gpb11

Interesting. This was the "Bennett Lake" excursion option through HAL. We took a coach into town from the ship and boarded the train there; there weren't many cars, I think seven in total. The cars ahead of and behind ours were the same layout.

I wonder if they used this style because they were providing lunch during the trip?

It's the only time I've ever been on WPYR so I can't say if they were different from others, but yes the bench seats were arranged as four-tops with a small table in between. Our car was about 2/3 full so there was plenty of opportunity to move around.

Yes, though didn't know they were new. :) One room had the film of course, on a loop, and plenty of benches so you could come and go without causing a disturbance. The other room had exhibits of the sorts of stuff the propectors had to bring with them.

When we reboarded the train they had distributed box lunches to our tables and we ate as we rolled out. Turkey on a roll, chips, ham pasta salad, cookie, maybe something else, I don't recall. It got the job done.

Yes, you're seeing a lot of variations, also because people also take their trips at different times of year.

Layering 101: You have three layering components, Base Layer, Insulation Layer, and Wind/Rain/Weather protection. Some garments span one or more of these components. You might carry more than one insulation layer component; when we went I had a fleece vest as well as an ultralight down jacket that packs down to the size of a softball. (don't use down if you can't keep it dry, I also had a rain shell to go over everything)

Rain Pants... Personally I just carried convertible hikin pants which I'd treated with wash-in DWR and they shed every drop of rain that we saw. Three things in one, shorts, pants, and rain pants. Plus they pack in half the space as a pair of jeans and weigh half as much too. :)

BTW, gloves from a running store are often very lightweight and thin enough to operate a camera while still keeping your hands warm. Came in mighty handy out on deck during a fjords tour as we approached the glacier.

Well, they served us lunch onboard the train as we departed Bennett Lake for Carcross, so if that's any indication... Only caveat is I don't know if there's some complication regarding bringing food from the US into Canada?

I tried it twice. Got me nothing.

It's not that kind of massage place onboard the ship... :D

Sad, though I suspect not as uncommon as we might hope.

On my HAL Alaska cruise the age demographics were skewed towards the upper end.

Based on this site at the CDC, annual deaths per 100,000 people is 1802 people ages 65-74 and 4648 people ages 75-84. That's 6486 deaths per year per 100000 people ages 65 to 84. So as a back of the envelope approximation, in a group of 2000 passengers (if all were evenly distributed in that age demographic), that's an average of 2.5 people per week.

That said, the real number of deaths on cruise ships will be lower of course. There's a degree of self-selection that those in really poor heath are much less likely to go on a cruise, and some of those deaths will be for reasons other than illness or accident.

Also these are just approximates for purposes of illustration, not anything to hang your hat on.

Sounds like a perfect solution. Enjoy the tour, Kenai Fjords was one of the highlights of our trip, we really loved it.

I'd recommend you call Major Marine and discuss that with them.

Based on our trip three weeks ago docking in Seward and taking the Kenai Fjords Tours tour (next door to Major Marine I think), I'd say you probably don't want to do that walk with your bags.

See the map here: https://goo.gl/maps/G3tF9ntbceF2

We disembarked through the cruise terminal (yellow building labelled Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska) and boarded a small shuttle bus that took us over to the Kenai Fjords Tour agency. I'm not positive where you'd board the train since we spent that night at Seward Windsong Lodge and took a coach over to Anchorage the next morning.

As others have mentioned, first priority is itinerary and matching what you want to do. The ship is secondary IMHO as so much of your attention is focused outward.

On Noordam this year the hot tubs were typically open into mid to late evening. Maybe 10pm? I'll have to look at the schedule in the dailies we kept.

For Glacier Bay the best place would be the bow assuming they open it up as they did on Noordam. Deck 10 / Observation deck above Lido was also good, you could easily go from side to side as desired. (though I admin that this was partly because it was so easy to alternate between this location and our deck 10 balcony where we could escape the people chatter and enjoy the quiet as well as the sounds of the glacier)

Yep, in addition to the shops located on the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge property there's a whole strip of shops across the street.

Civil Twilight is essentially the time before sunrise or after sunset when we'd call it dark out but not quite nighttime.

To see what it looks like tonight, go to http://www.wundergound.com and open the forecast for where you are. Scroll down to the Almanac section and look in the Astonomy block for "Civil Twilight". It'll list times for Rise and Set. In New York City, NY for example, it says Civil Twilight began this morning at 4:52am with Sunrise at 5:25am; tonight Sunset is at 8:31pm and Civil Twilight ends at 9:04pm. Thus it was Civil Twilight from 4:52 to 5:25am, and will be again from 8:30pm to 9:04pm.

Hope that helps.

Generally the first place to start is deciding what places you want to visit / what things you want to see. Then narrow down your options to those which include those.

Leaving from Seattle may limit your options; keep a Vancouver departure as a possibility at least for the initial selection of potential itineraries.

Denali National Park Service Website: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/index.htm

Denali is not a "day trip" as most people would think of it. 4-5 hours by car between Denali NP and Anchorage each way. See http://www.alaska.org/advice/mileage-chart

To be worthwhile IMHO I'd plan for at least two nights if at all possible so you can do the Tundra Wilderness Tour or take the shuttle to Eielson Visitor Center. Either essentially takes all day. Others may have different thoughts.

Some people will do a cruise then do their own land-tour, others prefer to book both through the cruiseline. Which is better depends on the individuals and what they wish to do/achieve.

I have a weather app but not sure what location to use (Carcross gives 3 options).

Try this: Carcross, YT, Y0B 1B0, Canada

https://goo.gl/maps/pc1pyK36Bvz

We were there a couple weeks ago, taking train up from Skagway. Light jackets were fine, a little cooler than down in Skagway. I imagine the weather can change a fair bit, so best to be prepared for a bit of variation.

When we were there we docked right at the visitor center, I don't recall which dock that it.

Have look at Google Maps to get a clear idea: https://goo.gl/maps/h1qfDdebzhu

Can I ask why I may need a fan?

Apparently there are people who for some reason can't sleep without one running. *shrug* Different strokes.

From lots of professional experience I can tell you many physicians do not understand insurance

True, they likely don't know (or need to know) anything about medical insurance other than their own. Still, they live in the same world we all do and own homes and cars which they likely have insured.

Accordingly there's no excuse for not understanding the concept of trip insurance.

The bottom line her folks is BUY INSURANCE, regardless of your intelligence level or professional competency.

No. It's as dumb to just blindly buy insurance as it is to blindly not buy insurance.

Instead, make a reasoned decision based upon your personal circumstances and risk tolerance.

Just don't whine about it if you choose not to buy insurance and suffer a loss.

What's a code red?

Good article: http://www.frommers.com/tips/health-and-travel-insurance/all-hands-off-deck-a-hands-on-guide-to-fighting-a-shipboard-norovirus

trying to substitute another person for the deceased

Reread the OP, I don't think that is the case.

Ya know something? I go on vacations to enjoy myself. I don't want a bunch of stress, and thus I prefer to minimize the risk of hassle or complications. Look up all the regulations you want, but if the guy at the pier says otherwise you're stuck.

It's so very easy to pack a few Clif / Kind / protein bars or other simple shelf-stable foods that it's simply not worth worrying about. Make time to have a solid hearty breakfast as well, and while you're at it walk through the Lido deck and grab a couple of the individual cereal boxes if you fear you don't have enough.

Just be sure to test your strap ahead of time. Some of them lose a lot of buoyancy once they get wet through, and if your camera is heavier than others it might not float.

I own one. Great camera. I've used it snorkeling, hiking, at the beach, at the pool, in the rain, pretty much anywhere that it's handy to have a fully waterproof camera. My sole wish would be that it had a flip LCD to make pictures of my wife and I a bit easier, but it works pretty well just winging it... or doing the old fashioned thing and actually talking to the people around you and asking them to take your picture. :eek:

If you're quick, you can get 20% off a certified refurbished one via Olympus' Outlet Store, making the price $224. The sale ends at midnight Eastern time tonight (6/22). Choose Red or Black.

On our trip, the captain moved us through the heavier stuff pretty quickly; he seemed to try to minimize any ill effects on passengers. It'd settled down by the time we crossed back on the return journey.

To be specific, we did the 10am National Park Tour with Fox Island Dinner and had booked it through HAL. The stop at Fox Island came at the end of the day and didn't seem to take away from any sightseeing time; the dinner was decent and Fox Island was pretty, but nothing I'd take away from on-the-water time to see. We'd chosen the "with dinner" version since this tour was at the end of our cruise, we were spending the night in Seward, and I figured we'd be tired and not feeling like figuring out a place to eat. (I was right... :) )

We did cruise then tour, but from what I could see you would have access to your luggage overnight in Fairbanks. Note that your "Meet Me Tonight" bag does NOT have to be carryon sized. They only seem to care about your day bag and we just used daypacks for that purpose.

I've had good success with this 1oz stick repellent: https://www.rei.com/product/407142/cutter-outdoorsman-insect-repellent-stick-1-oz

Doesn't need full coverage, just dab a stripe across key areas.