Alaska Alternative?

[Pens Fan]

We enjoy the aft balcony for Alaska and prefer cruising from Vancouver. An aft gives great viewing on both sides of the ship going through the Inside Passage and glacier viewing. Budget affects us as well, but keep the location of your cabin in mind. NCL Sun aft balcony and mini-suite cabins are well worth considering. Same ports but glacier viewing day can vary (some use Sawyer glacier - Tracy Arm - beautiful as well). With recent promos that were on NCL, people could have an aft balcony with one of the NCL promo packages for about 40% less than standard balcony on DCL. We have 60+ nights on DCL since 2011 but for Alaska, the sticker shock gets me and I prefer the aft (Wonder aft balconies are mainly HA so we do not need HA)

We are of the same mindset. I'm getting ready to book the NCL Sun when the 2017 sailings go on sale. We are looking at the aft penthouses and mini suites as well. The views look amazing! We've done the Wonder in Alaska in the past and it was fabulous. Our son was younger and it was Disney or bust. But he will be 19 for this trip, and the youth clubs are over for him. He's going to be at that tough age for cruising - too old for the kids clubs, but not really old enough for a lot of the adult activities. We looked at Princess, but were worried that it would be a little too formal and more of an older crowd for our son's comfort. Also, I have been dying to try out a Freestyle cruise! The idea of eating when and where you want sounds fabulous to me. I know other lines, including Princess, are trying to move that way, but NCL invented it and their ships were built for it.

We've been to Alaska twice, but never made it to Glacier Bay, so that was a deal breaker for us which ruled out DCL. Tracy Arm is amazing, but we've seen it twice before. We also want to leave from Vancouver (been to Seattle a bunch already) and do a one-way sailing that allows us to explore the interior of Alaska. I also like that NCL ends in Seward, rather than Whittier (where Princess debarks). We were in Seward about 20 years ago and it was absolutely beautiful and look forward to spending some time there. We aren't interested in the group tours any of the lines offer for the land based portion, preferring to go our own way, so while Princess seems to have that part nailed down it wasn't a factor for us.

There are a lot of options in Alaska and a lot of factors to consider. You have to look at what is important to you and choose accordingly. For us, we are hoping that NCL will be a great fit.