When i was a kid, we had a board game that sent cargo ships to foreign ports, and a ship would pick up a cargo and drop one off! I used to know all of the foreign ports where my ships would go, and even now, if i hear "Bolivia", i think of tin, which is the cargo we'd pick up there! I don't remember how the game was won, but i think it was better than geography class in school! And it made me want to travel the world! So, upon hearing that my Uncle Sam would send me off to exotic places, i signed on for one of his cruises! Of course, i had to go thru some indoctrination before setting out! Uncle warned me that there were some "unfriendlies" out there, maybe i'd better brush up on my gun handling and shooting, maybe learn how to dig holes in the ground, and he told me i might have to do some long walks, so i got used to that too! Any way, after the training, i joined a large group of fellows who were going on the cruise offered by Uncle Sam! I never thought there were so many guys interested in traveling the world! Oh, we sailed the briny deep for a week or more, then had to stop in Liverpool, England, to take in fresh supplies! While waiting for that, we boarded a nice passenger train and went thru England, south, to Warminster and Trowbridge, and then into a nice hotel there! (The main hotel was full, so we used some large tents instead!) Later we toured Bournemouth, and Southampton. We got to see a different type of ship there, and while we were on it inspecting it, the ship pulled out, with us all on it! WHOA!! We didn't expect that! And the next thing we knew, the sky was filled with the most fireworks any of us had seen in our lifetimes! I think the Captain of the ship was angry with us--he had us dumped off onto a beach filled with blown up tanks, ships, trucks---WHAAAT?? Soon, trucks came and took us to a large wooded area where they gave us firearms and ammunition, new clothes, a blanket, a gas mask, and new boots and a steel helmet! And, then, we got to where the other people were shooting at us!! In spite of all this, i did manage to walk most all the way across France! Well, sooner or later most everybody either got killed or wounded, or went nuts, but, like Uncle said, it would be like this, so don't complain! I managed to get wounded badly by a German land mine, so that ended my cruise, and Uncle managed to find a boat to have me sent home! And, i have never wanted to go on a cruise ever again!! It would be o.k., as long as the boat didn't leave the dock! And, if i could keep one foot on shore! (Some wag told me to leave my wooden leg on shore, and i could go!) by: Rustyj

We did a land and cruise trip on Princess Sapphire. We did the whole trip through them but honestly, we could have easily did the land part ourselves. The did a good job, though. We did the land part first and I liked doing that way. They had us flying into Anchorage late one day and leaving the next morning on the land tour. We flew in a day early so we had an extra day and a half there. We took a train to Denali, that was fun. There are a couple of tours on Denali State Park, one goes much further into the park then the other. The one we took started early in the morning and lasted about 12 hours. It was great. Try to get a seat on the left side of the bus, it has better views. We saw lots of animals. We also got lucky and Denali was completely out, it's so often covered with clouds. On the boat we had a mini suite. Our kids (ages 21 and 16) shared an inside cabin down the hall. Having the suite was helpful with 4 people. I suggest at least getting a balcony but you will have a good time even if you get an inside room. We really loved Glacier Bay, the boat spent all day there. Not all boats go there, I recommend it. In Skagway we rented a car (reserve in advance) and drove ourselves into the Yukon. It was so much cheaper then having someone else drive you and the road was fine. I recommend doing this, with your own car you can stop and go as you please. Take plenty of warm clothes but also take some lighter clothes. We had a couple of days in the 70's on land but a couple of days on the boat were cold. I was fine with a winter coat, hat, and gloves. I also like the anytime dining option that Princess has. We could eat anytime we liked. We could make reservations or just walk in. We never had a long wait if we didn't have a reservation.

Hi Stacy Lucky you! We went on Norweigan and the thing I like about Norwegian is there are no dress up nights. I hate that! We flew to Vancouver and boarded; were on a week and it was just wonderful. The shore excursions can be expensive, but that's just part of it. I don't know what it cost b/c it was a present from DD#2. You will at least want a room w/ a window. It's kinda chilly to really enjoy the balconies, but they are nice. I had a friend that had been and she told me exactly what to take, and that's what I did. You don't need many clothes--you're not going to sweat, so stuff won't get dirty. Good walking shoes, some kind of hat, gloves, etc. We only used big coats when we went to Sawyer Glacier. The weather the rest of the time was very pleasant. They say it always rains, but it didn't rain at all when we were there. I hope you've checked prices on line as well as w/ an agent. That sounds high to me. Enjoy, enjoy. I'd like to go back some day.

Oh yes, the towel animals were one of the best parts of our cruise too! Our cabin steward, Alf, left one every night after turning down our bed and tidying up. I put them on our window sill where I had a zoo going and Alf would leave them there until there were too many to fit and then he'd take them away. I was very disappointed that Alf didn't leave a towel animal on the last night of our cruise. About an hour later, hubby pointed at one of the upper cabinets and said, "Look!" I couldn't believe that it took so long for one of us to notice it!