Cruise West in Alaska
Jun 2nd, 2010, 02:43 PM
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I am surprsed that no one has said anything about cruise west yet ...
Small ship experience ... key word is small. It won't be like any of the mass market ships. You get to see and go plces that the other ships will not go near.
Be prepared with motion sickness cures even if think you are good. The ship will definitely pitch much more than the mass market big ships. If you have travelled on a smaller ship in open water, you will know what I mean.
Crusie West is fine and teh experience is nothing like the big ships. You will see lots of wild life so be preapred. Also, dress in layers even in warm weather, it will be windy.
Small ship experience ... key word is small. It won't be like any of the mass market ships. You get to see and go plces that the other ships will not go near.
Be prepared with motion sickness cures even if think you are good. The ship will definitely pitch much more than the mass market big ships. If you have travelled on a smaller ship in open water, you will know what I mean.
Crusie West is fine and teh experience is nothing like the big ships. You will see lots of wild life so be preapred. Also, dress in layers even in warm weather, it will be windy.
Jun 4th, 2010, 12:58 PM
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It was a few years back. On 7 days inside passage Juneau round trip, they offer 2 ships, Yorktown and Endeavour. Yorktown has gone through a reno in 2007, and Endeavour is slightly smaller (50 cabins?)
It will be an "expedition" rather than a luxury cruise. The food is good, service friendly. The whole set up is very casual and relaxed. Sweat shirts and jeans the whole time. Best area for viewing is the Sun deck (top open deck) or the bow observation lounge (indoor). If you are going to be on he open deck much, make sure you dress warm as the wind will get to you. Neck warmers and hoodies are good. Water proof jacket is a must.
Cabins are small but you don't spend time there anyway. There isn't much shipboard activities. They had a naturist on board and wasvery knowledgable.
I am not sure what the itinerary is now. But I love both the Glacier Bay and Sitka. With the small ship, you will see palces that the big ships won't get near, example: Peril Strait & Sergius Narrows by Sitka.
If you are a photography, make sure you carry both a superwide (10-12) and a 300+ tele.(I am talking about digitals with 1.6x) Superwide for the scenery and the tele for the wide life. I carried a 18-200 last time and I regretted it. Not wide enough and not long enough. Missed a lot of good shots.
You will see a lot of wild life, bald eagles, whales, otters, seals, sea lions, dears, bears etc.
How much are they charging now? about $4000 for the 7 days?
Eveyrthing is incldued so no extra tipping is required or expected.
It will be an "expedition" rather than a luxury cruise. The food is good, service friendly. The whole set up is very casual and relaxed. Sweat shirts and jeans the whole time. Best area for viewing is the Sun deck (top open deck) or the bow observation lounge (indoor). If you are going to be on he open deck much, make sure you dress warm as the wind will get to you. Neck warmers and hoodies are good. Water proof jacket is a must.
Cabins are small but you don't spend time there anyway. There isn't much shipboard activities. They had a naturist on board and wasvery knowledgable.
I am not sure what the itinerary is now. But I love both the Glacier Bay and Sitka. With the small ship, you will see palces that the big ships won't get near, example: Peril Strait & Sergius Narrows by Sitka.
If you are a photography, make sure you carry both a superwide (10-12) and a 300+ tele.(I am talking about digitals with 1.6x) Superwide for the scenery and the tele for the wide life. I carried a 18-200 last time and I regretted it. Not wide enough and not long enough. Missed a lot of good shots.
You will see a lot of wild life, bald eagles, whales, otters, seals, sea lions, dears, bears etc.
How much are they charging now? about $4000 for the 7 days?
Eveyrthing is incldued so no extra tipping is required or expected.
Jun 5th, 2010, 06:35 AM
#5
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HI - The cost per person is $5100! (We leave on July 14th.) However, we won this trip at an auction and are paying $2600 total for both of us in an AA cabin. We consider ourselves very lucky. We are not interested in a luxury cruise (i.e., "big ship").
Do you think rain pants are necessary?
Yes, we go to Glacier Bay and Sitka. We also go to Icy Strait, Petersburg, Wrangell Island and Narrows, Tracy Arm and Frederick Sound.
Do you think rain pants are necessary?
Yes, we go to Glacier Bay and Sitka. We also go to Icy Strait, Petersburg, Wrangell Island and Narrows, Tracy Arm and Frederick Sound.
Jun 7th, 2010, 11:02 AM
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You get a steal of a price, I am jealous now. If you are on the Spirits of Endeavour, there is no inside cabin. AA are on the top deck and lounge deck rear.
Best viewing will be at the Bow obervation area in front of the explorer's lounge. As I have said before, it will be windy outside, especially at the bow. We spent hours out there and we dressed appropriately. The Sun deck will be sheltered a bit by the bridge and have better all around viewing. Either way, the view is spectacular.
I don't think rain pants is needed. I didn't have mine. It usually only drizzle but it did poured every once in a while.
When that happens, I used my emergency rain pants - a garbage bag tied around the waist
More important than rain pants is comfortable shoes, waterproof would be better. I cannot stress the importance of layers in clothing enough.
Your itinarary looks interesting. Petersburg, Wrangell Island is not places that the mass market ships can navigate.
Tracy Arms is one big Glacier. There should be quite a few "icebergs" floating around. With a small boat, you should be able to get up close. Becasue of size, the large ship may not want to risk hitting the floaties and get too clsoe or even get up there at all.
Wrangell is a small palce. Poulation maybe 3000. Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park and Glaciers on the Stikine River are worth seeing.
Petersburg is a very small fishing village with an unique Norwegian heritage, it's pretty clsoe to Frederick Sound.
Good luck onyour trip!
Best viewing will be at the Bow obervation area in front of the explorer's lounge. As I have said before, it will be windy outside, especially at the bow. We spent hours out there and we dressed appropriately. The Sun deck will be sheltered a bit by the bridge and have better all around viewing. Either way, the view is spectacular.
I don't think rain pants is needed. I didn't have mine. It usually only drizzle but it did poured every once in a while.
When that happens, I used my emergency rain pants - a garbage bag tied around the waist
More important than rain pants is comfortable shoes, waterproof would be better. I cannot stress the importance of layers in clothing enough.
Your itinarary looks interesting. Petersburg, Wrangell Island is not places that the mass market ships can navigate.
Tracy Arms is one big Glacier. There should be quite a few "icebergs" floating around. With a small boat, you should be able to get up close. Becasue of size, the large ship may not want to risk hitting the floaties and get too clsoe or even get up there at all.
Wrangell is a small palce. Poulation maybe 3000. Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park and Glaciers on the Stikine River are worth seeing.
Petersburg is a very small fishing village with an unique Norwegian heritage, it's pretty clsoe to Frederick Sound.
Good luck onyour trip!
Jun 7th, 2010, 01:44 PM
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Thanks again eschew.
How are the bathrooms on this ship? Any room to put
"stuff" on a shelf? Is there a shelf?!
Ah - the old garbage bag around the waist solution. Maybe we'll do this, if need be. Rather not spend extra $$ on rain pants which we'll use just for this trip.
Did you do any of the shore excursions they sell? If so, what were your feelings about them (good, fair, bad)? I'm trying to see if paying for the same type of thing on our own when we get to certain ports, would be a savings. So far it doesn't seem so.
How are the bathrooms on this ship? Any room to put
"stuff" on a shelf? Is there a shelf?!
Ah - the old garbage bag around the waist solution. Maybe we'll do this, if need be. Rather not spend extra $$ on rain pants which we'll use just for this trip.
Did you do any of the shore excursions they sell? If so, what were your feelings about them (good, fair, bad)? I'm trying to see if paying for the same type of thing on our own when we get to certain ports, would be a savings. So far it doesn't seem so.
Jun 7th, 2010, 04:20 PM
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The cabin is about 8 by 12 (give or take a foot here or there). This space will have 2 beds, a desk and a chair, a bathroom and a small closet. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how tight the space is. For the bathroom, you have a small wash basin, a shower and a tolet cramped in a tight space between the shower and the wash basin. The closet is more like a 12" deep book case with doors. However, it is all the way from the floor to the ceiling.
Go measure the space out your garage as the whole cabin will fit in there with lots of room to spare if you have a 2 car garage.
The standard shore excursions are included unless you want to take the optional excursions and go elsewhere. if this is your first trip to Alaska, just take the standard ones unless there are special optional excursions that you want to take.
Based on what your itinary, you have 3 ports of call (Sitka, Petersberg and Wrangell) so I am guessing that they will take you to see some local performances and local sights.
For Alaska, the sights are at sea and not on land anyway unless you are interested in the historic stuff. With Cruise West, wild life and natural scenaries are the big thing.
I am serious about motion sickness preparation. Better be prepared than sorry.
As to rain gears, go buy rain ponchos at your local dollar stores. The small folding ones. Buy a handfull of these as they do not take up much space. I have a waterproof jacket for the light drizzle and have the single use ponchos for the heavier stuff. You can single use them or re-fold them after drying.
I have some pictures posted on webshots. However, I have not posted any new ones there for awhile as they have added video ads. I don't mind the panel ads on the side but video ads are annoying.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/570808260xIpXIT
Feel free to comment.
Go measure the space out your garage as the whole cabin will fit in there with lots of room to spare if you have a 2 car garage.
The standard shore excursions are included unless you want to take the optional excursions and go elsewhere. if this is your first trip to Alaska, just take the standard ones unless there are special optional excursions that you want to take.
Based on what your itinary, you have 3 ports of call (Sitka, Petersberg and Wrangell) so I am guessing that they will take you to see some local performances and local sights.
For Alaska, the sights are at sea and not on land anyway unless you are interested in the historic stuff. With Cruise West, wild life and natural scenaries are the big thing.
I am serious about motion sickness preparation. Better be prepared than sorry.
As to rain gears, go buy rain ponchos at your local dollar stores. The small folding ones. Buy a handfull of these as they do not take up much space. I have a waterproof jacket for the light drizzle and have the single use ponchos for the heavier stuff. You can single use them or re-fold them after drying.
I have some pictures posted on webshots. However, I have not posted any new ones there for awhile as they have added video ads. I don't mind the panel ads on the side but video ads are annoying.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/570808260xIpXIT
Feel free to comment.
