Questions for early Alaskan cruisers!

[HollyTyler]

Alaska cruisers have been asked to not wear jeans to dinner.

From an email I received today:
"Nice dining attire (no jeans or shorts at dinner, please)"

Plenty of people wore jeans. I even saw people wearing track suits, especially if just getting back from an excursion with no time to change.

 

[HollyTyler]

Alaskan king crab was available in one of the lunch buffets in parrot cay as well...

Bummer! I wish I'd known that. I rarely eat lunch onboard, so full from big breakfasts and usually don't get hungry until supper, but definitely would have made room for these!

 

[HollyTyler]

I think with the release of the the new pirate movie, we will see pirate parties on the ships for many years. Lots and lots of play off them. Personally, I haven't ever gotten that into them, but have friends that have taken it the extreme and have a ball!

I'd love to have them continue. Pirate night is our favorite night onboard! But since they were so downplayed on both our last cruises, that's why I was thinking that. On our first 4 cruises, it was really played up. All day during the day, everywhere we went, CMs would say "Make sure you go to the pirate party tonight, but DON'T tell Captain Hook because he's NOT invited!" And the servers used to have pirate outfits, we used to get pirate bandanas at dinner, and I thought there used to be sort of a mini "show" during dinner that the servers would do (but I could be wrong about that part), and there used to be all the cool pirate decorations at the buffet, with carved watermelons and skulls, etc. These last 2 cruises had none of that, except we did get pirate bandanas at dinner on the LA to Vancouver cruise, but none of the other things mentioned above.

 

[HollyTyler]

A couple things I didn't see answered yet:

Goofy's PJ Party and pillow cases -- No, I did not see this offered, unless we missed it, but it's something my son was looking forward to, so I'm sure we would have noticed it if it were offered.

Kids' Talent Show -- Yes, I did see this in the Navigator.

I think people covered everything else asked.

 

[HollyTyler]

One thing I'll add that I didn't see mentioned anywhere. In Skagway we did do the Liarsville Gold Rush Camp, which was wonderful, but something we discovered by accident might be of interest to any of you with kids who are history buffs like mine. Later in the day we came back out to explore the town and discovered by accident the Skagway City Museum. Hopefully this link works: http://www.skagway.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={836575DD-F05C-453D-84CD-B175478E9E72}

It's very small, has 2 rooms, but my 8-yr old son loved, loved, loved it. The price is $2 for adults and free for kids under 12 I think. It's very easy to find. The main street you'll walk down in town is Broadway. Walk a few blocks down to 7th street, turn right, and it's at the end of the street. We were given a scavenger hunt worksheet to do that helped us learn about different things in the museum, then when completed, we were given a prize (a coloring book/activity book about all the different whales of Alaska). Very neat little place!

 

[PBader]

I'd love to have them continue. Pirate night is our favorite night onboard! But since they were so downplayed on both our last cruises, that's why I was thinking that. On our first 4 cruises, it was really played up. All day during the day, everywhere we went, CMs would say "Make sure you go to the pirate party tonight, but DON'T tell Captain Hook because he's NOT invited!" And the servers used to have pirate outfits, we used to get pirate bandanas at dinner, and I thought there used to be sort of a mini "show" during dinner that the servers would do (but I could be wrong about that part), and there used to be all the cool pirate decorations at the buffet, with carved watermelons and skulls, etc. These last 2 cruises had none of that, except we did get pirate bandanas at dinner on the LA to Vancouver cruise, but none of the other things mentioned above.

I would think it was downplayed for Alaska due to the noise on deck. We were on the PC in January and it was in full swing. They probably moved the decorations to it from the storage closet in the Cove to make room for the bbq stuff for Tracy Arm Day. (I am one of those geeks that like to watch--I am amazed at all the storage areas they have and how neat they are!)

 

[brentm3]

May I ask the details of your upgrade? Did you just ask when you checked in?

Another port upgrade story - 11A to 5A for $875. Sooooo glad we did it...Tracy Arm day was icky, but our balcony + room service was perfect.

The people in front of us did an 11C to 6 something for $1000ish.

 

[HollyTyler]

I would think it was downplayed for Alaska due to the noise on deck. We were on the PC in January and it was in full swing. They probably moved the decorations to it from the storage closet in the Cove to make room for the bbq stuff for Tracy Arm Day. (I am one of those geeks that like to watch--I am amazed at all the storage areas they have and how neat they are!)

Well, the noise level on deck for the party was the same as any other one, just the other stuff leading up to it all day was missing. Good point about the decorations, but it seems they could have put them out still on the buffet in Beach Blanket somehow. And it was just as downplayed on the LA to Vancouver. Oh well, maybe it was just a fluke thing. Hopefully it will all be back next time I cruise.

 

[2boys2girls]

I don't know if these questions were answered or not so please forgive me if I am repeating information.

Regarding mosquitoes, we definitely had them with us on our zip lining excursion, but not on the boat. They ones flying around in the forest during the excursion were pretty slow moving still as it's early in the season so we didn't get bites, but if we were to go in summer we'd bring bug spray with us.

I found it cold in the dining rooms during dinner and was especially glad that I brought a warm shawl to wear on formal nights with my sleeveless dresses. Other areas of the ship were very warm. The oceaneers club and lab were warm (one CM said it was freezing the previous week so they cranked the heat). I always found the Walt Disney Theatre to be warm. It was really only the dining rooms that I felt cold in. The temps outside varied greatly. During our stay in port in Juneau we were at the pool and the sun was actually very hot. Same with Ketchikan. But in Tracy Arm and during the pirate deck party once the sun was down we were bundled with scarves and hats. We were glad that we were prepared for the array of tempuratures.

Even though the journey is mostly calm and smooth, it was rough enough at times to cause a bit of seasickness for some in our family. Mostly the first day at sea.

I'm happy to answer any other questions if they have not been answered yet.

 

[sheri117]

Yeah even on the first one when actually IN alaska it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. Scagway was the coolest- we had some rain that day too and we also went up in the moutains and played in snow/etc.
But in Juneau I ended up taking jacket off at the lodge we had lunch at- and in a short sleeved shirt! And I'm a Texan! So that's really saying something. LOL They said it was in the 50's- and usually at home in the 50's I'm pretty bundled up LOL
Ketchikan was cool wherever there was wind (in other words near the ship) but when walking around downtown between the buildings- not so much. I took off my jacket and walked around in thin longsleeved shirt there and kinda got warm in the stores.

That said- it was FREEZING on deck 9 (and downright beyond freezing on deck 10) on most days, especially in evenings when the sun went down and when moving -it's the wind that gets ya. If you sat on the side on deck 9.... in just the right spots- not that cold.... anywhere else "freezing" LOL
They did have blankets in cabinets on deck 9.
Hot chocolate on repo over was hot water with packets- but then they put out a hot chocolate machine for the Alaska cruise. Which was brilliant and so much easier. LOL



It's just inside the port terminal before you walk out. As you walk thru- there are people with signs up saying vancouver shuttle $14pp- they pointed us over (just a few feet away really LOL) to the shuttle desk. We walked up- no line- like 2 mins to pay- and then they told us where to walk out the doors and to the shuttle area which was like about the distance between the drink station and the adult pool area- that short. LOL They said 10min- and apparently meant from that moment. We walked over- stuck some stuff in checked luggage (toiletries we'd kept in room that last night) and there the shuttle was. It took about 20min to get to airport.

You can book ahead of time but when I tried to when I finally got connection to work- it said it was too soon to the date (it was 2 days before) and to call the number. I just decided to wait till we got there. Prior info I'd received was that cc could only be used if done online and if done at the terminal they'd only take cash... this wasn't the case.. they took cc there at the shuttle desk.

Lemme think how many were on the shuttle... I think around 16 with a few empty seats also. It was 5 of us and we got on the first shuttle that came around- even though we weren't paying attention and lots of people got on before us. I mean we walked up and were the only people, showed the guy our ticket and he said it would be a few minutes.. we were putting stuff in checked luggage as I mentioned above and then still sitting there in the chairs and saw people getting in that van/shuttle but didn't think it was for us since the guy didn't say anything. Finally I said is that our shuttle? And the guy said oh are you going to the airport? I said yes and he apologized and said yes it is our shuttle. LOL So he loaded our luggage in the back and away we went. (we had 5 in our family and 9 pieces of luggage btw.... 2 checked size luggage, 5 carry on size, and 2 DCL rolling duffles- you know how you come home with more stuff than you went with LOL)

Oh just more info- the previous info we'd received on the alaska thread was that it has times to choose and even if the time you want isn't available just choose what is available and you can still leave when you want to. I guess this must be true since we didn't even book ahead of time and were off on our way really quickly

Just as a point of reference - we took a taxi (well, actually two because there were 8 of us and 11 pieces of luggage), but it was only about $35/cab to get to the airport. We were going to take the Skytrain, but it would have been very difficult to get our luggage down the stairs to the train, and we didn't see another way to get to the train - no escalator and no elevator to the actual train after you bought your tickets.

 

[mom_rules]

Just as a point of reference - we took a taxi (well, actually two because there were 8 of us and 11 pieces of luggage), but it was only about $35/cab to get to the airport. We were going to take the Skytrain, but it would have been very difficult to get our luggage down the stairs to the train, and we didn't see another way to get to the train - no escalator and no elevator to the actual train after you bought your tickets.

How difficult was it to get taxis? What time could you disembark?

Also wondered if anyone took the skytrain to the airport after the cruise? How long, how much and was it crazy busy?

 

[Cerberus9]

Has anyone posted Daily Navigators from the Alaskan cruises yet? I have a full set that I could scan in if necessary...

 

[Dawncala]

Has anyone posted Daily Navigators from the Alaskan cruises yet? I have a full set that I could scan in if necessary...

All Ears posted a full set from the Inaugrual Cruise. http://allears.net/cruise/alaskanavigators.htm, but I wouldn't mind seeing the set from the May 10 - 17 cruise to see if there are differences. I'm curious to see what movies were playing.

 

[neoavatara]

How difficult was it to get taxis? What time could you disembark?

Also wondered if anyone took the skytrain to the airport after the cruise? How long, how much and was it crazy busy?

I posted this elsewhere, but if you carry your own bags off you can get off as soon as the ship is cleared by Canadian officials...around 8 am, though the line to get off was pretty long.

Taxis seemed to be readily available, and worst case you could ask the information desk to call you one...it would probably show up in five minutes or so.

 

[Cerberus9]

All Ears posted a full set from the Inaugrual Cruise. http://allears.net/cruise/alaskanavigators.htm, but I wouldn't mind seeing the set from the May 10 - 17 cruise to see if there are differences. I'm curious to see what movies were playing.

I did a quick glance through the posted navigators. They're quite similar, with the exception of the performers. On the May 10-17 cruise, we had:
- The Comedy and Magic of Adam Trent (very good show)
- The Physical Comedy of Michael Holly
- The Music and Comedy of John Charles
- The Comedy and Hypnosis of Dale K

The movies that they played were:
- Secretariat
- Mars Needs Moms
- Gnomeo and Juliet
- Cinderella
- Tron - Legacy
- Tangled
- You Again
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Lion King
- I am Number Four
- Aladdin
- Prom
- African Cats
- The Little Mermaid
- Toy Story 3

 

[Dawncala]

I did a quick glance through the posted navigators. They're quite similar, with the exception of the performers. On the May 10-17 cruise, we had:
- The Comedy and Magic of Adam Trent (very good show)
- The Physical Comedy of Michael Holly
- The Music and Comedy of John Charles
- The Comedy and Hypnosis of Dale K

The movies that they played were:
- Secretariat
- Mars Needs Moms
- Gnomeo and Juliet
- Cinderella
- Tron - Legacy
- Tangled
- You Again
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Lion King
- I am Number Four
- Aladdin
- Prom
- African Cats
- The Little Mermaid
- Toy Story 3

Thank you!

 

[Shanonn]

A couple things I didn't see answered yet:

Goofy's PJ Party and pillow cases -- No, I did not see this offered, unless we missed it, but it's something my son was looking forward to, so I'm sure we would have noticed it if it were offered.

Kids' Talent Show -- Yes, I did see this in the Navigator.

I think people covered everything else asked.

They did have Pluto's PJ Party & the kids received pillowcases - I can't remember which night it was offered but they did have it.

 

[WiscBill]

For the Gold and Platinum members, what day and time was this?

 

[poohj80]

They did have Pluto's PJ Party & the kids received pillowcases - I can't remember which night it was offered but they did have it.

I was just looking at the navigators and it appears it is on the first at sea day at 7:15 PM.

 

[HollyTyler]

They did have Pluto's PJ Party & the kids received pillowcases - I can't remember which night it was offered but they did have it.

Bummer! I'm so sad we missed it! Definitely can't tell the kid we just didn't see it. But good to know they still have it, thanks!