Trying to decide on an Alaskan Cruise Line

[oliverweagle]

I am taking great pleasure in wading through the VAST amount of info on this site and trying to narrow down (or decide on) our 2011 Alaska cruise! There will be 3 of us - my wife and I and our son who will be 9. My wife and I really enjoy fine dining and son is really happy when involved with other kids. We are not looking for a pretentious environment and "formal nights" with tuxes and gowns would be avoided. Good food and service, on the other hand, would be a great plus - without a barrage of "sales pitches" and constant "nickel and diming" - any ideas?

 

I'm continuing to look in the meantime - but thank you in advance for any insight.

 

Cheers,

 

Ollie.

[Budget Queen]

Have you cruised before, recently?? IF you have, was it acceptable with your current requirements??

 

Reason I ask, is the food on the major cruiselines is down several notches overall, due to costs. NONE are 5 star and all will have the range of reports of excellent to poor. If Alaska is not significant, then for your priority, you probably are going to do much better, on a road trip and hitting specific restaurants to your liking.

 

All ships will also have "nickle and diming", it's a significant source of revenue that goes along with the low cruise rates that are now the norm. I am puzzled why this bothers people? If not interested, then "move on", no one is in your face or forcing you, on a cruiseship, and it's easy to avoid, if you choose. I suppose, it is a significant problem with people who have no control and over spend???

 

2011 is a long way off. Take your time with your choices.

[jlijny]

My suggestion is Celebrity. We have sailed with them many times. The food is fine (probably better than most), the service is excellent, and we never felt that we were being "nickeled and dimed". My son (who is 15 now) has been on Celebrity since he was 4. He loved the kids program (although now he feels that he is too old).

[ellbon]

first cruise should be Glacier bay- princess and second celebrity. please see Glacier bay first.

[Sailkeywest]

I started planning my ideal Alaskan cruise over 5 years ago (on and off). I suggest you do a thorough search of the boards before deciding which would best suit your family.

 

What I have learned (thanks to BudgetQueen and MANY OTHERS for all the input) was that Vancouver sailings are usually less rocky and offer better itineraries than leaving from Seattle, though flights to Seattle are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. If choosing Seattle, I know the Golden Princess is going to GLacier Bay from Seattle every other week next year (thanks to georoc for tipping me off originally about that one). Badside (IMO) of this itinerary are the port times (brief in Ketchikan and Victoria which is 5 hours --6pm to midnight), and the increase of at Sea days in open (and possibly rocky waters.

 

For me, Glacier Bay was a must, though I really wanted to see Tracy Arm and the inside passage as well. That brought me to Holland America's 7-day Inside Passage cruise (it offers both, as well as a breathtaking cruise of the inside passage).

 

If there are 3 of you, you might want to check out this suite for 3 (photos courtesy of Duck Duck Cruise--hope he doesn't mind me sharing!):

 

http://thegeomonkeys.com/category/alaska-2009/

 

These are the photos that made me fall for that cabin :)

 

These boards are a wealth of information that you just can't find on any cruise website or travel guide! --And the people are amazingly friendly and helpful. :) Whichever you choose, have fun planning and enjoy!

[oliverweagle]

for the feedback. Yes 2011 may be a long way off, but to me a great amount of pleasure is derived from the planning and learning along the way. And that wrap around balcony - WOW! Thanks for planting the seed!

 

Sincerely,

 

Ollie.

[MercedMike]

I am taking great pleasure in wading through the VAST amount of info on this site and trying to narrow down (or decide on) our 2011 Alaska cruise! There will be 3 of us - my wife and I and our son who will be 9. My wife and I really enjoy fine dining and son is really happy when involved with other kids. We are not looking for a pretentious environment and "formal nights" with tuxes and gowns would be avoided. Good food and service, on the other hand, would be a great plus - without a barrage of "sales pitches" and constant "nickel and diming" - any ideas?

 

I'm continuing to look in the meantime - but thank you in advance for any insight.

 

Cheers,

 

Ollie.

 

For the question you are asking, absolutely the best advice I can give you is to find a good local Travel Agent who is a CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor (look for the agent's diploma on the wall, not just an agency sticker). Ask your friends and co-workers for a recommendation. The service is entirely free to you. ACC's are trained to find the very best cruise for you, after learning your personal situation and preferences, and work hard to get you the very best rate.

 

On this board you are getting only individual experiences. Some of us have cruised Alaska several times, but still have only our own individual experience and limited comparisons. A well trained CLIA graduate agent is taught how to qualify customers and find out their desires and preferences, and then guide them to several options that would work for THEM, from among a large selection of cruise lines and cruise styles.

 

Then after you narrow down to your preferred ship and itinerary you can come on this board and get a lot of specific experiences with the various ports and shore excursions that will probably be very helpful, and may go beyond the information your TA has.

 

Here is an example of what an ACC would ask you. Of the criteria you list, which is most important to you? Are they really significant? For example, NCL does not have formal nights. If that is your main point, you should look at NCL. But OTOH many people would consider the fact that about 6 out of the 10 available dining rooms on NCL have an extra charge to be "nickel and diming"! How do you balance that out in your mind?

 

When we first cruised almost 40 years ago, everything on the ship except alcohol was free -- even Bingo! Over the years, the "nickel and diming" has grown and grown. But the things they hype and charge extra for are all additions to the cruise basics, and can easily be passed by or selected, as you choose. Somehow it seems to bother some people. As BQ says, we also find it easy to ignore. For some reason, nobody complains about the shopping available on board, which is a constant "sales pitch" all the time.;)

 

You have to decide what is important to you. I would seriously suggest you consider the itinerary and the ship as much more important than the things you list. But YMMV.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!