MommyCPA

I can't imagine buying mosquito repellent without DEET! But I'm from Houston and grew up in Louisiana. It has to have DEET to work on those critters. I will just bring what I already have. I'm thinking I will need it for the hike/bus trip through the woods on the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari trip to Davidson Glacier from Skagway.

Lost Again, I had the exact same job as you. I have been planning our cruise since last summer. We leave on the Ruby Princess on 6/10/17! I narrowed it down to the same 2 ships and chose Princess. My decision came down mostly to port time and recommendations that Princess shows and food were a bit better than NCL. But that could be very subjective depending on who you talk to.

I felt like both ships would probably work just fine for our group. We are a very mixed group of 6...my parents in their 70's, me, my daughter, and son and daughter in law who are in their 20's and early 30's. I will write a report when I get back on the ship and the excursions. I love to trip plan and do all the research, but so many folks just don't seem to have a lot of opinions or won't share them. I hope I've planned well for our group, but hopefully they won't complain too much if it didn't!

Additionally, I compared the prices of many tours to those offered by the ship. On some of them, if you read carefully, you can tell that the ship is offering the exact tour with the same operator. I see no need to pay more for the same thing.

Have you been on these tours? IF not, then your post alludes to being first hand when it isn't. I would think your "information" would be more useful when the tours have been taken?

 

Can't tell, which way, but you might want to clarify

I was perfectly clear! Read from the beginning...We are doing these tours. We are going in June! I described the tours we are taking as I've read about them. I didn't make recommendations...simply stated what we "are doing", "in June!" I stated why I prefer small to large and independent to cruise line. I hardly see how I was unclear. Maybe you should read again!

We booked with Jayleen's Alaska. I think her boat holds 8. She has 1 bad review, where the waves got high and people had to come in on another boat, but all other reviews are 5*. She's young, in her 20's but has been a captain for a good while and worked for Harv and Marv (her dad was Marv and sold his part of the company a few years ago) for a while. Her tour sounds fun!

In Ketchikan, we are flightseeing Misty Fjords with Randy Sullivan of Mountain Air. He shares a dock and some staff with Michelle of Island Wings. 2 hour tour.

Thanks, that does actually help to think of it that way, only actually missing 1/2 hour flight time. We're going to book with Michelle for the 1-hour flight, mostly because I had my heart set on flying with her for a long time, and that kind of makes up for losing out on the ground portion (I hope).

 

I did some digging and found Randy is the owner of Mountain Air and has run flightseeing tours for a long time.... I found a lot of excellent reviews of his tours on TripAdvisor and other sites, so I'm sure it will be great no matter who the pilot is.

Shesmi is correct. He is the owner of Mountain Air. I did similar research before I booked the 2 hour (2 hours flight time, I believe, not 1.5) flight with Randy. His plane is like Michelle's and they share it dock. It seems they also share a reservations agent. The person I spoke with said he believes the same as Michelle and his plane is similarly maintained. He's from the Ketchikan area. I found this article about him. He's owned his plane since 2011.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-c1-alaska-float-pilot-20150102-story.html

We are doing all independent tours for several different reasons. We are sailing on the Ruby Princess to Alaska in June. In Juneau, we are doing a whale watching tour that's so small that we will be the only ones on the boat. They only take 6-8 and consider a group of 6 a full boat. It isn't really cheaper, but will be more personal as we will have plenty of time to talk with our captain directly. All the smaller tours I saw with Princess were for 12-14 people and cost $5-50 more!

In Skagway, 4 of us are doing the exact same tour (like literally in the same group with those who booked thru the cruise line), but we are paying $20 less. It's a small canoe, hiking, glacier wilderness tour. Gets rave reviews, but it very small because it really requires a bit of hiking. 2 of our party are doing the train and small bus tour. They booked directly with the train and booked a bus back by Emerald Lake that has only about 16 passengers instead of being on a large tour bus. They can basically stop more often and if there is something folks really want to see or do, they will stop for it.

In Ketchikan, our seaplane tour of Misty Fjords is $50 cheaper, highly recommended, and we get to coast up to land and walk around for about 30 minutes.

I really can't see any down side in taking independent tours. I have heard of one or maybe 2 that didn't make it back to the ship in YEARS. They all say they will get you to the next port on their dime if something strange happens and you don't make it back. They get you back on time! These businesses depend on cruise ships and would never make that mistake! Additionally, I like more control in my sightseeing. I want to be able to spend more time here and less there. I don't want to feel herded around in a big group where we spend time waiting for everyone to load up, etc. The other big benefit of independents is that you get personal time with your tour leaders, captains, etc. You really get to ask the questions you want answered and just talk. I also like giving smaller operators my money instead of the cruise line.

I believe it's probably Dyea Dave. I am considering using them for our tour.

We chose the Ruby Princess. I know it's not a choice of yours, but our methodology in choosing was similar. First and foremost, we wanted to see Glacier Bay. We are a group of 6 adults from age 25-75, my parents and children. We did not want to miss glaciers. I know there's a possibility of missing either Hubbard or Tracy Arm, so choosing Glacier Bay significantly limited our number of ships. Choosing to go RT out of Seattle limited it further. The next choice we made was Sitka or Skagway. Even though lots of stuff says Sitka is great, I felt we'd prefer the train, the Yukon, and Emerald Lake. After more research, we found another Skagway excursion some of us will do...Glacier Point Wilderness Safari. Once we chose Skagway, then we were limited to the NCL Pearl or the Ruby Princess. We ended up with Princess because of a promotion they were running at the time, but I think we would be happy on either ship.

Even though everyone says HAL is fine for kids in Alaska, I'd still probably pick the Pear because I chose Skagway over Sitka. I think for you it comes down to which one of those places have the excursions you want, if you want Glacier Bay. I think both ships would be fine for kids.

No, it isn't liquid soap. It doesn't dry your hair. It is the same basic formula as any shampoo - water and laureth sulphate. This is what shampoo actually is. There may be other ingredients, like fragrance and coloring, but this is essentially what shampoo and body wash is.

Your hair does not produce moisture. Your scalp does. Your hair is made up of dead (non-living) cells that are produced from your live hair follicles. Some products will coat your hair with a slippery substance, but nothing will actually penetrate your hair except bleach and hair dye, or chemical solutions that are used in perms.

The ship's shampoo will not damage your hair, though more expensive products might do a better job of removing the dirt and scalp oils. Standing out in the sun and wind on deck will do more damage to your hair than using the cheap ship's shampoo. Whoa, you did want to go on a cruise?;)

It's not the same as the shampoo that many of us (women) with long, color treated locks us. I use a gentle sulphate free shampoo and conditioner that does help my hair withstand damage from the processing, the blow dryer, and the flat iron. When I use a shampoo like the ones on the cruise ship, my hair feels like straw! It doesn't feel that way when I use my own. Say what you will about the differences, but there are many and they are real!

I'm also curious about these same questions. My family of 6 (my mom and dad in their upper 70's, me, and 3 adult children) are going on the Ruby Princess next June. We are looking at Yukon Rail & Bus and I'm trying to decide between the larger Chilcoot Tours or the smaller and more personal Dyea Dave tours. Unless people have real issues with Dyea Dave, I'd usually lean towards that.

Is Yukon Rail & Bus a big touring bus? Is there another company not associated with Princess that does small rail and bus tours? We will definitely want to see the puppies as we are all huge dog lovers!

Thanks for the help!

Curious about the Caribe balconies. I booked one for my parents (surprise that it's a balcony) and hope it's as large as it seems to be. We will be a group of 6 and I'm hoping we can get at least 4 people out there. The rest of us have insides.

I'm getting ready to book an Alaska cruise for next summer. How do I find a TA that gets these group discounts?

Very glad to see this discussed as I'm thinking about booking Alaska for next summer. Carnival may be out for me because I think Glacier Bay is a must see. I can't imagine going all that way and not seeing the national park. I think (and tell me if I'm wrong) I'm choosing my cruise based on itinerary and not cruise line or ship.

Score!!! Just bought 5 x $100! I've been checking for weeks!

I am a newbie cruiser and have similar questions. Who do any of you give additional tips to? I want to receive good service at the bar and anywhere else. I usually tip more than the minimum recommended as well. Do you tip extra to your bartender if you have Cheers? When do you give extra to the steward? At the beginning to get stellar service or do you wait till the end?

I totally agree that traffic will be pretty awful. It's always bad on a weekend going to Galveston and the 4th will be worse. It's also compounded by the fact that pretty much every freeway in N Houston currently has construction. They do most of the construction work on evenings and weekends. Allow at least an hour extra for driving thru Houston.

An alternative that would eliminate a little stress and traffic is to take the East Belt (Beltway 8 East, Sam Houston Toll Road East) around to south I45. I live NW 1960/290 area and we usually take the Beltway around to go to Galveston. It costs you a toll and you need a Toll Tag because there are no toll booths, but the Texas Tag does work. It only may save a bit of time and you still have to fight the Bay Area Blvd traffic and the Causeway traffic onto the Island, but there's not much traffic at all on the Beltway and it's much less stressful to me. Leave early!!!

http://www.vicbb.com/

Not sure if my link is working, but the Victorian B&B (not the condos) is very nice. It's within walking distance of quite a bit. We stayed there last year. The owner is quite interesting!

Just my opinion... I don't think I would want to make that 4 hour drive on cruise day. And probably not enough time to enjoy San Antonio. There is so much to do in Houston and Galveston, I would choose to spend the time there. Either way, I'm sure you will have an amazing time!

Yes, there are things to do in Houston and Galveston, but San Antonio is a much more important site seeing location and people come from all over the country to see the Missions, including Thr Alamo and the Riverwalk. Being a Texan, most of us don't mind driving too much, so I'd say a day is enough time to visit the Alamo, walk the Riverwalk, and ride the little sight seeing boat through the Riverwalk. If you drive like the Texans, that Galveston drive won't be too bad.

Don't bother with Galveston's beach. It's not very pretty and the water is quite brown from sediment from the MS River. I go there, because it's the only beach we have but its just not awesome. The Strand in Galveston is nice for shopping and there are cute little bars and restaurants along the Seawall.

Be warned, however, that if you do choose SA there will be TONS of people and lines for everything. It's super busy in the summer. Riverwalk on a Sat will be a very hot mess of wall to wall people. If you don't mind the people and lines, go to SA, see the Ruverwalk and The Alamo, and eat some really good Mexican food (cannot be found on the Riverwalk!). If you mind the crowds and waiting, go hang around Gslveston for the day. Maybe stop at the Houston Zoo or museums or Hermann Park on the way down. In Houston, try to look up road construction, because there is a LOT of it going on!

Have fun!

I'm with the other ladies that would already have gotten mani/pedis done within a few days of departure. I think the go to guest services for something or run pick up something from the shop (forgot a razor, toothbrush, etc) would be your best bet.

You know whether your lady does the nail thing regularly. If she dies, bad idea! She'll already have fresh nails. If she doesn't, it's perfect!