Trip Report

6 years ago

Well, we're back from our Alaska Cruise and overall it was a nice experience. I had a just a little bit of sea sickness the first day and the last since we were out in open water, but the little watch gadget I previously described did the trick. It's probably just a distraction, but I don't care why it worked. :) The crew and staff were so very polite and pleasant; most of them seemed to be from Indonesia and put on a dance show on one of the last nights that I had to miss--darn. We were astounded at how much storage we were given in our cabin and dh especially appreciated the balcony. All in all, the accommodations were great. The food was delicious and though they didn't serve huge portions, it was still too much and probably too rich for me. I didn't appreciate the constant "opportunities" to buy things, especially jewelry. (Friend told me someone in the know told her the jewelry stores in port are also owned by the cruise lines.)

We visited Ketchikan where we took a little nature walk and observed brown bears eating salmon with bald eagles looking on; Juneau where we took a boat to see humpbacks--one even breached in front of us which was such a thrill!--and visited Mendenhall Glacier (beautiful;) then Skagway where we took a small-gauge train up the side of a mountain--eek!--so hard for me with my fear of heights. The ports were beautifully picturesque as we slipped into port. It's crazy how smoothly and quickly the ship travels.

We spent one full day in Glacier Bay, with a naturalist on board to give a little commentary. According to dh, this was the best day of all and the sights were spectacular. Unfortunately, this was the day I obtained the norovirus, as did sixty of my shipmates. So hubby would run out to the decks then back to me to see how I was doing. The medical center was able to give me something to help the vomiting stop, after which I slept from then on and the next day, with small breaks in between. Four other ships reported noro, (our ship had been cleared of a previous outbreak a couple days before,) and apparently some hotels in Juneau were also reporting cases of the virus. Here it is almost a week later and I'm still tired and taking a daily nap.

I'm glad we went and I so enjoyed having our friends there to share it with us. I'm not sure I'd opt to cruise again though most likely the illness colored my overall feeling for the experience. They certainly have the whole thing well planned and things ran perfectly and without a hitch. I would have liked to have seen the captain who gave us daily updates on schedule, wildlife sightings (one day there were gray whales near the ship,) and virus updates, but we were visiting a different restaurant on the day he gave a toast during dinner. It would have been nice to put a face to the voice I came to know so well. :)

Anyone else want to share their memories of a cruise?

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Comments (5)

bob_cville
6 years ago
Its probably far more than anyone would want to read, but the following is the link to the blog I wrote in conjunction with a month-long voyage around the Caribbean on the Semester-at-Sea ship back in 2011.

https://bobcville.wordpress.com/

My wife was teaching an engineering course on Human-Computer Interaction on the ship, whereas I was basically doing nothing. I adopted the mantra "Just because you are doing nothing, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it well."

I had always thought I wouldn't like being on a cruise, and that may still be true, since this trip was like a cruise in the things that people bring up as postives of being on a cruise, and unlike a cruise in the ways that are usually brought up as negative aspects of a cruise.
sleeperblues
6 years ago
We did that same itinerary about 5 or 6 years ago with my whole family (4 sibs, their kids and spouses and our Mother). Plus we took a long train ride as part of the 10 day cruise and stayed at the Princess lodges in Denali. It will always be one of my best memories! We did and saw all that you did. I remember our first night at the lodge, and it was 1:00 AM and still light out. We had the best time, no seasickness or noro virus.
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More pictures are coming! Casey - a few thoughts about Paris. Walking is an excellent way to get the real flavor of Paris, but don't forget to also take the Metro. DH and I walked some distance to museums, etc. and were very tired by the time we got to our destinations. So take the Metro at times and save your energy for exploring museums, etc. Have a proper map of Paris. We used a map from the hotel but it was a "skeleton" map, not showing all streets. We had a little difficulty finding locations and needed to retrace our steps more than once. And with a proper map, you can "map out" your route to a destination ahead of time. Hopefully it will also include a Metro map. If I went to Paris again, I would learn some French ahead of time. We got by on not much more than "bonjour" and "merci" and people were very nice to us, but I would have enjoyed being able to address people a bit better in the country's language. It also seems the polite thing to do. If you go to the Louvre or any other very large attraction, do some Internet or library research ahead of time to pinpoint what collections, etc. you want to see. The Louvre is huge and pre-planning means that you won't be spending precious time in seeing art works that are of no interest. The next time I go to the Louvre will not be with a tour group, just for that very reason, to see art that is of particular interest to me. Take some toilet tissue along as you are touring Paris. All the restrooms I encountered were well supplied, until I went into a Starbucks to use their facilities. They were out of paper and I was grateful that I had my own supply. Beware of potential theft. There are signs at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower warning of pickpockets. There are people who use different strategies to distract a tourist so that their co-thieves can swoop in and lift a wallet or bag. There were several such attempts on members of our group, but none of the thefts were successful. On one of these attempts, as we walked along, a man approached my DH with a gold ring, supposedly found on the sidewalk. DH knew about the scam so wasn't going to linger with the man. Familiarize yourself from the Internet with the typical scams used, hold your purse in front of your body and keep your wits about you. How long will you be in Paris?
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Elmer J Fudd
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
We did Seward to Vancouver some years ago and enjoyed the route and the stops along the way. In addition to Alaska, over many decades we've taken just under 10 cruises - from LA down to Puerto Vallarta and back, in the Mediterranean several times, the Baltic, West and East Caribbean, elsewhere, and so on.

The cruise industry has changed from when we took our first trip in the early 80s. I'm not a formal or fancy person but the standards of service, food, and overall ambiance have dropped considerably. Back then, want lobster every night for dinner in the dining room? Fine. Oh, we remember, you like your Eggs Benedict a certain way - no problem. Yes, you'd like a BLT for lunch again, with a beer? Great. Etc. Ships were much smaller, service was more professional and personal, and all this left passengers with a shipboard experience that was at least as memorable, or more, as the ports of call. Today, most ships are too big (leading to lines and waiting for most things), impersonal service except for the cabin attendants, mediocre dining room food to push you to the premium restaurants. Fine, except those aren't that great either. And so on.

After a few experiences like that, we drew the line and when we do go (which is occasionally but not regularly), we drift toward the premium lines which are much more expensive but still offer great service and shipboard experiences as was more common in the past. We've taken trips on Azamara and Seabourn and also with smaller operators that can be found most everywhere. We find those much more to their liking. I know that some of these premium lines are owned by the larger operators but their approach and service are run separately and at a higher standard.

If your only option is to take an inexpensive trip on one of the large ships run by one of the mega-operators, by all means, leave home and go, have a great time and gain forever memories of exotic experiences in places you'd never otherwise have seen. If you can afford to spend more, it's worth it to do so.
DawnInCal
6 years ago
We took a 14 day cruise though the Panama Canal in January and had port calls in Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Cartagena, Columbia before ending up in Miami. I enjoyed the cruise immensely and would have been happy had there been no port stops. Great crew, good food, lots to do on board or not and just all around fun. It's currently rated among my top 10 experiences and I look forward to cruising again. Maybe next year!

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise but sorry to read that you were ill part of the time.
jim_1 (Zone 5B)
6 years ago
The missus and I have been married almost 22 years (second time for each of us). During that time, we have completed 429 days of cruising (no river cruises).

In 1999, we sailed from San Francisco on an old Princess ship, 11 days up to Alaska and back. We did sail in the open waters and also the inside passage. It rained in Vancouver, Victoria, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka - we had a blast.

In early June of this year, we completed a 14-day Holland America cruise (1350 passengers) to Alaska. What made this one grand was that we were in ports that most other cruise ships never get to. Homer, Kodiak, Icy Point Strait and we tied up in Anchorage. It too was a great cruise.

Next up, 19 days from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale, we'll stop in a lot of ports where Dawn was and we have been to all but one before. We have no problem staying on the ship if we have been there enough times to just do the ho-hum thing.

So glad that you will have good memories of most of your trip. That sickness thing can happen ashore, too. All one has to go is eat a little something that isn't quite right and you get ill.

Trip Report

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bob_cville

sleeperblues

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Elmer J Fudd

DawnInCal

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

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