Alaska advise?

[PrincessShmoo]

On my screen, clicking on watched threads only gives me unread watched threads. So old threads not being updated don’t show. Is there a way to see all the threads I’ve “watched” even after I read them?

Try this, at the top of the page (very top, where the address bar is) is there a star on the right hand side? If so, click on that and it will save the page to wherever you want to save it on your computer. Then you just go back to that tab/folder and click on the address there. Should take you right back to the page you saved (bookmarked).

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Try this, at the top of the page (very top, where the address bar is) is there a star on the right hand side? If so, click on that and it will save the page to wherever you want to save it on your computer. Then you just go back to that tab/folder and click on the address there. Should take you right back to the page you saved (bookmarked).

Using an iPad, so I can bookmark differently. Generally I just screenshot info, and save in a folder marked ‘cruise.’ I also have a folder of bookmarks marked ‘cruise’ as well.

 

[Pens Fan]

We've been on two Alaskan cruises. The first was on DCL and we did all of our excursions through them. The were all great - really - but over time and other cruises we have come to realize that private excursions are a much better fit for our family. Last summer we sailed NCL in Alaska and did the following:

Skagway - We used Skagway Private Tours for a trip to Emerald Lake. This was so much fun!! Touring with Sherry is like spending the day with an old friend. We had a blast, and saw so many great things.

Juneau - We used Rum Runners for their fishing and whale watching excursion. They offer several different tours - just whale watching, just fishing, or a combo. We saw so many whales and caught a ton of salmon. Seriously. We ate salmon for months!! This was a terrific day. Plus - sharing the boat with Brandi (the owner's adorable Lab) was the perfect antidote to how much we were missing our own dog.

Ketchikan - We used Island Wings for a float plane excursion to Anan Creek to see bears - one of the only places where you can see both black and brown bears at the same time. This only works certain times of year (late July / August) as the bears show up where the salmon are running. They will take you to either Anan or Traitors Cove, depending on the timing of the salmon run, but this was a phenomenal experience. We saw so many bears! It's crazy expensive, but I don't regret a penny we spent. It was an incredible day.

Alaska is amazing. For us, at least, an Alaskan cruise is about what you see on land vs. the ship. We loved both cruises and found both ships pretty much equal, but our experiences on land dwarfed the cruise itself both times. The week we spent in mainland Alaska at the end of the cruise was equally wonderful - the benefit of doing a one way cruise vs. round trip.

 

[Mikamarii]

We did Alaska with a different line. In Juneau, if you're a beer fan, consider the alaskan brewery tour. Its abt 25$ ish per person and you can book it directly from the store front on the main road. It was really cool to see the innovation they use to be sustainable in such an isolated area.
Beer was really good too.

If your into to hiking/walking juneau has an amazing walk up the side of Mt Robson (no booking needed. Its free) at the top the restaurant serves great food and you can take the tramway to the botton

 

[GPaLarry]

We did Liarsville in Skagway with the cheesy skit and panning for "gold." Great fun for the kids and a bit of history for the oldsters. On the way to the gold panning we passed a "Press" tent...must be the first evidence of fake news (it is Liarsville, after all)!!?? When you cross the stream to the panning, look closely in the water...there are real (kinda) gold nuggets that the kids can grab.
In Juneau we took the science excursion to Mendenhall's streams, then on a boat to see whales, seals, crabs, etc. We had our youngest g-daughter with the two of us and she freaked out on the speed boat...too fast, loud, rocky, etc. She was upset and crying. The young woman who was our guide showed Leah a book about some of the critters we would see and the captain (only 10 aboard) let her steer the boat after explaining all the instruments. She settled down and was content with the rest of the ride...great thanks to the folks operating the tour.
Ketchikan we took a duck tour of the city from the streets then out in the bay. With the recent duck incident I look back and believe we were safe during the entire trip...close to the shore and very calm waters.
This is one DCL cruise I would do again (after 8). Take binoculars, a good camera, a coat and swimsuit. Happy sailing!!

 

[buzzsmom]

Just to add to what has already been mentioned based on our August 2017 cruise:

In Skagway, the train ride is great, but you only need to do it one way. We combined with the Liarsville gold rush, which was corny and dull for the adults but a lot of fun for the kids (7&11). Skagway is the one port town we enjoyed walking around--especially checking out the Arctic Brotherhood building.

In Juneau, we did the full Disney Dog Musher for the Day excursion out on the glacier. It is ridiculously expensive, but one of the coolest things I have ever done. Friends went last month and tried to book their shorter excursion privately and it wasn't available when they were in port b/c they were full with cruise-booked excursions.

In Ketchikan, we did the Potlatch Park Totem tour and Lumberjack show. I think the key to Ketchikan is finding excursions that are still fun in the rain--the totem tour definitely wasn't one of them, we were miserable the entire time. The Lumberjack show is right by the boat, well designed to be comfortable in the rain, and we enjoyed it more that we expected to. A lot of people on our cruise raved about the crab boat tours and all the wildlife they saw.

We did the catamaran tour on Tracy Arm day and it was beautiful. One of the problems with being on such a big ship is that you lose perspective on the size of things around you. Getting up close to the glacier is a completely different experience.