First Time Alaskan Cruise, Advice plz.

[CarnivalNico]

18 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

 

7-Day Awe of Alaska: Glacier Bay & Inside Passage from Seattle

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Day	Cruise Ports	Arrive	Depart
Sun	Seattle, Washington (EMBARK)	---	5:00 pm
Mon	At Sea	---	---
Tue	Juneau, Alaska	2:30 pm	11:00 pm
Wed	Skagway, Alaska	7:00 am	8:15 pm
Thu	Glacier Bay (Cruising)	---	---
Fri	Ketchikan, Alaska	7:00 am	1:15 pm
Sat	Victoria, British Columbia	7:00 pm	11:59 pm
Sun	Seattle, Washington (DISEMBARK)	6:00 am	---

 

I dunno, to tell you the truth, those times really don't seem to bad to me.  Granted, I haven't done a TON of research yet, but those times seem too much out of alignment from what I've seen other lines offer.  Plus, a date night out in Victoria I think would be a nice way to wind down a cruise!

 

Oh, and as for bumper cars or go karts, not gonna lie... that is TOTALLY appealing to me!  🙂    

 

I honestly have never been on GoKarts before.  And if I'm gonna do it, I think saying my first time on GoKarts in the middle of Glacier Bay actually sounds like it would be AWESOME life story to have!

 

That being said, I do think you bring up a good point.  If I can find a cruise with better port times I'd def take that into consideration.

 

 

[xlxo]

On 11/20/2019 at 8:54 AM, CarnivalNico said:

Oh, and as for bumper cars or go karts, not gonna lie... that is TOTALLY appealing to me!  

 

I did the go karts on the sistership Joy last month.

• $15 for 8 laps... hopefully you don't have a slow driver in your heat that slows all those laps down.
• Very hard to pass Bliss track is redesigned on the Encore that has the track 13 feet over the edge to allow for better passing.
• book your go kart EARLY when you get on the ship.  Spaces fill up and your race time can be cancelled if the track is wet for safety.  This forces everyone to be racing at the later part of the cruise and risking a sell out.
• they do run two seater carts at certain times of the day for families. 
• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ncl+bliss+gokarts

Edited December 1, 2019 by xlxo

[Canuker]

You have a good point, mapleleaves.
The problem with the itinerary you quote is that the simple travel time at sea to get as far as Glacier Bay and back from Seattle in 7 days is a real stretch.
So the cruise line cuts corners by allowing short and/or unsociable hours in ports.
I'd say a better itinerary would be either from Vancouver for 7 days or from Seattle over 9-10 days.
The vast majority of Alaska cruises are cookie-cutter 7 day trips. This works if you're going from Seattle and getting off in/near Anchorage. But a round trip - a squeeze.
I don't see the Inside Passage mentioned either, which means the 45.5 hours (almost 2 whole days) it takes to get to the first port of call will be mainly in the open Pacific Ocean. Not much to see there.

[Luv2cruz1000]

Highlight to our cruise warranting a car in Skagway and drove to Emerald lake. We rented from what is now Diy tours. Then it cost the same for the train and we could stop for pictures, and did Caribou crossing as well. 

[Luv2cruz1000]

Just now, Luv2cruz1000 said:

Highlight to our cruise warranting a car in Skagway and drove to Emerald lake. We rented from what is now Diy tours. Then it cost the same for the train and we could stop for pictures, and did Caribou crossing as well. 

Oops renting  a car/jeep

[sr71_1]

For what it's worth... Doing Alaska for the 1st time in June 2020.  

• June to catch bubblenetting & Orca's  - we hope:)
• NCL Jewel (wanted a smaller ship)
• 1-way southbound from Seward to Vancouver = port side cabin 
• Balcony seems like an easy choice for what I think will be a very scenic trip (with 18+ hours of sunshine / day)    
• Get an extra stop on the 1-ways 
• Will see both the Hubbard and Sawyer glaciers on the itinerary        

[tigger_ag]

We just booked our second Alaskan cruise.  We are cruising NCL 1 way - Northbound.  This includes Glacier Bay and has some longer port times.  If you can add time on the back end you can do Denali - either on your own or a cruise tour.  When booking our cruise again this was part of our choice was the time we would have in each port and what we wanted to do.

 

If you have the opportunity to see Denali I think it is totally worth the extra time as well.  The 1st cruise we had a port side balcony.  This allowed us as a few people have mentioned to enjoy the 1st half Glacier Bay from our Balcony and then when the crowds died off we went up to view from the viewing deck.

 

 

[drvmywifecrzy]

Im doing the NCL Joy in June for my 1st Alaska cruise

[xlxo]

38 minutes ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Im doing the NCL Joy in June for my 1st Alaska cruise

If you have chance, switch to the NCL Bliss.  The sistership Bliss includes Glacier Bay, the Joy does not.  I feel Glacier Bay is important for a first time Alaskan cruiser.

[Jimbo]

6 hours ago, xlxo said:

If you have chance, switch to the NCL Bliss.  The sistership Bliss includes Glacier Bay, the Joy does not.  I feel Glacier Bay is important for a first time Alaskan cruiser.

Went to Alaska on a cruise in 2017 and going again in 2020, neither time are we going to Glacier Bay. We will survive.

[Coral]

11 hours ago, xlxo said:

If you have chance, switch to the NCL Bliss.  The sistership Bliss includes Glacier Bay, the Joy does not.  I feel Glacier Bay is important for a first time Alaskan cruiser.

I completely agree.