Sue O

1 - we are first times cruisers and non smokers. How is the smoke on cruises - not only in the rooms but in all the common areas and especially dining. It really bothers us and may make a difference in whether we go or not.<BR><BR>2 - are we better off arranging out own flights rather than getting their fly plan. We will be flying from Boston. If we do is it any hassle arranging transportation to the ship - luggage,etc.?<BR><BR>Thanks for the help! Sue O.

Marvin

I dont know of any cruise ship that allows smoking in a large public areas(dining room, theater,etc.) Not a problem.Its OK to arrange your own transportation but its best to allow plenty of time (extra day) to allow for glitches that would make you miss the sailing. You will also have to haul your luggage of course.

joan

Sue:<BR>Just back from Alaskan cruise on the HAL Veendam...<BR>1. My husband calls me "the nose" 'cause I can smell odors a mile away that he can't smell. I did not notice any smoking smells with the exception of occasional cigar in the lounges. Even my smoking sister was amazed that her inside cabin did not smell like smoke. <BR>2. If you have the time, it's much better IMHO to arrange your own air. We arrived in Anchorage the day before, choosing our own flights. If you let the cruiseline book for you, you may still go the day before, but you won't know about it until 30 days beforehand when they send you your tix, and then you will have to scramble for a hotel room too. You don't say whether you are cruising round trip or one way... We were one way southbound. Arrived in Anchorage a day early, rented a car at airport, drove to a great B&amp;B, next morning took our time driving 3 hrs to Seward, left the car in the cruisedock parking lot (as instructed by the rental car folks). Very convenient and flexible. There are only two car rental companies that rent one way (Hertz and U-Save). Otherwise, you can taxi from the airport and purchase the $50 bus transportation from the Convention Center. I guess it depends on whether you are the independent type or like to be "taken care of". I'm definitely in the first category.<BR><BR>Hope this helps!<BR>Joan

annie

We did this cruise in the opposite direction. It is very fast and easy to get from Vancouver airport to the cruise docks on your own. The bus from Seward to Anchorage was free. the nice thing was that our bus driver gave us a truly fascinating tour and pointed out all sorts of wildlife. I, too, have the nose of a beagle and never once noticed smoke on board.

Oaktown Traveler

Sue:<BR><BR>You will have a great time. The advice and input so far is good.<BR>I implore you to visit<BR> www. Cruisecritic.com if you want to peek at thousands of discussions on your cruise and your specific questions.<BR><BR>I am a true fan of Fodors but we cruise and have found the above site to be invaluable.<BR><BR>Happy Travels<BR>Oaktown<BR><BR><BR>

Joan

Annie must have taken a different cruiseline, because the bus IS NOT FREE. HAL brochures are misleading - complimentary transfers are only available to Vancouver airport. $55 for seward to Anchorage.<BR><BR>P.S. Oaktown is right - Cruise Critic is great, especially a poster named "Budget Queen" - her advice is thorough and right on.

vern

Wife and I took this cruise in July '96<BR>on the WESTERDAM. It too was our first<BR>cruise. We are non-smokers never had any problems.<BR><BR>We flew to Seattle and cruisline provided bus to Vancouver about 4 hrs.<BR><BR>If you are doing your own air travel<BR>go with the day early scenario. Its <BR>a good idea. It would also allow you<BR>to tour Vancouver, if indeed you are<BR>departing from there. It is a beautiful and very clean city. Our <BR>cruise left and returned from there.<BR><BR>3 things I would suggest.<BR><BR>1 - Take an umbrella or some rain gear<BR><BR>2 - Don't book excursions through the<BR> ship. On the docks the exact same<BR> excursions were available for less<BR> $$$.<BR><BR>3 - take a jacket! there will be times<BR> when you will need it on the ship<BR> when your in glacier bay.<BR><BR>also take some binoculars if you have them. We could see bears and other animals on some of the shores but were<BR>so far away they looked T iny. <BR>As I said it was our first cruise and<BR>we enjoyed it very much. So much that<BR>we are leaving on the Crown Princess<BR>July 15 to cruise the Baltic for our<BR>25th Wedding aniversary.

Sharon

Re: Budget Queen<BR><BR>Where do I find some of her posts??? I have read comments of her before but I get lost in cruise critic and have no idea of where to look.<BR><BR>I am very interested in reading some of her posts. Please help!!<BR><BR>Thanks a bunch,<BR><BR>Sharon

chloe

Vern: Advice: See question #3 about problems with Crown Princess and .....call your travel agent. Ship's had engine problems on 3 different trips. Might want to make sure you're going. St. Petersburg is great. Take dollars since credit card machines are iffy.

joan

<BR>Sharon: re Budget Queen <BR>Go to cruisecritic message boards, then choose "ports of call", "Alaska". In there you will see all the threads - click on one with lots of responses ("Ketchikan" is a recent one she has responded to). Then, at the bottom of Budget Queen's response, you will see a symbol for "Profile of this poster". Click on that, and you will see "See other posts by this poster". She has over 1000, so this may take awhile for you to download!!! Also, it shows her email address. She will kindly respond personally, although I have only contacted her directly on the message boards. Also, you can do a search within the Alaska threads for any particular topic. If there's an excursion involved, you can BQ is there helping! <BR>Hope this helps, <BR>Joan

Sharon

To Joan: Thanks! I found her. Cruise critic is somewhat different to navigate around in. I like BQ's style! My kind of traveler,,,,,,,