mercedes

Sounds wonderful!

Thanks Mercedes

Congratulations Tim.

Last weekend I had the chance for travelling a two nights trip with Norwegian Breakaway. Of course I took the chance to take many photos including panorama shots.
All in all ther are now about 700 photos from the Breakaway in my cruiseship-gallery.de:
Norwegian Breakaway photos

Okay, I can't put it on Facebook yet, and I will explode if I don't tell more friends ... I'M A GRANDMA! Kristin had her baby tonight, 15 days early. He doesn't even have a name yet, but Mom, Dad and baby are all great, and we are going to meet our grandson tomorrow morning. I am so excited, I can't sit still!

The anticipation of visting a new city every day (or every other day)

The anticipation of visting a new city every day (or every other day)

Pulling away from the dock, I leave the thoughts of work and life right there to pick up when I get back. For whatever number of days I am gone, I will enjoy being spoiled, eating well and enjoying new sights.

Juneau will more then likely be on every Alaskan cruise. Juneau is the capital of Alaska. Juneau is a city that is about 24 miles long and at the widest only about 5 miles wide. You can only get to Juneau by air or by boat. Juneau is surrounded by water and the Mendenhal Glacier. The airport for Juneau is actually on an island out in the waterway. If the plane runs long on landing you are in the water.
The Mendenhal Glacier is a big draw. You can actually get quite close to the glacier. You can do river rafting down the river from the melt of the glacier. There are many tours that go to the glacier but you can also get there by the local bus service.
There is a tramway in Juneau that will take you high up on the mountain for some very impressive views. Gold mines were a very big part of Juneau and you can also visit some of the old mines and still do some gold panning on tours. If you find gold on the tours you get to keep the gold.
Flight tours are very big here in Juneau. There are plane and helicopter flights, they are expensive but well worth the trip. A flight tour out onto a glacier is really a must do if you can afford it.
Fishing is also big in Juneau. If like fish there are many shops here that will specially pack it and ship it home for you.
Juneau is one of the hottest spots for whale watching. I personally have always seen whales when I take a whale watch in Juneau. The cruise line has tours that will take you out on larger boats, but there are several excellent local whale watch outfits that take you out on smaller boats.
There is a great cultural center to learn about the Alaskan past and some of the native tribes that live there. The Red Dog Saloon is a big attraction here. It is not in the original spot that it once was but it is easy to find and is known for fun and good food and drink.
You will find many shops to buy gifts in Alaska and many of the shops will be related to the cruise industry and shops that you find anywhere in cruise ports. If you want the true Alaskan products head off the main drags and check the side streets. Juneau will also have the franchise food stops such as McDonalds or Subway if you want them.
Juneau has an excellent bus system that is reasonable in price if you want to see much of the area on your own. You can spend a lot of time checking out Juneau and a lot of money if you are not careful.

I see this section of the board is pretty quiet, however the Alaska cruise season is coming up quickly, so I thought I would post some information on some of the ports. I will start out with Ketchikan.
Ketchikan is a rainforest. It is one of the wettest places on earth. Bring rain gear because you will most likely get some rain. Ketchikan also has a tide that raises and lowers up to 30 feet. What does this mean? It means you may get on and off the cruise ship on different floors as the tide changes during the day.
Ketchikan at one time was a big logging area. This is not the case today due to regulations. Ketchikan is an excellent place to go fishing. The totem parks in Ketchikan are very interesting and full of history.
Flight tours are great here and it can actually get quite interesting watching the ships dock or leave with all the sea planes flying in and out of the area.
Ketchikan has a very interesting and fun lumberjack show that is close to the pier. It is well worth seeing especially if you are with kids or a family.
One of my favorite tours here is kayaking. It gets you close up to some sea life as well as some beautiful scenery. Riding the Ducks can also give you a good perspective of the town from the sea and the land.
Ketchikan is an easy town to walk around. Walking Creek Street can also provide a lot of history. My biggest complaint about Ketchikan is that it has been taken over by the cruise line related gift and jewlery shops. After all I do not go to Alaska to see Caribbean Jewelers as I step off the ship. If you want some true Alaskan products I suggest you walk farther into the town and find the true local shops.

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.

Demoten have your camera ready for the White Pass Rail trip. There are some fantastic views. One picture that is especially great is you will cross a railroad bridge high in the mountains. When on that bridge you can see all the way back into Skagway to where the ships dock. this view through the valley and back to the sea is a do not miss photo op.

For all the vacations and cruises that we have been on, we have never been able to "find the cruise cheaper" after we booked. Most times, we will hear that the offer that is advertised is for new bookings only, or it's not the same category that you paid for.
Well, this drought is over. We booked our upcoming Sept 2013 cruise right after we finished the Sept 2012 cruise. We paid, what we thought was a fair price for an 8-night balcony cabin (selecting our room). We opted for the Early Bird special.
Right after the rash of disasters, I was watching to see if the price changed. It never did. Then, about a week before Easter week, the price dropped $100/person. Early Bird special, balcony cabin. So of course I called to see if this applied to us.
Carnival was WONDERFUL. Not only did our price drop, but I was told that I could continue to watch the rates up to 3-days before sailing and that any adjustments after the cruise had been paid for would be rendered in shipboard credit.
Second week of April I noticed that the price dropped again. This time we saved $25/person.
Just Tuesday, Carnival advertised ship board credit up to $50/cabin for "certain" cabins. So I called. Yep, we were also eligible for that as well. Carnival did offer to upgrade us, but we would have no guarantee of the room. I thanked them but said that we were quite pleased with the particular room that we had previously selected.
I'm tickled (and I'm still watching the prices).
Now we're hoping that the airfare goes down as well.

Downton Abbey
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The time for your cruise will be here before you know it. I booked my cruise last year and I thought it would drag by, but life steps in and now it is only 2 months away. I am so excited, and like you are planning to do - I picked up new things here and there too. I know you are looking forward to yours as I am mine.

So it's official. We now have our booking number and have officially made our cruise reservation for March 2014 on the Carnival Sunshine. Trying not to think about it too much because it's so far off still, but it gives me a chance to pick up items here and there. DH needs a new suit and I need a few new pieces of clothing, plus trying to lose some weight so I don't scare too many people away when I come out in my swimming suit. Yeah Carnival Sunshine, can't wait to see her.

Mercedes - so GREAT to hear from you. I am so glad that this was such a success (ship, itinerary, new booking, etc., etc.) Jerry and I want go to Australia and New Zealand as well. We are saving our pennies (and nickles, dimes, quarters, etc.)
Keep in touch!

Mercedes - Great, informative and well written review. Aussie is high on my bucket list. We are considering the Equinox in summer 2014, so your review was a huge plus in helping us decide. A lawn on a cruise ship always sounded pretty strange, but the more I hear about it, the more I like the idea. Thanks for sharing!

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

Nice review – thanks for sharing!

Congratulations!!!

I know none of the staterooms on a cruise ship are gigantic. Even a suite is smaller then say a suite in a hotel. The storage is actually pretty good and the rooms can be comfortable.
Now think about the crew rooms. The smallest passenger room is much larger then a crew cabin. The number of people in a crew cabin depends on your rank. Of course the captain would have the biggest room. The majority of crew members are 4 or 5 to a room. Lower ranked officers have 2 to a room.
The general crew will have a couple bunk beds in their room and they will have a stand up locker for their clothes and personal items. There may be a small desk or a table that they all can sit at. There will be a small TV. If all crew members are in the room at the same time the room is totally filled up. There is one small bathroom that they all share and the shower is basicaly about half the size of the shower in the passenger cabins.
I was an officer that shared a room There was a bunk bed in the room and I could literally spread my arms and reach both walls side to side in the room. The room was about 10 feet long. The extra space past the bed was taken up by our locker and the bathroom.
Now you know why a crew member would rather be working or in the rec room on a ship then spend time in their room.Their room is to sleep in, clean up and change clothes and that is it.

Congratulations!!!

SelectSailingsandTours, welcome aboard.

It Could Have Been Worse
Frank always looked on the bright side. He would constantly irritate his friends with his eternal optimism. No matter how horrible the circumstance, he would always reply, "It could have been worse."
To cure him of his annoying habit, his friends decided to invent a situation so completely bad, so terrible, that even Frank could find no hope in it.
On the golf course one day, one of them said, "Frank, did you hear about Tom? He came home last night, found his wife in bed with another man, shot them both and then turned the gun on himself!"
"That`s awful," said Frank, "But it could have been worse."
"How in the hell," asked his bewildered friend, "Could it have been worse?"
"Well," replied Frank, "If it happened the night before, I`d be dead now!"