when on land (just be sure to turn your phone off or onto plane mode when on the ship!)

The biggest cost will be the excursions and Alaska's aren't cheap.  But, you do NOT have to go with the ship!  Heck - it sounds like you will have a lot of people you know on the ship; I would think it would be more cost efficient (not to mention more pleasurable) to plan private tours.  Yes, ship tours guarantee the ship won't leave without you, but (1) I've been left at a stop on a cruise excursion, (2) I've paid 1/2 the cost for the exact same excursion as the cruise offered, and (3) independent tours won't stay in business if they keep getting ship passengers back late! I haven't been to Alaska and I don't know what stops you are making, but there are likely also some stops were you can just walk around or maybe rent a car(?).  Yes, some tours will be expensive no matter what - but they are likely one of a kind experiences that you may never have the opportunity to do again.  [One caveat - if the tour is something that will take a very long time and goes far away - I would probably use the ship's excursion.]

[patbz]

You mentioned the 2 hr train trip at $130pp. We have been to Alaska three times and also think that price is ridiculous.  So in lieu of this, five minutes off the ship we booked a van tour that followed the same route (but on the nearby road and minus the salmon barbeque) and also took us through the historic spots in the town for less than half of the cost.  We buy very little extra on board and bring our wine and cola on board (you can restock at port stops).  The last night they stuff the bills under your cabin door; ours is always one page, many run into three or more pages---amazing!  Alaska is made for cruising so enjoy!

[Sammijo10]

Thanks, Patbz and Alterego for the added advice - on the correct thread!  I was browsing the Beverage thread while trying to decifer the Royal Caribbean 'extras' pages and just hit a rant!  

Between being afraid of large ships and the fact that we are museum, walk-around-old-medieval-ruins type folks, this cruise thing is a whole new experience.  And I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what to expect.  While I'm a bit more comfortable to fly by the seat of my pants (schedule wise), DH likes to know ahead of time where he'll be and when.  The prospect of sitting on a balcony on the ocean - a bit chilly - and staring at each other for a day or so has us baffled!  I've stopped reading the Cruise Critic reviews of this ship/destination as most are not complimentary!  (Must be why the website is called 'Critic'!)

Also, while there are 40 in the 'wedding group', we will know the bride and groom and that's it - except for the ex-wife.  (wonderful!)

BTW, I'm only ranting here - I will smile and think everything is just lovely while we are cruising, I'm not going to be the spoil sport that makes my stepson's wedding less than a wonderful experience - for them or his Dad. 

[Alter Ego]

@Sammijo10 - I just saw that many of my Royal excursions were on sale. I may not be going to Alaska, but thought you may want to look to see if there’s any price changes for your trip.  Note you can always cancel up to 48 hours before the tour and/or request a refund if the price changes again (I personally just canceled and rebooked, even though there may be a lag in my credit card refund.)

I was also thinking that maybe you could benefit from buying a book about Alaska ports. May be nice to have all the information in one place versus researching online for everything. May provide some insight on which ports you can just walk around and which you should splurge a little.

[Sammijo10]

How fast time flies!  We'll be leaving Seattle tomorrow for the Alaska cruise and step-son's wedding on board. As a first time cruiser, I'll let you all know my impressions when we return.  

Thanks all for your help and advise.  It has made this a bit less worrisome.  

[Sammijo10]

Well, we're back from Alaska on our first cruise ever. It was worth it because of my step-son's wedding, but I don't think we'll be taking another one until I'm about 80 and need all the extra amenities that cruise ships offer.  

I had wrist bands, dramamine and patches with me, but since I didn't know what to expect, I didn't use anything right away.  When we hit the open ocean on day two for the first all cruise day, the motion sickness hit me with a vengance.  I stayed in the cabin all day and couldn't lift my head off the pillow.  Dramamine didn't touch it, so lesson learned, I put on the patch and was ok for the second all cruise day.  

The Alaska scenery was stunning, however.  And I put my fears in my pocket and went on deck several times to look at the glaciers.  I did see the tail of a whale and saw a black bear on the (over priced) train ride on the Yukon gold rush trail. Juneau is a dumpy little town and Skagway, while cute, was filled with chain jewelry stores put there by the cruise lines.  Victoria was by far the best of the stops (the sun was shining and it was about 68-70 degrees - a beautiful day) and Tea at the Empress (which we booked ourselves) was the hightlight of the trip for me.

Since we're not drinkers or casino goers, we found ourselves wandering around the ship most of the time.  It was cold and rainy and while I was prepared for that, it doesn't make for pleasant deck sitting.  We did see 'The Greatest Showman' in the theatre one evening, and another variety type show - which only lasted about an hour.  While I noticed there was a lot of 'stuff' going on, trivia contests, game shows, card playing, chess, etc, is not really what I like to do while on vacation.  The food was ok in the dining room, most times it wasn't hot when it arrived to us. Most of the desserts tasted like they were made with gelatin to keep them firm for a longer period of time. But the logistics of feeding 3000 people can't be easy.  We didn't try any of the specialty restaurants which I understand were of much higher quality.

 There were a few in the wedding group that were on their first cruise and they loved it.  One couple even spent enough in the casino to 'win' a free cruise.  

The wedding was lovely and lots of fun. So for the wedding aspect, it was worth it, but I can't say I'd jump right on another cruise.  Obviously, we're a minority because lots of folks love it.