cruise lines to alaska

[Whizzo25]

I cruised the inside passage (first cruise and I wanted to always be able to see land ) with HAL August of 2005. It was fantastic and I can't wait to go back. The ship (Oosterdam) was lovely, the stateroom was huge, I fell in love with looking at the whales while sipping my beverage of choice on my verandah. That being said, I think you might also want to consider if you're going inland or on excursions. If excursions/travel to the interior are important, then I think HAL, who has been cruising Alaska since the gold rush, has the inside scoop on excursions. IMHO. I hesitated about paying the extra $$ to take a helicopter to climb on the glacier (remember courage of a titmouse) but have memories of repelling down the side of the glacier (shamed into it by fellow travelers ) that will last my whole life. Regardless of what CL you choose, I think you'll find that it's true that once you've been to Alaska, you never come the whole way home. I can't wait to go back!

 

[auntsue1]

I keep wishing & hoping that Disney will listen to all the interest in an Alaskan Cruise. I've seen several postings that definitely feel Disney is listening but there are many issues involved. But I still keep wishing & hoping!

 

[tvguy]

thanks to everyone for their input. A cruise agent we met on our recent DCL 10 day southern carribbean cruise on disney also suggested HAL... Tv guy do you remember which ship? Myself and my husband and another adult couple will be making this trip so I think we would prefer set dinner hours as well.

The Amsterdam.

 

[tvguy]

Booked the Hal Oosterdam out of Seattle through our DVC points. Took 8 people, kids & grandkids. I would never sail HAL again. Food was barely decent and the service was bad. We had to just about beg for refills of our drinks. The ice tea was served in 4oz glasses and we were lucky to get one refill, this was every night.

That's too bad. Did you sale before or after they went to automatic tipping?

We sailed in 2002 when HAL's legendary, "No Tips Expected" policy was in still in place. Of course we tipped amounts equal to what other lines suggest. HAL was known for paying the highest wages in the industry, and wouldn't even suggest tip amounts. I was VERY disappointed to hear they not only switched to tips, but automatically charged them to you room. Never sailed that way myself, but I know my mom has noticed a big decline in service on NCL since they switched.

 

[lumutz]

You could see pirate in Alaska!!...hehehehe just kidding.. Choice Alaska be your wonderful vacation

 

[ivanova]

I do not know if your traveling with kids or not. But if you are on a just adult trip I know whole heartly recommend at trip with American West Streamboat.
We went from Seattle to Jueanu in May and just loved the whole trip. It's a small boat (only 202 on our trip). Everything but the bar drinks is include in the price of the tour(need to pay for airfare). Being a small boat and not on a ridged schedule, our captain make extra stops that were not planned. One day we pulled right up to shore to watch a group of brown bears. Another day, we could not do our planned activity (too much ice by the glacier). So at dinner the night before he polled the boat and we all said whale watching. So we send the time that we would have of used going to and from the glacier whale hunting. We found 8 whales, 1 mother and two babies that played around the boat for over a hour and half. You know never get this on a large ship.

Cruise West also provides an excellent small ship experience in Alaska

 

[carl59]

This might have been the ship my parents saw from their cruise. They both came home having a fit wanting to know how they could get on it. Since neither one of them got the name off of it. I haven't been able to find which "small ship that passed them" they have been talking about. She said it was able to go places their big ship couldn't.

If the boat look like an old type riverboat with a big red paddlewheel on the back, you have the right boat.
The web site is: http://www.americanweststeamboat.com/index.php

 

[Amlee]

If the boat look like an old type riverboat with a big red paddlewheel on the back, you have the right boat.
The web site is: http://www.americanweststeamboat.com/index.php

She said it did have a big paddlewheel. So maybe it's the one she is looking for. I've checked out the website and now just have to wait for them to get back in town to show her my fine. Thanks for the info!

 

[NancyIL]

My sister and brother-in-law cruised to Alaska with Clipper Cruises a few summers ago (the Yorktown Clipper is now part of Cruise West), and they loved that cruise. But I could go on 3 Alaska cruises on the larger ships for what one of those small ship cruiselines charges.

 

[mowog]

Thanks to all who have posted. Lots of wonderful ideas and suggestions .

jean/mowog

 

[fireplug]

Here are some links to our Alaska cruistour. We did Princess and sailed on the Coral Princess. It was a gorgeous ship and the crew was wonderful. Not quite DCL but still a great time. The land tour was awesome. We stayed in Princess's own lodges and they were fabulous. I cant wait to go back. I just hope Disney decides to start cruising there soon.


http://smccabe.photosite.com/Week1/ Land portion

http://smccabe.photosite.com/Alaska2004Cruise/

Squid

 

[mowog]

fireplug, how nice of you to send photos .All of this input is overwhelming really. All of you have really helped me narrow it down to princess and hal.

Although the smaller ships folks mentioned look very appealing to me , our friends arent interested in that approach. Hope we dont regret that decision.

 

[fireplug]

I dont want to overload you but if you are AAA members they sometimes do special nights where they pick a destination and then have program about all the possible options available.

Squid

 

[BriarRose59]

Also, go check out www.cruisecritic.com . They have a wealth of information on all cruise lines. Each cruise line has its own section as well as a great ports of call area.

 

[auntrenae]

We did HAL southbound from Anchorage to Vancouver in May '06, on the Veendam. We LOVED Alaska, but the Veendam just didn't come up to any standard I had ever seen. Our room steward had to be asked every time we wanted anything, and one time when I had been resting in the room when he wanted to clean, and I came out later, he was very rude, saying that it wasn't his problem!
The dining room staff were rude and totally unaware that an order is to be made the way it's ordered. My DH and I have dietary restrictions, which we made HAL aware of before sailing, and every night we had to return our special meals because the server said, a little garlic won't kill you, to my very allergic DH. The food didn't come near the quality on DCL either, and the general service in public areas was awful, with people sticking their nose in the air and walking off if you didn't order a drink. I also objected to having to pay extra for virtually everything, from oj at breakfast, to juice at dinner, to WAY overpriced pictures, and no cruise bundling of the pix.

Sorry to be so negative, I'm usually totally positive, but this was not a pleasant cruise for us as far as the ship went. Now when you talk about the destination.... different story! Alaska is so gorgeous that I almost never put down my camera, and got amazing shots with little effort. There is an excursion in Juneau where you go out with a professional photographer to take pix of whales, dolphins, and then walk in the rainforest to get land animals and plants. I can't praise our guide enough! He helped each of us to get the best shots with our cameras, and waited for anyone that wanted to spend a little more time at one place. We found some sea lions playing king of the mountain on a bouy with a bald eagle on top screaming every time the bouy tipped over. It was hysterical, and we were all taking dozens of pix, but he kept the boat moving so we would get the best background behind the action! I'd do that again in a heartbeat! There were so many things to see and do there that are so different, that we'd go again the minute Disney has a ship ready to go there!!!
BTW, the advice to get up early, take a nap, and stay up late WORKS! I got a lot more good shots by doing that...

auntrenae

 

[TanaL]

I so hope Disney adds an Alaskan itinerary in the next few years, we would love to go but fear a bad experience on another line. That photo tour sounds amazing, thanks for the description!

 

[stampinshauna]

We sailed on the Island Princess to Alaska in May. I have to admit that I wasn't that impressed. There were only a couple kids on the ship. The dining service was poor, but our room steward was great. The food was okay, the desserts were not very good. We got bored on sea days. I missed Disney. I've heard that Royal Caribbean is great, so I'd do that if we were going again (unless Disney starts going there).

 

[NancyIL]

We sailed on the Island Princess to Alaska in May. I have to admit that I wasn't that impressed. There were only a couple kids on the ship. The dining service was poor, but our room steward was great. The food was okay, the desserts were not very good. We got bored on sea days. I missed Disney. I've heard that Royal Caribbean is great, so I'd do that if we were going again (unless Disney starts going there).

In general, Alaskan cruises attract an older crowd than Caribbean cruises, even in the summer. You also cruised in May - when most kids are still in school! The only way you'd have tons of kids is if Disney sailed to Alaska.

Food is subjective on any cruise. I haven't sailed with either Disney or Princess, yet - so I can't give MY subjective views on the food.

We'll cruise to Alaska next June on the Coral Princess, sister ship to Island Princess. As I said before, the itinerary ought to be the most important reason for picking one ship over another, and the one-way Princess cruises have a darn good itinerary. As far as being bored on your sea days - two of the "sea days" on that cruise were glacier days. If you were bored by College Fjords and Glacier Bay - no ship would've helped you with that!

RCI has 3 ships that cruise to Alaska. Radiance and Serenade of the Seas are sister ships, with Radiance doing one-way cruises and Serenade doing roundtrips out of Vancouver. Vision of the Seas does a roundtrip out of Seattle, and in my opinion has THE worst itinerary of any mainstream cruise ship out there.

 

[atakaratemom]

I have to say that I am a huge DCL fan and I would love to cruise Alaska with them, however, I can't say a bad thing about our Alaska cruise on NCL. There were plenty of kids on board and the children's programs and the counselors were wonderful. The clubs are smaller than DCL, but I must say that the activities are fun and very well organized. The Star is a beautiful ship and the food was excellent. The service was also outstanding. The crew goes out of their way for the guests and everyone treated our family so well. We had towel animals on our bed every night, our room was spotless, and every crew member met us with a smile and pleasant conversation. Whenever we thanked them, we always heard, "It is my pleasure." If DCL goes to Alaska great; I will be there. But, in the meantime, it would be a shame for someone to miss out on having the fantastic experience we did. Yes, other lines aren't Disney, but that doesn't mean you can't have a "Magical" vacation. We certainly did.

 

[TanaL]

I have to say that I am a huge DCL fan and I would love to cruise Alaska with them, however, I can't say a bad thing about our Alaska cruise on NCL. There were plenty of kids on board and the children's programs and the counselors were wonderful. The clubs are smaller than DCL, but I must say that the activities are fun and very well organized. The Star is a beautiful ship and the food was excellent. The service was also outstanding. The crew goes out of their way for the guests and everyone treated our family so well. We had towel animals on our bed every night, our room was spotless, and every crew member met us with a smile and pleasant conversation. Whenever we thanked them, we always heard, "It is my pleasure." If DCL goes to Alaska great; I will be there. But, in the meantime, it would be a shame for someone to miss out on having the fantastic experience we did. Yes, other lines aren't Disney, but that doesn't mean you can't have a "Magical" vacation. We certainly did.

Thanks for that info mary, that is encouraging! If DCL doesn't go there soon we'll checkout NCL.