Questions for early Alaskan cruisers!

[kelly3kids]

Hello,

Did anyone do an excursion through Alaska Excursions to the Dog Musher Camp in Juneau? or Have you heard any reviews about them?
Thanks

 

[epjenk]

I'm sorry, but I'm still confused about the boarding times. We have a 2:00 boarding time because we wanted to eat lunch in Vancouver before we got on board. If we show up at 1, will we have to wait until 2? Is the arrival time you selected actually enforced in any way?

Also- does anyone know if there is there baggage storage available at the pier or Amtrak? We have a late afternoon train back to seattle after the cruise and not sure what to do with the luggage during that day.

 

[ibouncetoo]

I'm sorry, but I'm still confused about the boarding times. We have a 2:00 boarding time because we wanted to eat lunch in Vancouver before we got on board. If we show up at 1, will we have to wait until 2? Is the arrival time you selected actually enforced in any way?

.

Nope. Show up when you want. Your on line check in time may impact what boarding nuber you get depending on your departure port, but as long as you don't have to be the first on the ship it's not an issue.

.

 

[staffieri]

Hello,

Did anyone do an excursion through Alaska Excursions to the Dog Musher Camp in Juneau? or Have you heard any reviews about them?
Thanks

I read some good stuff about them on Trip Advisor. I have also been so pleased with them on the phone. So helpful. I have worked with Cindy.

We are doing Liarville & Salmon Bake and then going to the Summer Dog sled with them. We booked going at 12:00 and then heading to Dog sled at 3:30
Cost $44 adults $22 Kids Liarsville & Salmon Bake
Cost $109 Adults $89 Kids Summer Musher Dog Sled
Nice thing kids are 12 and Under!!!


I really wish Disney would change their kids age.

Kimbelry

 

[jilljill]

Love to hear about ANY tours you took. Love to have a review of them!!!

Hello,

Did anyone do an excursion through Alaska Excursions to the Dog Musher Camp in Juneau? or Have you heard any reviews about them?
Thanks

Here's the link to the thread with excursion reviews: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2723087

 

[angelkk]

Did they move the semi-formal night? Was it still on Ketchikan night?

Thanks

 

[Diannah]

Did they move the semi-formal night? Was it still on Ketchikan night?

Thanks

Yes. At least for this last cruise they did. It was the final night of the cruise.

 

[Diannah]

What time did you head to check in? How many were in your party?

There were 3 of us, but we were split, since DH had to go back to the airport to park the car. I think we arrived around 12:30 or so. We were never given any boarding numbers. Just followed the lines and walked right on. There was maybe a 15 min wait going through customs, and possibly a 10 min wait to check in and get KTTW cards. Then we pretty much walked right on.

DD and I had to sit in the terminal while DH went to get the car. Right at 10:30 there was a pretty impressive line. By 11:15 or so it was gone. We left there about 1 or so, and there was never much of a line after the initial one.

 

[E&Cmom]

Did they move the semi-formal night? Was it still on Ketchikan night?

Thanks

Just got off the cruise yesterday and it was on the last sea day. It was pretty confusing in the navagator since on ketchikan night the navigator said cruise casual yet inside it said get your semi formal pictures with the characters. We got dressed up that night and the next night I was suprised to see people dressed up. We weren't the only ones either that mixed up that night.

 

[mousemom11]

For those of you who drove and parked at Canada Place, do you drive up to the luggage drop off and then park the car in the garage? Or do you just park in the garage and then take your luggage to the drop off area? And where is the luggage drop off area?

 

[E&Cmom]

For those of you who drove and parked at Canada Place, do you drive up to the luggage drop off and then park the car in the garage? Or do you just park in the garage and then take your luggage to the drop off area? And where is the luggage drop off area?

We drove to the Dropoff, they took our luggage and then we went to park in P1 level. The Luggage level is CS. As soon as we entered the parking lot, the attendent directed us where to go to drop off our luggage.

 

[denise]

We were on the Repo and when we got off at Canada Place we went to get our car rental.
The rental site for Avis is off property. Because there were so many waiting to get their shuttle and all had luggage the driver only took the people who were going to rent the car and then each person would come back for the luggage and family.
Well when my DH came back we of course were on the wrong level. They would not let him come to the level where the shuttle took him from to get us or the luggage. Where we were told to wait for him! He had to park, take an elevator to our level, come get us and all the luggage. We then went back to the elevator and had to wait for one that had room and then on to the level he parked on, load the car and leave. You are only given 8 minutes of free parking! Of course this took longer and we had to pay to park!!! It wasn't cheap either for just minutes of parking. Avis told my husband it was free but forgot to say for 8 minutes. We payed around $4.00 for the time we went over. (which was about 4 minutes if I remember correctly) with foreign exchange fees and other fees...a little more.
I know it seems like no big deal but it was mainly the principle of the whole thing.
Lesson learned: On our next cruise we will go to a parking level with the luggage and wait there for my DH to return with the car....

 

[mousemom11]

We drove to the Dropoff, they took our luggage and then we went to park in P1 level. The Luggage level is CS. As soon as we entered the parking lot, the attendent directed us where to go to drop off our luggage.

Thank you!

 

[kris3kid]

Hello,

Did anyone do an excursion through Alaska Excursions to the Dog Musher Camp in Juneau? or Have you heard any reviews about them?
Thanks

We did this on our cruise May 17th-24th and LOVED it. WWe did the summer camp because it was more in our budget. Many of the dogs have ran the idinarod and you can see how happy they are when you arrive. They are so excited to run and can almost not wait till you get on. A great memory.

 

[WiscBill]

We were on the Repo and when we got off at Canada Place we went to get our car rental.
The rental site for Avis is off property. Because there were so many waiting to get their shuttle and all had luggage the driver only took the people who were going to rent the car and then each person would come back for the luggage and family.
Well when my DH came back we of course were on the wrong level. They would not let him come to the level where the shuttle took him from to get us or the luggage. Where we were told to wait for him! He had to park, take an elevator to our level, come get us and all the luggage. We then went back to the elevator and had to wait for one that had room and then on to the level he parked on, load the car and leave. You are only given 8 minutes of free parking! Of course this took longer and we had to pay to park!!! It wasn't cheap either for just minutes of parking. Avis told my husband it was free but forgot to say for 8 minutes. We payed around $4.00 for the time we went over. (which was about 4 minutes if I remember correctly) with foreign exchange fees and other fees...a little more.
I know it seems like no big deal but it was mainly the principle of the whole thing.
Lesson learned: On our next cruise we will go to a parking level with the luggage and wait there for my DH to return with the car....

Thanks for this info. We are also going to be renting from Avis. Do you remember what the parking level number is that you should wait at with your luggage or will anyone (except the level where the shuttle picks you up) work?

 

[HiMagicFan]

There were 3 of us, but we were split, since DH had to go back to the airport to park the car. I think we arrived around 12:30 or so. We were never given any boarding numbers. Just followed the lines and walked right on. There was maybe a 15 min wait going through customs, and possibly a 10 min wait to check in and get KTTW cards. Then we pretty much walked right on.

DD and I had to sit in the terminal while DH went to get the car. Right at 10:30 there was a pretty impressive line. By 11:15 or so it was gone. We left there about 1 or so, and there was never much of a line after the initial one.

My Mom and Dad are used to just going through and boarding with hardly any wait so wanted this to be a good first impression

 

[EdTreo]

Were here right now and havent had a problem using US currency anywhere. while they will accept they ask don't you want to use a card because you lose about 10% paying in us currency.

Same here almost everyone took US Dollars from taxi cabs to a small merchandise store in Chinatown.

 

[EdTreo]

Trying to get a gauge on if the weather has been warming up on each cruise....we leave in 3 weeks and trying to do some packing..

Weather is pretty unpredictable. We wore light jackets most of the times. my daughter wore short sleeves most of the times. She is 9 and was expecting blizzard like condition with Eskimos and Igloos. LOL!

 

[denise]

Thanks for this info. We are also going to be renting from Avis. Do you remember what the parking level number is that you should wait at with your luggage or will anyone (except the level where the shuttle picks you up) work?

My DH thinks he was 2 floors below where you get off the ship and get your luggage. I would think any level would work though.

 

[Swalkerwoman]

I had called and asked disney if we had to collect our bags or if they will be loaded on the bus and they told me you had to collect your own bags and bring them to the bus.
I think I will get our own transfer as I don't see it as a perk using disney transfer for this cruise

We just got back from our cruise (sailing date May 24th) and we used the Disney transfers. I thought the process was very disorganized, slow and not worth the cost. It seems that the people working for Disney in this process are untrained and not extremely motivated. Perhaps they didn't put enough effort into their training because they will only be leaving from Vancouver this year.

You must collect your own luggage after disembarking the ship and take it to the bus area. They load it for you and we waited almost 45 minutes before we left! The bus then proceeded to the airport but first we stopped in some parking lot where an inspector came on and asked who was flying international and who was flying domestically..They took a count and then gave clearance to the bus driver to go to the terminals. The reasoning that was given was that Vancouver airport likes to control the amount of busses at their terminals. This delay was about another 10 minutes of added time.

In retrospect, I would have used a cab at the port terminal, as they were readily available and would have been cheaper for the three of us.