Forums39
Topics38,781
Posts313,886
Members26,582
|
Most Online2,218 Jan 21st, 2020
|
|
4 registered members (LINNY, SeeDiver, 2 invisible),
901
guests, and 77
spiders. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Alaska Cruise
#22141
08/26/2013 12:54 PM
08/26/2013 12:54 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 124 Fort Walton Beach, FL
SeeDiver
OP
Traveler
|
OP
Traveler
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 124
Fort Walton Beach, FL
|
Our 20th anniversary is next year, and Lisa and I are considering Alaska for our anniversary trip. I must preface this by stating that while we are not cruise fans, we believe the best way to experience the sights would be via water, as opposed to land-based. We're thinking a one-way, 10-day cruise would cover the most territory, and let us spend a few pre- or post- days on land. We do not want one of the Mega- size floating cities We definitely want a balcony, good food, smaller-to middle sized ship from the more reputable lines. It appears the best weather window is in late July-early August.
We've begun looking at travel sites on the Web, but would appreciate input from others with experience to help us weed out the outliers so we can focus on the let's say top 5-7 choices.
Thanks for any input
Roger Cenosillicaphobia - Fear of an empty glass
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: SeeDiver]
#22142
08/26/2013 01:13 PM
08/26/2013 01:13 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
Traveler
|
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001
Central Florida!
|
Holland America and Princess have by far the most 'presence' in Alaska. As far as HUGE ships, Princess has, unfortunately, succumbed to some extent to the huge ship craze, although their ships are not as large as Oasis of the Seas and NCL Epic, etc. It's been a long time since we cruised Alaska, but it USED to be that you almost needed to do either HAL or Princess among the larger cruise lines in order to get into Glacier Bay, which is a real must, especially if you think you will only do Alaska once. It used to be that the National Park Service only gave out just a limited number of permits for Glacier Bay, so you should check that out, to see if your ship would visit Glacier Bay or not. HAL and Princess both have lodges which they own in Alaska and you can book package deals which include the land lodging with the cruise price. You should at least LOOK at both of them before you look at anything else. Both have plenty of balcony cabins. HAL has traditionally been an older crowd than Princess, but Alaska in general is an older crowd than the Caribbean. HAL will have smaller ships than Princess and the food will be slightly better. But Princess will have a livelier crowd onboard.
As far as the others, I really don't know what they have to offer these days, but I would check out Princess and HAL first and then compare them to the rest.
Carol Hill
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: swg]
#22144
08/26/2013 03:24 PM
08/26/2013 03:24 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
Traveler
|
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001
Central Florida!
|
Just curious--does Celebrity go to Glacier Bay? As years ago, when we went, they were not able to.
Carol Hill
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: Snorkeller]
#22146
08/26/2013 04:59 PM
08/26/2013 04:59 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
Traveler
|
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001
Central Florida!
|
So--that is still the case--that other mass market ships can't get into Glacier Bay? That in and of itself is a major reason to book Princess or HAL. And yes, Bonnie works very hard! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" />
Carol Hill
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: Carol_Hill]
#22147
08/27/2013 12:16 AM
08/27/2013 12:16 AM
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 124 Fort Walton Beach, FL
SeeDiver
OP
Traveler
|
OP
Traveler
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 124
Fort Walton Beach, FL
|
Carol, Thanks for the tip about Glacier Bay. it may be the key to narrowing down the list.
Roger Cenosillicaphobia - Fear of an empty glass
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: SeeDiver]
#22148
08/27/2013 08:19 AM
08/27/2013 08:19 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
Traveler
|
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001
Central Florida!
|
No problem. I know that USED to be the case in Alaska, but it's been a while. Glacier Bay is amazing. All of Alaska is amazing. Enjoy!
Carol Hill
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: GaKaye]
#22150
08/27/2013 01:06 PM
08/27/2013 01:06 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 124 Fort Walton Beach, FL
SeeDiver
OP
Traveler
|
OP
Traveler
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 124
Fort Walton Beach, FL
|
It also appears that Northbound vs Southbound makes a difference. My reading says northbound between Ketchikan and Juneau ships pass through Snow Passage - a very beautiful area known for sightings of humpback whales. Northbound most of the season ships transit this area after dark however southbound it is during the morning.
Roger Cenosillicaphobia - Fear of an empty glass
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: SeeDiver]
#22151
08/27/2013 01:43 PM
08/27/2013 01:43 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
Traveler
|
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 83,001
Central Florida!
|
It depends. Many people recommend southbound, however we did northbound and were very happy we did. The further north you go, the more spectacular the scenery is. The first day or so out of Vancouver or Seattle, frankly, the scenery is a bit boring, compared to further north. The Inside Passage is ok, but Glacier Bay, etc., is really spectacular. If you want to have the most spectacular scenery at the BEGINNING of your cruise, it seems to me that you will be disappointed, the further on you go during the cruise. That's why we booked northbound, so that the most spectacular sights were at the end. It depends also on what you are going to do AFTER your cruise. We did a few days in Denali after the cruise, so if you're going to do that, it really makes more sense to me to go northbound.
Carol Hill
|
|
|
Re: Alaska Cruise
[Re: SeeDiver]
#22153
08/27/2013 07:04 PM
08/27/2013 07:04 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 90 Florida
suntwo
Traveler
|
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 90
Florida
|
SeeDiver said: It also appears that Northbound vs Southbound makes a difference. My reading says northbound between Ketchikan and Juneau ships pass through Snow Passage - a very beautiful area known for sightings of humpback whales. Northbound most of the season ships transit this area after dark however southbound it is during the morning. We did a 7-day northbound followed by 7-day inland ending up in Fairbanks. We chose to cruise north because we had never been there and for us it was like peeling back an onion. The scenery became more beautiful each day. And we found it different that when we got further north, it never got darker than dusk.We cruised on Celebrity and enjoyed it very much. The inland portion (by bus and train) was well worth it and we got great views of Mt. Denali and an enjoyable day traveling into Denali NP. We also added a couple of days at the end to go above the Arctic Circle. The flights home from Fairbanks to Florida were long but we're glad we went northbound. On our next Alaska cruise we will try it southbound.
Manawa iki ola pau'ole
|
|
|
|