MsPAtSea

1 minute ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

The RTs out of Seattle are generally very poor itineraries.  Just spend too many hours reaching Alaska.   The RTs out of Vancouver are superior to those out of Seattle, and the one ways between Vancouver and either Seward or Whittier are the best in my opinion.

 

Don't want to be nosy, but unless you or a member of your party have a legal issue, such as a DUI which would make it difficult to enter Canada, Canadian Immigration is very easy.  

 

In addition to flying into Vancouver there are companies who offer motor coach transfers to the cruise terminal in Vancouver.  And there is also Amtrak.

 

And don't discount spending some time in Vancouver.  Great city.

Oh nothing like that re: immigration, I just prefer to avoid it if I can. I just looked at both Princess and NCL and neither line has better times in Port than the one leaving Seattle (at least during the week we're going). So getting more time in port doesn't seem to be an option. But I feel like it will be adequate. I'm currently leaning towards Princess but would be interested in any other feedback and also little tips (like the fact NCL docks elsewhere, for example).

58 minutes ago, Coral said:

You have crappy times in port.

 

I would look at maybe a RT Vancouver itinerary or a one way. You will get better times in port. You will probably pay more in air fare for a one way but the cruise maybe cheaper so it will balance out.

 

NCL docks in a poor location in Ketchikan so that is a negative, the Juneau times are poor IMO for getting tours in. Skagway has great times.

 

If you are only going once, I would pick a different route with better times in port. If you do a one way - you may get 2 glacier days.

 

What month are you going?

I was trying to avoid flying into and out of Canada because of customs/immigration reasons and flight prices being more expensive. All the itineraries that go to Glacier Bay across all cruise lines have these similar port times. In order to get better times in port we'd have to forgo doing Glacier Bay.

I have heard NCL docks in bad locations at all the ports, so I'm wondering if that alone should justify Princess? Though the Thermal Suite on Encore has beautiful exterior views whereas the one on Discovery is inside the ship and smaller. I've also heard that NCL has a great observation inside deck that can be nice for the Alaskan cruises.

We are going in July.

17 minutes ago, Coral said:

You may want to post the times in port. That may make or break a trip.

 

Also - make sure you budget for excursions. They are expensive in Alaska.

The times in port are basically identical:

At Sea    
Juneau - 2:30p - 11p    
Skagway - 7a - 8:30p    
Cruising Glacier Bay     
Ketchikan 7a - 1p    
Victoria - 8p - 12a

As for the excursion costs, we are going to pay what we have to in order to have a good time. We'll likely only go to Alaska once. 🙂

We are looking at two almost identical Alaskan cruises - the same itinerary and the same price, but one on the Princess Discovery and one on the Norwegian Encore. Both going to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria, BC. Which would you suggest and why?

We are going to be spending more on this cruise than any we've ever taken before (almost 3 times as much) and don't want to make any mistakes! We will get a balcony cabin. We love using the thermal suites, but will also be doing excursions to go hiking and sight seeing. Good food is important to us. We don't necessarily need a drinks package for this one (though I think both prices included it). We are two 32 year olds going with no kids and we're old souls - we will be in bed early and up early because we want to be able to make the most of being in this beautiful state. We're not concerned about access to things like go carts and paid activities or the casino. And we don't always make it to the night time shows so if they're not amazing, that's ok with us. We'd like to have some things to do like karaoke, trivia, etc but we're not making our decision on that. I think ultimately the ship layout, staff quality, food quality, and the specific experience on the ship as it pertains to being in Alaska are what are most important.

So any thoughts or comments you have good or bad are welcome! 
 

I plan on getting ship WiFi to use and can text and WiFi call with that, but can I also get access to att regular service while sailing the Alaskan cruise or is the ship too far away from towers when at sea? Also, several of you have said you don't even get ship WiFi in Glacier Bay - is there a reason for that? Is that the whole day?

Question in regards to this: if we are 2 people and don't want to sit with anyone we don't know, is that an easily available option?

I know it's all technically speculation, but I know there are probably a lot of frequent cruisers or travel agents on this forum who may know - do we think the mask restrictions are going to be gone by mid-March? Covid cases are rapidly on the decline (especially here in Florida where I'd be sailing from), and I'm wondering if NCL (and Royal Caribbean if anyone knows about that one, too) will be relaxing their mask policies soon?

Or - follow up question - if I just .... didn't wear a mask, am I going to get yelled at often (on either NCL or RC)? I am double vaccinated and also just had covid a month ago, so I no longer want to wear a mask (nor do I think they're working on cruise ships). I'm willing to wear one in the terminal and in the tight hallways, but I'm not going to be putting it back on every time I have to go to the inside bar for another drink or walk to the bathroom from the dinner table. I loved that NCL had previously not required masks, but then Omicron happened and now I'm wondering how things are actually being handled. 

So I thought I had posted this the other day as a separate thread but either I don't understand how this set of message boards works or it got posted in the wrong place (because it went into a thread instead of its own one). Here goes again...

We are going on the Brilliance of the Seas for five days in April. The Key is being offered for $19.99 a day and considering it covers the $11.99 internet fee (which I'd be paying already), $8 extra a day doesn't seem too bad if the benefits are truly there. But that's what I wanted to ask about...

Hello, long time reader, first time poster 🤣. We are going on the Brilliance of the Seas for five days in April. The Key is being offered for $19.99 a day and considering it covers the $11.99 internet fee (which I'd be paying already), $8 extra a day doesn't seem too bad if the benefits are truly there. But that's what I wanted to ask about...

The way the promotional material for the key is a written strongly references a lot of things only available on the Oasis class ships (flow rider, Studio B, etc). So has anyone gone on the Brilliance of the Seas in the last three months since this program was made available and could share what benefits they actually got?

Was there reserved seating in the Pacifica Theater and any of the other nightly show venues? Besides the rock climbing wall, where there any activities that had priority access for The Key guests? Any other perks you found they had that were not specifically listed on the cruise planner description?

It's been years since I've been on a Royal Caribbean cruise but I read on these forums that lines for the shows in the evenings are long. We're very much people who don't like waiting for things, so paying an extra $8 a day each to be able to walk up and get a good seat 10 minutes prior to showtime would be a benefit (if that's actually what we do get on the Brilliance in the main theater).

Oh, and I read a blog post that said it was limited to 100 guests per cruise - do you feel like that is the case based on the number of people you saw at The Key related events?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated as we're sailing in 25 days and I need to book soon. Thank you!