Alaskan Cruise

[Cardiff Cruisers]

Hi all,

 

We are planning to go on an Alaskan cruise this May/June and was hoping that some of you professional cruisers ;0) out there could give me some pointers with which is the better cruises to do.

A little history, my DW and I are from the UK and I have cruised a few times with Princess and once with Celebrity which was on the Solistice this Christmas.

Overall all though we prefer Princess without going into detail as it just seems to offer the best of both worlds.

The plan is to take my wife, my mother and my 85 year old grandmother who has always said no to cruising due to her fear of ships, to Alaska and maybe do a cruise tour on the glass domed train and stay at one of princess's lodge hotels over a 12 / 14 night duration with the cruise being as calm as possible to ensure my grandmother enjoys herself

We would also look at just cruising too.

So therefore here I am asking for your help as most of the cruises look the same or let me know the must do things and I will try to sort out the perfect cruise for us all.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

[luvlake]

It can be very confusing. :confused: One thing you might do is go to the Port of Call boards under Alaska and research for some answers. It is so full of information regarding Alaska. I learn something new every day.

 

Happy Cruising!:)

[mii]

I have to agree with the above poster. Go to the Ports of call board for alaska. There is a wealth of information on that site. If you have any other questions we will try to answer them.

 

marilyn

[Cardiff Cruisers]

Thank you both for that, but I was also in need information to which cruise would be the calmest whilst cruising for my grandmothers sake.

As I imagine a cruise from say San Fransisco would be more at sea so therefore have more chance of choppy water.

So is there any cruise that would keep the chance of rough seas to a minimum

 

Thanks again

 

Tony

[chrysalis]

Thank you both for that, but I was also in need information to which cruise would be the calmest whilst cruising for my grandmothers sake.

As I imagine a cruise from say San Fransisco would be more at sea so therefore have more chance of choppy water.

So is there any cruise that would keep the chance of rough seas to a minimum

 

Thanks again

 

Tony

 

An inside passage cruise from Vancouver would be the calmest, for sure. Mostly very protected water.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

I also agree with Chrysalis as far as the inside passage from Vancouver. We did that in 2007 and the waters were relatively calm. How mobile is your grandmother ? We did the 12 day cruisetour and found it very busy.

 

 

Thank you both for that, but I was also in need information to which cruise would be the calmest whilst cruising for my grandmothers sake.

As I imagine a cruise from say San Fransisco would be more at sea so therefore have more chance of choppy water.

So is there any cruise that would keep the chance of rough seas to a minimum

 

Thanks again

 

Tony

[Cardiff Cruisers]

You are all so helpful.

She is pretty mobile and I hve been researching and at present looking at an 11 day cruisetour but with all rail travel between each lodge.

Do you think this may be to much for her?

 

Tony

[Texas Tillie]

Which Princess cruisetour are you considering? Some are so much better than others. You want one with 2 nights in Denali and you want the Tundra Wilderness Tour (NOT the Natural History Tour) at Denali. The McKinley Lodge is nice - but it is over 100 miles from the park entrance in the middle of no where. Princess makes it look like it's right by the park (well, it is, but not where you can get into the park!). I did the Copper River tour last year (it's a 13 night with the cruise) and I highly recommend it. I also recommend doing the land tour first and then sailing south. The land tour can be very tiring even with a lot of sitting on trains and buses. Also, the trains take about twice as long as the bus to get from point A to point B. With the Copper River tour you go to a part of Alaska that many don't see over by the Wrangall-St. Elias Natl. Park. Also, the Denali Hwy. between the Parks Hwy. and the Richardson Hwy. covers an area that few tour.

[katisdale]

I have to add another vote for the tour that includes Copper River. We did that last September with our daughter and grandchildren. We saw so much wildlife on the bus from Denali to Copper River. We also highly enjoyed the transfer from Copper River to Whittier by way of Prince William Sound. It was an excellent cruisetour. I would also second doing the tour first and then the cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. It was very peaceful sailing on our cruise.

[jlvlaw]

There might be some differing opinions, but I'd also consider a larger ship such as the Diamond or Sapphire. I'm not really convinced there's a big difference in stability between the Grand Class and the Coral/Island/Sun Class ships. But your other companions might think bigger is better.

[johnfas]

Hi all,

 

We are planning to go on an Alaskan cruise this May/June and was hoping that some of you professional cruisers ;0) out there could give me some pointers with which is the better cruises to do.

A little history, my DW and I are from the UK and I have cruised a few times with Princess and once with Celebrity which was on the Solistice this Christmas.

Overall all though we prefer Princess without going into detail as it just seems to offer the best of both worlds.

The plan is to take my wife, my mother and my 85 year old grandmother who has always said no to cruising due to her fear of ships, to Alaska and maybe do a cruise tour on the glass domed train and stay at one of princess's lodge hotels over a 12 / 14 night duration with the cruise being as calm as possible to ensure my grandmother enjoys herself

We would also look at just cruising too.

So therefore here I am asking for your help as most of the cruises look the same or let me know the must do things and I will try to sort out the perfect cruise for us all.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

Tony, I hope you received the Princess e-mail on their Alaskan Cruise Deals as they are unbelievably cheap! Just sign on to the Princess web site with your past cruiser name etc. and the deal prices will pop up. All the itineraries are quite nice, but the calmest of course would be the inside passage. Seeing that you are coming from quite a distance try and plan to visit Vancouver for a day or two at least. It is a very beautiful city, and that would make a great port to leave out of. We did the Crown a few years ago and taking the train was not a big deal and it was pretty comfortable actually. We actually flew into Seattle then took a bus to Vancouver as for us coming from the US east coast, it was much cheaper than flying into Canada. Good luck with your planning. I am sure you will find many answers right here on these boards. As they say just ask....

[hensus]

Thanks to Texas Tillie and others who suggested this tour. We are booked in August and finally decided on this cruisetour. This post made me feel like we made the right choice. Did anyone do the McKinley glacier landing from the McKinley lodge? I have a two for one coupon for the 7:00 flight with Talkeetna Air Taxi, but am not sure how transportation works from the lodge back into Talkeetna and how to return to the lodge after the flight if we do not book with Princess. Anyone have info on this? Also, if anyone has done excursions from any of the other lodges (Denali and Copper River) please make suggestions. I have read about excursions from the ship, but not from the lodges. Thanks for all help!!!

[Texas Tillie]

Thanks to Texas Tillie and others who suggested this tour. We are booked in August and finally decided on this cruisetour. This post made me feel like we made the right choice. Did anyone do the McKinley glacier landing from the McKinley lodge? I have a two for one coupon for the 7:00 flight with Talkeetna Air Taxi, but am not sure how transportation works from the lodge back into Talkeetna and how to return to the lodge after the flight if we do not book with Princess. Anyone have info on this? Also, if anyone has done excursions from any of the other lodges (Denali and Copper River) please make suggestions. I have read about excursions from the ship, but not from the lodges. Thanks for all help!!!

 

There's a shuttle that runs between the McKinley Lodge and Talkeetna all day. I'm thinking it's like every half hour - but don't quote me on that! You will be getting a brouchure from Princess with all of the Princess excursions from the lodges listed. As I remember from last year, you can also find this on the Princess website. We didn't do any excursions from the lodges, except the Tundra Wilderness Tour at Denali. Be sure and check the papers you get from Princess and if you don't have the TWT listed as being included either book it or the shuttle on your own. Princess will refund something in the $40 range for the Natural History Tour if that's what you're booked on. You (or your travel agent if booked thru one) will have to request this from Princess. You'll love this tour!

[Nancyquilts]

The cruises from Vancouver are the only ones that seem to go to the east of Vancouver Island. That is a very pretty part of the cruise, and it is too bad more ships don't go that way.