mtiffany24

The Sun leaving Seattle on June 2. Photo taken from the ferry. I am, of course, not on your cruise but on the previous one. Hope you have better weather. 

Just got an upgrade on the 5-day Alaska cruise on Norwegian Sun. From an inside to a balcony cabin for the minimum bid. 3 days out from May 26 cruise out of Alaska.

If you are traveling solo you have to pay for TWO Royal ups. Not worth it.

I had this issue. All my medical records are in my married name. But all of my ID is in my preferred maiden name. So my first two Moderna shots were under my married "medical" name.  I was worried about not having a record in the name I use for cruising, my passport and driver's license. 

I actually went and got a J&J shot in June in my ID name. So in essence I was forced to kind of get a booster. I don't worry about the effects of the third shot and now I can cruise in my passport name. I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing, but now I am glad I did it.

carbonhealth.com will do the test in Bellevue, very near Seattle for a fee of $135+ . Results in 3 hours. Not sure what test it is but it is for travel.

carbon health.com will do tests for travel

in Bellevue near Seattle. There’s a $135+ fee for the service but it’s ready by the next day or 3 hours. Might work for the Alaska cruises.

https://youtu.be/7HlOwIsrLpE

you can get to Totem Bight Park by city bus for a dollar or two, depending on your age. Stay for an hour then return to town the same way.

I live in Seattle. Can I take proof of CCL stock to the office?

No -- we have been on cruises when other people were doing scientific research.

cool!

I wasn't going to ride the bike around on the Lido deck! Here in Seattle we have rental bikes you pay for by the hour online and just leave them scattered around the city for the next rider.

I am looking forward to the 14-day cruise out of my home port Seattle. I am bringing my microscope -NOT on the forbidden list! LOL. I take plankton samples with my net at every stop and photograph the tiny creatures while we are underway. Am I the only passenger doing scientific research on a cruise??

Thanks, Kazu, I will just have to take city busses or walk. I guess they think the tires will be dirty.

I am traveling solo to Alaska on the Zaandam this summer and want to take my folding bicycle. Will HAL allow this? There would be room in the cabin for it as I have no cabinmate. It goes into a soft sided carrier so resembles luggage. It will be fun to ride a bike in the Alaskan ports.

Another possibility is to stay on Bainbridge Island, the taxi to the ferry is $5 from the two hotels, and from the ferry dock in Seattle you could take an Uber or taxi to Pier 91. Ferry fare is $8 or $4 if a senior.

You could even stay in Poulsbo, a charming Norwegian village with great restaurants and take the bus ($2) to the ferry on Bainbridge. Hotels here are much cheaper than downtown Seattle. I don't know if they let you leave your car parked there while on the cruise.

Either way, great views of Seattle and the cruise ship from the ferry.

Thank you for your advice and lots of info.

I think i understand but not all as limited my english skill.

I think i would visit glacier bay and hubbard glacier which only HAL provides this and start at Vancouver.

I don’t know much about anchorage, seward, or Whittier. Most itineraries i see are about 7 or 8 days cruising for inside passage.

I want to see nice view, big nature.

 

I understand you guys all what you really mean.

Thanks a lot for good advice and help. I will go through it.

 

 

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You are coming from very far away. Maybe you should consider the 14-day round trip itinerary out of Seattle. It is on HAL Zaandam and goes all the way to Anchorage and Kodiak. You would see more “real” Alaska. I live near Seattle and think it is nice to visit. It visits two glaciers including the Hubbard. A truly impressive glacier!

Best snorkeling ever for me was Palau. The cruise ships don't go there.

Lucky you!

I think so too! Can hardly wait...

I will be on the Amsterdam in 5 days headed to Hawaii, Fiji and French Polynesia. Leaving Seattle on the 25th.

Hello. We will be visiting Seattle as a port of call next month. We are scheduled dock at Pier 91 (although we have our fingers crossed they dock at Pier 66 putting us closer to the touristy activities). From the best we can tell HAL is not offering any excursions or transportation from the pier to anywhere (except a tour to Boeing).

 

I was looking at Transit options online, and found that the RapidRide D Line looks like a good option to where we want to go (we have a late morning walking tour booked in the vicinity of Pike Place Market, and early evening Space Needle passes).

 

I was hoping a local could advise if this really is a good option? We are seasoned public transit riders and are OK with walking, but don't want to spend a huge amount port time waiting for and riding buses. On the other hand if HAL is not offering any transportation, we might wait a similar amount of time for a cab ;)

 

Also, a silly question...assuming buses there accept only exact change but do we need coins or do they accept bills? Sorry, I am used to the land of Toonies and Loonies :)

 

Thanks!

Pier 91 is not so close to town activities but I checked and there is a bus from the Magnolia Bridge every 15 minutes on week days (takes about 25 minutes). The senior fare is $1 and I think adult fare is $2. You have to climb some spiral stairs to the bridge but quite near the terminal. The 33 bus takes you to 3rd and Pike- a short way from Pike Place Market. To get to the waterfront (just below the market) take the elevator to the base of the parking garage. There you will find the Seattle Aquarium, Ferris wheel and lots of seafood restaurants. If you have time and ambition at the waterfront you can take the famous Seattle Ferry to Bainbridge Island (35 minutes each way) to a nice little town. I live there so I guess I am biased.

To go to the Space Needle at Seattle Center same thing for the bus route except get off at Denny Way and 2nd Avenue. Lots of things to do there.

Might as well post about Day 2 as well, since there wasn't that much.

 

Day 2 – Sea Day

Started of doing the sea day brunch, as usual. Our son mostly hung out in Circle C for the day, there were a lot of kids this time. Last time, in November, it was a much smaller group of kids, so this time he had a lot more kids to hang out with. We also went to Jen’s Alaska Adventure Talk, but honestly, it was mostly stuff we already knew. We had booked our excursions months ago, knowing what we wanted to do. And the rest was about shopping information, which honestly, isn’t anything we’re concerned about. I’ve pretty much grown tired of Diamonds International at every port! LOL!!

 

 

We did have the formal night for dinner, which we did dress up and go to. But as others have said, it seems as though many people are pulling away from dressing up. Especially compared to the Caribbean ones we’ve been on. I would easily say that about 50% of the people weren’t “dressed up.” By that, I mean the guys/boys wearing shirt & tie, women in skirts or dresses. There were still people wearing hats, shorts, t-shirts, etc… And then there were others who were the more dressed in a nice casual look, nice pants, polo shirts, that kind of stuff. This doesn’t bother me all that much, at least the polo shirts, slacks, etc… But I really wish they would enforce the “no hat” rule! Oh, and for this night we had Manuelito for our waiter, and he was much better than our first night waiter.

 

 

 

That night we went to see one of the comedians, I believe it was John DiCrosta. We eventually saw both him and John Caponera over the next couple of nights – both were excellent! We spent most of the rest of the night on the deck watching the sunset, which was really late!

 

 

 

I couldn't imagine being on a sailboat out in these waters...

 

 

Not a great picture, but we started seeing whales in this area.

 

 

 

 

And other ocean creatures, still trying to figure out what this one was.

 

More amazing sunsets

 

 

Wow you saw a mola mola, an ocean sunfish!

Sometimes I have a craving for a tuna sandwich. Unlikely to be in the pre-made sandwich choices.

I did try one of those bread sandwiches Cathy (same cruise). Stupid thing fell apart -I think it had sat too long.

 

It was a wasted effort to get that thing. Those baguette things were pitiful in my opinion.

 

I loved our cruise. Everything was great - except for the dam sandwiches.

 

Come on HAL, some of us like sandwiches that are made RGHT and TO ORDER and toasted in the panini press.

 

What dork in Seattle thought this one up? The pre-makes were there before and the lineup for the made to orders should have told someone that some of us were willing to wait.

 

Email, write to Seattle if you care folks. If nothing else at least they will know that it means something to those that enjoyed it.

I live in Seattle and am willing to go to the HAL office with a picket sign. Maybe a protest would work!

I complained about the ready made sandwiches (sailed 6/12/16 on the Amsterdam. Not that they will listen.

I work at the Seattle Aquarium and highly recommend visiting it to see the local marine life (especially see the giant Pacific octopus and sea otters). From there you can have lunch at Ivar's and possibly take the Seattle to Bainbridge ferry. Great views of downtown Seattle and a pleasant village to visit on the Bainbridge side. A free art museum near the ferry dock as well. The ferry is only $4.05 round trip for seniors (double that if under 65). Only a 35 minute trip each way. Then you have your evening free to enjoy night life in Seattle. There's none on the Bainbridge side, they roll up the sidewalks at night. Come to think of it there's an Irish pub called the Owl and Thistle or something like that a block from the Seattle ferry dock.

You can take the city bus from Honolulu to Hanauma Bay. Try to get there early.