Questions about Alaskan cruise and visits to Seattle and Vancouver. Please suggest.

[snoopy_leogirl]

Will be cruising through Alaska in a month on NCL's Spirit July 24-July 31. It is going to be my first cruise so I am so excited but have so many questions and concerns. Can you please give me suggestions since many of you are experienced cruisers and Alaska travellers? Thanks!

(1) We are a group of 7 travellers, of which, one is 7 years old and the other is 17 years old. The rest of us are all adults. We're all from the Caribbean so we are travelling from St.Thomas (3 of us) and St.Maarten (4 of us) to San Juan, then to Dallas/Fort Worth and then connecting to Seattle and will reach Seattle about 10:00 p.m. First question, where do we stay? Should we stay closer to the airport or closer to downtown? We were thinking closer to downtown since the port is probably closer from downtown and since we cruise the next day, it would be easier but then again, we do reach pretty late in Seattle so we want to stay close to the airport, which do you suggest?

(2) Our cruise embarks at 4:00 p.m. At what time should we leave to go to the pier? We want to avoid the long wait so we would rather leave early. But what time is good enough for us to be there a bit early? Also, is it possible to check in luggage in the morning or at noon at the pier and then board the ship later?

(3) Dressing appropriately for the weather is a huge question for us...what to wear? Is layers the best thing to do? Dress in a sweater and peel it off if it gets warmer? I doubt that we would be needing hats and gloves in the end of July...am I right?

(4) Our ship goes to Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, cruising the inside passage, and Sawyer Glacier...what do we do in these places? Here's what I was thinking of. Please suggest if I should make any changes or if I am missing anything good. Also, we are trying to stay away from taking some of the really expensive excursions.
Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier, Mt. Roberts Tramway, City Tour.
Skagway - White Pass Railway, Skagway by Street Car and City Tour.
Ketchikan - Misty Fjords Flightseeing, City Tour.
Prince Rupert B.C. - ???!???? (Don't know what to do...City Tour probably?)
Inside Passage and Sawyer Glacier - I guess we are on the ship when we cruise by these two areas. Am I right? One thing that I am anxious to know: Do the mountains still have snow in the top if them in late July? I really want to see snow capped mountains.

(5) After the cruise, we plan to take a few days to visit Seattle and Vancouver. What is a nice hotel in Seattle? And in Vancouver? We found a few like a couple of the Holiday Inn's. Hilton, Embassy Suites etc. but is it better to choose one that is near downtown so that we are can access areas easily? We plan to visit: Space Needle, Pike Place Market, Seattle Aquarium, Mt. Olympic Natn'l Park or Mt. Rainier Natn'l Park (which is better?), Seattle Waterfront, and maybe...if time permits...we want to drive to Six Flags.
Vancouver - We rented a car to get around in Seattle and we plan on driving to Vancouver from Seattle. How long is the ride? About 4 hours or so I have heard. And finally, in Vancouver, we want to do the following: Grouse Mountain Railway, Granville Island, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center, Whale Watching Tour.

I would really appreciate it if some of the more experienced people or those that know these areas, can make suggestions and help with anything. Thanks! :)

[trvldog]

Hi
I live in the Seattle area, and it's only about 20 minutes from the airport to the downtown area, probalby less at that time of the night. You would most likely get less expensive rooms by the airport but downtown have much nicer hotels.- By the Airport I would stay at the Wyndham, Radisson, or Marriott.
Downtown I would stay at the Edgewater hotel right on the Water. and their is also a Marriott down on the waterfront but its across the street from the water. In Downtown Seattle their are many nice hotels the Alexis Hotel close to Pike Street, also the Monaco, and Vintage Park hotel are cool hotels and smaller than your Westin and Sheraton hotels which are nice also just not as neat- (Monaco you can get a gold fish brought to your room if you want- kids always like that).
I would not bother with Six Flags its not like the ones in California and such it was just a water park that was purchased by 6 flags, Do not think it is that great. Pike Street. Aquarium, also the Seattle Zoo is VERY nice. A fun day trip is driving over to Leavenworth about a 2 hour drive east of the mountains you can go to [url]www.leavenworth.org[/url] and it tells you about the town just a cool place to visit.
Not sure on the dressing and packing stuff we are going on the Infinity July 18th and still haven't gotten a good idea what to pack I think the layer look everyone says works best and bring the rain jacket.
Not sure on what time to get to the pier since ours is out of Vancouver.
It does take about 3.5 to 4 hours to drive to Canada from Seattle.

Hope this information helps you out

[snoopy_leogirl]

Thanks for the help. :)
Surely helped a lot.
I hope I get some more suggestions on the cruise part. Anyone please?!?

[Gardyloo]

10 PM will be the equivalent of 1 or 2 AM for you (can't remember which if any Caribbean islands are on Eastern or Atlantic time). By the time you fetch baggage etc. it will likely be nearly 11 or after. Spending an additional half hour to 3/4 hour in cabs and checkin, in order to stay in a hotel room that will cost twice as much as one at the airport... well, you choose.

I would stay at the airport, maybe get rooms using Priceline, which, according to [url]www.biddingfortravel.com[/url] (an important site), are mostly going for around $40 a night, vs. $200 or more for places like the Edgewater. Even if you don't use Priceline, the airport hotels will be under $100.

The next morning (remember, 8 AM will feel like noon to you) catch cabs to the Pier 66 cruise terminal (from which NCL sails) and leave your luggage with the concierge office at the terminal. Then cross the street and walk up the Pike Place Market Hillclimb to the Pike Market for late breakfast, shopping, sightseeing, etc. Buy some flowers (next month will be fab) for your cabins on the ship. Then head back to the terminal around 1 or so to check in and board.

Coming from the Caribbean you will probably find everything quite chilly, so bring layers, with a water-resistant coat or shell to wear on top. (Waterproof gear in my experience doesn't "breathe" well despite manufacturers' promises.) You shouldn't need hats or gloves unless you go on an excursion up onto a glacier or some such. If you want hats, buy them at the Pike Market or anywhere on your route (good souvenirs.) Note the weather can be quite pleasant, even hot in Seattle and en route, but seldom hot and humid, just one or the other.

Review other posts on this forum for ideas on excursions. Plenty of offerings. Many are quite expensive and can easily be substituted with independing walkabouts in the various ports visited. However, remember you're coming a long way and from a very different part of the world, so don't let the opportunity for once-in-a-blue-moon experiences suffer at the hands of thrift.

For Vancouver, absolutely familiarize yourselves with Priceline and use it for hotel stays in that city. Not doing so is wasteful IMO. Use the Biddingfortravel site mentioned above as a primer on PL how-tos, plus results and success/failure stories by thousands of PL users.

Happy planning!

[Lovinglife]

Hope you have as fabulous a trip as we did! We were on the NCL Star the week of June 6th.
1) We stayed in a hotel by the airport. You'll get in late and just go straight to the hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Sea-Tac. Perfectly acceptable hotel with a nice continental breakfast included for 69.00 a night (on the Holiday Inn website). They had a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. I'm sure they would also shuttle you to pier.
2) We got to the pier at 12:00 and were on the ship, eating lunch by 12:45. Maybe you'll have the same luck.
3) Layers! It was chilly for this Georgia girl and I definitely used my hat and gloves on those windy days sailing the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay. Check [url]www.weather.com[/url] Their temperature estimates were right on target. Luckily, it didn't rain as much as they predicted. The weather on Mendenhall Glacier was about 32 degrees, so I was glad to have my long johns on then!
4) If you can, do the helicopter/Glacier walk. If I could do it again, I would spend the extra money for a longer flight and a longer hike. In Skagway, we took the bus tour (booked right in town) with about 15 other people. We decided not to do the train, so we could get out and take pictures--Great photo op at the Alaskan state line coming back from the Yukon territory! If I could do this over, I would've rented a car (if you're okay with driving mountain roads) I liked being able to get out and get pictures and we pretty much stopped whenever one of us would ask. We left Skagway at 10:00 am and drove to Emerald Lake, and returned by 4:00 pm. Don't forget your passport! In Ketchikan, the Misty Fjords seaplane is wonderful.. We used [url]www.alaskaseaplanetours.com[/url] and had Ryan as our pilot. Awesome!!
5) We stayed an extra night in Seattle in the Lake Union area at Silver Cloud Lake Union for 129.00 a night. Very nice hotel overlooking Lake Union and the harbor area, just a short drive from downtown and the waterfront area. Also included a continental breakfast and they have a shuttle that picks up/drops off at the waterfront area.

I hope the mountains still have snow when you are there. I'm sure they will, being at a higher elevation. It was truly beautiful, the way the mountains dip their toes straight into the ocean waters! Have a wonderful trip!

[snoopy_leogirl]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Hopefully we can make this trip a memorable one with all your help.