Alaska Cruise Basics

[chrismch]

Juneau''s travel site lists average temps in Aug as a high of 67 and low of 43 with an average of 5" of rain for the month. But I'm going to recheck as I get closer to my Aug land/cruise what the current temps are and then pack accordingly.

[jo24]

If you have extra time you might want to consider doing the Mt. Robert's Tramway in Juneau. I really enjoyed it. On my site if you click on the Juneau page you can view a video clip I uploaded to Youtube of the tram ride.

 

Also for Ketchikan you might want to check out the Creek Street area.

 

That is really helpful, thank you. I will add them to the list.

 

In Juneau we should have time between excursions but how long should we allow for the tram?

 

Thanks again

 

Jo

 

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[thecruiserofships]

That is really helpful, thank you. I will add them to the list.

 

In Juneau we should have time between excursions but how long should we allow for the tram?

 

Thanks again

 

Jo

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

 

This is the official tramway website:

http://www.goldbelttours.com/mount-roberts-tramway/

 

The website states to give yourself "at least one hour minimum".

I recommend making sure this fits your schedule and also make sure you have plenty of time to get back to the ship. I emphasized this last part because in Alaska once the gangway is up it is not going to be put back together. I watched (from the ship) many people not get to reboard because they missed the gangway by a few minutes. The gangways take more time to put up in Alaska compared to other ports of call.

Edited February 21, 2014 by thecruiserofships

[jo24]

This is the official tramway website:

http://www.goldbelttours.com/mount-roberts-tramway/

 

The website states to give yourself "at least one hour minimum".

I recommend making sure this fits your schedule and also make sure you have plenty of time to get back to the ship. I emphasized this last part because in Alaska once the gangway is up it is not going to be put back together. I watched (from the ship) many people not get to reboard because they missed the gangway by a few minutes. The gangways take more time to put up in Alaska compared to other ports of call.

 

I really appreciate the advice. My mum and I aren't really the 'leave it to the last minute' type of people and cannot be dealing with the stress of being late back. We aren't booking in advance because there is no point going up if the weather is not nice and won't if we don't have the time. However, we are there 9am to 9pm so depending on the opening hours, we may well have plenty of time.

 

Thanks again

 

Jo :)

[thecruiserofships]

I really appreciate the advice. My mum and I aren't really the 'leave it to the last minute' type of people and cannot be dealing with the stress of being late back. We aren't booking in advance because there is no point going up if the weather is not nice and won't if we don't have the time. However, we are there 9am to 9pm so depending on the opening hours, we may well have plenty of time.

 

Thanks again

 

Jo :)

 

Wow, you do get a nice day in port when it comes to time! Let me know if you have any more questions!

Edited February 22, 2014 by thecruiserofships

[jo24]

Wow, you do get a nice day in port when it comes to time! Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

Thanks! Yes, we are really lucky I think. Our 'shortest' days are ISP and Ketchikan which are 9 hours - well probably 8.5 hours based on all aboard time. Lots of time for falling in love with Alaska in my book :)

 

Thank you so much for the advice you have given so far - I really do appreciate it.

 

Jo :)

[kontraxed]

We are looking at an Alaska Cruise Tour for 2015 and I have some very basic questions.

 

When you stay at the hotel or resort listed in each cruise tour, can you verify if the price of that stay is included in the cruise fare?

 

Are meals included in the fare during the land portion of the tour?

 

When they talk about excursions from the land portion, who organizes those - is it the ship cruise company - Princess, Norwegian, etc. or is it the stay over where you sleep?

 

I assume you sleep each night in a lodge or hotel or something and there are not any overnights on a train or a bus?

 

Do people find it difficult schlepping their suitcases and bags everywhere?

 

In the upper reaches of New England (Maine, Vermont, etc.) in May they have a plague of black flies that will eat you alive. Is this the same in Alaska?

 

Thanks for your answers!

[thecruiserofships]

We are looking at an Alaska Cruise Tour for 2015 and I have some very basic questions.

 

When you stay at the hotel or resort listed in each cruise tour, can you verify if the price of that stay is included in the cruise fare?

 

Are meals included in the fare during the land portion of the tour?

 

When they talk about excursions from the land portion, who organizes those - is it the ship cruise company - Princess, Norwegian, etc. or is it the stay over where you sleep?

 

I assume you sleep each night in a lodge or hotel or something and there are not any overnights on a train or a bus?

 

Do people find it difficult schlepping their suitcases and bags everywhere?

 

In the upper reaches of New England (Maine, Vermont, etc.) in May they have a plague of black flies that will eat you alive. Is this the same in Alaska?

 

Thanks for your answers!

 

 

I would like to start by saying I know nothing about the black flies plague. I have no idea about this, so I am not the person to ask.

 

Typically the price of the land tours is Not included in the price of the cruise. There may be a few cases that you can get a package deal, but this will depend on the cruise line.

 

Meals and lodging will vary by the tour and operator hosting the tour. Since this varies you will need to find out this information before you book the tour.

 

Since there are so many different tour companies that offer different tours it is really hard to answer all of these questions. I am sorry the answers I gave are very generic, but due to the large number of options it is hard to pinpoint the exact answer because everything will vary.

 

I recommend posting all of your questions in a new thread under this Alaska section to try to get the opinions of everyone else. Sorry and I hope the little info I could give helps!

Edited February 23, 2014 by thecruiserofships

[thecruiserofships]

Juneau''s travel site lists average temps in Aug as a high of 67 and low of 43 with an average of 5" of rain for the month. But I'm going to recheck as I get closer to my Aug land/cruise what the current temps are and then pack accordingly.

 

Thanks for the information!

[nana51]

Wow, we are booking through Holland America and it is one package price for the land tours, hotel, train and one bus excursion. If we want tour excursions in port we pay for those. I believe we are doing the Denali land/cruise tour and some meals are included in that.

[thecruiserofships]

Wow, we are booking through Holland America and it is one package price for the land tours, hotel, train and one bus excursion. If we want tour excursions in port we pay for those. I believe we are doing the Denali land/cruise tour and some meals are included in that.

 

Thank you for sharing the information!

[thecruiserofships]

If I missed any questions please repost!

[funcruiser1234]

Are cold temperatures common in Alaska during June and July?

[Glaciers]

Are cold temperatures common in Alaska during June and July?

 

Depends what you're used to. This site gives historical daily temps for dozens of Alaska communities.

http://www.arh.noaa.gov/climate.php?stnid=PAJN&mon=6&yr=2013&obs=true&precip=true

[thecruiserofships]

Depends what you're used to. This site gives historical daily temps for dozens of Alaska communities.

http://www.arh.noaa.gov/climate.php?stnid=PAJN&mon=6&yr=2013&obs=true&precip=true

 

I enjoyed looking at this. Thank you for sharing!

[janetz]

What is the earliest time you would safely book a flight out of Seattle on a Saturday, from a cruise? Thanks ahead. :)

[thecruiserofships]

What is the earliest time you would safely book a flight out of Seattle on a Saturday, from a cruise? Thanks ahead. :)

 

Personally, I would want to try to be as safe as possible, I would fly out mid to late afternoon. It would be an awful experience to miss a flight, but it could happen no matter what time you want to fly out. Remember you have to get to the airport so much time in advance to the flight to go through security, get checked it, and board the aircraft before the actual boarding time.

 

I hope this helps!

[janetz]

Personally, I would want to try to be as safe as possible, I would fly out mid to late afternoon. It would be an awful experience to miss a flight, but it could happen no matter what time you want to fly out. Remember you have to get to the airport so much time in advance to the flight to go through security, get checked it, and board the aircraft before the actual boarding time.

 

I hope this helps!

 

I was not sure about the port of Seattle, that is why I asked. Thanks. :)

[thecruiserofships]

I was not sure about the port of Seattle, that is why I asked. Thanks. :)

 

Just remember that any type of delay could occur when it comes to flying on the day of getting off. Just be cautious and be careful with the time you choose!

 

Have good day! What cruise are you thinking about?

[janetz]

Golden Princess on August 30th. I think the first week in September should be good? We have only cruised the Caribbean so this is all new to us. :)

[thecruiserofships]

Golden Princess on August 30th. I think the first week in September should be good? We have only cruised the Caribbean so this is all new to us. :)

 

Before I cruised to Alaska last year I had also only done Caribbean from New Orleans and Galveston. I really enjoyed Alaska, but it will be a long time before I go back because of price. At least Caribbean cruises are cheaper in price!

[janetz]

Before I cruised to Alaska last year I had also only done Caribbean from New Orleans and Galveston. I really enjoyed Alaska, but it will be a long time before I go back because of price. At least Caribbean cruises are cheaper in price!

 

 

 

Today after looking at air pricing we may have to ditch it. The flights are so high! :(

Edited March 2, 2014 by janetz

[Coral]

Golden Princess on August 30th. I think the first week in September should be good? We have only cruised the Caribbean so this is all new to us. :)

 

Today after looking at air pricing we may have to ditch it. The flights are so high! :(

 

Give it a chance! Alaska is so beautiful. I much prefer it to the Caribbean.

[thecruiserofships]

Today after looking at air pricing we may have to ditch it. The flights are so high! :(

 

I'm sorry. :(

 

I can understand the flight price part. It can be almost as much or more than the cruise price.

 

Please keep me informed about what you decide.

 

If you decide not to go you could maybe try setting aside a little amount of money each month that will go towards an Alaska cruise and flight in a future year.

[janetz]

Thank you everyone! We are going, but moving it until May 2015. We thought we could do Alaska at the end of August this year until I looked at air from Boston. We have a repo at the end of October. I am just waiting for Princess to open up bookings for 2015 which will be March 11th. The end of May 2015 is my choice. ;)

 

After reading a post on my roll call I found out Princess does a transfer from SeaTac to Vancouver which I am pleased about also. after all these years I still find a wealth of information on CC.

Edited March 5, 2014 by janetz