Alaska 2007 -- Mercury or Infinity

[FAR_girl]

Finally, the Alaska FAll 2007 intineraries are up on the website. I was hoping to see the round-trip from San Francisco sailings (as offered in 2006) but see it is not to be. That said, the decision is between seven day cruises on the Mercury and the Infinity.

 

The Mercury sails roundtrip from Seattle, with stops at Juneau, Skagway, crusiing the Hubbard Glacier, then stops at Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, B.C.

 

The Infinity sails roundtrip from Vancouver, cruises the Inside Passage, stops at Ketchikan, cruises the Hubbard Glacier, then stops in Juneau and Icy Strait Point.

 

The price difference between the cruises is minor, insufficient to sway the decision. Please give me your input on which you think is the preferable cruise and why. It may help to know that this would be our first Alaskan cruise. Also any suggestions for particularly good CC staterooms (i.e. beteer view, bigger balcony, etc.)?

 

Thanks in advance for everyone who weighs in.

[xtopher_66]

Having sailed the Infinity to Alaska last year (and loving it) and never sailed the Mercury, I can't give a fair comparison of one ship to another. However, the Millennium class ships, of which Infinity is one, definitely have more amenities such as the specialty restaurant, free T-Pool access for all passengers over 18 and more veranda staterooms overall that it would be hard not to recommend the Infinity.

 

In addition, the stop at Icy Strait Point is well worth it as it's a short walk or ride into the town of Hoonah which I feel gives you a better taste of what real Alaska is like without all of the tourist trap stuff such as endless gift shops, tanzanite hawking jewelry stores and the like that you find in the other ports.

 

Chris

[claud925]

Sailing the inside passage is a must - make sure you choose an itinerary that includes it.

[Jeano222]

Done both, go Infinity, you won't be sorry!!!!!!!!

[DGF]

You may wish to consider some other cruise lines

 

Princess and some Hal have a different itinerary one way out of Vancouver or Alaska

 

The advantage of these one way itineraries is that you can see Glacier Bay and College Fjord, the latter was the highlight of our cruise in 2005 and then spend some time on your own by car in Alaska

 

We were lucky and had great weather

 

If you want some detail notes, lets us know

[Former Goalie]

FWIW, we are booked on Infinity in '07.

I like the Infinity itinerary better, but I've already done two AK cruises, and have seen the "big three" (Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan). There is a little more variety I think on the Infinity itinerary. If Prince Rupert is anything like Victoria (both foreign soil stops required by the Jones Act), it's little more than a throw away stop. I thought Victoria was a waste of time for the very little time we were there. In addition, we have sailed out of Seattle the day before (overnighted and loved it), and we want to do the same in Vancouver.

 

More likely than not, flying into/out of Seattle will be cheaper and easier than Vancouver for you. Depending on where you are in VA, it may even be non-stop. One very important thing to consider is that if you purchase cruise air for Vancouver sailings, there is no guarantee that they will use the Vancouver airport - they may book you out of Seattle (you are at the mercy of the cruise lines when booking air this way.) It's not fun to disembark the ship, then have to drive to Seattle, with a really tedious (and strict) border crossing half way.

 

I'd take the Infinity over the Mercury, simply because it is bigger and newer, if the itinerary and other things I mentioned were not a consideration.

 

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you!

[FAR_girl]

I appreciate the input. All information is good information as it just helps me make a more informed decision. It looks like Infinity is favored, which could be interesting as I haven't been on a M-class before.

 

Also, I'd been planning to book a regular CC cabin, rather than aft because I thought I'd want to be looking at the shorline along the way (and I didn't think we needed the bigger balcony as i wouldn't be lying out in a bathing suit!) Some other threads have suggested that perhaps aft is the way to go so as to watch the sea life in the wake. Any thoughts?