Having trouble picking the right cruise

[Alliwanttodoiscruise]

Hello

We are planning for Alaska for early June 2015. This will be our first (and only) Alaskan cruise. It will be me, my husband and two boys who will be 13 and 11 and my mother. The problem I am having is that the only ship that meets our criteria for price and itinerary is Holland America ms Volendam. I have looked at some pictures and done some research. That ship is small and a little boring looking. I am concerned that my kids won't enjoy the cruise part because they will have nothing to do on days at sea and my husband doesn't understand that Alaska is about Alaska and not so much the ship. The ship is important to him.

 

Any suggestions?

 

the Pacific Princess looks nicer but it's very small! I don't think we would like that.

[eeyore81]

I have never been on a cruise to Alaska. A couple of week ago we decided we would go this summer. Needless to say I have been spending all my time reading the cruisecritic boards and other websites about Alaska. We are RCCL cruisers. So my initial thought was we would go on an RCCL Alaska cruise. After reading everything I could, we decided the Princess Crown was better for us. We have never been on Princess but we wanted Glacier Bay and the other stops. My suggestion would be to have your family join in the planning. Maybe if your husband reads all the websites, etc he will realize that a different ship or itinerary is better. I have found these boards to be so helpful. Our trip is coming along nicely. I think by the end of the weekend I will have all of our excursions and the tours for the days before the cruise officially booked.

[zqvol]

Hello

We are planning for Alaska for early June 2015. This will be our first (and only) Alaskan cruise. It will be me, my husband and two boys who will be 13 and 11 and my mother. The problem I am having is that the only ship that meets our criteria for price and itinerary is Holland America ms Volendam. I have looked at some pictures and done some research. That ship is small and a little boring looking. I am concerned that my kids won't enjoy the cruise part because they will have nothing to do on days at sea and my husband doesn't understand that Alaska is about Alaska and not so much the ship. The ship is important to him.

 

Any suggestions?

 

the Pacific Princess looks nicer but it's very small! I don't think we would like that.

 

Remember that Alaska is all about the ports and the scenery more so than almost any other cruise. Other than eating on board most of your time you will be sleeping on the ship or looking at the views. No mass market ship is small, that is a relative term. If you want small look at reagent or Silverseas, those are small ships.

[em-sk]

Hello

We are planning for Alaska for early June 2015. This will be our first (and only) Alaskan cruise. It will be me, my husband and two boys who will be 13 and 11 and my mother. The problem I am having is that the only ship that meets our criteria for price and itinerary is Holland America ms Volendam. I have looked at some pictures and done some research. That ship is small and a little boring looking. I am concerned that my kids won't enjoy the cruise part because they will have nothing to do on days at sea and my husband doesn't understand that Alaska is about Alaska and not so much the ship. The ship is important to him.

 

Any suggestions?

 

the Pacific Princess looks nicer but it's very small! I don't think we would like that.

 

Have you looked at the Norwegian Sun. It has a 7 day Vancouver to Alask route.

 

The NCL Jade has a 7-day round trip from Seattle. Amtrack runs trains from Vancouver to Seattle. NCL has a very popular kids club.

Edited January 18, 2014 by em-sk

[SPacificbound]

I would go by the itinerary to choose, not the ship. :)

[Budget Queen]

Hello

We are planning for Alaska for early June 2015. This will be our first (and only) Alaskan cruise. It will be me, my husband and two boys who will be 13 and 11 and my mother. The problem I am having is that the only ship that meets our criteria for price and itinerary is Holland America ms Volendam. I have looked at some pictures and done some research. That ship is small and a little boring looking. I am concerned that my kids won't enjoy the cruise part because they will have nothing to do on days at sea and my husband doesn't understand that Alaska is about Alaska and not so much the ship. The ship is important to him.

 

Any suggestions?

 

the Pacific Princess looks nicer but it's very small! I don't think we would like that.

 

No one can offer you the answer. You are stating the SHIP is the priority? Then book for the ship. What ships in the past have you liked? Should be able to find something similar, HOWEVER, be advised= that if your prior experience was only the Caribbean- there are NOT the ship activities, nor the numbers of kids. Completely different experiences.

[inettrvlr]

If its the ship and you have children-then it has to be Disney. Check out youtube for each cruiseline to see their kids stuff and shipboard amenities.

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

[DrivesLikeMario]

I wouldn't go on the Volendam. My kids didn't like the Oosterdam and it's a lot newer and nicer than the Volendam. Just a matter of opinions and they've cruised a lot.

 

Although we love Princess, the OP is not a good choice for kids usually because the Small Ships of Princess are not geared to accommodate them. They will have a kids program if they have more than 20 kids onboard, but it's just not the same as a normal kids' program.

 

Why can't you look at the larger Princess ships or the newer HAL ones even? Disney would be best for you all probably, but talk about expensive! Yikes!

Edited January 22, 2014 by DrivesLikeMario

[oaktreerb]

Does HAL even have the 2015 Alaska itineraries published yet? They change from year to year.

[agabbymama]

Hello

We are planning for Alaska for early June 2015. This will be our first (and only) Alaskan cruise. It will be me, my husband and two boys who will be 13 and 11 and my mother. The problem I am having is that the only ship that meets our criteria for price and itinerary is Holland America ms Volendam. I have looked at some pictures and done some research. That ship is small and a little boring looking. I am concerned that my kids won't enjoy the cruise part because they will have nothing to do on days at sea and my husband doesn't understand that Alaska is about Alaska and not so much the ship. The ship is important to him.

 

Any suggestions?

 

the Pacific Princess looks nicer but it's very small! I don't think we would like that.

 

I think you have answered your own question regarding HAL Volendam. I love the size of the ship, but if you think it is small you won't be happy on it at all. Try NCL or Disney. I think they sound more like what you are looking for with a lot more activities.

[Alliwanttodoiscruise]

Disney is way too expensive. Ncl doesn't do a round trip out of Vancouver that goes to glacier bay and princess larger ships are either doing one way itineraries or go from San Francisco. We live in Canada so going from San Francisco doesn't make sense.

[sherryf]

Disney is way too expensive. Ncl doesn't do a round trip out of Vancouver that goes to glacier bay and princess larger ships are either doing one way itineraries or go from San Francisco. We live in Canada so going from San Francisco doesn't make sense.

 

Princess also has ships doing round-trip from Seattle.

[CruiseGirlKS]

I would go by the itinerary to choose, not the ship. :)

 

Totally agree. :)

[chipmaster]

My 2 cents is that the difference between lines / ships while real they pale compared to the experience you may get sailing a ship that does Tracy Arm versus one that does Glacer Bay.

 

My take is the ports aren't so different the most important thing is the scenic cruising. Pick a cruise that does Glacier Bay, you won't regret it. Trade for an inside versus a balcony or on a different ship but GET Glacier Bay.

 

I have sailed Princess and thiink while the ship size/condition can be different they are a good line for a multi generation summer Alaska cruise. Actually all the mainstream lines NCL, HAL, Carnival will likely be fine, just get GLACIER BAY :D

[janetz]

Golden Princess from Seattle. :)