Autumnz

I am just curious why some rooms have purple theme (pillows, etc) and others blue/teal?

Just curious to why there seem to be different colors in different rooms?

How steep/difficult is the walk/incline down?  We do have a member that hikes but more flatter trails and has knee issues.

Thank you- I wanted to spend some time walking around (and reviews of llamas and goats at the farm seemed interesting to enjoy a nice walk).  But, maybe just a bus tour would be best and walk down from Norwegian Fjord Center (by water)?

Thank you!

*Do you hike from port uphill to the Vesteras Farm?  The view of "up the mountain" seems daunting and we are not big fans of inclines.  I was thinking of maybe a private taxi tour that can be flexible to maybe take us on a scenic drive and drop us off somewhere Vesteras Farm? where we can hike and walk back to the ship downhill.

 *Flåm- We were thinking maybe a RIB boat tour here and/or take the scenic train.  Hopefully can find/research some walking trails/light hikes as well.

*There is a cruise with a Tromso stop on an Arctic Circle Itinerary, but it is almost twice the price (12  nts instead of 7) and with midnight sun, and seems no whales in summer, we just stuck to the Fjords.

Geiranger:

Has anyone rented an EV "car" instead of the bus tour?  I was looking at this instead of "stuck on a bus" but may bus is the way to go?

Thank you so much!  We just started the "looking at this" today.  If you have any tips for a great trip to those 3 stops, we'd love to hear!

*Ship sails 4pm/Travel Overnight to Belgium

Belgium 7am-3pm

At Sea

Flam 8-4

Geiranger 8-4

Bergen 7-2

At Sea

Depart (Dock 6am)

Thank you.  

It seems for our date, if we do Celebrity, that Geiranger/Flam/Bergen is the only option.  Unless, we do an Arctic Circle and it is obviously more expensive for 12 nts vs 7.

I am just starting to think about a 2025 cruise to Nor. Fjords.  We have only cruised once before (Alaska) and loved it for the scenery.  We didn't love the ports/excursions- much too touristy and we were glad we spent 2 weeks on land with a rental car pre-cruise.  We do not want to drive in Europe, so thinking a Norwegian Fjords cruise will be very scenic and research shows very nature based vs touristy -so seems very much "us".

*We loved our Celebrity Millie experience (balcony) in Alaska and want to do a balcony in Norway.  But, the only Celebrity Option is Apex with Infinite Veranda and I am not sure that's "for us".  

*If we decided to go on the Apex there are 2 sailings.  Both have Geiranger (which I thought for us on limited research is a MUST).  One has Olden and the other Flam (and I think I'd prefer Flam).  The sailing with Flam also has Bergen.  The sailing with Olden also has Bergen AND Alesund.  I am leaning to Flam (skipping Alesund)- thoughts?

*Are there other ships we should consider that are "Celebrity" budget?  We love the solarium/indoor pool area and want a ship with lots of access to sit and take in beautiful scenery (waterparks/casino is not our jam).  We do prefer smaller vs mega cruise.  We do have sea sick concerns (loved deck 6 midship balcony in calm Alaska Waters= no issues).

Looking for all suggestions/tips/advice!

Hello,

We'll be doing 14 days on land prior to our Southbound Cruise.  For our day in Ketchikan, I am thinking I would like to see more local/nature than touristy.  I am thinking of doing creek street/wandering town on our own, and I was looking at a Taxi to totem bight.  But, taxi's are expensive and not sure it's "that much better" than Saxon Village.  I hear Saxon isn't great without a tour, and "required tour" just seems like a red flag for "touristy".  I was also looking at taking a taxi in the afternoon to walk Rainbird Trail from the library.  There are private Ketchikan tours for about $400 for 4 hours (lunch creek/falls) which sound like a good plan (no planning on our part/easy), but that's expensive when I'm sure a day on our own would be just as good (or no?).  Note- we would split the tour cost with my parents who are traveling with us, so $200 tour out of pocket really.

So- what does an "on your own" itinerary look like that isn't "touristy flair" based.  We are in town 9-5ish.

Thanks for input (and no we do not want to rent a car).

We reserved The Vue 

That sounds interesting!  Thanks!

16 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

Some cruise lines will let you transfer to a smaller tour boat as you are at the entrance of Tracy Arm and after your tour into Tracy Arm take you to Juneau to meet your ship.  From a smaller boat you get a different perspective of glaciers, huge chunks of ice floating in the water,  you may see whales, and we even saw a couple of bears along the shore.  

 

We enjoyed the floatplane trip out to Taku Glacier Lodge with the salmon bake in Juneau.  We flew over glaciers and were surprised to see a bear that came out of the bushes to clean up the grill drippings!

 

Actually, if you want to wander around town, that’s ok, too.  Skagway offers some great hiking trails.  Skagway is also a national park with a lot of information to share about the gold rush.

 

Ketchikan has Creek Street, married man’s trail,  some nice shops.  

 

Don’t stay on the ship.  Go out in the rain and wind and see how people live in Alaska.  Be really happy with a warm sunny day.

 

 

We hope for sun, but we are happy in the rain too!  Can't wait to explore!  

 

 

 

44 minutes ago, Coral said:

Tracy Arm tour is a priority for me. I pick a ship that has times that will make that tour.

It's funny because when I was first booking a ship, I didn't want Tracy Arm.  Now, I do!  I do like a smaller boat experience (option) as well to see it as an excursion!

40 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

Denali is a national park and has much to offer beyond wildlife viewing at a distance.  The mountain and the topography are amazing.  There are educational programs and hikes offered at the visitors center and you can enjoy visiting the sled dogs that live and work in the park year round.  You can also schedule a visit to Jeff King’s Husky Homestead for a great encounter with his dogs that are trained to run in the Iditarod.   

Good to know!  Thanks!

Yes, but there is a limit to how much we can afford on this trip.  🙂  I did contact vendors in regards to Tracy Arm as times online are for 9am  departure.  We dock a 9am.  If someone can work with us- that sounds like a must do (although I worry then I'll be spending too much time on boats!).  We are doing Major Marine Kenai Fjords 7.5 tour (almost 100% positive, still get nervous and hoping seasickness won't be an issue).  We read about Denali, looked at reviews/blogs/videos/pics.  Some reviews are "we saw a bear, a moose, some sheep far away".  Someone said they only saw a few birds- nothing is guaranteed.  It does look like an incredible place,  but hopefully we'll see some wild moose, some sheep, a bear (and hopefully lots of other things) in other places.  I won't lie- the thought of traveling on school bus 4 hrs to Elison Visitor Center  (walking around for an hour) and then 4 hours back hoping to spot some wildlife (which could be far away)- I think I'd just be disappointed.  An incredible place, no doubt, but not sure that fits us this trip.  Again, appreciate your insight and suggestions!

I have to admit when we were in Switzerland we did the glacier field ski lift flyover twice.  We loved it so much!  I probably would have done it a 3rd time!

56 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

There’s no better place in Alaska to do a humpback whale tour than Juneau. We always do that and usually rent a car as well.  Makes it easy to go to Mendenhall Glacier and also head out to the Shrine at St Therese and Eagle Beach after or before the whale watch tour.  For us it’s getting out of downtown and avoiding the hoards in just about any port.

Avoiding crowds is ideal!  I will look at the car rental option!  If we do another sealife cruise/whale watch I think we'll do it in icy point.

Those are really good points!  We see Hubbard, not Glacier Bay.  Tracy Arm just seems amazing, and so far our cruise isn't offering it on this sailing (others do have it listed).  If not...another trip! 🙂

I do really like to just be out in nature, light hikes, looking at/ for wildlife. 

At this point, I am really hoping things look a lot more normal for 2021. 

We are in Juneau 9am-9am.  There's a tour that goes to Tracy Arm but it departs at 815 or 9am (2 companies I saw that offered it).

My husband will not do flightseeing and it's not a huge must do interest of mine (although looks amazing), mostly just due to the cost.  Tracy Arm excursion looked spectacular though.

We could rent a car in Juneau...what would you suggest we look at seeing with it?

I saw that too!

Very true...we've added 2 nts to our original plan to do things we've thought would enjoyable.  A list of things for another time.  Our budget determines some of our activities as well (do we need a 3rd sealife cruise in icy point as we're doing kenai fjords and 26 glaciers...yes I'd love to do it, but adds another $600 to our budget).  If we can do the Tracy Arm excursion in Juneau, we will but so far appears we dock too late, so that put me with Mendenhall Glacier (but open to other ideas, although don't think we have the interest in our group, or budget, for flightseeing.)  Ketchikan....will revisit as I agree our current plan isn't anything that's a truly unique experience.

I sincerely thank you for your feedback....will contine to review and play with ideas (and budget).  🙂

And- I really value suggestions and insight.  I feel I've read hundreds of trip reports, 2 guidebooks, several travel blogs, and a million forum posts.  If there are things I should really consider, a better plan, items that clearly have minimal value and skipping is recommended, etc.  I'd love to hear it.   🙂

3 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

 

Good to know!  Thanks!

Thank you for your detailed response.  Yes, I continue to read and revise based on recommendations and things I find of interest.  Nothing is fully final.  I do find our daily schedule pretty full with our outline of plans.

Do you see something not on the list, in those areas, we should look at adding?  Or things you'd think we should skip and recommend something else instead?

Ah..yes!  We couldn't swing that!  I do remember that though!  Thanks for the reminder!