Pros and Cons of Ships that sail to Alaska

[K.T.B.]

Simply put, if you enjoy Carnival, go Carnival. As others have mentioned, it's more about the destination than the vehicle. If, however, you want to try a different line, Celebrity is a good one to try, especially for someone who enjoys Carnival.

[4774Papa]

What very kind, above posts. :)

 

I do advocate, independent travel with at least some "ordinary" experiences. :) I'm just not a "group point to point" traveler, and know enough to not ever consider that.

 

The joys of the unexpected is wonderful. That interesting person, I meet, that wonderful sight that pauses me for reflection, that diverted time extension- all are opportunities for me.

 

I've always been in a "rush" through life, trying to fit in what I felt I wanted to, in this short time. I never, "waited", and it turns out- I'm at significant and peace and comfort now, having done that.

 

I've had the very fortunate benefit, over 30 years with nonrevenue flights- which makes the world small when you don't pay for air. I'm still in the fast lane for as long as I'm able.

 

Having lived overseas for 9 years (Germany and Saudi Arabia) and traveled with family (including small children and teens) as well as with DW and self, I have done all forms of travel:

 

1) Back when I was relatively young and needed to budget the travel, I did mostly self planned trips, finding my own hotels or B&Bs, sometimes finding a local city tour, but mostly just doing it ourselves. When living in Germany, I could just drive my own car and stop whenever and wherever I pleased. Most of the time, that worked out well, except for a couple of times all the hotels within 60 miles will booked and it was late. In one case a hotel found us a local retired lady that rented us a bedroom, in another we stayed in servants quarters. I did learn that more planning was in order.

 

2) Done Bus tours, mostly budget. We got what we got, met some great people on the bus, but realized spending a week or two on a bus tour is not bad, but not the best way to go.

 

3) In the past six years, we have done a lot of cruises, mostly on Celebrity with some on NCL. We usually do a lengthy pre and or post cruise land trip on our own, which works out very well. When DIY is good, like in Istanbul, we did that, in other times, we take tours, more private tours than ship's tours. Also, have some river cruises when always included a land tour. Those were great, but most everything is planned for you. We enjoy those travels, since I researched ahead of time and picked the river cruise tour that fit the bill.

 

4) Further, we have expanded our travels outside of Europe to include South America, Australia, North Africa, South and East Asia. Going to Russia, China, Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and more is best done with a tour. Australia, we did pre and post cruise on our own, which was great. However, if you are in a country were most people don't speak English, most or all of the road signs are in a language that you cannot read, then DIY is just the best choice. I am not saying that it can't be done, but you risk loosing a lot of time, getting lost and any number of bad things.

 

5) Even in places where DIY is more an option, it is not always the best choice. Sometimes where you want to go is a royal pain to get to for some reason. I know a guy that was in Germany and got on the wrong train and was in Austria instead of Nuremberg.

 

We all find out what makes us happy and as I get older I find more comfort in having the pain in the rear details taken care of by someone else.

Sometimes just getting off the cruise boat and hiring a local taxi driver for site seeing may work out find, but sometimes it doesn't. I like knowing ahead of time what I am going to see, because I research where I am going and know what I want to see, at least in a general sense.

 

Travel, it is all good.

[daffyraffy]

Thanks for posting about a great ship and a great itinerary. I completely agree. Planning a trip to Alaska next year with my sister. I have only cruised the Caribbean so do not know anything about Alaska, but want a good ship. Taking a look at Celebrity now. Love HAL and Princess and RC but Celebrity seems to offer both ship and itinerary.