The Constellation:
This time I really have a laundry list of things to tell you about so let’s get started. Regardless of popular opinion travel agents do not get many if any “freebies.” Even training is not free. Most recently I had the opportunity to participate in a “Seminar At Sea” on the Celebrity Constellation sailing a 12 night itinerary cruising New England and the St Lawrence River. These seminars consist of classroom training, and a look behind the scenes of the operation of the ship. The Constellation is the newest of Celebrity’s Millennium ships and was launched in May of 2002. I had been on her sister ship, The Summit, three times and since the ships are almost identical it was easy to find my way around . The “Connie’ is rated #`1 in several categories by the readers of Conde’ Nast Traveler Magazine, and after my experience I can easily see why. The food was superb, service outstanding, and the ship was in great shape. To be sure there were a few signs of wear here and there, but I did notice the maintenance crew was busy while we were at sea and in port. The itinerary included Prince Edward Island, Portland and Bar Harbor, Me, Quebec, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In a future article I will talk in more detail about each of those ports of call. One of the neat things that I got to do was spend some time on the Navigational Bridge. This is someplace that not a lot of people get to see, so I was very pleased when the District Sales Manager who coordinated the Seminar arranged the tour. Being a fan of “high tech” stuff I was impressed by the fact that a ship of this size, 91,000 tons, and some 953 feet long, could be controlled by a 4” joystick. Yes they still do have a wheel; I almost wondered if it was for show. Modern ships have adjustable propulsion pods and bow thrusters that can actually move the ship sideways in port, which the Constellation did several times during the cruise. While I was on the bridge ,the ship was on auto pilot, and I watched as the ship adjusted course and speed as necessary. For the benefit of my friends, no, they did not let me play with the controls as the Second Officer was with our group all the time.
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Friday, December 5, 2008
North To Alaska Part 2
When people talk to us about booking their “Alaskan Experience” we are often asked about the different ports of call. This time I thought I would highlight favorites from my customers and myself.
With the 50th anniversary of Alaskan statehood next year I fully suspect that all the ports of call will be rolling out the red carpet. After all, each time a cruise ship docks there is the potential of 1,800 to 2,500 people coming ashore. .
My two particular favorite cites were Juneau, the capital and Skagway. Both are easy to navigate and offer a variety of on shore activities. There are of course some tourist traps along the way but in general the shore excursions are a decent value
In Juneau we opted to use the Mt. Roberts Tramway, located adjacent to the docks. This takes you 1,800’ above the harbor to the Nature center. There are ample viewing locations for a spectacular view of the harbor. The Nature Center has a gift shop, wild life sanctuary, restaurant, and a short historical movie amd there are also many hiking trails on Mt. Roberts. There is a fee of course to use the tramway but the pass is good for all day. While we were there we also took advantage of the replica trolley tour of the city, the driver was knowledgeable and you can get on and off the trolley at your leisure. Many of our customers have taken the Mendenhall Glacier excursion, quite impressive in size at over 1.5 miles wide and six miles long.
Skagway is a “Gold Town.” When the Klondike Strike of 1896 happened, it was gripped by “Gold Fever, now the only prospecting is by visitors hoping to find a souvenir nugget or two. I highly recommend the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. This narrow gauge line follows trails that first were used by pack animals supplying the miners. The approximate 3-½ hour round trip is narrated and the scenery is spectacular. Also along the way you will see several waterfalls, and abundant wild life. I found the tour guide on the train to be very knowledgeable and entertaining. You are allowed to step out on the platform of the cars to take pictures. For the more adventuresome you might wish to take a Helicopter trip to one of the glaciers.
Other ports of call you will find interesting are Sitka once part of the Russian Empire, Ketchikan, the Salmon Capital of the world, Icy Point Strait home of the Tlingit Indians, and a great whale watching location, and Seward, the gateway to the Kenai Fjords wilderness.
Depending on your particular itinerary you may also have ports of call in Vancouver, BC and Victoria, both are lovely cities and afford a lot of sightseeing possibilities. Also popular with our Alaskan adventurers is the Cruise/Tour package that can include Fairbanks, Denali, Talkeetna, and Anchorage. The land portion of the cruise tour can be added as either a pre or post cruise experience and range between 3 and 7 nights.
Now is a great time to plan your Alaskan Adventure for 2009. Plenty of good travel dates are still available and a good selection of cabins can be found on all the cruise lines. Ship size varies from the smaller ships operated by Cruise West and Princess, to the larger ships of Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Princess, and N.C.L. Regardless of your choice of ship and excursion, or land based vacation, a trip to Alaska is one to remember.
If you don’t want to cruise there are also several different companies that have land packages, rail tours, and even R.V. rentals. Stop in and we will be happy to offer suggestions.
OVERHEARD FROM A CRUISE LINE CALL CENTER: The caller asked IF the crew stayed on board at night when they were off duty.
With the 50th anniversary of Alaskan statehood next year I fully suspect that all the ports of call will be rolling out the red carpet. After all, each time a cruise ship docks there is the potential of 1,800 to 2,500 people coming ashore. .
My two particular favorite cites were Juneau, the capital and Skagway. Both are easy to navigate and offer a variety of on shore activities. There are of course some tourist traps along the way but in general the shore excursions are a decent value
In Juneau we opted to use the Mt. Roberts Tramway, located adjacent to the docks. This takes you 1,800’ above the harbor to the Nature center. There are ample viewing locations for a spectacular view of the harbor. The Nature Center has a gift shop, wild life sanctuary, restaurant, and a short historical movie amd there are also many hiking trails on Mt. Roberts. There is a fee of course to use the tramway but the pass is good for all day. While we were there we also took advantage of the replica trolley tour of the city, the driver was knowledgeable and you can get on and off the trolley at your leisure. Many of our customers have taken the Mendenhall Glacier excursion, quite impressive in size at over 1.5 miles wide and six miles long.
Skagway is a “Gold Town.” When the Klondike Strike of 1896 happened, it was gripped by “Gold Fever, now the only prospecting is by visitors hoping to find a souvenir nugget or two. I highly recommend the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. This narrow gauge line follows trails that first were used by pack animals supplying the miners. The approximate 3-½ hour round trip is narrated and the scenery is spectacular. Also along the way you will see several waterfalls, and abundant wild life. I found the tour guide on the train to be very knowledgeable and entertaining. You are allowed to step out on the platform of the cars to take pictures. For the more adventuresome you might wish to take a Helicopter trip to one of the glaciers.
Other ports of call you will find interesting are Sitka once part of the Russian Empire, Ketchikan, the Salmon Capital of the world, Icy Point Strait home of the Tlingit Indians, and a great whale watching location, and Seward, the gateway to the Kenai Fjords wilderness.
Depending on your particular itinerary you may also have ports of call in Vancouver, BC and Victoria, both are lovely cities and afford a lot of sightseeing possibilities. Also popular with our Alaskan adventurers is the Cruise/Tour package that can include Fairbanks, Denali, Talkeetna, and Anchorage. The land portion of the cruise tour can be added as either a pre or post cruise experience and range between 3 and 7 nights.
Now is a great time to plan your Alaskan Adventure for 2009. Plenty of good travel dates are still available and a good selection of cabins can be found on all the cruise lines. Ship size varies from the smaller ships operated by Cruise West and Princess, to the larger ships of Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Princess, and N.C.L. Regardless of your choice of ship and excursion, or land based vacation, a trip to Alaska is one to remember.
If you don’t want to cruise there are also several different companies that have land packages, rail tours, and even R.V. rentals. Stop in and we will be happy to offer suggestions.
OVERHEARD FROM A CRUISE LINE CALL CENTER: The caller asked IF the crew stayed on board at night when they were off duty.
North To Alaska (part 1)
“North to Alaska, North the rush is on”, so goes a lyric line form the great Johnny Horton song out of 1960. Our 49th state has gained a lot of attention in the national Media because of the selection of its Governor Sarah Palin as a Vice Presidential Candidate.
In the travel business Alaska is one of our most popular destinations, with a wide variety of things to see and do. Of course this has not gone un-noticed by the many cruise lines we represent, with scores of trips during the short cruise season from May to September. Every major cruise line and several smaller lines operate cruise trips from 7 to 14 days, and combination cruise and land trips that range in length from 11 to 14 days, with the opportunity to add even more time with pre or post cruise or tour stays.
Alaska cruises can be divided into roughly three different itineraries, North Bound, South Bound, or Round Trip. The questions we are asked is which do you recommend. There is no easy answer to that question as each itinerary has its own strong points. North Bound Cruises typically depart from either Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC and for the most part end in Seward where you will be taken by motor coach to either Fairbanks or Anchorage for your flight home. South Bound, just the reverse. And roundtrip cruises leave from San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver. The Cruises from San Francisco typically are 10 days long and include stops in Vancouver and Victoria, BC.
On any Alaskan cruise adventure you will have the opportunity to take in the view of some of Alaska’s beautiful glaciers. Hubbard Glacier is the biggest, covering an area 25% bigger than the State of Rhode Island. Hubbard Glacier “calves” off icebergs as tall as a ten story building. You will get an idea of the tremendous size if you look at the ice cave in one of the accompanying pictures. The bow of our 985’ long cruise ship would easily have fit in the opening. When a glacier “calves” the sound is like thunder, BUT, because you are for the most part one mile away, you do not hear the sound till the iceberg is in the water. However, a careful eye will allow you to catch this awe inspiring sight, if you are lucky you may get a picture or video, something you will want to see again and again. All the cruise lines get you as close as is safe and most will turn the ship 360 to allow you to see this amazing site. Other cruises will allow viewing of Tracy Arm Fiord, and Mendenhall Glaciers, and while I have not seen those personally, our customers tell me they are extremely impressive. In addition to viewing one of Alaska’s “giants”, many itineraries include cruising through the Inside Passage, Alaska’s summertime playground for a wide variety of whales and other aquatic animals.
In addition to the big ships that travel to Alaska , Princess and Cruise West also operate some smaller ships that are able to explore beyond the everyday cruises.
So what trip is right for you? Stop by and see us, we have the 2009 brochures and we will help you decide just what cruise, or cruise tour is right for you.
Next time I will look at some of the Ports of Call and shore excursions you might want to add to enhance your “Alaskan Experience”.
REPORTED: from a major cruise line call center, a potential cruiser asked “if all the balcony cabins were above the water line.”
Till next time, remember local travel agencies do more than just sell you a cabin. We help you plan your trip and are there to answer all your questions, for the same price, and sometimes less than you would pay on the internet.
Happy Traveling!
In the travel business Alaska is one of our most popular destinations, with a wide variety of things to see and do. Of course this has not gone un-noticed by the many cruise lines we represent, with scores of trips during the short cruise season from May to September. Every major cruise line and several smaller lines operate cruise trips from 7 to 14 days, and combination cruise and land trips that range in length from 11 to 14 days, with the opportunity to add even more time with pre or post cruise or tour stays.
Alaska cruises can be divided into roughly three different itineraries, North Bound, South Bound, or Round Trip. The questions we are asked is which do you recommend. There is no easy answer to that question as each itinerary has its own strong points. North Bound Cruises typically depart from either Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC and for the most part end in Seward where you will be taken by motor coach to either Fairbanks or Anchorage for your flight home. South Bound, just the reverse. And roundtrip cruises leave from San Francisco, Seattle or Vancouver. The Cruises from San Francisco typically are 10 days long and include stops in Vancouver and Victoria, BC.
On any Alaskan cruise adventure you will have the opportunity to take in the view of some of Alaska’s beautiful glaciers. Hubbard Glacier is the biggest, covering an area 25% bigger than the State of Rhode Island. Hubbard Glacier “calves” off icebergs as tall as a ten story building. You will get an idea of the tremendous size if you look at the ice cave in one of the accompanying pictures. The bow of our 985’ long cruise ship would easily have fit in the opening. When a glacier “calves” the sound is like thunder, BUT, because you are for the most part one mile away, you do not hear the sound till the iceberg is in the water. However, a careful eye will allow you to catch this awe inspiring sight, if you are lucky you may get a picture or video, something you will want to see again and again. All the cruise lines get you as close as is safe and most will turn the ship 360 to allow you to see this amazing site. Other cruises will allow viewing of Tracy Arm Fiord, and Mendenhall Glaciers, and while I have not seen those personally, our customers tell me they are extremely impressive. In addition to viewing one of Alaska’s “giants”, many itineraries include cruising through the Inside Passage, Alaska’s summertime playground for a wide variety of whales and other aquatic animals.
In addition to the big ships that travel to Alaska , Princess and Cruise West also operate some smaller ships that are able to explore beyond the everyday cruises.
So what trip is right for you? Stop by and see us, we have the 2009 brochures and we will help you decide just what cruise, or cruise tour is right for you.
Next time I will look at some of the Ports of Call and shore excursions you might want to add to enhance your “Alaskan Experience”.
REPORTED: from a major cruise line call center, a potential cruiser asked “if all the balcony cabins were above the water line.”
Till next time, remember local travel agencies do more than just sell you a cabin. We help you plan your trip and are there to answer all your questions, for the same price, and sometimes less than you would pay on the internet.
Happy Traveling!
How far ahead?
There is one question we are asked a lot, just how far ahead do we need to plan our vacation for the best availabilities and pricing. I certainly wish there was a clear cut answer to this one, but there isn’t.
When making reservations for a cruise the rule of thumb is the farther out the better is a good place to start. While we may not have brochures that show the itineraries, because of publication schedules, we do have the capabilities to search out as much as one year to as much as fifteen months. When you book a cruise or land based vacation six months to a year in advance there are usually some very good early booking discounts, and sometimes that is added on top of other promotions these companies may offer. Additionally you usually get an excellent choice of accommodations when booking that far in advance. While in same cases you may find some last minute deal, booking closer in, in all probabilities you will not find the accommodations that you prefer.
Another area that can get you a deal is booking a guarantee cabin. The deal being that you are guaranteed a cabin in that class or higher. It is not un-common for us to see someone with a guarantee cabin being upgraded to a better quality cabin for the same price. Again the downfall to this is that you do n’t have a choice of cabin space. We would be happy to explain this program to you, and of course see if a guarantee cabin or special promotion would be available for you.
While I am on the subject of early bookings, it is worth mentioning that if you are looking for something different for a family or class reunion, or even a special occasion such as a milestone birthday, anniversary or an at sea wedding and reception, why not consider a cruise. We are happy to talk with you regarding the facilities and benefits to this popular type of travel. What is a group you may ask. The cruise lines generally consider eight double occupancy cabins to be a travel group. A group can be comprised of friends, relatives, classmates, club members, or any number of people sharing a common interest. You will find that cruise lines really love group bookings. There are many special things that can be arranged from private receptions, and dinners, to special meeting facilities with the latest audio visual equipment. We would be happy to talk about group travel with you, but again the key is early planning for the best accommodations.
!
When making reservations for a cruise the rule of thumb is the farther out the better is a good place to start. While we may not have brochures that show the itineraries, because of publication schedules, we do have the capabilities to search out as much as one year to as much as fifteen months. When you book a cruise or land based vacation six months to a year in advance there are usually some very good early booking discounts, and sometimes that is added on top of other promotions these companies may offer. Additionally you usually get an excellent choice of accommodations when booking that far in advance. While in same cases you may find some last minute deal, booking closer in, in all probabilities you will not find the accommodations that you prefer.
Another area that can get you a deal is booking a guarantee cabin. The deal being that you are guaranteed a cabin in that class or higher. It is not un-common for us to see someone with a guarantee cabin being upgraded to a better quality cabin for the same price. Again the downfall to this is that you do n’t have a choice of cabin space. We would be happy to explain this program to you, and of course see if a guarantee cabin or special promotion would be available for you.
While I am on the subject of early bookings, it is worth mentioning that if you are looking for something different for a family or class reunion, or even a special occasion such as a milestone birthday, anniversary or an at sea wedding and reception, why not consider a cruise. We are happy to talk with you regarding the facilities and benefits to this popular type of travel. What is a group you may ask. The cruise lines generally consider eight double occupancy cabins to be a travel group. A group can be comprised of friends, relatives, classmates, club members, or any number of people sharing a common interest. You will find that cruise lines really love group bookings. There are many special things that can be arranged from private receptions, and dinners, to special meeting facilities with the latest audio visual equipment. We would be happy to talk about group travel with you, but again the key is early planning for the best accommodations.
!
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