Considering an Alaskan cruise

[gstepic]

I am researching Alaskan cruises and in particular would like one that starts in Seattle and ends in Vancouver, or the other way around, since I have never been to either city. I have been able to find three cruises so far – a Carnival cruise on the Spirit, a Royal Caribbean cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas, and a NCL cruise on the Pearl. All the cruises I am looking at are for next year. Strangely all three cruises that start in Seattle and end in Vancouver are only offered in September. Any guesses as to why?

 

So far the NCL cruise seems most appealing because of the free style, itinerary, and Cruise Critic ship rating. We have been on one cruise before (in 2006), a Western Caribbean cruise with Carnival and loved everything about it. We enjoyed our non free style dining experience but we are trying to talk some other family members into cruising with us and they seemed to like the free style concept. I am making a spread sheet to compare cruises. It seems like the NCL Seattle to Vancouver cruise has more "port time" than many cruises, for an Alaskan cruise we plan on taking advantage of the many tours available so this is an important factor.

So hope you don’t mind some questions since some of you will be familiar with the cruises I am considering.

 

Will the mid September cruises catch any of the trees changing color? My brother in law wants to go in the fall for this reason but I am thinking this far north colors may change early and there may be mostly pine trees anyway. Plus I have not really found any fall Alaskan cruises – I am sure because of weather and shorter days.

 

Would the chances of seeing whales be any better or worse this time of the year? We have gone to Hawaii the last three years and we know in Hawaii there are definitely whale watching seasons.

Is booking directly with the cruise line any better or worse than going with an agency? In my limited experience my guess is there may be only minor advantages that could be offset by some disadvantages by booking with a travel agency, even one that claims to specialize in cruises. For example I was quoted 1651 directly with NCL for my wife and I with an ocean view cabin, the cabin having an unobstructed view and 4x3 window. Vacations To Go said they can do better and quoted 1630. When I checked out a class F cabin I discovered it was only a port hole, but I would get a free soda card (my wife would use one and I would not). I was told by NCL I would have to pay a risk free deposit and Vacations To Go said they have to abide by the same policies, but NCL told me to be careful because agencies can impose their own policies conserning booking changes, upgrades, or cancelations.

 

Do cruisers favor any particular travel agencies for booking cruises?

 

I know cabin choices are really a personal decision. We had a balcony on our Carnival cruise and enjoyed it, but we try to spend as little time as possible in our room. My thoughts are an ocean view would be nice and maybe more practical than a balcony, since weather would be more of a factor on an Alaskan cruise than on a Caribbean one. If the weather is nice I have no problem sitting out on a deck. I would like to hear your thoughts on cabins though since there may be factors I am not considering, such as room sizes. My guess is if we book soon we will have plenty of chances to upgrade before our cruise next year.

I am a semi professional photographer so I am a little extra excited about an Alaskan cruise. I think an Alaskan cruise will present many great photo ops. We vacation enough to know weather is a variable, and probably more of a variable on an Alaskan cruise, so we have learned to take the attitude there will always be another time if weather is disappointing.

 

I am going to make good use of CC forums in the next few months and will be doing a lot of searching and I am sure I will be bugging forum members with more questions.

Gary

[garycarla]

Alaska is great, any time you can go.

 

Your post was very long so I got sort of lost. I did notice discussion of particular agencies. It might get deleted.

 

My best advice is to spend some time on the Alaska boards.

 

Then read reviews of folks here that have cruised.

 

Then come back with specific questions.

 

Enjoy!

[Toyz711]

those cruises are end of the season cruises...after that cruise, they will have be moving the ships for their winter cruises. the rest of the season they do round-trip cruises out of seattle.

leaves: that will depend on the weather for months before. we went in mid-sept ('06)...saw some reds and yellows. BUT that was a very wet year with moderate temps. for our cruise, we had rain in 2 of the ports..even sleet in juneau. ketchikan had very heavy rain to the point that it was a waste for anything other then walking around.

the end of the season cruise do get great sales in many of the shops.

some excursions may not be available..due to some vendors closing shop for the season.

yes, humpbacks are still up there. the migration doesn't start until nov.

during the summer you have the very long days, in sept sunset will be around 7pm. you lose those evening hours for excursions.

we can't discuss travel agents on this board. but, yes, some do have their own fees.

make sure you check out the alaska boards under the port-of-call on these boards.

if photos are that important, you may want to check into a earlier time-frame. weather may hamper some of your plans...but then, again, it's alaska..there is no telling what the weather will be.

even with the bad weather in juneau and ketchikan...heavy fog in skagway...the trip was great, glacier bay had the best weather, even warm compared to the other days. everybody has a photo the train in skagway, how many have a photo of the train coming out of fog bank?

[Cruise_More_Often]

The end-of-season cruises you're looking at are generally a little less expensive than those in the middle of summer, so you're saving some money there. Most people want to embark and disembark at the same port to save on round-trip airfare. You'll enjoy both cities immensely. As Toyz mentioned in her post, the ships will be departing from Vancouver at the end of the season to begin their winter schedules, and according to US law (way too much to discuss here), they must begin in a "foreign" port, hence Vancouver.

 

I think you will all enjoy the Pearl and NCL's Freestyle dining concept, which will allow you to choose the restaurant and time you want to eat.

 

Not sure about seeing leaves changing color on your cruise. We're doing New England/Canada in October to see those.

 

Whether you book directly with NCL or with a online agency or brick-and-mortar agency is a completely personal decision. We always book directly with NCL because I like being in charge on my booking, and if I have any question, I can contact NCL rather than calling someone who then has to call NCL and get back to me. It is against board rules for us to discuss particular travel agencies.

 

You mentioned that you're a photographer. You might want to consider a balcony cabin if you can afford it, so that you can set up your tripod and not be disturbed. I'm not sure how crowded the decks get while you're glacier viewing, but I imagine it's pretty cramped.

 

Have fun with your planning. Be sure to join a rollcall thread when you've chosen your cruise. It's fun to get to know the others who will be on the cruise with you, and you can learn a lot from each other.

[deepnite10]

they ll usually be returning to the embarkation port..the other time s

will be the ship repositioning to begin or end a season..

[gstepic]

I did not see an edit option so maybe too late to edit. I don't want to break any board rules so I would like to delete any mention of agencies. I apologize to any moderators and hope this thread is not deleted. I will talk more when I get home this evening and do want to sneak in a quick thanks to all of you who have responded.

 

Gary

[Don Haynes]

When an international flagged ship repositions to another American city for another season its not a round trip back to Seattle, thus the Jones Act applies. Cruise lines get around the Jones Act by starting the reposition cruise in Vancouver.

[gstepic]

I guess I should not be stuck on a Seattle to Vancouver cruise because I believe Seattle is only two to three hours away from Vancouver. If we wanted to we could always tack on several days and visit either Seattle or Vancouver.

 

So this opens many more cruise opportunites.

 

Gary

[terrymtex01]

Gary.. I really can't add much to what has been posted already, but just wanted to welcome you to CC.

 

Alaska is the most amazing place we have ever been too, cruise or land trip. No matter what you and your family decide, you will not regret it one bit. The Pearl is a beautiful ship that makes you feel like you are in a five star resort. She had a great staff and lots of great food. As far as your cabin choice, IF you can swing it, Alaska is where you want to splurge and get a balcony cabin if at all possible. I know you mentioned you do not mind hanging out on a public deck, but just know that for Alaskan cruises they are much more crowded than on other itinenaries. Having your own balcony to watch beautiful Alaska drift by is priceless.

 

As far as booking through a TA or directly with NCL, it is a personal choice, but we always book directly with NCL. In fact except for when we booked the Carnival cruise we took, we have always booked directly through the cruiseline. My pet peeve is to need to ask someone a question about my booking and be told "oh I can't help you, you need to call the TA". There are some really great TA's out there, we are just more of a hands on kind of traveler when it comes to our arrangements.

 

I hope you have an amazing cruise no matter which line you choose. If it is with NCL, please come back here and tell us all about it.

[LindaKE]

Definitely get a balcony if possible, especially if you want to get some good photos. Some of our best photos were taken from our balcony. On the public deck, your photos tended to include heads and bodies you weren't particularly trying to capture. Even when it was COLD, we enjoyed watching from our balcony for a while. With a balcony you can run in to warm up or get additional warm clothes if necessary.

 

You can get to/from Vancouver to Seattle on Amtrak in 3 hours for a very reasonable cost.

[gstepic]

I am fairly certain I will book the Norwegian Pearl because from what I have been reading I am confident I will enjoy the cruise as much if not more than any other. Down the road I will book a cruise that will hit the places the Pearl missed, but the Pearl seems to visit some very popular ports and the cruise should keep me pretty busy with lots of photo opportunites.

 

I appreciate the advice on the cabin and I will get a balcony so I can set up my tripod. I am also going to go all out on tours for this trip. I do not want to say this will be a once in a lifetime trip because at 61 I hope we can do more Alaskan cruises. But who knows how much I will be able to get around in the future so we will try to see all that we can see.

 

I requested information on line from NCL so hopefully I will get a booklet that shows the ships layouts, similar to what Carnival and Royal Caribbean do. So now my biggest question will be if we should book on the Port or Starboard side (I think those are the correct terms). I will also spend more time on their site. I think CC and probably even the NCL forums will be great resoources. On our one and only cruise in 2006 my wife could not believe I was never on a cruise before because thanks to this board, I was able to plan very well for our first cruise.

[cruiseinfoseeker]

Not sure if you saw this one for NCL:

 

I will be going on the Star May 8th, 2010. It leaves Vancouver and returns to Seattle.

[gstepic]

That would be nice to be able to get out of Dodge the first days I can! My brother in law wants to see leaves change and I want to see whales if possible, and no guarantees for either no matter which cruise, but for sure no leaves changing color in May!

 

We have been going to Hawaii the last few years but have not gone during whale watching season. I know there are times when no spottings and then there are good times with better chances, so not sure it same occurs with Alaskan cruises.

 

We have heard there are less bugs on the September cruises and my wife hates moscitoes (because they absolutely love her!) than during mid summer, but not sure about May.

 

Gary

[LindaKE]

We didn't encounter an mosquitos in May.

 

The best sights are on the land side. Study the itineraries once you choose then pick the side of the ship that will get you on the land side the longest. That would probably be port on a Seattle round trip once you turn back toward Seattle. In Alaska you are often in sight of land where you'll have many opportunities for pics.

[Toyz711]

what side of the ship will be decided on which glacier?

if you are going to glacier bay..it's PORT side! or the front of the ship. many people will say the ship will turn, but:

while in glacier bay, the ship stays close to the left side of the bay...all announcements/information will be about what is on the left side...the ships start with the left/port side facing the glaciers, pause then turn.

 

we had another ship come between us and the glacier, blocking the starboard's view.....at the next glacier, when the ship turned, we didn't stop kept moving out to get out of the other ship's way. where as port side got a full view of each glacier with plenty of time to enjoy the views.

what i loved was the stillness of the water before the ship made waves.

 

no 'skitters in sept...most of the 'skitter problems (we hear about) are around denali national park.

[ute_fan]

That would be nice to be able to get out of Dodge the first days I can! My brother in law wants to see leaves change and I want to see whales if possible, and no guarantees for either no matter which cruise, but for sure no leaves changing color in May!

 

We have been going to Hawaii the last few years but have not gone during whale watching season. I know there are times when no spottings and then there are good times with better chances, so not sure it same occurs with Alaskan cruises.

 

We have heard there are less bugs on the September cruises and my wife hates moscitoes (because they absolutely love her!) than during mid summer, but not sure about May.

 

Gary

 

We never had trouble with mosquitos during either of our Alaskan cruises, which were the end of May and first part of June. However, if you get into the interior, you're more likely to have issues. My DD and new SIL just returned from their honeymoon cruise, and she mentioned that they had a lot of mosquitos on their horseback ride at Emerald Lake in Skagway.

 

One quick comment about whales. We saw more of them from the ship in May (3rd week) than we did in June (2nd week), as they're still migrating to Alaska from Hawaii. I don't know how soon they leave, but if you're interested in whales, May might be a better time frame. You also have the advantage of the snow still being in the mountains, and there's nothing quite like the snowy mountains for making beautiful photos.

[dgard5th]

My $.02 :

 

- I think a balcony is a must-have for an Alaskan itinerary. There is so much great scenery during the cruise, especially near a glacier or in the fjords, its not worth fighting for viewing space on deck. We grabbed the blankets from our room and sat on the balcony for hours. It can get chilly.

 

- I do believe whales will be out of season in September. We went in late August a few years back and the captain said that, for the most part, the whales are gone.

 

- We always book ourselves directly with the cruise line online. I don't believe a middle-man (or women) adds enough value to the process to warrant the hassle. I always know exactly what I'm getting, and if its screwed up its usually my own fault! Then again, we're do-it-yourself kind of people. I agree, its personal preference.

 

- A lot of times for cruises going into Vancouver and Seattle, they have transfers to the other city. We did a repositioning cruise one year that ended in Vancouver. We then took the transfer (w/ RCCL) to the SEA-TAC airport in Seattle. I think we were there by 10 or 11am? Because flights to the East Coast are usually red-eye (overnights) our flight didn't leave until 10pm. We rented a car for the day and saw Seattle highlights (Pike St marketplace, Space Needle, etc).

[DGF]

Might we suggest that you make your decision based on the itinerary and routing rather than the embarkation or disembarkation port

 

Some of the cruise ships take a route on the west side of Vancouver Island which can be rough open ocean

 

Some cruise ships never get to Glacier Bay or College Fjord; both of which are must see

 

Have a great cruise to Alaska. The scenery is outstanding and if you do take a ship which gets you into Glacier Bay and College Fjord, you will have a memorable experience at the glaciers