Anyone done Alaska? Advice Please!!

[lookingforward]

Just wanted to post that we did complain to RCCL. They issued each adult a $500 credit and the kids a $250 credit. We used them on Celebrity in March which we absolutely LOVED. Celebrity is a great line. We did the eastern.

 

[Laura]

KyBuckeye, I just got off a cruise to Alaska a week ago! We were a family of six and we did a round-trip from Seattle on the Norwegian Spirit. We loved the ship a lot and I recommend the Spirit and Norwegian Cruise Line, but I can't really help you with which cruise line. Cruisecritic is a super website and should help you out there. I bought the book The Unofficial Guide to Cruises, which gives you a good run-down of each cruise line and all of the ships; it's an excellent resource. There are ship reviews everywhere on the internet.

With Alaska itineraries, you essentially have a choice between a round-trip cruise from Vancouver or Seattle or a one-way trip from a port in Alaska to Vancouver/Seattle (or vice versa). The one-way cruises are cheaper and generally take you further north in your travels, but the airfare can be more expensive than a round-trip cruise, since you fly in and out of two different cities. Most of the ships that sail in Alaska are the cruise lines' nicest ones.

 

[ruvidu]

We returned on 5/22 from a Princess Land/Sea tour which included the following:
2 nights in Fairbanks with tours of a gold mine and a ride aboard the riverboat Discovery for a nice tour of the river area.
We caught the Alaska Railroad and had a glass dome train ride for 4 hours. We ate breakfast in a dinning car.
1 night at the Denali Princess Lodge just outside of the Denali Nat. Park. We did a 3 hour tour of the park here and an early morning covered wagon ride through a valley.
We then caught the train again and had another 4 hour ride to Talkeetna. We had reindeer chilli in a sour dough bread bowl on this trip.
1 night at the McKinley Princess Lodge about an hour outside of Talkeetna.
We then took a 4 hour motor coach ride to Whittier where we caught the Coral Princess for a 7 day South Bound cruise.
Day 1 we left Whittier around 10 PM
Day 2 we visited College Fjord
Day 3 we visited Glacier Bay
Day 4 we were in Skagway where we went on a helicopter ride to a glacier and got out and walked around. We then took a train ride up the pass to the Yukon territory.
Day 5 we were in Juneau where we went on a whale watching trip.
Day 6 we were in Ketchikan where we walked around and shopped.
Day 7 was a sea day headed to Vancouver.
Day 8 we disembarked in Vancouver.

After 4 trips on the Magic I guess we were a bit jaded. We thought the Coral Princess and it's staff terrible.

As for Alaska - We can not wait to go back again. It was the greatest trip we have ever made.

If there is any information or suggestions we could give you please let me know through PM here.
Russ

 

[binny]

HI there
I worked for Holland America in Alaska for 2 years, Can I help you out?

 

[KyBuckeye]

Hi Binny, and thanks. I have narrowed the lines down to Celebrity and HAL (I think) but am confused. Why doesn't HAL have next summer's schedule and prices posted yet? I have searched on many sights including their own and can't find a thing. I find it a bit strange as everyone else does. How do you think HAL does accomodating families? I'm not one who keeps the kids in the "club" all day but would like it as an option on occasion. Just don't want to feel like we stick out like a sore thumb because we have children along. I've also heard good things about HAL, due to smaller size ships can get in closer to the beautiful Alaska scenery. Any advice you can give me would be great. Thanks, Heidi

 

[binny]

I PMed you Heidi

 

[MamaQuack]

Heidi,

you will not stick out like a sore thumb with kids unless maybe you did a Crystal cruise - HAL, however, is a medium sized ship - not that small - the smaller ships are the RSSCL; at any rate, HAL is a wonderful family line, especially when you don't plan to use the kids program all day - the staff are just so attentive and so affectionate toward little ones!

MamaQuack