行程攻略 - Alaska Trip

我5岁的儿子想坐船看鲸鱼跃出水面的情景，虽然他小小年纪已经可以自由泳游15米（会唤气）了，但是还不能够在大海里浮潜，所以在我的to do list上的南美厄瓜多尔的龟岛目前还不适合他。那去哪里看鲸鱼呢？夏威夷和加拿大nova scotia我和老公都去过了，所以在研究了鲸鱼迁徙的世界地图之后（见下图），运用排除法，又考虑他5岁的年纪，我决定带他去阿拉斯加坐游轮，然后在其中的一个停靠港岸坐小船去看鲸鱼（都是确保能看到的）。这样的行程能减少不少带孩子的负担，因为游轮任何时候都有住宿，吃饭和免费托儿的服务。阿拉斯加的游轮还可以看到冰舌入海的冰川和海上的浮冰，老公和儿子还都没有见过，可以带他们开开眼。

据说去阿拉斯加的游轮公司里以公主号的行程最佳（冰川看得最多），而且价格比更适合小朋友的迪斯尼号便宜，所以我就订了公主号，我也是第一次坐游轮，没啥经验。不过后来一路坐下来我发现还是更喜欢adventure的行程，游轮还是不太适合我，屋子太小，船上人太多，而且还没有帅哥美女可看，都是一帮老头老太太，要不是因为带个小孩子，我肯定不会去坐游轮。下次坐游轮可能要等到我老到走不动了吧，或者下辈子，而且我有点晕船。我喜欢旅游的时候写游记，但是似乎看电脑打字弄得我有点想吐，平时不看电脑的时候还好，看手机似乎没问题，不知道为什么看电脑反而晕。

 

阿拉斯加对于学生来说最好的时间应该是暑假，7月和8月比较起来7月更好，气温更高，雨水更少，不过价格7月也会贵。我去之前没有研究最佳旅行月份，以为7月和8月是一样的，结果我们8月中旬去的，大多数天下雨或者阴天，照片效果很不好。而且没有太阳也会更冷，在船上要穿长裤长袖加薄外套，上deck这样露天的地方时候还要加冬天的外套帽子和手套。刚上船那天因为要在Whittier露天的码头排队过安检，当时7度的气温还下着雨，冻得我儿子直打哆嗦，不过幸好没有生病。我老公那天穿了条短裤，号称不冷，虽然上面加了外套，但是上船之后他流了好几天的稀鼻涕。那些同船的老头老太太就更别提了，好多人咳嗽，所以夏天去阿拉斯加旅游一定要穿好厚衣服。

阿拉斯加的游轮一般是南北向8天7夜，我觉得从北向南的要比从南向北的好，因为可以多看一个冰川。北边起点是美国阿拉斯加的Anchorage，南边终点是加拿大BC省的温哥华。两地的温差很大。温哥华可以穿短裤，Anchorage要穿棉衣。两地的时区也差一小时：Alaska Time (Anchorage, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan) 1PM， Vancouver: 2PM。当然我的出发地多伦多和温哥华也是有时差的，如果从芝加哥转机那就又多了一个不同的市区。第一天从多伦多飞到Anchorage要搞清楚时差。

游轮预定：

I booked the cruise 1 year before the departure date, the deposit was 300 USD (as Canadian citizen, you can choose to pay either CAD or USD), the balance of 2400 USD was due before May 01, 2018 (or fully refundable about 3 months before departure date). I quoted about 10 travel agencies including Princess Cruises itself, and found most agencies not only offer a better price than Princess Cruises, and the agency’s price was negotiable. After I booked the cruise, I didn’t see any promotion that offered a price that lower than what I got, so I would suggest you book a cruise as early as possible so you can get the best cabin that you want. The price we had was for a interior room located at the very center of the ship (to avoid sea sickness), and at a relatively quite floor (below and above were both passenger floors instead of machine or activity floors).

The reason I chose to sale from north to south was because the southbound cruise would visit 1 more glacier (Hubbard Glacier) than the northbound voyage. Also, the reason I chose Princess Cruises was because it took more guests to Glacier Bay than any other cruise line, and our primary purpose for this trip was to take my 5 years old son and my husband to see Glacier beside the ocean. I have seen similar scenery a few time in Patagonia at South America.

We didn’t go on any land tour to Denali National Park was because it was not cost efficient. If we went to Denali, then we would end up paying a lot more but not able to keep 5 year old my son interested. We had a lot of activities at the ports, including Skagway lake view scenery and train tour, Juneau whale watch plus glacier park combo tour, Ketchikan bear and salmon watch tour, Vancouver park rout hop on and hop off bus tour. The reason that I chose one way cruise was because I didn’t want to waste my time, and I was worried that spend 14 days on the ocean doing round trips will bore my son and husband out.

机票预定：

说到机票，如果多伦多出发的话，一共两种飞法，去是从多伦多飞Anchorage，这个没有直飞的必须转机，要么芝加哥转机，要么温哥华转机。我本来以为要做个阿拉斯加航空公司的航班，但是其实没有，要么是Air Canada的，要么是United Airlines的。回来的时候很简单，从温哥华直飞回多伦多即可。机票都可以在加航的网站上定，因为United airlines的也是加航联合运营的。往返机票大概1000加元一个人，不包托运行李，不包食物和酒精饮料。第一天飞到Anchorage会很辛苦，而且到了Anchorage，还要坐大巴1个半小时才能到Whittier上船，会很累。

I was worried about the air tickets if we chose the one way cruise, but it turned out to be ideal. When booking, you can choose multi-city, then fly from Toronto to Anchorage, Alaska, then come back from Vancouver to Toronto. For Air Canada, there are a lot of direct flight between Vancouver and Toronto, and when going to Anchorage, Air Canada will also stop at Vancouver or Chicago, and the round trip costs only around 850CAD per person (no discount for 5 years old kid) without any sale. However, I ended up booking the air tickets by using our Aeroplan miles. 25000 miles can change for a round trip, but 198CAD tax still needs to be paid out from your pocket. My husband just had enough miles to buy himself a round way ticket, and I was able to buy my son a round way ticket (choose adult to buy him ticket since it is not allowed to buy a single kid’s ticket, then call Air Canada to cross reference all the tickets to indicate he will be accompanied by adults) and myself a one way ticket from Toronto to Anchorage (12500 miles + 128CAD tax) by using my miles. I later transferred 3236 miles from my husband and my son’s Aeroplan accounts to my account ($0.02 per miles + tax), so I gathered another 12500 miles to buy myself the return tickets (I paid 72.58CAD tax for this ticket).

后来出了点意外，没赶上多伦多到芝加哥的飞机，结果需要把从多伦多到Anchorage的机票全部重买，又花了2026.26多美元。因为飞机改时间了，所以Anchorage到Whittier的大巴票也要重新买，花了162美元。

游轮小费：

游轮的小费是按人头和房间大小明码标价，每天直接划你的信用卡收费的（收费标准每家游轮公司不同，下面英文是Princess的2018年美元收费标准）。你并不需要准备零钱。要是觉得收费太多可以去船上的passenger service desk调整。这个地方相当于游轮的酒店大堂，很好找，上船之后头一两天尽快去调整，因为小费是按天收费的。上船的第三天会发纸填写下船时间，可以自己选择，一定要按时交回大堂。游轮每天的入港和离港的时间总是在变，所以要看好每天发到门口的游轮日报。上图里还有我跟邮轮大堂经理要的各个港口的电话，just in case。不过要真是赶不回来上船，轮船是铁定不会等你的，这些电话只是能帮助误船的人找到当地的Princess办事处一起想办法花钱坐小飞机或者开车到下个港口赶上轮船。

Princess Cruises automatically adds $13.50 per day to each passenger's account to cover hotel and dining service. Passengers in mini-suites will be charged $14.50 per day, and suite passengers will pay $15.50 per day. The amount goes for children and adults, and it can be prepaid up to 2 days prior to the start of your cruise. This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff that help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, buffet stewards, stateroom stewards, and housekeeping staff.

Extra Charges: A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to all bar bills. Casino and spa staff do not receive a cut of auto-gratuities.

这趟行程的全部花销：

In total, we (2 adults + 1 kid) 原计划消费4790.43USD（折合6246.96CAD），实际消费6978.69USD（折合9100.57CAD）for this trip, including

Cruise: 2700USD tickets + 186.66USD tips;

Toronto airport parking 156CAD + Air Canada on flight instant noodles 4CAD * 2 = 8CAD;

Air tickets: 75000 miles + 597.31CAD for air ticket tax + 72.16CAD for mile transfers, 因为误机导致从多伦多到Anchorage的机票全部重买，花了2026.26多美元;

Anchorage airport to port transfer 95.04USD, 因为飞机改时间了，所以Anchorage到Whittier的大巴票要重新买，花了162美元;

Port Excursions: Skagway 240USD cash + 222.5USD train tickets, Juneau 351USD, Ketchikan 224.59USD, Vancouver 123CAD;

Vancouver: Luggage storage 15 CAD + Lunch 25.99 CAD + Canada line 7.5CAD.

我后来给aeroplan打电话试试看可不可以refund机票，结果亦喜亦忧。喜的是本来以为什么也不会给退的，结果给退了128块的税；忧的是只退了我的单程机票的税，老公和儿子的不给退，因为他们俩的机票是往返票，返程部分用了就算用过的机票了，就不能退税了。