Alaska Cruise?

[Luvdisney]

Has anyone done the Alaska Cruise on points? If so, were there any other surcharges or fees you didn't know about other then tips and land excursions?
Anyone know the different seasons for the Alaska cruise. The point chart shows different rate plans, but no dates? Trying to figure out if it's worth it or not. I know the point chart is for an outside cabin. Anyone pay more for a Varanda? Was thinking next summer before my DS goes away to College, that might be a nice big horay before school? Was thinking mid to late July?

 

[Jynohn]

We're planning on an Alaskan cruise too for next May using our points. So far I have had no luck with figuring out which dates qualify as low, standard and high seasons. I've called member services a few times. most recently yesterday, and they still have not finalized the contract with Holland America so cannot book cruises yet. I asked if there was any indication of when I should call and they said just keep trying every week. It's pretty frustrating

 

[Inkmahm]

I've been to Alaska on Princess and can tell you that mid to late July is prime season for cruising in Alaska. The salmon are running and the bears are visible. May and September would be the cheapest as weather is cooler and fewer animals are around.

Alaska is most definitely worth getting a balcony to be able to enjoy the scenery from your cabin.

 

[kimberh]

I have done a Alaska Cruise on $ and it is the Best!!! I am subscribing to this to see what is said about points on the cruise. Ditto on the Balcony room. There is so much marine life to watch in the sea. It was amazing!!! Whales, seals, sea lions and more.

 

[barkley]

we did alaska on points a couple of years ago, we departed out of vancouver and did the inside passage returning to vancouver. we could'nt upgrade to a verandah because we had a party of 4 and the verandah's hal was willing to let us upgrade to could only have 3 or less passengers in the room.

i loved alaska but i hated hal-they had recently instituted their 'mandatory tipping' policy (automaticly put on your account unless you contacted the front desk on board and put in writing that you did'nt want them to-and if you did they contacted every service person assigned to you and they hounded you with questions about why you were'nt tipping them-we did'nt experience this, but overheard allot of passengers discussing it) and from what previous hal cruisers on board said, we were'nt imagining things-the service was terrible. problems with our stateroom's heater/ac took 3 days before anyone would even come look at it, if your stateroom attendant was on a schedualed break or 'sleep period' noone else would cover for them, and the BARS-lord, if you could find a bartender you questioned if they came from some alcohol free part of the world because they had no clue on how to make the most basic mixed drinks (i saw one woman shriek in horror when she ordered a a white russian using top of line vodka-the bartender looked it up in his 'cocktail' book, started mixing the ingredients and when he read out loud the ingredient 'cream' he shrugged and grabbed a container of non fat milk and started pouring it in

the line may have improved since we sailed-but i'de not take them again, and i'de advise anyone with kids who want activities to avoid them totaly-their kids club was set up in a tiny space and consisted of color books, puzzles and old board games-and the hours were such that it was impossible to dine either early or late seating if your kids wanted to go up there (very limited hours).

for the number of points it costs, i would be tempted to take those points and rent them, using the cash to go on celebrity or royal carribean.


oh-no costs beyond the transfer fee dvc charges-in fact the port fees dropped between the time we booked and embarked, so we ended up with a few bucks of credit on our onboard account.

 

[Lisa0503]

Add me to the list of looking to book an Alaskan Cruise on Points for next summer. I admit, I am so frustrated that HAL & DVC have not finalized their contracts yet. I am begining to think I may have to look into renting points to pay cash for the trip (If I pay cash, I am NOT going on HAL...) According to HAL's website, the cruises are booking up fast...especially if you want to sail on one of their smaller ships.

Regardless, I have read posts from other DVCers who cruised on points and were able to upgrade to a verandah cabin for as little as $200 per person. However, I do think that rate goes up depending on ship/season (the larger ships like the Zuiderdam have more balcony cabins to fill so they would be less expensive to get than the ships with fewer balconies)

 

[Luvdisney]

Has anyone been able to book an Alaskian Cruise for next summer yet??

 

[Lisa0503]

I called MS last week to check on booking for next summer and the contracts with HAL had not been finalized yet so they weren't making any bookings. They said to keep calling back (FYI I have been calling since JUNE!!!!) DH and I have been planning on this booking this trip for over a year now. We are going to be so disappointed if we can't. The only alternative we have is looking into renting the points we were going to use for the cruise and pay cash but we have never rented before I am so leary of doing this...

 

[Luvdisney]

I've rented before and it can be a pain. I would rather do a point transfer to another DVC member. The Transactions goes much smoother.

 

[Lisa0503]

Just an update....MS is still not taking reservations for next summer yet

 

[Jynohn]

Thanks for the update. Saved me a call to MS today.