Thinking of sailing to Alaska

[hlb76]

I have always dreamed of cruising to Alaska. I hope to do this for my 10th wedding anniversary which will be 10/11. I think I will be nice and let the hubby come as well.

 

My plan is to do it spring of 2012 (wow that seems so far away). We dont plan to bring the kids on this cruise so we might even spring for a nicer cabin. We normally book the cheapest cabin to save $$ for other things.

 

Can anyone give me suggestion on when to look at booking, where to go, what to see, etc. We have only cruised out of Miami and have always headed south. We also normally book just months before we sail. I figure this time if we book in advance I can pay it off little by little and save save save so we can do what we want to do.

[uppitycats]

I have always dreamed of cruising to Alaska. I hope to do this for my 10th wedding anniversary which will be 10/11. I think I will be nice and let the hubby come as well.

 

My plan is to do it spring of 2012 (wow that seems so far away). We dont plan to bring the kids on this cruise so we might even spring for a nicer cabin. We normally book the cheapest cabin to save $$ for other things.

 

Can anyone give me suggestion on when to look at booking, where to go, what to see, etc. We have only cruised out of Miami and have always headed south. We also normally book just months before we sail. I figure this time if we book in advance I can pay it off little by little and save save save so we can do what we want to do.

 

I think most of the cruise lines have started posting their Alaska cruises by now. I always have to book way early because I need an accessible cabin, and the last time I went, I booked 12 months out.

 

I know that several lines have reduced their Alaska cruises, though, so you'd need to check Carnivals site to see what's available.

 

If you can at all afford it, the land tours are wonderful. I'd start with the land tour, end up in Anchorage, and head south on the ship for a really great all-around cruise. Have fun planning.

[royd1968]

you need to really look around, different dates for an alaskan cruise really differ...I booked mine a long time ago, and it is now priced so high, I couldnt afford to go if I was to book today..but at the time, I got a super low price for me, and literally an unbelievable price for my dad.. he actually thought the price I quoted him was per person.. the same room for him today is nearly twice as much...

[boulders]

For Spring 2012, cruiselines will release their Alaskan itineraries up for booking sometime around March, 2011. For our cruise this past August, we booked around 5 months in advance. Got a great deal on RCCL. But, I was offered great deals on Princess and Regent around New Years as well. Check out the Alaska board under Ports of Call. There's a lot of great info there.

[jandjfun]

I seriously recommend GLACIER BAY! Whichever cruiseline, date, ship you book, make sure you go to glacier bay. I went on Holland (no, I am not 80) and they had 2 naturalists onboard the ship for the entire day while we were cruising glacier bay. They explained exactly what we were looking at. It was perfect!! DRESS IN LAYERS!:D

[aggieastrosfan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Alaska only done between late May and early September? While May is technically still spring, I don't think that's what most people are referring to when thinking of spring.

[joeandaimeesmom]

Hello there!! Hubby and I just went on the cruise to Glacier Bay in September.. It was AWESOME!!! I would recommend a balcony room... Whatever your decision enjoy!!! Lynne :)

[mrpayroll]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Alaska only done between late May and early September? While May is technically still spring, I don't think that's what most people are referring to when thinking of spring.

You are correct. Late May to Mid Sept. We went first week of Sept and the weather was quite nice. Workers on ship said the weather in May can be quite COLD. Prices are higher from Mid June thru August.:rolleyes:

[Traveler353]

Carnival is only showing May to September 1010 on the site. Nothing for 2011/2012 as of today.

[JoeMissile]

I took an CCL Alaskan cruise a few years ago (07?) and they had three itineraries a northbound, a southbound, then a round trip from Vancouver. We took the Northbound leg based on the idea that the scenery generally gets more spectacular each day. We had three suites on the starboard side with the logic that "Alaska" would be on that side northbound, but there really wasn't much of a difference AFA port/starboard. AFA weather, we went in late June (actually over the Solstice, sun was up from 4 am till 10 pm. I think). The weather was cool, but not that bad at all. A light jacket and a sweater is all you may need, obviously jeans instead of shorts. I managed it all in just a carry-on. On our cruise highs were in the 50's. The only time I noticed it being "cold" was standing up front on the exposed deck when the ship was underway, but still not bad.

 

I'd suggest Whale watching, and maybe that railroad trip (then again one can't see the spectacular scenery in the fog…). Ketchikan had some fun local bars too, (go up the main drag and take a right). My favorite (and only) souvenir from the trip was a hand painted ceramic bear from the retirement home in Sitka, (they got a little gift shop there with crafts made by the residents).

Good luck!

[deepnite10]

we sailed this past May, second week and the weather was beautiful..

 

unlike the MR. and Carib...the Alaskan inteniaries are all about the scenery..seeing view s that may not be here for my grandchildren to enjoy..

 

we also, found that sailing in May..the pricing was the lowest..up until final payment the pricing went down further down..on the day i called in NCL told me that there would be a $400 adjustment on my final payment

as well as $250 OBC..this was on top of a already low fare.:)

[katiel53]

We have done a cruise from Seattle to Alaska twice and both times the last week of May which goes into the first few days of June. We were really fortunate in that we had the best weather. It was sunny every day. Not a drop of rain or cold at all.

 

Both times we went to Glacier Bay and it is absolutely spectacular. The first time we did the Yukon railroad in Skagway and the second time we did a small group tour there. Both were really wonderful and we learned a lot on both tours.

 

In Juneau we had friends take us on a tour as they live there. We went to the fish hatchery as well as Mendenhall Glacier and a few other places that most people visiting wouldn't go.

 

We did a walking tour in Ketchican and that was fun too.

 

I know there are many cruise lines that go to Alaska and there are ones that go one way, either north or south along with land tours. I don't know how long you plan to go, but as much as I love Carnival, we did our Alaska trips on NCL and in spite of how awful the food is in their dining rooms, their fee specialty restaurants were great and not as expensive as one might think.

 

I know I couldn't/wouldn't do an Alaska tour without a balcony. There is nothing like sitting on your balcony watching the scenery. I know you can go up on deck with a million others, but it is just so relaxing to be on your own balcony with a hot chocolate or a glass of wine.

 

I would go to Alaska again in a NY minute, but the plane trip is so long from Florida. If I could talk my husband into it, believe me we would be there again. Enjoy!

[hlb76]

you guys have been very helpful thus far. I would love to be booked and going soon. This is one of my dreams to be able to cruise to Alaska. I really want to be able to afford the balcony just to be able to sit there and watch. And this will be a second honeymoon (well we never really got a first) so maybe join a certain club I keep hearing about :cool:

 

We just can't go until after Feb 12 2011 or later. Then my son will be 16 and will hopefully get his DL so he can help run him and his brother to all there activities. We dont have family that lives in the same town as us they are all 15 - 30 miles away. Unless we go over the summer when the kids have no school.

 

I just dont want to go until I can afford to do everything I want to do. This is one trip where I dont want to settle. Not that we are cheap when we cruise. But we do give to get example cheaper rooms to afford better excursion. When paying for 4 its hard so hopefully a trip for 2 will be better.