3 ship choices for Alaska -- many questions

[LA Native]

Hi, this is my first posting here. But I couldn't live without Fodors and Tripadvisor for my other trips, so i will give this a try.

We are middle aged couple considering Alaska cruise for late July.

At this late date, and given some of our restrictions, we have narrowed it to the following, all of which include Glacier Bay (something that sounds like a must):

July 26 Island Princess NB Vancouver to Whittier (balcony about $1700 pp)

July 21 Volendam rt from Vancouver (about $1300 for lowest price ocean view, balconies too expensive)

and maybe: Oosterdam from Seattle -- balcony about $1300

We would prefer a balcony for the fresh air and more space and "once in a lifetime experience"

I like the idea of going rt Vancouver because 1) I want to visit Vancouver, and 2) I've read that it's rougher seas out of Seattle and I get seasick (I will take Bonine regardless)

Pros and cons as I see them:

IP: Less convenient to fly to LAX from Anchorage and lose a day as the flight home is 5 p.m., $1700 pp is more than i wanted to spend

Volendam: no balcony in our price range, like rt Vancouver, the thermal pool area sounds great!

Oosterdam: balcony more reasonable and thermal pool sounds good, but don't want to visit Seattle and very concerned about rougher seas.

We are going for the relaxation and to see the scenery/enjoy Alaska -- NOT for entertainment/shows/gambling. Good food a must with many veggie options.

Must make a decision soon -- or decide to do a different trip this July, so any input appreciated.

Thanks so much for taking the time!

(and by the time I figure this out there probably won't be cabins available at these prices!! - oh well, the cost of indecision!)

[cruisehappi]

Sounds to me like you need to decide whether a balcony is a "must" for you or not. Many people will tell you not to consider Alaska without a balcony. I'm booked later this year in an inside, and plan to spend lots of time on deck!

You're very worried about rough seas, so I would eliminate that one and choose between the other two. Although there are never any guarantees on smooth sailings!

So .... is $400 pp too much extra to pay for a balcony? Only you can decide! IMHO, the additional flight time should be the last thing you think about, unless you're really pressed for time. Good luck and I'm sure you'll have a great time no matter what your choice!:D

[wwinfl91]

You will see a lot more of Alaska on the Island Princess cruise than on either of the other Vancouver to Vancouver inside passage cruise.

 

If you can wait until later in August you can get a balcony for around $1300 and a mini-suite for $1500 on the Island's Aug 23 cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage.

 

Also check out Alaskan airlines for some good specials from Alaska to LA.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Aunty Pat]

I’ve sailed Alaska 5 times in the last 7 years. I’ve done these cruises in 1 outside, 2 balconies & 2 suites.

Glacier Bay is a must.

A balcony is a must. Who wants to be up and fully dressed just to go outside before 6am as you sail into Glacier Bay. It is so much easier to slip the warm rob the ship provides over your night gown and enjoy breakfast from room service on your balcony. It is also nice to be under cover on your balcony because there will be a chance of rain up on deck. The Holland America ships also have a lot more covered outside area and the Vista Lounge to seek protection from the weather and still view Alaska.

Don’t let talk of rough seas outside of Seattle discourage you. If they occur it will be the night you depart Seattle. The rest of the trip will be in the Inside Passage. If you sail Vancouver to Seward you will also run into rough waters after you leave the Inside Passage.

Have you looked at the HAL’s Zuiderdam Inside Passage round trip from Vancouver? The airfare is probably higher than Seattle and you might not be able to fly in the morning of your departure.

Aunty Pat

 

Barefoot Windjammer - Phantom ‘81

K&D German Rhine Line ‘84

NCL - Norway ’85, Pride of America ’05, Southward ’87, Star ’97 & ‘05, Starward ’92, Sun ’02 & Windward ’93

RCCL - Song of America ‘89

American Hawaiian - Independence ‘98

HAL - Volendam ’99, Noordam ’06, Oosterdam ’07 & ‘09, Statendam ’02 & ‘08, Prinsendam ’03 & ’06, Westerdam ‘09 & Zuiderdam ’04, ’06 & ’07

Carnival - Spirit ‘05

Celebrity – Summit ‘05

Cruise West - Yorktown Clipper ‘06

Princess - Golden Princess ‘07

A & K - East Queen ‘07

Cunard - QM2 ’08

Crystal – Serenity ‘09

[cheggy]

Hi, this is my first posting here. But I couldn't live without Fodors and Tripadvisor for my other trips, so i will give this a try.

We are middle aged couple considering Alaska cruise for late July.

At this late date, and given some of our restrictions, we have narrowed it to the following, all of which include Glacier Bay (something that sounds like a must):

July 26 Island Princess NB Vancouver to Whittier (balcony about $1700 pp)

July 21 Volendam rt from Vancouver (about $1300 for lowest price ocean view, balconies too expensive)

and maybe: Oosterdam from Seattle -- balcony about $1300

We would prefer a balcony for the fresh air and more space and "once in a lifetime experience"

I like the idea of going rt Vancouver because 1) I want to visit Vancouver, and 2) I've read that it's rougher seas out of Seattle and I get seasick (I will take Bonine regardless)

Pros and cons as I see them:

IP: Less convenient to fly to LAX from Anchorage and lose a day as the flight home is 5 p.m., $1700 pp is more than i wanted to spend

Volendam: no balcony in our price range, like rt Vancouver, the thermal pool area sounds great!

Oosterdam: balcony more reasonable and thermal pool sounds good, but don't want to visit Seattle and very concerned about rougher seas.

We are going for the relaxation and to see the scenery/enjoy Alaska -- NOT for entertainment/shows/gambling. Good food a must with many veggie options.

Must make a decision soon -- or decide to do a different trip this July, so any input appreciated.

Thanks so much for taking the time!

(and by the time I figure this out there probably won't be cabins available at these prices!! - oh well, the cost of indecision!)

 

We had the balcony and we did not stay in the room enough to really pay for it. It was nice but the view for Glacier Bay was so much better from the top . You really get a broader spectrum. We sailed Princess but all cruiselines would be wonderful. We did late August. good price.:)

[montgomeryfamily]

Have you ever been on Princess or Holland America? There is also a lot of differences in these cruise lines.

 

While you can "live" without a balcony, the first time we went to Alaska was in an oceanview on Holland America and we really wished we had booked a balcony. The next two cruises to Alaska we did book a balcony and really enjoyed it. While we went to the deck a couple of times for Glacier Bay, primarily for a naturalist talk and show/tell and once to grab some dinner from the buffet, we primarily spent the day on our balcony as Glacier Bay is definitely the highlight for us. We had done Glacier Bay on the first cruise, but between the crowds on deck and difficulty seeing, finding seats by windows inside, and just getting cold, we were so glad to have a balcony--an unobstructed view from our balcony with room service and being able to go inside to get warm a few times--plus the balcony windows were so much larger we also had a great view inside.

 

We really enjoyed the smaller ships we had twice more than our one time sailing on the larger Zuiderdam. We did find that it was smoother going from Vancouver rather than Seattle. Unless you are prone to get seasick, it probably won't affect you much. I wear the patch, so it was an issue for me.

 

Alaska is such a great cruise experience, I'm sure you will have a good time whichever way you go. If you have any questions about our balcony vs oceanview experience, please feel free to email me at kacruiser@sbcglobal.net.

[lovesublime]

I've got to agree with Aunty Pat. Glacier Bay is a must do and so is a balcony. You're not going to want to get dressed super early each morning to go up on top for viewing. With a balcony, you'll find yourself stepping out frequently to catch sights-whether you're dressed or not. It's convenient.

 

Also, I agree about not being put out by a Seattle departure because of rough water. We've done a Seattle roundtrip as well as a southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. Remember, on those one ways, you'll be crossing the Gulf of Alaska. For us, it was some of the roughest seas we've ever encountered while cruising. I'm not prone to sea sickness, but on that trip, I could feel it coming on. Just something to keep in mind.

[sailinglisa]

I respectfully must disagree with those who say that a balcony is a must. I've done Alaska three times (all on Princess) and have had an inside cabin on all three cruises. There is so much room on the outer decks on the Island Princess - Promenade deck, upper decks, etc., that unless you spend all your time in your cabin, that a balcony is not necessary. A balcony is NICE, but not NECESSARY! Of those three options you posted, I would pay the higher price for the air back from Alaska rather than a r/t Vancouver. The farther north in Alaska you go, the more of the rugged Alaska you see. I've done Vancouver/Seward, Whittier/Vancouver and r/t San Francisco. The one way cruises get you to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. So what if ONE day you have to get up early and be out on deck.........it is awesome!

[chipmaster]

Welcome to CC,

 

There will be several opinions and here are my 2cents

 

1) I assume you are talking about 2010? If so you are planning very late and the airfare is likely have limited flights and getting expensive as well. If you aren't must do this year why not next year and finalize these details in Dec 2010-March 2011. You'll find cabin availability and airfare likely cheaper provided economy doesn't get real good, and that doesn't look likely at the moment. But if you got to go this year you have tradeoffs to make. If you are on a buget and want to make sure you are doing no compromise I'd say plan now for 2011!

 

2) I'd take an inside and save the money for best route which would be one way IMHO. All the roundtrips have less port time as they waste valuable time sailing back and have either shorter port times and / or reduced scenic cruising. I agree Vancouver RT fare superior to Seattle and the oneways are even better. I'd pick oneway inside cabin and use that $ for the flight or great port excursions ( remember next year book early for flight might save you a lot )

 

3) There are balcony fans/fanatics, IMHO balcony is a very nice perk, but there are thousands and thousand of feet of viewing area on the ship, both on the top and several of the lower decks and bow of the ship too. I'd pick inside with glaicer bay, hubbard then a RT with balcony anyday. ( Why I'm doing one way this time has a lot to do with drive to port or spend 6 thousand more for one way and airplane) The people who say balcony because they can view in their PJs late at night or very early in morning are just enjoying the finer things money can buy. If they had to choose between bundling up or balcony with frill port excursion and much inferior scheduleI I wonder if they would still be such balcony advocates. The value of a Balcony comes down very much to the amount of disposable $ ones has and what their overall budget and interest is in things like excursions etc., YMMV.

 

Good luck planning!

[LindaKE]

HAL's Zuiderdam does the same itinerary as Volendam, but the balconies are several hundred dollars cheaper. I'm one that thinks the balcony is a must. As mentioned, you get wonderful scenery at all hours. Also, you can go inside to warm up. We did a one way first time around, but we're doing the Zuiderdam this time. One advantage to a one way no one has mentioned is being able to do a inland tour as well to see the best Alaska scenery. A negative is the cost of airfare flying into/out of Anchorage. It is a long, tiring flight often at aweful hours. We didn'teven consider cruising out of Seattle because, no only is there the rougher waters, but 2 days are wasted out in the open water away from the beautiful scenery. Vancouver sailings are almost all in view of land.

 

If you did want to wait until 2011 as someone mentioned, you can reserve now and get the best prices. In the unlikely event that prices go down, you can get the lower fare, but, more likely, the prices just go up and up the closer to cruise date you book.

[LA Native]

thank you all so much for taking the time to reply and give me such great advice.

We were locked into certain dates and that's why our choices were not broader.

Turns out we found a "sale" on Volendam July 7 sailing rt Vancouver -- $1500 for balcony "suite" including port and taxes, so that is what we are doing.

It satisfies the issue of seeing Glacier Bay, it gives us a balcony and we have a few days in Vancouver.

The flight from ANC to LAX wasn't so much more expensive, as just inconvenient!

Thanks again -- so far no one has responded that they are just back from Volendam. I'll have to see if anyone is going on our same cruise.

Really appreciate all the input.

[geoherb]

That sounds great. I was going to recommend doing the round-trip from Vancouver. We're doing the Sapphire Princess from Seattle this year in early August. We're saving the one-way cruise for when we have time to do some land travel in Alaska.