Best Alaska Cruise 2007

[Mccarri]

Hi All

We are two guys from London (UK) and want to take an Alaskan Cruise in late June 2007.

Which itineraries are best, round-trip or one-way? Which cruise line offers the best ship, service and itinerary?

Which ports of call are the 'must sees' and which tours should we take in these ports (we prefer independent tours – not big fans of the cruise line tours. Too may people!).

Looking forward to hearing you guys views!

P.S. What will the weather be like up there in late June and what kind of clothes should we bring? Will we be able to use the open-air pool/tubs?

Thanks

I + F

[Yukon]

You need to do some reading here - there are thousands of posts which answer all of your questions. And there are some incredible last-minute deals on Alaska cruiises right now - that may well determine which is "best".

[dreamalaska]

Yes, you have to do some research here first. Such an open ended question will lead up so many different options that almost render them useless. Good luck in planning

[tbenson81]

7 Day Princess Northbound or Southbound that includes Glacier Bay and College Fjord.

[andydandy325]

I agree with dreamalaska too broad

[fti]

Welcome to CC.

 

It is a very general question - first for sure do some reading of the first 3-4 pages of posts on this board.

 

As Yukon said, there are some great deals to be had on AK cruises for last minute booking but they might or might not apply to UK residents - you have to check. Also check to see if you can book through a US agent if you have to in order to take advantage of the deals.

 

I could live with any AK cruise but some ships and sailings go to different places than others - Glacier Bay is great but if you find a deal on a ship that doesn't go there, it might be the deciding factor. I almost went on RCL in June that didn't go to Glacier Bay but the cost would have been $429/person.

 

Do some research then post back with specific questions.

 

John

[wolfie11]

Check here for bargain fares - as low as $500 for a Princess cruise in June.

 

http://www.*****.com/ticker.cfm?t=y

 

Price might help decide what cruise to take.

[cruzy-sue]

Hi All

 

We are two guys from London (UK) and want to take an Alaskan Cruise in late June 2007.

 

Which itineraries are best, round-trip or one-way? Which cruise line offers the best ship, service and itinerary?

 

Which ports of call are the 'must sees' and which tours should we take in these ports (we prefer independent tours – not big fans of the cruise line tours. Too may people!).

 

Looking forward to hearing you guys views!

 

P.S. What will the weather be like up there in late June and what kind of clothes should we bring? Will we be able to use the open-air pool/tubs?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

I + F

 

 

 

Wow!! You need to hurry! Most people book trips to Alaska well in advance - sometimes a year in advance. Availability will be limited. Try Celebrity for a more refined, sophisticated experience, Carnival for a great naturalist or Royal Caribbean for fun and on-board activities!!! Just my 2 cents!

[Sunshine Gal]

The Alaskan cruise season does tend to book up early, but I would get all of the information that you can about the various cruise lines. One thing to consider, if you are thinking about Celebrity, and that is the recurring pod problems that have impacted many, many Alaskan cruises last year and have not been fixed. These problems occurred five times during 2006 and resulted in two Alaska cruises being cancelled and many, many other Alaskan cruises that had ports skipped and itineraries altered. My choices would be Princess and Hal as the most experienced and reliable cruise line in Alaska.

[star7228]

Don't forget NCL's Pearl, a new ship that is getting really stellar reviews. We like NCL for the freestyle cruising, so we can eat at various restaurants onboard at a time we choose.

 

One thing to consider is whether you desire a more traditional cruising experience (maybe a stricter dress code for dinner, with assigned seating in one or maybe 2 restaurants) or a more relaxed approach (NCL coined it "freestyle") where you have some more choices.

 

Also, I would consider what you want to see the most. We chose the Pearl's sailing on 6/24/07 because we weren't sure when/if we'd be able to go back to Alaska and our priority was seeing Glacier Bay.

 

So I would think of the type of cruise experience you want and the location you want to see and go from there. :) Good luck, and keep us posted! If you end up doing some research and have more specific questions, the people on this Alaska board are incredibly helpful. :D

[imogene]

If you decide to take an Alaskan cruise I hope you find a great last minute deal.

 

I was recommended to look for a round trip cruise, and I live in Vancouver so we wanted to leave from Vancouver. I was recommended to go with Celebrity or RCCL because of our age range (25-40). And then I started looking at the Ports of Call. Since I live in the Pacific North West and have traveled all BC, Washington, and Oregon - it was really important for me to find a unique place. Our TA recommended choosing a cruise that goes to Sitka (apparently it is very Russian)- so we booked our passage on a ship that goes there (not many do)

 

I booked in February and had no problems finding a cabin and thought the prices were quite reasonable (the same cabin even 3 weeks later in the was close to $1000 more, a couple we know wanted to come with us, but they have a toddler, and there were very few 3 person cabins available in June or July, but if you are a looking for a double and not pick as far as your room goes there should be great deals to be had.

 

Best of luck with your travel plans. I live in Vancouver and think it is one of the best places in the world, but Seattle is great too so if you decide to leave from Seattle I doubt you will be disappointed.

[kingsgirl]

Of course, I personally think my cruise is the best :)

 

May 26, 2007

Serenade of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

R/T from Vancouver

Ports: Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Juneau

 

This ship also has this itinerary too (it switches every other week):

Ports: Icy Straight, Hubbard, Skagway, Juneau

 

2 Sea days for both.

 

Serenade is a beautiful ship and one of the newer ones. I urge you to check it out !

[qiangf2]

Wow!! You need to hurry! Most people book trips to Alaska well in advance - sometimes a year in advance. Availability will be limited. Try Celebrity for a more refined, sophisticated experience, Carnival for a great naturalist or Royal Caribbean for fun and on-board activities!!! Just my 2 cents!

 

yeah, time is running out fast.

[imogene]

Of course, I personally think my cruise is the best :)

 

May 26, 2007

Serenade of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

R/T from Vancouver

Ports: Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Juneau

 

This ship also has this itinerary too (it switches every other week):

Ports: Icy Straight, Hubbard, Skagway, Juneau

 

2 Sea days for both.

 

Serenade is a beautiful ship and one of the newer ones. I urge you to check it out !

 

I am glad to see that others are fond that Ship and itinerary - It's the one we chose too :)

[kingsgirl]

I am glad to see that others are fond that Ship and itinerary - It's the one we chose too :)

 

I jumped at the chance to take a cruise from Canada (our home) and this round trip had just what we were looking for! It seems like a great way to see Alaska, and while so many push princess on here, I'm confident with my choice. I love RCI, and I can't wait to see the Serenade...my goodness she does look beautiful! The only ship I've been on was Majesty before the refurb ;)

 

Glad you liked the itinerary too - so few of us RCI cruisers over here on the Alaskan board! Sorry that I won't be back in time to give you a review before I go. We don't get home until June 13. Huge pre/post cruise plans. We leave in 6 days! woo hoo! ;)

 

Hope you have a great cruise, we'll have to swap stories!!

[woodmill100]

Hi there

 

We're from Edinburgh and have been planning our cruise and US holiday for several months now - ready to book in later this month when the 2008 dates are released!

 

If you are set on June this year then firstly, I'd decide which ports you want to see. Our absolute must was Glacier Bay which narrowed it down to HAL and Princess. We knew part of our holiday was going to be in San Francisco so we found a cruise to Alaska roundtrip from SF taking in Glacier Bay with Princess. Assuming this 10 day cruise will be going ahead in 2008, we're going with Princess. If not, we're going with HAL roundtrip from Vancouver!

 

Given this late stage, I personally think you need to find out what cruises are still available as many will be sold out.

 

Also, depending on how long your holiday is you may prefer to do a roundtrip - we found trying to get back from Anchorage/Whittier to the UK to be long and difficult!

 

I think BA do direct flights to both Vancouver and Seattle from Heathrow.

 

As for packing, it is layers, layers, layers.

 

Good luck with your planning. Oooh and read these pages - the information is fantastic!

[star7228]

Our absolute must was Glacier Bay which narrowed it down to HAL and Princess.

 

Just so you know...NCL also does Glacier Bay. :) And I agree with Woodmill - that was a must for us!

[Mccarri]

Hi All

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

To be honest, the reason we are booking so late is that I am an airline employee and we are holding out for a last minute interline bargin! There sure are some fantastic ones around at the moment for May, but that's about one month too early for us.

 

I was tending towards the Celebrity Infinity round-trip ex YVR. As Woodmill said, getting to or from ANC from the UK is difficult. YVR or SEA are fairly easy. Also, I will be using my airline concessions to get there (standby travel) and the less flights to take the better! Off course, we plan to travel a few days before the departure of the ship just in case. I've been to SEA before (loved it), but would like to spend a few days in YVR.

 

That said, the feedback about the Celebrity POD problems is worrying. We have been on Princess Before (Tahitian Princess) and found them very good. Pefer not to go back on the same ship twice, so RCCL is out (we sailed on Serande ex SJU in November). I like NCL's 'Freestyle' ethos, but NCL Pearl is VERY expensive (we do always use US or CA based agents, since the prices are much cheaper than in the UK. Only Princess are funny about this).

 

So, as a reminder, which lines go to Glacier Bay and what will we miss by doing round-trip and not going up as far as ANC? To be honest, I am a little confused about the difference between Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm and the Hubbert Glacier - HELP!! Is it a simple choice between one of these 3 and if so, which is best?

 

Thanks again in advance for your suggestions.

 

Cheers

 

I + F

[NancyIL]

So, as a reminder, which lines go to Glacier Bay and what will we miss by doing round-trip and not going up as far as ANC? To be honest, I am a little confused about the difference between Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm and the Hubbert Glacier - HELP!! Is it a simple choice between one of these 3 and if so, which is best?

 

 

In June - HAL, Princess, and NCL will go to Glacier Bay.

 

Glacier Bay is a national park with several glaciers: http://www.nps.gov/glba/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Bay_National_Park_and_Preserve

 

Hubbard Glacier is one very large glacier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_content

 

Tracy Arm is a fjord - with Sawyer Glacier at the end: http://www.pbase.com/devonshire/tracy_arm

 

The majority of people on the Alaska board seem to favor Glacier Bay. I have no opinion, having not been there yet. We're on the northbound Coral Princess, so we will see Glacier Bay and College Fjord. None of the roundtrip cruises go to College Fjord - so unless you have time to spend in Alaska before or after the cruise, that (plus either the port of Whittier or Seward) is all you'll miss on a one-way.

 

If there should be availability on HAL's Zaandam (Wednesday departures) or Zuiderdam (Saturday departures) - those ships go to both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay on roundtrips out of Vancouver. The northbound Pacific Princess (sister ship to the Tahitian Princess) goes to 3 glaciers: Tracy Arm, either Glacier Bay (mostly) or Hubbard Glacier, and College Fjord.

 

Alaska Airlines flies from Anchorage to Seattle - so if you can't find flights back to the UK from ANC - perhaps you could buy a one-way ticket from Anchorage to Seattle and then fly standby from there.

[woodmill100]

I think from memory, Tracy Arm depends on the weather!

 

As I said, if we can't go from SF, we will be going with HAL roundtrip from Vancouver taking in Glacier Bay. It seems to offer everything that a first and possibly only trip to Alaska. Good luck with your planning - hope you get your flights!