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It’s called an Alaskan inner passage cruise.
We have only been on a few cruises and this was the best one.
I never knew that there were hundreds of islands tucked among the mountains in this area.
The mountainous islands were everywhere and I think they helped keep the water calm.
The salmon run picture was a 5 minute walk from the boat in downtown Ketchikan.
The cruise was reasonably priced at $530 for 7 nights 8 days per person for a nice room with a balcony.
After all the add ones like internet, non alcohol drinks, a day whale watching, simple gift shopping and parking (@$200 ) it was about $1,800 for the two of us.
I will be walking away from this tomorrow satisfied.
It's not something I've done very much, nor planning to do a lot in the future.
But I want to see Norway's fjords... and what better way to see them than from the water?
One of my favorite cruises was the Norwegian fjords. The scenery is spectacular. I slept less on that cruise than any other vacation:. It was light out 22 hours a day. I simply couldn't close my eyes when I was laying in bed looking out the balcony window.
The ports were mostly boring, and good and drink costs were atrocious.
I love to cruise and almost booked one 6 months ago for Spring break in March out of New York. Glad I changed my mind! I know it's hard to say what the future holds with this pandemic, but I'm curious how many of you will still plan to cruise once this is all over and hopefully back to normal? Has this pandemic and the way cruise lines handled the situation changed your mind on cruising in the future?
We just returned from an excellent 9 day Greek Island cruise (with two stops in Turkey) on NCL. The Covid issues were very minimal.
Masks were not required and despite repeated warnings that you might need proof of vaccination, no one ever asked for it.
The cruise departed from Athens Greece. A negative covid test was needed, but our hotel did the testing for 30 euro's each and we had results within 30 minutes or so. The US did not require Covid testing for the return flight.
We just returned from an excellent 9 day Greek Island cruise (with two stops in Turkey) on NCL. The Covid issues were very minimal.
Masks were not required and despite repeated warnings that you might need proof of vaccination, no one ever asked for it.
The cruise departed from Athens Greece. A negative covid test was needed, but our hotel did the testing for 30 euro's each and we had results within 30 minutes or so. The US did not require Covid testing for the return flight.
As an FYI to others, NCL announced a few weeks ago that it is doing away with the pre-embarkation, negative Covid test requirement for all vaccinated passengers as of this Saturday, Sept. 3rd.
Sadly, I probably won't so it's a good thing I've gone on a few cruises yrs ago. I wish I still could, but I don't know...I don't even know about flying. I just wish my SO & I had gone on a few cruises together. He's never been on one.
Heck, I feel that way about going to a sporting event or live theatre too. You're sitting there for 2+ hrs being crammed in there like sardines at those venues. Again, good thing I've gone to quite a lot of musicals, ice, shows, pro tennis matches, etc. in the past.
My mom thinks cruising is worse than flying (re: the chances of catchign COVID). I think it's all about the same.
I took two cruises last fall; one from Athens to Barcelona at the end of October, and then a Caribbean cruise to the ABC islands during the week of Thanksgiving. I also have two cruises booked for this year, both of which are transatlantic crossings. In April, we're taking an eastbound TA from Florida to Barcelona, and then in November we're taking a westbound TA from Barcelona back to Ft. Lauderdale.
I was looking forward to cruising again once Covid was diminished.
For some reason though, we just can't seem to book one yet. Just not "feeling it".
Maybe in 2024...
Sounds like a plan.
I just got back from a cruise. It will probably be my last for a while (other than a river cruise I’ve already booked). According to the staff we talked to, the boat was at the highest capacity it had been at for a while and they did not have enough employees. Some of the ports were absolutely insane because all the new mega ships were there. We chatted with the maitre d’ a lot and he told us that only some ports have limited the number of boats in, but he expected that it would increase as the boat size continues to get bigger. We did one excursion and were basically sprinting to get back on the boat before it was supposed to leave. It was not supposed to take nearly that long, but the lines to get into the attraction were like nothing they’d ever seen before. I had two friends and my parents (all Floridians) who went on a cruise in January and none of them had any complaints about the crowding on the ships, so I think this was the first month that people were really booking after the vaccination/testing requirements were dropped.
At any rate, out of the six of us, my dad was the only one who didn’t catch something. My sister got COVID. My mom and I got norovirus, and I think everyone but my sister and dad got some other respiratory infection as our COVID tests repeatedly came back negative. Luckily this was all at the end of the cruise or after. My mom and I got the expedited quarantine exit with all the COVID folks, yet somehow we didn’t seem to get it. It seemed like the elevators were the big culprit and I just used the stairs the entire time (super tiring to go up 10 floors, but you do what you have to do). This was the first cruise I’ve been on since the vaccination requirements were lifted. Although the test requirements were lifted on my last one, it was literally the 2nd day when we got on the cruise and we had already ordered the test kits. FWIW, a friend’s mom went on a cruise in February as well and ended up getting COVID and having to stick around places for people to be medically evacuated, so it seems like things are just getting insane now.
I have been on three 7+ day cruises in three months and have not experienced any health issues.
Yes, the ships have been pretty full. However, on Celebrity and on Holland America, the ships have been adequately staffed and the staff quite helpful.
Norwegian was a completely different experience. 4400 souls on a ship that was built for 4025 and short about 125 employees. Of course when you see how supervisors treat their employees, you see why most of the staff was not very happy. What added to the problems on the Norwegian Epic is that the theatre and most of the entertainment venues on the ship are about the same size as ships with 1000 fewer people.
I have been on three 7+ day cruises in three months and have not experienced any health issues.
Yes, the ships have been pretty full. However, on Celebrity and on Holland America, the ships have been adequately staffed and the staff quite helpful.
Norwegian was a completely different experience. 4400 souls on a ship that was built for 4025 and short about 125 employees. Of course when you see how supervisors treat their employees, you see why most of the staff was not very happy. What added to the problems on the Norwegian Epic is that the theatre and most of the entertainment venues on the ship are about the same size as ships with 1000 fewer people.
I went on a Princess last time. It was to the point where you might almost be at the end of your meal before someone would come by with drink service in the buffet. They don’t have good self-serve drink stations either. I came in one time just wanting some ice water after taking a walk out on deck and I literally had to flag someone down at the buffet for it instead of just walking over to a drink station to get it. There are a lot of little things they could have done to make things better. The lack of drink stations has always annoyed me on Princess, but it seemed even worse this time with the limited staffing.
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) it was about $1,800 for the two of us.
