OhJinkies

Here's a moment of irony: I use a CPAP machine, which needs distilled water. According to the FAQs, i'm allowed to bring a sealed bottle of distilled water on board with me.

In the US, this is only available in gallon-size bottles. Since my cruise leaves from Vancouver, I'm not sure what size would be available. All I know is that I'm already going to be carrying a medium-size suitcase, one carry-on bag, and the case with my CPAP machine. How am I supposed to handle up to a gallon size jug of water in addition to that? I would much rather purchase the water on board. I have written to the access desk in hopes that they can assist me.

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I'm bringing my CPAP machine on the Norwegian Sun with me in a few weeks, and I'm also planning to bring an extension cord. Can any recent passengers from the Sun tell me whether the electrical outlets are the standard two-prong, or whether they also have the grounding plug?

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Thanks so much – I have written to my PCC to ask him whether I should bring an extension cord for my CPAP machine. And it's nice to know I don't have to deal with one of those old wall-mounted hairdryers!

I recently bought a pair of binoculars to take with me on my trip, and I'm borrowing my sister's camera was a really nice zoom lens.

Thanks again!

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Wow - any tips on the room?

Is there an electrical outlet near the bed? I have a CPAP machine.

Also, is there a hairdryer in the bathroom? Is it the old-fashioned kind with the hose on it?

Do you have any glacier–viewing advice? Do you think I still need to go up on deck for part of the day?

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We did an AFT and were on the NCL Sun and loved it. I would not get an Aft balcony if in a hot climate and with no cover over the balcony. We were on Singapore to Dubai in an Aft balcony and it was exposed. Temps were in upper 90s and it was just too hot to use the aft balcony. We should have done a regular balcony in that case.

 

We had an OV on our first cruise, which was ok, but later went with a balcony. It is a bit more expensive, but you have a connection with the outside and the ocean.

What balcony were you on? I'm booked in 9277 for my cruise on the Sun next month! It's a regular balcony, not a suite or mini-suite.

I started planning my Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. I actually work for Disney, and love the ships. But for Alaska, the itinerary was my number one priority. I definitely wanted to cruise through Glacier Bay. I spoke with a friend to see if she wanted to come with me. She insisted on cruising with Disney, and that was simply a deal breaker for me. I'm cruising solo.

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I'm doing the train/van combo on my cruise next month. I'm doing the van portion first, as recommended by Chilkoot. I would strongly recommend that you contact them. Even though your disembarkment time may be 8:15 AM, it could take you 20 minutes or more to get off of the ship if there is a line of guests waiting to do the same.

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I have been planning my Alaska cruise since mid 2015. For most people, I believe that itinerary really drives your decisions. The biggest question you should ask yourself is whether you want to do a round-trip cruise, or one way. If you do a one-way cruise, then you have time either at the beginning or end of the cruise to do some touring inland. There are many places to spend more time, such as Denali National Park. Most of the cruise lines will offer a packaged tour along with the cruise, or you can tour on your own. One-way cruises generally offer slightly longer port days, since they don't have to make the full round trip.

The most common places to depart from, other than the Alaska ports themselves (for one-way southbound cruises), are Seattle and Vancouver. Vancouver cruises generally sail through the inside passage, which is calmer and tends to be more scenic. Seattle cruises sail through the Gulf of Alaska, which is open waters and more vulnerable to inclement weather. I have found that most commonly, the round-trip cruises leave from Seattle, and the one-way cruises leave from Vancouver.

From the research I have done, I decided that cruising through glacier Bay was a "must" for me. There are, of course, other places to see glaciers. Depending on the time of year and weather, access to these areas may not be available during your cruise.

I would just urge you to spend some time considering, along with your family, what your priorities are for this cruise.

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You haven't mentioned whether you're spending any time inland after or before your cruise. For my cruise, I'm doing a DIY post-cruise tour. I'm taking a flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna into Denali National Park, which will land on a glacier. There are a couple of companies that offer this - I'm flying with Talkeetna Air Taxi. When I booked the tour last year, the price was $370.

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Thanks for all of the info and photos! I am booked on an aft facing balcony for a northbound cruise on the Sun in early June! I have already booked all of my excursions, including a flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle from Island Wings. This will be my first trip to Alaska, and I'm spending some time touring on land after my cruise. I'm so excited!

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I sailed on the Epic back in 2012, in a Solo Studio. The "bathroom issue" is really a non-issue if you are sailing in the Studios. You will have separate "cubicles" for your shower and toilet, and the counter and sink are part of the main room. I didn't feel that the room felt claustrophobic or cramped, and it had plenty of storage space. Unless you're out on the pool decks, there's not a whole lot of outdoor space – that was the only thing that I didn't care for on the ship. But if I needed to "get my ocean fix," it was easy enough to do. I enjoyed the Solo Lounge and the opportunity to have group dinners. I also met up with some fellow Cruise Critic passengers and enjoyed a martini tasting – the bartenders were quite generous with the samples! Finally, I really enjoyed the spa. There's a good-sized thalassotherapy pool, heated tile loungers, and more loungers out on the aft balcony.

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Hi, I'm a solo cruiser who will be aboard the Sun departing from Vancouver on June 5. I'll have to look for Casey!

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I've lived in Florida all my life, and definitely have found a need for gloves! The last few winters been have been mild, but we have had some doozies in the past (I'm talking about mornings where I had to scrape the ice off my windshield before I could drive to work). I have some cashmere-lined leather gloves that are wonderful. They are tight fitting, and good for driving and other general use. I brought them with me on a trip up to New England last fall, and they came in handy. I bought them so long ago, that I don't have the purchase information anymore, but I would recommend something like that.

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OhJinkies! Thanks!! I appreciate you sharing this information, sounds exactly like me.

:D Happy to help -- I've been planning this trip for a couple of years! CruiseCritic and TripAdvisor have been wonderful resources. I love reading the trip reports in this subforum!

My cruise is coming up in June, so I can't make any recommendations, but I'll share my research. Like you, I also love photography. And while I'm not the most outdoorsy person, I'm eager to get outside, do some light hiking, and enjoy the beauty of Alaska. Here's what I have planned during and after my cruise:

Juneau: I've booked a Smartphone Photography Hiking Tour of Mendenhall Glacier with Adventure Flow (just look them up on Google). They provide RT transportation and a guided hike of Nugget Falls Trail and Trail of Time (about 3 hours) with lots of opportunities and tips on getting great photos of and around the glacier. This company also offers more adventurous hikes as well.

Knik Glacier: This is in the Mat-Su Valley, like the Matanuska Glacier, but is about one hour from Anchorage. I've signed up for a tour that combines an off-road vehicle with a jetboat ride to get an up-close view of the glacier, with an hour on shore of Glacier Camp. I'm hoping for the late-day Photography tour, but am currently booked on the morning tour awaiting availability of the later tour.

Anchorage: After having to reschedule my return flight, I now have more time in Anchorage and decided to spend my final evening taking a late-evening sunset photography tour around Cook Inlet Coast, the Turnagain Arm, and the Chugach Mountains.

I just thought I'd share some cool ideas for enjoying the scenery, wildlife, and getting some great photos!

I'm doing a post-cruise DIY tour from Seward. I am going to take a Kenai fjords cruise, then take the train up to Anchorage. Overnight in Anchorage, then Rent-A-Car and drive to the Knik Glacier area for an off-road and boat tour to see the glacier. Overnight in Wasilla, then up to Talkeetna. I'm doing a flight seeing tour from Talkeetna into Denali National Park – with a glacier landing. I may add a jet boat tour while in Talkeetna. Then back down to the Girdwood area, sightseeing around there, and end up back in Anchorage for my flight home. This is a six-day itinerary.

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We have also disembarked in Seward, but we have never cruised on NCL so I have no idea regarding their self-disembarkation procedures. We have always just "dinged out" our sea pass cards, walked to the luggage hall to pick up our luggage and left the ship.

 

Seward is not as touristy as ports such as Juneau, Ketchikan or Skagway. I haven't looked at their 2017 cruise terminal schedule, but in the past they have never had more than one ship in port at a time and don't even receive a ship a day.

 

If you look at Google Earth you will see the small boat harbor. The cruise terminal is one one side and part of the town on the other (the town is rather long and narrow). From a docked ship you can look across the small boat harbor and see the Harbor 360 hotel in addition to both Ray's Waterfront and Chinooks restaurants.

Thanks, I pulled up Google street view to find my hotel and the bakery meeting place. There is one other ship in port that day -- the Seabourn Sojourn, but they arrive at 7 AM and only have 450 passengers. I'm hoping to be off the ship close to 7 AM. Thanks for the info, it really helps that I don't have to wait in a line to go through Customs!!

We have done the Kenai Fjords excursion upon arrival in Seward. The vendor we used picked us up at the ship when we called them. You will not go through customs as this was done when you boarded - for us, anyway since we boarded in Vancouver. We don't schedule this ahead of time....we wait to check the weather when we arrive in Seward - it can be really bumpy in the Gulf if the weather is windy or rainy.

Thanks -- what ship were you on? How long did it take for you to disembark?

I'm not doing the tour with one of the big operators -- it's a smaller craft (15 pp max) via Alaska Saltwater Lodge. I handpicked this for the more intimate experience, and there's too much risk of the boat reaching capacity if I don't reserve! We have a meeting place not far from my hotel, so I'll need to drop off my luggage first, then walk down to the bakery where we're meeting.

I'm cruising into Seward on the NCL Sun on June 12 -- the ship is scheduled to dock at 5 AM. I'm not sure what time they actually start disembarking passengers.

I have booked a small boat cruise of the Kenai Fjords and need to meet up with the group at 7:45 at a location near the Seward Boat Harbor.

If I choose to carry my luggage off the ship, how long on average does it take to fully disembark? Do I need to go through Customs if our ship departed from Vancouver?

By the time I exit the terminal, is the small boat harbor area within walking distance, or should I take a cab?

Thanks!

Thank you so much for that info! I was aware of the two larger tours but not the smaller one, and it definitely sounds more my style (and glad to hear it has bathrooms too!). I will have to check it out. :)

Glad to be of help! Can't wait for my cruise and DIY land tour!!

Reviving this thread.... anyone done the Kenai Fjord cruises?

My Alaska trip is coming up in June, so I can't give a review -- but I'll share my research and my decision.

The two primary tour companies that cruise Kenai Fjords are Kenai Fjords Cruises and Major Marine. Their boats hold around 150 people, more or less - lunch is either available on board or on Fox Island, depending on which company you cruise with. The meals may be buffet, salmon, prime rib, etc. They also offer various perks (fog-free windows, heated seats, free use of binoculars, etc.) and are worth checking out.

But I decided that I didn't want to have to jockey for viewing space with over a hundred other people, and the whole lunch thing wasn't really a priority for me. So I found Alaska Saltwater Lodge - they also do tours of Kenai Fjords, but their 45-foot vessels top out at 15 passengers max. They have bathrooms (that's important to me, LOL) and do serve lunch -- but it looks like simple wrap sandwiches and cans of soda. But for me, it's not about the meal, it's about getting close to beautiful scenery, glaciers, and wildlife.

So I'd recommend you take some time to think about what's most important to you and choose the company that you'll be most happy with.

Keep things as easy as possible then - pop into Rogue, literally inside Waterfront Station, for dinner before your tour. Good selection of PNW beers, a broad pub grub menu that is almost identical to, but consistently better-prepared than, Steamworks just down the block (same owners - brew their own beers here so that may be of interest despite the worse food).

 

If you're running late and just need something fast, there's an A&W franchise inside the station also (IMO the best of the fastfood burger chains), and you could easily walk past Meat & Bread on Pender for a superb sandwich.

 

Forage is just a block from your hotel for a nice dinner - a very Vancouvery option, pretty much everything on the menu is sourced locally.

Thanks, martincath, for the dinner recommendations!

Well, I took the plunge -- I made a reservation at the Blue Horizon and cancelled the Hampton Inn.

I'm not sold on dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, but probably don't have time to linger long over dinner, either. The tour starts at 7:30 PM in front of Waterfront Station (tickets haven't gone on sale yet for June). So I'm going to poke around Trip Advisor for dinner recommendations, but if you'd like to make any, fire away. I'm not much of a seafood eater, and a great burger or slice of pizza is perfectly fine by me. I can do a nicer dinner on Sunday night.

xlxo there are sketchy neighborhoods in Vancouver?!?

Sorry to hear that – there were some good reviews on that hotel. I'm on my way across town right now, but I will have to check out the Auberge and the Blue Horizon when I get home. Would both of these be good options for getting away from the stadium traffic?

Thanks again!

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How about something radical -- what if I changed my hotel? I'm thinking of something in the Gastown area (convenient for dinner and ghost tour) and the Skwachays Lodge seems to have good reviews and rates. Would the post-game traffic be any better getting there from the airport?