I am but a mere nine days away from my cruise up to Alaska on the Star Princess. As mentioned previously, after having lived there for 18 months Alaska per se is not really a place I am dying to return to, but the idea of spending a week on a real cruise ship does sound appealing. It should be a far cry from the boat on the Nile! It's a seven night cruise (with the 4th of July right in the middle). We'll have two formal nights, so it's black Armani for one and the tux for the other. The Shuttle Express reservations have been made, and the clock is ticking.
One odd thing is that the cruise line has yet to assign my cabin, even though we are just a tad over a week away. I've called them and they assure me there is no problem, it's just that they often don't assign the staterooms until the last minute. It's not a big deal, since I know my cabin class I can narrow it down to a handful of possible rooms, but it is annoying nonetheless in that it prevents me from looking at the exact room on the deck plan. I have this faint hope in the back of my mind that they may be delaying room assignments to the last minute and then offer an upgrade if the ship is not full...we'll see.
One very pleasant surprise is that Nancy and Brian from the Nile River vacation are on a cruise to Alaska this week, and I will be able to meet them next Friday, after they return and before I depart. Though they are on a different line, it will nonetheless be interesting to hear what they have to say about their trip and use it to help plan mine.
I've looked over the shore excursions, and I am not really interested in any of them except, perhaps, for a very short foray into Victoria Canada on the last night. The other offerings (zip lines, crab bakes, horseback riding...) just sound like expensive, boring distractions. I'll most likely get off the ship in the other ports (Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway) to walk the local area, but beyond that I intend to stay pretty close to the boat.
So, this weekend I pull the suitcase out of storage and begin the packing....
One odd thing is that the cruise line has yet to assign my cabin, even though we are just a tad over a week away. I've called them and they assure me there is no problem, it's just that they often don't assign the staterooms until the last minute. It's not a big deal, since I know my cabin class I can narrow it down to a handful of possible rooms, but it is annoying nonetheless in that it prevents me from looking at the exact room on the deck plan. I have this faint hope in the back of my mind that they may be delaying room assignments to the last minute and then offer an upgrade if the ship is not full...we'll see.
One very pleasant surprise is that Nancy and Brian from the Nile River vacation are on a cruise to Alaska this week, and I will be able to meet them next Friday, after they return and before I depart. Though they are on a different line, it will nonetheless be interesting to hear what they have to say about their trip and use it to help plan mine.
I've looked over the shore excursions, and I am not really interested in any of them except, perhaps, for a very short foray into Victoria Canada on the last night. The other offerings (zip lines, crab bakes, horseback riding...) just sound like expensive, boring distractions. I'll most likely get off the ship in the other ports (Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway) to walk the local area, but beyond that I intend to stay pretty close to the boat.
So, this weekend I pull the suitcase out of storage and begin the packing....
