TM

When you check in for your flight at the airport you may be told that you have to pay baggage fees. Just show them your United Explorer card and the agent should waive your baggage fee. It's worked that way for me in the recent past.

In Juneau if you have never done it before the Mt. Roberts tram on a sunny day is spectacular. The views from the top are amazing and if you are into hiking there are many nice trails you can take at the top. Also, if you are a beer drinker you can take a tour of the Alaska Brewing Company. There is a small store in town that will provide you transportation to and from. In Whittier I would suggest taking the 26-glacier cruise which is right next to where your ship will dock. Great opportunities for seeing wildlife and glaciers up close. Some will be the same as what you'll have seen in College Fjord, but also many others.

Hopefully you will get clear weather on one of your next 2 visits. It is absolutely amazingly different and spectacular to see Glacier Bay bathed in sunshine. One of my most memorable days in Alaska was a visit to College Fjord in the early evening in full sunshine. I always thought my Yosemite was the most beautiful place in the world until I saw College Fjords in the sunshine. It literally took my breath away when I saw it. Good luck and thanks for allowing us to travel along with you.

Scooter seating is in the back of the theater.

We did this on our own through booking directly through White Pass Railroad about 10 years ago. We took the train one way up to Frazer and then moved to a small bus. This then stopped at the Alaska desert, Emerald Lake, which is absolutely stunning, with a final stop for a buffet lunch and time to visit with sled dogs and puppies before turning around and driving back to Skagway. Personally, I would highly recommend that type of tour rather than just a round trip train ride. This tour did enter Canada so a passport was needed.

If you will be taking pictures, be sure to spend some time on the platform between the cars. The windows in the train are usually too dirty and/or steamed up to allow for good pictures.

Incorrect post.

We did a Norwegian Fjords cruise on Princess a few years ago. All announcements, including the muster drill, which was only done in person at that time, were done in both English and Spanish. Not sure if it was done that way on all Fjord cruises, but on our cruise there was a very large contingent of passengers from Spain. The following week on our British Isles cruise announcements were only made in English.

We loved Bar Harbor, particularly with access to Acadia National Park, but as noted above the town is limiting the number of passengers on any given day. We've been to Portland twice. The last time we rented a car right near the dock and drove up to Camden, ME which was a charming small town. Would definitely recommend that.

Yes they will be refunded as onboard credit. But typically it is literally only a few dollars per person per port.

We stayed at the Fairmont Pacific Rim last August on the Princess hotel deal which also included a taxi transport in form the airport. If I remember correctly, it was $289 per person for the room. The hotel was very nice and I would definitely stay there again. It was right across the street from the cruise terminal. Transfer of the luggage to the pier was included but we did tip the porter that picked them up. As previously noted, boarding can be either good or bad. We had to pick up our medallions and that process alone took close to an hour. Never again will I do that, I will pay to have them shipped to my home.

I might have had a one-off scenario. We were doing an Alaska cruise out of Vancouver. I didn't want to pay to have the Medallion to be shipped so opted to pick it up during check-in at the pier. Big mistake! We waited in line for close to an hour just to get our medallion. Never will I do that again. Although I must say that on a previous British Isles cruise we also picked it up at the port and it only added about 5 minutes.

On our last cruise a New York strip steak was on the always available menu every night. Although quite frankly I thought it was tasteless. I would much prefer a good ribeye, but that would be cost prohibitive for Princess to have available on a nightly basis.

I've taken a Swiss Army knife on over 25 cruises. It's always in my checked luggage and I've never had it questioned or removed at all.

I can't speak about the Ruby, but on the Crown last September I was able to pull up any day's menu in advance to determine when we might want to book a specialty dinner.