First time cruise to Alaska. Feeling overwhelmed making a choice.

[Panhandle Couple]

7 hours ago, Coral said:

I haven't sailed NCL but most lines I am aware of, scooters must be requested in advance by a 3rd party company that will put the scooter on the ship. It is a rental agreement between person and rental company that the cruise lines work with.

I have never needed one, nor sailed with anyone who does.

 

Whichever company/ship the OP chooses, they should ask about scooters when booking thru a TA.

[martincath]

@jdmaillet Given the further info about some flexibility in DDs timing, I definitely agree with the other posters who mentioned Glacier Bay as something to try and visit if you have multiple potential cruises to choose between. It's not only Princess who visit, but there are limits on who and how many ships get a slot with the majority of slots each season going to HAL and Princess.

 

One of the advantages to sailing later in the season than at the start is the even more spectacularly narrow fjords like Tracy Arm are more likely to be sailable (in general, the narrower the passage the more problems with ice) - Glacier Bay is comparatively huge so is almost never missed. It also has the advantage of multiple glaciers, so the odds of one of them putting on a show by calving etc. are higher - but for a cruise in early Sep, even late Aug if you can swing it, there's a much better chance of ships scheduled for Tracy being able to access it (and if not, their usual alternate of Endicott) so I'd err on the side of choosing e.g. a last-week-of-August cruise to Tracy over a second-week-in-September cruise to Glacier Bay.

 

But dates being equal, for first-timers Glacier Bay is definitely a value added proposition!

 

 

[Coral]

5 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

I have never needed one, nor sailed with anyone who does.

 

Whichever company/ship the OP chooses, they should ask about scooters when booking thru a TA.

Nor have I. Though I didn't want people to believe that they are on the ship, ready for people to check out.