Alaska Cruise

My wife and I are in the process of booking a fly-drive holiday to Canada (fly into Calgary, fly-out Vancouver) in September 2018. We had booked a weeks cruise on the Norwegian Sun from Vancouver to Alaska and back to Vancouver to finish off the holiday. Unfortunately we have had the cruise cancelled by Norwegian :(

We chose Norwegian because they had a relaxed dining policy, which we felt comfortable with as first time cruisers and we didn't want to pack suits and long dresses etc for dining on-board ship which would get creased on the drive part of the holiday.

We still would like to do a relaxed dining cruise at the end of the holiday. Can anybody recommend a cruise company that does this in late September please? :confused: (yn)

Most cruise line now , especially an Alaska cruise, are far less formal than a first time cruiser may imagine.

First find a Alaska cruise that meets your itinerary in late Sept (that may be difficult , end of season)

Then check dress requirement of that cruise line and you will see it that will be very casual with formal night dress optional.

Many cruiselines have alternate places to eat on formal nights . Other than NCL , there aren't many lines that are casual only.

You could look at Princess ,Celebrity and Holland America for cruises from Vancouver in Sept. They all have alternate places to eat on formal night.

Many formal nights I've worn a black golf jacket , black pants , shirt and black runners on formal night in the MDR. Many cruise lines now have anytime dining on board and traditional as well. traditional have a tendency me formal dress on formal nights.

I only pack a little knit black dress and wear it over again. DH wears slacks, button down shirt and black sneaks for dinner - no need for fancy dress if you don't want. Look at the itinerary and the weather in late September - end of season which may impact what the ship can do.

Holland America doesn't really have a formal night anymore. It's just updressing and the requirements are minimal. I'd say long-sleeve "country club casual" is fine for men. Certainly never wore a jacket or tie for my last HAL cruise 3 years ago on any formal night and we ate in the MDR every night while on ship.

I just did a quick search, and the latest you'll be able to do a 7-day cruise to Alaska out of Vancouver is Sept. 23, 2018. Both cruises are on Holland America. I can't remember the last time I wore a long dress on HAL. For the 2 dress up nights, your wife can wear a nice pair of black pants and a dressy top, and men can wear pants, dress shirt and tie. Your clothing won't get any more creased by driving than by flying. If you don't want to do the dining room on dress up nights, you can opt for the Lido buffet or room service.

I wouldn't let the notion of casual dining guide my choices for Alaska.

Roz

I just did a quick search, and the latest you'll be able to do a 7-day cruise to Alaska out of Vancouver is Sept. 23, 2018. Both cruises are on Holland America. I can't remember the last time I wore a long dress on HAL. For the 2 dress up nights, your wife can wear a nice pair of black pants and a dressy top, and men can wear pants, dress shirt and tie. Your clothing won't get any more creased by driving than by flying. If you don't want to do the dining room on dress up nights, you can opt for the Lido buffet or room service.

 

 

 

I wouldn't let the notion of casual dining guide my choices for Alaska.

 

 

 

Roz

They also can book a specialty restaurant that usually don't require the formal wear.

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I'd agree with everything posted above, and it also applies to all the other mainstream lines like Princess, Celebrity, RCCL etc. if they have cruises that work with your dates.

The only advantage to NCL's dining policies is that the entire ship operates the same way, while every other line has a bastardized partially-fixed/partially-open seating policy. This restricts the number of seats available to folks who want to eat 'whenever' instead of always at a fixed time early or late, so it's less efficient than on NCL - but it has no real impact on the type of clothing you can wear.

Just bring a pair of non-blue-jean long pants and a collared shirt and you'll be allowed into any dining room on any mainstream line on any night. Given the likely temperature variances you'll face on an Autumnal Canadian road-trip/Alaskan cruise, you'll need long pants and long-sleeved shirts packed anyway - these plus a tie will actually make you better-dressed than many others you'll see in the dining room even on a 'formal' night!

We chose NCL for our first cruise for exactly the reason you did - but have since racked up many more cruises on Princess. Even when there actually was a Formal Night I had already gone from packing highland dress to a suit to a sportcoat to just a shirt & tie. Now I don't even bother with a tie on Gala Night or whatever the line you choose wants to call their 'dress up swanky and pay us too much for photos' night.

Heck...even jeans are allowed...and a great number of folks wear jeans on Alaskan cruises! They are, after all, cotton pants!

All,

Thank you for all of your comments. We are certainly a lot easier in my minds now.

Now the BIG decision ocean views or verandah or suite (I think the bank manager might have a say in that decision!!!!!!)

Once again thank you for your advice/comments :)

All,

 

Thank you for all of your comments. We are certainly a lot easier in my minds now.

 

Now the BIG decision ocean views or verandah or suite (I think the bank manager might have a say in that decision!!!!!!)

 

Once again thank you for your advice/comments :)

Also pay attention to itinerary, not all lines have access to all areas, especially glacier bay. Most will hit the same ports so that is less of an issue, although time in port may vary.

Also pay attention to itinerary, not all lines have access to all areas, especially glacier bay. Most will hit the same ports so that is less of an issue, although time in port may vary.

Thank you for that snippet :)