donaldsc

Just to make sure that you are not confusing "departure time" w "all aboard time". Departure time is when the ship leaves. All aboard time is when you have to be on board which is usually 90 minutes before departure time. This means that if departure time is 7 PM, you have to be on board by 5:30 PM. DON

You can most of all your transport questions answered on Google Maps. Pick the public transportation option. DON

Before you consider the early flight, make sure that you have a good plan B so when you miss your flight you are not scrambling for something else. DON

Were there no off ship private tours that you could have taken. I did a quick WEB search and it seemed as if there were w whole lot of them. DON

These are the rules for landing on Antarctica - "Larger cruise ships There are some advantages to larger ships. They are generally more stable, reducing the chance of seasickness, especially on the lower decks. They will have a wider range of facilities on board too. However, in Antarctica you’ll need to bear in mind that only 100 passengers are permitted to disembark at one time according to regulations set by IAATO, so for ships carrying over 200 passengers that will mean you will not be able to disembark every day. The regulations also state that ships carrying 500-plus passengers may not land at all, so if you have a cabin on one of these, you’ll have to content yourself by watching the frozen continent pass by your porthole." The fact that Seabourn may have lots of staff and lots of zodiacs is irrelevant. They can only put 100 people on the continent at a time. Now they can put 100 people on land and have 100 people doing zodiac cruises but your statement about 2 landings per day is correct but misleading. All of the Antarctica trips try to do 2 different landings per day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) but still 100 people at a time. Also check out this document from the IAATO WEB site - https://iaato.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IAATO-on-Antarctic-visitor-figures-2019-20-FINAL.pdf DON

Suggest you go to their WEB site to get your answer. Or else call them. DON

If you can find a good TA and this is the important qualifier, I think that it is always better to book w a TA. Once you find a good TA, don't spend all your time trying to find another one that will save you a few bucks. A good TA is worth their weight in gold. DON

The problem with 3d party hotel bookings is that it can be hard to get refunds. Once we had booked several nights at a hotel which was not in the location that we expected it to be. When we tried to leave early, the hotel would not refund our prepayment for the unused nights because it was a 3d party booking. With regard to finding individual tour operators, I agree that it can sometimes be difficult but it is usually possible w a bit of work. Not always however. DON

You could do a land trip to Victoria instead of getting there on a cruise. Very easy. You could easily spend several days in Victoria and on Vancouver Island. Also, do one of your cruises and then several days DIY in Victoria. DON

One of the problems w 3d party hotel booking sites is that the sites have rigged their Google listing so that their site comes up before the real hotel site and the 3d party site looks very much like the hotel site. It is very easy to make a mistake and book on one of the 3d party sites. I did it once and have almost done it several times. They are tricky SOBs. DON

Did you call the railroad company directly? DON

Current price is $6.29 at Walgreens. DON

Many thanks. I will try to contact him. I agree w you about the Alaska Wildlife Quest tour that you posted on May 6. A 2 hour tour is not long enough. DON

Your question is not answerable with the very limited information you have provided in your post. Define your preferred cruise parameters and maybe we can give you useful information. DON

For a Princess cruise, you did have pretty good port times. Some of the current AK port times are really awful. You lucked out on what you did. DON

I seriously doubt that the steward is going to come into your cabin and steal your stuff. I also doubt if the possibility of them losing their job is worth the value of your stuff. What are they going to do with the stuff they steal if they do take it. The value of fenced stolen goods is minimal. DON

Do you know what the history of Sycamore is - option 1 or option2. Most private equity businesses seem to be of the option 1 model. DON

My wife and I went on a halibut fishing trip once and we sent it home. Including all costs it was the most expensive fish I have ever eaten but it was delicious. DON

That said is the frozen crab in AK any better than the frozen crab in a lower 48 restaurant except for the atmosphere. Perhaps the OP might better off dining in a restaurant that serves fresh seafood or fish that is in season. Check out this site chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/fishing/pdfs/commercial/commercial_season_2.pdf or this one https://www.thespruceeats.com/a-guide-to-fish-and-seafood-seasons-5216116 DON

I also take my books on my Kindle. However, considering all the unnecessary extraneous noises and background music on the ship the library has always been a quiet pleasant place to read. I also see people there doing the jigsaw puzzles. I would disagree about the numbers of people in the library and I still wonder why the ship needs 7 bars instead of 6 of them at the expense of one library. One hopes that Azamara isn't going to try to emulate the atmosphere of a Carnival ship. Maybe not Carnival but the possibility of trying to emulate Princess certainly appears possible. DON

I don't come to AK to chill. I come there to see things and there is always something in AK that I haven't yet seen. Chilling is a waste of my travel time and I can chill as much as I want at home. I will add however that I never had and will never ever take a cruisetour. DON

I should also add that this sometimes also works w ToursbyLocals although it can be harder to find the guides on who work on this site. I have had ToursbyLocals guides who have given me their personal cards at the end of the tour so that I or my friends can book directly w them although I suspect that this is a violation of ToursbyLocals rules. DON

I regard companies like Viator as a useful resource to help me find tours. Once I find a tour that I like, I try to find the company that is actually doing the tour and book it directly with them. This gives the tour company 100% of the fee and I am dealing directly with the tour operator. DON

I assume that you know how far it is from Anchorage to Seward. The Uber fare would be $412 plus a significant tip plus meals for the driver. Your taxi fare would be $351 plus tip plus meals. DON

I am not sure how many bars the ship had before the conversion of the library. According to one WEB site, there are 5 of them. Now it has 6. How many libraries did it have before the conversion - one. Now it is zero. Even if you were reading from a Kindle the library was very comfortable quiet place to read. The change will not stop me from cruising on Azamara if the itinerary is good and I understand the the reason why they did it but that doesn't change my disappointment. However, it this is indicative of possible other changes on their ships I might end up cruising on Azamara less. DON