Please Help - Trying to Narrow Done Choices

[GatorGirl57]

All,

 

I am thoroughly overwhelmed while trying to plan Alaska for Summer 2015. I have some thoughts I will type out below - could you share your experiences/opinions on what I should do??

 

This will be my 9th cruise, but my first one that is not Caribbean where I drove to the port. I normally cruise Carnival and maybe RCI if the price and port is right. Carnival has one ship in Alaska that does Seattle-Seattle. I think I want to do a northbound or southbound trip, because our main goal is not ports, but watching glaciers from the boat - is a northbound/southbound the right choice then? Which one - north or south?

 

RCI has a couple of ships that do north/south and seems slightly cheaper than Princess or HAL. However, I think I want to do the national park (Glacier Bay?) which is only Princess or HAL. My DH and I love national parks (he used to be a state park ranger and we met in a camping club) -- but are those glaciers better? Or does it matter? The RCI ship goes to the Hubbard glacier instead.

 

We often have inside rooms on our cruises. Two of seven previous cruises had a balcony and I loved sitting out there and watching the world go by. However, it is quite a savings to have an inside or an oceanview, and the flights, etc. will be expensive on this cruise. Is it a lot better to have a balcony? If you did not, did you feel you could get chairs, etc to see the glaciers? I don't really want to get up at 7am to get a prime spot. Also, I was looking at an aft balcony with RCI, but they are already sold out for the whole summer on the north/south routes (not kidding - I talked with a rep). It seems like Princess/HAL do not have a lot of aft rooms. Is it a lot better to have an aft room? If not an aft room, which side of the boat is better? Will it be too cold to enjoy our balcony (we are coming from FL)? Would a premium oceanview be better, with a large window???

 

Is there another line or room I should be considering? I briefly looked into the luxury lines, but couldn't justify the price.

 

HELP! I am sorry for all the questions, but I have been researching this almost nonstop for several days and I seem to have more questions than answers.

 

Also, if someone has a suggestion on another thread that would help me, I would appreciate it. I have tried to search for something.

[Eaglecw]

We have been on 7 or 8 Alaskan cruises out of Seattle over the years, we live south of Seattle so it’s easy for us to hop on the ship on go.

 

 

 

We have been to Tracy Arm, Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. Glacier Bay is by far the most spectacular and our favorite.

 

 

 

There isn’t really any need to get a balcony room, it’s too cold to spend much time just sitting out there. I’d get an inside room, but my wife has to have some natural sunlight so we get an obstructed room on the Emerald deck.

 

 

On Glacier cruising day we roam around the open deck areas. There is a lot of room to roam so it doesn’t seem to be crowded. Last year when we were up at Glacier Bay it was sunny 65 and warm people sun bathing instead of watching the Glaciers. Hope this helps you out. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[Budget Queen]

All,

 

I am thoroughly overwhelmed while trying to plan Alaska for Summer 2015. I have some thoughts I will type out below - could you share your experiences/opinions on what I should do??

 

This will be my 9th cruise, but my first one that is not Caribbean where I drove to the port. I normally cruise Carnival and maybe RCI if the price and port is right. Carnival has one ship in Alaska that does Seattle-Seattle. I think I want to do a northbound or southbound trip, because our main goal is not ports, but watching glaciers from the boat - is a northbound/southbound the right choice then? Which one - north or south?

 

RCI has a couple of ships that do north/south and seems slightly cheaper than Princess or HAL. However, I think I want to do the national park (Glacier Bay?) which is only Princess or HAL. My DH and I love national parks (he used to be a state park ranger and we met in a camping club) -- but are those glaciers better? Or does it matter? The RCI ship goes to the Hubbard glacier instead.

 

We often have inside rooms on our cruises. Two of seven previous cruises had a balcony and I loved sitting out there and watching the world go by. However, it is quite a savings to have an inside or an oceanview, and the flights, etc. will be expensive on this cruise. Is it a lot better to have a balcony? If you did not, did you feel you could get chairs, etc to see the glaciers? I don't really want to get up at 7am to get a prime spot. Also, I was looking at an aft balcony with RCI, but they are already sold out for the whole summer on the north/south routes (not kidding - I talked with a rep). It seems like Princess/HAL do not have a lot of aft rooms. Is it a lot better to have an aft room? If not an aft room, which side of the boat is better? Will it be too cold to enjoy our balcony (we are coming from FL)? Would a premium oceanview be better, with a large window???

 

Is there another line or room I should be considering? I briefly looked into the luxury lines, but couldn't justify the price.

 

HELP! I am sorry for all the questions, but I have been researching this almost nonstop for several days and I seem to have more questions than answers.

 

Also, if someone has a suggestion on another thread that would help me, I would appreciate it. I have tried to search for something.

 

 

I have sailed all the major cruise lines in Alaska with the exception of Disney.

 

With your glacier priority- then yes, a one way cruise would offer you the most glacier viewing. A "must" however would be to do some Prince William Sound boat tours out of Whittier and Valdez. With a one way ship, again, packing in opportunity, you are going to want to give priority to itineraries with 2 glacier sailings- which is Princess and NCL.

 

RCI only has one ship sailing one way.

 

I am a cheap insider traveler. I am delighted people pay more, keeps my price low. :) No one can determine if a balcony is the right choice for you? But, I do suggest you give a priority to touring, which is half your trip. IF a higher cost cabin, cuts back on your touring budget, I would question this.

 

It makes no difference, the direction, except at the beginning and end of season where northbound are superior.

 

With a one way cruise, I suggest adding as much time as you can afford.

 

As for aft, my priority is wildlife, which aft is not a good choice for my preferences.

[GatorGirl57]

Thanks guys - this information is really helpful. I am going to go with Princess or HAL I think. Is it true that HAL attracts an older crowd? We are in our late 20's - we don't really party (we didn't even go to the Carnival New Year's party last year), but I don't want to look out of place either.

 

Any balcony lovers for Alaska out there? Otherwise, I might look into a premium ocean view with the large window.

 

Thanks so much!!

[GatorGirl57]

 

As for aft, my priority is wildlife, which aft is not a good choice for my preferences.

 

Where is good for wildlife?

[Budget Queen]

Where is good for wildlife?

 

Forward, you always want to track from ahead, not catching glimpses as you are getting farther away.

 

You may also want to consider NCL, they have an excellent northbound itinerary.

 

Demographics on Alaska cruises is the bulk middle aged and above on ALL lines (exception might be Disney). Even Carnival, has these passengers, no party ships. All ages sail. However, there aren't the activities of the Caribbean on any line, and the differences are on all the ships. More for what is outside the ship, in my opinion.

[Eileen G]

There a few ships that do one ways on Princess and HAL that have excellent aft decks with lounge chairs. We are sailing the Coral Princess in an inside this year and plan on spending most of our time on one of these aft decks. When we sailed Hal's Volendam and had a balcony room we spent most of our time on the aft deck instead of our balcony.

Unfortunately the newer ships have replaced these aft decks with expensive aft balcony rooms.

[Budget Queen]

There a few ships that do one ways on Princess and HAL that have excellent aft decks with lounge chairs. We are sailing the Coral Princess in an inside this year and plan on spending most of our time on one of these aft decks. When we sailed Hal's Volendam and had a balcony room we spent most of our time on the aft deck instead of our balcony.

Unfortunately the newer ships have replaced these aft decks with expensive aft balcony rooms.

 

The HAL ships I've sailed on in Alaska were winners for their bow access as well.

[Kesstral]

The HAL ships I've sailed on in Alaska were winners for their bow access as well.

 

I sailed HAL last year and being able to hang out on the bow for the glaciers (in our case Tracy Arm) was amazing (so was the split pea soup they served out on deck)! My husband and I are in our 30's and not "partiers" but we didn't feel out of place on HAL. Maybe if we were looking for clubs at 1am that might have been a different story.

 

I will be sailing on NCL next month for the first time to Alaska.

[GatorGirl57]

It's the Coral Princess and the Island Princess that have the aft decks, correct? Which decks are they on? Do they have good bow space too? Were there nearly always loungers available?

 

Which HAL ships had the good bow space? Were there loungers there? Did they have aft space too?

 

Thanks so much!

[EagleRocker]

I sailed HAL last year and being able to hang out on the bow for the glaciers (in our case Tracy Arm) was amazing (so was the split pea soup they served out on deck)! My husband and I are in our 30's and not "partiers" but we didn't feel out of place on HAL. Maybe if we were looking for clubs at 1am that might have been a different story.

 

I will be sailing on NCL next month for the first time to Alaska.

 

I too loved the bow access on HAL when we went to Glacier Bay. We hung out on the bow for hours the first time we went there and were able to talk to the naturalist out there, which made the already wonderful experience all the better.

 

You will be among the younger people on your cruise in all likelihood (not counting any families with kids). However, on Alaska cruises, it doesn't matter. If you do it "right" (i.e., take advantage of all the wonderful things Alaska has to offer), you really won't care about staying up late partying or socializing all that much. I find Alaska cruises to be busy - there is so much to see and do, very little down time. On all of our trips, we try to make the most of the great outdoors and the ports. After a day of pretty intense physical activity, whether hiking around, sightseeing, ATV riding, ziplining, kayaking, or whatever, we usually find ourselves happily physically tired and ready for a good meal and a cocktail (or two or three) and then look forward to going to sleep. On Alaska cruises, it is a good idea to get to bed at a decent hour and get some rest, so that you can get up early to watch what is going on, even if you won't be docking for a while. Nothing worse than hearing other passengers rave about the whales they saw off the ship's side that morning, while you were sleeping :) Alaska cruises are all about Alaska more than the particular cruise line. You will have a great time whichever line you decide to take.

[EagleRocker]

Forgot to mention: the Amsterdam has a great bow viewing area (no loungers) along with front viewing areas above the bow. Both the Amsterdam and Zuiderdam (and other ships in their classes) have great aft viewing (with loungers) from the upper decks, as well as restricted aft views from the lower level Promenade (the teak walkway that goes around the entire ship, which is one of the absolute best things about HAL ships).

[uababs]

It's the Coral Princess and the Island Princess that have the aft decks, correct? Which decks are they on? Do they have good bow space too? Were there nearly always loungers available?

 

Which HAL ships had the good bow space? Were there loungers there? Did they have aft space too?

 

Thanks so much!

 

On Coral and Island Princess aft decks 10 and 11 have loungers. These decks also have great forward decks (spent hours on deck 10's forward deck on Island thru the Panama Canal last month), but no loungers.

 

Those aft decks are also good for hanging out while doing laundry!

 

We had an aft wrap balcony on Carnival Miracle last year in Alaska. Spent lots of time there, sometimes with just a light jacket, other times with coat, hat, gloves and famous carnival bathrobe over all!

 

Whatever you chose, you will have an incredible experience. I'm already bugging DH for a return trip!

[fishin' musician]

HAL and Princess have an onboard naturalist that provides commentary (over the ship PA and in room TVs) in interesting areas and also point out the critters like sea otters, whales, bears, etc... I've had inside and balconies in Alaska and had wonderful trips regardless of the accommodation.

[twinmom38]

all a matter of opinion certainly.. but personally, I wouldnt even consider NOT haveing a balcony, especially in Alaska... we are sailing in August with an aft wrap.. ...we have sailed alaska before.. we were out on the balcony all the time.. we went in august.. mid 60's... perfect. the aft balconys afford a greater view than a typical balcony. again, my opinion... have a blast!

[sept10dsm]

On Coral and Island Princess aft decks 10 and 11 have loungers. These decks also have great forward decks (spent hours on deck 10's forward deck on Island thru the Panama Canal last month), but no loungers.

 

Those aft decks are also good for hanging out while doing laundry!

 

We had an aft wrap balcony on Carnival Miracle last year in Alaska. Spent lots of time there, sometimes with just a light jacket, other times with coat, hat, gloves and famous carnival bathrobe over all!

 

Whatever you chose, you will have an incredible experience. I'm already bugging DH for a return trip!

Deck 8 also had the aft deck on the Island minus loungers.

[Budget Queen]

It's the Coral Princess and the Island Princess that have the aft decks, correct? Which decks are they on? Do they have good bow space too? Were there nearly always loungers available?

 

Which HAL ships had the good bow space? Were there loungers there? Did they have aft space too?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Frankly, Alaska isn't "lounger" priority, if you are interested in scenery, you stand at the rail. Otherwise, you viewing is extremely limited and you better have a blanket.

 

 

 

Every Princess ship I have been on had an open aft deck. Was on the Sapphire and Diamond last year. They did not open the lower bow decks like HAL. But they do have open forward viewing.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Budget Queen

[Coral]

Coral and Island Princess have a "private door" to the front of the ship (below the bridge) on 2 decks. They don't normally want people out there but they let people out there for Glacier Days and for Panama Canal sailings. It is a great view. It is not the large, lower bow area that HAL has but it is impressive viewing.