new_cruiser

I don't think any is as inexpensive to get to by public transit as the Vancouver cruise port via Sky Train. As others have mentioned, Lisbon and Barcelona have similar distance between the airport and cruise terminal to Vancouver. In both cases, the cruise terminal is near downtown and the city highly worth spending time in so going early to spend some time in the city would be worthwhile.

Athens isn't quite as convenient but not bad. Time/distance from the airport is about double. The port is about 11 km from Athens so a short taxi ride from downtown if you stay in Athens before the cruise.

On 7/21/2023 at 1:50 AM, Joanne G. said:

My point on this board isn’t about all the uncertainties and frustrations (I put that on the Carnival board LOL ), but the fact that the last few days seemed harder to cope with for being solo, with no one to bounce ideas off of or to simply share the frustration with.  I feel more alone than I did when things were going smoothly. ...

 I better toughen up!

Thinking about your post again, your travel disruption is more disappointing and of way longer duration of uncertainty than I have ever had to cope with. A more typical cruise disruption would be missing a port or two or a change of ports to deal with weather.

To have nearly two weeks of a trip disrupted and not know for days whether part of the trip will be on or you are heading home, would be very disappointing and frustrating under any circumstances. I don't think you should feel that you are lacking for finding this hard. 

I expect it is very individual.  Similar to Calliope, I tend to be more stressed by difficult situations when traveling with my husband than when solo. I want him to enjoy trips so he will continue to want to go on some trips with me as I enjoy traveling together even though I also enjoy doing some trips solo so I can do just what I want. And larger groups with varying needs make it even harder. 

I broke my wrist toward the end of a solo trip in Thailand - a compound fracture that required immediate surgery and several days in the hospital and handled that fine. I even watched videos to figure out how to tie my shoes one handed for the trip home. 

I also tend to be more stressed if a problem is of my own making - like if I missed a flight through negligence. I can be much more laid back about handling things that were out of my control. 

I'm also happy to discuss the situation with other passengers for moral support and to share information and ideas. 

10 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Nope, not a visa. In fact, ETIAS will (whenever it actually start) be quite the opposite...an authorization for people who are visa-exempt. Visas can be complicated and often expensive to get, and ETIAS will be neither. Visas also often live in the passport as a sticker, and ETIAS will not be that. For some places, like Australia, US citizens have had to do it for many years...it's incredibly simple and takes less than a couple of minutes. 

It took me more than a couple of minutes button probably less than 15 minutes to submit each one. Each country had a phone app to do the submission you have to download that. The app says processing is usually complete within 72 hours. The acceptance emails came within way less than 24 hours. 

On 7/14/2023 at 12:15 PM, slidergirl said:

She takes her Hoka sneaks and Keen hiking shoes.  Took her Merrill boots last year but decided she didn’t need them.

Merrill Moabs come in low (hiking shoe) and mid (boot) height versions. Their wides were a better fit for me than the Keens I tried on.

On 7/17/2023 at 4:54 AM, jtslattery said:

is there a listing somewhere, or a way to find out, which ports Windstar provides a shuttle to nearby city. Example - Port of Gexto to nearby city of Bilbao.

First timer with Windstar so I don't know what they normally provide.

For the specific example, they provided a free shuttle when we stopped there. In European ports where we weren't right downtown, they have usually had a shuttle. 

On 7/12/2023 at 3:01 PM, CruiserBruce said:

B2Bs are not really a special item. Any two or more cruises could be set up as B2Bs, or B2B2B2B..

As others have mentioned, not quite any two consecutive cruises. There are some cases where two consecutive cruises can't be combined. US law (PVSA) doesn't allow a foreign carrier to transport people between two US cities without visiting a distant foreign city in between. For example, one can't do a back-to-back of a cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver and one from Vancouver to Seward because that would go from LA to Seward without visiting a distant foreign port. Similarly, one can't combine a Boston to Montreal cruise with a Montreal to New York City cruise. 

Mexico, Canada and most of the Caribbean are not distant foreign ports, the ABCs in the Caribbean are the exception.  

On 7/12/2023 at 3:01 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Holland America,  for example,  sells some B2Bs as " Collectors Cruises " and makes it very easy to book.

Windstar has Star Collector Voyages. These are 2 or more back to back cruises sold with one fare. Generally, the fare for the Star Collector is lower than the combined fares of the component cruises. In some cases it is a lot less. The segments they package this way usually have few repeat ports. A Star Collector has one cabin for the whole cruise and free laundry. 

On time we did 31 days on back-to-back Star Collectors. They had a sequence of cruises around the Caribbean and Central America for 54 days. We had booked a 14-day Star Collector in the middle of that and had looked at the next couple of segments and decided not to take them. Then they had a great last minute sale on the next Star Collector about a month before our cruise so we added the 17 days - we had to change cabins between the two, but they made that pretty easy. 

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that 3 small ships were recently re-engined and updated. The Windstar Star ships were all built between 1988 and 1990. As part of the operation, each ship was stretched adding 50 cabins so they went from 212 double occupancy to 312 double occupancy - still pretty small in today's cruise industry. All the bathrooms in the original cabins were replaced. 

Work started on the first ship before the pandemic and completed on all ships during the pandemic. 

https://www.windstarcruises.com/starplus/

22 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

No it isn't because if it were a passport it could be used for international air travel, which it can't. That having been said it should be usable for land and sea crossings, but the tour operator still has the right to ask for a passport.

Another example of passport cards not being accepted is that many upscale/luxury cruise lines require all passengers to have a passport with at least 6 months remaining validity even if a passport card...or for that matter as little documentation as a birth certificate and government-issued photo ID is legally permitted as documentation for the cruise. For example try boarding an Oceania US-based closed loop cruise using a passport card and you're going to be denied, even though the passport card satisfies all government requirements for the cruise.

 

So to repeat...NO...a passport card is not a passport.

It was a luxury cruise line (Crystal) and it wasn't a closed loop cruise. It was a cruise from a Canadian port to a US port, not a closed loop cruise where a DL and birth certificate could be used. 

We did have our passport books with us just in case but passport cards were still pretty new to us and we wanted to see if they would work.

There are forums for these ports in the Ports of Call section of these boards. That's the best place to research whether an excursion or a DIY exploration of the town is a better fit for you.

34 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

In theory yes, the passport card and EDL should work but the website for the tour operator specifies passport.

A Passport card is a Passport. My husband and I used Passport Cards in 2017 to board a Vancouver to Seward cruise and to take a train/van Skagway excursion. 

6 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

You can use it instead of a drivers license as photo ID but you would still need a birth certificate. 

What I read says it is the same as using an EDL - it can be used at a land border crossing so it doesn't need a birth certificate.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative

BTW, if you would rather travel with a passport, there is an urgent passport process can be used if travel is within 14 days. It requires calling to make an appointment and then visiting a State Department Passport Office in person. How convenient that is depends on how close you live to one of the offices. When I used the process in May, the appointment I could get was a few days before the start of travel so it can be a bit of a nail biter with a paid-in-full cruise depending on the process succeeding. 

3 hours ago, kbert92069 said:

I appreciate everyone's responses.  I have a passport and a global entry but recently sent the passport back with my renewal application and I have no idea how long it will be before I get it back..

Thanks,

Karl

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Just don't rely on your Global Entry card - use your birth certificate if it qualifies for your cruise.

Actually, according to the following site, a Global Entry card works for crossing at a US-Canada land border:

https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/canada-travel-requirements.html

I know in the past I've found the same info on a US .gov site but I'm having trouble finding it ATM.

23 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Should one of your ports be Skagway, you would not be able to take an excursion that crosses into Canada/Yukon.  EM

Mostly true - there are some alternative items that could be used. One alternative is an Enhanced Driver's License or ID can be used instead of a passport. Presently, only some states on the Canadian border issue Enhanced Driver's Licenses/IDs. Another is a trusted traveler card (e.g. Nexus, Global Entry).

Full list is here:

https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/canada-travel-requirements.html

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

Yep, it's a 7-day + 14-day.  So I can book 1 meal in each restaurant for the first segment and then repeat for the second segment.  I can book after boarding, but no need to rush unless I really care about a particular day & time.  Got it.  Thanks.👍

I have always booked on the first day of the segment. I have no experience with whether it sometimes books full. Cuadro 44 is pretty small so bookings might run out if the ship occupancy is high - especially on a 7-night sailing. One night all the restaurants will be closed because of the deck BBQ, so there are at most 6 nights of bookings available on a 7-night sailing.

It can be nice to book Candles for a night when you have a late-ish sail-away so you can watch the sail-away while eating. Then pick a sea day or a shortish port day for Cuadro. 

Also, since you haven't been to Cuadro before, you might book the first time early in the first cruise so you know if you want to try for a second night later in the segment. 

If it's a 21-night cruise, it is probably a cruise collector (2 or more consecutive segments booked with one fare). They only take reservations for the current segment and you can reserve one night in each specialty restaurant for the segment. So you can pick two nights in the first segment to make reservations for Candles and Cuadro 44 when you board. Then do that again at the start of each segment. 

As minidonuts mentions, later in the cruise, you may be able to schedule a second night in a specialty reservation if space is available. Since most segments are 7 or 8 days, I usually find that once for each restaurant is what I want. I have asked for and gotten a second time on a longer segment (13 day ocean crossing). You could also just show up and ask if you can get in, but on the few occasions I've done it, I've asked in advance. 

The Star Grill is open for dinner on itineraries depending on weather. That doesn't need or take reservations. If the daily schedule says it's open, you just show up if you want. 

4 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

- do away with the old-fashioned passport "book" and create simple plastic cards sized like driver's licenses, which would fit into wallets and pockets more easily and would be less subject to water damage. 

Passport cards don't need to be created. The US already issues them. Like Enhanced Driver's Licenses, they are only usable at land and sea border crossings.

Making them more broadly useful would require getting the rest of the world to accept a card instead of a book. I'd love to see that but doubt change will happen any time soon.

Maybe that will happen in a decade or two. For now, border agents in some countries still look through to see where else the passport has been stamped. But some countries aren't stamping it. When flying back to the US, the Global Entry kiosk pulls up my info from facial scanning and doesn't use the passport book. Many visas are electronic now and that's another thing that used to require the book format.

6 hours ago, Gopher40 said:

My current Michigan license says enhanced drivers license above my picture with an American flag by my picture, it also has a gold circle with white star in it in the upper right corner. 

If you both have enhanced driver's licenses, that works for taking Skagway train and Skagway road trips that cross the border into Canada. It also means that it is sufficient by itself to board the cruise. You don't need to bring a birth certificate because the Enhanced License covers showing that you are a US citizen as well as being a picture ID. 

Enhanced IDs would also work for taking a cruise from Vancouver if one crossed into Canada at a land border (e.g. train or bus). Enhanced ID just wouldn't let enter or leave Canada by air. 

4 hours ago, Gopher40 said:

My wife and I just booked Norwegian Encore for April 28 - May 5 next year to Alaska. Sailing out of Seattle and returning. Our first cruise ever. We are quite excited. One thing I am wondering about is whether or not we should spring for passports. I know they are not "required", but I've heard they are nice to have "just in case".  I also know they are going to run us approximately $350. We only have one Canada stop, which is on our last night. We more than likely will not be doing ANY international traveling any time soon, if at all, so if we got them it was only be for possible emergencies that could arise. Have any others went without on their cruises? Were there any issues? Also should point out we both have the "real ID's" (gold star on license).

Does your ship stop in Skagway and, if so, would you want to take the train or a driving excursion into the Yukon there? That crosses the border into Canada and requires a passport (or enhanced ID - license would have a flag instead of a star). 

If you decide to get a passport, you might consider choosing a round trip cruise from Vancouver or a one way between Vancouver and Seward or Whittier instead of a round trip from Seattle. These sailings usually have better itineraries - better time in ports and usually an additional Alaska port instead of a stop in Victoria that is often too brief and too late to do much.

1 hour ago, SimplyMarvie said:

I'm the queen of "Don't cruise without a passport" but for this case even I would be tempted to let it go. Like, everyone should have a passport but if you're going to Canada, you have enhanced ID and everyone traveling is a grown adult over the age of 16 I could be tempted to risk it.

Real ID is not Enhanced ID. Enhanced ID is currently only offered by some states on the Canadian border. An Enhanced ID is proof of citizenship and can be used instead of a passport at US land and sea border crossings (but not air crossings). It has pretty much the same abilities as a passport card.

A Real ID requires better proof of identity than older state IDs but doesn't prove or require citizenship.

I'd suggest you ask the moderator to delete or close this thread. Start a new thread with the right title

There are many other things to do in Sitka and it's not as good for whale watching as Juneau (and Icy Straight). So, with your itinerary I'd recommend doing yhe whale watching from Juneau. Mendenhall is, IMO, more about a nice hike that gives a view of a glacier and a nice waterfall. Also depending on the time of year, a possibility of seeing bears. Sitka National Historic Park provides a pleasant easy forest hike with totem poles.

Depending on the length of your port stop in Juneau, it is possible to combine whale watching and a visit to Mendenhall there.

What would you do if the Tabago stop had to be missed? I bring this up partly because our recent cruise had a stop in Skagway during the day followed by an evening stop in Haines. I was considering an excursion that took the ferry from Skagway to Haines and wondered if it would be possible after the excursion to stay in Haines and join the ship there. I ended up deciding to stay in Skagway for the day. It turned out too windy to dock in Haines and the ship skipped that stop. 

I was on an Alaska cruise with 5 family members a week ago. All vaccinated and boosted. All except me tested positive on the cruise or the day after. All recovered fairly quickly, one was asymptomatic. I had mild symptoms but never tested positive despite testing multiple times. As a senior, I'd had multiple boosters, the last one a few weeks ago and that immunity may have kept the viral count too low to test positive.