I am Lulu

Thank you everyone, and thank you to those who let me know, you never had a problem with leaving yours out.

I have searched this and cannot find the answer. Will my 13" MacBook Pro, fit in the cabin safe on the Noordam?

TIA Linda

Sorry for you're disappointment, but maybe it was a "Bad Suite"! You'll have a great time regardless!

Our Alaska cruise will arrive in Vancouver at 7am on Sunday July 2. Our flight to Seattle leaves at 7:14 PM. While we are in Vancouver, we would like to spend some time at Granville Island and The Granville Public Market.

Questions;

Is there a place to check our luggage, so that we don't have to wrangle it around?

What's the best way to get to Granville Island?

What time do we need to leave for the airport to get through traffic, check luggage, get through customs and Security?

Is it better to skip Granville Island and The Public Market? ...too far/too much time?

Thanks for any advice that you are willing to share with me! 😁

Looking forward to seeing the MDR Menus...we'll be sailing on her June 25th!

Thank you Mapleleaves! Again, very good information and great advise.

Will do!

Linda

Thank you New Cruiser, for taking the time to share the information you have gathered...it has helped me greatly....Thank you so much!

LOVE this Thread!!! Thank you parentof5 for starting it. Thank you to those who reminded us, how short life can be...I think we all need that reminder.

Our 1st cruise was to the Caribbean, our plan was to book an Oceanview guaranteed, however, HAL had a sale on balcony guaranteed cabins, for the same price as OV, so we went with that. Low and behold, they put us in an Aft Balcony!!!!! WE LOVED IT...and it has spoiled us forever! We have not been on a lot of cruises, but the ones we've take, we have always booked a Balcony. On our first Alaska cruise, we paid extra for an aft, and it was so worth it. We each bought a set of binoculars and spent most of our ship time out on our balcony...for us it was heaven. We didn't go to any ship board shows or anything else, it was way more fun "taking in the beauty of Alaska". I would have to say, the highlight of our trip was the time we spent with each other, "each with our own binoculars", out on our Aft balcony. Just a note; you don't get the wind on the aft. My thoughts, buy your own binoculars, it is so so worth it...and if you don't know anything about binoculars, do a search here on the Alaska board. That's what I did 3 years back...you should be able to find some very good suggestions.

My husband and I, are thinking about taking the 5 hr. Major Marine Wildlife cruise/tour, out of Seward. We will be arriving in Seward on the Anchorage to Seward train...arrival time is 11:05. The MMW tour begins at 12 noon , ends at 5:00pm

Following are my concerns;

Is 55 minutes enough time to get off of the train, and then get from the train, to the where we'll meet the tour? Will we need to get a Taxi?

When we are checking in at the train station in Anchorage, do they take our luggage "and carry ons" from there, then transfer them directly to the ship when they arrive at Seward? In other works, once checked in at the train station, we don't need to do anything else, and we'll next see them in our ship cabin.?

Is there a place nearby, to pick up a (good) sandwich to take with us on the tour? (We aren't interested in the optional Salmon and Prime Rib Buffet). Would we be able to purchase a sandwich "to go", on the train?

Will we need to take a taxi to the Ship when the tour ends, or would it be within walking distance?

I would greatly appreciate any help or advice you care to share with me. Thank you in advance...Linda

What is your port time in Juneau? I am booked with Adventure Bound from Juneau but your ship has to be in port by 8:00 AM to go with them

We arrive at 8:00am...sadly, it wouldn't work.:(

My husband and I are on HAL's waitlist for the June 29th, Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer out of Juneau. Does anyone have any experience, with being on a HAL excursion waitlist...better yet, "this" excursion's waitlist. Are the chances pretty slim, that we will be included on this excursion? I'm questioning if I should go ahead and book something else, even though we would really like to go on the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier excursion.

Thanks for any advise you have for me!

Just wanted to say "Thank You" to all the posters...this information was very helpful to me as well. We are on a 7:15 pm flight to Seattle.

Crew News....

GREAT, I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Thanks!

Has anyone taken the 7 hour "Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer" excursion thru HAL...DID YOU FEEL IT WAS WORTH THE $259. each?

Ms Noordam. 7 night Seward-Vancouver.....June 25, 2017 ....celebrating husband's retirement...

DIY Land Tour beginning June 19 in Anchorage. Second time on a Seward to Vancouver cruise, but first time to do a Land Tour.

Boy do I need HELP!!! This is probably the 4th or 5th time I've tried the work out a DIY land tour, for 7 days before our Cruise....The end result each time has been me becoming overwhelmed, and giving up! The more I read, the more confused I get. Now I'm beginning to think, I may be too late to get lodging reservations. I can't tell you how grateful I'd be for any help you can offer.

ABOUT US...I am 72, and my husband just turned 71. My husband is simi-retired, and active, but not a avid hiker, more into off road vehicles i.e. Motorcycle, RZR, etc. We both love to take in the beauty of nature, but "I" would rather paint it, or take a pictures of it, than to hike it. A quarter mile and then it stops being fun for me. In 2012, we took our first and only Alaska Cruise, however, this will be our first land tour. Last year, we had a cruise and land tour through HAL booked, but my husband got the flu, and we had to cancel at the last minute.

Our cruise starts June 25, 2017, out of Seward.

THE PURPOSE of the DIY Land tour is to take our time...not feel rushed, and enjoy the most "scenic" parts of Alaska. Museums, aren't high on our list, but "Quirky" ones can be fun. We don't have to "walk" on a Glacier. We do love seeing animal, but deer and moose are common to us. l love whales!

The following is all that I have managed to figure out;

We will fly into Anchorage, which will be our starting point, and rent a car. We will arrive June 18 giving us 7 days before embarking in Seward. The Car will be returned in Achorage before taking transportation to Seward. (I believe I read that there is a train that affords gorgeous views.)

We would like to go to TALKEETNA,

Mahaye's Devil Canyon 8 hr. Raft trip sound good.

Possibly view Denali

We have decided to not go all the way to Denial, because if we did, we probably would not have the time to spend seeing South of Anchorage....we watch "Alaska, the Last Frontier", if that tells you anything.

Traveling south on the map, I see Gridwood, Seward, Soldotna, Kenai, and Homer. Are there any of these towns, that you would say, Don't bother? Any especially beautiful hwys / rdwys that we should see? I know it's all subjective, but opinions help. Is it possible to find one hotel/lodge to "hub" from, before returning the rental car in Anchorage? I'm really worried about finding hotels. How do I do that?

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and post this before it gets too long. Would love to hear your advise and opinions.

JanetAlice

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

.Snowbird Cruzer and kpd21800

Yes please, I would love to see what information you each have gathered.

Right now, trying to figure it out, is feeling very overwhelming! :confused:

My DH and I have a cruise booked for June, south bound Seward-Vancouver.

I am just now starting to look for info on planning our own land tour. Not sure where to look for information, so starting here...any information you care to share, would be very much appreciated.

What we're sure of is; land tour first, about 7 days, rent a car, and want to go as far as Denali.

Looking forward to any advise and/or suggestions you may have.

We like the concept that you don't have to worry about tipping, it's taken care of. We rarely tip anything above the $12.50 each a day. I feel the people that do, will eventually ruin it for those of us, who like that we don't have to worry about it, and can just relax and enjoy our vacation, knowing that the crew will receive their tips. I'm sure there are plenty of others that would agree with me, but don't say so, knowing they may be criticized. The whole idea of tipping, is to give people that do a service for you "extra" (above there regular wages) for doing a very good job. I believe I read someplace, that you can refute the daily tipping charge, if you feel you did not receive good service...the 12.50 a day tip is intend to be that extra. If you want to tip more, that's fine, I just don't want anyone to feel like they have to tip above what they are already tipping. I'd hate to think that someone felt they could not afford to go on a cruise, because they couldn't afford to tip above the daily tip that's already being added to their bill....just saying!

Thank you very much Crew News...I found your information very helpful!

We would like to book an aft facing cabin on the Noordam, for an Alaska cruise. Deck 5 (Veranda), deck 6 (Upper Veranda), and deck 7 (Rotterdam), all have VB, aft facing cabins. Does anyone have any advice for me, on picking one of these cabins/decks? Do all of these aft facing cabins have covered balconies? What else should I take into consideration?

We had an Alaska Land Tour and Cruise booked, that we had to cancel last minute because of illness 😢. I just asked for advice on the HAL page, about rebooking a year in advance. My question here is about planning our own Land Tour, before a cruise. We have taken one "Cruise only" trip to Alaska, so we were very excited about the land portion of our trip. Our Land Tour was first, so we were going to beginning in Fairbanks. We liked most everything that HAL offered on tour D1L. However, we thought we'd enjoy a more relaxing pace, so we could really see Alaska and all its beauty. We would want to see Denali, but don't really care if we go to Fairbanks. Can you drive to Denali from Anchorage? Do you have to rent a car to do your own Land Tour, or can you get around on the dome top Trains. As you can tell, I have no idea how to plan a Self Land Tour, since we have only cruised Alaska. And then there's the pesky luggage, that I assume you have to lug with you everywhere. Can anyone give me some advice and guidance here? 😜

What are the advantages of booking a cruise a year in advance. I thought it would be less expensive, but just checked the exact cruise and land tour of the one we just had to cancel, and it is more expensive, plus we had an on board credit thru the TA we booked with, (that I didn't even put into the equation)!

I'd like to rebook for next year, but don't know if I should wait "for a deal". Also, how much do you have to put down on a cruise that far out?

Thanks for any advice you can share with me...

What is code red?