masterdrago

Just our experience recently with OBC. My Joy recently (couple months ago) transferred points from our RCI Visa card to OBC. We got the card after our last cruise in June '18 and have been stacking up points. We just used some of the OBC 2 weeks ago to buy a Juneau glacier flight. So they do transfer and are usable. Joy will pay off the cruise balance prior to the due date which will pile a rather nice chunk of points back on the RCI Visa card. We have also been piling up the miles on the Alaska Mileage Plan with an AlaskaAir card. Joy bought a 1st class fare and I think I remember her saying she got triple miles. Fun, Fun!

Well PRPL, I'm really sorry I got in the way of your original question. I was hoping to provide some assistance but apparently have just muddied up the conversation. Good luck. And again sorry.

All I'm saying is that the best aurora views will be from the darkest locations. Fifty miles south of Cantwell is much darker than the yellow/orange border of radiance from Fairbanks near Goldstream Rd. The area your referencing has the same amount of skyglow as my backyard 55 miles north of Houston, Tx. I've done observing from Big Bend National Park remote campsite and I suspect that the Area SE of Denali is similar - far darker than my backyard or Goldstream Valley. Light pollution (sky glow) lights the air in the sky, not the surroundings, thus lowers the contrast and limiting naked eye magnitude. It just simply makes the sky brighter by scattered radiance of lighting from the ground. I suggest getting an SQM and doing your own readings and contribute data or simply recording your naked eye limiting magnitude - charts at http://www.project-nightflight.net/limiting_mag.pdf. I hiked Alaska for a couple of weeks in August of 1995. Mostly in the Chugach Mountain area out of Anchorage. I remember it being very dark, but did not do any active observing nor any SQM readings of the night sky. For a better understanding of how this is done, read information at the two links below.

http://dataservices.gfz-potsdam.de/contact/showshort.php?id=escidoc:1541893&contactform

http://www.lightpollution.it/dmsp/intro.html

11 hours ago, PRPLE said:

We will be on a HAL land itenerary...  on our bucket list is to hopefully view the Aurora Borealis... yes I know it’s iffy but it’s possible and I needed some suggests...

 

Looking at our excursions we have two nights in Fairbanks Sept 1 & 2 and a couple nights in anchorage Sept 6 & 7

 

HAL does offer thru their excursions a option in Fairbanks only on the 2nd that takes  us to a yurt

 

im thinking I should also try to see on the 1st... from what I have read Fairbanks is s better possibility than anchorage???

 

since we won’t have a car I need to arrange with one of the tour operators... but there are several... trying to figure out who to book with... trying to determine if the HAL excursion works or should I select differently?

 

appreciate everyone’s thoughts and experiences as I get things arranged for our first trip to Alaska !

 

 

If I were going to be in Alaska when the sky has some real dark time (11p-4:30a) and no moon interference, here is what I would do.... spaceweather dot com can be useful (take a look at the aurora gallery there) but I would take a gander at the forecast pages at https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast

Based on what I see there, or not, I would rent a car and drive to the darkest area I could find when the weather might be clear so that I could watch the sky during dark time (11p-4:30a). Forget about sleeping. If the aurora pops, you will be so pumped, sleep will be the last thing on your mind. If one of the tour operators can get you to dark skies, then by all means use them. There is a very large coronal hole that swings around every 27 days, repeatedly pointing at Earth. This has somewhat enhanced the predictions. An awesome movie from the south pole can be found at

Hey Northern Aurora, if you take a look at the light pollution map in post #2, you'll see where the area of lesser light pollution is in relation to Anchorage and Fairbanks - halfway between Cantwell and Trapper Creek (50 miles south of Cantwell on highway A4). The yellow colored rim around Fairbanks and surrounding Healy & Anderson represents Bortle class 4 skies (about as bright as my yard 55 miles north of Houston, Tx.) with an SQM reading of ~20.9ish. This is the kind of skies that most folks can see stars to ~5th magnitude. The skies 50mi s of Cantwell have Bortle class 1 (SQM 22.0). Much darker with a naked eye limit closer to 7th magnitude. That's over 6 times darker skies. Therefore, fainter aurora can be seen from the darker skies. All I was trying to say is to see the aurora at their best, get to the darkest areas. Clearly, the Denali area has a lot of very dark skies. And for the OP, the moon will not be a factor the first week of September if they observe after 11pm (when it gets dark).

Sure, auroras can be seen from light polluted areas. I saw an awesome display not far from my house on March 13th 1989. But they are always better seen if no lights nearby interfere. See my attachments for moonset times and light pollution map of area near Denali.

Good luck with your quest. We'll be there in May and our only transient event is a good Bore Tide on the 17th at 2:45pm at Beluga Point. You may have a good opportunity to catch one also. See  https://www.anchorage.net/blog/alaska-bore-tide-viewing/

My thoughts would run anytime between the 1st and 6th (very little moon interference). You will have dark skies from 11:09pm until 4:27am on the 3rd (0% moon interference) at Fairbanks. But, much less light pollution 50 miles south of Cantwell. Do a search for light pollution map. lightpollutionmap.info. Also https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/fairbanks

2 hours ago, LeeW said:

I use one of these to power my Garmin Nuvi GPS.  Of course it needs a waterproof bag (and by the end of the cruise there is a lot of salt on the bag).  Not sure how waterproof your charger connection is with a cable plugged in.  Runs a Garmin for around 2 1/2 days.  Whatever you do you will want to attach your device and battery to a table, chair or the rail.  And don't leave it on the balcony if you do a B2B - they pick it up and turn it in to lost and found.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-Anker-PowerCore-20100mAh/dp/B00X5RV14Y/ref=sr_1_7?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1549325270&sr=1-7&keywords=anker+portable+charger

The GoPro and the Anker brick will both have exposed connectors so the only thing I will be able to do is try and protect the inputs with zip bags & ties. I'm thinking to either gorillapod to rail or suction to the glass. It's all going in my DWs bag   Clearly the rail is much more exposed. Taking bags, ties, and cables. Fun, fun, fun!!

I'm rethinking our time spent prior to our cruise departure from Seward. I want to get opinions from those that may have taken glacier watching tours in Prince William Sound vs Kenai Fjords National Park. Because of the dates we will be on the Kenai Peninsula, we can only take a 6 hr Kenai Fjord tour but if we take the Prince William Sound tour, we will get 8-9 hours. Both offer views of tidewater glaciers and wildlife from small boat tour companies.

We have never cruised Alaska..... but we have been planning our upcoming May Alaska cruise since June last year. Since you mention that your folks are on a budget, look at every possibility. My wife, Joy is big on spreadsheets, and with her help, we have looked at a lot of pre cruise excursions, etc. One thing we found that saved some change was getting a passport card instead of a book, booking the cruise from Seward to Vancouver, then renting a car there and driving (rather than flying) to Seattle. For a group of 4, that could save some coin. So far, Enterprise is the cheapest out of Vancouver International offsite on Beckwith Rd. For us, our 1st Alaska cruise, it has been a blinding pile of work. Just look at all the options. We splurged on the big balcony suite and if your folks get the inside cabin, at least they might be allowed on your balcony to "watch" Alaska sail by. Our grand suite balcony is large = big enough for 4 comfortably.

I suspect that there is no 120vac outlet on our Grand Suite balcony. Can anyone verify this. I'm wanting to plug in a power supply for a GoPro. I'm considering getting a power brick but if I can plug in outside, no problem.

All the excursions I read info on that go into Canada (bus, train, van, or jeep) say passport required. The letters I have from VISA Central and NPIC, Passport say the book is only needed to cross the border when flying and the card is all that is needed for any land travel.

3 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

If the traveler is flying into Canada a passport book is needed.  The passport card would be sufficient for crossing the border by train, bus or car.

Also, any cruise passenger planning to take the Skagway Train excursion  into the Yukon needs a passport (birth certificates, enhanced drivers licenses are not enough).

Just to add, the excursion into the Yukon by train, van, or jeep will only require the passport card (not book). It's the crossing the border by air that requires the book. Go figure. I guess if flying, someone wants to know where you have been...

I suspect we will have CAD left over and the fare looks to be 31-70 (average 38). Not sure if the estimator is US or CAD. Other estimator says 26CAD.

And I forgot to add the all day tidewater glacier watch in Prince William Sound.   alaska dot org  /destination / whittier / day-cruises.    http://www.alaska.org/destination/whittier/day-cruises

Budget Queen has "been-there-done-that" so follow her advice. She has been on this board since May 2000. We have booked all the whale watching (Glacier Wind and Harv & Marv's) and flight tours we can possibly fit in. You never know when something (engine trouble, weather, seas, etc.) will cancel one of these tours. Our 16 days in Alaska are totally packed. In fact Joy has mentioned several times about cramming in too much - ATV, jeep tours, flights, transit bus, small boat glacier or whale watch, van tours into the Yukon & small gauge train rides out. But no zip line, bear watching (there in May - thx BQ) or walks in the woods. Except for the tram ride and dinner at 7 Glaciers, Joy wants to spend time in the local eateries unique to Alaska. The only time we will spend in Anchorage is possibly eating at South Restaurant + Coffeehouse after checking out from airport. We've timed that perfectly to catch a good Bore Tide at either Beluga or Bird Point. I'll have to add that Joy was so supportive in getting all this planned, (spreadsheets and all). It's all done except for a few final payments. Feels really good. Now if I can just figure out this GoPro thingy!

9 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

Is there a reason,  you don't want to take a cab from Canada Place to YVR?   Appears to be the easiest for you?       I always, simply take Skytrain.     I have driven between Canada Place/YVR  and Seattle numerous times   25+++   and would not count on it being 3 hours.   I'd suggest allowing at least 4.     I like, taking the scenic detour via Deception Pass,  then the ferry to Everett.   (with a stop at Ivor's)       

Thanks Budget Queen. I had seen several suggestions for SkyTrain. Our luggage and age situation has kind of nixed that idea. I was mostly just comparing cost but in the beginning was looking at time. Not completely rock solid yet, but our plan looks like disembark whenever, get a taxi in no particular hurry to Enterprise on Beckwith Rd. (least costly place to rent, although as suggested will keep eye on prices at Pan Pacific Enterprise), leisurely drive to Seattle Airport Hilton, then take the next day noon flight to Houston. We may spend some time sightseeing Seattle in the evening of disembarkation.

11 hours ago, martincath said:

 

We plan to take some CAD cash so we don't get gouged on the exchange rate for the taxi, some small eateries & misc stuff. Joy is a rather heavy tipper so she will tip US. We always have our gratuity included on all the ships reservations but Joy always adds tip notes to any exceptional services onboard. Even after the drink packages service charge++

Well, here we go.... turns out the customer service rep was not understanding me. The shuttles only run from the airport every 5 minutes, not Canada Place. I'll continue to watch the rental price at the Pan Pacific/Canada Place location. If I could transfer the rental pickup to that location, it's just a couple of hundred meter walk. That's about the max Joy and I want to do each dragging a big and small checked bag and a carryon. If I cannot modify the pick up location, we will just wait on a taxi and pay with CAD. Is it kosher to tip U.S.?

I'm going to send an email to our tour vendor that is taking us into the Yukon about CAD or US $$ taken at eatery in Carcross. As it turns out, we should not need any cash while in Vancouver for a short time. I think I may be able to pick up some CAD from my local bank b4 the trip. Not sure.

I got an email today from Enterprise Customer Service Rep saying that only the Vancouver International Airport Offsite (YVR) 9051 Beckwith Rd. Richmond, BC V6X1V7 does the shuttle from the terminal at Canada Place to the offsite office. That's where we rented from. She suggested I might call the Canada Place office to see about a modification to the rental pick up. I had already looked at the rates there which were 4x the rate from the Beckwith office. When I talked with a live person at Canada Place, I was told they could not even rent a car to SeaTac. That did not jive with the web pages info. Anyway, I do have a confirmation and they will shuttle from Canada Place to Beckwith. Ours is a refundable, so I'll take martincath's advice and "watch" the rates. As with airfare, I was kinda thinking to wait until 50-90 days b4 flight but we have slowly watched the seats get sold so pulled the trigger yesterday on both flights out and back. Got a nice price but I suspect they will drop a lot between mid Feb. and end of March. Non refundable flight on AlaskaAir.

An interesting side note on Glacier Wind. Shawn has written a couple of books - "Night Vision" and one called "Icy Passage". I've only finished "Night Vision" and almost could not put it down. He writes like I think so it was rather engrossing. I've only just started his other book but have had to put it down due to a busy schedule lately. I have it on good authority that he has an outline for his third book. I can't wait to read it also. We are now booked for a whale watch with Glacier Winds. Hoping we get close to the big mammals!

We'll be spending a bit of our time in Canada while doing a cruise and DIY land tour. Mostly just short tour and taxi in Vancouver and lunch and short time in Yukon. I've traveled extensively in Mexico and a few Caribbean cruise destinations and have found all take U.S. dollars. What have others found while in Canada? I did notice some online excursion purchases included a Canadian currency conversion fee. Our rent car in Vancouver has the confirmation in US $$. Wondering if pay there for taxi, do they take US $$?

After I got the GP, I started feeling that money hole like when we got a boat! Crazy amount of stuff we can acquire. I'm going to limit my pack to extra batteries, a bulk charger, Micro SD cards & a Joby Gorillapod. Joy just finished tweaking her spreadsheet for the trip and I have a daily time-line handwritten. I'm old fashioned. On the back of my hourly pages, I have names & phone numbers of alternate excursion companies. Especially the flightseeing and whale watch. Never know when a mechanical thing might cancel a tour. I've read here on CC that a high percentage of flights cancel due to weather.

We just booked an intermediate sized Elantra or similar (free upgrade + member) for under $100 with Enterprise (best reviews). Pick up at YVR, drop at SEA next day. Not sure the best way to get from Canada Place (cruise terminal) to YVR. Most likely cab but have yet to talk to a real person at Enterprise since they may have shuttle from terminal to airport rental location. This is the only thing that was still on the "to-do" list. All flights, excursions, cruise planning all done. Really feels swell since we have been studying since last June. Our first Alaska cruise and I've spent more $$$ on added camera gear and gadgets than Joy was expecting. Now if I can only learn to use the GoPro. Even got a 2TB WD My Passport Wireless Pro to have a separate storage/backup for all the SD cards I'll fill. This is so much fun!

I took a quick look at Southwest and their booking prices right now are slightly lower than Alaskaair. We have a lot of miles on our Alaska Mileage Plan and also SW only flies into Hobby, not IAH. That works out to an added 60 miles driving each way. Thanks for the suggestion. When we first decided to fly to Alaska, we looked at SW. We were flying into Fairbanks back then. Anchorage now. We are still weighing our options but have narrowed it down to rent car for time and flexibility and QuickShuttle. The cost difference will only be slightly higher renting the car (fuel, taxi & rent car cost). I appreciate all you feedback and suggestions Crew News.

What I'm seeing right now best rental price is $119US for rent car from YVR.