Cruise newbie - questions

Hello! My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in May, an
11-day Alaska cruise on Princess. Very excited, but a bit overwhelmed
as first-timers!

Just wondering if anyone has any good tips on how to get the most out of
our experience as newbies, best Princess-led excursions that would be
easy to do with my limited walking ability (not in a wheelchair, but
can't walk too far), must-do onboard activities, best Alaskan photo-ops
(from the ship), things you wish you knew before you took your first
cruise - any hints or ideas at all would be appreciated!

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore. And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our
MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).
What about embarking/disembarking, is there disabled assistance so we
won't have to stand in a long line?

I just found a used copy of Princess' "Alaska Cruise Companion" book
(the one they advertise in their brochure) on Amazon, so that should be
helpful and informative as well.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice, much appreciated!

Diva

On 1/22/2007 10:29 PM wrote:
Hello! My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in May, an
11-day Alaska cruise on Princess. Very excited, but a bit overwhelmed
as first-timers!

Just wondering if anyone has any good tips on how to get the most out of
our experience as newbies, best Princess-led excursions that would be
easy to do with my limited walking ability (not in a wheelchair, but
can't walk too far), must-do onboard activities, best Alaskan photo-ops
(from the ship), things you wish you knew before you took your first
cruise - any hints or ideas at all would be appreciated!

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore. And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our
MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).
What about embarking/disembarking, is there disabled assistance so we
won't have to stand in a long line?

I just found a used copy of Princess' "Alaska Cruise Companion" book
(the one they advertise in their brochure) on Amazon, so that should be
helpful and informative as well.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice, much appreciated!

Diva


Most of Alaska is about walking especially in ports like Sitka and
Ketchekan (Sp?) But you can do whale watching. If the whale watch
boats are a distance from the cruise port, take a cab. If you have the
bucks, you can do a fly over one of the glaciers. There's also a
frontier rail ride up a mountain that's well worth the price.

I mostly cruise on Holland America, but I imagine once you have your
booking number you can go to Princess' web site. With your booking
number or some other cruise specific ID you can pull up port and
excursion information specific to your cruise. They may even rate the
excursions by degree of physical difficulty. Ask your TA about this,
they probably will include some directions on how to do this in with
your cruise documents.

--
____
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
____
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

in juneau try the capt larry whale watching, it's across from the pier.

ketchikan has a lot of walking so maybe a taxi tour.

skagway, the whitepass railway, they shoudl have a shuttle to wear it leaves
from.

what are your other ports/

sheree

"Brian K" wrote in message
hlink.net...
On 1/22/2007 10:29 PM wrote:
Hello! My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in May, an
11-day Alaska cruise on Princess. Very excited, but a bit overwhelmed
as first-timers!

Just wondering if anyone has any good tips on how to get the most out of
our experience as newbies, best Princess-led excursions that would be
easy to do with my limited walking ability (not in a wheelchair, but
can't walk too far), must-do onboard activities, best Alaskan photo-ops
(from the ship), things you wish you knew before you took your first
cruise - any hints or ideas at all would be appreciated!
We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore. And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our
MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).
What about embarking/disembarking, is there disabled assistance so we
won't have to stand in a long line?

I just found a used copy of Princess' "Alaska Cruise Companion" book
(the one they advertise in their brochure) on Amazon, so that should be
helpful and informative as well.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice, much appreciated!

Diva


Most of Alaska is about walking especially in ports like Sitka and
Ketchekan (Sp?) But you can do whale watching. If the whale watch boats
are a distance from the cruise port, take a cab. If you have the bucks,
you can do a fly over one of the glaciers. There's also a frontier rail
ride up a mountain that's well worth the price.
I mostly cruise on Holland America, but I imagine once you have your
booking number you can go to Princess' web site. With your booking number
or some other cruise specific ID you can pull up port and excursion
information specific to your cruise. They may even rate the excursions by
degree of physical difficulty. Ask your TA about this, they probably will
include some directions on how to do this in with your cruise documents.

--
____
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
____
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

wrote in message
...
Hello! My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in May, an
11-day Alaska cruise on Princess. Very excited, but a bit overwhelmed
as first-timers!

Just wondering if anyone has any good tips on how to get the most out of
our experience as newbies, best Princess-led excursions that would be
easy to do with my limited walking ability (not in a wheelchair, but
can't walk too far), must-do onboard activities, best Alaskan photo-ops
(from the ship), things you wish you knew before you took your first
cruise - any hints or ideas at all would be appreciated!

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore. And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our
MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).
What about embarking/disembarking, is there disabled assistance so we
won't have to stand in a long line?

I just found a used copy of Princess' "Alaska Cruise Companion" book
(the one they advertise in their brochure) on Amazon, so that should be
helpful and informative as well.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice, much appreciated!

Diva


You can learn tons of info on www.cruisecritic.com , just log into the line
that you are traveling on and start reading. They also have port of call
sections where you can read and research on the ports. The info has saved me
$$ and I've learned alot./

wrote:

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore.

If CareVactions doesn't allow you to take the scooter ashore, then
rest from someone else. Many people rent scooters and use them on the
ship and ashore.

And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our
MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).

If your own medical coverage doesn't cover expenses for this cruise,
then your cruise insurance should.

The whitepass railway that Sheree mentioned I hear is a "must do"
excursion. It is also accessable so you should be able to take your
rented scooter with you.

Cruisecritic.ccom is a very good place to get information and one of
their boards is for people with disabilities. Between that, the Alaska
ports board and the Princess board you should be able to get any
questions answered.

There is also lots of information here, so ask questions as you think
of them.

sue

On 1/24/2007 2:32 AM Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:


wrote:

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore.

If CareVactions doesn't allow you to take the scooter ashore, then
rest from someone else. Many people rent scooters and use them on the
ship and ashore.

And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our
MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).

If your own medical coverage doesn't cover expenses for this cruise,
then your cruise insurance should.

The whitepass railway that Sheree mentioned I hear is a "must do"
excursion. It is also accessable so you should be able to take your
rented scooter with you.

Cruisecritic.ccom is a very good place to get information and one of
their boards is for people with disabilities. Between that, the Alaska
ports board and the Princess board you should be able to get any
questions answered.

There is also lots of information here, so ask questions as you think
of them.

sue
Sue,

Do you have some names of scooter rental places? When my dad did Alaska
on one of the Seven Seas ships, I couldn't find any information about
scooter rentals. My sister, Kare, an excellent TA couldn't find
anything either.

--
____
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
____
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Brian K wrote:
On 1/24/2007 2:32 AM Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:



wrote:

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to take
them ashore.


If CareVactions doesn't allow you to take the scooter ashore, then
rest from someone else. Many people rent scooters and use them on the
ship and ashore.

And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our

MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).


If your own medical coverage doesn't cover expenses for this cruise,
then your cruise insurance should.

The whitepass railway that Sheree mentioned I hear is a "must do"
excursion. It is also accessable so you should be able to take your
rented scooter with you.

Cruisecritic.ccom is a very good place to get information and one of
their boards is for people with disabilities. Between that, the Alaska
ports board and the Princess board you should be able to get any
questions answered.

There is also lots of information here, so ask questions as you think
of them.

sue

Sue,

Do you have some names of scooter rental places? When my dad did Alaska
on one of the Seven Seas ships, I couldn't find any information about
scooter rentals. My sister, Kare, an excellent TA couldn't find
anything either.

No I don't, but I know on some RTC related group cruises a few people
have rented them.

sue

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:



Brian K wrote:

On 1/24/2007 2:32 AM Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:



wrote:

We did book an accessible stateroom, since I rented a scooter from
CareVacations to get around the ship comfortably, and wanted to be sure
it could fit through the door, but I don't think you're supposed to
take
them ashore.



If CareVactions doesn't allow you to take the scooter ashore, then
rest from someone else. Many people rent scooters and use them on the
ship and ashore.

And what happens if you get sick onboard - does our

MediCal cover us while on our trip? (We did get cruise insurance).



If your own medical coverage doesn't cover expenses for this cruise,
then your cruise insurance should.

The whitepass railway that Sheree mentioned I hear is a "must do"
excursion. It is also accessable so you should be able to take your
rented scooter with you.

Cruisecritic.ccom is a very good place to get information and one of
their boards is for people with disabilities. Between that, the
Alaska ports board and the Princess board you should be able to get
any questions answered.

There is also lots of information here, so ask questions as you think
of them.

sue


Sue,

Do you have some names of scooter rental places? When my dad did
Alaska on one of the Seven Seas ships, I couldn't find any information
about scooter rentals. My sister, Kare, an excellent TA couldn't find
anything either.


No I don't, but I know on some RTC related group cruises a few people
have rented them.

Oops, that should of been "cruisers", not cruises.lol

Brian, I don't mind you emailing me, but I am not going to fill out a
form so you can get my reply.

sue

"Brian K" wrote

Do you have some names of scooter rental places? When my dad did Alaska
on one of the Seven Seas ships, I couldn't find any information about
scooter rentals. My sister, Kare, an excellent TA couldn't find anything
either.

It might be difficult to rent a scooter on any itinerary that starts at one
port and ends at another, but here are some options:

http://www.scootaround.com/cruise/index.htm

http://www.cruiseshipassist.com/index.html (this might be your best bet for
open jaw itineraries)

Hope this helps.


--
George Leppla http://www.countryside-travel.com

April 29, 2007 GGC2007 http://cruisemaster.com/pride.htm
October 14, 2007 MOAGC 3 - http://www.moagc-3.com
January 20, 2008 - Adventure - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm

In addition to the general rental sites that George mentioned there is one other
possibility. Check with local companies to see if you can rent one of those very
small lightweight scooters that fold up and can travel on a plane. That way you
would have the full use of it, door to door, not just on the ship.

If you do choose to rent from a Port Delivery company be absolutely sure they
know you need a smaller sized scooter for the ship.

Cal Ford
Lido Deck Cruises


In article , George Leppla says...

It might be difficult to rent a scooter on any itinerary that starts at one
port and ends at another, but here are some options:

http://www.scootaround.com/cruise/index.htm

http://www.cruiseshipassist.com/index.html (this might be your best bet for
open jaw itineraries)

Hope this helps.