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Doing this itinerary in May with my 13 year old daughter. I haven’t cruised with a kid before, so that’ll be new and I’m nervous about the crowds in Nassau especially. How dressy is the main dining? I’ve only cruised NCL in Alaska where everything was super chill.

Thank you all, that's super helpful!

For those of you who have been following Princess' annual deals (like the 3 for free going until next week), is there a best annual promotion to wait for?

We're looking at a specific cruise for next November and we're not remotely particular about our cabin, so there's no need for us to rush to book--we can wait for the best deal.

Thanks for your wisdom!

This is SO helpful, thank you all!

Perfect, thanks!

We are definitely "sweetness and light" sorts...well, ok, so I'm less so than my husband. We watched a light little competition show called Relative Race and the finale had him so stressed he said he should stop watching even that, lol. So if it's even a hint of "adult" he'll squirm. Sounds like we'll skip the 18+ and watch Frozen again, haha.

I still think that DCL will be our best bet for feeling like we belong as non-drinkers, etc.

For the few activities in the Navigator listed as 18+ (example, the couples game or if there were an adult comedy show), should that be interpreted as potential R-rated content (language, inuendos, etc)?

We are very conservative--as in even my husband and I don't watch PG-13 and some PGs are too crass for our comfort. So when we cruised with Norwegian we were uncomfortable at most of the evening shows (immodesty, inuendos). During the times we have the kids in Oceaneer, I'd like to have the option of doing the 'grown-up' stuff, but I want to be prepared.

My assumption is that since it's Disney, it'll be ok, but I've been burned by that before. Btw, things like the pirate deck party really will be kept true family friendly (as in, we can keep the 4 1/2 year old up that night without concern for her), right?

First, let's clear up your apparent misconcetion: Hawaii is definitely not the Caribbean. There is so much significant history and culture associated with the great Pacific migration of long ago - not to mention the depth of archeological and environmental beauty that marks each island (if you can only do one for a land trip, make it Kauai (including an hour helicopter tour focused on the NaPali Coast).

Someone else posted that 2018 is too far away. Wrong! For best pricing and cabin options, particularly with premium or luxury lines, booking as soon as the itinerary is available is important.

No misconception--not sure how I gave that impression, lol. I'm aware of both locations' arcaheological significance. Perhaps I would have been more clear had I said "we're NOT beach people." As a result, we lean more toward unique port locations than those with an emphasis on white sand resorts. Not to say either Hawaii or the Caribbean would avoid said sand, but I've got a soft spot for Mayan architecture, so Western Caribbean wins over Hawaii any day.

Easter Island, etc would be fabulous for a 25 year anniversary, but for a 10th with young kids and a single income family, we'll be sticking to the mass market lines out of necessity...which I know means South America is probably out, but maybe if we're lucky we'll swing Panama Canal.

Thanks, all! Sounds like I'd best focus on this year's Western Carib. trip and leave the anniversary booking until 2017.

It's all about perspective--I looked at that and thought "Oh good, with our 3 kids we'll still be able to get to the bathroom, this'll be a piece of cake" Lol.

Haha, no overdosing on archaeology, however I've got a Masters in it, so it's a given they'll be exposed to more moldy ol' heaps of stone than most kids. =)

Thanks, all. Yes, we'll definitely have insurance! Disney would be amazing, and maybe we could justify the price for this.

We just realized we're coming up on our 10th anniversary in January 2018! That seems really far out to us, but if we're going to get a nice suite for our family, we need to book soon, right?

We haven't cruised with our kids before, but would like to for this--but that means we want a big ship with lots of fun for them. They'll be 8, 6, and 4. We think we should actually book for 6 assuming we'll have another by then, is that nuts?

Anyway, should we basically just call a cruiseline (we've only done Norwegian so far) and see what they've got? It seems like there aren't many options online, but then when I read these forums it seems like you pros are booking far ahead.

I'd like to do South America or the canal rather than the more traditional Hawaii since we're less beach and more animal/archaeology people. What cruiselines are good for those?

Aack...I feel like we're last minute planners and the thought of doing something more expensive and well ahead is really intimidating. Any guidance is appreciated!

Thank you all! Our flight is boarding and we're thrilled to be headed north to have fun without breaking the bank.

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Keep it coming! Awesome!

I would probably add to the list:

The Skagway Shuttle

The Ketchikan free downtown shuttle

The National Park display and lectures (downtown Skagway)

The Skagway Museum

The Alaska State Museum in Juneau

The Alaska State Museum is closed this year for construction. I think the salmon bus I mentioned is the free shuttle in Ketchikan. Missed the Skagway museum in my research!

Putter and Nancy, thank you! These are exactly the type of things I was hoping to learn. Growing more and more confidant that we'll have a great time without whale watching and the Yukon!

Awesome, Haines info! Thanks!

I've added the cemetery and hike to Lower Reid Falls to our Skagway list. Super excited for that!!

Hello repeat and budget Alaska cruise experts! Below I'm listing a bunch of the ports that are frequented. I need help coming up with the top 3 or 4 things to do in each port that cost about $10 or less. Obviously, window shopping is a given unless there are any specific stores that are especially fun to visit.

We just arrived at my parent's house out of state and Murphy's Law has struck! A walk in clinic and very expensive prescription later, we have canceled all of our excursions and need to rethink the whole trip. Figured might as well compile a list for other ports as well so everyone benefits from our bummer. :o

Anchorage

Walking tours by the Anchorage Alaska Center at federal building

View of McKinley from JCPenney parking garage on clear day

Free (tips) walking tour departing from the Balto statue

Whittier

Prince William Sound Museum ($3pp) inside Anchor Inn Hotel

Seward

Icy Strait Point/Hoonah

Shuttle or walk to Hoonah

Huna Tribal Carving Project in blue warehouse

Cannery museum

Wave polished glass hunting on the rock beaches

Sitka

Juneau

MGT shuttle one way to Mendenhall, bus back

Visitor Center at the Glacier

St Nicholas Russian Orthodox

Cathedral of the Nativity

Juneau Douglas City Museum?

Skagway

Jewell Gardens ($12.50/pp)

Klondike Gold rush museum

Haines

Ketchikan

Married Man Trail

Creek Street

Salmon shuttle bus around town

Bus to Totem Bight State Park

Vancouver

Stanley Park

Ride the Sky Train

Victoria

Seattle

Pier 66 (49?...mixing up San Fran, I think)

kushtaka' s. (koosh' tuh caw)

 

I've experienced them but never actually seen them. They will foul your anchor, steal your shrimp/crab pots, throw spruce cones at your tent all night long, and prevent your outboard from starting. the little bastids.

That's a brilliant way to encourage unique learning. They'll either have to search the ship library or talk to locals to learn about them...and then it's like a snipe hunt whenever you're out and about. That's the sort of thing that makes real family memories!

Will the Sun have the small boat to take you up to the edge of the glacier??

I'm not sure. Somebody said it would be in the excursions list, but I didn't see anything on our Juneau and Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier) day. We don't have the budget for it, so I didn't look that hard.

The aurora is, in a sense, like bears - you can go to places and at times when there is a great chance of seeing them, but you can also just happen upon one.

 

We see the northern lights in Seattle on rare occasions and two years ago we saw them from a cruise ship in Queen Charlotte Sound. So even if you think you aren't North enough, keep your eyes open.

I saw them once on a camping trip to Arches National Park in Southern Utah...they were absolutely crisp and until I realized what they were, I was seriously about to think aliens were real. Such a brilliant green. Oh how I wish I'd had the sense to run for my camera, although it was well worth savoring quietly. Sometimes the pictures burned in our memories are so much better than anything we capture on an SD card.

On the return to the ship, I would not recommend taking the Mendenhall Loop road. We've got construction going on at Auke Bay; they're installing a round-about. Although the construction company is contractually obligated to not stop traffic for more than a few minutes, those cars coming off the back loop are at a terrible disadvantage, so turning left across the through direction can take 10+ minutes. Turning right to continue out the road should be easier.

 

As you come to Montana Creek Road from the glacier, turn on it and head down to Skater's Cabin. It has lovely views of glacier, lake and Nugget Falls that most tourists don't see. It's not as far as the West Glacier trailhead, which frankly is not worth bothering. There's no views on that trail until you're well up it and above the treeline.

Fabulous insider help! Thank you VERY much! We get a bonus view of the Glacier and less traffic? That's brilliant!

Can you direct me to the website where you discovered you were the first of four ships in port that day?

 

Did you rent car through AVIS online?

http://www.claalaska.com for Port arrival information, all ships, and the order in which they dock.

Any other sources for that info, I'd love to do a cross-check.

You need to allow an hour for the Nugget Falls trail. People also mix up the details with the Nugget Creek Trail which is off the East Loop- which the time reference above is similar.

An hour round trip, though, right? So I'm guessing the USFS trail is calling the Falls trail something else. The Nugget Creek Trail as a 3 mile plus 3.5 mile access (east loop) makes sense, now. I guess their website just doesn't list all of the trails for some reason and, brilliantly :rolleyes:, the most popular Nugget Falls trail is one they left out.

A thread like this should be a sticky! Fabulous and worthy of a bump to get us all excited!

The West Glacier trail is an excellent hike but you won’t have time for that if you do the shrine and Mendenhall Glacier. The trail is on the opposite side of the Glacier from the visitor center. Nugget Falls trail is only about 20 minutes, if that.

 

I posted two photos of Nugget Falls in this thread. One is from the Nugget Falls trail and one is from the West Glacier trail.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1475037&highlight=nugget&page=6

Thanks, Glacier! That is a fabulous thread overall and great photos of the falls. I think when I'm at the visitor's center, I'm going to try and find out why in the world they've got such a limited and unhelpful trail map for the area on their website. I used to work for another forest and I know the high ups make crazy website rules, but this is such a heavily used area I would have thought they'd have a lot more set up. Especially given the history of the visitor's center. Oh well. :rolleyes:

I knew we wouldn't have time for the west trail, but hadn't done any looking to see if there's a cool glimpse from the trailhead or just a bit in, but it looks like you have to go pretty far in before the trees break enough and you're right that we definitely won't have time for it.