Help! Diamond Princess Cruise September 2010

[Sailkeywest]

After having the Alaskan guide book in my desk for more than 5 years and researching everything that I could find on Alaskan cruises, We finally took the plunge and booked C753 on the Diamond Princess for September, 2010.

 

Now the problem is, hubby just looked up how long a flight it is from Anchorage to where we live (Florida)! -- And after overhearing me talk about the transfer times (another 2 hours) from Whittier to Anchorage, he is now saying "That is way too long, let's do another cruise from Seattle!"

 

I somehow managed to get EXACTLY the cabin I wanted, and have difficulty explaining to him how special this voyage and cabin really are. We have never spent that much time traveling to get to our destination. We just got back from Vegas, and after that flight (about 5 hours), he was like "never again!"

 

The only other choice would be to take a lesser cabin (based on availability) and go on a cruise that does not include glacier bay, which is what I most wanted to see.

 

I guess my question is that is the travel time (prolly like 14 hours) really going to be that excruciating? Do layovers help? What do other people do on such long flights to make things less tedious? We both have sensitive ears, and coming home really did a number on us. I thought perhaps we could take a flight halfway home the day and spend the night someplace, then make the next leg of the trip the next day. Any suggestions?

 

As always, any input is appreciated.

[sbflcruiser]

We are from Sarasota Florida and made that trip this past June. We were also on the Diamond, we went Northbound, so we flew from Tampa to Seattle, where we had a layover in Houston, which worked out well, just long enough to grab lunch and hop back on the flight to Seattle. The next morning we took the Amtrak train to Vancouver to catch the ship, that was really great. At the end of our trip we flew from Anchorage to Houston, then Houston to Tampa. Our flight left Anchorage around 9pm, and we spent the day in Anchorage busy all day, so we were pretty tired by the time we got on the plane, arrived in Houston around 6:15am, so we were able to sleep on the plane. Others in our group went via Salt Lake City, which was a shorter flight. It seems like a really long flight but we found that doing in the PM like that was easier to rest and did not seem as long.

 

Good Luck, this is a great trip.

[adwalsh]

My DH and I are sailing on the Diamond next month on the Alaska NB. We live in the Atlanta area so have a long way back home as well. Post cruise, we are staying in Anchorage for a couple of days.

 

Staying in Anchorage would break up the length of the return home, even if just for one night.

 

I hope you can talk him into taking the Diamond NB. I am with you - missing Glacier Bay would be a shame.

 

Please keep us all posted.

[Pia1913]

After having the Alaskan guide book in my desk for more than 5 years and researching everything that I could find on Alaskan cruises, We finally took the plunge and booked C753 on the Diamond Princess for September, 2010.

 

Now the problem is, hubby just looked up how long a flight it is from Anchorage to where we live (Florida)! -- And after overhearing me talk about the transfer times (another 2 hours) from Whittier to Anchorage, he is now saying "That is way too long, let's do another cruise from Seattle!"

 

I somehow managed to get EXACTLY the cabin I wanted, and have difficulty explaining to him how special this voyage and cabin really are. We have never spent that much time traveling to get to our destination. We just got back from Vegas, and after that flight (about 5 hours), he was like "never again!"

 

The only other choice would be to take a lesser cabin (based on availability) and go on a cruise that does not include glacier bay, which is what I most wanted to see.

 

I guess my question is that is the travel time (prolly like 14 hours) really going to be that excruciating? Do layovers help? What do other people do on such long flights to make things less tedious? We both have sensitive ears, and coming home really did a number on us. I thought perhaps we could take a flight halfway home the day and spend the night someplace, then make the next leg of the trip the next day. Any suggestions?

 

As always, any input is appreciated.

 

We're leaving on Sept. 5th. PBI to ATL to MSP to FAI. Is it worth it? We think so. If your husband thinks flying from LV is too much, then you will never get to see the world. Florida to Alaska is around the corner. Florida to Australia is a long flight. Tell him to put things into proper perspective and enjoy a wonderful trip.

[kamac56]

We did the diamond from MPLS May of 07, My Hubby is tall and has trouble sitting comfortably on the plane. What airline are you flying?

Check out the cost of 1st class that may be a bit better for him and the

cost may out weigh the possiblity of not going.

We too stayed in Seattle the night before, any time you can do the night before it is less hectic and makes the trip more enjoyable. we took the train from Seattle to Vancouver. WOOOO HOOOO was that nice. We are talking about just going back to Seattle to do that again, it was so relaxing and peaceful that you forgot you were on your way to a cruise.

 

I have been on two Alaska cruises and really any Glacier you see is worth seeing. They are awesome, we started out with E728 for a cabin and i like you really researched and booked that one cause I thought it would be the best for us. When we got on board they upgraded us to a full vista suite and needless to say THAT WAS THE BEST.

 

Another option you have...if you have a sister tell your hubby you will ask her to go...He will than see how important this is to you LOL. ;)

[ggprincess2004]

Another option you might want to consider is to take the ship from Vancouver northbound, stay aboard and take it back southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. Then, get the Princess bus transfer from Vancouver to Seattle and stay a night...breaks up the travel time nicely, and it's "only" air RT from Seattle. Which is long enough to be flying....

 

This gives you two days in each port which allows for more activites and excursions, and two days in Glacier Bay, just in case the weather doesn't cooperate one of those days. :D

[georoc01]

Two things..

 

I believe the Golden out of Seattle is going to Glacier Bay next summer.

 

Yes, Anchorage is a long way. We were able to go non stop from Denver on Frontier, and it was a 5 hour flight. The plus is that they have satellite TV for the first 3 of the 5 hours and movies available for the last two so it helps get through it.

 

Went flew in a couple of days early to acclimate before the trip to Whittier. We did that on the Alaska RR which can be an adventure on its own. The only bears and daal sheep I saw on the trip were from the train.

[Sailkeywest]

Georoc, you just opened a whole new can of worms! (Thank You for that amazing discovery) I just checked and you are completely correct, the Golden Princess is going to Glacier Bay next September 2010! -- And the cabin I wanted, c753 was indeed available. Why it does not show as available on their website, I do not know, whenever I want to find out about this room, the site always says it is not available when it really is.

 

So, from comparing the two cruises, all we would be missing out on is College Fjord cruising, hm... Any more experienced cruisers can help with this dilemma? (there are worse dilemmas to have :P)

 

Thanks again for any input. :)

[mii]

Georoc, you just opened a whole new can of worms! (Thank You for that amazing discovery) I just checked and you are completely correct, the Golden Princess is going to Glacier Bay next September 2010! -- And the cabin I wanted, c753 was indeed available. Why it does not show as available on their website, I do not know, whenever I want to find out about this room, the site always says it is not available when it really is.

 

So, from comparing the two cruises, all we would be missing out on is College Fjord cruising, hm... Any more experienced cruisers can help with this dilemma? (there are worse dilemmas to have :P)

 

Thanks again for any input. :)

 

See my answer on your other thread.

 

Marilyn

[HarrietKC]

We just returned from the southbound Diamond. I had the same dilemma - the flight to Anchorage was long.

 

HOWEVER - two things made the difference for us in this decision - the Seattle cruise was actually as expensive as the additional cost of the Anchorage airfare (we had free tickets on Southwest to get to Seattle). The Seattle ship did not visit the northern glaciers. The view was BREATHTAKING. I haven't checked but I do hear that some ships will be doing Hubbard in the place of College Fjord. Glacier Bay was my favorite over College Fjord.

 

The other thing that made a difference was that we took the Alaska Comedy Leopard shuttle (very corny - but knowing that in advance - a lot of fun) from Anchorage to Whittier which stopped at a wildlife conservation center where you could walk around and see animals close up, and at Portage glacier for pie (included in the price).

 

So I thought we got more value by sailing a one-way instead of a round-trip out of Seattle.

 

If long flights are hard for him, I recommend going to Anchorage and doing a southbound. That gets the hardest flight out of the way.

 

Is there any way you can fly nonstop to Chicago and then take Alaska air non-stop to Anchorage? They were fun to fly and they provided video players preloaded with music, tv shows and movies for a pretty cheap price (from Seattle it was $6).

 

The trip is long, but by the time my husband was on the ship he was thrilled and the glaciers blew him away.

[gcsmith]

As a very frequent (business and personal) traveler I don't think 5 hours is that long. 15 hours from Atlanta to Dubai in coach was long though . . .

 

Anyway, fly Florida to Seattle, overnight there (the Radisson right across from the airport is nice/reasonable for Seattle), then fly on to Anchorage the next day (and be a day early!).

 

Sounds like you enjoy Seattle and I'm sure you could arrive early enough to stretch your legs and walk a bit then get dinner.

 

Airlines do not tend to charge more for stopovers, but you need to use the multi city booking option. I recommend Seattle because it would be the closest US city to Anchorage.

[bubbadog]

I Agree,cruise from seattle,if you can try flying in a day early,this will let you recoupe from flying,and you will be more refreshed for your cruise,plus seattle has alot of places to visit like seattle center,pike place market,the waterfront,and also getting better seats on the plane helps,we prefer to be more towards the front of the plane for quick deboarding,have a great cruise:)):D