Please help...

[wolfshadow]

 

Actually I am not taking the known pod problem personally at all. I only corrected the mis-information that you probably got from some on the Celebrity board who tend to want to gloss over this problem and often stretch the truth. I am sure you are not one of those people who seem to want to spread that mis-information but when they try to tell you it has been a year and a half since the last propulsion failure when in reality it has been only ten months. BTW the average time between failures is about 14 months. The average time between failures can be deceiving because in 2006 the Infinity had a propulsion failure and went into emergency dry dock for a week to make repairs and then had another propulsion failure within two months.

 

As a point of interest to your comment about what someone told you was a pod modification, the work being done to the m-class ships is to install an auxiliary diesel generator and has nothing to do at all with the pods that have had so many problems over the years. The same work is scheduled to be done on the c-class ships in future years. The auxiliary generator is a cost saving measure to generate electric power for the ship when it is in port, by not having to run the main engines to generate power. I am not trying to discourage as you put it "you Xer's" or anybody else from sailing Celebrity m-class ships and only want to make passengers aware of the additional risk involved in sailing the Infinity, Summit or Millennium.

 

Happy Sailing to all.

Actually, the pod modification that I was talking about wasn't mentioned on any board, it was in an article I read a couple of years ago. But, I will agree now that it ended up not being a modification, it became a replacement of the electrical system for the pod itself. It has been listed though on several sites that these pod problems may have just been fixed as of the latest repairs which were done between mid-2006 and mid-2007 mainly because of the law suits that Celebrity brought against Rolls Royce. They are still waiting naturally to see if this will hold true as you repeated the 14 month average that was listed on another cruise forum site. I, also, believe I saw the ship listings and dates of repairs listed on another thread there. Interesting how involved some people get when trying to prove a point, isn't it? I'm sure you are also aware that there have been many other ships other than just Celebrity's that have had these same pod problems as well, for example Carnival, HAL and the QEII to name a few. Not to mention that Celebrity has compensated their passengers that had the misfortune of either being onboard at the time or being scheduled for a cruise that had to be cancelled. Sorry, if you were one of these cruisers and have now lost trust in Celebrity. Most of those passengers were very happy with their compensations, but there were a few that didn't feel what they were offered was enough. It's obviously hard to please everyone. Happy sailings to you, as well.

[tayl]

As mentioned earlier, Holland America and Princess have the most experience in Alaska.

We've sailed on both and have chosen Holland America over Princess for our upcoming Alaskan cruise.

We find HA to have better service, food quality & somewhat classier etc. But remember opinions are subjective and these are just our thoughts.

I'm sure you will enjoy what ever cruise line you choose. :)

[tayl]

Re -your tour questions. We are doing the glacier helicopter landing in Juneau with "coastal" helicopters.

From what I've heard whale watch tour operators all help eachother out advising when and where they spot the whales. What you really need to decide is the size of the boat(how many people does it hold, 6 or 40). And decide which you want to be on.

[scooton]

Hey all, I booked the norwegian sun because they offered a great deal for the whole trip (we're coming from Ireland). I'm so excited now, I can't wait for the trip to start!

 

As regards the excursions, I asked my travel agent about booking excursions and they just said to book them onboard the cruise. I presume from reading a lot on here that most excursions have to be booked a few months in advance! How do I go about booking them?

 

As mentioned before, I want to do the helicopter flight and huskies out of skagway, the tracy arm jet boat tour and possibly a whale watching tour from juneau.

[jenmerry]

The first thing you have to do is figure out how much time you'll have in port as this will potentially limit your excursions. For example, I think the Tracy Arm is an all day tour and if your ship is leaving port at 3 or 4Pm, you might not be able to do that one. The next thing to do is to book now if there's something you really want to do. Otherwise, you risk that it will be sold out by the time you get on the ship.

 

Another alternative (and the one many people here on the board suggest) is to book independently with various operators instead of taking the cruise excursion. Look over the ship's list to get an idea of what's available that you are interested in, then do a board search (or a google search) to find independents for the same activity. The main reason for this is not so much the cost, but that if you book independently, you'll most likely be in a much smaller group (smaller boat, smaller van, etc.). For us, anything over 15 or so people is way too many, and we have always travelled independently in the past, so we are going to do our own thing in the ports as much as possible.

[Budget Queen]

The first thing you have to do is figure out how much time you'll have in port as this will potentially limit your excursions. For example, I think the Tracy Arm is an all day tour and if your ship is leaving port at 3 or 4Pm, you might not be able to do that one. The next thing to do is to book now if there's something you really want to do. Otherwise, you risk that it will be sold out by the time you get on the ship.

 

QUOTE]

 

They are on NCL, which has the add on Tracy Arm tour.

[Gator83]

Thanks everyone! I've been doing some serious reading over the last few days. I spoke to my local travel agent today. Does anyone have an opinon on the Norwegian Sun? I've gotten a great price on this from my travel agent today but I am cautious about booking it as I haven't really read any reports on here about it.

 

As for the tours I think ideally we'd like to do a helicopter trip to see the glaciers, whale watching and maybe something with huskies? Can people recommend the best places to do each of these?

 

Hi,

Don't do Norwegian.........stick with Princess or HAL. They are the leaders in Alaska. I suggest taking the Coral if you want to do a one way. The ship is a nice size, easy to get around, you will go to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. I also say if you are tight on money then get an inside cabin and spend the money on excursions. Excursion suggestions are a whale watch in Juneau, Misty Fjords flight in Ketchican, and renting a car in Skagway and driving the Yukon Highway.

 

Have Fun.

[Budget Queen]

Hi,

Don't do Norwegian.........stick with Princess or HAL. They are the leaders in Alaska. I suggest taking the Coral if you want to do a one way. The ship is a nice size, easy to get around, you will go to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. I also say if you are tight on money then get an inside cabin and spend the money on excursions. Excursion suggestions are a whale watch in Juneau, Misty Fjords flight in Ketchican, and renting a car in Skagway and driving the Yukon Highway.

 

Have Fun.

 

For a round trip, Princess is near the bottom of my list, NCL does do a good job in Alaska, especially with a Glacier Bay on the Pearl and the only major line to have the excellent add on Tracy Arm tour.

 

It is also the Klondike Highway.

[rjscott]

For a round trip, Princess is near the bottom of my list,

 

 

Budget Queen, why do you say that? I was looking at a roundtrip on Princess and so your comment caught my eye.

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen, why do you say that? I was looking at a roundtrip on Princess and so your comment caught my eye.

 

They only sail out of Seattle, the least scenic of Alaska cruise choices and have Tracy Arm, which overall has poor averages of getting the whole 30 mile transit and frequently not able to get within viewing of the glaciers. So if you do choose this, it is necessary to look for another glacier tour, if a priority to see them. Port times may not be the best either.

[rjscott]

Budget Queen, I'm looking at the Tahitian Princess, which is R/T from Vancouver. Thanks for your input, it helps to have that info to consider.

[judynorth]

Budget Queen, I'm looking at the Tahitian Princess, which is R/T from Vancouver. Thanks for your input, it helps to have that info to consider.

 

I think that Tahitian Princess cruise would be great. If the price had not been so much higher than the HAL 14-day when we booked our cruise we might have gone with it. Now the price is down but we have paid in full.

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen, I'm looking at the Tahitian Princess, which is R/T from Vancouver. Thanks for your input, it helps to have that info to consider.

 

this itinerary is varied, but the port times are a problem in several ports for some of the regular running boat tours, Seward and Valdez. Don't know if there are going to be some ship excursion options??