Don't go too late in the year. We took HA on a small ship on the last day cruises were offered. HUGE mistake. Because HA has to go around the outside of Vancouver Island, rather than starting within the Strait @ Vancouver as the other cruise lines do, bad weather can be a real problem. It was the end of September, and we ran into a storm. Very impressive seeing 20-ft waves hit the ship, LOL. They had to turn the boat around so we ended up losing 2.5 days, having to backtrack around Vancouver Island and start all over again heading north through the Straits. The ship never made its final 2 stops, they had to cut it short before reaching Sitka :(( Note it can be rainy in summer, so check the weather forecasts regularly. There was absolutely NO insistence on formal dress even in the main dining room. Although many folks did dress up on the final evening dinner, a sizable number did not bother at all, coming in tee shirts and tennies at every meal. We personally thought the food was okay but not great. Lots of quantity but the quality was more on level with a chain steakhouse. The upscale extra-cost restaurant wasn't much better - we actually preferred the food in the main dining room. The service is always impeccable, everywhere. We found the cruise people push a lot of jewelry on the ship and the stores nearest the port seem to be 2/3 jewelry stores. A friend of ours picked up the most delightful pendant ever, a beautifully carved pendant of a tiny polar bear on a swing! Remember that peak season for whale-watching is May - October. We obviously had a bad-luck fairy on our Alaskan cruise, as the whale watching excursion was pretty much a waste of money. We did see an orca calf - did you know they are a pinkish-orange color? - but that and a few far-off spouts were about it. Ironically, there are a number of companies on Vancouver Island that offer whale-watching tours. Our friends flew in to meet us after we got off the cruise ship, and a week later we all drove to Victoria BC. This was their first visit ever to the Pacific NW so we wanted to show them around. I had reserved the half-day tour from a local company, as I knew they would enjoy the scenery and sea air even if we didn't see many whales. Wouldn't you know it - we saw whales every few minutes! They swam so near the boat we could count individual barnacles. They splashed out of the water and spyhopped as if they were posing for photos! More orcas, and some dolphins leaped by as well. We've been on 3 whale watching tours, but this was by far the luckiest. You can just never really tell if they're going to be around the surface when your boat is nearby. But it's thrilling when you're in the right place at the right time. Good luck on your cruise!

I am surprised that you were disappointed with the wildlife in the Galapagos, mntnrd. That really is too bad. Were you on a cruise there? When we did our one week cruise several years ago we were amazed at the wide variety of wildlife that we saw, and how it so vastly differed on each island we visited. It was the only place I ever visited that made me look like a "good" photographer, because all of the wildlife was so close and unafraid that the animals didn't move when I came up close for a photo op. I don't know anyone who did an Amazon cruise, but I do know someone who took an Amazon adventure trip (kayaking and the like). She loved it, but I was a little put off by all the pre-trip vaccines she had to get.

Daisy, this is my second cruise this year. The first cruise back in March was to the Western Caribbean. I’ve never had any desire to go to the Western Caribbean. And I went to Alaska on a cruise 10 years ago. I’m going more for just being able to get out and travel than I am for the destination. I have a credit with Princess left over from a Panama Canal cruise that was scheduled for May 2020 that got canceled. I have to use it by 12/31/22. If I can find someone to go with me, I’ll take a 3rd cruise this year! Now that I don’t have DH to go with me, my destinations are somewhat set by who I can tag along with. I’ve thought about traveling solo, but I just think it would be disheartening not to be able to share what I’m seeing with someone. I’ve never cruised the Baltic but I’ve been to the Baltic countries. I did a quick peek at Oceania’s Baltic itineraries. Looks like there are some fantastic things to see and do! Be glad you weren’t on this Carnival trip. https://www.dailywire.com/news/threesome-allegation-sparks-five-story-cruise-ship-brawl-coast-guard-gets-involved I don’t think there has ever been a snowball’s chance in hell of my getting on a Carnival cruise and this pretty much cinches it!

I have been on HAL to Alaska twice, once in September 2011 when we did the cruisetour and again last July when we just did the cruise. If you aren’t in Club Orange, look into it. We loved it. We saw very little wildlife on the September cruisetour. By that time most of the animals have migrated. The 2011 cruise ended in Seward. We were bussed to Anchorage where we spent the night. I don’t recall the hotel. The next morning, we got on the train for Denali. We were only in the park for one night and about half of the next day. The hotel in Denali is perfectly nice, but nothing special. The only place to eat within walking distance was a dinner theater. In the ensuing 12 years, things may be quite different. From Denali, our train trip continued to Fairbanks. We flew home from Fairbanks the next day. If you go to Ketchikan, look at the oyster farm excursion. I liked seeing how oysters are farmed. I’ve looked back at my speadsheet for the cruise last July.. The attire for an Alaska cruise is much more relaxed than cruises to other destinations. I wore jeans on the ship every day. I had a pair of navy dress slacks for the 2 dressy evenings that I wore with a dressy jacket one evening and a dressy top the other evening. The other evenings, I wore dark jeans with nice tops. For layering, I took a quarter-zip fleece, a merino wool cardigan, an ultra-light down jacket that fits into a stuff sack, a cashmere scarf, a knit hat, and merino wool socks. I don’t recall whether or not I took a set of long underwear. If I took it, I’m fairly sure I did not wear it. I also had gloves that I could wear while using my phone to take pictures. On the day we were in Glacier Bay, I wore all of the outerwear listed above. Yes, I looked like the Michelin tire man! For rain, I brought a poncho that would fit over a backpack. It was fairly cheap ($20-ish) from AMZ. I thought I would get one trip out of it, but it is still going strong. I wore it in Italy earlier this month. While you are in Vancouver, will you have time to take a day trip to Butchart Gardens? It is one of my favorite spots to visit. We stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront before a West Coast cruise in 2019. It was great. IIRC, the hotel bellmen will get your bags to the cruise terminal. Prior to the 2011 Alaska cruise, we stayed at The Sutton Place Hotel. It was very nice and well-located. Last year, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency. Allow plenty of time to get through immigration at the Vancouver airport. Anchorage to the lower 48 is like a flight to Europe. It is much longer than you think it will be. Our longest leg was Anchorage to Minneapolis. IIRC, it was about 6 hours.