Alasaka cruise/ship favorites?

[skippycruises]

Just wanted to know if anyone had a favorite itinerary/ship for this trip in August? Previously been on the Veendam, and Zuiderdam. Thanks!

[Time2sail]

Great itinerary and prices--have you looked at the August CC cruise?

[Atomica]

My favorite itinerary has always been the 7 day roundtrip from Vancouver. Skagway and Ketchikan are the two ports I've enjoyed most, but really it's tough to go wrong wtih Alaska. The nice thing about HAL is they have a ton of ships up here for Alaska, and next year there'll be 3 Vista ships for the first time (Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam), so really you can take your pic of the S and Vista classes!

[Esme]

Volendam - sailed on her to Alaska 2 years ago and will go again next year. :)

[Tinknock50]

I would stick with the smaller HAL ships. They definitely get closer to things then the larger ships.

 

But if are going for the ship experience primarily, you might like the larger ones.

 

To me, Alaska is the star of the show, so I generally choose smaller.

[Mary Ellen]

We've been on 5 HAL Alaska cruises. We prefer r/t Vancouver. Our favorite itinerary is the one we did this last time on the Volendam (Tracy Arm, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan). This is also the itinerary for the CC group that Budget Queen is planning for next August.

 

Don't care for the 'Vista' class ships (Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Westerdam, Noordam).

[Stevesan]

The R and S class ships have much better forward viewing areas than the Vistas.

Our ideal Alaska cruise is a B2B Vancouver - Seward. Ports and glaciers are different enough to keep your interest. It's often an advantage to repeat a port like Juneau that has such varied excursions. Also, if you're weathered out on the front side you have a shot at a make up on the return.

[sweet sheep]

My favorite ship to Alaska is Celebrity's "Mercury" It is and has been for a long time my favorite ship. I have been on many cruises and this has been the best for me! It is not small but it is small enough to get very ,very close to the glaciers to see and hear them caving. Also took the tour of Denali and saw Mount McKinley from the train. A truly beautiful cruise and tour.

[Tinknock50]

My favorite ship to Alaska is Celebrity's "Mercury" It is and has been for a long time my favorite ship. I have been on many cruises and this has been the best for me! It is not small but it is small enough to get very ,very close to the glaciers to see and hear them caving. Also took the tour of Denali and saw Mount McKinley from the train. A truly beautiful cruise and tour.

 

The Mercury is one of my favorites too. (3times) Maybe its just perception, but when I was on the Mercury, I didn't feel as close to the glaciers, particularly in College Fjord. On the other hand, The Statendam (smaller HAL) went very close to one of the College glaciers. So close,the view of the glacier covered the entire window area on the starboard side of the Dining room.

 

Maybe we just had a timid Captain....the Mercury was fairly new at that time.:)

 

What I liked most about the Mercury is the awesome view I got from the windows in the extra large forward -facing cabins on Panarama deck. Will always choose one of those cabins if I have the opportunity.

I have very fond memories of the Mercury.

[skippycruises]

Thanks to all for your help. Funny the Mercury should be mentioned....We thought about it this morning, due to is similar size to the Veendam. Now we have to come to an agreement as to when and where!:D

[Tinknock50]

Thanks to all for your help. Funny the Mercury should be mentioned....We thought about it this morning, due to is similar size to the Veendam. Now we have to come to an agreement as to when and where!:D

 

Looked up the stats on thses two ships.

 

Veendam 720' long

Mercury 866' long

 

Veendam 55,000 tons

Mercury 77,713 tons

 

Veendam 1226 Pax

Mercury 1870 Pax

 

Not really similar in size but I like both ships a lot. Personally I would choose the smaller for Alaska, but you will enjoy either!

[midgecruiser]

Loved the Amsterdam out of Seattle.

[Budget Queen]

YES- consider joining me, sailing Alaska on a great itinerary. :)

 

http://cruisecritic.com/interests/groups.cfm?ID=87

[Sequim88]

Yes - Smaller the ship the better. On Veendam we got WAY inside other ships while near glaciers.

 

College Fjord beats the pants off Glacier Bay. Haven't seen Hubbard Glacier but can't imagine it compares to College Fjord's line up of glaciers all in a row.

 

We were not impressed by Sitka and would have liked to have seen Skagway instead. Sitka was beautiful yes (very much so since we had a sunny day) but not much to do there. Excursion that included raptor center and Russian dancers also included a boring ride all over town in an old school bus.

 

Aside from glacier proximity the smaller ships can divert through some very narrow passages where the shore seems to glide by at arms length. Places where the larger ships can't go.

[RevNeal]

I loved Alaska ... on the Volendam it was a great cruise. I'd love to go again in 2006, but just can't see how I can manage to shoe-horn it into my already busy schedule for that summer. Maybe in July? I think I have a free week in there, sometime.