of our Rail/Cruise Adventure in May nailed down today.
I booked us, using Guest Rewards Points for Business Class, on train 774 SBA-SAN on 14 May. It was a little more complicated than it might have been because we were each using points from our own accounts. One is down to 500 but the other is still strong at over 40,000. Hopefully there will be no unexpected track work, etc. This gives us a "civilized" departure at 9:20AM and a good arrival time for check-in at 3:10PM.
We will spend the night in a Bay View room at the Holiday Inn on the Bay. We've stayed there before and like the proximity to the train station and also to the cruise dock. There is something very exciting about waking up early and watching your ship come in. In this case it will be Radiance of the Seas arriving from Tampa, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal and the Mexican Riviera.
It's a bit on the expensive side but I figure I didn't "spend" the extra money on the private room at the hospital (None available. It was a very busy day in surgery.) so I'll use it to "fund" this little extravagance.
As I remember, there is a pretty good Deli for breakfast in the complex at the hotel.
Frank in wet (Just barely...) SBA
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
Hi Frank,
I see that you are doing the 5-night Pacific Coastal on Radiance of the Seas. Such a beautiful ship. You'll have some Celebrity-shipspotting on the way with the Celebrity CENTURY in San Francisco, Celebrity INFINITY in Victoria, ending with the Celebrity MILLENNIUM in Vancouver. I also see you have locked in the Cascades and Coast Starlight. I love the Amtrak Cascades, such a wonderful scenic trip in a great train. A really great trip you have arranged, I am sooooo jealous!!!! Can't wait until my B2B 9-nt in December on the Celebrity MILLENNIUM out of Miami. I look forward to any pictures of your journey.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Thanks for the info. The Millennium class ships, Constellation in particular, are our favorites followed closely by Radiance of the Seas.
Do you have a good source for finding out what ships will be in port? As you know, it can make a big difference, especially in smaller ports.
Thanks in advance,
Frank in sunny (But supposed to be wet!) SBA
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
Two sites I use for tracking ships in ports of call;
www.cruisecal.com which has a new feature called Itinerary Lookup. I pulled up your ship and sailing date and it automatically pulled up the complete schedule and ships in port with yours.
The other site is www.cruisetimetables.com which is a bit more complex and also lists a couple of smaller European lines.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Thanks for the links! Even more ways to while away the hours!!
Frank in, finally, wet SBA
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Have a great time, Frank!
Posted by smitty195 (Member # 5102) on :
Ugh......all of this cruise talk!
I really need to treat myself to a cruise. I would love to know what it's like. I'm a single traveler (and I am NOT a party person....very low key), so I will continue searching for something that is warm and tropical, short in duration (3 to 5 days), and elegant but with the option for me to be casual (such as bypassing the black tie dinner, and having dinner served on my balcony). My friends think I'm nuts for enjoying solo travel, but I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. Maybe one of these days I will have to "shadow" Frank and company so that I have someone to show me the ropes. I just can't imagine what it must be like to go to bed at night with a warm breeze coming in through the balcony door and seeing nothing but water as far as the eyes can see. I really need to experience this. I just don't want to end up on a cruise ship full of young twenty or thirty-somethings who are there to scream, yell, and dance 'til dawn. I would hate it and would probably be a "never again" customer. I prefer traveling with older folks, who actually know how to have a conversation.
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Well. Frank and I fit into that description. The older, conversational one I mean.
Take a Mexican Riviera trip. They are usually seven days but very reasonably priced. And you don't have to actually visit Mexico. Just enjoy the ship.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Older than what?
Frank in cool and clear SBA
Posted by navybanker (Member # 16430) on :
Hopeful and Smitty -- If you'd like to cruise with grown-ups on beautiful, classic ships with great service, check out Holland America.
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
Smitty, try one of the coastal repositioning cruises in September that leave from Vancouver and end in LA or San Diego. Most are 4-5 nights long and Holland-America is offering up some nice choices. Don't forget as a 'Single Occupancy' you will pay 200% of the price listed. Then once you get to San Diego or LA just rail back home. A lot of the mass market lines have pulled out of California so it doesn't leave many options for a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise other than Carnival.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Enjoying the ship for ship's sake - rather than the tourist traps in port cities - seems like the way to do it. Smitty - why limit yourself to the west coast. Since you can still get reasonable red eye coast to coast flights, how about sampling our side of the continent? Lots more options for a spot like Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean. And you could check out Tri-Rail too.
Although I haven't tried it, a classic ocean liner like the Queen Mary 2 might be worth checking out - it's designed to handle the high seas of the north Atlantic not a floating box like many. I think some itineraries might include Bermuda. Transatlantic fares are pretty reasonable.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I have a cruise on my wishlist.
Having gotten a blue collar taste of such riding a BC Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria in 2004, my wife and I would love to do an Alaskan Cruise complete with a stopover in Skagway for a day on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad.
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
quote:Originally posted by notelvis: I have a cruise on my wishlist.
Having gotten a blue collar taste of such riding a BC Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria in 2004, my wife and I would love to do an Alaskan Cruise complete with a stopover in Skagway for a day on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad.
I have done five cruises to Alaska and all but one hit Skagway, and twice I did the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. A great cruise and highly recommended!
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Do it. Do it. Do it.
Last June my wife and I took a Holland America Lines cruise tour from Fairbanks-Denali-Anchorage-Seward (four legs Alaska RR), then Seward-Vancouver aboard ship with several port calls, including the White Pass & Yukon at Skagway. Cost an arm and a leg and a firstborn, but was well worth it.
Posted by RR4me (Member # 6052) on :
notelvis, we've been on one cruise, and it was an Alaska cruise. We did the White Pass RR trip. I'm not "hooked" like my brother and freinds were, but I absolutely advise you to do this. If we go on one again, we plan to go through the Panama Canal. Smitty, it wasn't tropical, so clientel may be different, but the ship ceratinly wasn't full of 20 - 30 year olds. Plenty to do (including just relaxing) without goign to the disco (I didn't realize anyone still called them such).
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I should note that in this arrangement, the White Pass & Yukon is on my wishlist. The wife might just stay aboard ship!
Posted by TBlack (Member # 181) on :
Well, Frank how did the operation go? A hip replacement, as I recall? You're obviously up and going; I don't think they change the tires on cars at the Indy 500 faster than that! Miss Vicki and Art are supposed to visit here in a couple of weeks, and we'll obviously talk about you...give us some topics to gossip about!
Tom
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
David, you might be surprised. My wife is no railfan but certainly enjoyed the WP&Y, it was spectacular.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Tom--
It's five weeks today since surgery and today I washed my car, hosed out the carport and went for a spin around the neighborhood on my own. That's a great step towards returning to independence!
Yes, Vicki and Art leave soon. She's promised me an itinerary but I have yet to see it. (Hint, hint!)
Frank in oddly overcast and warm SBA
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Still working on the hotels Frank. Can't seem to get anything worth changing to from what I have in Philly or Boston. So I may just keep them.
Right now the LSL from Albany to Boston is bustitution. Rain damage to tracks but supposed to be fixed by 3/25. I will be on that segment on 4/5.
I will have questions about NYP soon.
Posted by dmwnc1959 (Member # 2803) on :
quote:Originally posted by notelvis: I should note that in this arrangement, the White Pass & Yukon is on my wishlist. The wife might just stay aboard ship!
In Skagway there are several other very nice shore excursions offered. Another one there that I did twice was the Liarsville Camp excursion which included a salmon bake cookout and gold panning. There was also the largest dog I have ever seen in my life, a giant malamute. A jetboat to the Eagle Preserve, horseback riding, and glacier helicopter tours are also available in Skagway.
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