New to board....need recommendations.

[ITSMEBOAT]

My wife and I are 70 and have always wanted to take a 7-14 day cruise to Alaska. We think the inside passage would be nice but not sure. We are limited in walking to 1-2 miles so shopping and land tours are ok but climbing and long walks are out. I think oceanview or balcony would be required to enjoy the scenery.

 

I have checked out many deals but they can get confusing. We would be flying from Atlanta to BC or Seattle, so airfare deals a consideration too. We are interested in April-June timeframe.

 

Hopefully someone other than a travel agent can give us personal insight....

cruiseline, destinations, do/don't, any helpful advice, reasonable pricing. Any great experiences?

 

Appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.....Don

[Scrapnana]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I would suggest Princess or Holland America. They have been doing the Alaska route for many, many years. I don't think the Alaska cruises start until May. You are likely to have fewer children on a May cruise than a June one if that matters to you. You can get airfare through the cruise line but it is not always the best deal and often you have few choices (airlines, dates, times, etc.).

 

Edit - There are two Alaska cruises out of Seattle in April (April 28th and 30th).

Edited December 20, 2013 by Scrapnana

[CaveDiving]

If you can spend a bit more time on a ship, Holland America Line has ships leaving from Ft. Lauderdale in the April – May time frame, that take about two weeks to go through the Panama Canal to Seattle and then go to Alaska for one or two weeks.

 

Might be worth thinking about.

 

Scott & Karen

[Keith1010]

I would look at HAL, Princess and Celebrity.

 

All three have been doing Alaska for quite sometime.

 

Keith

[Lerin]

I would suggest one of HAL's ship and land tour packages.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

In 2014 HAL is bringing back their 14 cruise round trip out of Seattle. We have done it twice and loved it. It goes to places like Homer and Kodiak and Anchorage where other cruise lines do not go to.

[puppycanducruise]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We did a 7 day Inside Passage cruise out of Vancouver in 2001, on HAL and it got us hooked on cruising.

The 7 day is a good introduction, but not intense. The inside passage provides lots of lovely scenery. A 7 day cruise may be more affordable than 14 (just keeping budget in mind).

I suggest talking to a local travel agent and getting brochures from HAL and Princess to go over (and over) at your leisure. Ask lots of questions both here, and with your TA. Check out the Alaska board here on Cruise Critic. Also, check out the HAL and Princess boards.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure it will be a great cruise.

Enjoy the adventure.

[Teeara]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! You've come to the right place to ask questions and get some helpful answers.

 

It tends to be less expensive if you do a RT from the same port. If you do a one way, you will be purchasing two one-way fares for the airlines and those tend to be more pricy than flying in and out of the same place. Personally, if I'm going to spend more money on airfare, then I'd rather do two one-way cruises to get the full benefit of an Alaskan cruise.

 

I (46) did Alaska in 2008 with my mother (65), my roommate's mother (76) and my roommate (49). There were plenty of options for shore excursions that didn't involve lots of walking so I don't think that will be an issue. One that heartily recommend is the White Pass Railroad trip in Skagway. If you can work that into your schedule it would be great. Just make sure that when you board the train, try to sit on the LEFT side of the train going up the hill. The reason is that you will get most of your descriptions by the tour guide while you are going up the mountain and most of the things to see will be on the left side of the train. It also takes longer to go up the mountain than to come down, so more time to see what you're looking at.

 

As for booking your cruise, DEFINITELY get a balcony. We had an interior cabin and it was simply horrible on sea days to find seating in the common areas. At least if you have a balcony you can either go out and sit on it as you cruise the passages or sit in your cabin and open the curtains to look out. We didn't have that option with an interior cabin and it was frustrating.

 

Lastly, I would recommend June for sailing. We went the first week of May and it was freezing and rained nearly every day. I don't mind a little rain, but when it's cold, too, then it isn't quite as much fun.

 

Oh, and one last thing. If you plan on doing any shopping on your cruise, the best place do your shopping is Ketchikan. They had the most unique and fun stores. And buy the thick, Alaska socks you can find all over the place. They are simply the warmest, most comfy socks you can find and make a nice souvenir for your trip.

 

Enjoy!

 

Theresa

[paul929207]

Princess also offers a 10 or 12 day cruise from San Francisco round trip to Alaska.

[dorisis]

If you can spend a bit more time on a ship, Holland America Line has ships leaving from Ft. Lauderdale in the April – May time frame, that take about two weeks to go through the Panama Canal to Seattle and then go to Alaska for one or two weeks.

 

Might be worth thinking about.

 

Scott & Karen

 

This would be my choice too. No walking whilst going thru the Canal, so you can save your energy for Alaska.No real need for a balcony because best views are usually from the upper decks during Panama and lower decks in Alaska.

[flamomo]

I have done 7 day AK cruises twice, both times r/t Seattle, and IMO, Princess does an excellent job with AK itineraries. One of the nice things they do is to have an onboard naturalist (On one that I was on, they had Libby Riddles, an Ak resident and Iditarod race winner) who provides interesting talks about Alaska and it's history, as well as descriptive information and narration during scenic cruising. I have had them come on the PA system to let passengers know there's whales nearby and exactly where to look for them, when we were just cruising along. During scenic cruising, such as in Tracy Arm (which I love because it's gorgeous) they point out glaciers and other things of interest.

Princess makes an AK cruise about AK in many ways, one of which is special food offerings, like reindeer chili served on deck at lunchtime during scenic cruising.

 

If you do opt for a balcony cabin, which is my preference when crusing AK, since you are talking about going early in the AK cruise season, plan your packing to includes clothes for layering.

 

I hope you can find a cruise that appeals to you, and I hope you get as much pleasure for Alska's beauty as I did.

[agabbymama]

I would head to your library and check out Frommer's or Fodor's Alaska guide, then start a graph chart. Across the top put the cruiseline/ship (there may be more than one ship from each cruiseline). Then down the side list the things of importance to you (size of ship, cabin type, ports, time in ports, cost, etc). As you research, put an "X" in the conjoing box. As you near the end of your research one should have more x's than the others.

 

I just did a quick search and found one 14 day on HAL Amsterdam (nice small ship, great for walking around on the Promeade deck and easy to get to anywhere on the ship @ 62,735 GT). Because it is an older smaller ship, not a lot of verandah cabins so the cost is higher $5399 pp for a verandah suite, $2499 for an Ocean View. Lots of great ports and it's round trip from Seattle May 18th, 2014 (better hurry if your interested in this one.

 

Princess has a 10 day cruise round trip from San Francisco but not until Sept 2014 on the Star Princess, a huge mama @ 108,977 GT. Lots of balcony cabins so price is half $2499 balcony and $2149 OV.

 

Princess actually started Alaska cruises first followed close behind by HAL, and both have a huge infrastructure established in Alaska.

 

If you are interested in a 7 day cruise + time on land, that is also available. I did a HAL 7 day cruise and felt we missed seeing Interior Alaska so planned a second trip with only 3 days on the ship and 8 days on land to the Yukon and Interior Alaska, by train and coach (it was AWESOME). Not everyone likes cruisetours, but to me they are great, tell me where to be and what time to be there, I'll sit back enjoy the ride and let the driver and tour guide worry about the traffic, what sights are in any given area, and schlepping the luggage.

 

Have fun planning your trip and then actually seeing Alaska!

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Both Princess and HAL have been offering cruises to Alaska for a very long time and have excellent reputations for their Alaskan cruises so either of those would be my choice.

Also, both have shore excursions that would meet your needs. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[KirkNC]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

[Fredr]

I would consider Princess' 10 day cruise from San Francisco. And also look at a back to back from Vancouver, that is, two 7 day cruises on Celebrity.

 

A visit to Victoria BC should also be high on your list of ports to visit. Victoria is not Alaska but a truly wonderful place to visit and experience.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Fredr
language

[Cruisin' Chick]

And definitely fly in at least a day ahead. You won't want to risk not being able to get on the ship on time, as some of the ports require a strict departure time (Vancouver, for example) and with some of the itineraries, the Passenger Vessel Services Act is in effect and you won't be allowed to board in a later port if you miss the embarkation.

[Guest maddycat]

We cruised Alaska twice. Both were with Royal Caribbean and they both were excellent. The first was a 7 night round trip cruise from Vancouver. The second was a 12 night cruisetour (a 5 night land tour followed by a 7 night southbound cruise-Seward to Vancouver).

[Bankshot]

Response #6 is good advice. HAL's 14 day trip out of Seattle is a great way to see parts of Alaska not visited by other ships. We loved it and we're 70 & 74. We are from Atlanta and live in SW Florida now.

[MermaidWatcher]

My wife and I are 70 and have always wanted to take a 7-14 day cruise to Alaska. We think the inside passage would be nice but not sure. We are limited in walking to 1-2 miles so shopping and land tours are ok but climbing and long walks are out. I think oceanview or balcony would be required to enjoy the scenery.

First step is to decide the type of cruise you want...RT from Vancouver or Seattle, one way north or south bound, or one way with land tour package, just to sight what seems to be the more popular options. My choice is for a balcony if your budget allows, but like everything else, there are differing opinions on this too.

 

I have checked out many deals but they can get confusing. We would be flying from Atlanta to BC or Seattle, so airfare deals a consideration too. We are interested in April-June timeframe.

The season for Alaska really starts in May, and the prices will be a bit better at the beginning of the season. The tradeoff is that the weather will still be pretty chilly and the possibility of some fog or rain is considered a big negative by some. We had some fog and light rain on our August sailing, which just added to the "feel" of Alaska to me. We found it much cheaper to fly into Seattle than Vancouver, as did most of the people we talked to about it. The Amtrak Cascades train the next morning was a very comfortable transportation to Vancouver for about $65 business class.

 

Hopefully someone other than a travel agent can give us personal insight....

cruiseline, destinations, do/don't, any helpful advice, reasonable pricing. Any great experiences?Appreciate any thoughts or suggestions.....Don

 

We sailed Holland RT from Vancouver because we did not want to miss the lower part of the inside passage scenery and also it is very protected route from the swells of the open Pacific. The Seattle route heads out to the Pacific and does not get into the inside passage until north of Vancouver Island. Our purpose was to see the inside passage, as we have done two previous DIY trips to the "mainland", so did not need any of the land or rail packages at the Seward/Whittier end. All lines pretty much visit the same ports, but there are some minor deviations, so you will need to have some priorities after getting familiar with the ports. There are lots of opinions and facts in the ports of call section here, and also at the Trip Advisor sight. After much indecision we booked the ship's small boat excursion into Tracy Arm, and although a bit pricey, we were very glad we did. As you will see in the HAL boards, there have been some on gain/off again mechanical issues with some of their ships, but we had a great trip. We thought the food was excellent and really did enjoy the quieter more laid back atmosphere of HAL. There is a mixture of ages, but the majority of clientele is more mature in my observation. Just for reference, we are 62/57.

Edited December 22, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[donaldsc]

Princess also offers a 10 or 12 day cruise from San Francisco round trip to Alaska.

 

If you are interested in cruising IN Alaska as opposed to cruising TO Alaska, this is a really bad choice. Why waste your time cruising from San Francisco to the really good bits and wasting time both ways. If you can swing 12 days, shoot for 14 and do the 14 day HAL cruise mentioned by someone earlier. A much better Alaska experience as you get to see ports that most cruises do not stop at. We did a similar 14 day cruise a few years back which took us as far as Kodiak. It was a great cruise.

 

Also, do a 1 way either south or north. You again see more of AK and don't waste time going over the same places twice.

 

Finally, pick the itinerary, not the ship. When you look at itineraries, make sure that you look closely at port times and port arrival-departure times.

 

DON

Edited December 22, 2013 by donaldsc

[zoncom]

From what I have read the two most important must sees are Glacier Bay and Inner Passage. Seattle departures spend two days at sea getting to/from AK while Vancouver departures spend the time doing the Inner Passage.Also read not all ships are allowed in Glacier Bay.I agree with Cave Diver on doing a repo from FL. They usually come down to a very affordable price if you wait till time around date final payment is due(when most people cancel)Very pleasant trip. AK can be cold, wet in early season, later better.

Edited December 22, 2013 by zoncom

[JanineM]

We are also in Atlanta and are doing our first Alaska cruise this summer. Sailing on Celebrity Solstice from Seattle.

 

I am Canadian and love Vancouver, but we won't sail out of Vancouver because it is just a hassle to get there from Atlanta. You can fly direct to Seattle for about $300, but you'll have to connect and will pay more to get to Vancouver. That's my only tip!