TheArtfulPenguin

I saw someone post a link and it was map that showed where their ship was.  It didn't have an excessive number of ads.  

I've search and found a couple and all are overwhelmed with other things.  

Leaving on the Grand Princess next week.  Anyone have a good tracking link for it?

11 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

That’s awful & I don’t have a solution however some have reported better success solving app problems by using this email address…good luck.

 

askoceanmedallion@carnival.com
 

There was an update to the app, literally hours after I posted this.  Now the app works fine... SO FAR. I was using my email address already for login. 

My app was good for a month or so but then I started getting an error that.my credentials was invalid.  I could login on the web no problem.  Eventually on the app I did the forgot password. It then reset and the new password worked on both the app and web.  The next day the same error.  New password didnt work in the app but did on the web.  Did the reset again.  Again worked for a day.  

Princess needs App Support, not just the call the 800 and talk to a rep.  They are not good for that when I called. 

Anyone else have an issue and how did you get it resolved?

24 minutes ago, Donwoods123 said:

Part of your "relaxing" could be the 26 Glacier cruise in Whittier b4 boarding.  We did it a few years ago and it was great.

Thanks. I'll check it out. 

On 5/14/2024 at 11:26 AM, wcook said:

I’ve research the heck out of such question, but never actually been. So take this for what it’s worth. 
 

Both itineraries are great. You have plenty of time to do most excursions in ports, and sufficient scenic glacier viewing. 
 

The much bigger issue I’ve found is with scheduling flights. Both Vancouver and especially Anchorage are a pain to schedule flights from where I live on the East Coast. Also keeping in mind the transfer between Anchorage and Whittier needs to be planned for. It’s too early to look at flights for 2025 but looking at 2024 should give you a good idea.

 

I had to plan out the entire trip both ways before seeing that SB was right for me. Planning out the whole trip was also eye opening for the total cost and time required.  

We are doing the South Bound at the end of next month. What I decided: We treat Anchorage as another port instead of thinking of it what a lot express with: GET THERE AND GET TO THE SHIP.

We get into Anchorage the 24th, have the 25th to do an excursion and explore. Then the 26 is a relaxing transfer to the ship.  It's a vacation why not relax as much as you can and get an extra port out of it. 

14 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

 
It’s a great tour but I am not sure it would be the best for a 9 year old child. There are likely age minimums. It’s pretty strenuous and there are some inherent hazards. As a parent, I would not have chosen that excursion for my child at that age. We did it with them when they were in high school and college. 

I did think about the glacier, but we are doing glaciers as part of the cruise. I have heard some good family versions of going to the Manatuska glacier.  So maybe.  

18 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

A few ideas to consider:

 

https://www.alaskazoo.org
 

https://www.crowcreekgoldmine.com  
 

https://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/matsu/indepmineshp.htm
 

https://www.alaskanative.net

 

https://www.anchorage.net/outdoors/wildlife-viewing/
 

 

Thank you.  Looks like some great stuff.  I think the gold mine and native are things she would like.  

I was about to post asking about things to do in Anchorage because we are treating it as another port on a trip in late June.  Our ship departs on the 26th so we are flying in about noon on the 24th to have the rest of that day and the 25th to explore or do an excursion.

I was thinking of a wildlife tour, or something else historic. I thought glaciers but I think I'll save that for the cruise.

It's just me, a widower, and my 9-year-old daughter. So anything someone might think she would like would be great.  She loves animals and nature, I'm getting her into history so gold rush stuff might be good.

New to the board, for a late June Alaska cruise, and looking around and found the photography posts.  I'm a network engineer, but photography is my hobby/art so thought I'd chime in.

I currently shoot a Nikon Z8 and for most of what I shoot, I use Nikon Studio NX for the basic adjustments I do and then convert from RAW to JPG.  I'm not a big one for Photoshop or lightroom for what I do, and not a fan of subscription software. Two things I do that Studio NX doesn't do are HDRs and panoramas.  For that, I use Affinity since it does both, and more, and it is a straight purchase.   

The black & white is an HDR of 3 different exposures.  The last two are 10-image panoramas.  The hawk, moon, dune are RAW's with slight adjustments in Studio for contrast, and some shadow, then converted to jpg. 

On 5/4/2024 at 8:25 AM, wrongwaywatson said:

We haven't booked anything for this, yet.  We are actually booked one week later on the Vancouver to Anchorage leg.  We may have to change it.  We just wanted to see the flights/boarding times before we changed our plans, if possible.  

We are doing the Whittier to Vancouver cruise in late June. The cruise leaves on the 26th and we didn't want to worry about delays so we are flying in on the 24th. This gives us the 25th to do an excursion or something else in Anchorage. We are treating Anchorage as a port on the cruise to explore, not just the place to fly in and run to the ship.  

On 4/26/2024 at 2:40 PM, cruisequeen4ever said:

First of all, you’re doing it right by doing a one way voyage of the glaciers! 
 

Specifically on Alaska cruises, I like to hang out in my room and watch the stunning scenery through the balcony doors, go to Puppies in the Piazza, eat local crab and other seafood, go out on deck to view the glaciers, and play cards in the buffet along the window to watch the scenery while playing. 
 

On any cruise, it’s fun to go to the comedy shows, production shows, guest entertainer shows, lounges with live music, dancing in the Piazza late at night, get spa treatments, swim, watch or participate in game shows, and just relax around the ship.

I think it will be good.  One of the others we looked at was a round trip, however it didn't include Hubbard. So that is what helped with the decision on the One Way trip.  We also got a balcony just because I wanted to be able to do the sit and watch for whales and see the coast anytime we were back at the room.  First was the side facing away from Alaska because there were no rooms available on the port side.  Kept checking and finally one came open and was able to change it.  

On 4/16/2024 at 11:49 AM, Crookshanks said:

We are sea kayaking in Ketchikan and the Bike and Tram in Juneau.

 

We wanted to do the train ride up to the summit in Skagway, but it sold out before all of us could decide on one, so we're still going to summit, but a different excursion now.  I really wanted to go on the suspension bridge, so we found one that included that.

 

I'm not bringing kiddos on this cruise, so I don't mind doing the more 'boring' excursions as I really enjoy nature and history.  I have 2 boys, 9 and 13, so I understand not wanting to push it with your daughter. And so sorry to hear about your wife, I hope you are both healing. 

We are on the bus "To the Klondike Summit' in Skagway, helo to the 2 glacier, Pilots Choice in Juneau, and Alaska Crab Expedition in Ketchikan. 

Also waitlisted for Hubbard Glacier Wilderness Explore at the Hubbard Glacier which gets you much closer to the glacier than the ship goes.  Really hope we get on that.  

At Ketchican I really want to walk around, and at Skagway and Juneau might find another lil thing to do, but I think what we have is enough to start.  

There was another thing I was looking at, I think it was in Shagway, but it was taking a ferry to a bus to another boat. I thought it was a lot to do for some photo ops & I think my daughter would be bored.  

17 hours ago, Crookshanks said:

I don’t mind homework for the most part. 😆

 

7 day Inside Passage round trip from Seattle. 
 

I was going to attempt another Live on this cruise, though I wasn’t too great at it last time. I get all wrapped up in food and trivia. 🤷‍♀️

I'll doing Whittier to Vancouver. I figure the onboard stuff will work its way out.  Unless you find lil bonus or unique things you didn't know of beforehand.

The things I am still pondering; Excursions.  Especially Skagway & Kechikan. Juneau, we are doing the helo to glaciers with 2 landings.

Widowed so it's just me and my 9 yr old daughter. Some of the longer excursions in Skagway might be boring for her since it is a lot of riding and waiting to get to places.

So what excursions have you already decided on? Any you said... Oh this looks good, but then looked at the details and reviewed and said.. Maybe not.

2 hours ago, Crookshanks said:

 

May19th.  5 weeks from tomorrow! 😃

Which one are you doing?  I'm there the last week of June.  So I hope you don't mind questions after.  I won't give you homework assignments for during the cruise. 🤔

On 3/29/2024 at 10:58 AM, Crookshanks said:

It seems that maybe the 'culture' of the Alaska Cruise is a bit different than other cruises.  I've always enjoyed the few presentations I've seen onboard, but there don't seem to be quite as many on Caribbean cruises?  Though one cruise did have a great pair of speakers that did several talks on the ports and such.  

 

This will be my first time going to Alaska, so I am quite excited to see and learn all the things.  Though I'm not a huge fan of being cold, hence my love of Caribbean and Mexico vacations.

When are you going? If before me I'll be picking your brain. 

4 hours ago, capriccio said:

If you haven't seen this section of the Princess website, check it out:  https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska-cruise-activities

 

Princess Alaska cruises have a full time naturalist on board. When not giving lectures and presentations, they are on call to narrate wildlife sightings from the bridge.  We've had two spectacular naturalists (Barbara - can't remember her last name - and Michael Modzelewski). 

Thanks. I had not seen that page yet.  

1 hour ago, Jayaway said:

They have demo crab pots. As for the illegal feeding thing - that is a good point. I believe whatever they are doing must be ok - maybe I put it wrong, but my feeling was that everything was done to benefit and not harm the wildlife.

As regulated as tours seem to be, and as protected as eagles are I feel that if it is illegal they'd be shutdown.  I think this is something my 9yr old daughter would love.

7 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

We were on one where the enrichment talks were from a retired Canadian Mountie.  Really interesting!

 

Next best thing was photography events.  Although we're pretty decent photographers, we did learn some things and took some great photos.

I didn't know they had photography events.  I also do photography as a hobby and feel you could always learn more.  What kind of events? 

p.s. my photography: HTTP://instagram.com/theartfulpenguin 

Going from Whittier to Vancouver in late June.  

Of course, I don't plan on being on the ship at all while in ports, but there is sea time. So a couple of questions:

1. What are your favorite things to do to onboard? Not casino. I work in the gaming industry, IGT, and tend to avoid casinos when not working.

2. What kind of shows/entertainment onboard?

Thanks. 

I'm not a fan of something that clips on. We bought some that turned it basically into a watch.  

I'd rather have it on my wrist. 

On 3/18/2024 at 1:21 PM, Globaler said:

Can I make it to an 8:30 non-cruise ship tour? The tour meet is 3 min from dock and check in is at 8:30 and boarding is 10 min later.

I would check with the tour operator.  This couldn't be the first time dealing with close dock times.

I'd ask this:"If the ship is delayed or we are delayed getting off the ship... Do you wait for passengers? If not, is there a refund?

If not then I wouldn't risk it. Unless you are willing to write off the cost.

7 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Not everyone has an iPhone. Airtags are only compatible with iPhones.

There are other options for Android users.  I am a network engineer and a non-iPhone person.  To many restrictions on iPhone for what I do.

Non-Airtag options. There are others as well. 

• Samsung Galaxy SmartTag: Specifically tailored for Samsung devices and integrated with the SmartThings app.
• Tile Mate: Uses Bluetooth to track items and offers a premium subscription for extra services such as smart alerts for unknown trackers.

5 hours ago, Jayaway said:

I agree with the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's tour n Ketchikan. Before our trip to Alaska last spring I asked my nephew about his cruise the year before and this tour was his hands down best tour he took. They take you to an area by boat, and as they come up, the eagles start to arrive. They throw out food and the eagles come from all over, grabbing out of the air, flying over the boat close enough to hear their wings, etc. Lots of photo opportunities! Then they start talking about crabbing & fishing, the Deadliest Catch show (which was interesting even if you haven't ever seen it), etc. They show you all types of "sea creatures" that are put back in the water, etc. I highly recommend this tour if your goal is to see eagles (and more).

Thanks. Sounds like a good must do.  Do they pull up crab pots?

19 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Eagles in Alaska are as common as seagulls in most other places.  These were taken from our balcony in Juneau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks.  What were you shooting?  

I'm taking my daughter on a cruise to Alaska in June. She loves nature, especially birds.  I would really like to find the best excursion for seeing eagles.

Which port between Whittier and Vancouver do you think is best for eagles?

Do you have a favorite tour/excursion for eagles? 

Thanks. Steve.