[Papillion53]

Hi LP – sounds like you’ve had a lovely day!

You know I’m going to blame the champers, neither of those rings a bell.

[simonjames]

Papillon53 you do make a good pitch for cruising and I give to advice first search all information about cruising.

[Cloud-9]

Alex. We went to AK last year, 7 days Vancouver to Anchorage.

Rather than do the ship’s overland tour I booked one myself via a US travel agent, which proved to be an excellent decsion: we went more places, it lasted longer and we also got to spend extra days in ANC.

I also booked my own flights, LHR/YVR return, and ANC/SEA. This enabled us to have a week in Seattle; we then got the train back to YVR and home.

Always book the best cabin you can afford. Most people – normally those in inside cabins – say it is not worth the extra cost as you do not spend much time in it. THEY ARE WRONG!

[NTarrant]

Cloud-9 – how did the cost compare by doing the land arrangements yourself verses, presumably Princess?

I would certainly agree about inside cabins, in the event you are not well and confined to cabin, as my sister-in-laws husband had, it would be very depressing, lucky they had a balcony cabin.

[Cloud-9]

We actually went with Celebrity. No idea how it compared n price. I had met an AK native on a previous cruise and was told it was best seen overland rather than on a cruise. Sceptical as I was at the time, she was right. But the cruise was great also.

The reason I took the independent tour was because i did not see the point in travelling that far and not seeing everything I wanted to.

We visited Denali, Fairbanks and Valdez. I can probably get the tour co name if you are interested

[Papillion53]

Hello all! Just dropping in to see what was happening in the BT forum.

We are still in Alaska cruising our way back to the land of Canucklad and his chums …. 😉

It has been truly magical and I will do a “Mrs P’s Alaskan Adventures” with photos when I get home. We have been up close and personal with whales, dolphins, bears, glaciers, snow capped mountains and much, much more – and surprisingly are enjoying warm and sunny weather – we have even had a nap or two in the sun by the pool after a jolly good lunch on our sea days!!

Have a great weekend wherever you are in our world! 🙂

PS – sitting writing this on our verandah with a very nice cup of tea brought by our butler – what am I going to do when I get home??? As for having a balcony – would never cruise without one – the scenery is spectacular, even just watching the sea – you never know when a whale or a playful pod of dolphins will pop up! And at 3 in the morning when it is light, you can lie in bed with the drapes open and watch it all drift by …. I can’t imagine being in a dark box inside the ship!

[NTarrant]

Cloud-9 – yes please to the name of the tour operator, would be interested to see and compare as we have been considering this area.

Papillion – what ship are you on?

[Papillion53]

Good morning NT 🙂

We are on the Oceania Regatta – this is the first time on O for us, reputation the best food at sea – and my waistband tells me they have most definitely lived up to that reputation!

This is the largest ship we have sailed on – they market the ship as 650 passengers, but last night we were told by one of the ship’s officers we are currently sailing with over 800 – we truly would not have known.

We are in a Penthouse Suite which to us is a similar size of a Verandah stateroom on Seabourne – we have sneaked a look at the verandah staterooms on here and they are quite small, but if you are out and busy with trips, maybe a smaller stateroom would not matter so much. The bathrooms are small but there is plenty of storage and if you organize everything, it works just fine. I would much prefer the DH to have his own ablusion area, but until we win the lottery and can swing for the Owners Suite …. 😉 🙂

This trip to Alaska has been outstanding and the Regatta has been a lovely retreat to “come home” to every day we have been ashore. There are a few children but I would say this is not a ship for children, not much for them to do amongst all the old fogies! LOL! But they do say there is a Youth Program on this cruise, but we have not been aware of any activities going on. There are younger couples (30’s/40’s) but I would say the average is 50’s/60’s (and up!), and I definitely bring the average down a wee bit!!!

We jumped on this 14 night itinerary when it popped into my inbox from our cruise TA as this length of itinerary to ALaska is rare, they are usually 7 or maybe 10 nights. I think if you look up Oceania Cruises it may still show this cruise so it would give you some idea of where we have been – “Pacific Exploration”, but if not, we started in Seattle, and visited Ketchikan, Sitka, Hoonah (Icy Straight), Seward, Kodiak, Skagway, Wrangell, Prince Rupert, Victoria and back to Seattle. Often we were the only cruise ship in port which was nice. If you would like a recommendation for a specialist cruise TA, I would be happy to suggest ours.

There is a great website http://www.krooz-cams.com (I think, something along that variation) and shows ships in port which can give you a clue of weather etc.

We have had glorious weather all the way (hitting high 70’s in some places) including smooth seas crossing the Gulf oF Alaska which according to my DH can be “interesting”! The only time it rained was in Ketchikan and that was no surprise as they are in the rainforest!

We are talking positively about coming back to Alaska but perhaps next time do a land trip so the DH can do his beloved fishing and we can enjoy our favourite spots for longer. This cruise has given us a great overview for this exact purpose.

[NTarrant]

Thanks Papillion, I’ll have a look, always good to get a few options for something different.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[Be_Nice]

Hello Papillion

Do hope that you are having a superb time, it will be lovely to read your later reports. It does all seem to be wonderful. It would be appreciated if you could share your TA, we are hoping to have a cruise late this year..

Safe travels and good weather.

Marlene.

[HongKongLady]

All sounds wonderful Papillions 53, I am more than a little envious, even though I am cautious of the trapped on board feeling. Alaska has to be one of the greatest things to experience. But as I am foremost a lady I will put the ‘ green eyed Monster’ part of me asisde and wish you a superb trip. Please let us have full details when you return.
I have to agree that a balcony has to be a must.

[LuganoPirate]

Have a great time Papillion, it sounds amazing. I’ve only cruised once, and that was Southampton to New York in November on the QM2 – with balcony – and that was amazing despite the choppy sea and cold weather.

Really must do a proper cruise somewhere warm soon!

[Cloud-9]

NT – Alaska Tour and Travel (of Anchorage). We did the eight night tour: the nine night option was basically a free meal in ANC on the day we flew to SEA (and a few extra hours there in the afternoon), but by all accounts the meal was nothing to write home about, and our fellow travellers thought we had made a wise desicion by arriving before the tour started and doing our sight seeing then.

We also had brilliant sunny weather on the day we cruised the Hubbard Glacier. Luckily our balcony was on the port side, and that happened to be the spectacular side (going north, anyway….)

[NTarrant]

Thanks Cloud-9 thats really helpful.

[canucklad]

HI Papillion..

Glad you’re having a great time….you made me a bit homesick with your decent into YVR description…….Last time I landed at night in the rain over the sea, so booo

How did you’re drive to seattle go…Border crossing etc..?

[Author]

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