Bill “Papa” Lee Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 If so what can you tell me...we sail out of Seattle for seven days. Anything you can tell me would be great. The last time I was in Alaska it was in the Army for cold weather training.
Garden Girl Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 Hello Pa Pa... I hear the Alaska cruise is one of the most beautiful... but the weather can be a factor... I think this is a pretty good time to be going... you could go online and check. Regardless, just enjoy yourself on the cruise... GG
strappinglad Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 Don't forget to take hand sanitizer and Lysol spray.
Guest Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 1 hour ago, strappinglad said: Don't forget to take hand sanitizer and Lysol spray. Indeed, on any cruise that is a life support...well at least "vaction support".
Guest Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 1 hour ago, Garden Girl said: Hello Pa Pa... I hear the Alaska cruise is one of the most beautiful... but the weather can be a factor... I think this is a pretty good time to be going... you could go online and check. Regardless, just enjoy yourself on the cruise... GG I hope so, and hope for good weather, as I talked a number of other couples from our Ward to come along. Because of my back I had to pay a lot more for airfare, no layovers...so straight from Atlanta to Seattle. I have always wanted to go back to Alaska to see more of it. The last time I was there was back in 1976 with the Army during Jan and Feb with 30-60 below temps. I saw a lot from the air via helicopter. Now I am hoping the snows are on the mountains and the grass and sun below.
mtomm Posted April 7, 2016 Posted April 7, 2016 I went in June and it was chilly. So dress warm. You should love it.
Tacenda Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 9 hours ago, mtomm said: I went in June and it was chilly. So dress warm. You should love it. Me too. Yes, probably very chilly right now.
saemo Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 (edited) On 4/7/2016 at 11:16 AM, Pa Pa said: If so what can you tell me...we sail out of Seattle for seven days. Anything you can tell me would be great. The last time I was in Alaska it was in the Army for cold weather training. The parentals went last summer with and aunt and uncle. My pop's health isn't so good, he can shuffle around short distances, and so he spent a lot of time in a wheelchair with my elderly auntie pushing him around. lol! They all four had a great time and all of them are over 80yrs. They just wore their usual stuff, and took along a warm jacket. I'm a big proponent of warm headwear, and would take a beanie hat for cool evenings and mornings. My dad was stationed in the Aleutians many decades ago, and doesn't have fond memories of those times. The cruise is in the inner passage, which has much, much, much milder weather than the Aleutians. A relatively warmer current makes the coastal climate up to Juneau (where I suspect your northerly most stop is) similar to coastal NW in the US. It can be nice and warm, but nights will be cool, if not sometimes cold. If it's hot, that would be a weird weather pattern, but is possible. Edited April 8, 2016 by saemo
Stargazer Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 My late wife and I went on three cruises out of Seattle to Alaska. Once with Royal Caribbean and twice with Norwegian. We preferred RC, but Norwegian was fine, too. We loved it! We wanted to do it one last time before she passed away, but her health caught up with us too quickly to do a last cruise. These cruises were beautiful, we had really good weather all three times, and the ship was almost more fun than the ports of call. Note that except for Victoria, BC (if you're stopping there), every single port has a lot of the same kind of tourist shops selling the exact same things -- especially including the jewelry stores. And much of it is, quite frankly, junk. So check the shops out in your first stop, and then you've seen them all. Mostly. Therefore, definitely try to go on a few excursions. At Juneau we took the tour that bused us up to the Meldenhall Glacier, and that was very interesting. Also at Juneau is the tramway up to Mt. Roberts -- we didn't take the tram up there (my wife thought it cost too much and economized by not doing it), but I've heard from those who did take it that it was really nice. As for Victoria, BC, it beats all the other stops all hollow. It's big enough that there are endless things to do there, and the usual tourist trash is less in evidence. You might not do Victoria -- the other non-US stop is usually Vancouver, BC, which we didn't see. If you've never done an ocean cruise before, be forewarned! The food is endlessly plentiful and usually very good! Just for fun, weigh yourself before you go and after you return. Note that while you are on ship you will probably do a lot of walking, since there's no vehicle transport on-board! I think I walked more on the ship than I did in the ports of call! Except for the last cruise, when we walked about ten miles all around Victoria. I was footsore by the time I got back to the ship! Enjoy!
Stargazer Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 On 4/7/2016 at 0:30 PM, mtomm said: I went in June and it was chilly. So dress warm. You should love it. We went twice in May and once in August, and miraculously the weather was fairly warm all three times. 1
Garden Girl Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 One of our best times when we were in Victoria was a visit to Buschart Gardens... absolutely beautiful... and interesting how they got started. If you have any time in Victoria, that might be a side trip you could take... GG
Tacenda Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 1 hour ago, Garden Girl said: One of our best times when we were in Victoria was a visit to Buschart Gardens... absolutely beautiful... and interesting how they got started. If you have any time in Victoria, that might be a side trip you could take... GG I wish I had gone to Butchart Gardens instead of the dumb haunted house excursion we went on. I really wasn't thinking. http://www.butchartgardens.com/ It's 4th in the top ten gardens to visit! 1
Bernard Gui Posted April 11, 2016 Posted April 11, 2016 (edited) Sister Gui and I went last summer with a couple from our ward. It was great. We flew from Seattle to Anchorage, took the train to Seward, and then a Norwegian Cruise ship down the coast to Vancouver. The whole trip was wonderful. We would do it again. Best thing we did to prep was buy good rainproof gear and spend the extra bucks for a room with an outside balcony. The gear saved our bacon on the off-boat activities when it was raining and cold...but it is Alaska, after all. We had some good off-boat excursions, but some were not as good as others. The best were the glaciers and animal tours. We arranged our own excursions to save money. We spent many hours with binoculars and cameras on the balcony as the miles of gorgeous scenery passed slowly by. . Vancouver or Victoria....either one is wonderful, and if you haven't been to Seattle, it has some great things to do, too. The food was indeed good and plentiful. We liked the Norwegian system of open dining. I gained 6 pounds in 9 days. If you have some extra time in Seattle, I would love to take you up to Mt Rainier. Edited April 11, 2016 by Bernard Gui
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