First Time Luxury Alaskan

[LHT28]

Oceania is not a luxury or all inclusive line  so YES  things  will be different

People have to decide  what  works best for them

 

 

 

 

[Travelcat2]

On 6/14/2020 at 5:00 PM, Dee4990 said:

Interested. Former Princess cruiser.  Looking at either Oceania or Regent for our 25th in a couple of years. Both seem to sail LA to Alaska, so we'd only have to fly one-way.  Been to Glacier Bay before, so not a deal-breaker for us - interested in the experience.  Appreciate advice - not going to book for another year or so... just checking things out right now.  TY

 

Having sailed on both Oceania and Regent (34 cruises on Regent. 2 on Oceania), I would definitely sail with Regent.  While not all Regent excursions are included, the ones that are not are much less expensive on Regent than Oceania.  We took an identical excursion on both cruise lines and Oceania was double the cost of Oceania.

 

When you consider that Regent includes air, transfers and for passengers in a concierge or above suite, an included hotel stay the night before the cruise, many times Regent does not end up being more expensive than Oceania (unless you book a tiny stateroom on Oceania).  Also, Regent ships that sail in Alaska are all-suite all-balcony so you get great views of the area from your balcony (while sipping a drink of your choice).  

 

Since you have time, may I suggest that you do a comparison sheet so you can decide based on what your requirements are.  I don't think that Oceania's newer ships (Marina and Riviera - both beautiful ships) sail in Alaska.  The older ships have very tiny bathrooms and the staterooms are quite small as well.  

[mj_holiday]

Way before we took our first cruise, I was on a business trip and one of my associates mentioned cruising to Alaska and said the best way to do it was start at the top and cruise south because the best viewing will be at the beginning of the cruise.  I took his advise and completely agree.

 

In researching cruise lines to select , I would  highly recommend looking at some past reviews that people posted about their Alaskan cruise for the various luxury lines you are looking at.  Some very detailed reviews will give you some depth into things on various cruise lines.  Of course you may have to go back a couple years to find them since no cruises this year.  I feel this is definitely worth your time.

 

Also list the ports for the various cruise lines you are looking at.  Not all are the same.  Cruise lines vary in how far north they go, which impacts all that you see.

 

Our first cruise (which was to Alaska) was with Regent, which I selected after looking at all the above items.  And this is our cruise line of choice, but I still look at itinerary.  For our cruise to Cuba and a future cruise to Black Sea area, we did not select Regent but went with another cruise line, because of how port intensive the cruises were.  Listing the ports will help you identify just how much of Alaska you will get to see.  Also, look at the times in port which will let you know what kind of excursions you can do.  For Alaska with Regents, there was one port where we were able to do 2 excursions (one morning and one late afternoon). 

[Dee4990]

Thank you all for your opinions 😀 Appreciate very much.  We are not going for a couple of years so will revisit this thread in a year when thinking about booking... hopefully, the world (and cruising) will be in a better place then. Happy Sailing!

[Lois R]

Just reading some of these threads..... Dee, now we are in August 2021.....are you looking to cruise this summer or next year?

 

I am sailing on Silversea this week😃.....it will be my 5th cruise with them.......I definitely recommend them.....just as some of the other posters have pointed out, we all have our likes and dislikes.......there are choices for all of us.  Hope you find the best fit for you🙂