GORDONCHICK

How many days out for latitudes status?

Stanley Park and the aquarium is plenty to keep you busy before the cruise, IMO.

We used the HOHO bus for 2 days and it was great for getting us all around the city. it helped us cover a lot of ground in a shorter amount of time. Stanley Park is beautiful, and we loved the aquarium. We went to so many places and saw so much in 2 days.

But that doesn't/didn't show on your booking.

I hope this is the case as we are hoping to use the service in September.

As far as I can see, The Empress doesn't serve high tea, which is in the evening and has savory pieces as well as the sweets (an evening meal, tea style, and at a table instead of off a coffee table). I'm good with either experience but I want it to be the full experience - especially for the price. I brew my own tea all the time, so it's not really about just the tea part. If the full tea experience isn't available, then I'll just go find a beaver tail, call it good and head back to the ship.

This is what I thought as well and why I cam to ask specifically on the NCL board.

Yes, this is what concerns me.

That would be very helpful. We will be on the Norwegian Sun and in Victoria on 9/17. Thanks for your help.

It said to attach it. But we already knew that we could write "platinum" on our ticket.

We had a voucher in September.

I might end up doing that but I would have preferred to get a personal observation.

Yes, that's the info I got from the port board. What I'm asking is what is the tea experience from the NCL excursion. They normally only have afternoon tea until 4pm. The ship doesn't dock until 6:30. So do they open for tea on ship days or is this just for cruise passengers on an excursion and how does the food differ from the regular afternoon tea?

No, it's a use it or lose it coupon.

I am looking for information on specifically NCL excursion in Victoria BC for tea at the Fairmont Empress. Many on the port board talked about the experience from not being on an exursion. I'm trying to find out what the experience is on the excursion. Is it a skimpy tea or a full tea experience? The excursion info says iced tea, so I would like to know if it's been altered in other ways from their regular afternoon tea experience. The excursion is in the evening - after the Empress offers afternoon tea. Can anyone who has done this excursion through NCL post their experience please?

Yes, that's why the question - this isn't the standard tea that they do. But I do know people who came into the Empress on their own and had tea there while in town on their cruise (also in the evening) so I don't think it's ONLY for cruise passengers, but primarily. And if they can make some extra bucks off some walk ins, I'm sure they're all for it. And the irony to me for the name of high tea is that it's for the working class who don't have the opportunity to have afternoon tea except on days they aren't working. High tea = working class. But I wouldn't mind the beefed upvariety myself.

Personally, I pick cabins that are between floors with cabins - above and below. If you have that option, I would go that route. I realize it's late in picking cabins and that you're lucky there are verandahs left at all. But if you only have that option, definitely cabins above you.

That's how ours was. Our son slept on that corner couch that made up into a nice bed. It was his first time to not be in a pullman!

The excursion price is only $99pp (USD) so it's actually a little less with a few other things thrown in. I've never had afternoon tea, though I was hoping for high tea since it is in the evening. And they said they would be serving iced tea, which I found odd but wondering if catering to Americans is why? My stop would be med-September so I think hot tea would be more welcomed - at least by me! I was wanting to make sure that the experience being given was the whole tea thing instead of a skimpy version for the cruise line excursion.

I just researched and found places we wanted to go and grouped them together by the areas to figure out where to stay and how long. We stayed at one of the Princess lodges for 4 nights. I know we stayed at a B&B on the outskirts of Anchorage, too. Denalirafting.com is who we rafted through. I scoured tripadvisor for things to see and do, and used them for lodging on some except the Princess lodge. There's tons of info on tripadvisor. We found great restaurants there too.

We usually do whale watching with Harv & Marv's in Juneau. Sometimes the driver will make a quick stop at the Mendenhall lookout, but it's not a long stop.

Just MPO, but with those ages, I wouldn't do a HAL cruise. I did one in my late 40s and swore to not do another one until I was in my 80s. I refered to it as the COP cruise - Crabby Old People. Besides being run over by scooters, wheel chairs and walkers, there was an abundance of rude, entitled behavior. But the icing on the cake was all the old people cutting in front of my 10yo for ice cream more than once. For some people, the fact that HAL ships tend to shut down between 9-10pm, if you're looking for nightlife, HAL isn't it. The ships are nice, the food is good as is the service. We had the nicest inside cabin we'd ever had on that ship (Oosterdam). But we clearly didn't fit into that demographic. I think Princess would be a better choice.

We did 9 days post cruise on our own and it was very easy and much less expensive. We had several favorite things we did/visited. One of my faves was white water rafting around Denali.

In Skagway, we either booked the Yukon experience with Chilkoot Tours (up on the train, back on motorcoach). We also rented a car one time instead of doing the train. You will need to take your passports if going into Canada. We like Harv & Marv's for whale watching in Juneau, and if there's time, the driver will sometimes swing by Mendenhall for a quick stop. Ketchikan, we've done the Duck Tour or walked to Saxman for the totem poles. Ketchikan is the best place to buy a rain jacket, IMO. Victoria is kind of a toss up. Not there for long, and it's usually late and not much open. You can walk around the wharf. This year, I plan on having tea at the Fairmont Empress to try that out.

That seems a little too ambitious. But I'm all in for the beaver tails!