purplemusik

2015 the Crown is doing the 7 day RT out of Seattle and includes Glacier Bay as well as the stop in Victoria as well, which is great.

 

The Golden is doing the 10 day RT from SF, and alternating Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm.

 

Everything out of Vancouver is NB and SB, no RT's.

My grandma just asked me if I'd rather do Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier. You said Glacier Bay right? :)

With a week, IMHO you would do best with a round trip out of Seattle or Vancouver (if they are going RT out of Vancouver). Choose an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay for your first cruise to Alaska (it probably will be someplace you will want to cruise again). You don't really have the time to include a land tour, but in the future if you do, my recommendation is to do the land portion first, then hop on the cruise ship.

 

OK, so fly in a day ahead of time. Period. It's pretty easy going into SeaTac to get a hotel with a free shuttle close to the airport - then you can return there in the morning and grab a Princess transfer to the pier - or get a hotel near the pier and enjoy an evening in Seattle pre-cruise, which ever you flight fits best.

 

If going out of Vancouver and back, we still fly into SeaTac (price of flights) and take the Princess transfer bus up to the pier in Vancouver the next morning.

 

The reason we don't do one ways is the cost of airfare to/from Anchorage. We might as well stay on the ship and head back to Vancouver....it's a few bucks more but it is more cruising.

 

Now, if you have a few more days, some will say take a 10 RT out of San Francisco. I have mixed feelings about this, we have done it and loved it, but we booked it because DH needed to be in SF ahead of time for business anyway. To be in SF and not have time to enjoy the city is a shame, but you do get more days cruising, just not in Alaska.

 

So I think we are probably down to looking at which ships are going RT out of Seattle and/or Vancouver (not sure if any do) - this summer or next summer? and include Glacier Bay in the itinerary.

 

Does that help narrow things a bit?

YESSSSSSSSS Thank you SO much!!!!! I'm so excited. It's going to be myself, my Grandma, and my 9 year old daughter :D

A few questions to help narrow down things:

 

How much time do you have to vacation? a week, 10 days, two weeks, more??

A week or so is what we were looking at

 

Do you have to fly to a port - such as Vancouver, Seattle or San Francisco, or can you drive from where you live?

We live in FLorida so we would 100% have to fly :)

 

Do you also want to do a land tour, are thinking of also doing a land tour, or just want to cruise? I wasn't even thinking about a land tour! omg more options! I'm not against a land tour...what does that consist of? Sorry, I'm WAY out of the loop when it's not Carribean.

 

 

If you can answer these questions I think I can get you started on narrowing down the rest of things.....I did a whole lot of research (including extended conversations with very experienced cruisers) before we too our first Alaska cruise. We've done a number of them now.....with some variety, so I think I can help.

I'm so excited but so overwhelmed! I'm a huge planner and researcher but I feel like I don't even know where to start with this so I appreciate your responses!

I'm looking into going to Alaska and I'm feeling overwhelmed with all the choices! I don't know which itinerary is best. What port to go out of. If we should go northern or southern or which ports are "must sees". ANY help ( and I mean ANY ) would be appreciated so I can at least have a starting point!

I have never gotten any better deals from mine. She'll send me the same stuff I see online. I've never really liked her though so I don't respond any more- lol. I wish I could switch her! Not like it would matter though because it's not like they do much.

I can't seem to find the area where I used to ask questions about parking/etc at certain ports so excuse me if this is in the wrong area.

My family lives in central FL and we were thinking about renting a 12 passenger van to drive to Miami for our cruise ( that way we didn't have to pay to park seperate vechiles and we could all drive down together ). Is this possible? We've always lived so close to port that we usually just drive and park or get dropped off so I've never paid attention to where the rental places were. If there are rental places, do they drive you to the port when you are finished? And what about when you get back( in order to pick up your rental car again )?

Any help would be appreciated!

I found viturally the same cruise for my family and I'm off to read every review I can from each one, but thought I'd ask my friends to give me direct opinions on each!

Which would you pick?

Here is my pic from the same Steakhouse ( same table too!!!! ) I think I took 5 pictures trying to show the real size of it. This was the closest one I could find - comparing it to the fork and the cream thing for the coffee-lol!!!

LOVED every minute of it!

OMG! I didn't get those shirts! I saw them the first night and never saw them again! I could've sent you $ to get them for me....UUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys! I figured a lot of times, I'm guilty of skimming through reviews and studying the pictures so I'd make a picture only review with a few words thrown in-lol

I cruised with an 18 month old before and a 6 month old. I used an umbrella stroller and a ring sling. Ergo Carrier would be great as well ( when in port especially ).

Great minds think alike. I plan to do the same thing for our Feb 2015 cruise. Figure things should be going on sale about Aug/Sept so I should be able to get some great deals on "summer" stuff for myself & DH.:cool:

 

Also, LOVED your dress from the formal night. Do you remember where you found it?

Yes, I found it at Ross for like $16! lol Thank you!

What does your tattoo say??? I love tattoos on the feet (I have two myself) but man do they hurt

 

 

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My tattoo is the rose with the halo and angel wings ( for a family member who has passed ) but my mom and sister have life and love on theirs ( my sister's says "amore" instead of love ). My foot one didn't hurt too bad but mine is small. My wrist hurt more - lol

Your kids are adorable! Love the dress your daughter was wearing the first formal night! My daughter wore the same one in purple on our cruise last summer!

Thanks! I saw it and fell in love with it ( and used it for her Christmas Dress too! )

I agree with everyone else. I just went on the Dream in Feb and was having a hard time deciding ( having never been ) and took the advise of others on here. I am SO glad I didn't bring them! There is no kid's menu, it's a lengthy dinner, and they really take the time to talk things over with you. They explain the options, the seasonings, etc. There isn't anything for the kids to do at all ( no coloring pages ) and for a 2 hour + meal where they keep bringing you food, I would pass when it came to bringing them. This is coming from someone who brings her kids everywhere :p

Thanks guys! I loved the Dream too!

I'll end my all photo review with a photo ( of a photo )

These were given out on Valentine's day- along with carnations for the girls

Went to the comedy show with my mom one night and came back to the room to this! lol

Day 5 and 6- Days at Sea

These will just be random photos because we just bounced around these days.

Every night our dining room staff would make the kids little napkin animals