violetsmile

Yep, the calendar is gone. I look at it almost every day. I used to love the fare viewer; this was the next best thing. A mock booking is so tedious to price check…

I appreciate all of your thoughts! Super helpful. Do you have food recommendations? You suggest the ship, but I’d be curious about local places, too. Don’t have to be fancy—just delicious! Tell me more about swimming! I’m not usually a polar-plunge type, but can comfortably swim a 5k in 64° water without a wetsuit. Much colder, and I’m out if there’s no wetsuit. In a wetsuit, though, it’s completely different. I found a snorkeling excursion (with wetsuit), and am so intrigued. That’s my person brand of crazy, though. Not sure anyone else will be down! If I WERE to just jump in somewhere, where would you recommend that I’d safe and accessible ? I have a history of at least standing in the bodies of water wherever I go!

Yes, definitely looking at Mendenhall Glacier from Juneau. There's also a few options for glaciers in Skagway: a glacier hike (possibly too physically difficult), a Glacier Point excursion and a helicopter/walking tour of a couple glaciers. I feel sort of silly asking myself over and over, "which glacier is the best glacier?! If I'm going to step on a glacier, which is the RIGHT one?" 🤣 Thanks for the whale/bear input. Thank you for your input! If we do White Pass, we'll definitely bus one way and train the other. I've read that's the way to see more/different perspective. Thanks for the input on Victoria, too. I haven't even considered what we'll do there yet because I'm so focused on bucket-list type things in Alaksa!

Thank you for this--I really appreciate your perspective and experience!

I'm so excited for my first Alaskan cruise! The details: Carnival Luminosa out of Seattle, June 8th, 2023. Ports are Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC. There are 3 of us: me (39), my girlfriend (49), and my mom (turns 70 on debarkation day!). I am a moderately experienced Caribbean cruiser, but learning fast this is very different. I'm comfortable planning and managing my own excursions, but it looks like in Alaska, ship excursions cost about the same and in some cases might be the only option. My mom is a first time cruiser. I'm the planner, and getting others to tell me what they want is hard because they just don't know, but I love the researching, and will present suggestions to them! We are pretty adventurous, and my mom is in good health/shape, but she is turning 70, so that will dictate some of our activities. For example, I'm super interested in snorkeling in Ketchikan, but doubt anyone else will want that! I'm paying for most of this trip; I recognize this is the trip of a lifetime, and am not trying to do it particularly cheap...but I also work in K-12 education, so it's hard not to look for some lesser-expensive options as I plan. I have some ideas for things I want to suggest to my companions, but I'm having trouble deciding WHERE to do what, and that's where I need some advice. We want to experience a wide range of what Alaska offers. Here are some of my hopes: I want to step on a glacier, and am looking at helicopter/glacier tours. I am right at 250lbs, so anticipate paying a surcharge, but everyone else is under. This is probably the splurge excursion, assuming I can get mom on a helicopter. See wildlife, especially bears and whales. Enjoy views. Eat excellent local food. Learn from/support businesses of indigenous people wherever possible What am I missing? Where, given the ports we are visiting, should we do each thing? We aren't going to rent a car--I want everyone to enjoy the views, and not have to worry about navigation. If we do the train/bus for the suspension bridge in Skagway with Chilkoot, are we missing out on any must-sees there? I think my mom would maybe be interested in sled dogs, but I've read mixed things about the ethical implications, so I'm iffy there without a solid recommendation. I don't want to see sad dogs in miserable, small spaces! I'm reading the boards pretty thoroughly, but would love any feedback if there's a "do X here, not there" kind of suggestion. Thank you!

Do you just get your distilled water on board? I know they have it. I can totally see my mom wanting to carry a gallon on, but I'm paying for this trip, and am in it for convenience!

Usually, I pack very carefully for boarding, and almost all goes with the porters except a tote bag with what I really need (meds, book, change of underpants, phone for camera, ID...). This is the first time I've thought about an extra thing to lug. Maybe my mom won't even think it's a big deal. This is just all about making her life simple and smooth!

After years of trying to get her to go on vacation with me, I finally found a way to get my mom to join me on a cruise: 7 days in Alaska this summer! This will be her first cruise and I want everything to be perfect--she'll turn 70 on debarkation day. She uses a CPAP, which I've never had to think about before. I've read up and know all about ordering distilled water and bringing an extension cord and probably some magnetic hooks to keep the cord controlled. What I'm REALLY thinking about is her having to lug it around after we've boarded the ship since it's a carry on. It's not huge (my dad had a monster BiPAP!), but I'm wondering if we have options other than FTTF so we aren't stuck with it until our room is ready? I'd buy FTTF without a hesitation, but I can't seem to add it to my cart, so I think it's sold out. Other ideas? Thanks!