Newbie Cruiser - Alaska - HELP!

[BayouGirlUSA]

My husband won an Alaskan Cruise and we've never cruised before! We've thought about going on a cruise but never had the opportunity to do so. Here's my questions: These are the cruise lines I have a choice of going out of Seattle:

 

The month of July:

 

Carnival

Royal Caribbean

Celebrity

Holland America

 

Any information you can give me about these cruise lines would be wonderful.

 

Any information you can give on an Alaskan cruise in general would be awesome.

 

I've been told to get a balcony suite and I know there is supposed to be a preferred side...information on this would be very helpful.

 

Also, we are looking for a very casual cruise. We don't want to get dressed up and choose not to have any formal nights...this is our first cruise and we want to relax and basically be as comfortable as possible!

 

I know all of you "professional cruisers" out there are going to give me an abundance of information and I will appreciate any thing you think will be helpful to have the most enjoyable cruise ever!

[paul929207]

Of the four lines, HAL has by far the most experience in Alaska, but it is the mst formal of the four. If you can handle about 2 formal nights I would pick them

[Murrah Miss]

Not familiar with the lines you mention; we were on Princess in '08. Your trip will be FANTASTIC! You MUST have a balcony--we had one on the port side and really enjoyed it. Alaska is fantastic (I'm from Louisiana, too!). I don't know about the other lines, but on our trip on the Coral Princess, some friends simply attended the buffet on formal nights, as they didn't want to dress. I would expect that to be the same for other lines as well. Enjoy!!!

[yogi2929]

HAL has been doing Alaska since the early 80's. They have lots of infrastructure in place. For formal nights lots of gals wear black slacks and sparkly tops and guys can wear a navy blazer. The alternative is the buffet. The buffet on HAL has the same foods as the Dining Room, just not all the selections. We have really enjoyed our 2 Alaskan cruises with HAL.

The other reasons we like HAL are the Promenade decks and the Pea Soup. HAL opens up the bow of the ship for better viewing at the Glacier.

 

I believe Princess would be comparable to HAL.

 

Carnival's dress code for Cruise Elegant night (their fancier dinner) is less than HAL's. Black Slacks and a nice top for gals. Guys can get away with either a jacket (no tie) or a dress shirt & tie (no jacket).

 

On any of these lines the buffet is always an option.

[wwinfl91]

None of the four lines you mention don't have formal nights. But you can always go up to the Lido buffet for dinner that night where the dress code is not enforced.

 

We did a 14 day Alaskan cruise on the Tahitian Princess in 2008 and loved the itineary and the ship. It is smaller than most cruise ships, 680 passengers, and very easy to get around on. But it has fixed seat dining as opposed to Personal Choice which is available on larger Princess ships as well as on HAL and RCL.

 

Personally I would not recommend Carnival because we had a bad experience on our only Carnival cruise.

 

We have had good experiences on the other 3 lines but have been on HAL more than any other cruise line. But you would have to be willing to cruise with an older clientel that on Princess or RCL.

 

All 3 lines have good food and good service. Cabin sizes, especially the bathrooms, are a little bigger on HAL. I would agree that getting a balcony for an Alaskan cruise is probably worth the extra costs especially if your cruise does Glacier Bay.

 

Be sure to check out the Alaskan board for a lot more information on tours and things to do. You will find tours and time on shore is expensive in comparison to some other cruise destinations but the scenery makes it worth it.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and have a great next cruise.

[Gablin]

Wow! I've never heard of winning a cruise and being able to choose which cruise line and which level of cabin. Lucky you two! Usually it's some promotion by the cruise line or by a travel agency, car dealer, furniture store, whatever, and the prize is an inside cabin for two on a lower deck, near the stern or the bow. Often the winner can upgrade, by paying for the difference.

 

I've cruised Alaska on HAL and on Royal Caribbean. I found Royal to be a little more casual than HAL.

I've also cruised Carnival, but not in Alaska. Of those three lines, I found Carnival to be the most casual, and to have the liveliest party atmosphere. However, Alaska on Carnival could be very different from the Caribbean on Carnival, as Alaska draws a slightly older crowd, I believe.

 

Which side of the ship depends on your itinerary. If you will be cruising only the Inside Passage, it won't necessarily matter as much as you'll see land on either side. If you are going one way only, say Vancouver to Seward, headed north you would want the starboard side, south you'd want port. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with a lovely view of the ocean, though.

 

All of my formal wear is very comfortable. If it wasn't, I would not have bought it. I wear very dressy flat sandals or velvet ballerina flats, dressy slacks or long skirt with a sparkly top or one of two very comfortable dresses. In fact, I own a pair of jeans that are way more uncomfortable than any dress I've ever worn!;)

 

I hope you choose Celebrity and then tell us about the cruise when you get back! I say that because I haven't cruised with them and would like to know more about the line.:D

[BayouGirlUSA]

Wow...It looks like I've picked the right board for information!!! Thanks to all of you for giving me some feedback so quickly! I'll keep an eye on this thread and see what other goodies come my way. Also, I'm going to check out the Alaska Thread. I'm new to the board, new to cruising...so hang tight and give me a wild ride. THANKS!

[Murrah Miss]

You WILL become addicted to this site, I promise!!! :eek:

[sparky-elpaso]

You will love Alaska. We went on a cruise tour on Royal Caribbean in 2008 and loved it. Feel free to check out my pics to see what you're in for - the scenery is spectacular.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparky46/page1/

 

Click on the box for Alaska on the right and then on slideshow in the upper right for larger pictures.

[BayouGirlUSA]

Wow! I've never heard of winning a cruise and being able to choose which cruise line and which level of cabin. Lucky you two! Usually it's some promotion by the cruise line or by a travel agency, car dealer, furniture store, whatever, and the prize is an inside cabin for two on a lower deck, near the stern or the bow. Often the winner can upgrade, by paying for the difference.

 

I've cruised Alaska on HAL and on Royal Caribbean. I found Royal to be a little more casual than HAL.

I've also cruised Carnival, but not in Alaska. Of those three lines, I found Carnival to be the most casual, and to have the liveliest party atmosphere. However, Alaska on Carnival could be very different from the Caribbean on Carnival, as Alaska draws a slightly older crowd, I believe.

 

Which side of the ship depends on your itinerary. If you will be cruising only the Inside Passage, it won't necessarily matter as much as you'll see land on either side. If you are going one way only, say Vancouver to Seward, headed north you would want the starboard side, south you'd want port. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with a lovely view of the ocean, though.

 

All of my formal wear is very comfortable. If it wasn't, I would not have bought it. I wear very dressy flat sandals or velvet ballerina flats, dressy slacks or long skirt with a sparkly top or one of two very comfortable dresses. In fact, I own a pair of jeans that are way more uncomfortable than any dress I've ever worn!;)

 

I hope you choose Celebrity and then tell us about the cruise when you get back! I say that because I haven't cruised with them and would like to know more about the line.:D

 

Oh no, believe me, we have a dollar limit on the cruise win...anything we choose over the price limit will be coming out of our pockets! But we are still very, very excited and will make this a dream vacation so we will be pulling the extra bucks out of our pockets to upgrade! Just wanted to let you know that we didn't hit the SUPER-DUPER Cruise Win!!! LOL!

[wwinfl91]

Congratulation on your win and again welcome to CC. It is a great source of information.

 

I don't know if you have a yahoo id but if you do here is a link I set up for our 2008 Princess cruise to Alaska. It has lots of links with information on cruising and shore excursions in Alaska.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tahitianalaska71008/

 

Have a great next cruise.