Walt fan

Dave: Please let us know how the rental car worked for you; I e-mailed Hertz, with no response; and I e-mailed Budget and received a fast response which stated the only place to pick up a rental car is at the airport which does not work; let us know how far it was to the rental place and how everything worked out; thanks!

Okay fellow CC poster's; why is there so little info on this port? Do most of you stay on the ship? I have done my research, and I do not feel comfortable with winging it on my own in this port; too many negatives about rental cars, taxi drivers, and almost nil info on reputable tour guides; does anyone at all have any info about the RC excursion "on your own at St. Ann's"? The excursion states it is only four hours, which isn't hardly any time, but in my research I found that there are beautiful beaches there, including Plage de la Caravelle, which looks to be within walking distance of the town. Okay, so I am declaring a challenge to all you posters to give us the scoop on what you know about this port stop; I am not one to give up and one to stay on the ship; help all us who want to know!

I looked at the "on your own at St. Ann's" and the description could not have been more vague; does anyone know what this entails? Is the $28 pretty much the cost for a bus ride out there and then we are dropped off to find what we can? Is the beach in walking distance? Has anyone ever rented a car and do you drive on the left like in Europe? The other excursions look like you are stuffed in a bus on a schedule which I cannot stand.

We did this a couple of years ago off the Oasis; it was a big consideration for us due to the time of the port stop vs. the cost; we had a half-day in Naussau (which I did voice my complaint about), but the Aquaventure was so worth it; my husband and I found the "lazy" river to be so enticing, I think we stayed there almost the whole time; the aquarium was much nicer than I thought; if we had had more time I would rate this even higher, but was definitely worth the money

I am not a very lengthy cruise review person; and it will be even more so now that I have lost my notes; when I return, usually the next day, I jot down in writing all I can remember so it will be fresh and I can post; nope, I have lost the notes; so, this is coming from memory (which is not very good) but the main reason I post is to shout a thank you to everyone who answers my many questions and takes the time to post their reviews and gives us cruisers who have to prepare and question and think a million times before a cruise; so THANK YOU EVERYBODY.

Our group of 5 (two 40 somethings; two 21; and one 16) all headed to Aslaska out of Seattle on the Rhasody June 1st; went in a day early and did the Seattle tourist thing; loved Pike Place Market; took a first time visit to the Space Needle; Marriott Springhill downtown was nice and clean in of itself but the location left a lot to be desired; many people heading out for a cruise stayed in this hotel as we chatted with them, they were going on Holland America, RC and Princess; I highly recommend Seattle Shuttles if you desire someone ready and waiting for you as we do; they shuttled us from Airport to Hotel; Hotel to Port; and Port to Airport; very professional and reasonable

We boarded around 11:30, check in was a breeze; so easy in fact we looked at each other and were like, is that it? We have had some difficulty in the past and this was easy squeezy; we were told our cabin would be ready at 1:00, so the boys headed off to explore the ship and report back; DH and I were the guards of all the carry-on's but we looked around a bit; cabin was promptly ready at 1:00 and we were greeted by our steward Cherry who was absolutely awesome all week; as usual, any requests were prompt and remembered during the week; the boys were further down the hall and I met their steward Pedro later on; Pedro had a very big job ahead of him and I warned him to let me know if it got to be too much; I will not go into detail but three boys can live in utter chaos for a week and still manage to get ready every day; amazing; DH and I had a balcony cabin, no IPad as I thought there would be, but a nice flat screen TV; and everything was very clean, we loved the balcony, as usual, which is where we pretty much live when we aren't doing anything else; all in all very clean, very nice, small ship

Day 2 was at sea; and Day 3 was a Juneau; we had planned a "Triple Combo" day with Alaska Travel Adventures through the web site Ship to Shore, through the recommendation of a friend of a friend; not thrilled with everything, but it is what you make of it and it turned out okay; Triple Combo consisted of what we were told (1) whale watching; (2) salmon bake; and (3) Mendenhall Glacier; We caught the bus to the area where we were to meet at 11:30, as we thought we were short on time; and being that was Alaska we thought, okay, layers and heavy coats, it turned out fairly warm and very sunny that day; we were loaded onto the bus; with no air, no windows; and we waited and waited and waited for 2 people; layers and heavy coats quickly came off and I luckily had a tote bag to store lots of stuff; but I cannot complain; it was gorgeous weather; but, then we were told we were headed to the Salmon Bake - what? Everyone on the bus were from different ships and were all told the whale watching was first as we were; everyone had already eaten a late breakfast or early lunch; no one was hungry; many people were grumbling and some didn't eat a thing; we tried a few things but just were not hungry; that was disappointing; the whale watching was next; and we were loaded onto our boat, but then waited and waited and waited, as a group before us did not get picked up by their bus; we were given an extra 15 min for our tour and it turned out fine; the whale watching was the highlight of the day; amazing, breathtaking, awesome; our naturalist on board was excited, full of knowledge and enthusiasm; awesome, awesome, awesome; on to Mendhall Glacier; another small strike as we were told we had to be back in exactly one hour; that left us barely enough time to take our hike to the falls and glacier and hike it back; we felt very rushed and hurried; but the area was beautiful; back to Juneau, where we shopped a bit and walked back to the ship

Day 4 was Skagway; our absolutest bestest of the best day; we are still talking about it; we had booked a 7-hour tour with Becky at Beyond Skagway tours; she is absolutely delightful; I never felt so at ease and enjoyed a tour so much; she assured us the time was ours, to let her know when to stop; what we wanted to see; she was so patient with all our picture taking; we saw mountain goats, the state bird, went on a hike off the beaten path to a gorgeous waterfall (Becky's treat); went into the Yukon where she treated us again to the Suspension Bridge; many, many pictures were taken there, and we fell in love with the "shop dog" Jax; on to Carcross and a nice walk around, more pictures of course; on to lunch nearby with delicious sandwiches and ice cream; and on to Emerald Lake; we were never hurried and always had Becky telling us all about the area, what we were seeing, and it wasn't a manufactured tour speech; she loves the area and Alaska and Skagway and it shows; we met as a stranger and I feel we left as a friend; after the 7 hour drive she dropped us off to a nearby hiking area and said our goody-bye's; we hiked for a long time as we had a long port day here; and stopped off at the Skagway Brewery to partake of a local brew and rest; then shopping and a walk back to the ship; there are not enough adjectives to describe this day; we all highly, highly, highly recommend Becky and will hopefully see her again one day on another cruise

Day 5 was the Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier day; we were told the week before the weather was not good and too many icebergs and they had to go to another area; the weather was good this time and we spent a good morning here and took a ton of pictures and enjoyed the 5 of us crammed on our balcony and spending this time together at this incredible glacier; amazing and awesome (some of my favorite adjectives this cruise, sorry)

Day 6 was at sea, booked another cruise on board for March, and Day 7 was in Victoria, Canada; through CC and Trip Advisor I planned this day to do all on our own; we thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing day; we walked from the port to town; bought tickets in front of the Empress to shuttle to the Butchart Gardens; spent a couple of hours at the Gardens; came back; walked around and went to a local pub for lunch and brews; and walked back down Government Street to window shop and then walked back to the ship by Inner Harbor; we got back right at 5:30, last call! Walking takes a lot of time but you get to see so much and take LOTS of pictures

Everything went smoothly at Customs and checking out; Seattle Shuttle was called and they were there for us in about 5 minutes

We have now seen the light and understand why people take multiple cruises to Alaska; you get a small taste and realize you have to have more; it was all in all an amazing trip with the most incredible scenery; thank you again everyone; if anyone has any questions let me know!

I have never cruised to Alaska, and was interested in renting a car and going on our own in Skagway; I was curious about rates and checked on Avis' web site for June 2012, the date we are going; it said "The Rental location selected is closed - seasonal hours" Well, now I know, I don't feel comfortable going with an independent so now I will go book a tour; that stinks

• The Rental Location selected is closed (Seasonal Hours).
  

Donna: I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother; it has been such a pleasure to get to know you through your wonderful review; I will say a prayer for strength for you and your family; take care of yourself and take comfort through your family and all your friends you have made on the CC boards; again, my deepest sympathies

Donna: Thank you for all of the information! I think this will be my next huge project to do. I have a TON of stuff from past vacations, just throwing it boxes and telling myself when I get time I will do something with it. This seems like it might take some time but will definitely be the easiest. I will let you know! This is my three days off from work project, it will take me that long just to download the photos and find all my keepsakes. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas. My oldest is home from college as of last night! Yea!

Donna: Hey again! I just took a trip down memory lane with you; your Mixbook travel book is completely amazing. I have never seen one done before; and now I want to try! Can a completely inept computer person do one of these fairly easily? I would love to put one together for our Oasis cruise back in June. I haven't even downloaded the photos from our scan cards yet. That is how behind I am!!! Let me know the range of difficulty. And thank you again for sharing!

Donna: One thing I wanted to ask but forgot (happens more often past 40!); did you choose the POA due to it going in and out of Honolulu? Of the few Hawaiian cruises I have looked it, this seemed to be the only plus for this ship. I am leaning towards the Celebrity Hawaii cruise, but it goes in and out of San Diego, and includes Ensenada Mexico which I have no use for. What were your pros and cons in choosing POA?

Hello Donna! I have been lurking here for three days trying to read your absolutely amazing travel journal and pretending to work at the same time! I feel like I have been on this journey with you and felt really sad at the end, like you do when vacation is over. I am originally from Houston, in the Bellaire area, and now live right up north from San Antonio. Hope you did well in the RnR Marathon! Any way, I give you a CC Emmy for this journal. Your photos were amazing, and your detailed descriptions won my heart over. I am so OCD when it comes to planning our annual family vacations, and I hope to go to Hawaii in three years for our 25th anniversary with my wonderful DH. Did you use mainly the books you mentioned to do your research or did you surf the web and CC boards, or what did you find to be your best source of info? Please share!

And again, many kudos for all your time, and thank you, thank you, thank you, take a bow!