CaptnG

After 14 visits to Alaska, all but three in May, I pack for what I have experienced on previous cruises. Freezing rain, strong winds on whale watching catamarans, wet hiking trails, and temperatures that can rise 35 degrees from excursion starts to endings taught me the need for layering. I am prepared for almost every eventuality and it all fits in a single suitcase thanks to the Holland America ship laundry.

 

 

 

Where I live here in New Mexico, I have 10,000 foot peaks just ten miles away and desert-like conditions five miles the other direction. High temps in the low 90's during the summer and little snow. The best thing is the very low humidity at my 5000-foot altitude.. Temps are usually warmer than most other places in the US.

Oh I’m just teasing, nothing wrong with being prepared! But clearly my assumptions were correct [emoji6]

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This isn't about an 8th grade math test. It's about the health and safety of thousands of people. Good grief ......:rolleyes:

Agreed! And by the way my kids currently taking an 8th grade math course, and he’s required to get 90% or better to pass..just saying

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Yahoo!!!! Bob brown that’s the best news I’ve heard in awhile! Thanks so much for sharing!

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I always take a pair of UnderArmour Basic 1.0 lightweight long underwear as a base layer for those fast catamaran whale watching excursions in May. Next layer is long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants. Add a sweater, a mid-thigh Columbia jacket w/hood, and photographer gloves to complete my chilly day in May ensemble A rain poncho is always in my camera backpack as is space for my sweater.

 

 

 

Merrell Gore Tek hiking shoes keep my feet dry.

 

 

 

For extra cold days, I have two hand warmer/phone charger/flashlights for my Columbia jacket pockets for a quick warming of my hands during extended picture-taking excursions.

That’s a lot of gear.. you must live somewhere warm. [emoji41]

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We haven’t sailed on the Bliss yet, but it looks so cool we’ve been considering an Alaska cruise on it, despite the fact that we Live in Alaska. We are headed on our first NCL cruise on the Breakaway next week. I can follow up with thoughts between the two lines when we return, but as many have said before food and entertainment are pretty subjective. I suggest the Bliss because our kids are very close in age, and I know mine would enjoy a bigger ship like the Bliss compared with most of the ships that come to Alaska.

 

 

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Take the Bliss! Looks like a fantastic family trip.

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Problem with Alaska is our weather changes so rapidly. I’ve had spring mornings where the sun was shining and it’s warm out (like in the 50s), and by that afternoon it will start snowing.

Layering is key, it can be cold but remember it does get hot here, if you’re headed to Fairbanks it could be 100 degrees in May.

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Guess I’m not sure where you’re going to stop at on your cruise....but I’d be very surprised to hear you found much snow on the panhandle in June. Take it from an Alaskan, you’d be much better off with a pair of waders.

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Well.. not sure if this is useful, but she says slides are currently in need of repairs. They are working on getting the repairs made hopefully by the time Breakaway sails on Feb 2. The rumors that they wouldn’t be repaired until the dry dock are not true, and they intend to have them back in service as soon as they can guarantee they are safe.

She’ll keep checking in on this over the weekend and will let me know when she has an update.

So I guess we’re all in the same boat (or ship [emoji568]) waiting and hoping for some good news.

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I reached out to our cruise consultant. She is following up to try and determine when they anticipate having the slides in working order again. I will update here if I get anything useful.

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Someone, getting off the Breakaway today, posted on ShipMate that the slides will be closed for the next 6 (six) trips.

I’m going to pretend I didn’t read this and just keep hoping they’re gtg Feb 2 🤞

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We’re staying there 1 night before we leave on the Breakaway Feb 2., I can let you know what we think about it afterwards.

Booked because it was close to the Intrepid museum and the ship. I was also thrilled with the queen beds instead of doubles as we’ll be sharing the room with our kids.

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50 days to go [emoji41]

I suggest you go on amazon. My husband has similar vision and we were able to get him a prescription snorkel mask for a very reasonable cost.

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I was wondering if anyone knows approximately the earliest they’ll accept your luggage before departure. For those of you that tend to arrive at 9:00-9:30 have there been baggage handlers available?

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Little off topic, but I was wondering does anyone know if all the clothes are washed and dried on hot or can you request a lower setting? Always been to nervous about things being shrunk to send to the ship laundry.

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Their website is maddening! Ive has similar issues attempting to book and getting that same error in the past. Usually when I try the next day it’ll work, but Not always and I’ve been forced to call in order to lock in a deal before it expired.

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Following

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Does it seem especially windy on the balcony when you have a room at the front of the ship?

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Harry, I saw this opportunity and thought of you! RCCL is hiring an "intern" to document their experiences on instagram with photos of the 3 totally free cruises they'll send you on.

http://www.cntraveler.com/story/royal-caribbean-internship

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deisel1973..... I think i can rent a car in Cooper Landing . It is my understanding that salmon fishing in upper Kenai does not open until about June 11....we will be just few days early. And sailing...... we are sailing on Kenai Lake....private charter on 25' sailboat.... very excited about this

 

CatptnG...so happy to hear about how beautiful the lake is..... My husband has bad knees, so can't do too much hiking, but I thought maybe we could do some exploring by car and maybe even meet some locals to get a real feel of life on the peninsula.

 

Thanks for the ideas, we welcome any other ideas of things to see or do in the area.

I'm local so I've never looked into car rentals on the peninsula, but I would be very surprised if you could rent a car there. The "town" is basically a general store, tackle shop, and a few small restaurants.

Sailboat trip sounds fantastic! Hope you have a great time!!

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Kenai Lake in cooper landing is truly one of the most beautiful places in Alaska, imo you'd be doing yourself a disservice to leave cooperlanding to go somewhere like soldotna or homer instead. I'm not sure how active you are but the hiking in and around CL is fantastic http://www.alaska.org/destination/cooper-landing/parks-and-trails. One of my favorite things is Kayaking in kenai lake http://www.kenaikayakco.com/, I would highly recommend giving it a try. I've never been, but I always thought horseback riding there would be pretty cool too http://www.alaskahorsemen.com/horseback-rides/trail-rides/.

I'm sure you'll have a great time no matter what you decide on [emoji1]

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On harmony last month I was able to get a reservation for 8 people booked on day 4, scheduled to dine on day 5. We ended up canceling that reservation and rebooking a table of 4 at 8pm on day 6.

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I had endless problems with their site! It was so frustrating to be unable to complete any booking online and then waiting to speak to a representative who usually screwed up my request anyway. I also had the same problem with not being able to login again after getting an error message. I'm having terrible flashbacks just thinking about it! No real advice, just wanted to commiserate. Biker19's advice is worth a try, but it didn't resolve my RCCL cruise planner site issues.

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How much does the Coaster cost? And you can ride it multiple times for that one cost?

 

 

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You can choose between the single pass or the all day pass, can't recall the exact amount but it was definitely the least expensive thing we booked, right around $20 pp. I was a little skeptical about the all day pass because I was worried there would be long lines and we'd only end up going a couple times, but there was never any line at all so we just kept going and going!

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