Taking In-Laws on a cruise, help!

[nicoleinwi]

Thanks everyone for your help!  

 

Over the past couple months DH & I did a lot of research and narrowed the ship down to the NCL Bliss.  

 

I put together a great budget for my inlaws.  Total estimated cost of everything minus shore excursions; cruise, cruise tips, airfare to Seattle, hotel in Seattle, estimated spending for attractions in Seattle and airport & cruise transfers.  So I gave them the total cost for an interior, window and balcony room so there would not be any big surprises on cost.  We let them know the cost of the soda package if they wanted to add on and also let them know price range of shore excursions.  

 

Last night they came over and we booked our trip.  They are not far out planners like we are and they were floored to see the limited selection of cabins.  They wanted a balcony room (as did we) so we wanted ones close by.  There were no mid-ship balcony left that didn't have something with lots of late night noise directly above or below, but we we were able to get a forward balcony next to each other.  

 

They are very excited.  So now this summer we'll start looking at shore excursions and airfare and pre-cruise stuff.  

[Budget Queen]

I suggest you determine what you want to see and do in ports.    Then rank your preferences.    Problem with round trip Seattle sailings is limited port times and many times partial days,   so renting a car in Juneau may not be an option.   

 

I do not agree with the slants of "Princess and HAL"  been there the longest- sway  toward being a superior choice because of it,  -   ALL the cruise lines have been there for YEARS   and each has it positives.     I will mention-   if later booking is possible,   likely NCL will have some very attractive rates with over supply.    (since you mention budget several times).   

[nicoleinwi]

On 3/10/2019 at 6:42 PM, Budget Queen said:

I suggest you determine what you want to see and do in ports.    Then rank your preferences.    Problem with round trip Seattle sailings is limited port times and many times partial days,   so renting a car in Juneau may not be an option.   

 

I do not agree with the slants of "Princess and HAL"  been there the longest- sway  toward being a superior choice because of it,  -   ALL the cruise lines have been there for YEARS   and each has it positives.     I will mention-   if later booking is possible,   likely NCL will have some very attractive rates with over supply.    (since you mention budget several times).   

 

Thank you for the input.  Yeah some of the port times are short like Ketchikan, but the inlaws are good with that then relaxing on the ship.  DH & I if we want to go back we will. 

 

I guess budget wasn't a concern with the inlaws like I thought it would have been.  I guess I assume because they don't travel they would think the cruise price was very high.  But it's something they have always wanted to do so they are fine with it. 

 

We want to cruise in May, likely around Memorial Day.  But at least we have the option if the price drops before final payment it'll be repriced.  

[alasbound]

I loved Pacific Princess for Alaska.  It doesn't have many Frills or extras, but is smaller than many ships and that makes it nice to get around (I could easily go from side to side while watching the glacier calving.)  They also include 2 glaciers, which is nice in the weather isn't very cooperative while touring one of them.

[schlogee]

I would consider getting them an interior room across the hall from your balcony, that way they have a short walk to come enjoy your view (If you're willing to have them 🙂).  As you said, they won't see much from a window - better to save that money and enjoy an extra excursion.

We're actually taking my MIL this summer too - and now have a bunch more extended family that have decided to join - I think there are now 17 in total! It will be interesting....but I'm sure it will be fun no matter what!

[twoznuff2]

On 3/10/2019 at 12:03 PM, nicoleinwi said:

Thanks everyone for your help!  

 

Over the past couple months DH & I did a lot of research and narrowed the ship down to the NCL Bliss.  

 

I put together a great budget for my inlaws.  Total estimated cost of everything minus shore excursions; cruise, cruise tips, airfare to Seattle, hotel in Seattle, estimated spending for attractions in Seattle and airport & cruise transfers.  So I gave them the total cost for an interior, window and balcony room so there would not be any big surprises on cost.  We let them know the cost of the soda package if they wanted to add on and also let them know price range of shore excursions.  

 

Last night they came over and we booked our trip.  They are not far out planners like we are and they were floored to see the limited selection of cabins.  They wanted a balcony room (as did we) so we wanted ones close by.  There were no mid-ship balcony left that didn't have something with lots of late night noise directly above or below, but we we were able to get a forward balcony next to each other.  

 

They are very excited.  So now this summer we'll start looking at shore excursions and airfare and pre-cruise stuff.  

Hello,

DH my brother and are "taking my mom" on the Bliss May 5th. She is 75 years young. I am the planner for our group. I have a little spreadsheet that I made for our trip if you're interested in it. This will be my 3rd trip to Alaska and my first time on what's considered a mega-ship, but I think the observation lounge area will be fantastic for my mom. I think the in-laws will really enjoy the train in Skagway and depending on their mobility maybe you could do a whale watching/Mendenhall glacier tour in Juneau. Good luck. 

* Tip if you're new to NCL- don't forget to book your dinner reservations and show reservations at 120 days out. 

[nicoleinwi]

1 hour ago, twoznuff2 said:

Hello,

DH my brother and are "taking my mom" on the Bliss May 5th. She is 75 years young. I am the planner for our group. I have a little spreadsheet that I made for our trip if you're interested in it. This will be my 3rd trip to Alaska and my first time on what's considered a mega-ship, but I think the observation lounge area will be fantastic for my mom. I think the in-laws will really enjoy the train in Skagway and depending on their mobility maybe you could do a whale watching/Mendenhall glacier tour in Juneau. Good luck. 

* Tip if you're new to NCL- don't forget to book your dinner reservations and show reservations at 120 days out. 

 

Thanks for the offer, I'm a big planner too and already have my spreadsheet (and book) started :)  I also think my in-laws will like the train and showed them that.  The good thing is with it being so far out we figured it's easy gifting to combine some gifts (birthday and mothers day for example) and have it be a shore excursion or other things they may need for their cruise. 

 

Thanks for tip on booking shows 120 days out.  Our previous cruise on NCL (last summer to Bermuda) we were on the Escape we didn't want to know anything about the ship and wanted to be surprised.  Well when we got onboard we weren't able to get tickets for two of the shows we wanted due to our lack of looking at the ship and what you have to do beforehand.  So we knew this time we'd need to be on it.  Our previous NCL cruises we didn't have to prebook.  

 

For dinner reservations do you book 120 days out for regular MDR dining or do you mean the speciality restaurants?  We usually just do anytime dining but figured since we likely will be doing different things each day it'd be nice to at least say we'd meet up at whatever MDR at X time.  Thanks!!!!