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Too many people are taking my post too seriously. No sense of humor. I thought the tongue 'n cheek was obvious with the emoji's, but apparently not. Sorry.
I'll look at Orlando. We are leaning Tampa > Seattle because Tampa's 1 hour, and we get free parking right next to the airport in a very safe and secure fenced in, lighted, and camera monitored lot, and free shuttle to/from the Tampa airport from the Mercedes dealer. They even wash your car the day you return! Nice perk, and the free parking will save ~$200.
Sarcasm is hard on the interwebs.
If you're going to go all that way, I'd give myself a day, or two or three, in Vancouver. It's a beautiful city. We stayed at the Fairmont directly across from the cruise terminal.
Jmo,
From SeaTac, take the lightRail LINK to Seattle. Get to street level. Walk across 4th (towards the stadiums/sound) to Amtrak. Catch the Cascades Train (better than the Cascades bus) to Vancouver Train Station. (Customs into Canada-USA is extremely fast compared to the air terminals). Walk/lyft to cruise terminal.
Seattle hotels for 2019 are over built. Rooms are very competitive priced. Lots of Airbnb. Seattle is a lot of fun and scenic.
Now, that is some great detailed information. Much thx!
If you're going to go all that way, I'd give myself a day, or two or three, in Vancouver. It's a beautiful city. We stayed at the Fairmont directly across from the cruise terminal.
Agreed. We don't want the stress of cutting things too close where if something goes bump, we miss the ship. We were in Vancouver 15 years ago for 2 days on our way out to Vancouver Island (Tofino), and really liked it. I'll check out the Fairmont. Back then, we had a rental car and did the border thing along the highway, and it took a lot of time, and I almost didn't get into Canada on some technicality.
My international friends have goods stolen a lot. souvenirs, cologne, perfumes, clothings, etc.
It happened to me once and that was at Phoenix Sky Harbor.
it's always a gamble on int'l travel because the people who load know you are not coming back soon or ever again.
I normally wouldnt worry about the laptop, but its a $3,500 Mac Pro w/ large screen, and I need to it work while I'm on this trip. I own a small business, so there's some things I cannot delegate. I'm not into the cloud backup computing yet. I worry about the safety/security of that. TSA typically steals smaller things like Rolex watches, jewelry, cash clips, ect. A large MacBook Pro would be hard to walk away with.
You've got everything backed up on a password protected external hard drive that you can leave at home, right?
You're wife is right about Amtrak. I don't know about that specific portion of their tracks, but out west Amtrak trains can be extremely late at times (speaking from experience here) because they share the tracks with the freight trains. The trains can be grungy too. I enjoy taking trips on Amtrak, but if I was on a tight schedule I'd be looking for some other method of transportation.
+1 on at least two full days/nights, maybe three days in V...
And, highly recommend a boat plane flight over to Vancouver Island, see the Butchart Gardens, (easier in a rental car once on the island & solid 3/4 day trip including driving around the island coast), exc restaurants on V, et al.
Fwiw, when we did a med size Princess line cruise out of Vancouver a couple years ago, we stayed in the Fairmount right across from Canada Place, the big ship dock area; slightly pricey but first class and walk able to Gastown, et al.
If you haven't been to V or V Island in that long time, I rec'd making the time in your schedule to do both...it is a long way out to Vancouver and most people don't 'get back' very often from the East coast.
+Another on the border crossing time: they post them online, and via apps, but the lines can range from < 30 mins to hours, depending.
+Another on the rental car drop charge in CDA, unless you got some exc deal.
-We booked several of the land stop 'tours' online vs booking via the ship line's menu, as the online prices are often half of the ship's mark up prices.
-And, nearly every of the usual port stops have dozens of similar to ship's tours 'operators' offering similar to equal 'tours' for less, as one walks down the gangplank...
-Take rain gear: we had days of light to real rain on both of our AK trips.
-I would bet you do a day stop in Skagway: I highly rec'd a junky rental car from Skagway, driving north into the Yukon and back, and then a helicopter ride to one of the glaciers for an hour walk around on the enormous Mendenhall or Muir glacier, via Temsco Helicopters. Yeah, it ain't cheap, but no pockets in that last suit.
-Dunno if you are doing 'Denali', but few ever get to see it as it is cloud covered most of the time. The Denali Park deal is a bus ride in, and we have more wildlife in our mtn house backyard than we saw inland in AK.
-If you are doing a land deal pkg which may/often includes getting dumped off in Whittier, that 'scenic train ride' from Whittier to Denali area is 10+ hrs of some of the most boring window views in North America, imo.
-The ship sounds good, esp size/passengers wise. We have done a few cruises, but the last few have been on 200 passenger Windstar small ships, (450 ft/~200 peeps), and I would not get on a big boat cruise again if it was free. So, that 450 sounds like a decent compromise.
-Park the anxiety and hand wringing and have a good time, give your self some days in V before cruise, and while I can barely tolerate the usual TSA deal also, it is a small part of the 2 weeks+ trip. Pretend it is a boring biz meeting and just smile through it. And, I carry a few thou worth of cam/cam stuff plus a 17" laptop, and have never had a prob with pilferage, fwiw.
GL, mD
I bet the OP is dirt poor and can not afford to fly.... But trying his best to sound like a millionaire.... Kind a like everybody in CA does. Living like one.
And UPS lose stuff to like an urn with ashes.... Or was it fedex???
He does not sound like a well seasoned traveler. Neither am I, fly 12 times a year cross the Atlantic and never had any problems with TSA. On the contrary, They tread you like you tread them.
If you go back to my dead thread called "I may never fly again", there's a detailed explanation of the history behind it. It was jut me, no stopping my wife. She's going to Israel in March, then this Alaska trip in mid to late July.
Thx for the encouraging words.
FWIW I actually found your OP to be entertaining! I liked it.
30,000+ claims of TSA theft from passengers 5 years ago, so now, its likely a lot more. Plus, many people dont file claims because they don't have the time...they are trying to catch a flight, and even it they do file a claim, they will not be made whole. They almost never get their stolen items back.
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And, I carry a few thou worth of cam/cam stuff plus a 17" laptop, and have never had a prob with pilferage, fwiw.
