raynne

I am also interested in the edge and how it works. Assume there are limited times that activities are avail able and that you need to book. How hard is it to book? Do you have to waste a lot of time waiting in line etc. Are there enough sessions that everyone gets to do everything that they want? Don't want to outlay x4 to find out that you can't do activity because it is fully booked.

We are going on our first P&O cruise this December on Pacific Explorer. My husband and sons will be interested in these passes. Can someone please explain how they work? I think we would purchase the gold passes. Is there a limit to the number of activities that you can do? On a 10 day cruise do we select when the 7 day pass begins? Do you need to prebook activities? Are activities only available for short periods of time each day? (like rock wall and surf simulator on RCL) ?

Are activities very popular and difficult to access? Are the passes worth buying? Will 11 year old be happy with pools, waterslides and kids club instead?

thank you in advance.

Thank you, we are doing same trip this year. Can't wait to see more.

We are cruises from San Francisco in June 2017. Our homeward flight isn't until 9.45pm. We are in SF for 6 days pre cruise so looking for suggestions for what we can do for the day knowing that we will have 2 weeks luggage for 5. In Singapore we could get luggage taken directly from cruise port to the airport. Is there any service like this available?

Frugaltravel, 2 adults 50, 2 late teens and 10 year old. Happy to hike, history, nature, culture stuff. Coming from Qld, Australia it will be very different environment, history and culture so looking forward to that aspect. DH would love to kayak up to the glacier so that might have to be "the" excursion.

Harleysmuma, unfortunately can't take advantage of the price drops.:-(

Glaciers - tips like the bus to the totem pole parks is the type of thing I am after - 10 yr old is going to love the totems.

How easy is it to hire cars from the ports?

I'm excited and panicking all at the same time. Have paid deposit for Alaska cruise and now worried about how much the final cost will be. Flights and cruise already is not cheap, along with pre cruise holiday.

Is it possible to "do" Alaska without spending thousands of dollars on tours. There are 5 of us so the cost of tours adds up quickly. We are visiting Victoria, Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. Please help with suggestions and help calm me down. Traveling the last week of June on Island Princess and will probably be our one and only trip to Alaska - which is why I am panicking, don't want to miss out on the 'real' Alaska by cutting costs. Maybe we should have waited until it was just the 2 of us.

Thank you for your feedback so far.

Mum and Son - I did look at the Solstice but thought I might try one of the cheaper options- don't think we could handle all six of us in 1 room either. thank you.

GUT2407 - yep, Christmas is never going to be a budget holiday. Ruled out Emerald Princess due to cost. Unfortunately due to work,(close down over Christmas and NY ) school (teachers and student) and University commitments it is only time we can get together as a family.

We have heard that Princess and HAL would be older demographic but don't know what they are like with respect to kids clubs and activities.

Help please. Love the idea of Cruising at Christmas again but trying to find a cheaper option this year. Would have loved to try Ovation but really can't afford it.

Family of 6. me, DH and 4 DSs 28,24,19,10. We have so far only cruised on RCI due to one of our DSs being autistic - and they have been awesome for him. Youngest DS has not really enjoyed kids club on RCI, and teen hasn't really enjoyed his time on board. DH, DS28 and I enjoy the Trivia but no one has really been impressed by the entertainment.

We need something that will be Autism friendly, have decent day entertainment for 10 year old and son with Autism as well as keep young adults interested. Don't want to have to pay extras for everything so I am thinking maybe not the P&O offerings? But thinking maybe there isn't enough to do on HAL and Princess as the boys are used to mini golf and sports courts -they won't miss the rock wall etc. as they haven't really used them in the past.

Not really impressed at the offerings out of Brisbane so will probably need to travel out of Sydney. These are the offerings - advice please as we haven't been on any of these lines. Will be in interior cabins regardless and will be twin or triple according to lowest pricing. (advice on cabins on these ships - will 3 adult brothers drive each other mad- we have only done twin in the past) Ports shown in red are the ports we have already visited.

P&O

Pacific Pearl

Ports of Call

Sydney, Isle Of Pines, Mare, Port Vila, Mystery Island, Noumea, Sydney

10 nights $1210 per interior triple

Pacific Eden

Ports of Call

Sydney, Gladstone, Hamilton Island, Cairns, Willis Island (Scenic Cruising), Moreton Island, Sydney

$1359 triple interior 10 nights

Carnival

Legend

Ports of Call

Sydney, Noumea, Mystery Island, Mare, Loyalty Island (Lifou), Sydney

10 nights $1721 triple ocean view

Spirit

Ports of Call

Sydney, Isle Of Pines, Suva, Port Denarau, Noumea, Sydney

11 nights $1844 twin interior

Holland AmericaNoordam

Ports of Call

Sydney, Noumea, Mystery Island, Port Vila, Luganville, Suva, Dravuni Island, Lautoka, Sydney

14 nights $1855 triple

Princess

Dawn Princess

Ports of Call

Sydney, Champagne Bay, Luganville, Port Vila, Mystery Island, Isle Of Pines, Noumea, Sydney

12 nights $1626 triple

Out of Brisbane

Princess

Sea Princess

Ports of Call

Brisbane, Alotau, Kitava - Papua New Guinea , Rabaul, Kiriwina Island, Doini Island, Kawanasausau Strait & Milne Bay, Brisbane

10 nights $1383 triple

P&O

Pacific Dawn

Ports of Call

Brisbane, Noumea, Loyalty Island (Lifou), Port Vila, Brisbane

7 nights $1350 triple

Thank you for any advice or suggestions.