BazAl

Interesting - I remember going onto Mt Roberts Tram back 10 years ago and I just remember there being a gift shop there.  On their site - looks like there is more now.  Including hikes.  Mind you the hikes are VERY VERY long - 9 miles +.   I do see one that is 4 miles long. Any recommendations on
"shorter" walks up there/other things to do now that it may be a bit different.

Heya,

Aug 8th @Juneau from 7AM-930PM.  Our first tour is with Allen Marine Tours for Tracy Arms from 915AM-415PM.

Looks like we have time - considering grabbing an uber/taxi and heading to Mendelhall glacier questions

1- Is it do-able, do we have enough time?

2-Best way to get there?  Shuttle, Taxi, Uber etc etc?

3- Waterfall + Glacier in close proximity right?  I see the visitor center closes at 730PM, but does the rest "close up".  Unsure if there's a gate or the other regulations

4- Any easy-moderate hikes/outlooks/places to get it

Thanks!!

Good Afternoon.

In August @Celebrity Millennium.  

Port: Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway/Haines, Icy Strait Point

Looking for Alaskan Made Souvenirs - Not sure what my budget is.  Not trinkets made elsewhere (though I do collect cups/spoon so that may be made in a foreign location).  Any souvenirs or shop recommendations in these ports.  Open to any suggestions - I won't know what's out there unless someone tells ya.  

Thanks!!

On 5/24/2023 at 11:36 PM, quack2 said:

Icy STRAIT, not Icy Straight.  ICY STRAIT.  Sheesh.

@quack2 Sorry came out of surgery a little over a week ago... I'm still not 100% there yet.  one of the reasons I mentioned something has to happen when I sit down and plan my trip.

@HaveWeMetYet  Was looking at adventure bound - it's $185+ tax,  Timing is good - but it's 10 hours.  that can account for a very good or very bad time.  for Alaskan pricing it's great and one of the cheapest boat tours I've seen.  Which is why I'm worried - I have tried e-mailing them twice to ask a few questions but no response.  I may just call them

@oaktreerb Thanks I'll look into creek street

Everyone thank you for your advice.

Heya,

I'm all over the place with this.  So - family of 4 - father, mother, me (daughter) and brother.  Celebrity Millennium 7AM-930PM in August.  I'm doing a post-cruise land trip in Alaska and I'm honestly just all over the place - in my attempts to make a fun/dynamic/variety trip for the family - I'm making a mess.  Each time I wanna plan/sit down and work on the literary something happens

Anyway......

SUN – AUG 6TH. KETCHIKAN 7AM-3PM - Maybe Bering Sea Crab

MON – AUG 7TH. ICY STRAIGHT POINT 9AM-7PM -  Whale Watching + something else? 

TUES AUG 8TH. JUNEAU 7AM-930PM -  This Post

WED AUG 9TH. SKAGWAY 7AM-4PM - Unsure

Post Cruise - Kenai Fjords Boat Tour (Seward), 26 Glacier Tour (Whittier), Flightseeing Tour... and hikes.  2 Rafting Tours

Anyway... so Juneau time.  Was considering Tracy Arm based on a previous post.  But given my itinerary - is it a good addition?  it's highly rated?

Also which company would you do it with?  Adventure Bound seems cheaper than longer than it's counterpart - 10 hours (8AM-6PM).  If we did do it with this company - we'd have ~ 3 hours before cruise departure.

Any advice on how to spend it?  We're thinking of just walking around town for fun and/or souvenir shopping.  I remember there was a tram with a gift shop at the top where we bought an ulu.  Any recommendations on cool souvenir shops (not trinkets) that don't break the bank?

Thanks!

@Coral  Tour looks interesting!  Not a lot of reviews but seems new and promising.  Unfortunately for Aug 7th only a 10 AM or 1 PM tour is listed - whale watching tour starts at 10AM.  I'll contact the operator in case it's full or for possible openings. 

Any other recommendations in the meantime?

Thanks guys!  I just contacted Glacier Winds with my inquiries!  Fingers crossed - they still have space for August. I HOPE we get a good whale showing.  A decade ago in late May/early June - we did 2 whale watching tours- in ISP and Juneau.  Only saw tails.  Cute... but after 10+ tails - it's like JUMP JUMP JUMP! Didn't happen.

Anyway - so for part 2 - since we have time.  What "secondary" tour would you recommend after Whale Watching.  Attempting "variety". First post includes our port excursions.

Thanks!

Heya,

Family of 4. Celebrity Millennium AUG 7^TH  9AM-7PM.  Good amount of time in this port.

I know Icy Point is known for whale watching - so we definitely would like to do that in the AM.  However, there are sooooo many tour groups that do them - I have no idea who to pick.  Also - I noticed different boats - sizes that conduct them 24, 30, 42 people etc etc.  Now I don't want a private tour (too $$) - but 42 people??  Isn't that a lot.  I'm not sure what the sweet spot is - vessel size (like 2 stories - better spotting?) vs people vs ability to maneuver - I do understand there is a minimum distance to keep from whales.  So looking for recommendations of a company that does it WELL since this will be our only whale watching tour on the cruise.

Also - considering a second tour afterwards - just not sure which yet.  Want variety so considering Kayaking???  Or anything you guys recommend.

Currently Juneau - Tracy Arm (WE think) Boat Tour, Ketchiken (Bering Sea Crab), Skagway - Unsure (maybe chilikoot wildlife viewing if there is room).

Thanks!

Is anyone willing to link me the Bennett trip that you guys are speaking highly off.  I found a couple of options and I don't want to book/possibly book the wrong one.

So I'm curious.... if you're leaving a US cruiseship onto US grounds - why are cookies (since that's what we are talking about) illegal?  I can understand meats, fruit, veggies - live items. Anything that pests can grow on.  But pastries?  Cookies?  I can bring those from Australia into the US or whatever country to country.  

I think they are K2 Aviation

Everyone thank you for your recommendations -I will look into all.  I was thinking a lot of boat tours may be a lot.  but on second thought it'll probably be good for my father who's not entirely in the best of shape

@Kathscof I don't quite follow with Chichagof Island... are you recommending flight from a certain port or are there tours that head there from one of the ports? 

Thanks!

Sorry if I  missed it - is Celebrity switching their port around in early August?

Good Day,

So - I'll cruising from Vancouver -> Seward.  Plan to spend 4 days in Vancouver and then 10 days in Alaska (DIY Landtrip).

US: Me 39 (birthday on August 3rd <____<), Brother 34, Mother 66, Father 69. 

Our Interests:  Honestly we like all.. except fishing. 

I'll be on Celerity Millennium. 

Schedule:

Fri Aug 4th Boarding

Sat Aug 5th Cruising

Sun Aug 6th: Ketchikan 7AM-3PM

Mon Aug 7th Icy Straight Point 9AM-7PM

Tues Aug 8th Juneau 7AM-930PM

Wed Aug 9th Skagway 7AM – 4PM

Thu Aug 10th: Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)

Fri Aug 11th: Arrive in Seward at 5AM

I was disappointed to learn no Glacier Bay.  Anyway right now - I've been looking into tours... They all sound amazing.  But right now - I'm thinking are there any MUST-DOS - or something special that each one of these locations are known for?  For example: I read Icy Straight Point has amazing whale watching, while Juneau is  known for Mendenhall Glacier.  That being said is Mendellhall tour worth it when we'll be doing Kenai Fjords Boat Tour, Exit Glacier (Seward) or 26 glacier tour in Whittier?  Also during cruise ports - the parents don't mind splitting up from my brother and I.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a bear tour.  But they are sooo expensive.  So I'm forgoing it since my brother and I are splitting the cost (but it's still 4 people!!).  I'm hoping one of these stops in the cruise during this time in August has bears.  I thought Icy Straight Point port might work - in Haines.  I contacted the company and they told me it's a wildlife tour - bears are a 50% sighting only during that time.  Any advice is appreciated it.  We're doing 1 flyseeing tour and that's in Talkeetna - but if you think there's one that's very much worth it let me know please. 

Anyway my plan in Alaska Post-Cruise is still in SUPER draft mode.   Seward -> Whittier -> Talkeetna -> Denali -> Anchorage

Currently for Seward - We'll do the 6 mile white water rafting (brother and I), resurrection raft (relaxing)/SeaLife Center/Kenai 7.5 Hour Tour, Exit Glacier

Whittier - 26 Glacier Tour

Talkeetna - Flight Seeing Tour of Denali

Denali - No plans yet - aware of landslide closure

Anchorage - No plans yet

^any advice on land trip is also appreciated - though I understand the focus is cruise ports.

Thanks!!!

Hmmm is this the roll call? It's one post right?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=56274739#post56274739

I'm trying to post - but for some reason I get blocked each time I try to post... I followed the format - to many links maybe? I want to see if anyone wants to join the Rome in Limo tours for Florence, Naples/Pompeii and Messina.

Heya,

Mymother and I will be on a European cruise (By Norwegian Cruise Lines) inAugust. We will land in Cannes port onAugust 11 (Saturday) from 7AM-7PM. That's a 12 hour cruise port… meaning there'seither a lot to do (which I'm sure there is) or the cruise port is a drive fromthe location you want to get to.

I found Monaco, Nice and the Italian Market… would be greatif we can do all three that day (if possible let me know ^_____^). It sounds like a good portion of people go toMonaco.

In the Norwegian Cruise Excursion site they have Monaco onyour own (8hr) for $109

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/CEQ_55/Monaco-On-Your-Own?destination=Europe+Cruises&port=CEQ&sort=searchFeatured&sortOrder=asc&perPage=48

and Highlights of Monaco and Nice (8hr) for $119

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/CEQ_52/Highlights-of-Monaco-Nice?destination=Europe+Cruises&port=CEQ&sort=searchFeatured&sortOrder=asc&perPage=48

But I'm not a fan of Cruise directed excursions – they stuffyou in a bus with 50+ people, they guides aren't passionate – you don't get asmuch out of it as the locals working for a local company. That's where I'm hoping people here can adviseme. How do people typically go on aboutthe Cannes cruise excursion port? Anytour company you recommend? Is itpossible to visit all three sites (the ladies love to shop) – I read onSaturday the Italian Market is at San Remo… may be a bit far – but we do technicallyhave 12 hours >___<

Thanks!

The Limo in Rome is brilliant! Apparently you can start a group and have others join... if I can get 8 people - that's 81.25 euro/person!

I should do that for all the ports - since they have great reviews and great shore activity descriptions. It's best to post this in the roll call section? I hope people join. Given it's in August - when is the best time to post this so people join?

Heya,

So hopefully (haven't booked yet) my mother and I will be joining an NCL cruise on a 10 day Western Mediterranean Cruise. It's port heavy and it visits Italy, France and Spain.

The ports in in Italy are

1- Departs from Civitavecchio (Rome) 5 PM

2- Livorno (Florence/Pisa) 6AM - 7 PM

3- Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy 10 AM - 6 PM

4- Messina 8AM - 6 PM

5- Naples/Pompeii, Italy 7AM - 7PM

6- Arrive back at Civitavecchia (Rome) @6AM

I plan on spending the full day in Rome upon arrival on Friday + Monday (2 days)... fly out Tuesday. Honestly - I don't know much about Cagliari/Messina (I WILL be researching that). I am very excited about Florence/Pisa, Naples/Pompeii and Rome! I was very excited until....

... recently I learned that in Italy there are licensed guides vs drivers "guides" (who can't leave the car). It's irritating to me in a sense that now official guides will easily charge 1500 Euro (not even a "skip-the-line" and some don't include admission tickets!!) for a 2 day tour of Rome. I understand it's to vet out questionable guides - but that's where this site, TA, Yelp, Google Reviews etc etc are for! Maybe Italy is that expensive I don't know. And drivers charge 700 euro... really? I don't mind joining a small group - but I've visited the top 20 companies listed on TA and none of them offer a guide option for a small group (just private oO).

I'm hoping to do a full day combo tour in Florence/Pisa and Naples/Pompeii from my cruise port. Then a full 2 day Rome tour - any recommendations that won't have me in debt for the next year or so. I understand that I can just walk around... then do a land trip and visit the sites on my own accord etc etc. But I'll be honest with you - my plans for the next three years don't include Europe. This may very well be my last chance to see Europe/Italy in a LONG time. (Most of my trips are Scuba Dive based).

Thanks!

PS. Any advice, thoughts, recommendations of ANY kind are appreciated. Feel free to privately message me

Rome in Limo is a driver as well not a tour guide... I guess since NCL (sorry about the double CC was thinking about RCCL) is out of the question then... 50+ people is a mess.

I'll go post in the Italian forms

Thanks

Heya,

So i'm interested in the 10 Night Western Mediterranean Cruise on August 9 - it has ports to Italy, France and Spain

So I'm very bummed to find out that in Italy you are either a licensed tour guide OR you are only a driver. It's nice that it flushes out fake guides (but that's where CC or TA or other ratings sites are for!!!). But where it's unfortunate is, I have to sell my kidneys to afford a $1.5 grand tour of Rome!!!!

Anyway - so I'm considering with just going with the NCCL tours provided but my questions are

1- How many people are typically in their site seeing tours? (please don't say 50)

ex: https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/LIV_53/Florence-Pisa?destination=Europe+Cruises&port=LIV&sort=searchWeight&sortOrder=asc&perPage=12&startingRecord=0

2- Do they use official licensed guides in Italy... or am I just paying for a driver?

Thanks!

Yes sightseeing in my aim goal this August - very different from my typical vacations... so hoping for the best.

Starting next week Thursday, I'll have a few days off... I can do more research/e-mail more companies and hope for a July 4th cruise sale <____< Or flights for that fact

I'm thinking perhaps IF I can stay in Rome on Sunday AND Monday (leave on Tuesday), perhaps I have more of a chance to see places... mind you touristy. But if I'm here the entire day Monday I might get lucky. I plan on e-mailing a bunch of companies and seeing if they are willing to do 1 or 2 day tours of Rome - so I can get a good condensed version of Rome since I may not be able to visit in a long time again. I did learn that unless they are official guides they can't leave the car oO... which is a good and bad thing (depending on how you view it) - but now official guides will charge you an arm and a leg (I've seen $1200 EUROS for 2 people for 2 days... OUCH!!).

Anyway, I guess my question is - does Norwegian grab your bags from the airport like RCCL and Celebrity did (in Anchorage to Seward, Alaska)? Would really help not having them with us on the train

Again Thanks!

Thanks

Unfortunately while I would LOVE to go on the 12 day cruise - essentially my vacation starts on August 11 and it's for 1 week... so even the cruises listed here are pushing it with my boss.

WOW - Thanks I didn't even think about the Sundays!! You are right the 10 day seems like a much better fit - my only concern is, I want to explore Rome for at least one day. So - the NCCL departs from Rome on Thursday and arrives back on Sunday. I can't explore Rome on Thursday - so my question is... will I have a problem exploring Rome (possibly hiring a driver/joining an excursion) on Sunday when we arrive? Will things be closed on Sunday?

Again thanks!

EDIT - if I understand correctly - the gratuities are $19.99/ppd? So that is $399.8 - so spending the $4167.1 + prepaid gratuity is the more cost-saving way to go?

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-faq/service-charge

Heya,

My mother and I are planning a vacation during the secondweek of August. We love the Mediterraneanregion! So we're thinking of either acruise focusing on Italy or Spain. I'vecruised before with Celebrity and RCCL – I definitely preferred Celebrity(could have been the crowd – Alaska vs the Caribbean).

Anyway I managed to find three itinerary that work with mytime frame. 2 from Norwegian (nevercruised with them) and one from Celebrity. Note the price/room type. Which oneof the three itineraries would you prefer? I'm more partial towards the Norwegian ports - but celebrity has Venice and I hear thatplace is beautiful! Heck everywhere inItaly is beautiful. My only realrequirement is Rome… and while I would love to spend many days there – I'mlimited by vacation time… probably not more than 12 days off (flightsincluded). Any thoughts? See images below

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipM_RsskPYpIdr7rzbVXYcbE6bX8C9kNN2TEL1hvj1BCUzp5Vuehk3DOsYN6JgA4sw/photo/AF1QipNSch9QFxVuZNxb14xp7tLinnx2Qc4ToEKxHLU?key=MkI2NDRsUUV2ZzdJZUFlYktsaHZQZGl0QWtVVDFn

OR

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipM_RsskPYpIdr7rzbVXYcbE6bX8C9kNN2TEL1hvj1BCUzp5Vuehk3DOsYN6JgA4sw/photo/AF1QipNOJbRPdWUeGCiJGHEpMcuDl18svmDYvhwII2Y?key=MkI2NDRsUUV2ZzdJZUFlYktsaHZQZGl0QWtVVDFn

I have attached the itineraries side by side – vertically andhorizontally (whichever method you prefer).

I also found similar cruise by RCCL – but the itinerary arepretty much the same – the Thursday one may be a problem since it may be earlyin the week…

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipM_RsskPYpIdr7rzbVXYcbE6bX8C9kNN2TEL1hvj1BCUzp5Vuehk3DOsYN6JgA4sw/photo/AF1QipNRAr3MC2wedA37OqAu7Uu-__na-XFqRUx2HFI?key=MkI2NDRsUUV2ZzdJZUFlYktsaHZQZGl0QWtVVDFn

OR

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipM_RsskPYpIdr7rzbVXYcbE6bX8C9kNN2TEL1hvj1BCUzp5Vuehk3DOsYN6JgA4sw/photo/AF1QipN-0GuPJkBlF62wb15d1S9YPucKzYZV0bqJ7Os?key=MkI2NDRsUUV2ZzdJZUFlYktsaHZQZGl0QWtVVDFn

Any advice is appreciated!! Thanks.

PS. Feel free to privatelymessage me.

Heya,

So while considering booking a European Cruise with MSC - I read about the possibility of being able to book for Super Family staterooms if they are available from MSC Divina (this is from a third party site).

I'm assuming if I booked directly with the MSC website it would make sense.. however, you get bonus on board cash for booking with certain third party sites (which I have done before)... so my question is - what floor are these staterooms located at - so I can locate them if available.

Thanks