Shore Excursions

Bob & Nancy on May 7th, 2012

  Now here's a novel way to help the stricken people of Haiti, still devastated by that 7.0 earthquake more than two years ago. Send a party to explore Haiti's rich history on its northern shore, where the cruise ships land, to see if shore excursions can contribute to rebuilding the country's equally devastated tourism [...]

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Bob & Nancy on April 30th, 2012

  It's easy to find a good tour guide when you buy a shore excursion from a cruise line. These are professionals at what they do, and if they didn't do it well they just wouldn't last. Sometimes you just know when you've found one who is special. That was Sandy Cuadrado to us. The [...]

Continue reading about Cruise Tour Guide — This ‘Senor’ is Best

Bob & Nancy on April 24th, 2012

No cruise line tries to cover both ends of the age spectrum more than Norwegian. Last week, we told you that NCL is offering discounts for AARP members…now kids go free on NCL shore excursions. There is an asterisk (*), as there often is with offers of any kind of any product. In NCL's case, [...]

Continue reading about Youngest Cruise Fleet for all Ages

Bob & Nancy on April 4th, 2012

A company called Viator launched its website yesterday, for bookings starting six days later. It’s for any major cruise line, any ship, almost any place (there are 80 ports). It’s not the first company to venture into these waters, but it seems to be the most ambitious…or at least the latest.

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Bob & Nancy on September 23rd, 2011

Remembrances from and suggestions for spending two weeks in the 48th state… Be on the lookout for nature even when you least expect it. These two pigeons we spotted on the docks where the float planes are moored in Juneau. At first we thought it was rather cute to see a couple of pigeons’ kissing…and [...]

Continue reading about Alaska Adventure: One Last Time

Bob & Nancy on September 22nd, 2011

KETCHIKAN — This is the story of two plates. One before, and one after. What you’re seeing is what happens when four people are given the opportunity to eat as much Dungeness crab as they like. All we know about the other two….er, gluttons…at the table is that they were from Colorado and their appetite [...]

Continue reading about Why Catch-a-Crab in Ketchikan?

Bob & Nancy on September 21st, 2011

JUNEAU — This is the capital of Alaska, although a lot of people here still wonder why, and it’s also where we committed to taking a float plane to a feast. But we must digress… Having just disembarked from the Coral Princess, with tickets in hand for the flight-and-feast shore excursion, we began to wonder [...]

Continue reading about Flight, Feast Fit for Surprise

Bob & Nancy on September 20th, 2011

SKAGWAY — As we walked the streets of this former den of iniquity from Gold Rush days, we were overcome by the number of jewelry stores. They are a constant reminder that if prospectors really did invade this once-lawless town on the Canadian border, take the gold and get out…then they left some behind. When [...]

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Bob & Nancy on September 19th, 2011

ALASKA — The first thing you need to know about Cruisetours is: Don’t confuse them with shore excursions. Not only are they different, but “shore excursions” are available when you’re on a Cruisetour. In Alaska, Princess sets the standard for Cruisetours. They are combined with a 7-day cruise and there are four types of varying [...]

Continue reading about Alaska Cruisetours the way to go

Bob & Nancy on September 15th, 2011

DENALI, Alaska — Passengers on Princess cruise ships have three choices when it comes to seeing the Denali National Park. You can spend 4 hours riding a school bus, 8 hours riding a school bus or 13 hours riding a school bus. Now, in case you think that sounds like torture worse than being punished [...]

Continue reading about School Buses for ‘Leaf Peepers’