no1racefan1

it's almost certain to sell out early, based on what others have said. I'm sailing next month and that excursion, as well as many others, have been sold out for months. I just looked at excursions today just to see, and there's only a handful with openings.

I saw that today too! DH's fishing excursion in Ketchikan was booked at $369 and is now $505!

Absolutely brilliant advice, thank you!

28 days to go...... current status: 1. Making packing lists and figuring out if there's anything we need to buy. DH wanted a new water bottle and I needed some hiking pants, so those have been purchased. I also bought a fanny pack (or belt bag as the cool kids call them these days). 2. Stalking the NCL boards to see if anybody over there is talking about their Alaska trips (spoiler alert--they aren't) since that's the only cruise line visiting AK this early. 3. Reviewing and re-reviewing all of our bookings to make sure there are no more mistakes, and to see if there's any last minute deals that pop up. 4. Stewing over the upgrade process and trying to decide if I should bid $20pp for an obstructed OV. I don't want an obstructed OV, but I'm wondering if I bid on that if it would give me a counteroffer for a regular OV for cheaper than what the OV bid is....yes, totally overthinking it. There's no obstructed OVs listed as available on the website (but I know that's not 100% accurate). 5. Doing some spring cleaning around the house and staying busy at work and in general trying to keep myself busy so I don't spend so much time on #1-4.

39 days to go!!! Not gonna lie, I have major short timers syndrome... I can't stop thinking about being on vacation in Alaska 😅 Not too many updates as far as trip planning. I saw that the place where I booked a massage in Ketchikan has moved locations, and is no longer walking distance from the ship. I decided to cancel my massage. I could have figured out logistics of getting there and back, but that seems to take away some of the 'relaxing' aspects, lol. I thought about booking the fishing excursion with DH but it's up to $420pp so no thank you. None of the other excursions are really calling to me. So, I'm not sure what I'll do in Ketchikan while DH is fishing. Walk around, shop, enjoy the ship with way less people on it...? All of the above!? Other than that I reviewed our seats for all of our flights and decided to pay $154 to upgrade seats on one of the longer flights. I booked our flights almost exactly the day they were available, so roughly 335 days out. The one from Denver to Anchorage has continually crept up in price and is almost fully booked. I'm very glad I'm a crazy over planner that booked everything in advance!! For things that have gone down in price, I've been able to call and/or cancel and re-book at the lower price. This has been true for flights, the cruise, and several tours. If you are trying to travel to Alaska (or anywhere really) on a budget like we are, BOOK EARLY. And know what the cancellation policies are of everything you book.

I love my Keen hiking shoes/boots. They are mid-cut to provide ankle support, which can be important when hiking over uneven terrain. I'm bringing them to AK because we are planning to do a couple of hikes. For general walking,, I prefer Brooks Ghost running shoes. I'll be bringing those also!

Copied from another forum: UPDATE: Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau From Travel Juneau, the convention & visitors bureau: The Mendenhall Glacier is just one of Juneau’s many attractions. To make sure we maintain the vibrant ecosystem while providing a quality visitor experience at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center (MGVC), tour and commercial transportation capacity is limited. Travel Juneau highly recommends visitors book their transportation or tours to the glacier well in advance of their arrival in Juneau, as it’s probable that day-of purchase will not be available. Right now, indications are that excursions and activities are up to 80% booked. Capital Transit, the public transit system, is designed for resident transport and does not go directly to the glacier. The nearest bus stop is approximately 1.5 miles one way from the MGVC and very limited opportunities for return taxi services from the area back downtown. Visitors using Capital Transit may experience long wait times between runs and should be aware that there are no services between the bus stop and the visitor center. They may encounter bears along the walking path, especially early in the morning or late evening. Visitors arriving via car rental, on foot, or without a tour operator must purchase an entrance pass at the visitor center.

You're not crazy. That excursion was sold out by about 5 months in advance on my May 2024 cruise. And the price went up a LOT before it sold out.

I haven't been yet, so I can't say for sure how far it is. But--you should be able to check your luggage through to the ship when you board the train, so that should help.

Agreed

On the 'blue bus' website, several of their tours are not available to book--including the Glacier Express--so I wonder if they didn't get many permits this year. https://www.mmtoursofjuneau.com/land-tours

I copied this link from somebody else's post: https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551 It's a schedule for 2024 cruise ships in Alaska. Looks like we're going to have a 6-ship day in Juneau, phew!

Soo..change of plans! Slightly. I've been stewing over a visit to Alyeska Resort for awhile. The Nordic spa sounds like our kind of thing and I really want to do something relaxing towards the beginning of our trip to really feel like we're on vacation. So I made a pros and cons list: Pros: Nordic spa experience, yes please On the way to Seward, less driving overall and less gas Relaxing start to vacation Cons: Expensive Won't be able to do Matanuska Glacier hike After stewing over it for the last couple of weeks I finally asked DH if he would choose the spa or the glacier hike, if money wasn't an object. He was all for the spa (he loves hot tubs, hot springs, etc.) So I decided to research the cost difference if I cancelled the glacier hike and the Airbnb we have reserved (both have liberal cancellation policies so no penalties for cancelling this far in advance) and lo and behold... I found that I could book a night at the Alyeska Resort for FREE using Alaska Airlines miles!!! Sold! Now I all we have to pay for is spa passes (discount if you book evening passes) and parking at the resort. And probably more for a meal since we would have been buying groceries/making our own dinner at the Airbnb. Revised costs: Airbnb -85.59 M Glacier hike -349.70 Gas to Glacier View -30ish? Groceries for dinner/breakfast/lunch -100ish? Alyeska Resort room 0.00 with miles Nordic spa passes 178.00 Parking at resort 27.00 Dinner/breakfast/lunch out 250ish? I think we're actually coming out ahead on this. The room at the resort was about $350 if I hadn't booked with miles. Revised itinerary: Day 1--Fly to Anchorage Day 2--Rent bikes, bike Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, drive to Girdwood, stay at Alyeska Resort Day 3--Explore Girdwood, then drive to Seward and pick up our original itinerary DH's mom wants us to go back to Alaska with her next year so I'll try to fit a Matanuska Glacier hike in on that trip. In the meantime, we're hitting the spa!!

Cruising through Walmart today I found Cuddle Duds and Reebok base layers on clearance for $3!! I didn't necessarily NEED these, but for $15 I am more than set for layering 🙂 I'll use these beyond just our Alaska trip too. Might be worth checking out your local Walmart!

Sailing on Sapphire Princess in May. In the cruise personalizer you can book a pass for the week for the Thermal Suite. I don't see this on the deck plans--can anybody confirm what this entails exactly? I'm picturing similar to spa on Carnival with hot/cold rooms, heated loungers, etc. We loved the Thalassotherapy pool on the Carnival ship we were on but it doesn't sound like Princess's thermal suite includes something similar. Conversely, I've read that the sauna and steam room near the fitness center/salon are free for anybody to use, and I do see those on the deck plans. Can anybody confirm if these are available to anybody to use?

Oh my goodness!! I was reviewing all of our tour reservations so I could make notes of what to bring, etc. and I realized I made one of our tour reservations for the WRONG DAY!!!! Yikes. I reserved our Matanuska Glacier hike for one day early--we totally would have missed it! I have an email in to the company (MICA Guides) to switch it to the next day. I don't anticipate it being a problem since they are still showing availability, but man...that was scary, lol. I also noticed while doing this that our Resurrection Bay kayak tour has an early bird promo code for $21pp off the price, so I emailed the tour guide (Adventure 60 North) and asked if we could use the promo code since we booked it WAY early. They emailed me back within a couple hours at the reduced price. So easy! It never hurts to ask. All the companies I have booked things with have been awesome to work with so far. Only 61 days to go!!

I am quite certain they could accommodate a request for no pork, just as they accommodate any other dietary request. Make sure to note it in your cruise personalizer. DH has an onion allergy and he's always been able to order whatever dish he wants, they just ask him for his order in advance so they can specially prepare it.

If you are looking far in advance, it may only list times as a placeholder. For example, for our cruise in May 2024, all shore excursions were listed half hour after docking time in every port. It wasn't until about 6 months out that the times started changing and a few of them also added additional times to choose from. I believe this is because the tour companies they are using for the excursions don't always have their schedules finalized that far in advance.

Eee, how exciting!! We'll be getting on Sapphire the day you get off 🙂 Sounds like you've made an impressive start considering you've only had a few weeks to plan! I can't wait to hear how your trip goes!

I agree, I decided it wasn't worth it even if we got it for $20pp. I'm going to keep an eye on the upgrade offers to see if anything changes. We are 66 days out from our trip and I already have major vacation short-timer syndrome. I can't stop thinking about it!! It has been so long since we've been on a real trip!

We went to the Hyatt Ziva for the day in Puerto Vallarta. Loved it so much we're planning to take a land trip there one day. It was booked through the ship (Carnival).

75 days to go!!! Things are getting real now 🙂 I've decided not to bid on any upgrades for the moment. The only one that appeals budget-wise is the obstructed OV and after looking at pictures, I'm not sold on that being something we need to spend money on. I'm going to keep an eye on upgrade offers as we get closer to see if they change at all. Things we're focusing on at 75 days out: Contacted our pet sitter to make sure she has availability Watching Alaska Airlines to see if fares go down for our Anchorage leg Making sure we don't need any clothes/gear. We're outdoorsy people from WY, where the weather patterns are pretty similar to AK, so I don't anticipate needing to make too many special purchases because we already own what we need. That being said, I'm trying to lose weight and may buy one or two items for the trip that I'll then wear regularly. DH bought a pair of hiking boots because he needs them for a 10-day hike he's planning to do in August, and he decided to get them before Alaska so he could wear them in. Booking a massage in Ketchikan. I like the idea of supporting a local business instead of booking a way more expensive service on the ship. Completing check-in online. I ran into a hiccup with this--I tried to enter our independently booked flights and it keeps telling me that flight number doesn't exist. Uhm....it does. So, I may just say oh well. I'm not too worked up about being 'green lane' vs. 'blue lane'. I'm confident that as long as we have a reservation and proper ID, we'll be allowed to board 😄 Bike race training. Okay, this isn't exactly trip-related, except it kind of is. We signed up to do a 20-mile gravel ride the weekend after we return from our trip. We did it last year and that was the first time I've ever rode 20 miles. I had to train for it and it was hard. This year, I want to try to beat my time. Since we'll be in AK the last two weeks of training before the race, I have to schedule in some good training workouts during our trip. I'm looking forward to seeing the Alaska reviews start coming in a few weeks!! Will be great to hear how 2024 kicks off. That's all for now!

I posted this in my Alaska thread but wanted to share it here too. I've never been through the upgrade process. Today is exactly 85 days out from our cruise. I haven't received any email notification about upgrades but I logged in and checked and they were available. Just sharing here for more data points 🙂 Upgrade choices offered to me are: Standard Balcony, starting bid $620pp. Balconies are currently selling for $901pp more than Interiors, so a decent bargain, but still too rich for me. Premium Oceanview, starting bid $330pp. Current selling price is $396pp more than an Interior. I guess this is a deal if you really want a Premium OV, but I'm not interested. Oceanview, starting bid $275pp. Current selling price is $351pp more than an Interior. A better deal, but still more than what I'm willing/able to spend. If this was the balcony price, I might go for it 😄 Obstructed Oceanview, starting bid $20pp. There are no obstructed OVs currently available for sale, so I don't know the selling price. However, I'm gonna guess it's at least $200 more than an Interior, so this is a really great deal if you can get it for the minimum bid amount. Now the question is whether I should go for it..... I need to do some more research into where the obstructed OV cabins are on Sapphire Princess. Anybody have any insight to share?

Today is the 85 days until cruise mark!! You know what that means? Upgrade bidding time! I logged on this morning and it said upgrades weren't available, but when I logged on this evening they are up and running! (I haven't received any emails as of yet). So here's the upgrade situation, obviously this varies by cruise but I know there are still a lot of questions about upgrades, and I've never gone through the process, so I figured I'd share as we go! Upgrade choices offered to me are: Standard Balcony, starting bid $620pp. Balconies are currently selling for $901pp more than Interiors, so a decent bargain, but still too rich for me. Premium Oceanview, starting bid $330pp. Current selling price is $396pp more than an Interior. I guess this is a deal if you really want a Premium OV, but I'm not interested. Oceanview, starting bid $275pp. Current selling price is $351pp more than an Interior. A better deal, but still more than what I'm willing/able to spend. If this was the balcony price, I might go for it 😄 Obstructed Oceanview, starting bid $20pp. There are no obstructed OVs currently available for sale, so I don't know the selling price. However, I'm gonna guess it's at least $200 more than an Interior, so this is a really great deal if you can get it for the minimum bid amount. Now the question is whether I should go for it..... I need to do some more research into where the obstructed OV cabins are on Sapphire Princess. Anybody have any insight to share?

A couple of things--the cruise fare dropped from when I originally booked it, and I was able to use the Princess chat to have an agent reduce my booking to the lower price. I gave up some OBC but it still shaved off several hundred dollars. Additionally, I purchased some Princess gift cards from AARP at a discount. They used to be 10% discount and are currently 8%... so that helped bring the cost down a bit. Are you looking for hotels in Anchorage or elsewhere? I booked at Hyatt using points, so I don't know if I'm much help. I think it was over $300/night if paying in cash. I'm sure you'll be able to put it all together and there are so many people here that could answer any questions you have! Also, you can head over to TripAdvisor and post on their Alaska forum. I found it tremendously helpful to get feedback while putting our itinerary together.