karatemom2

I’d be curious if this option is working for anyone. We were on the Royal a few weeks ago - last trip where Princess provided free tests the day before disembarkation. I was grateful because honestly the Wi-Fi was so terrible I can’t fathom how someone could make the test work. I couldn’t even check in for our flight let alone get enough connectivity to do a proctored test. And we had the package. Unfortunately the internet access was just awful.

We just had L102 and L104 on our recent Royal cruise in Alaska. Best decision ever! Yes, they can get a bit chilly and windy while traveling on the open ocean and between ports where it is not very protected. But on our glacier days and cruising in and out of our ports, they were glorious. The full expansive view as shown in the photo above is just amazing. We saw so much amazing scenery and wildlife. I'm spoiled on ever having a small side facing balcony ever again!

They can be pesky but if you are sticking to town or water based excursions you won’t have much to worry about. If you are going on a land trip or hiking into more interior areas in your ports - like Dyea in Skagway, or up Mount Roberts in Juneau, or bear watching types of excursions you may encounter them. Bring bug spray just in case!

Here is what I do not understand about that. When we used ArriveCAN for our recent cruise out of Vancouver, the system would absolutely not let you complete travel information outside of 72 hours prior to entering Canada. You could upload all of your other information like passport and vaccine record, but the actual section on travel into Canada required the date you were going to be coming into the country and mode and area of entry. Most Victoria stops are at the end of the cruise, so you would not be able to complete the travel section before cruising because you would be ahead of the 72 hours prior to entering Canada. We had to update the travel section three times - once when we flew into Vancouver, once for our day trip into the Yukon from Skagway and a third time at the request of Princess a few days before we stopped in Victoria. Each time we were entering and exiting Canada back to the US.

Yes, testing is no longer a requirement to enter Canada - just vaccination and you don't need to test to reenter the US via land. You will need to register on ArriveCan in advance and upload passport information and proof of vaccination for you and anyone traveling with you. Then, within 72 hours of your travel into Canada, you will complete the section about your travel plans: mode of transportation: (via car), date and time and where you will be entering (Fraser). Once that is completed you will get a QR code that can be scanned. Upon crossing the border into Canada, you will just need to show your passports and that QR code. It is actually pretty easy and we had no issues going into Canada or reentering the US on our way back.

We booked with them last year and the box lunch was good - we ordered the turkey wraps and they came with chips, fruit and water. They also provided a cooler which we definitely appreciated. They will also provide you with a binder that has suggestions for different routes and information about things to see along the way as well as a CD that you can play to accompany your drive. Another great source of information on the Yukon drive is Murray's Guide which you can find by doing an internet search.

Wow, it is really disheartening to see the turn this thread has taken. As the daughter of a WWII veteran I am shocked at some of the comments regarding those who have served and sacrificed for our country. The men and women of our military deserve our respect and gratitude and if they want to wear their hard earned medals as a a source of pride in their service and sacrifice, I am all for it. If I see them on the ship I would certainly not view it as boastful or a means of trying to display superiority, but as a way on a formal evening to share something meaningful and life defining. And I would be happy to thank them for their service. Whether you agree with every military decision made by our leaders throughout our long and sometimes unfortunate history, you cannot fault the men and women who served for those decisions. They stepped up and did what was asked of them and put themselves in harms way on behalf of all us who share US citizenship. To imply otherwise and ascribe all sorts of ulterior motives for the simple act of wearing a medal is disrespectful and ungrateful. Wear your medals and be proud of your service. And thank you from the daughter of a Navy Corpsman who served on the beaches of Iwo Jima.

Just picked this book up in Victoria on our recent Alaska cruise to start getting ready for our British Isles cruise later this year. It looks very interesting! And I just watched Belfast on our flight home. What a great movie - really provided insight into some of the turbulent history.

Several of us from our Aug 25 cruise are booked on a group tour with Overlord Tours. You might reach out to them and inquire if they are taking bookings for the date you are there. https://www.overlordtour.com

Here is my basic list from our recent cruise: Two pairs jeans Two pairs black slacks 1 pair comfy palazzo pants 1 pair black velvet pants for formal night 3 turtlenecks 2 T-shirts 2 sweaters 2 fleece pullovers 2 dressy shirts 1 long cardigan sweater 1 water proof jacket Hat and gloves Jammies Socks Boots for walking/hiking in ports Flats for inside ship (Toms) Low heeled black pumps for formal nights For the ports and glacier days I just layer up - boots, jeans, turtleneck, pullover, jacket as needed. Hat and gloves if its really cold or raining. On the ship, my black slacks and nicer shirts for dinner and formal nights and jeans and sweaters or palazzo pants with T-shirt and cardigan for daytime or casual evenings. I keep it pretty simple and we get free laundry by being Elite so I don't need to overpack. Other things I pack specifically for Alaska include binoculars, bug spray, packets of hot chocolate, and the little hand warmers that you can squeeze and pop into your gloves if it is really cold. Going in early May this year I was really happy to have those on a couple of the pretty chilly days.

@QuilterGirl you are not kidding. I legit saw a man on our Alaska cruise a couple of weeks ago wearing a tank top, sweatshirt jacket tied around his waist, swim shorts and giant full fur boots. He was a sight to behold! It was like gym wear, meets swim wear, meets apres ski wear!

Thank you so much for sharing your journey. We are doing this cruise on the Emerald in August and it’s so great to get this wonderful preview.

Yes. We rented from Avis on May 5 for our day in Skagway. Great service and excellent car. We drove up into the Yukon to Emerald Lake and back with lots of stops on the way including Caribou Crossing. Absolutely great, beautiful day!

Wow, that's a lot of people. We were on the May 2 cruise and didn't test positive until we got home, but we know that quite a few people tested positive at the ship offered testing the last day. And one of our roll call who tested positive during the cruise reported being on one of the buses with about 50 people when they were transferred off the ship. Most of us on our roll call tested positive once we got home. How is the hotel where Princess has placed you? Is it nice and are the staff there being helpful? I'm curious if all of you who were transferred to Seattle were all taken to the same hotel? I hope you get better and get home soon!!!

It's not illegal. The only limitation is that you can't fly back into the USA if you are positive. It is still allowable to drive back into the country. They were being transferred to a hotel in Seattle arranged by Princess to quarantine. No different then being transferred to a hotel in Vancouver - just a little further away.

Check with Hoonah Travel Adventures. Excellent company owned by locals - the boat holds 16 so depending on how many are already booked for the day you are there, they may be able to accommodate you.

You can’t go wrong with either time frame. But one thing I will note is that by the third week of July the salmon should be running. It is a treat to see them and it also increases your chances of seeing bears as well.

It’s not great. We struggled with it on our recent cruise. It went from slow to non functional.

So sorry you are going through this. We were on the first Royal cruise to Alaska and tested positive a couple days after we got home. We all ended up with mild cases but were so incredibly thankful we made it home first. I hope you recover quickly and can get home as soon as possible.

We had the same experience on the Royal. Our steward mentioned the first day that we could have evening turn down service only by request. We let him know right then and there we wanted it. Additionally in our adult kids’ room next door we needed the sofa bed made up. The first night we came back to our rooms and neither had been serviced. I was not a happy camper but understood that this was the first night of the first cruise for the Royal. But we needed my daughter’s bed readied and needed extra pillows and blankets we had requested. What really upset me is when I tried to call the number our steward provided to contact him it rolled over to housekeeping and put me on hold. After holding for nearly 30 minutes I was pretty peeved. It was now nearly 10:30 and I had to walk down to guest services to get assistance. They were apologetic and did make sure to get someone sent to our rooms in about 20 minutes. But it was frustrating for sure. The next day I reiterated to our steward that we really wanted turn down service each day and from then on we had no further issues.

The train isn't going past the summit into Canada but you can still drive in yourself or take a bus tour. There were a number of bus tours going the day we drove up.

I would imagine even if their posted hours don't support this that many of the businesses will be staying open late that evening to take advantage of the ship being in town. The local merchants could really use the patronage. It's a quaint little town with more of an authentic Alaska feel, so you might find just spending time exploring the town is worthwhile. Also, with that time frame you might take a look at what the ship is offering in terms of excursions. If there is an evening wildlife viewing excursion that takes you out to Chilkoot Lake, that can be a nice tour. Depending on when you are there you may sometimes see bears if the salmon are running.

We also rented from Juneau Car Rentals a couple of weeks ago. We are a returning customer and since our ship was late the day we arrived they were kind enough to actually drop our car off and leave it for us at the port with instructions on how to leave it there for them to pick up when we returned to the ship. They are a wonderful company and very cruise ship customer friendly.

Yes. We got a notice onboard a few days before our Victoria port stop with instructions on how to complete the ArriveCAN requirement. We were already registered, just needed to update our point of entry information for our Victoria date.