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trying to plan a family cruise to Alaska with my 26, 24 and 22 year old - NCL or Carnival?

Sailed both NCL and Carnival. I would sail NCL over Carnival. Lots of choices for you in Alaska.

I received an upgrade email for both of my reservations (kids in separate cabin next door, ages 25 & 16). Would love to bid but it clearly states that there is no guarantee both cabins will be located nearby each other. Don't want to risk being on opposite end of the ship from kids but has anyone tried this process with 2 cabins? I kinda feel that this process doesn't really apply to families!

Would love pictures of the dailies for my planning!

.. In my opinion!

 

Just returning from the 14 day ncl sun repositioning Alaska cruise, people ask is glacier bay a must, I think it is..

 

We did sawyer glacier... Beautiful but from quite a distance away and Hubbard glacier... Thick fog and an ice belt meant that we saw nothing, at all!!!!

 

Glacier bay was just amazing.. If we had had only one of the others on the itinerary we would have been quite unimpressed, definitely if just Hubbard glacier for sure!

 

And as for ISP... We had been seeing whales from the ship for days, some far off, some got quite near.. Blows, tails, backs and we were impressed. THEN we started to dock in ISP... They were everywhere, well it felt like it!

 

There was a lone one and 4 together that spent the whole day moving up and down the bay, we spent the whole day on shore, walked to Hoonah and back then sat on the shore line watching them bubble feed and perform for us.

 

Once while we were waiting for the 4 to come past again the lone one appeared from no where so close to us everyone jumped, the noise when it trumpeted was amazing... You know your close when you hear that!

 

Then came the grand finale....

 

Getting near time to sail away, the group of 4 were a bit away from the aft of the ship, the whale watching boats had left them (not needed) and they started coming in our direction, one appeared just off the edge of the ship then it went quiet....

 

We were on deck 12 outside looking over the side and then I noticed the ring of bubbles.. I shouted, they're coming, they're gonna bubble feed AND THEY DID! right below us right next to the ship... It was totally the highlight of the cruise!!!! (And I went whale watching in Juneau, if I had gone to ISP before, I would not have)

 

So when looking at itineraries I strongly recommend glacier bay and ISP.

Any chance you have shots of the dailies from the Sun?? Did you have a preference for one of the 2 MDRs??

NE Ark! Very small town but you may have heard of Jonesboro? See you on the Sun roll call!!

Would love to have dailies for the NCL Sun in Alaska if anyone has them or will get them!! Thanks!!

I am taking my first Alaska cruise in August. I did lots of research, comparing ships, cost, itinerary, and dates. It all depends on what's important to you individually. Example: the Pearl was just recently renovated, Jewel in 2014. Both ships are about the same size. In the end, we wanted to see more of Alaska so a one way allows you to rent a car and plan additional places to see. And yes, it takes some planning and research!!! If you're looking at NCL then the Sun does one way trips in the inside passage from Vancouver or Seward.

Both of those ships are roundtrip from Seattle. The Pearl does Glacier Bay. If you want to see more of Alaska, you might want to consider a one way cruise out of Seward or Vancouver then explore with a DIY land tour.

We have sailed on Disney, Carnival, and NCL with a daughter who had severe allergies to dairy and all nuts. All 3 of those lines handled her meals with care. The day before, they would bring her the next day menus and have her pick what she would like to eat and they would make that meal without the allergens. Desserts were difficult but they considered this a good challenge and each night brought her something amazing! They allowed us to bring her safe milk on board too! Also, one of the lines (maybe Carnival), stored our freezer packs in their freezer so we could keep her food items cold when we went on shore since finding "safe" food was worrisome in foreign ports.

Found a great deal:D

This thread inspired me. First checked a container store but the prices seemed too much for a trial run. Then, found an Ikea 4 piece set on line and the cost seemed decent at 9.99 marked down to 7.99 for Ikea 'family' members (free to join). Decided to run to store to pick them up and was ecstatic to see they were marked down to 4.99 for the 4 piece set! Had to wait for a new shipment to come in to pick up some additional sets the next week.

 

Details:

1 small bag (10x6"), 1 large bag (13x10"), 1 large bag with two compartments (13¾x10") and 1 shoe bag (17x9").

This is an amazing deal! 4 piece set and it truly is marked $4.99 in Ikea but online it's listed as 7.99. Not sure how long the item will be 4.99 so stock up! Hopefully it's not being discontinued! My Ikea only had dark blue.

A month ago I called upsell and they said call back three days before departure.

I called back and upgraded from an inside to a balcony for 300.00 on a 20 day cruise on the star. Good deal I say.

 

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Were you able to know which balcony cabin they were assigning you or did you have to take any BX? Kinda worries me not knowing where I could end up...near a loud area, etc. Also, I booked thru Expedia ... would I work thru them or call NCL to try to upgrade from my assigned interior? Sailing on the Sun in Alaska.

OK, I'm a multiple - over 30 Kenai Fjords boat tours, and the bay tours, have to be comped for me to take them. Simpy a poor choice, with a wildlife priority like I have. Also, no glacier sailing- sorry the very distant "look" at Bear Glacier can hardly count. Sorry, nothing I ever recommend.

 

As for Prince William Sound, I've also done all of those tours- multiple times as well, and my favorite is Surprise Glacier. But, they all are excellent to enjoy, in my opinion.

 

With the OP- What is your ACTUAL, timing and when are you leaving Anc?? If you car to disclose this, then it can be recommended you go on your own, but if you are leaving that night- then you have a LOT fewer options.

 

To the second poster- Prince William Sound is NOT for a wildlife priority and the bay tours are poor choices compared to Kenai Fjords. WHAT is YOUR priority and are you ONLY going to choose between the 2 you list, or are you going to be open to the superior Kenai Fjords routes? Clear choice if only going with the 2 you list, being, Prince William Sound- but do not expect a lot of wildlife.

Thanks for your input. I'm leaning toward the PWS over the Kenai Fjord cruises for several reasons but mainly time constraints & concerns about getting seasick. Will be in Denali for wildlife so wanted to see glaciers with a "shorter" cruise trip time. I think it's going to be a matter of selecting one of the 2 cruises in PWS for us. Thought I could get some insight.

I am interested also in a comparison! The Resurrection Bay tour is one of several Kenai Fjord cruises, Resurrection Bay being the shortest at about 4 hours, with calmer waters than the longer cruises that visit glaciers on the Gulf. There are a couple Prince William Sound cruises, guaranteed calm sailing! There's one about the same length (a bit longer) as the Resurrection Bay cruise. So, for the amount of time, which has better views? Which offers more wildlife sightings?

Does the fleece liner zip out or attached? Shipping cost for 1 or 2 jackets is 50% the cost of the jacket! Really makes the total cost for 2 jackets $60.

We did that also! Very nice people and we can't wait till August! Bought me a new camera and dreaming of flukes and a whale breaching right beside the boat!

Yes...it was your post on the roll call that prompted me to call!! We're 4ppl and on the 12pm cruise with Shawn.

Currently weighing Prince William Sound cruise vs Kenai Fjord cruise.

Just booked a whale watching trip with Glacier Winds based on feedback on CC. They take 6 people max. Call directly to book (saving online booking fee).

I just booked a whale watching tour in ISP with Glacier Winds. I did lots of research and they were highly recommended. They only take up to 6 ppl on the tour. Very nice people and they are adding a new boat this year.