Atmosphere on Carnival Alaska Vs. Carnival Caribbean

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, naxer said:

We did the Splendor Journey cruise to Alaska out of LA, and also happened to do the Splendor for a Caribbean cruise  from Miami a year earlier.

 

The atmosphere was different, more sedate, but the fun stuff was still fun.  It was pretty much the same mix of people, only fewer kids.  Of course Journey Cruises skew older due to the time and expense.  There's something profound about standing on a deck with hundreds of others, kind of cold, drinking hot chocolate, watching the glaciers and mountains go by.  I think people doing an Alaska cruise are motivated to get something different out of it than a Caribbean Cruise, whichever cruise line they choose.

 

There's a lot to Alaska, and tradeoffs have to be made as to what a person can see or do in a week or two.  It's all magnificent, and the weather will be unpredictable.  Carnival did an excellent job delivering what we were after.

 

  

I agree, it is a unique experience, we have done two Alaskan Carnival cruises.  The biggest item is there certainly was no steel band playing out on the deck during the day.  The second point is that by far, we had the best drink waiters and bartender attention we have ever gotten on a Carnival ship.  

[DryCreek]

22 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Start a thread on it if you want, your comment/question is totally different than the ops. 

Yeah, I guess that you're right about that.

I was thinking it was more of a comparison of the clientele between cruise lines, but after reading the OP again it seems to be more of a comparison of destination/region using the same line (Carnival).

Sorry 'bout dat.

[eas2225]

Going to Alaska was a "bucket list" item for us, so I did lots of research.  Since we wanted to spend a few days exploring before the cruise, that left Carnival out.  

 

We kept looking at both Princess and Celebrity and decided to spend 4 days precruise in Alaska, taking a tout to the absolutely breathtaking Denali!  Took a train from Anchorage to Talkeetna, and stayed at a beautiful lodge.

 

The cruise itself was amazing!

 

If I ever do get the chance to visit Alaska again, I would probably try Carnival, just because I would love to see the different ports.

 

[msbmommy99]

Thanks everyone for posting replies.  

 

Another reason I want to try Carnival again for Alaska is because of the excursions being so expensive.  The money we save on cruise fare we can put towards excursions.  

[jimbo5544]

16 hours ago, msbmommy99 said:

Thanks everyone for posting replies.  

 

Another reason I want to try Carnival again for Alaska is because of the excursions being so expensive.  The money we save on cruise fare we can put towards excursions.  

Have a great cruise, let us know your thoughts when you return.

[kctwinmommy]

On 11/13/2019 at 2:54 PM, msbmommy99 said:

Thanks everyone for posting replies.  

 

Another reason I want to try Carnival again for Alaska is because of the excursions being so expensive.  The money we save on cruise fare we can put towards excursions.  

 

Sounds like a great plan! We definitely spent our money on excursions and loved everything we did. We've never really made a big deal about which line we're on. We usually go on Carnival just due to being previous cruisers and they have deals that work for us. We've also gone a few times because we've traveled with friends, and it's what they choose.

 

Anyway, certainly pick what you want to do for excursions and use this time to splurge a bit! For us, we knew we really wouldn't plan to go back again, since we want to travel to so many other places still. So we did all the things we wanted, included the helicopter ride on Mendhenhall! We figured this was one of those places to do this amazing activity! And it was worth every penny!!

 

Have a great time, don't sweat the small stuff (if anything comes up) and enjoy your cruise!