turbulentwaters

Thanks for your suggestion. I looked into it and that is probably the way I will go. I have heard of it before but have been afraid of unexpected charges and of car problems or having to pay for pre-existing damages they accuse me of, don't show up when promised, or those types of things. On the other hand, they don't have long lines, don't try to upsell insurances, potentially meet you where you are, may have more flexibile hours, etc. I think it is worth a try. Thanks again for the suggestion!

I agree that if you want to see glaciers, Glacier Bay will be much better. Mendenhall is nice if you are in Juneau and don't want to spend a lot of money and you want do do some walking. However, going on a helicopter trip and walking on a glacier can be quite spectacular, weather permitting. Personally, I would really recommend a trip to the Taku lodge. I did that years ago and loved it, and the salmon bake portion of it was I think the best salmon I have ever had. But the journey is the really spectacular part, flying in a float plane over five glaciers and a sense of the size of the ice field, and that gives you an entirely different perspective than what you see from the ship in Glacier Bay. The combination of both Glacier Bay from the ship and Taku Lodge and the 5 glaciers from above is a great experience.

We are interested in renting a car for the day when we are in Juneau and would like to know if anyone has any advice on this. Most of the car rentals are done at the airport which looks like it is a nearly $30 Lyft ride each way. I am having troubles finding any rental companies that either have an office downtown or do pickups downtown or near the cruise ships. In old CC threads I have seen that some people have used AVIS but they do not start their downtown business until May. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

There is an Inside Passage in British Columbia and also in Southeast Alaska. They are both very scenic and also provide quite a bit of protection from bad seas if you get seasick easily. For me, that is the preferred way to go rather than out at sea, miles from land. The really big ships need to avoid the BC Inside Passage due to the bridge and the Seymour Narrows as mentioned above. All of the ships go through portions of Alaska's Inside Passage.

Thanks To everyone who has contributed to this thread so far! I have just signed up for the AARP special for my wife and myself. We recently booked a cruise with HAL. This is the reply we got right away:     Congratulations!   We have verified your eligibility on this special offer you requested.     Redeem Offer   Please allow 3 business days before making a new reservation to receive your AARP member onboard credit offer. Offer is not valid for existing bookings made prior to the validation process. ------------- So it does look pretty clear that the existing bookings will not get the credit. Maybe this is a recent change from what many people got on earlier postings. Hopefully it will work for next time!

When we went in late October we ate at the main restaurant once we embarked and it was not busy at all.

I can comment on questions 2 and 3. I was on the ship in late October and early November. -There was one comedian who performed on two different nights, including the last night. -At most ports people were able to leave about a half hour after arrival, sometimes even earlier. Debarkation in Oahu was quite early, I think most people leaving between 7:30-9:30 but I am only going by memory there. -I cannot comment on the drink packages - With the automatic tip charges based on something like ten drinks a day we certainly did not feel like we would get our money's worth doing the packages or even the poorly named "Free at Sea" package. Check what the tip charges are before buying a package. It is a great trip, especially if you really want to get a taste of Hawaii. I recommend renting a car at each port.

Thanks so much for your great travelogue. It has been enjoyable to follow and has been very helpful in planning for our upcoming cruise in a couple of weeks.

Typically, I think, the 5am time is when the ship has to be ready to queue up for the transit, but they don't actually have a definite time to enter the canal until the day of. A lot of it depends on sizes of ships and the ability to combine different size ships within a lock. So you could go early or you could end up waiting a few hours. Personally I think it is good to go through the first set of locks during the day but end up in the Pacific side in time for sunset or after dark and see a bit of the canal operations after dark and the city all it up. It's also a bit cooler then.

You may have difficulty getting the prescription filled at an outside pharmacy if you are under isolation. Also, if they do not have the Paxlovid on the ship, most ship physicians are not licensed in every state and country the ship sails to. Some places will allow outside prescriptions, but some will not. As was mentioned before, you should only get Paxlovid if you are high risk. For others there is very little if any benefit and it has some nasty side effects and increased risk of rebound COVID, as well as the very high expense. If you are such high risk, you will likely be disembarked at the next port, to a hospital or a hotel under isolation. Remember too, that your insurance may not cover Paxlovid if you do not meet the indications for it. Likewise if you just get the medication 'just in case' prior to a cruise without a positive diagnosis. Asinine perhaps, but it makes sense to me.