Can't decide which Cruise??

[lozzajelly]

Hi,

 

Hubby and I are thinking about going on a cruise to Alaska next year. Any help with regard to which itinerary, what time of year to go etc. would be great.

 

Thanks,

Lozza

:confused:

[7SeasLover]

As far as when to go, you're pretty much limited to the season that cruise ships sail, which is May through September. As for which itinerary, it really doesn't matter much. I'll be going on my 3rd Alaska cruise on the Pearl in May and it's a completely different itinerary than the last two times.

 

Everything about Alaska is majestic -no matter which itinerary you choose you will absolutely LOVE Alaska. What I would suggest is to select the different itineraries available, then do a quick Internet search for each port and see what tickles your fancy.

 

Then go to NCL's excursion section and see what they offer for those ports (don't despair, you can eventually navigate through their excursion section), and lastly, just pick one. You can always reserve the other itineraries for future cruises!

 

You might go over to the ports of call section and see if they have one for Alaska.

[Don Haynes]

Alaskan cruises occur during the summer months, May thru September. NCL offers three intineraries, mostly the same. This year the Pearl will be doing Glacier Bay, a wonderful day in this majestic space. The Star and Sun will be doing Sawyer Glacier instead. The earlier the better for Sawyer Glacier, the long warmer summer months tend to cause more calving, sometimes blocking the ship from getting close or even seeing the glacier later in the season.

 

The hitch with the Pearl's intinerary is you sail don't sail the entire Inside Passage, the Star only in one direction, whereas the Sun will sail the Inside Passage in both directions. So the differences is mostly a choice between Glacier Bay or the Inside Passage.

 

All three ships are fairly new, with the Pearl being brand new.

[UpYonder]

Hi,

 

Hubby and I are thinking about going on a cruise to Alaska next year. Any help with regard to which itinerary, what time of year to go etc. would be great.

 

We did Glacier Bay (in early July) on the Star in '05 out of Seattle. LOVED IT! This year we are doing Sawyer Glacier (Mid August) on the Sun out of Vancouver.

[electricron]

All the NCL ships go basically to the same ports. Although there are a few differences. Only the Pearl will sail to Glacier Bay. The others will sail to Sawyer Glacier instead. Each ship sails to or from a different Canadian port. The Pearl will sail to Victoria, the Star to Prince Rupert, and the Sun from Vancouver.

Glacier Bay itineraries are highly prized by many, but the National Parks system was forced by environmentalists by winning a lawsuit to restict access to the number of cruise ships that visited in 1995 or so. Therefore, not every cruise ship can sail there. If they could, they all would do so. Which is a shame, in my opinion, because back then not all cruise ships have the environmental equipment they have today. I wish they could increase the number of cruse ships that could visit Glacier Bay today.

The other difference involves which Canadian port would you like to visit.

They are all grand places to visit. I suggest checking out the port of call forum to determine which one has the activity you would rather do.

 

Which ever itinerary and ship you choose, I know you can and will have a great vacation.

[98Charlie]

We sailed the Star in mid Sept. 06 out of Seattle. I believe the Pearl is doing that itinerary this year?????

 

We were fortunate to be among the few sailings that were able to cruise up to the John Hopkins glacier since the channel to the glacier is only open a few weeks out of the Alaska cruising season.

 

Both DH & I felt the trip to John Hopkins was well worth waiting until a Sept cruise. The calving was great and the entire expirience was much mroe dramatic than what we saw in Glacier Bay.

 

However, each cruise experience is different when cruising to Alaska. You can take the same itinerary a few weeks apart and get a whole different experience. That's why Alaska is such an amazing cruise no matter what week or month you cruise.

 

Dianne

[Toyz711]

also did the star last sept. love sailing out of seattle..easy to get to the airport, easy to get to the docks. love the star, loved our balcony room, loved the food and freestyle dining. for alaska the ease of not dressing up added to the experience. plus being able to get a hot bowl of chili right after coming back from port.

as said from another poster, the new pearl will be sailing to the ports the star did last year. a good route for 1st time alaska. glacier bay is wonderful. from start to finish the views were outstanding. by sept john hopkins oulet/glacier is no longer a protected breeding zone, so the ships cruising glacier bay can go up that inlet. we did see calving at john hopkins.

we had inside passage views from noon the day after we left seattle. we went to the west of vancourer island and then went into the passage. only in open seas around vancourer island and entering glacier bay.