1st cruise questions...comfortable beds, time in port

Hi, everyone. As with many first time cruisers, I'm in information overload mode and am hoping I can get some help to narrow things down a bit. Should I also post this on one of the 1st time cruise boards?

This will be our third trip to Alaska, second time to SE AK, but our first cruise. We're a little late in our planning...eek! We're trying to coordinate the cruise with an overnight bear viewing trip and our window of travel is sometime very late July to September. We would like to do a one way cruise and don't really mind whether northbound or southbound, before or after our bear viewing and land portion, nor do we have a particular departure port preference, other than I've read Vancouver departures have better scenery and we'd like our departure/arrival to be as simple as possible as far as flights, transportation to dock, etc. I understand that September tends to be wetter in SE Alaska so we'll probably try for a little earlier.

I tried to search these boards for my first question but couldn't seem to locate much. Is there one cruise line or ship which has more comfortable beds than another? I know, "comfortable" is subjective. My DH can sleep just about anywhere, but my ol' shoulders and hips like a little cushioning.

We aren't really too concerned about ship amenities, entertainment or food, except that I have a severe shrimp allergy and I avoid gluten. We'd probably like nice public or outdoor viewing areas as I imagine we'll not spend much time in our cabin except to sleep. (Probably interior...we'd rather spend our $$ on activities and excursions.) I don't mind luxury and good service, of course, but realistically, we are pretty used to sleeping in a camper or a Super 8 and DH will be hard pressed to find anything except jeans to wear to dinner.

Time in port is another item of importance to us. DH wants to try to go salmon fishing somewhere and we'd like to do a whale watch. We love beautiful scenery and wildlife. I like history and local culture/crafts/museums, as well.

Thanks for your advice and suggestions.

The only thing I can throw into your pot of information is a suggestion for salmon fishing. If you happen to pick a cruise that has a stop in Haines I'd look into 9 Fingers Charters with Ron Malone. He's a good guy and knows how to catch fish. He'll show you a great time in the real Alaska. He lives in Haines year round and knows where to go fishing. I'll almost guarantee you'll have fun. Here's a link to another post where I recently suggested him: 9 Fingers Charters

Good Luck! :)

First, a one way cruise means you will always be either departing or arriving Vancouver, so scenery-wise it's more about WHEN you see it than IF. Likewise all of your issues with getting from ports to airports are generally going to be same regardless of direction, although there are some occasional differences (e.g. fixed rate cabs in Vancouver only come FROM the airport, you're always on the meter going TO it; and some cruiselines use Seward while others use Whittier at the northern end).

A factor for looking out at the world beyond the ship is hours of sunlight - so the earlier the better within your date range, as everything after June 21st reduces your available daylight (and as noted, generally it gets wetter as you progress through July/August/September).

I find all cruise beds comfy, but I like a firm mattress - most complaints I've noticed are about beds being too hard, and resolved by supplying an extra mini-mattress/sleeping pad made of soft foam.

If DH has nice jeans (black ones especially) he should be fine in main dining rooms on any mainstream line except formal nights. Even those are a bit woolly on some lines as to dress code. NCL however operate on a 'no dress code any time' basis, and even 'formal night' basically just tells you that there will be photographers set up so if you want to dress up any night, those are the best ones to do so.

I wouldn't be too concerned about which mainstream line you pick - see which offers the itinerary you want (ports and times in port) at the best price and book it. Princess/HAL definitely have more presence, and more Glacier Bay permits, so you may have more choices with them that work for you - but once you're in port it's the same for everyone, and all the museum/cultural stuff is trivially easy to just go to by yourself.

The biggest diff I've notice is in dining logistics - because NCL went 'whatever, whenever' years ago their dining works much smoother than other lines if you do not want a fixed dining time - everyone onboard is doing the same thing. Princess & others operate a bastardized system where at least one dining room is Any Time, one is Fixed, and on ships with 3 the other is one is usually Fixed Early then Any Time once the early seating (most popular) is finished. If you always want to eat at the same time - and if that time fits the 'traditional' cruise Early or Late seating times - then 'Not NCL' becomes the better line;-)

NCL buffets are also much more sensibly laid out - pods of different food types, so if you just want dessert you only need to go to the dessert section - while many ships of other lines still have the ludicrous 'join a conga line that goes past every station, so if all you want is a dessert or appy you still have to shuffle all the way through the path.'

Food quality is so subjective that among mainstream lines it's pointless until you try multiple lines yourself to say if there's a notable difference for you. You'll find stuff to eat on any line - shrimp are enough of a premium item it's unlikely any dish will have them without it being described as (at the very least) a Seafood dish, so you could leave it ad hoc and just ask about any dishes you're not 100% sure about - but if it's going to actually cause you illness I'd play it safe and fill in a Spec Needs form up-front about dietary issues, then follow-up onboard with Maitres-d', waiters etc. Ditto if your GF status is an actual medical issue rather than just a choice to avoid it - any allergy where cross-contamination with tiny amounts could set you off is something that the line NEEDS to be made aware of.

You asked about comfortable beds - Holland America has wonderful beds. We sleep like babies when we are on there ships. They are a great choice for a cruise to Alaska.

The only thing I can throw into your pot of information is a suggestion for salmon fishing. If you happen to pick a cruise that has a stop in Haines I'd look into 9 Fingers Charters with Ron Malone. He's a good guy and knows how to catch fish. He'll show you a great time in the real Alaska. He lives in Haines year round and knows where to go fishing. I'll almost guarantee you'll have fun. Here's a link to another post where I recently suggested him: 9 Fingers Charters

 

Good Luck! :)

We are doing a southbound on Hal Noordam that stops in Haines. Just an FYI. Happy planning!

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I would start off with researching when the best time is to see the bears according to where you doing this. After that, plan the cruise. I see your husband likes to wear jeans. No problem on some lines. We are going on Holland America and it has 2 gala nights on their 7 day R/T. He would need to wear a shirt with collar and not jeans if eating in the main dining room or specialty restaurant. My husband said yes to this!!! He thought you still "had" to really dress up.