fishin' musician

My guess is that denying boarding will not happen. The offers will keep increasing until they retrieve the required space.

Good point! Unfortunately the customer must pay the crew's wages. They could do away with it, but the cruise price would look much less attractive. And stiffing someone who works 12 hour days for 6 months with no days off is not in my DNA. So we grin and bare it.

I'm guessing you got a crazy low price along with a few others and all were offered this option.

I'm with your daughter, RCI is much more family/kid oriented than Princess. My wife and I have done many Princess cruises, we like the quiet, serene vibe. We've experienced many other brands as well, but for a cruise that includes our adult children, their spouses and children (aged 3, 7, 9) we also chose Adventure of the Seas. We were on her about 15 years ago out of San Juan and at the time it was huge... not so much now. But definitely a louder, more "let's get the party started" vibe. Looking forward to an exhausting time trying to keep up with the grandkids!

I've done both multiple times, and they are both excellent. Tracy Arm is a beautifully haunting fjord unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Lots of seals on little icebergs. It is fed by the Twin Sawyer Glaciers. Total duration is 3-4 hours. Glacier National Park gets you up close to several glaciers and you'll typically see an abundance of sea and terrestrial critters. The National Park Ranger crew boards around 7am and get off around 4.

I emailed it over a month ago, how can I tell if it's been applied to my account? THANKS!

Approaching 40 cruises with no real brand loyalty, although we've done more Princess than others. Done HAL, Princess and Norwegian to Alaska. Princess is simply the best cruise experience, but NCL has the better experience on land / tour packages. This due to them using a prominant Alaska operator that utilizes native guides and drivers. Princess has a huge operation in Alaska that HAL also uses, however they employ college kids as guides and drivers. HAL has the reputation as having the largest morgues at sea, and is warranted. They do cater to the older clientele, Princess and X average 10 years younger while NCL, RCL and CCL go straight for the family. HAL does have BB King's blues club which has been fantastic! Enjoy!

Kevin Sheehan brought NCL from what was the lowest regarded cruise line to one that after his magic fared favorably with other mainstream lines. Leave Frank with the luxury brands and get Sheehan back at the helm of NCL.

I wonder if it has to do with how much water the ship drafts? The mega Princess ships have to sail out around Vancouver Island because of this. It's too bad as this is a huge highlight.

Took the Sun southbound in 2014. A great cruise and that ship is the right size for Alaska. Hopefully your itinerary includes Glacier Bay. I've also done Alaska on Pricess and HAL.

It depends on what your cruise expectation is. If you want a louder, let's get this party started vibe, then Carnival is it. If you want a quieter, more serene vibe with far fewer announcements, Princess would be the choice.

We stayed in them a bunch of times until my wife had issues with rough seas. Now we find other staterooms with large balconies. I will not travel on a Royal class ship in a standard size balcony.

Mendenhall Glacier is just outside Juneau. Anchorage is the terminus on northbound cruises.

For me, the inside passage east of Vancouver Island is also a must. Without this you have essentially 2 sea days. The Royal Class ships all go west of Vancouver Island and don't enter the Inside Passage until they are almost to Ketchikan. Glacier is Bay is also a highlight. So the dilemma is newer ship vs incredibly scenic route. Personally, I'd take an older ship with larger balconies on a northbound (the scenery gets more spectacular each day) out of Vancouver in June, July or early August (for the longer days).

I also own OBC qualifying NCL and RCL stock. If CCL OBC went away the competition would become a stronger option for my vacation $$$$.