first time cruise questions

[quiller7]

hi

just beginning to research a cruise to alaska in june 2007 from seattle. i'm finding a lot of helpful information on these boards but would like to ask your views on several issues. chose seattle because i have free airfare and the red sox are in town after we disembark

 

1. i notice prices seem to be pretty similar no matter which source i use (cruise site or internet site). i usually book all my own travel on various internet sites but this is our first cruise and wonder whether a travel agent or cruise site would be better.

 

2. i'm looking at NCL as i like the idea of "freestyle" . looks like it would be a choice of the Star or the Pearl. leaning toward the Pearl as it will be doing Glacier Bay. any comments on these ships as i don't see many comments about NCL

 

3. still can't decide on whether to do a balcony or just the oceanview. how are the windows on the NCL ships?

 

thanks in advance for your comments.

 

quiller

[Toyz711]

just got off the NCL Star 2 weeks ago. next year it will have a different path, but this year we boarded in seattle ( have family there) and did Glacier Bay. a balcony (in my opinion) is a factor you can't miss.

we were on the port side, had wonderful views 5 1/2 days out of the 7.

 

we had 7 family members, all with different tastes in food. heard no complaints from anyone. we did the buffet at breakfast and lunch, as well as a couple of dinners, just to make it easier for everyone to meet. being able to eat when and where we wanted was great. ate at a couple of the speciality restaurants, but enjoyed the main dining rooms the best. (which is different then what you will hear from some cruisiers)

 

we booked through an interent site, we found one where we really liked the person we were working with. never had a problem. when the other family members booked they booked through the same person, they liked him also. the main thing is to find someone who will answer your questions.

 

Glacier Bay was outstanding, but after sept. 1 a few ships are allowed to go as far as John Hopkins, it was the one that calved. before sept 1, no cruise ships are allowed to go there. the rest of the glaciers offered in Glacier Bay are beautiful, but John Hopkins Glacier is by far the best veiwing.

 

which cruise you take, you will enjoy. there's so much to do and see up there. i have a link to some of my pictures in my signature, sorry,not many of the ship..i was busy!

[cruisergrandma]

I have sailed out of Seattle and out of Vancouver. I would highly recommend sailing out of Vancouver instead of Seattle. You can fly in and out of Seattle and transfer to Vancouver. Scenery is much better leaving out of Vancouver and the seas are much calmer.

 

Also check pricing with a local TA. They can answer your questions and can match (or sometimes beat) online pricing. They can normally beat booking direct with the cruise line because they can offer discounts on most lines. Make sure you find one who has Alaska experience.

 

Have never been on NCL. Have been to Alaska on Carnival and Holland America. For us an oceanview or a balcony is pretty much a waste of money. We book an inside cabin and spend our time on deck so we can see everything. Even with a balcony you have a limited view. On deck you have 360 degrees!

 

Have a great cruise!!

[Stokeset]

This has been my experience: I "discovered" our present TA over 6 years ago via our state public radio. I would suggest finding one who is certified, has a long history of cruising (ours has over 25 years of nothing but cruising) and is very good at listening to your likes/dislikes. Of the 5 cruises we've booked ( one is yet to come at Christmas) with her and the most recent being Alaska, she ALWAYS gets us the best value for the money. Sometimes my priority has been money, sometimes the port, sometimes the itinerary, but she has always gotten me more than I asked for, and some extra on board surprises. The relationship you develop makes it easy for the TA to call and let you know about deals coming up. Can you tell I'm a believer?

[LeftcoastBC]

Window vs Balcony in Alaska ..sometimes the weather is not really condusive to using the balcony and you may not really get your money's worth. Someone else mentioned about using the outside decks.. I agree..there is often a great view on your side but the other side may be even better :)

[MCManders99]

I cruised to Alaska in 2005 (honeymoon cruise) on the Sun Princess. I would not pick a cruise that did not go to Glacier Bay, JMO (It was gorgeous). We had a balcony and spent majority of our time there. I personally would not go without one, but everyone is different. Every time I went up on deck there were so many people and I could not get close to a railing to see. I am short and could not see above many people. So my view was back of heads blocking the glaciers. So I stayed on my balcony. I had great views (glaciers and all) and saw lots of wildlife from it, including whales. Good Luck. I cannot comment on NCL as I have never cruised them.

[Toyz711]

according to my DH and his review that we sent in..a balcony is a must.

i have pictures of him sitting out there, in shorts, reading. that's how nice (we were blessed) the weather was the 1st 2 days. i enjoyed it just watching the weather, seeing us cruise into a fog bank. that night, when i looked out..it was solid white. but it was so cool to see:D the balcony on the star was protected, that helped. you have the floor above as a roof and a solid partion between the other balconies. we went to sleep every night with the doors open, it was amazing. of course i had to get up to close the door around 3am when it got a little COLD.

while every picture (of the glaciers) that other have sent me have had other people in them. mine have a clear view of just the glaciers. we chose sailing out of seattle due to family in the area, coming on the cruise with us, and making it easy for my FIL. from sunday evening, leaving seattle to mid-day monday we were in open sea. most of the rest of the time we had islands, sunsets and wonderful views. they may be better views sailing from vancourer, but these were pretty darn good.

if this is your first time going up there, consider your budget, work with that and you will love it.

[BigKahuna123]

Been on Carnival, Princess and Holland America. Balcony is a must. The mony is worth it !! You are in Alaska, enjoy all views. You always see whales jumping around and no one from the ship will know. Dolphins, Orcas and sea otters in Galcier Bay. I agree, Glacier Bay is a must. They will restrict more ships from entering each year. I would rank the cruise lines for that particular cruise as 1. Carnival, 2. Holland, 3. Princess. No matter who, get a balcony !!:):):):):)

[suziqz007]

Our opinion...balcony is a must on AK cruise. While in College Fjord, hubby ran up to the deck to check out what was going on and he couldn't see a thing because everyone who didn't have a balcony was there. Very crowded.

[Parker1]

I've cruised Alaska from both Vancouver and Seattle. The view going from Vancouver is prettier and the seas are smoother, but for our second trip, we liked the Star's itinerary out of Seattle.

 

Balcony, ocean view or inside is really a personal choice. Our first trip was on an older ship without balconys and we had an ocean view. On the Star we went cheap with an inside cabin on deck 5 and spent our money on sore excursions. The Star is a huge ship and it was never a problem to find space on-deck to view the sights. We moved sides as the view changed without any problem. It does rain a lot in Alaska and can be cold, no matter when you go.

 

Freestyle dining was great. We planned ahead and booked the reservation restaurants the day we boarded, based on shore excursions we had planned. Some people who tried to make reservations the day before or the same day weren't able to get the times they wanted.

[Sailorgirlseattle]

I recommend a balcony in Alaska, because no matter where you are or what time of day, there may be something you want to see. On our second trip, we saw a ton of whales off our balcony on our sea day. We were just hanging out, reading, and see them ... you can step out and look forward and aft and watch them a lot longer. Also nice for the glaciers ... we did Hubbard both trips, and we could go watch from our own spot. Pretty cool.

[Budget Queen]

I like NCL very much, 3 cruises this year with them, Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda. They certainly do have their "haters" however. :)

 

I really like sailing Alaska on them, and Glacier Bay is a big winner in my opinion. But they have no ship naturalist which is a negative. Their freestyle is just excellent for me and my preference for Alaska. Their routing is also very good for Inside Passage portion. Seattle is convenient. There is no perfect cruise. :)

 

I would suggest you consider mid June or later if going to Tracy Arm, so to have a better chance of getting up to the glaciers, early June probably isn't going to make it.

 

The Star is a very nice ship, same as the Dawn- have been on both, Pearl will be new coming out next month??? I'm booked on that in May.

[curiousl8y]

2. i'm looking at NCL as i like the idea of "freestyle" . looks like it would be a choice of the Star or the Pearl. leaning toward the Pearl as it will be doing Glacier Bay. any comments on these ships as i don't see many comments about NCL

 

3. still can't decide on whether to do a balcony or just the oceanview. how are the windows on the NCL ships?

 

thanks in advance for your comments.

 

quiller

 

Hiya,

 

Our first Alaskan Cruise in May 2005 was on the NCL Star. Beautiful ship! Loved the freestyle dining, too!

 

Next year we're doing Carnival, but only because NCL doesn't do one-ways.

 

It's absolutely personal preference, but I loved our balcony! We were out on it every day, regardless of the weather. I had coffee on the balcony every morning. We left the door open at night so we could hear the ocean sounds and have that sea breeze. It was wonderful. We saw dolphins, whales, bears, glaciers, and other amazing things from our balcony.

 

One night, late late late, probably around 3:00 am, I woke up and looked out. Streaming in through the open balcony door was the full moon, hanging low, making a silver path right across the water and into our stateroom. Enchanting. I'll never forget that moment. That was worth the extra $$ for the balcony.

 

Have a blast!

Linda

[mbisson]

You always see whales jumping around and no one from the ship will know.

 

"Always" just might be an overstatement! And it's really,really,really rare to see a "jumping" whale from the ship. Usually you'll see a back (dorsal) fin and/or a tail, normally some distance away.

 

-Monte

[Budget Queen]

"Always" just might be an overstatement! And it's really,really,really rare to see a "jumping" whale from the ship. Usually you'll see a back (dorsal) fin and/or a tail, normally some distance away.

 

-Monte

 

 

Yes, I agree. Grossly overstated. Most people don't see any wildlife.

[Sailorgirlseattle]

We didn't see much wildlife on our first trip, but we saw a TON of whales on our second. Had a humpback "jump" not far off the balcony, and we saw a whole pod doing something very splashy in the distance. Also saw a whole bunch of humpbacks in the middledistance, just passing by.

[mbisson]

We didn't see much wildlife on our first trip, but we saw a TON of whales on our second. Had a humpback "jump" not far off the balcony, and we saw a whole pod doing something very splashy in the distance. Also saw a whole bunch of humpbacks in the middledistance, just passing by.

 

We saw more whales from the ship on our cruise this past Sept than we ever had before also. It was great, but just something I wouldn't count on again.

 

-Monte

[Toyz711]

we saw these from the ship, mid-day on monday (left seattle on sunday).

they are either a type of pilot whale or one of the beaked whales. both are known for that area, but the beaked are rarely seen.

they were very hard to see from the ship, with the ship moving one way and them the other. if it wasn't for cropping and enlarging..the pictures would show a grey speck on the blue water. we were on deck 10 (10588 on the star) and they were only about 15 ft long. enjoy it if you do get to see any wildlife, but don't expect it. the minute you go in to the casino, or to a meal, or show...someone will say that they saw a whale breech, or a bear on the shore.

 

 

 

 

take a whale watching to get a real look at humpbacks. but if you see anything from the ship...get excited.

[Budget Queen]

we saw these from the ship, mid-day on monday (left seattle on sunday).

they are either a type of pilot whale or one of the beaked whales. both are known for that area, but the beaked are rarely seen.

they were very hard to see from the ship, with the ship moving one way and them the other. if it wasn't for cropping and enlarging..the pictures would show a grey speck on the blue water. we were on deck 10 (10588 on the star) and they were only about 15 ft long. enjoy it if you do get to see any wildlife, but don't expect it. the minute you go in to the casino, or to a meal, or show...someone will say that they saw a whale breech, or a bear on the shore.

 

 

 

 

take a whale watching to get a real look at humpbacks. but if you see anything from the ship...get excited.

 

 

 

Although hard to tell, these look like humpback photos?? Notch at the back, wide smooth back???

[Toyz711]

no. not humpbacks. they were too small and had a knob on their heads. DH says he saw a "beak" but i can't get it to show in any of the pictures.

from what they said at Ocra it could be a normal pilot whale, but if it's a beaked whale..then we really saw something. both have a bump on their heads. i have a tail view but it won't go on here, i have to crop it down too smal. i have sent the pictures to the experts, but no replies yet.

the largest was about 15 ft, the other one about 12. very smooth, dark grey in color. it was neat to watch them, we had them in sight for several minutes. just wish i had a better zoom on the digital.

they had a different dorsal that the pictures i find of pilot whales, the right size and color..but different tail/dorsal.

if they were beaked whaled, the dorsal and tail are more right. but then...who knows?

hopefully one of the research places will get back with me. it's just interesting to search them. (but DH swears he saw the "beak")

[Sailorgirlseattle]

If you want to see whales, you definitely have to be looking for them. We spent the bulk of our time in the bar at the bar ... Crow's Nest? We'd see some from there from time to time. Also, on the Mercury, I saw a whale breach right off the dining room .. again, I was just sitting there staring at the water and out she came! Ya just never know when, but it's like the lottery .. if you aren't looking, you won't see it.