Alaska cruise - which ship? which itinerary?

[captain1]

My family is thinking about an Alaska cruise/reunion for summer 2005. My siblings and I and spouses range from 50 to later 60's, all energetic, active and in good health. My hubby and I have been on 2 cruises, both to the Caribbean, on Horizon and Century. One sister and hubby have been to the Caribbean on Infinity (I think). The others have never cruised. We would all appreciate some feedback as to Infinity or Summit vs. Galaxy, Seattle vs. Vancouver, the best land tour add on, etc. Thanks!

[Seabee]

Hey Captain...I think you mean the Mercury instead of the Glaxy. At any rate, I am a huge fan of the Century class ships. I have sailed on all three classes and like them all, but for some reason I really prefer the Century size. Therefore, I'd say the Mercury would be the way to go. Soemtimes in Alaska, smaller is better. I sailed from Vancouver before and it was fine. for me, it seems that air to Seattle would be easier. Having said that, I would pick the itinerary I wanted and then check out flights to see which is easier. I don't know that there is a lot of difference cruise wise between a Seattle/Seattle or Vancouver/Vancouver route. The big difference would be roundtrip vs one way cruise. Not sure this helps much but is just OMO.

 

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[msiowa]

I just booked an Alaskan cruise for 2005 so I just went through the same decision process.

 

I think the first question is whether you want to do a land tour in Alaska before or after your cruise. If so, then you need to do a one-way cruise either north or south-bound. (From what I read on this board, and the experience of friends, we decided to do a land tour before the cruise so we were able to quickly narrow our choice to a south-bound cruise on Summit.)

 

If you don't want to do a land tour, it's probably easiest to do a round-trip so you don't have the open-jaw air fare issue. In that case, you need to decide between the C-class Mercury and the M-class Infinity. I've only been on an M-class (Constellation, which I loved) but people seem to have fairly strong feelings in favor of one or the other class.

 

It's also a question (I believe) of which port you prefer - Vancouver (Infinity) or Seattle (Mercury).

 

No matter what you choose, I'm sure you'll have a great cruise. If you decide on the July 8th Summit - we'll see you on board!!

 

Happy sailing.

Joanie

[alpal1993]

Doing Summit southbound June 25 with pre cruise land .Will post a review.

[hancock]

I know you said you were talking summer of '05. If May or June were OK, you can also consider Infinity's 12 day RT from San Francisco to Alaska. These cruises were announced only a couple of weeks ago. They seem to be filling up quickly. There are only two of them, one leaving May 16, the other May 28 '05 with slightly different itineraries.

[captain1]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful info - all food for thought! I think I would also prefer the Mercury over the larger Infinity - we thought the Century was GREAT! Hancock - my hubby is a teacher and so we really can't go in May or June. Around here, school goes until late June, and longer if we get much snow. Kind of limits our scheduling! What shore excursions are a must in Alaska??