Alaska Cruise Questions

[chuff88]

Hey all,

I am leaving on the 8/26 Alaska cruise and I have a couple of questions.

First, we really want to do Palo brunch. This is a special trip we're taking for my mom's 70th birthday, and we really wanted to have brunch but it was sold out before we could make our reservations. What are our chances of getting a reservation onboard?

Second, we have the Mendenhall Glacier helicopter/dog sled excursion booked in Juneau, but I'm a little worried about it getting cancelled because of temperature. How far in advance would we know that it's getting cancelled? Has anyone else had that excursion cancelled this year?

Thanks!

 

[Dug720]

1. All you can do is go to where they are doing dining changes as soon as you board (or it opens if you board before) and ask. They may have a waiting list if there are no slots. My sister and I gave our parents a DCL Alaska cruise for their 50th anniversary - it was noted (and my sister was even on contract on the ship when they sailed ) but they were still not able to get brunch. So...it really just depends. But celebrating something doesn't really bump you up the list at all.

2. They would notify you as soon as they knew, but it could even be cancelled the day of because of weather.

 

[MissMeidak]

We were in the same position when we went on the 9-night Alaskan cruise this year, Palo Brunch was sold out by the time our check-in window had opened and there was 12 of us. As soon as we boarded we went straight to Azure from 12:30pm-3:00pm (the navigator will direct you where to go for reservations) and was greeted by a Palo server who asked us what we needed help with (MDR changes are usually held in the same place as Palo reservations). The server asked for our stateroom numbers and we were told to take a seat whilst he added us to the Palo list. We waited for approximately 10 minutes before our staterooms were called and we told the Palo Manager (it was Enes at the time) that we would like to book Brunch for 12 people. We were a large group and I was worried he would not be able to accommodate us. Enes told us to return at 2:45pm and that he would 'work on it' in the meantime. Upon our return, Enes told us that he had sorted our party of 12 for Brunch the following day!

Before our check-in window had opened I knew our chances of booking Palo Brunch were slim, I was also aware that there were lots of fellow cruisers who had also not managed to book and they were Gold members. From my personal experience, Palo managers seem to try and accommodate guests as best they can. As Dug720 said, try and get to where they're making the dining changes as soon as possible and see what happens. Hope you have an amazing cruise!!

 

[Kanga&TwoRoos]

If you can’t get brunch, consider doing a dinner. We were on the 7/22 Alaska sailing and our Palo dinner was amazing. A definite highlight.

 

[2XPCV]

If you can - head to the Palo reservations area as soon as you board....I'm sure it depends on the cruise, but there could be a lot of people wanting the reservations. The one time I didn't go down right away I waited almost an hour in line, then was told I was the last reservation available, and there were still a lot of people behind me in line (though that was on an almost sold-out cruise). Solely base upon my experience, if you go down right away, your chances are relatively good.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Second, we have the Mendenhall Glacier helicopter/dog sled excursion booked in Juneau, but I'm a little worried about it getting cancelled because of temperature. How far in advance would we know that it's getting cancelled?

Some of the camps are closed. Coastal has already shut down. TEMSCO still has theirs. I am not sure who DCL contracts with.

https://www.juneauempire.com/news/unseasonable-warmth-causes-sled-dog-camp-to-close-early/

 

[ScooterScott44]

Some of the camps are closed. Coastal has already shut down. TEMSCO still has theirs. I am not sure who DCL contracts with.

https://www.juneauempire.com/news/unseasonable-warmth-causes-sled-dog-camp-to-close-early/

We did one in May and the musher told us they moved camps 3 times last year to keep going. Not sure how things are going this year but with the high temps they had it can’t be much better.

The drawback to moving camp is that it could impact the amount or length of trails that you get to use.

Good luck

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Ours in May in Skagway was canceled because of cloud cover. We didn’t rebook for Juneau because we had whales scheduled.

Palo dinner was better than brunch, in my opinion. I found brunch a bit chaotic and our server (same person for both meals) was more annoying at brunch, he wouldn’t leave us alone. The food was much better at dinner too.

 

[BruinEd03]

Hey all,

I am leaving on the 8/26 Alaska cruise and I have a couple of questions.

First, we really want to do Palo brunch. This is a special trip we're taking for my mom's 70th birthday, and we really wanted to have brunch but it was sold out before we could make our reservations. What are our chances of getting a reservation onboard?

Second, we have the Mendenhall Glacier helicopter/dog sled excursion booked in Juneau, but I'm a little worried about it getting cancelled because of temperature. How far in advance would we know that it's getting cancelled? Has anyone else had that excursion cancelled this year?

Thanks!

There are two dog/sled excursions in Juneau. I would keep an eye for the other one, too. It goes to a different glacier (Norris), so it may still be available. Keep in mind that if there is foul weather, you may not know until about 40 minutes before your gathering time. I would rush down to the PA desk ASAP at that point to rebook. However, if it is because of foul weather, again, ask if the other glacier has been running. We found out that Disney rebooked us for a later time at Mendenhall. It was only when I got in line a second time to ask about other alternative excursions in case the later time in Mendenhall was cancelled that they told us about the Norris one. That day, pretty much all of the Mendenhall ones were cancelled, but all of the Norris glacier ones ran.

 

[chuff88]

Some of the camps are closed. Coastal has already shut down. TEMSCO still has theirs. I am not sure who DCL contracts with.

https://www.juneauempire.com/news/unseasonable-warmth-causes-sled-dog-camp-to-close-early/

So we ended up having great weather for all of our port days, and our dog sledding excursion went fine! It was through TEMSCO, so it makes sense that it still happened.

 

[Sailorsgirl]

glad you got to go on your dog sledding . . . were were 9/2 sailing and we were able to go as well. I highly recommend TEMSCO . . . wasn't Alaska amazing???!!!!