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Current Alaska Sailings

islandchick

By islandchick,
in Viking Ocean

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Jim Avery

Jim Avery

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I used to run a freight ship up to points north and all the small towns in Alaska (or BC) even if just a fish processing plant, have spectacular views.  Lots of wildlife too.  Few towns have the range of stuff to do that Ketchikan or Juneau does.  But you will never lack a view barring the sometimes frequent pea soup fogs. We were there in May and one town which is not all that great was Valdez.  The location is stunning though and we were entertained by an otter family right below our balcony.  We were scheduled to dock at the Valdez city dock but got bumped to the more distant new port for containers, etc.  At the city dock was one of the large supply barges.  Tug towed barges are the cheapest way to get bulk supplies of alll sorts up there.  My ship carried more high value heavy cargo Northbound and frozen seafood of the season Southbound.  The barges arrive when the barges arrive  Very weather dependent.  But when they do arrive you can bet everyone in town has something on that barge they are looking for.  Hence us getting kicked to the curb so to speak.

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SantaFe1

SantaFe1

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1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

one town which is not all that great was Valdez.  

Agree.  It was somewhere between rain and snow in Valdez a couple of days ago, and as we just had the included tour, we elected to make it a sea day and stayed aboard.  Yesterday in Juneau it was sunny and we thought the town looked just beautiful.  My husband just laughed at me when I said I could live there, though.  We, too, have been amazed by the scenery.  The mountains just go on and on.  Never a moment without them.  About to disembark in Skagway for a streetcar tour of the town on another sunny day.  And again, mountains everywhere.  

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Jim Avery

Jim Avery

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Skagway is great.  One of the best ever excursions was from there.  No not the train.  Helicopter to a glacier with a dog sled camp on it.  Got to meet the dogs and go sledding.  Of all the ones who rode on the back of the sled just guess who was the ONLY one to fall off????

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duquephart

duquephart

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44 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Agree.  It was somewhere between rain and snow in Valdez a couple of days ago, and as we just had the included tour, we elected to make it a sea day and stayed aboard.  Yesterday in Juneau it was sunny and we thought the town looked just beautiful.  My husband just laughed at me when I said I could live there, though.  We, too, have been amazed by the scenery.  The mountains just go on and on.  Never a moment without them.  About to disembark in Skagway for a streetcar tour of the town on another sunny day.  And again, mountains everywhere.  

 

And jewelry stores. Watch for the guy just outside the door who all but drags you in. I think about half of Skagway is owned by cruise lines.

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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32 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Skagway is great.  One of the best ever excursions was from there.  No not the train.  Helicopter to a glacier with a dog sled camp on it.  Got to meet the dogs and go sledding.  Of all the ones who rode on the back of the sled just guess who was the ONLY one to fall off????

I was so disappointed when they said we are not stopping in Skagway. 

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SantaFe1

SantaFe1

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6 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

And jewelry stores. Watch for the guy just outside the door who all but drags you in. I think about half of Skagway is owned by cruise lines.

I think Skagway, the town, is about twelve square blocks of tourist traps!  Lovely scenery, but nothing better than what we have had every day.  Not my favorite port.

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Jjg34219

Jjg34219

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8 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

I think Skagway, the town, is about twelve square blocks of tourist traps!  Lovely scenery, but nothing better than what we have had every day.  Not my favorite port.

Agreed! And we did the train excursion. It was just ok in our opinion

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Tas353

Tas353

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On 6/3/2023 at 6:42 PM, cmmaxwell03 said:

For those of you that have cruised on a Viking AK cruise this year, how was the embarkation process?  From the research I have done, it looks like we enter through a large beige warehouse type building and then walk across some pavement to the little red tent and board the ship.  I am wondering if you recall how long the process takes from start to finish?  I know it could be different when we cruise in September so I'm not expecting the same results.  

 

Sail date 9/7 and room type is a PV1

We did this cruise last august. Embarkation was very smooth. The warehouse was big and they had many people to check us in. It was easy and timely. 

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SantaFe1

SantaFe1

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We were just commenting that there haven’t been any of the big splashy dinner events that often happen outside or on the pool deck,  we were hoping for a salmon BBQ or something.  I think this cruise is just too short for that.

Edited by SantaFe1
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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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2 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

MDR only open for lunch on sea days  

Bummer....thank you. 

 

Part of my trip planning is determine which venues are open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and/or drinks only.  

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SantaFe1

SantaFe1

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21 minutes ago, tullbja said:

Are the binoculars in DV cabins sufficient, or would you recommend bringing our own?

OMG no.  Bring your own.  The wildlife are often too far off to take with an iPhone.  But just enjoy seeing them through bingos.    

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tullbja

tullbja

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11 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

OMG no.  Bring your own.  The wildlife are often too far off to take with an iPhone.  But just enjoy seeing them through bingos.    

Thank you!

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SantaFe1

SantaFe1

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Just an end note, as we left the cruise yesterday and are spending a couple of days in Vancouver.  Through no real fault of their own, the wifi on this cruise was and apparently always is pretty bad.  The Viking daily says pretty much daily that you will either have no or interrupted service.  It was really sort of a pain, and we were so glad to check into the hotel yesterday and have good Internet service.  So just be prepared…

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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4 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Just an end note, as we left the cruise yesterday and are spending a couple of days in Vancouver.  Through no real fault of their own, the wifi on this cruise was and apparently always is pretty bad.  The Viking daily says pretty much daily that you will either have no or interrupted service.  It was really sort of a pain, and we were so glad to check into the hotel yesterday and have good Internet service.  So just be prepared…

Thank you for that information.  We are on the same itinerary in Sept.  It is good to know what to expect.  While you were in ports in Alaska, was it any better?  If so, we can keep our internet usage minimal while on board and then make up for it while in port.  Any other tips you have will always be appreciated 🙂

 

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SantaFe1

SantaFe1

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7 hours ago, cmmaxwell03 said:

Thank you for that information.  We are on the same itinerary in Sept.  It is good to know what to expect.  While you were in ports in Alaska, was it any better?  If so, we can keep our internet usage minimal while on board and then make up for it while in port.  Any other tips you have will always be appreciated 🙂

 

Actually, I think it was better at sea.  The ports are surrounded by the ever on-going and wonderful mountains, and you are just sort of boxed in.  

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islandchick

islandchick

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Bumping this thread. For anyone on the last cruise or the cruise boarding today, please give your input on everything. All info is appreciated. Especially interested in special events, food and beverage reviews, and any photos. I hope everyone boarding today is having a wonderful time.

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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9 minutes ago, islandchick said:

Bumping this thread. For anyone on the last cruise or the cruise boarding today, please give your input on everything. All info is appreciated. Especially interested in special events, food and beverage reviews, and any photos. I hope everyone boarding today is having a wonderful time.

 

Agreed!  I love to hear about embarking in Seward and disembarking in Vancouver.  Haha...and any and all other details you can share 🙂

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