Reunion Alaska Cruise 2011 - Take Poll

[Sorry - I've revised this poll because it was poorly designed.] If you were among the early voters, please vote again.

Harbour Lights is asking collectors and friends for a 'show of hands' to measure how much interest there would be in setting up a Seven night cruise to Alaska in June 2011.

The cruise would start and end in Seattle WA. Once on board the ship, the prices quoted would be inclusive except for alcohol, soft drinks and gambling. You would pay your own way to and from Seattle and the Cruise Ship.

Before you 'vote' in this thread, please educate yourself about the proposed Reunion Cruise.

Review this document before you take the poll .


After voting, feel free to leave comments about your answers in this thread only if they pertain to this possible Reunion Cruise to Alaska in 2011. Posts to this thread that don't directly pertain to these limits may be removed.

Qustion 3 - Other reason... this would give me an oppitunity to see some West Coast Lights before and/or after the event.

Question 3 - other reason - Since this would be my first reunion. Meet new friends that I have only known from posting on the CF.

Keeping this thread visible. 35 'votes' so far.

I cant open up the above or the Musing????????

Since I just went to Alaska last year at a great price for a extrodinary sea & land tour, I would need a specfic itinerary of lighthouses we would see. I would love tp participate with all my friends for a great time but just having been to Alaska and the entire West Coast makea this opportunity a little late.
Details please

I have now saved a copy of the hi-res file at LighthouseKeepers.com

Here's the link: http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/uploads/2011_Alaska_Reunion.pdf

I've also revised the link I used up higher to this one.

thanks John

Sounds great. Will have to see if things work out. Put us down as a very interested.

Seeing lighthouses would be a must for us. Do you think we would get the opportunity? We only saw two on our cruise and never could identify one of them!

Judy

Tony is working with the cruise lines to make sure that these will be available. He and Harry have been working on these from the start of their planning..

There should be others that the cruise ship passes by.. When Sue and I went on the Inside Passage Cruise in 1997 I believe we saw 3 or 4 lights form a long lens distance.. Some lights get passed at night since a lot of the travel is done a night.

The excursions would be in smaller boats right to on near the lights..

I was thinking that since the cruise is all lighthouse people, that the route would be planned with that in mind. Looking at the number of lighthouses in Puget Sound, along the Inside Passage and the coastal route, not to mention in Alaska, I have been wondering just how many we would see. Am I wrong, would we be a group on a regular cruise?

We would be a group on a regular cruise with lots of extras tooled for the group.. The Cruise ship holds around 1,800 people, we would be about 250 to 300 of those people..

When Sue and I went in 1997 we were part of a broadcast group (about 50) from 8 different TV stations and had a couple of events each day for just our group. The only time it seemed like we were with everybody else was at dinner time, but our group sat at assigned seats in one section of the dining room together. They fed about 800 at a time for dinner the other meals were buffet which were available at several places and for several hours..

BTW This is my own experience I am talking about, I don't have any information more that what Tony put in the HL PDF file..

It will be quite interesting to see how many do sign up and actually go with today's economy. I think that 250-300 is an atainable goal if this was 2 years ago, but, I'm estimating only between 150-200 attendees. It will be very interesting to see the actual final figure.

The one advantage that a cruise has is it doesn't cost any extra for the ship to get closer to the lights during it's voyage and it won't cost the ship any extra if they are not coordinating the tours while inport. The few extra events set up during the cruise will be figured into the cost of the tickets. This is a very smart move on HLs since the amount of people going that is associated with the cruise is not as important a number to the cruise line as it would be to a Hotel hosting a reunion. The cruise line, even if they hold a block of 100 or so cabins, will be able to fill those cabins by cruise time with other passengers if they are not used up by reunion attendees.

hope wish that this cruise does become a reality since many people in the past have asked for it. My biggest concern is that the people in the past that have asked for it are still interested enough in HLs to spend the money to attend since the majority of those that have asked no longer visit the Forums nor do they still collect HLs.

When the idea of an Alaskan cruise first came up I saw no way I could do it. Now I am older and wiser. And very excited about the cruise!! Especially if they can accomodate some close in views for us LHL's (Lighthouse Lovers).

This would be my first HL event, so as a newbie I have some questions.

We can estimate the signup fee, cruise ship fee, & air travel fee, but what other expenses are there?

Are the cost of the lighthouse excursions part of the $200 signup fee?

Are there any gift pieces or other stuff included in the signup fee?

What is the estimated cost of the three LE's available to purchase? Are they all regular sized LE's?

What is the weather like in June for this region? Are jackets needed at night?

We see that food is enclusive, but alcohol is not. We are not much drinkers, but do like beer & wine especially at dinner. Any idea what the additional cost would be?

Will anything be going on prior to the cruise? or after?

Getting excited, hope this trip happens!

Souvenirs.. Take shipping labels and have anything you buy shipped home..


The cost of the lighthouse excursions are still in the exploratory stage..


Yes there will be goodies for each registered collector


They will be regular sized LE’s


Jackets will be needed during the day..


No idea probably what you would pay in a hotel bar.. You can always go on the wagon for the week..


I don’t know for sure but there are plenty of other lights in the Seattle area to see, but a lot of them are by boat


You and me both!!

In addition, how would booking be handled? Would I be able to book the cruise through my personal travel agent? I have an excellent relationship with mine, who knows me and my cruising quirks well, and I'd prefer to book it with her if possible.

Also, the rates quoted in the Musings are about the same as the standard rates listed for this cruise on Celebrity's site, so I'm also curious where the cost for the Reunion activities comes in, since I'm guessing it would be separate from any expenses paid to the cruise line.

Greg, I would contact Tony about your question about booking.. I suspect that you would need to be part of the group for dinner seating and the like..

tconstantino@harbourlights.com

or

1-800-365-1219

BTW Tony says the response so far has been very, very good!!

From the point of view of a planner, one who has planned a reunion, some of these questions are somewhat getting the cart before the horse. I first laid this idea out not long after the Mackinac reunion. It has resurfaced and a fair amount of research has been done. I think it is fair to say that this is still in the advanced conceptual stage in that the specifics of several parts are not yet firmed up. What is being asked at this point is for people to respond as to their interest. If there is enough interest, the details will be worked out and things put in place. This will be very different from previous reunions so hang in there, respond to the indicated email address with your interest, and let's all hope for the best.

Dave, I understand your point, but for me I need a little detail before I can let Tony know my interest in the trip.

I won't say I'm interested and then do a 180 and say I can't go. If I say I'm interested, that means I can afford the trip and will be happy with the content.

Thanks to Paul's answers to my questions, I can now send an email saying I'm Extremely Interested !!!

Loon -

Tony won't hold you to your answer made today. It's just a straw poll to see if there is sufficient interest for them to proceed further with planning.

It's not the percentage of respondents who say they're interested, it's the number of respondents who say that.

I have every intention of making a cruise to Alaska next year, regardless of the results. As many of you know, I was stationed on a CG cutter in Alaska, and it's looking like the STORIS will be returning to Juneau to become a museum next year (at least congress has approved turning it over to them for that purpose). I'm hoping to see her when whatever ship I'm on pulls into Juneau.

I'm still hoping HL will make an Anchor Bay replica of STORIS, but I guess only time will tell. By the way Rich, I'm one of those guys who tends to disappear from the forums and only post occasionally (like when I get excited about something). I'm still a collector and I read the forums pretty regularly.

I hope it all works out.

The other Rich