Eph60

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When to cruise Alaska is a question that is asked frequently. The truth is this is a question that is hard to answer because every month in Alaska is different during the cruise season. I will try to help with this question but keep in mind Mother Nature does what she wants. May is considered the driest month to be in Alaska. The temperatures on average will be in the 60's. Daylight will be anywhere from 16 to 19 hours long as the month goes on. There will still be snow on the ground in many places. If you want to see waterfalls this is a great month due to the snow melt. They will be everywhere. The start of the month the trees will be bare but with the long days they will sprout leaves very quickly, in fact within a day or two. The animal life will be limited because bears and such will just be starting to come out from the winter. June will start out dry but by mid month the rain will start to come in and when the rain starts in Alaska it will be a long time before it stops. The temperatures will get into the mid to high 70's. The trees and flowers will be in full bloom. Wildlife will be very active. The salmon will start running about the third week of June. Daylight will hit 24 hours during this month. For those that have never experienced it, that much daylight can get confusing when trying to tell time. July will be pretty much rain the whole month. There will be very little dry days during this month. When I worked in Alaska I think we had three dry days during July the year before they had 5 dry days, in otherwords make sure you have rain gear.. Temperatures can hit in the high 70's to low 80's. There will be a lot of wildlife both on land and sea. The salmon will be running full in the start of the month. July is peak season and when I worked at the lodges we got a lot of complaints because people did not expect all the rain and clouds. August will start out with rain but dry out a couple weeks into the month. The sun will start to drop quickly every day. By the end of the third week the chances of seeing the norhhern lights will increase. By the end of August leaves will start to change colors. The bad thing about the color change is that the majority of colors will just be yellow with an occasional red thrown in. Temperatures will get down to low 60's and many more days down into the 50's. Whales will start to head south but will still be in the area. September the final month of cruising. This month will be fairly dry but the sun will go down more quickly and it will also start getting much colder. There may be mornings with frost on the ground. The chance to see norhtern lights will be much improved. You may even see snow. There will still be some wildlife and some whales but the whales will be thinning out. The best part of September is for the shoppers. Shops will have a lot of sales before they close up for the season. I hope this helps some in your planning but remember that Mother Nature does what she wants.

There is a reason they call the eagle the pigeons of Alaska. That reason is the fact that eagles are considered a very lazy bird. The eagle is a scavenger. It will pick the easiest meal it can find. Eagles like to be around low tide because there will be some small pools with fish stuck in them and that makes them easy meals for eagles. A bald eagle is actually totally black or brown when born. It will not get its white head until it reaches adulthood. They are a beautiful bird and Alaska has more then anywhere else in the world but they are a scavenger and not a bird of prey.

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Sitka Alaska is not on most cruise routes but some of the cruise ships do go there. When Alaska was still under Russian control Sitda was the capital of Alaska. Many of the buildings here were built under Russian influance. Sitka is another of the small ports and you will tender into this port from the cruise ships. There was talk of building a pier for cruise ships but I find nothing to show it has been built. There is still a lot of Russian history shown in this town. Many tours will stop for a show of the history and the Russian dance. The town itself is easy to walk with the exception of the hills. It is an enjoyable walk. There are many sea tours here. On these tours you may see whales but you will see a lot of sea otters and along the shorelines of the different islands you have a good chance of seeing bears. Sitka does have some nice parks and in these parks many times you will see musical events going on. I enjoy going to Sitka. It is a beautiful place to see.

The new canal will allow some of the larger cruise ships to go through the canal. I have been through the Panama Canal several times and find it facinating. I guess I will have to go back and see the new path someday.

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JohnG I have been on several Carnival cruise ships that had the topless deck. The funny thing was there were more men up there trying to see something then there were woman LOL.It was funny watching the men come walking down the steps with a disappointed look on their face.

Welcome to the board!

Welcome to the board!

Everyone knows that the passengers do a muster drill at the start of a cruise. For the crew it is different. The crew does the passenger muster drill but they also must do several other drills every week. The crew usually does at least three drills a week. The crew is allowed to miss one drill a month to keep areas on the ship staffed for passengers. Some of the crew muster drills actually do have the crew completely leave the ship, these are not as often. When a crewmember boards the ship for the first time most crewmembers are assigned a specific area and job for the drills. There are more crew then needed in specific areas so the remainder of the crew are assigned as fill in personel. The fill in personel go to a specific area and as some areas are now short handed due to crewmembers working or in the case of an emergancy, unable to work their station, they are pulled to fill in the short handed area. The extra crew are also used for assisting handicaped passengers to get to their muster stations. Some crew have volunteered to be on the fire staff, even though all crew members have been trained in basic fire fighting. Some crew have volunteered to be first responder medical team. These crewmembers do get a lot of additional training. These crew members also do not get as much time off the ship as other crew because they must be on the ship in case of an emergancy does come up at anytime. Passengers basically take a look at the sign on their room door and go to their muster station once. The crew must fill out paperwork and learn multiple ways to get to the muster stations from their stateroom and work areas. They are also expected to be able to get to their muster station from anywhere on the ship. They must figure out multiple ways incase there normal pass is blocked. Now like any business some of the crew do not take the muster drill or job seriously but the vast majority of crew do take it very seriously. The majority of crew know how important the drills are and they will take it very seriously.

I would love to see the Pacific Princess in Alaska. It would be great if they put back the 14 day cruise that they use to do with the smaller ships there. It had a great itinerary and was my favorite cruise in Alaska and I know the larger ships could not go to some of the places that the smaller ships went on that 14 day schedule. With the ships getting so much larger perhaps they do not need as many ships heading to the med, especially with problems in Egypt and Isreal. I personally would like more options from England into the baltic. My mothers family came from England and my dads family came from the baltic areas so it is high on my wish list.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Some ships stop in Haines but you can always take a tour of Haines from Skagway. Skagway at one time was mainly a military base. The buildings that housed the military are still there and many now are lived in by the locals. Like Skagway going to or from Haines you have a good chance of seeing whales. Haines is really a small town but what they are really known for is the wildlife. Haines is the place to go see the raptor center. Here they take care of wounded eagles and other birds. You will see a lot of eagles at the raptor center as well as in the wild in Haines. If you want some great eagle pictures you can get them most anywhere in Alaska on a cruise but especially in Haines. They do tours of the town of Haines which will include heading through where the military base was. You can also take tours from Haines over to Skagway. If you decide to head to Skagway keep an eye out for the whales along the way. A trip to Skagway will add quite a bit to the tour due to the boat transportation to Skagway and back. For me Haines has some interesting thing but one time to Haines is more then enough. If you are a bird lover I am sure it would take more then one trip just for the birds alone.

The largest island in Hawaii is the island of Hawaii, also just called The Big Island. You can circle this island by road and it will be about a 350 mile drive. This island is the most diverse of all the islands. There is a desert here. There is a rainforest here. There is snow caped mountains here. There is a live volcano also on this island. The cruise ships that stop here normally stop in two ports. Hilo and Kona will be the ports the ships stop in. When in Hawaii anywhere you will here of Kona by everywhere trying to sell Kona coffee. Coffee is grown in the mountains of Kona. On tours you will drive down roads going by many of the coffee plantations. Hilo would be the port that you would head to see the live volcano. This is a must see. Tours will take you up to the museum and you will be able to see steam venting from various holes. Do NOT put your head in the steam to feel it. The steam is full of sulpher and will make you very sick. You will be able to walk on cooled lava flows. Most tours will stop and let you walk through a lava tube. A lava tube is where lava flowed through quickly and left a tube of lava. They are usually damp but have had lights put in them so you can get a good look on the inside. You can NOT walk up to where the lava is still flowing, because it is to dangerous but you can get fairly close. The truth is that when the volcano is flowing hard the best way to see it is by sea at night. The view in the dark at night of the lava flowing is spectacular. The snow caped mountain, Mt. Maunakea is where one of the largest observatories sit. You can go up to the observatory and see it from the outside but unfortunately you do not get to go in and take a look through the telescopes. If you go up to the observatory keep in mind it is high up so it is cold and the air is thin, in otherwords if you have breathing problems do not head up here. There are some beaches around the island, however most the shoreline is lava rock so it is not really a place to look for beaches to hang out at. Taking flight tours here to look at the volcano and area from above are very popular and also have a hefty price. When the volcano is going heavy many flights are canceled due to the thick air from volcanic ash and this can also affect breathing on other parts of the island and other islands if the wind is right.

Congratulations! You do a great job of participating on the CruseCrazies board.

Oahu is probably the best known of the islands, due to the fact that Honolulu and Waikiki are here as well as Pearl Harbor. Oahu is also the most commercialised of the islands. You will find the big hotels and malls here. The other islands limited the size of buildings and shops so that you still see the islands and not the buildings. Honolulu is the capital of Hawaii, it is really not that far from Waikiki. The bus system here is excellent and make it easy to get around. With the large hotels and shops finding parking space for a car is very limited and very expensive so the bus is a great way to travel here.Waikiki is known for the beaches, which are beautiful but are really lines with hotels and shops. A must see on Oahu is Pearl Harbor. The museum here is very interesting and a trip to the Arizona is well worth doing. There is also a WWII submarine that you can see and go on here. From Pearl Harbor you can take a trip over to the Missouri which is facinating. Many of the guides on the Missouri were actually past crew members of the Missouri. The Punch Bowl is another must see on Oahu. The Punch Bowl is a dormant volcano with a cemetary for the military that died in Pearl Harbor and south pacific battles. At the top of the mountain side is large monument. In the center of the monument is a very large statue. On each side of the statue are panels that show maps of South Pacific battles. Inside the monument is a beautiful chapel. If you a chance make sure you see this. Oahu is also known for some of the best waves for surfing. Many big competitions are held in these waters. There are also some great opportunities for scuba diving off this island. Diamondhead is one attractions that many people take a hike on. Views from here are spectacular. To me Oahu is my least favortie island only because it is so commercial. The things I have mentioned are all beautiful and historic and well worth seeing. If you are a beach person head to Oahu.

Skagway is an extremely small town that you can walk the whole town in about 15 minutes. So now you wonder why do the ships seem to stay there so long. Skagway is where many ships came in filled with people heading into the Yukon to find gold during the gold rush. A good portion of the tours here are long because they head into the Yukon, which means bring your passport because the Yukon is in Canada. One of the best tours is the White Pass Railway. This train route was the first train route for the gold miners. It follows a lot of the path that gold miners took by foot and horseback into the Yukon. The views are truly exceptional from the train and some of the valley's that it crosses. It starts in Skagway and heads high into the mountains where, depending on time of year, may still be in snow. This tour has a half day and a full day train ride. There are also bus trips into the Yukon some that are actually tied into the train. Taking the bus tour gets you to see a lot more of the inland part of the Yukon. Part of the Yukon has some of the coldest winters you will ever see. In the Yukon you can see trees that are 4 feet tall or less, but are very old growth. The harsh winters stunt the growth of these trees. Anywhere else these trees would be 40 feet or more in height. When you dock in Skagway you will see a mountain side near one of the piers that has signs painted all over it. This wall was started during the gold rush as a message board. Men would climb the mountain and paint when they arrived to let those following that they made it that far. Now days the cruise line ships crews paint on the wall when a ship arrives for the first time. Flight seeing tours are big here as well as fishing. Going in and out of Skagway is a great place to see whales. You can also take tours of Haines from here. I will talk about Haines at another time. Skagway has many historic buildings. There is one building that the exterior is all driftwood. One of the highlights is the Red Onion Saloon. This was a brothel during the gold mining days. You can still purchase drinks there as well as food. They do have people dressed in character that work the Saloon. This place does get filled up and can be a fun experience. There are many ways to get around the town, It is small so you can walk, you can also take a horse drawn carriage and there are replica's of old busses that will take you around. When I first started going there the busses were actually the first busses that were used in Yellowstone but I have not seen them in a while just replicas. There are shuttle busses from the ships that will take you in and out of town on a regular basis. There is a small fee to take into town but unless they have changed you can ride the bus back to the ship free. There are several newer type gift shops but Skagway does still have some great local shops where you can find true Alaskan products. Skagway is a small town but it is really one of my favorite ports to go to. I always enjoy going to Skagway. I find the town real relaxing and love the history of the area.

I have been on many cruises. I quit counting a long time ago. I have never had a bad cruise. I have had cruises that I did not like as much as others, however I have always found something I like and enjoyed on every cruise.

I am sorry you had a negative experience. Perhaps another ship or cruise line would suit you better. Thanks for your input.

Thanks for sharing your review. I truly appreciate any review that someonw will take the time to write.

Thank you for your review. Australia/New Zealand is high on my wish list.

I have cruised on several cruise lines and so far Princess is my favorite cruise line. I just feel comfortable on them and they have a suttle elegance as far as I am concerned. That being said I am not impressed by the newer bigger ships. I will still only use a very small portion of the ships. The bigger ships do not make it any easier for my handicapped wife to get around. It is true they are big enough that you can still find quiet places to be while on the ship but ultimately the lines will still be longer when embarking and disembarking. My preference are smaller ships because to me they feel like ships. The big ships just feel like a giant hotel to me. I know many will enjoy the new bigger ships and I hope they have a great time, for me I will stay with the smaller ships until they are gone and the mega ships now become the smaller ships. Princess is a great cruise line and I expect that the new ship will provide great service and a great vacation. I just will not be onboard for a while.

Welcome aboard!