2008-06-01 Stuff I Found Out…
Jun, 2008
Cruise is a different kind of travel experience and I learned a few things from this valuable trip.
Shopping
Based on my case, I would recommend cruise passengers to do all their shopping as much as they can at Ketchikan, especially if any alcohol purchases are involved. For instance, a bottle of 1 liter Remy Martin VSOP, San Francisco airport’s duty free shop charged $68; Princess’s on board TAX & duty free shop charged $45.95 or 2 for $87.95. At Ketchikan, the duty & tax free shops charged $37.95!!! Besides the differences in price, I guess we get an idea of how much the sin tax was embedded.
Anyhow, if carrying bottles sightseeing is not your thing, make sure you document the cheaper prices from the local shops. On board’s duty free shop usually agrees to match to the same price as long as you have it either on ads or on pictures.
Another reason I make this suggestion is because on the itinerary, there was only duty free shops available in Ketchikan, so don’t miss out! And don’t forget to use the coupon book you receive on board; they are tremendous savings!
Manage the On Port Expectations
Secondly, I would advise travelers to adjust their on port expectations. I am an energetic visitor who wants to do everything in a short amount of time. However, if a tour is booked it can easily take up a sizable chunk of on port time. In order to manage expectations properly, I would suggest visitors to select one or two highlights of the port and aim for accomplishing those only.
Packing
Thirdly, some tips on what to bring.
• Bring a binocular; it was tremendous joy for wild life seeking on deck.
• Bring a wind jacket, especially if Ketchikan is one of the call ports. Two third of the days are rainy there. And it will prove its good use when you cover yourself up on the front of the boat in a windy morning’s cold channel cruise.
• Don’t worry too much about the formal dressing thing if you are not too keen on formal clothes. Based on my experience on Star Princess, they did not take the dressing rule as serious as what we imagined. As long as there were no t-shirt or shorts, they would seat you. I’ve seen people wearing suits with sneakers; white sweatshirt and fit pants; or even pushing to the limit, my husband once wore a t-shirt inside but zipped up his wind jacket and paired with jeans, he was seated in! Besides, only the formal dining rooms or other charged restaurants required formal dressing, if you don’t mind eating at the buffet, then no sweats! Be aware, other non Star Princess cruise lines may uphold this requirement more rigidly based on other passengers comments.
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June 20th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Wow, this is really useful info. Thanks for the tips. To have a good time, you have to learn to be organized and think ahead of time on the things you need to pack. But when it comes to trips and tours, it helps to have someone who’s done this because no amount of organization can help you to optimize what you can get out of the trip. This is cool!