JeffH

His live and pre-recorded video updates on weather were timely and done well. Miss them this week, with Ma Nature threatening to mess up our cruise out of Miami this weekend. 

Since the move to starlink there is only one internet plan offered 

On our last cruise (December) there was the basic Voom and streaming Voom.  Ditto in late October.  That was pre-Starlink.

They pretty much started only offering the stream and surf when they changed their ISP to Starlink.  I have not seen an option for the old plan since my sailing last September.

2:30 should be fine. Most operators will schedule their excursions based on docking times since a lot of their customers will be coming from them. If the ship is late docking generally they'll try to delay the excursion leaving, but not always. Also, when booking 3rd party, we always look for companies that offer a full refund if the ship has to skip the port for some reason.

We did Alaska some years ago and all the operators worked within port times of the ships.  We booked everything independently. 
The whale watching tour was really telling.  We were on a really great boat that was maybe 30 or 35 ft with open back and a closed cabin area.  Just a group of 8 of us plus the captain and a mate. The excursion offering from the ship was near us most of the time and it was shoulder to shoulder on that boat with about 50 people crowding the railings trying to get a glimpse of the breaching whales. Plus, we had soft drinks, smoked salmon and crackers to nosh on that was included in the cost.  It was less expensive than the ship excursion offering.

You can fly into Seattle then take the train to Vancouver.  We flew into Vancouver for the Radiance Northern Passage and flew home from Anchorage in 2018.  We also did a 3 day land tour post cruise.  We loved every minute.

Flying in and out of Seattle is probably easier and cheaper since there are more flights to other domestic destinations than Vancouver has to places in US.
But itineraries that sail out of Vancouver typically have more interesting ports of call.

A friend called us from Vancouver yesterday to ask for excursion suggestions before boarding today.  Here are our suggestions from our two trips to Alaska.  
Discounts:  https://www.facebook.com/NorthernLightsCoupons/ .   Many discounts especially if doing a land tour.
Denali Hotels:  Book your own or use Alaska Tour and Travel - saves hundreds
Denali Evening Activities:  Coupon book.
Train, bus, hotel reservations:  Alaska Tour and Travel, https://www.alaskatravel.com/mcw .
Excursions:
Ketchikan:  Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour, https://alaskacrabtour.com .  The best excursion EVER.  On Aleutian Ballad crab boat from Deadliest Catch.  Docks at cruise terminal.
Juneau:  Harv and Marc Whale Watching, https://www.harvandmarvs-juneau-whale-watching.com .  Those are whales in the picture (little fuzzy) and outboard motor (had 2) in lower left of pic.
Skagway:  Chilkoot Chaters and Tours, https://chilkootcharters.com
Happy planning.

Bingo! Did the trick. Thanks for the info!