20th anniversary, Alaskian Cruise, Help please

[avic77]

My husband and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary with an Alaskian cruise in April or May of 2018. There are 2 ships available and i really have no idea how to choose. We have cruised once before, a Western Carribean out of New Orleans, NCL Star I think. I like Norweigan for the freestyle dining since we are on a "romantic anniversary cruise" and so we can eat when we want to and sit alone if we want.

But i am open to suggestions with other lines if there is a better option :)

Many Thanks

[www3traveler]

There will be 3 choices for the Alaskan season in 2018.

 

The Pearl will begin Her Alaskan season out of Seattle on Sunday April 29th for a 7 day cruise.

 

The Sun will begin Her Season out of Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday June the 11th to Seward, Alaska (one way).

 

The brand new ship The Bliss will begin Her 1st Season to Alaska out of Seattle on Saturday June 2nd.

 

All would be excellent choices.

[Poipu04]

In my opinion take the NCL Pearl. I like the smaller sized ships. I have been on the Pearl and it was lovely. I saw orcas from my balcony early one morning. Through my binoculars I saw whales doing backflips in the distance! There was always a quite corner to find alone time on the ship. The Pearl is older and smaller and the Bliss is larger and brand new. My only comparison is the Breakaway, which was a zoo, in my opinion. The lines were long for everything and disembarkation in ports was long and crazy.

[Hdnwaters]

We just did May 20-27 on the Coral Princess & loved it. They have anytime dining.

 

 

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[DALSAL]

I personally would take the Seward down to Vancouver. You will be in open seas if you leave from Seattle and see nothing until you are in Alaska. I made the mistake of going to Alaska the end of May, first of June. We missed seeing so much going that early. If your interested in seeing animals, I would consider going later. At least, don't leave from Seattle. Unless you just want to see Seattle, which I love!!

[AK Dreaming]

I've done both Princess and NCL in Alaska and I prefer NCL. They were both great though. Alaska is amazing. Whichever you choose do not miss Glacier Bay.

[avic77]

I personally would take the Seward down to Vancouver. You will be in open seas if you leave from Seattle and see nothing until you are in Alaska. I made the mistake of going to Alaska the end of May, first of June. We missed seeing so much going that early. If your interested in seeing animals, I would consider going later. At least, don't leave from Seattle. Unless you just want to see Seattle, which I love!!

Since we have to fly southwest from Pensacola Fl so Seattle seemed to be the best port. Ill check on flights into Seward as well

[Hdnwaters]

Since we have to fly southwest from Pensacola Fl so Seattle seemed to be the best port. Ill check on flights into Seward as well

 

 

You will need to check Anchorage. Not a major airport in Seward. We flew from Charlotte to Minneapolis then to Anchorage. We flew back from Vancouver to Minneapolis. I know folks that spent the night in Seattle & then flew to Anchorage.

 

 

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[Weetahbugdotcom]

If you go on the first pearl of the 2018 Alaska season we'll be shipmates.

 

 

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[avic77]

I am still researching options. I am looking at Princess, Royal Caribbean, and NCL. I will not even look at Carnival.

[garycarla]

If you want to add to your trip, there is a big Northwest Folk Festival at the Space Needle park the last weekend of May. We have done that twice. Makes for a great trip. Pearl is the mid size ship and part of the Jewel family. Great ship.

 

Personally, late May is great as there is still some snow and way less kids. And cheaper rates.

[sun_lovin!1]

We just returned a week ago from sailing on the Radiance of the Seas, southern route. It was the ultimate Alaska vacation. E mail me at sun underscore lovin1 at yahoo if i can answer questions for you. May is a perfect time to cruise Alaska. Beautiful scenery, whales, bears, eagles, sea lions and harbor seals, dahl sheep and rams. Everything about this cruise was the best.

 

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[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

I am still researching options. I am looking at Princess, Royal Caribbean, and NCL. I will not even look at Carnival.

 

We have done Alaska on Princess and NCL, been on RCCL, but not the Alaska sailing. Agree with you on Carnival. That said, we are leaving in 3 weeks for our 2nd NCL Alaska trip and 2nd time on Jewel. We did the HAVEN, and BOY, what a great place/trip! We were on the Jewel and had fabulous views from our balcony. If we wanted a more panoramic view, we went to the HAVEN courtyard upper level. It is pricey...and seems to be getting more so as word gets around.....but if you don't like crowds, it is the place to be! We were treated like royalty. Of course, Alaska is port-intensive, so if you opt for a regular stateroom, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major lines. Just depends on if you like time alone in your stateroom, or are just as happy with the constant excitement going on in the ship. Also, it depends upon what age you are (or act like), as some ships cater to a little more mature crowd (think HAL and Princess). NCL and RCCL would be more of the night life set and the ships probably have more activities/entertainment for a more active crowd. Smaller ships usually in Alaska because of navigation issues, but we actually like the more intimate ships. (So we are already booked for yet another cruise to Alaska next year on the Pearl!) I think you will have a fabulous time....do your research on what ship fits your personality the best!

[avic77]

The Pearl is the NCL ship we are considering. What sailing are you doing? We are a young 40 and 52. so we like to do stuff. RCCL looks interesting because of the rock wall and ice skating rink.