Royal Carribean - Alaska cruise- HELP!!

[relo854]

Fist time cruiser, first time on this board. Thinking about a Alaskan cruise..one of the cruise lines recommended was Royal Carribean..we're looking at the 7 night.

 

We are so confused...looked thru travel agent brochures and on line......ANY information/comments are greatly appreciated...thank you.

[Bette And Bill]

relo854 - Not sure what information you are looking for. We took a RCCL Alaskian cruise in early September and loved it. We did the 7 day south bound cruise leaving from Seward and ending in Vancouver. We also did the 6 day land tour before getting on the ship. We love the trip so much that we are booked on the Sernade of the Seas for Sept 20. This is a repositioning cruise which will start in Vancouver, do all the normal ports in Alaska and end up in San Diago.

 

I am from South Florida, so 70 is cold for me. I learned to dress in layers and to always have rain gear available. We had beautiful weather and only needed the umbrella for maybe 30 minutes while in Kitchican (sp?)

 

My best advise would be to decide what you want to see and look for the cruise that gets you to the most places. Most of all enjoy the cruise.

[GMoney]

I found Alaska to be the most complicated cruise I've ever planned. There are so many options, combinations and permutations. However, all that planning can be highly rewarding with an incredible cruise experience.

 

While I love RCI, you'll really need to look at Princess and HAL too.

 

Here are some comments which may help organize your thoughts. You can also read my AK review at http://web.mac.com/mellicon/My_Voyag...les/alaska.pdf. Just keep in mind it long and takes awhile to download, but some have found it helpful.

 

My experience of an independent land tour + a SB cruise to Vancouver was great. Best of luck with your planning.

 

 

>Do you want to just do a cruise, or do cruise + land tour?

 

> If you choose the latter, you’ll need to decide if you want to do the land portion independently, or do a cruisetour through the cruiseline.

 

> If you do a cruisetour, you will do an open jaw cruise. Determine if you want to do northbound (generally from Vancouver / Seattle to Seward / Whittier) or southbound.

 

> Decide what to do first - the tour or the cruise.

 

> Decide what land stops are important to you. There are lots of combinations, but time in Seward (to see Kenai Fjords) and Denali (you'll need at least 2 nights here) are most popular. My favorite stop was Valdez as a gateway to Prince William Sound.

 

> Pick a cruiseline. RCI and X combine to form Royal Celebrity Tours (RCT) in Alaska; they do a very nice job. However, HAL and Princess have been in Alaska for much longer, have more ships and more varied itinerary choices, and have a very strong land presence. HAL, for example, owns Grayline. Some people will avoid X due to the past problems some of their ships have had with propulsion systems.

 

> Determine what (if any) glacier stops on your cruise are important. RCI cruises by Hubbard; HAL and Princess mostly cruise through Glacier Bay. Some people have preferences; both are very nice for slightly different reasons.

 

> Decide when in the May - Sept season to go. Since you will be on land, you may want to avoid going too early, as the road into Denali may not be all the way open, bears may not be about, etc. June of course gets lots of daylight, July has more mosquitoes on land, etc.

 

> Plan excursions to take advantage of your time in Alaska. Excursions are varied and can be very pricey, but will really enhance your trip. Determine what you like, what you want to do, what port is best for those activities and reserve early.

 

> Research Cruise Critic feedback. There are some great experts on these boards. Be sure to check the AK port of call board.

[relo854]

Before I post anymore, I need to narrow down with the TA and get some specifics on what we want..thanks for the info

[maxs mom]

What can I say? Patrick said it all!

 

I would just re-emphasize what he said about using the AK port of call boards on CC. They are the best. So many knowledgeable folks on there. We had just about a perfect trip.....thanks to them. We've done Alaska twice and it remains one of our favorites.

[FL_Cruiser64]

I found Alaska to be the most complicated cruise I've ever planned. There are so many options, combinations and permutations. However, all that planning can be highly rewarding with an incredible cruise experience.

 

That'll be my challenge. I have to plan another group cruise for Alaska 2009 and it will be quite challenging. The group has friends and family members, some of them are rather complicated in the decision process. The last group cruise started out with 32 options in the Caribbean (Carnival and RCI). But with my 'knowledgeable' guidance we eliminated Carnival rather quickly.

:D

 

I sure don't know crap about Alaska. So it will be quite a challenge.

[ligil]

Fist time cruiser, first time on this board. Thinking about a Alaskan cruise..one of the cruise lines recommended was Royal Carribean..we're looking at the 7 night.

 

We are so confused...looked thru travel agent brochures and on line......ANY information/comments are greatly appreciated...thank you.

 

Have been on 2 Alaska cruises, one on RCCL on the Radiance and the other on HAL on the Amsterdam. Both cruises were absolutely beautiful. The RCCL Radiance is a gorgeous ship with glass everywhere. Sometimes the Travel Channel will show a program called "Great Cruises" and one of these programs features the Radiance on an Alaska cruise.

[sagiv666]

Fist time cruiser, first time on this board. Thinking about a Alaskan cruise..one of the cruise lines recommended was Royal Carribean..we're looking at the 7 night.

 

We are so confused...looked thru travel agent brochures and on line......ANY information/comments are greatly appreciated...thank you.

 

 

In September, my wife and I cruised to Alaska aboard the Radiance. Prior to our 14-night cruise, we took a land tour of alaska which we booked independently of Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean -- as well as Holland America -- offer cruisetours, which combine a seven-day cruise to Alaska with a land tour of similar duration.

We booked our land tour independently of Royal Caribbean as the Radiance cruise was not part of a cruisetour, but there are cruisetours offered.

One suggestion, as told to us by our land tour leader when our tour ended: she advised us to always book the land portion of a cruisetour, or a separate land tour, before the cruise. On land, life is more hectic, as you move from hotel to hotel. On the cruise, you have the chance to unpack, unwind, and be pampered. This does not mean avoid the land tours -- there is much to see in Alaska which you could not by a cruise alone, even with land excursions.:)