Recommend an Alaskan Cruise??

[Miss Eeyore]

I think in general you will find cruise prices to Alaska a bit less than Disney, but more expensive than say, the Mexican Riveria or the Caribbean on other lines than Disney. I know that our summer cruise, July 4 out of Seattle with highest category verandah cabin is less than our ocean view Cat. 8 on DCL. The excursions in Alaska tend to be expensive, but everything to do with tourism in Alaska is expensive......they only have 2.5 months to earn their tourism dollars for the entire year.

The draw for many is the scenery. For the most part you cruise within sight of land, and see what a glorious country it is up there. The icebergs are awesome....and I mean in the truest sense of that word.

The new Princess ships have an enclosed pool.....a retractable glass roof, so they are set for cold weather sailing. Most of the ships have a nature guide aboard who lectures over the loud speaker as you glide along. We felt so romantic sitting on the promenade deck, cozy wrapped in plaid wool blankets.....listening to the history of the land.

I can't wait.

 

[NCRedding]

We sailed on the Radiance to Alaska last year. We had a cat. D with a balcony which I consider comparable to Cat 6. Our cost was more than we paid for any DCL trip (because we travel off-season on DCL), but less than that same week on DCL. The ship does have some beautiful areas. We loved Alaska-the scenery was awe-inspiring. DD (age 10) rated the kids clubs almost equal to DCL. They had a much smaller group of kids travelling-120 age 12 and under. Since there were only 4-5 girls her age, she found it easier to make friends with a group than she did on DCL--they all just hung out together. The kids clubs are not open as much as the DCL. The hours were something like 9-12; 2-5, 7-1. There is a charge of $5 per hour after 10 for kids activities. Some of the activities in her age group are done without supervision--for example they did a scavenger hunt that took about 1 1/2 hours all over the ship in groups of 3--no adults or counselors. We were told this in advance and given the option of DD not participating. The free time that they had was no strictly supervised--DD and the other girls had problems with one child throwing and hitting them with balls. I spoke to the counselors after DD came back to the room crying and saying she wasn't going back. Things improved slightly. He was the child of some performers, so the counselors all knew him. By the second to the last night, the girls were fed up with it, so they took matters into their own hands--they had no more problems after that. The kids get cards for participating in certain things. They can redeem the card for merchandise at the end of the cruise--DD got a backpack, keychains, hat, photo album, etc. There were no pagers in the older program--not sure about the younger. I think that the teen program may have been lacking, simply because by the 5th night, there were droves of teens hanging out all over the ship. The centrum area is 10 stories high, with open balconies located all around the opening. I was attempting to read in the library, but was unable to do so because of the teens yelling across the centrum to each other--not pleasant language either! The adult areas were not enforced as they are on DCL. WE did a whale-watching excursion in Juneau-amazing. Sorry this is long. Overall, we loved our Alaskan cruise, but RCCL is not DCL.

 

[disneediva]

we went on holland america last year. my son wascx the only child on board , yet he loved it. the staff went out of the way for him . thought there is no kids club on board, they found tons of activities to keep him busy. a first rate boat if you ask me.

 

[tvguy]

disneediva, which HAL ship did you go on? We went on the Amsterdam and they had a kids club. Kids even had their own version of HAL navigator, my daughter got one each day for her age group, she was 11 at the time, and my son got one for his age group, he was 15.
HAL is the most Disney like line we've been on. We've also cruised with RCCL and NCL.

 

[shoes99]

Last year we sailed with the Pink Ribbon Cruise Group on the Disney Magic 7 day Eastern Caribbean.
This year we are sailing on the Diamond Princess - Inside Passage leaving out of Seattle. We booked a mini-suite cat AD and got upgraded to a mini-suite AA.
We are looking forward to sailing the inside passage.
We are flying in the day before the cruise, and are going to catch the Mariners/Expos game Friday night at the stadium.
After the cruise, we will spend another day in Seattle, then on Sunday we will fly to SNA Orange County, and spend 2 nights near Disneyland before we head back to NJ.
Airfare for the 3 leg trip was $490 each. The leg from SEA to SNA was more expensive than the EWR/SEA leg.
We will be sailing in Mid June.

 

[Lachesis00]

I know of 2 people who did the Alaska cruise, I wish I knew which cruise line they took Heck I live in Alaska and I wish I could do the cruise LOL

 

[UMTerp]

Thank you, thank you for all of the great info! I think an Alaska cruise will be in the works for us! I would love to read any and all trip reports when you return (if you have time).

Thank you!

UMTerp

 

[KAMLEM]

What is the weather like during a summer Alaska cruise?

 

[kajohn]

Alaskan weather is somewhat unpredictable, so it is best to layer. When we were there in the beginning of July we hit great weather and had low 70's during the day most of the week. I think 60's are more common though. Short sleeves and jeans worked most of the week, when not on the glaciers.

We brought waterproof (not water resistant) wind jackets with fleece jackets underneath, then short sleeve tshirts. The combination of the fleece and windjacket was warm enough even on the glacier landings, or while viewing the glaciers from the ship, and then when we were in town sightseeing, we took the wind jackets with us, which worked when it rained. They folded into themselves to make a bag, which we attached to our fanny packes when we weren't wearing them.