Crew News

May was the only month that I have seen frisky calves in my many whale watching excursions in Juneau.

The flight over the Juneau ice field was amazing and the locally caught king salmon was delicious. The iced tea is chilled with fresh glacier ice floating in front of the lodge. There are a very limited number of planes allowed and not a lot of seating in the dining room. I enjoyed the excursion and the photo ops were incredible. The bears that normally come to look for leftovers were on Spring Break when I was there.

The HAL normal North America boarding pass time pre-COVID was 1:00 PM. Experienced cruisers chose to check-in either early or later which left new cruisers to arrive at the terminal around 12:30 PM to begin their check-in process. All worked well from my experience as the boarding process was spread over about four hours. With many ships now sailing at 3:00 PM, passengers disembarking at the same time (NLT 9:30 AM), and Room Stewards still having to prepare rooms, the available check-in and boarding processes are compressed. My advice on another thread was to arrive early if you have priority boarding (mobility challenged with families members, Pinnacle/Neptune suite guests, or 4/5* Mariners). If you do not have priority boarding and have no desire to sit, arrive at the terminal for check-in after the assigned boarding time.

To update, check-in times are no longer assigned for Vancouver passengers rather all passenger are given a "boarding time" of noon. This could translate into a big surge around 11:00 AM. For those without "priority boarding," it means more sitting until those with priority boarding finish boarding (estimated 12:30 PM). Since boarding continues for several hours after noon and to avoid sitting in the terminal, an informed choice would be to begin the HAL check-in process at 1:00 PM. You should be able to just walk onboard after that time. Of course, you may turn in your luggage starting around 10:00 AM at the cruise terminal entrance. For those boarding after 1:00 PM, there will be access to all of the same dining venues as those boarding at noon, since HAL has closed the MDR for Embarkation Day lunch.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is included. Here is a link to HAL's Alaska Tour Tips to help in your planning: Alaska Tour Tips 2024

Agree with layers but bring a backpack to store each layer as you remove them during an excursion. Keep a poncho in your backpack if you want to keep your camera dry between shots in the rain.

Just for clarification, plastic water bottles, both disposable and non-disposable, are permitted at the cruise terminal if they are EMPTY. When returning to the ship after an excursion, you will not be asked to empty any plastic, disposable or non-disposable, plastic container.

Club Orange has a restricted number of members for each cruise. Book as soon as you have a cruise booking number. If you are booking to take advantage of a free stateroom upgrade, contact Ships Inventory at 1-888-628-8107 or 206-626-7381. Before calling have your booking number, credit card, and deck plan that shows your preferred stateroom in the same category as you have booked.

In July and September during salmon runs, the eagles are not very hungry. May and June are my favorite eagle feeding month excursions. Remember my tip of sitting above the life preserver on the Aleutian Ballad for great eagle photos next month.

Give my website Contact Form another try (links in my signature). I will be in Alaska late this month and then two additional weeks in May. My opinions are based on my desire to capture wildlife/scenery with my camera and not necessarily cultural stimulation. As for photo excursions, I have tried two photo excursions in my many cruises. Both were committed to "rookie" camera users learning to set the dials on their cameras. The one plus for my Skagway photo excursion was spotting ptarmigans in the bushes while others were learning how to attach cameras to tripods. I have not been to the Haines Wildlife Center but the other excursions have not been fulfilling to me. The Skagway train to Lake Bennett is one notch behind dogsledding in the snow for photos. Tracy Arm is my favorite Juneau excursion with amazing photo ops followed by whale watching. Ketchikan will always have Bering Sea Crab Fishing at the top of my excursion list because of the eagle feeding photo ops. Another favorite is the Silverking Lodge for eagle feeding, whales, sea lions, Sitka deer, and great seafood feast. For Sitka, any boat excursion to capture wildlife is on my photo list. Let me know if you have other ports on your cruise that I have not addressed.

When you log on, you will be given the option to upgrade. Surf Plan Upgrade Price List

1. The Lido Market Buffet has serving stations with pitchers of water, iced tea, and lemonade throughout the seating area. You can walk a few feet with your empty glass/tumbler and fill it during lunch/dinner if a server does not appear quick enough to ask what beverage you would like. The stations are in operation for breakfast coffee and orange juice. At each end of the Lido, there are milk, coffee (regular and decaf), and hot water dispensers (tea and hot chocolate). The indoor pool area has similar self-serve beverage serving stations (water, tea, and lemonade) if a server does not appear quick enough to take your order. 2. The free Dive-in is located next to the indoor pool with a podium to take orders and beepers to call you when your order is ready. Current Dive-In Menu. The free NY Deli & Pizza on the balcony overlooking the indoor pool is open during lunch: Current NY Deli & Pizza. The mostly free Grand Dutch Cafe on Deck 2 aft is also open for lunch: Current Grand Dutch Cafe Menu. 3. Your Room Steward can empty your minibar and stock it with available beverages or you can obtain the beverages of your choice from any bar. Enjoy our cruise planning and feel free to ask lots of questions to help in your planning.

If you are doing whale watching on a boat that moves at 30 knots to reach the whales and plan on being outside, consider the windchill factor. At 50 degrees, that is a "feel-like" 41.4 degrees. Will your fingers or ears get cold at that temp? Dress in layers including thigh-length wind resistant jacket. Carry a backpack for removed clothing. Also in your backpack, extra socks and a poncho in case of steady rain. It is always wise to plan for rain and be thrilled when you see sunshine.

If you're departing from Juneau, there will be 90 minutes of roundtrip travel that will include a good box lunch and some relaxing time. Enjoy this amazing experience.

I have read that bear bells are not very loud. Top bear deterrent would be an air horn.