Non-Princess/Non-HAL/Non-Luxury Alaskan Cruisers: What Made You Select Your Sailing?

[flvol77]

On 1/22/2024 at 10:53 AM, cynt said:

July 2024 will be my 3rd Alaskan cruise. The first time I did all the research and cruised with my BFF aboard a Princess ship round trip from Seattle. The best of the best. It was fabulous. We did all the things, long time in each of the ports and viewed the Glacier up close.

 

2nd Alaskan cruise was with my husband and my dad. Northern bound, Vancouver to Seward. We got a heck of a price for a June 2019 sailing aboard the Celebrity Millennium. Absolutely would book this again in a heartbeat. Close view of the Glacier, ship was great and the food in the buffet was delicious to the point we didn't go back to the dining room. Lamb stew to die for. We had long periods in each port and I enjoyed this cruise more than my Princess cruise.

 

3rd cruise July 2024 is booked with Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas. Group cruise 5 Sr citizens, 7 adults, 2 teens and one tween. First time Alaska cruise for 13 of them. I would of loved to do a southern or northern route but due to logistics and airfare we elected to do round trip from Seattle. Moving 15 people around, including 7 Seniors can be challenging so I decided to error on the side of convenience. We landed on Quantum because of the age dynamic and we are diamond on Royal. We are most familiar with Royal ships so I know what to expect sailing on a Royal ship. I can answer Royal Caribbean questions in my sleep. There will be plenty to do aboard the ship to entertain everyone. I've decided to do Mendenhall Glacier to make sure they see a glacier up close since we know we will not see the Dawes Glacier. I still don't understand why they even go there. I would rather skip it altogether and spend that time in Juneau. So mentally I have adjusted my expectations. I'm still excited to show them Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau and Victoria. My husband keeps reminding me that they do not know what they are missing because it is their first Alaskan cruise. 

 

If it was just 4-6 of us, I would have definitely did another southern or northern route. I believe that is the best if you are looking to take advantage of the time in each port. I'm bummed about not seeing a big glacier up close but I'm OK with it because it's just a glacier at the end of the day and my group would maybe spend 15 minutes looking at it. LOL! I know we will have an excellent experience aboard the Quantum. 

 

Funny, our first cruise to Alaska is on the Ovation; my wife said you know we will go again, so don't worry about it, and we will have no clue what we are missing.  Probably will go back in 2026 or maybe 2025 but, I should get on that if that is something we want to do.  

 

100% will be with Princess or Holland 

[Coral]

On 3/26/2024 at 8:52 PM, NE John said:

I’ll be on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth this June for a 10 night Alaska Vancouver round-trip. First time for Alaska. I’ll be glad to give a report here on the Cunard experience to keep up with the theme of this topic. 
I look forward to being outdoors a lot up there!

Cunard is going to be more like Princess and HAL.

 

Cunard has one of the most knowledgeable researcher about whales onboard - Rachel Cartwright. Make sure you go to her seminars. She is a great speaker and her talks are very entertaining.

[BeasleysMom66]

I know I am late to this thread but I just booked back in February.  I am one of the people who got screwed by Virgin and had their January Carribean cruise with a Rock Star Aft Suite cancelled because they could make more money putting the boat out of San Juan.  I was NOT happy which is an understatement.  After brooding for a while I got the urge to travel again and work schedule changed where an early summer trip was possible.  Alaska has always been a bucket list dream.  I caught a President's Day sale on Celebrity and got a great balcony cabin (prime concierge class) port side for the southbound Seward to Vancouver 7 night sailing in Mid-May at an amazing price for a solo cruiser.

 

I put the real money into excursions (which I also got on sale in many cases) and have 2 glacier trips, 3 whale watching, hiking, dog sledding, and as much as I can schedule in the time I have.  I have cruised Celebrity twice in the past and wasn't aware that Princess is the gold standard for Alaska but I know I will go again and am willing to try them on the next trip.  

 

I am a bit concerned based on the 2 threads I have seen recently about the Summit being a "rust bucket" but we are only 40 days from sailing and there isn't much I can do about it.  Fingers crossed I am on the ship for dinner and lights out and it won't be a huge issue.  Otherwise this will be the trip of a lifetime and I can't wait.

[Coral]

35 minutes ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

I am a bit concerned based on the 2 threads I have seen recently about the Summit being a "rust bucket" but we are only 40 days from sailing and there isn't much I can do about it.  Fingers crossed I am on the ship for dinner and lights out and it won't be a huge issue.  Otherwise this will be the trip of a lifetime and I can't wait.

Honestly - any older ship is going to have rust. It has to do with age and water. I wouldn't worry about this. People complain about this with all older ships.

 

I actually t think the smaller ships have an advantage in Alaska over the larger ships. 

[NE John]

On 4/6/2024 at 12:37 PM, Coral said:

Cunard is going to be more like Princess and HAL.

 

Cunard has one of the most knowledgeable researcher about whales onboard - Rachel Cartwright. Make sure you go to her seminars. She is a great speaker and her talks are very entertaining.

Thanks for the heads up on Rachel Cartwright, hope she’s on this voyage. I’ve done several Transatlantic crossings and cruises with Cunard and have a good feel regarding the atmosphere onboard. Calm and Britishness is the best description and that’s ok with me (i.e. a real British pub and nice afternoon tea everyday, even port days). I look forward to see if the Cunard experience is different for Alaska. 

[Aquahound]

On 4/5/2024 at 7:48 AM, flvol77 said:

 

Funny, our first cruise to Alaska is on the Ovation; my wife said you know we will go again, so don't worry about it, and we will have no clue what we are missing.  Probably will go back in 2026 or maybe 2025 but, I should get on that if that is something we want to do.  

 

100% will be with Princess or Holland 

 

Do your cruise first, then worry about what you might want to do next.  Ovation is an amazing ship and you're going to have a great time.  

[flvol77]

On 4/7/2024 at 5:18 PM, Aquahound said:

 

Do your cruise first, then worry about what you might want to do next.  Ovation is an amazing ship and you're going to have a great time.  

Thank you. We booked Holland Eurodam for 2025 - It's a refundable deposit, and I got a nice deal on a Signature Suite (we don't often do suites), so I thought I might as well. 

 

We love the Quantum class ships and are excited about the Ovation.