new_cruiser

You have it wrong. The enhanced Driver's License is good for land or sea entry but not air. See: https://www.dhs.gov/enhanced-drivers-licenses-what-are-they#:~:text=Enhanced Drivers Licenses (EDLs) are,technology that makes travel easier. OP make sure it's an Enhanced Driver's License, not just a RealID. People have gotten them confused at times. You can get a passport renewed quickly with the urgent process. It's a bit of a pain as you can only get an appointment when travel is within 14 days and you have to go to a passport office in person (or pay an expediter to do it for you $$). I just did this and it took most of the day (appointment in the morning and passport pickup in the afternoon).

TSA's website says magnets are fine in checked and carry-on.

1. I first called what I considered 14 days before - e.g. calling on the May 1 for travel on May 15. It turns out that the Passport office interpretation of "must be scheduled within 14 calendar days " is that the day you call counts as one of the 14. So I had to call back the next day. They gave me an appointment for 2 days before my departure. Shortly after I hung up, I realized I had an unmovable obligation already on that day. So I rescheduled the flight and called again 13 days before the flight. They again gave me an appointment for 2 days before departure and cancelled the first appointment. Meanwhile, a relative discovered she mislaid her passport, also called and got an appointment for 2 days before departure. We never had any trouble reaching the call center or getting an appointment despite the difficulty I've read others having. Possibly it is more of an issue for those who discover a problem closer to the travel date or at other offices. 2 The address in the confirmation email: 450 Golden Gate Ave. I put that in Google Maps and it took me right there. Issuing passports is a function of the Department of State. The SF Passport Office is on part of the 3rd floor of the Phillip Burton Federal Building. 3. Yes there is parking nearby. I parked at a garage at 376 Larkin Street which is probably the closest garage to the office. There is also a parking under Civic Center Plaza. The garage where I was is $8 per hour but maxes out at $32. I think Civic Center Plaza might be a few bucks cheaper. I was ready to be out of the car by then and parked at this one because it was convenient. 4. Ike's Japanese Kitchen, 800 Van Ness (about 3 blocks from the passport office). It's fairly upscale, I'm sure there are some nice more budget choices around, but this was really nice. I enjoyed my sushi there a lot. BTW, if you want some place to hang out between your appointment and passport pickup rather then going to a museum or shopping, the Public Library is on the block next to the Asian Art Museum.

If all the offices follow the same protocol, your same day passport probably will be ready some time between 2 and 5 PM regardless of your appointment time. (I expect they close at 5 and plan to get all passports ready by then.) They won't want you to camp in the passport office. They told people to leave and not return until the pickup time. The office was pretty full most of the time so they don't want extra bodies hanging around. If there is a cafeteria in the building, you might be able to hang out there. Or you could plan on taking the Metro to one of the Smithsonian museums for a few hours to while away the time or, if you want to work, going to an internet cafe that will let you hang out with your laptop for the price of a coffee or two and maybe lunch.

I forgot to say above that I was out of the passport office shortly before 11:30. Most of that was the check-in line and waiting to be called. Time at the windows was pretty brief. I treated myself to a belated Mother's Day sushi lunch nearby and then spent a couple of hours at the Asian Art Museum because it was just a couple of blocks away. When I returned at 3 PM, everyone there was doing passport pickup. The line was pretty long. Apparently, passport appointments are all in the morning (and maybe early afternoon). I asked whether appointment time determines pickup time and the said everyone is told to come back at either 2 or 3 PM. When you check-on for passport pickup, they give it to you if it's ready. If it's not ready, they give you a number and wait for it to be called. There were around 100 people waiting for their number to be called. Mine was called at shortly before 4 PM. Once you are called, it's pretty quick - you sign for it, go off to the side to check the info page and leave.

Following the link on my appointment confirmation email for "Building Entry Requirements" and expanding the topic "arrive early for your appointment" includes: "We suggest you arrive 15 minutes early to go through security screening. You must show valid government ID to enter the building. Weapons (including knives of any size and pepper spray), food, and drinks (except water in a sealable bottle) are not allowed. Anticipate a line at the building entrance." That's a page for the San Francisco office, but it's probably similar for other offices. My appointment was for 11:30. I wanted to be on time and traffic makes the travel time to downtown San Francisco highly variable, I ended up arriving at the building a little after 9. It was 9:30 by the time I got through the security screening line and passport office entry line (where they check that you have am appointment before letting you in). The guard said come back at 10 (presumably to control occupancy of the office). He suggested going to the cafeteria in the building to wait. When I came back at 10, there was no line outside the office. I checked in giving them my form, old passport and proof of travel. They gave me a number and I sat down until called. I was called, paid by credit card. They said that, because my home is more than 100 miles away, they will have my passport ready the same day. They gave me a paper to bring back at 3 PM to get my passport.

There are plenty of whales to see out of Seward - some resident pods plus migratory ones there for the summer. I'd agree more with you on Ketchikan, though there was a whale with us in Misty Fjord when I was on a kayak excursion - so they are around but perhaps not as densely populated.

Not the DC office, but I'll have experience with in person renewal at the San Francisco office soon. I have an appointment for tomorrow. A trip with came up just as I was about to renew my passport for a trip this fall so now I need to use the Urgent process for the first trip.

I took the free shuttle into town. Then walked along the water to the Sitka National Historical Park, went to the Visitor Center (they had some artisans working on native crafts) folliwed by the totem pole hike. Then decided to backtrack to the Sheldon Museum instead of walking to the Raptor Center. I called a taxi from there which took me to the Raptor Center and came back to take me to the Fortress of the Bear and back to the ship. As a bonus, the taxi driver spotted whales in the inlet on the drive from the Fortress and we stopped briefly to watch them.

Chichogof Island is the island ISP os on, so that's where you are when at ISP.

You can stroll into town and see Fort Seward (buildings around a parade ground) and then over to the Hammer Museum. The Museum website says it is open evenings when a ship is in town.

One thing I've realized is that when an excursion title includes "watch" (e.g. whale watching), it means that seeing the animal is close to 100%. When the title has "search" (e.g. bear search), the search may or may not succeed, like the 50% that the bear excursion company gave you. The upside is that bears are widely distributed in Alaska and you have a chance of seeing is possible almost anywhere. We saw 3 bear cubs next to Steep Creek Trail very close to the drop-off for Mendenhall Glacier. Mama had left them there while she went farther off foraging. Ranger's were on hand making everyone aware of safety. The Mendenhall Glacier is fairly far from the trails at Mendenhall and not as spectacular IMO to Hubbard or Kenai Fjords because of the distance, but the trails there are very nice easy hikes and there is the chance of seeing wildlife. I almost saw a porcupine on the Trail of Time (June) - the people ahead of me saw one but it had moved on by the time I got there. Later in the day, I did get to see one from a trail at the top of the Mt. Roberts tram.

Picardin works just as well as DEET and doesn't have the issues of DEET - it's non-greasy, doesn't smell (to humans at least) and doesn't damage plastics. Back to the original question, I brought bug repellent when I went to Alaska in May and in August but didn't need it either trip. It is nice to have along if you do need it. Picardin repellent is available in small TSA carry-on size bottles and one of those has always been more than enough for a trip for me.

My cruise was 14 days mid-to-late May several years ago. It was cloudy almost every day but I don't recall any downpours. It was drizzly at times - my light breathable rain shell got plenty of use, but the rain wasn't heavy enough to make trails muddy or interfere with enjoying Alaska. It was glorious toward the end of our cruise when we finally had a sunny day.

I've got a question for anyone here who has done this excursion. This excursion starts at 9:30 from Skagway with the catamaran to Hanes. It's shown as 6 hours 30 minutes so it would end at about 4 PM For our cruise, Radiance of the Seas is in Skagway during the day until 5 PM and from 7 PM the ship is in Haines. The excursion description doesn't mention taking the catamaran back to Hanes. Does it go back to Skagway or do they leave you on your own Haines until the ship arrives that evening?

I bring an Anker wireless charger power bank (i.e. a battery with a built in wireless charger). Charge it during the day and put it on the nightstand at night so my phone can charge from it and be handy.

The online form I had to fill out required an address and wouldn't accept something that wasn't a real address in Greece even though the box for cruise was checked. Name of ship & line wasn't enough. Bad form design, but an online form doesn't accept arguments. Cruise port address satisfied it and the form was accepted.

The passport expediter who I called doesn't list their fees on-line until you fill-out their form and, since I'm not using them, I don't want to enter that information. Checking a couple of others with websites more upfront about the fees, their 14-day service is priced around $600 so I'm pretty sure that the ~ $900 that the agent mentioned on the phone was the total for their fee plus the government fees.

If anyone has mentioned it in the thread, I've missed it, but there is also the debt ceiling to consider. If there is a government shut-down due to that, passport processing may halt for a while.

This page has the info on the urgent process (for travel within 14 days): https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html If your passport is taking too long, you can call to make an appointment at a passport office once your trip is within 14 days (the 14 includes the current day - to me that's 13 days). An unexpected trip came up when I was about to renew my passport anyway so I'm having to use that process. I did also call an expediter to see about using them, but they wanted about $900 bucks to do it (though I think that included the government fees as well as their fee). For that price, I decided I was willing to do the drive to our closest Passport office.

It really depends on my objective for the particular cruise. I've been on crossings and enjoyed the relaxation of many peaceful sea days in a row. I've been on port intensive cruises in the Caribbean and Europe with one sea day in a 7 or 8 day cruise and enjoyed that. If I want a break, I can always choose some port days to follow a relaxed schedule - go off the ship on my own to enjoy the local town for a few hours and then return to spend some quiet time on the ship instead of trying to fit every possible thing in. On an 18-day cruise early in the return to sailing after COVID, we pre-booked an excursion for every port because of concern that the ports might only allow leaving the ship on a ship excursion. That's the one thing I found I didn't enjoy. It was too hectic and regimented. I ended up cancelling some of the ship excursions to be more relaxed.

Then you are limiting your options. You could agree on a time that you will make your way back to the ship independently from each other and do that. Or when you arrive at a place that you might separate, you agree on a meeting spot where you will return at a specific time and set alarms on your watches to ensure you head back there on time. I'm assuming that you are talking about independent unguided excursions off the ship. If it is a guided excursion, than you all should stick with the guide and for any unguided time, the guide should make clear when and where to meet back up.

All the USB chargers I've ever seen are dual voltage compatible (i.e. they work with 110 and with 220 V outlets) so you just need a plug adapter to get the right shape plug. Voltage can be an issue if you want to plug in appliances like curling irons or hair dryers. Most heat generating appliances are single voltage though there are some travel models that are dual voltage that either require you to set a switch correctly or that sense the voltage and adjust themselves. I prefer to bring a plug adapter and a separate charger because I want to have fast charge and the USB chargers built into the adapters usually aren't as capable. For example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077WJYNQ5 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C5RG6KV

When a form to enter Greece (not sure if it's still required but at the time, one had to put all the places one was staying so they could reach you if there was a COVID issue) required an address for the cruise, I looked up the address of the port and used that. Another alternative is to contact the cruise company to see if they can give you the name of their port agent and use that info. Or contact the Visa office as LHT28 suggests.

I appreciate that - I was just trying to explain why I'm confused and what my goals are. Tone of voice is missing on-line and makes it easy to misinterpret. I've made some minimal bids so can't show the original offer screen. Here is what I can get.