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mustcruise1217

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  1. Thank you for posting! I have been torn between NCL Encore and HAL but since I am traveling with kids we decided to just go with NCL this time. Seeing stuff we would want to do on the dailies really makes me feel better about our choice. We also saw the HAL dailies and while I love the itinerary there was nothing I’d look at and want to do. I’ve seen a few post about people staying overnight in the observation lounge or waking up super early to claim chairs for the whole family. Not sure I’d be into that so nice to know about heading to the waterfront for glacier viewing.
  2. Thank you both! I have poured over all the one ways and round trip options out of Vancouver but unfortunately I work in a hospital and it will be hard enough to get my desired week off in June, I don’t think I can push my luck by trying to do a cruise that leaves on a Tues. or Wed. Maybe I should just leave Encore as it is. A quick intro to an Alaskan cruise. As the kids get older and we have more $$$ and vacation time we can try out more options. I’d love to do a one way with a stay in Alaska but that will have to wait a few years.
  3. Thank you for letting me know it’s available at that time. Since our cruise isn’t until 2024 I couldn’t see the excursions yet. We would definitely book with NCL if we do it. I have a few other cruises I’m debating between so port times are all varied but I just keep coming back to NCL.
  4. I am driving myself crazy trying to pick a cruise to Alaska for our family of 4. Dh42,Me41, DS9 and DD7. I have the encore picked bc I believe it will work well for our family. However, the shorter port times along with NCL docking in Ward Cove are making me look elsewhere in Princess and Hal. I am specifically looking to hear about anyone’s experience with Ward Cove. We really want to do the Deadliest catch boat excursion (would book with NCL). Is this even possible with only a few hours?
  5. I am having the hardest time picking for our family of 4. I am 41, Dh42, DS9 and Dd7. Dh and I have only been on Disney and Royal Caribbean Bahamas/ Caribbean cruise with our oldest DD18. (She is not coming. She thinks taking a cold cruise is lame) The little kids haven’t been on a cruise yet(DS did go on Royal as a baby but he was a nightmare and doesn’t remember so that doesn’t count) but we do have a Disney cruise to Bahamas about 5 months later so they will get the fun ship part then. This will be June 2024. I am kind of locked to cruises that leave on weekends due to my work schedule so that knocked out lots of options. I originally booked NCL encore as it seems like the freestyle will be awesome for our family. We are pretty casual. The activities seem great for the kids. However, the port times seem sooo short. Especially Ketchikan, where NCL docks far away. It almost seems like we will barely have time to do anything. Also stopping at Victoria seems like a waste for us with kids since we would remain onboard due to the late hours. We booked using the military discount around $6200. Discovery Princess has pretty much the same itinerary but it seems like Princess will at least have priority dock spots, which might help our Ketchikan day a bit. I’ve watched multiple videos on all 3 options and Princess does seem a bit more kid friendly than HAL. The people sailing seem a bit younger and it looks like we would fit it a bit better than HAL. Dd would be thrilled with the puppies coming on board and the kids club looks ok. $7200 HAL Koningsdam- based on itinerary alone this looks great. If it was DH and I this would be our pick. However, while watching videos I haven’t seen one kid. We are planning on really taking in as much of Alaska as we can and will be doing excursions whenever at port. I’m thinking we will be ok not having many activities. The kids will be happy with the retractable roof/pool. We don’t really care about dining and could eat at the buffet or quick service option if the kids would be too loud in the main dining area. $6500 We plan on doing a helicopter/sled dog excursion and a summer musher camp excursion in either Skagway or Juneau. Not sure which one where yet. Would like to do the deadliest catch boat in Ketchikan. I’m hoping this isn’t our only Alaskan cruise and hopefully can expand our options as kids get older and work gets more flexible but for now these are our choices. We will fly out of New York to Seattle or BC. I don’t recall ever flying out of US so don’t know if it adds extra hassle to get to BC. Thank you for any tips. 3 options NCL Encore Sunday- Seattle Depart 5pm Monday- day at sea Tues- Juneau 2:30-11pm Wed- Skagway 7am-8:15p Thurs- Glacier Bay cruising Friday- Ketchikan 7am-1:15pm Sat- Victoria 8pm- 11:59pm Discovery Princess Sat- Seattle depart 3pm Sun- at sea Monday- Juneau 1pm-10pm Tues- Skagway 7am- 830pm Wed- Glacier Bay Thursday- Ketchikan 7am-1pm Friday- Victoria 7pm-11:59pm HAL koningsdam Sat- Vancouver depart 4pm Sunday- Cruising inside passage Monday- Tracey arm inlet 9-930am Juneau 1-10pm Tues- Skagway 7am-8pm Wed- Glacier Bay Thur- Ketchikan 11am- 7pm Fri- inside passage cruising
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