Carnival cruiser looking to try NCL for Alaska 2020!

[Littlegoo75]

Hey NCL people. I have been on 6 cruises (5 on Carnival, 1 on Sitmar a long time ago when I was a kid).

 

Although I had a good time, I felt like our last cruise on the Carnival Freedom last week was a little lacking. We are planning to do an Alaskan cruise in either June or July 2020, however, schedules aren't available that far in advance, and I don't know which ships will be sailing in Alaska in 2 years.

 

If you have sailed both Carnival and NCL, can you give me insight on how they compare? We are a married couple in our 40's, and have a 7 and 10 year old (so they'll be 9 and 12 when we are planning to cruise Alaska). We are pretty laid back, and don't need everything to be super fancy.

 

We've never sailed Alaska before (or been to Alaska), all of our cruises have been to the Western Caribbean, and we need a change.

 

We do plan on stepping it up and getting a suite with a balcony for this cruise, a standard balcony cabin was way too chaotic for our family on this last cruise.

 

We want to pick a cruise line/ship that is a good match for families with kids.

[lisabdh1]

I have sailed on Carnival twice when my son was 5 and 6 and have sailed NCL to Alaska in August of 2016 and then a Caribbean cruise last summer. We are taking a Cuba cruise next week. Here's my opinion on NCL Alaska cruise.

 

We loved it. We sailed the Sun in mid August. There were very few children on the ship, plus my son was 13 at the time and while he liked hanging out at the teen camp at night for like an hour that was about it. On the sea days he hung out with me and we did ship activities. The Sun is small and older and we picked it for that reason, it was easy for us to navigate and get around. The Sun now does the caribbean route so not sure what ship you are looking at or what time frame you are thinking of going.

 

The majority of people were older - I would think prime ages 50-70, with a few 30-40s. Having said that, we had an awesome time. The staff were awesome, very friendly. The food was fabulous, we had the specialty dining program and it was so worth it. We are also very laid back and we saw a few shows on board but to us the destination was the prime attraction. We were out all day at every port doing everything that we could do and it was fabulous. Definitely do your research on excursions, here and on TA. The balcony is a must. Bring binoculars!

 

I think if you pick the right excursions your kids will have a blast!

[Sauer-kraut]

You're in for a pampering if you choose suite life on Norwegian. Butler service, priority boarding, and all kinds of things to enhance your cruise experience.

[lisabdh1]

You're in for a pampering if you choose suite life on Norwegian. Butler service, priority boarding, and all kinds of things to enhance your cruise experience.

 

Totally hijacking but can you tell me what the perks are with a butler? We actually booked a suite this time and I have not seen anything about butler on Sun. TIA.

[Pens fan]

The last time we sailed on Carnival was in 1985, so my experience probably is pretty meaningless compared to today. However we sailed on NCL for the first time last summer on the Sun in Alaska after five Disney cruises. We loved NCL so much that we have two more booked. We loved the casual, laid back atmosphere of NCL and thought the food and service were top notch (food was better than Disney and service was equal).

 

While the Sun is not currently sailing in Alaska any more, there is no telling what ships will be doing those runs in the future (well, we can assume the Bliss will be).

 

Here are my Alaska tips, though:

 

The one way itineraries are my favorite as they allow you to spend more time in Alaska after your cruise.

 

We have sailed out of both Seattle and Vancouver, and while both are nice we preferred Vancouver. It's worth a trip all it's own.

 

We sailed the 3rd week in July and there was a nice mix of passengers on board, age wise. I wouldn't say one demographic dominated.

 

Mid July is the most expensive time to go to Alaska, but the chances of good weather are better (emphasis on "chance"!!). If you are interested in bear watching, late July to early August are prime time as that is when the salmon run (ditto if you are into salmon fishing).

 

Glacier Bay is spectacular. We'd been to Tracy Arm twice before, and while it is wonderful and worth seeing, if I had to choose between the two I'd pick a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay. Our cruise also went to Hubbard Glacier which is almost as impressive as Glacier Bay. That combo is hard to beat and I would pick that over an itinerary that only goes to Tracy Arm every time.

 

We booked an aft suite on the Sun and it was the best decision. We were sailing with our then 19 year old son and having the extra space was so nice. We had never sailed in suite before so I can't compare the suite life to other lines, but boy does NCL spoil you! Having the aft facing balcony was just priceless. We lived out there. Of course it was great for Glacier Bay and Hubbard, but we were out there all hours of the day and night as the inner passage is just gorgeous and there is always something to see. Being aft, the wind wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been on other areas of the ship as well.

 

Whatever you decide, enjoy Alaska. It's incredible!

[Sauer-kraut]

Totally hijacking but can you tell me what the perks are with a butler? We actually booked a suite this time and I have not seen anything about butler on Sun. TIA.

This might be old but many things are still available:

https://cruise.expedia.com/pictures/microsite/1274/pdf/NCL_Suites_and_Villas.pdf