Sarnia 432

you can walk on your own
 

Juneau - Perseverance Trail

Ketchikan - Carlanna Lake

some more ideas here

https://profcruise.com/alaska-cruise-hiking-guide-2023/ 

Recently there had been a list of cruises at 50% off the online price.  They are usually sailing within the next few months.  We cancelled and rebooked 4 cruises and saved over £5000!

They can only be booked onboard, but if you can go on them offered a genuine 50% off.

We did this in November 2023, ask the future cruise consultant onboard.

We don’t sail until September, so any information you glean on shuttles, excursions etc would be greatly appreciated.

we have not sailed with Ambassador before, so are keen to hear your experiences.

Depends on how active you are.  We actually do a lot of ports on our own, but we do walk around 10 miles a day every day!

Skagen - we walked to Grenen on our own

Copenhagen - tried the HOHO from the pier, but ended up getting off and just walking

Helsinki - we followed a GPSMyCity guide to tour the city

Tallin - we followed a GPSMyCity guide to tour the city

Berlin - never been there

Stockholm - we walked over to the Vasa museum, then took a “bridges cruise” on the river

Kristiansand - we followed a GPSMyCity guide to tour the city

Which ports are you visiting?

If you wait to cancel until you are onboard, it will go on your shipboard account as refundable OBC.

We are going there with Ambassador too.

No excursions available yet, but we will either get a shuttle to Bordeaux and follow a GPSMyCity guide, or do a DIY walk in the port area.

In my planning notes, I have put the following - 

Le Verdon coastal walk to points of interest

Points of Interest - Le Verdon
  Saint Nicolas lighthouse
  Grave lighthouse 
  Cordouan lighthouse (rocky islet at sea)
  Pointe de Grave
  Church of Notre-Dame du Bon Secours et de Saint-Louis
  Town Hall

According to https://www.whatsinport.com/Le-Verdon-sur-Mer.htm

“The Cruise ship dock at le Verdon is about two miles/3.4 km from the village and is not served by either bus or train. 90 % of the passenger will opt for a cruise organized excursion to Bordeaux. 

This port is difficult to do on your own. There are no taxis, the only way off the ship on ones own is by ferry to Royan, which is at least a 75 minute walk away. 

Check with your cruise line if shuttles to the ferry will be provided.”

We had a kettle in Alaska and Australia 

Bring your own and request a kettle for the cabin.

Often available straight after booking

Does the itinerary have College Fjord prior to Whittier?  It is just outside the town, so won’t take long to get to the port, hence the early arrival time.  You will wake up in the morning docked and disembark at the usual times.

You will be able to get the money refunded once you are onboard!

If you get off the ship in the turnaround port, you have an “in transit” pass.  Show this when you get back and you can bypass the queue for check in and head straight to the security clearance.

11 minutes ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

Copenhagen, not Amsterdam

oops! 🫢

We really didn’t like our HOHO in Amsterdam.  
Long wait to get started, then went to another cruise ship to wait again and get more passengers.

Bus took the longest time to get into the city, going on a big circle round hotels 

Driver shouted out over the top of the commentary lots of irrelevant comments, so you couldn’t follow the narration 

Driver announced stops in a yell and didn’t use the correct names eg “coloured houses” for Nyhavn.

Ended up getting off early as it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Coming back to the ship was no better, the HOHO dropped you at the Little Mermaid and then you walked up to get a shuttle bus back.  We returned there to get back to the ship, we waited 45 minutes on the shuttle, going nowhere, every time we asked when it would leave we were told “five minutes”.  After an hour we demanded they set off, and reluctantly they did.  The shuttle was scheduled to run every 20 mins!

Hope this wasn’t typical and you have a great time.

We did this tour in Hubbard Glacier.  We have been to Alaska several times and only saw this tour on a couple of occasions.

it was an amazing tour, we got up really close to the glacier.

saw lots of calving

the ship was at anchor a long way back

one of the best excursions we have done, would do it again in a heartbeat 

https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/denali-princess-wilderness-lodge-excursions/
 

https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/mt-mckinley-princess-wilderness-lodge-excursions/

by the time the excursions showed up on our personalizer the best ones were sold out!  If you see something you are interested in, call princess to see if you can book.

5 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Sorry if the "review" has taken a turn for the worse

not possible Sid, I am enjoying every minute.

For land tour we booked for South America, we didn’t know the hotel until we stepped foot in the lobby.  We were met at the airport by a princess rep and taken in a mini van to the hotel. We were just starting to panic, when we spotted the princess sign.

We had a coach, “Travel time is approximately 3 1/2 hours (132 miles).”

distance would obviously be the same

Rome2Rio - gives the train time from Talkeetna to Anchorage as 3hrs 15 mins for 113 miles.  Whittier is a little further.

Most likely a repeat.  We just did 6 cruises b2b, and became so expert at trivia after the first repeats, that we stopped going.

Saw this, and it immediately made me think of you and your challenges.

18 hours in, all caught up with 7 pages, followed 168!

Have a great cruise, looking forward to “sailing” with you.

So nice to look back and think of the highlights,

January - The pristine beauty of Antarctica, an amazing start to the year

April - “cruising” the Leeds/Liverpool Canal (does this count!)

June - Norway, in particular the Olden Skylift.  The top was covered in cloud, but as the Skylift broke through the clouds at the top, the views of the snowy peaks in bright sunshine with blue skies were just WOW!  great day, walking the trails at the top with a friend we made on the cruise.  The clouds cleared and we had magnificent views.

July - Skagen, Denmark.  Weather not so good, but had a great long walk along the beach from Højen to Grenen and back to the ship.  The rain poured down just as we left the beach, but we put on our waterproofs and carried on!

September - Juneau, Alaska.  Had a lovely walk up the Perseverance Trail.

October - Papeete, Tahiti.  Another great walk, this time out to the Flowerpot rock.  Had the most amazing ice creams from the gas station on the way back!

November - Brisbane, Australia.  Private VIP tour of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, excellent day, great fun.