Once in a lifetime cruise: Best options?

[jkgourmet]

I realize you have decided on Celebrity and we are devoted Celebrity Cruisers. But with that said, 2 years ago we sailed to Alaska on Holland America on their 14 night itinerary, and it was amazing! It is a true 14 night round trip out of Seattle, with many ports not usually called on when just going north or south bound.

 

We had an inside farthest forward and down as one could be but the room was secondary as most of our time was spent on deck.

 

The cruise was wonderful the fellow cruisers great company, seeing so many people every day they became like neighbors. It rained every day (July into August). And we had the most wonderful time.

 

 

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Perfect. We would enjoy cruising with you anytime! We did AK on HAL in an inside cabin, too. The extra money went for those insanely expensive excursions.

[fleckle]

While it is true that X does not sail into Glacier Bay, there are other glaciers X sails into and in a port or two you can get a tour into a few more.... We drove to one, I flew into and landed on one... and X did a 360 in waters of one.

That is what I was just about to say.

GMTA

On a Celebrity cruise, you can visit Hubbard Glacier (North America's largest active tidewater glacier), and also take a flightseeing tour of Glacier Bay from one of the surrounding ports.

That way a cruise passenger can have the best of both, because much more of Glacier Bay can be seen from the air than what you get to see from a cruise ship.

 

Those spectacular float plane or helicopter tours of Glacier Bay can be expensive, but even for those on a tight budget, well worth doing at least once.

 

 

I grinned when I read the OP's statement about

"a once-in-a-lifetime experience" because that is what we said before we took our first Alaska cruise.

Like so many others, we got hooked and just keep on going back again and again.

[RickT]

Perfect. We would enjoy cruising with you anytime! We did AK on HAL in an inside cabin, too. The extra money went for those insanely expensive excursions.

To the OP, decide what your priorities are and then go on from there. Like jkgourmet, our once in a lifetime cruise was also Alaska. We set out budget and worked through our priorities. Once done we had a lot of excursions booked (some through the ship, some private) as well as a couple specialty dinners. All the $ we had left for us a nice inside cabin:eek: and it was wonderful.

 

We’ve since had the great fortune to cruise 20 more times and all have felt like a once in a lifetime cruise. Sometimes we’ve in a balcony and other times we are inside... still loved them all.

 

So, prioritize what you feel is most important and work backwards and book the cabin with the $ you have left.

[raks]

So many choices for an Alaska itinerary, I remember the struggle of deciding who to cruise with, what itinerary and ports to choose, what tours to do, what cabin to book, it was a constant obsession that lasted months.

 

In the end, having just spent 2 weeks in the Rockies we decided to skip Denali for timing reasons and so we flew to Anchorage, spent 2 nights there just soaking up the area and seeing the sites, then we spent 2 nights in Seward pre cruise and took an amazing day trip out on the Kenai Peninsular and saw, close up, masses of wildlife and glaciers calving right in front of us. Seward is a beautiful place also. We do not regret missing Denali but if you have the chance you really must spend some pre cruise time in Alaska. I am keeping Denali as a good reason to return!

 

We then cruised on the Millenium back to Vancouver. During the cruise our activites were amazing. We saw a salmon run, flew over glaciers in a float plane (seing the glaciers from above is a must) and did a day trip up the Klondike highway, (in a small group minivan tour not the train). We saw all of the main touristy must do places and a few not so touristy treasures.

Our itinerary took us to Hubbard glacier and it was absolutely jaw dropping! I will never forget that day.

 

We had a balcony cabin which we used a lot, especially mornings and evenings just watching the scenery float by.

We loved the Millie and would be happy to sail on her again, but the ship really was a very pleasent secondary to all of the ports and amazingness that is Alaska.

 

Whatever you choose, Alaska is incredible and you wont be dissapointed.

 

Book the cabin and cruise line that feels right for you and keep busy in the ports every chance you get and you will have a fabulous time no matter what!

[4774Papa]

NCL does Glacier Bay and our best NCL cruise ever was on the Sun in 2016. The MDR food was almost as good as X.

[Baron Barracuda]

No need to choose between Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. Some Princess sailings visit both.