I have been scanning through the thread, and will answer some of the questions that I haven't seen answered (I think!)
Did anyone use the Quick Shuttle to Seattle after the cruise? If so, please describe the process. Thanks!
Yes, I took Quick Shuttle. Took the 9:15 departure. Arrived at the Seattle airport at 1:10 p.m. Got dropped off right at Delta Airlines. The border crossing was great. Because we were on the specific cruise bus, we were not required to take any of our luggage off the bus, just ourselves and our passports. Walked through customs, back on bus and on our way in less than 15 minutes. It was very convenient and the bus driver was awesome! The shuttle pickup is right inside the cruise terminal and you can get free luggage carts right to the bus.
Just wondering about the Dining Rotation for the Alaska cruise. Does it follow the 1-2-3-1-2-3-1 format where you dine in your night 1 restaurant 3 times? I'm guessing that's how they will do it but I know sometimes they change it up.
Can you tell I'm getting ready to book my Palo reservations
We were on TAPTAPT. Worked great with formal night ending up in Triton's! Main dinner 5:45 p.m. If you came back from excursions late, our servers just told us to come in whenever we arrived.
Thanks!
Kelly
I am on the 9 am shuttle to Seattle which will get me to the airport almost 2 hr. early. I have been told that we can request early departure tags for our luggage. I had a friend that did this in LA and they had no problem getting off in about 30 mins. If they can't do this then I will just keep my bags with me and leave with the first group. The ship looked like it got in the port early in the morning on the first cruise so I am not worried at this point.
Yes, you can go to Guest Services and show them your bus departure ticket for 9:15 a.m. (Quick Shuttle sends you a confirmation by email which you must bring with you) and Guest Services will then provide you with Chip and Dale luggage tags. Those guests are first off the ship. I was off by 8:20 a.m. Had my luggage and had plenty of time to spare.
Does anyone know what the Castaway members get? I know the Platinum get a scarf...what do the other levels get??
THANKS!!
Platinum members did NOT get a scarf. Only selected guests received the scarf. The normal gifts were given: Passport holders with some note cards and luggage strap. And the normal
Castaway Club gift: beach bag, flip flop rice krispy treats (to die for-NOT) and the aluminum drink thingies.
Does anyone have a recommendation for shoes? Is a regular sport type shoe ok or would a hiking type shoe be better?
My tennis shoes were fine the whole cruise.
Now for my excursions:
In Skagway, I did the White Pass Train and Bicycle ride (14 miles-mostly downhill). It was awesome, even though it was snowing and raining at the summit. We actually had to ride our bikes one by one through the U.S. Customs Border Office and show our passport, it was pretty funny. The tour company gave us raingear and gloves and helmets. It was incredibly beautiful scenery. I would do it again.
In Juneau-I did the Zipline and Mendenhall Glacier. It was fantastic. A total of 7 zips and 2 training zips and we were given hot tea halfway through and made s'mores over the firepit after the zipping and watched a slide show of our excursion (which we then purchased since they took awesome pictures). Only had 45 minutes at Mendenhall Glacier. Wish we had more time there. Saw plenty of wildlife on the excursion. There was even a bear sighting at the glacier that day, but I did not see the bear. Great visitors center with telescopes so you can see the glacier if you don't want to walk the 1.3 miles to it.
In Ketchikan-I relaxed and walked into town and did some shopping. Did some lunch with incredible fish and chips next to the Lumberjack show in town. I had some friends who did the Disney exclusive 4:45 p.m. lumberjack show and they thought it was great. You can actually walk from the ship (5 minutes) to the lumberjack place and purchase the tickets right there. I think it was $37 for adults and they just ask you if you are on the Disney Wonder if you want the 4:45 p.m. show.
For Tracy Arm-spent the whole day on deck. BBQ on deck up at adult pool and at deck 9 aft. They have built a cover in the front of deck 10 right behind the front of the ship where those windows are so you can stand in there and it is a little more comfortable. They had coffee, hot chocolate, pastry and cookies all day long. In addition, they brought out a cart from Cove Cafe and wheeled it around deck 10 all day serving speciality coffee drinks and such. The Outlook Bar was packed all day and not real convenient for seeking Tracy Arm in my opinion. I just kept walking around deck 10, because the position of the ship is continually changing back and forth, so great views were from all parts of the ship.
The cruise was incredible. In fact, so incredible my parents have asked me to accompany them and my brother and sister-in-law, so I will be doing the very last cruise of the season also!
Also, saw lots of comments at the beginning of the thread about us being out on the ocean going up. Captain Thord tried everything he possibly could to avoid doing that and even tried all the way up to sailaway, but the pilot would not let him. THe first time a ship arrives for the very first time, they will not allow it to go on the inside passage the first time out. Thus, we went out and then came back on the inside passage. Our timing coming back on the inside passage was timed with the currents and thus our schedule got adjusted accordingly. Captain Thord told me that all cruises after ours would be doing the inside passage both ways.
Remember not to just use your viewfinder to see Alaska through your camera lens. You need to take the time to actually look at all the scenery. The camera doesn't do it justice.
Hope that helps!
