gogiantsfan29

That is fine.  We had a 10:45 am and had plenty of time. 

4 hours ago, Coral said:

This is a good itinerary. The 2 negatives is that you won't get to Denali (you mentioned land trip on your first post) and it does one glacier which some years can be missed quite a bit, especially in the beginning of the season. Sometimes Hubbard is very accessible and other times, it is missed a lot. Impossible to predict.

Yeah, I know I will have to give up Denali.  I have travel to Yellowstone and Tetons where I have spent days with the animals recently.  So, its ok if I give it up for now.. I might just go back at some point and go to Alaska without the cruise.  I wish I could get Glacier Bay but seems to me as of right now i can't get it all.. HAHA

Norway lady - Those pictures are stunning. We plan on doing another northern one for sure.. I been wanting to go to the Lofoten islands. Its on my list:) 

5 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Sorry for "stealing" your tread..

 

We are looking into Alaska also😄

We mainly do Celebrity and now they have a 9-days sailing on Eclipse 07.may 2021 that we are really considering. Since it is 9-days. We think 7-days is just to short....

 

Any thoughts about the route?

1 start/end: Vancouver 

2 inside passage

3 sitka

4 skagway

5 icy strait point

6 Hubbard glacier

7 juneau

8 Ketchikan

9 inside passage

 

As you can see from my signature, we are from Norway.

Norway lady - First, love your beautiful country. Secondly, its so funny after talking it over with my group and just to make it easier we decided on this Cruise !!!  We love the extra stops.  We were going to start in Alaska and then southbound cruise to Vancouver. But, we decided for this trip which includes a bunch of friends this will work out better.   Plus , after looking at the cost of the some of the actives that interest me in each stop I would say its going to cost a pretty penny for this stuff.  So, just doing the 9 night will be fine.  I think we will put our deposit down tomorrow just to hold the cabins.  Then when they run their great deals I will switch over to a TA with the non refundable deposit . Will go with the higher price refundable deposit for now just because I just want to see what Princess comes out.  This celebrity ship will just be coming out of dry dock the month prior so it should be nice.

Hi, we are also coming from the east coast looking at 2021.  Waiting on Princess. But, we would also like to go R/T out of Vancouver for more time at ports.  In fact right now I am leaning to towards Celebrity 9 night cruise with 5 stops instead of the normal 3.  It also includes Sitka which people seem to like as a stop.   Happy Planning!

30 minutes ago, Marine7 said:

Yes. Once you do a fake booking and choose your class of stateroom it will show you the deck plan and cabins to choose from.

At least that's how it worked for us.

We booked through a TA and told her exactly what stateroom we wanted and it was done. I went back out to the site after our TA did the booking and confirmed our stateroom was indeed assigned.....to us of course.

Good luck.

Yeah, i tried to do a fake booking and it does not show the deck .  I check out other dates after the dry dock and there is no more pictures.  I heard they might be adding cabins so maybe they took down the deck picture location. 

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

I think aft balconies are best as you can see both sides as you make your passage. You may miss wildlife on one side that may never t be there on the way back.

Thanks, we might go ahead and book those. We have a couple in our group that tend to sea sickenss so we never get the aft but I think the inside passage we should not have to worry.

1 hour ago, Marine7 said:

We are booked on the second Eclipse sailing to Alaska, May 16, 2021 out of Vancouver. It is my understanding that no stone is left unturned to complete the drydock on time, as every day that any ship  is not sailing, is costing that cruise line Thousands of dollars.

Most likely the drydock updates will be completed on time! Not sure about the balcony door question.

Hope you will enjoy your cruise to Alaska.

Thanks, I found another article then said it would be done by the first week of April so we should be good.  When I try to book online there is no map of the cabins. Were you able to see a list of open cabins on your cruise?

Our group of 8  is looking at the 9 night Eclipse Alaska sailing May 2021 out of Vancouver. I was wondering  do all the cabins have balcony doors that open so we can walk in between each cabin. We were on the Refection in May to Norway Fjords it was great to all sit outside together.  Trying to decide about Aft balconies for Alaska  or the hump ones  or just regular balcony.  Also, which side is better on r/t Alaska or does not matter. I was reading the the Eclipse is going to dry dock in March 2021 so I assume May 7th trip to Alaska should be one of the first with the upgrades.  Do they ever get delayed?   Thanks.

1 minute ago, BrennerM said:

My wife is similar, we did Alaska twice and Norway Fjords once and all 3 were inside cabins.  Pitch black inside, perfect for a great sleep even when there are only a few hours of darkness outside!

Hi, we were on a Norway Fjords in May and are looking at Alaska for 2021.  Wondering how you thought they compared alike and different? 

Thanks for the information.. I will keep a look out. 

Hi, looking at my choices for an Alaska cruise in 2021.  I wanted to do a 10 -12 day cruise.  I see Norwegian has a bunch in 2020 but not one listed in 2021.  Could they still release more cruises or is what they have out now be final.  Thanks.

Hi,

I am interested in a 10-12 day R/T from Vancouver for 2021.  I notice in 2020 they only have two sailings one in May and one in September.  Should I expect the same for 2021 most likely just wondering if that is normal ? 

1 minute ago, Coral said:

I think we both need to go back to Norway.

 

If you do it correctly in Alaska - you are not relaxing on the ship. On glacier days, I am out on deck all day. In port, I am in port the entire time. You just are not packing and unpacking every night 🙂

 

Good luck in planning. Alaska by Cruiseship is a great book (Anne Vipond).

Great, thanks for the information.  I know the group already said they rather go with more stops but I have to check out a few things.. I am the leader of all these vacations(since i used to be a travel agent back in the day)   And I do travel full time now but maybe once it would be nice to just show up and have someone tell me what we are doing and going . lol

13 minutes ago, Coral said:

I did not go to Olden but did go to Alesund. I liked my day in North Cape except the weather didn't cooperate. I loved Gerianger. I also liked Stavanger and in Tromso, we went into the countryside and that was beautiful. Norway is just beautiful. I went out of town the day we were in Bergen, wish I would have seen the city.

 

Princess has a lot of speakers through out the entire trip. For example, in Juneau, they have Libby Riddles who was the first female to win the Iditarod. They have a Naturalist all week who does presentations and wildlife, glaciers or Alaska (whatever their speciality is). 

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/onboard-experience/  

 

I also prefer to do private tours. In Skagway - I would rent a car as soon as you finalize your schedule (Avis) and drive into the Yukon on your own. You can download Murray's Guide for a nominal amount. I highly recommend AdventureBound Alaska - it is an all day tour and very reasonable for what you get (though doesn't usually work with SB tours. It is a highlight for many. I don't like flying in small planes but I have a friend who loves this trip: https://www.mountainflyingservice.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2t_u4-SD5gIVQvbjBx1QgQBCEAAYASAAEgKs8_D_BwE  

 

If you are looking at off season (May) - maybe do the cruise first and then Denali after (arriving after June 1st for farther entrance into Denali).

 

When I was with RCCL - they had no speakers at all. Celebrity has a great naturalist but he is only on the RT out of Seattle trips.

Excellent info thanks.. I will have to look at going northboud.  We just assumed to alaska first and then relax a bit on the cruise. Guess i have some more research to do.  We were gone two weeks between Ireland and Norway we were gone two weeks and I think every day but the two sea days we had something planned got up early and arrived back at the last possible moment . What is funny I think three of the stops we were the last people to board the ship.. I try to make the most out of our stops. We rented the electric cars in Geiranger but the weather was bad so we could not do most of the things we had planned .. Guess I will have to go back..

2 minutes ago, CaribbeanIsland said:

I also suggest waiting for Princess. I thought they did a better job that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

 

I heard that they will be out in the next 2 weeks.

Thanks. Would you say the all draw the same age of crowded?   I guess I am trying to figure out what you guys mean better job?  If I prebook everything privately does not matter? Or you mean the food, cabins etc..

6 minutes ago, Coral said:

Princess usually has Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway (sometimes one ship with do Icy Strait). NB they do Glacier Bay and College Fjords and SB they do Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

 

There is often an excursion for Hubbard Glacier to get closer to the glacier. This past year was the first year and it was hit or miss if it went.

 

I have been to Norway and all I can say is that it is completely different. The glaciers are better in Alaska but I prefer the fjords in Norway. Though if you go with Princess NB - you have enough time to do Tracy Arm (fjord) with AdventureBound Alaska: https://www.adventureboundalaska.com  This sort of reminds me of Stavanger but with a glacier at the end (and ice bergs along the way).

 

Princess has some great enrichment programs on the ship, more so than many of the other lines. They also have a Naturalist all week. 

 

I give a slight edge to Norway but I have only been there 1x and have been to Alaska a lot. Maybe I would feel better if I had been to Norway several times. Make sure you look at the times in port along with what you want to do. For example - sometimes Juneau has 2-10 pm times in port which is useless as many excursions are not at night. Ketchikan is my least favorite port so I am ok with short times in port there.

 

I have done 2 lines in Alaska and I will not do RCCL again there. I thought they did a crappy job compared to Princess. Princess and HAL have a huge infrastructure in Alaska (they are run by the same group), they own several hotels, own Gray Line, own the train in Skagway, etc... They are fully committed to Alaska and it shows.

I appreciate all your input.  All our cruises we do everything on our own. We never use the cruise excursions etc.  I usually book private tours for our group.  Just depends on where we are.  I LOVED our trip to Norway. We did the glacier in Olden. We were the only people there it was incredible.  The town had two rent a cars that was it.. I booked them in a year in advance and beat all the buses there We had the place for like an hour to ourselves. It was priceless.  I think Alesund was my favorite port.  We did hiking and the views were awesome!   I think we fly into Fairbanks and make our way down and get on the ship and then fly home from Vancouver.   What do you mean by enrichment programs?  Appreciate the tip on looking at the time. Even if you hire a private driver etc.. does time really matter then?

1 minute ago, Coral said:

Princess should be out in a few weeks. Their NB and SB have 2 glacier days which is important as glaciers can easily be missed due to weather days. Though Glacier Bay is rarely missed. So if 2 days are scheduled for glaciers and 1 is Glacier Bay, you are pretty much guaranteed to have 1 glacier day.

Thanks, so are you saying that Princess will make the 3 stops instead of the 4?  We just like to get off the ship and do things.  I have looked at some videos of Glacier Bay and looks awesome very similar to Norway Fjords that we did with that wow factor.

HI,

I am looking at the same thing.. We are looking for May 2021 one way southbound. I decide if I am going to to Alaska I am going to do it.. Fly in before the cruise tour on our own then take the ship southbound.  I like that Royal and Celebrity has an extra stop but HAL does Glacier Bay.  I tend to bigger ships also but I noticed Celebrity and HAL ships were recently updated.  Waiting to see what Princess opens up with. 

Thanks for all the feedback. I wish I could do that UnCruise . But, not this time.  I am spoiled a travel the world for free on points and miles so those numbers were a bit of sticker shocker.. lol.  Maybe, when my last graduates college and no more payments:)

Since, Princess does not have their cruises out yet for 2021.  I have these choices.  Any thoughts? My husband hates cruising and the more stops the better that is why I was leaning to Royal or Celebrity but if Glacier bay is a must then I will have to readjust or wait to see what Princess offers.

Royal Radiance of the Seas and Celebrity Millennium. Same Itinerary with Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait point, Ketchikan.

Holland on Niew Amsterdam - They have Glacier bay but dont have Icy Strait point.

Thanks for the information. Yes, I agree we will do Alaska on our own.  Would early September or late August be better then May?  I have a few people tell me they were not as impressed with Denali. We like hiking, kayaking, boating, white water rafting etc. I guess I will look at ships that do one way and start there.  Thanks again.

Hi,

We are looking for an Alaskan cruise for 2021.  This year we did Norway Fjords (which we loved).  And next year we have Switzerland hiking trip planned 🙂 . We are group of 6 active 50 year olds that enjoy doing.. We have sailed Royal and Celebrity in the past.  We don't really care who we go on or how long.  We will probably want to do some of  exploring in alaska on top of the cruise or combine it with a train/cruise combo (have to look into this still) . We can go anytime and rather try to avoid the most crowded times.   We were in Norway in May and it was wonderful to have most ports to ourselves. I guess I am trying to get people opinion on ports that are not to be missed etc or anything that can help me narrow down my choices.  Its probably the only time we will get there since w have a lot of other bucket list items so just want to do it right.  Thanks.

We did the Norway cruise on Reflection out of Dublin and I agree people were not really dressed up at all. 

Thanks to All..

VT cruising - Excellent thanks so much, big help!!   Waiting on 2021 cruise dates.  

We travel with a group of friends and love being able to get balcony rooms together so we can open the partition and have one big balcony we can walk to each other rooms without having to go out in the hallway and to hang out all together on the balcony. Is there any category rooms on the Edge that this can be done on.  Thanks.