-question about alaska

[buzzandjulie]

Thinking of sailing to Alaska in June I have questions

 

Is it more economical to fly into seattle then take a bus to Vancourver how much and how long a ride.(booking own air)

 

Do Crown and archor members get a cut on balcony rate and how important is it to have a balcony vs. outside cabin trying real hard to keep cost down as this will be cruise #2 in 12 months and really should not be going ...but what the heck!

[nerak]

I'll try to help you as we were in a similar situation this year. We cruised in March, then planned Alaska for May 30th very last minute. We chose to fly into Seattle and use RC's transportation from there. We saved about $180 per ticket this way (Indy to Seattle was $238 RT each). The bus ride was long...maybe 3 hours...but we did get a rest stop just before entering Canada and the bus does have a bathroom. Since money was short we went with a room with a large window. There was no discount for C&A, at least for us with 3 previous cruises. We have always had a balcony, so this was tough to do. Did we miss the balcony...heck yes! BUT, this allowed us do our cruise. We did get to board quicker...this was the first cruise of the year for the Serenade in Alaska and there were all kinds of problems at the dock. It was a long, cold wait until they announced C&A members could board. The price difference was about $750 more if we got the balcony and decided we would rather save the money. My suggestion is to figure it all ways possible and choose the one you can deal with (afford the easiest). We didn't have the room of our choice, but we had a super time cruising Alaska.

[buzzandjulie]

this is my delemia exactly. It is for my 25th anniversary so i really want to do something special this week even though I did a cruise this past Nov that was for the anniversary, although early we opted to go with a group of friends. Did you feel you were able to see everything without balcony as far as views and scenery? I figure if i fly Southwest it will cost between 250 and 300 route trip and I think I have enough points to get 1 route trip for free. I have looked into NCL which will be cheaper but I have been on rci my last 6 cruises and am not sure I want to change and princess that goes out of seattle seems way too high

[dougp26364]

We've cruised Alaska twice. The first time was in an outside cabin, the second was in a balcony cabin. I'll never consider doing Alaska again unless it's with a balcony. The window is nice but you can't see all around you. One morning I stepped out on the balcony and witnessed a humpback whale breaching and slapping his tail on the water. It was forward of our cabin and I'd never have seen it if all we had was a window.

 

With a balcony, you don't have to compete for space on deck for a good spot to see from and you are somewhat protected from the wind. Both cruises it tended to be windy and cold up on deck. On our first cruise, in order to whale watch we needed to be up on deck. Someone would shout whale and you'd feel the boat list to one side as EVERYONE ran to that side of the ship. After a day or so I learned to shout WHALE, just to get people to move from the spot I wanted to occupy. ;)

 

At Hubbard Galcier it's a little cold. With the outside cabin we had to be ondeck competing for viewing space with everyone who had an inside or outside cabin. When we had the balcony, we had our own unobstructed view and got some great pictures. If we got a little cold, we just stepped back into the room for a few moments and watched thru the sliding glass doors.

 

With our balcony, we were able to stand and watch the dolphins jump in the wake. They showed up on our last night heading back thru the inside passage for Vancouver. We could stand on the balcony and look down on the dolphins without having to push and shove to get a view. It was great.

 

So, IMO, a balcony is a must for Alaska.

[abridalmaven]

We did Alaska in June and had a balcony, it was nice, but I spent so much time on the upper decks because the vista is so big the balcony was wasted. Plus it was not warm enough any day to do any sunning.

 

 

As for Seattle that is the airport we chose, way cheap than Vancouver flights and used Jet Blue. But instead of the bus or the train we rented a car . We had stayed in Seattle for 5 days precruise and also were with another couple. We drove the car to the paking area and they transported us to the ship and had the car waiting at the pier when we got off. The cost of the parking an rental was still cheaper than the train or bus for 4. Plus we had the use of it when we were in town.

[jezzdogg]

If you have cruised more that 5 times with RCI you will have a discount if you book a balcony cabin. We did Alaska 2 summers ago with Celebrity, and the tour is done by Royal Celebrity cruises......that being said, when we cruise Alaska again.....we will go with Princess or maybe even Hal. The reason being is that they bring specialist on board for the passages and also they have the rights to the College Fjords and Glacier Bay, which unforunately Rci and Celebrity to not have the rights to. Hope that helps

[nerak]

If this is your 25th anniversary go for the balcony!!! The view was fair from our room, and I do need to note that our window was never cleaned so it was heavily covered with salt water. We were able to see some things, but not really "experience" it. If you can afford it, go for it. dougp26364 said it well as for the benefits of a balcony on this particular cruise.

[buzzandjulie]

thanks for all the information we are really going to try for a balcony. I like the idea of renting a car and then driving the route to vancour but i think we will end up on the bus. Did any one book thru an online agency or did yu go travel agent. or direct with rci I am trying to decide if RCI direct is good idea but defentaly will book own air. Any differance between radiance or serenade?

[Majesty Fan]

I have done Alaska and will do Alaska again this August on the Radiance. The last time we did Alaska my best friend and I got an outisde cabin. I wanted a balcony but too pricy for me. This time we opted for an inside as it stays light most of the day and half the night in Alaska. When we were at hubbard glacier it was very corwded athe bow of the ship and at the rear of the ship. The capt also turns the ship twice so that both sides get an even chance. After standing outside we opted for the viking crown lounge. We will probably fly into Seattle on SW too and then spend 2 nights in Seattle and then drive to Canada. On our way there we will stop at the Boeing plant. Get to Canada early when we went back in 2000 RCI go us there around 1pm and it took about 2 hours of waiting in line to get on baord no lunch or picture. This time we are spending Friday night in Vancouver and plan to be at the pier by 11am we are also Diamond members now too.

Lexi

[emilygrace]

We just booked the Serenade for Alaska for next September. Right now I'm looking at $330pp to fly SFO to Vancouver and $138pp to fly Oakland to Seattle (this is on Southwest). So that's a big difference when you have 4 people! Well worth renting a car to drive the rest of the way, plus the two cruise newbies will get to see some of Washington. We're going up a day early, so we have the time to do this.