Solo to Alaska?

[PaulfromPA]

Hello fellow solo cruisers!

 

I think I am pretty well set up for cruises through the end of 2007 (although there is always the possibility of squeezing something in at the last minute) so now I am starting to set my sights on 2008. I am thinking about doing my first Alaska cruise in May of '08. I am thinking May because A) the kids are not yet out of school, and as much as I enjoy children, I prefer more adults than kids on a cruise, B) the prices are lower by gosh, and C) the month of May works best for my schedule. So, here is my question: Does anyone have a recommendation for a May sailing to Alaska that is especially appealing to us solo folks?

 

Thanks in advance! :D

 

Paul

[Lois R]

Hi Paul:)

 

I took my first cruise to Alaska earlier this year...May as a matter

of fact;) it was fabulous. I sailed solo, though did have a really

nice Roll Call!

The scenery is nothing short of magnificant..totally awesome.

I sailed on Celebrity's Mercury roundtrip Seattle to Seattle, though

next year she is starting her itinerary out of Vancouver.

Yes, it was a bit more $ but worth every penney in my opinion.

We went to Ketchikan, Skagaway and Juneau, sailing inside

passage.

I wrote a review and if you want to click on that link to read

it you can get an idea about my particular sailing.

 

I definitely recommend if you have a chance...Cruise Alaska:)

Just awesome:D

[Roz]

Paul,

 

I second everything Lois has told you. My first solo cruise was to Alaska in May. Ports were less crowded, and just a few pre-school children on the ship. Temps were cooler, but that meant more snow and ice in the mountain, thus more scenic, IMO.

 

I took HAL's Maasdam out of Vancouver. A friend of mine sailed solo on Princess and really enjoyed that. As a solo, I don't think you can go wrong with HAL, Celebrity or Princess. You're more likely to find a break on the single supplement on HAL or Princess. I think I paid somewhere between 140-150%.

 

I've been on 2 Alaskan cruises, and would go back there in a heartbeat.

 

Roz

 

P.S. I'm posting this from "the Burgh". I was born and raised there, now living in the South due to the job situation.

[PaulfromPA]

Thanks Lois and Roz!

 

I appreciate your advice. Sometime in the next few months I should have enough Amtrak miles to book a free round-trip first-class passage from Pittsburgh to Seattle/Vancouver. (I have always wanted to take the Empire Builder, which departs from Chicago and goes across Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and into Washington state.) Anyway, I am thinking that as soon as I have enough Amtrak miles I am going to book a train/cruise combo, including some time to visit with an old friend who lives in Seattle. I see a few lines are offering cruises into 2008, but I'm not sure all the options have opened yet. I will keep my eyes peeled. I can't wait! :)

 

Thanks again,

 

Paul

 

P.S. Roz, no matter how far away you move, you will always be an honorary citizen of da 'burgh! :D

[Thoth]

I've done the solo to Alaska thing twice, both with HAL. First on the Statendam, then the Oosterdam the next year. The Ooosterdam by far had the best single/solo program out of the 6 cruises I've done.

[ko57]

I cruised solo on Princess a year ago August. I began my trip with a week's land tour, then took the Dawn Princess from Whittier to Vancouver. There were about 30 people on the land tour, and we all got on the ship at Whittier. For me it was the best of both worlds...doing my own thing solo, yet knowing people on board. I would recommend traveling this way to anyone.

[CruiseIsGood]

I cruised solo to Alaska last year (at 40) and had a great time. I met some people through the roll call board here, and enjoyed hanging out with them when I did. I booked shore excursions and back-to-back excursions to fill almost all of my port time (don't just walk the cities, they're really tiny), met some more nice people on those, and Carnival seats singles for dinner, although there were few, just four of us at late seating, and they were much older.

 

I liked that I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to. On my previous two Alaska trips, we all had to agree on excursions, agree on whether to go to a show, agree on when to eat meals... it was frustrating at times.

 

Probably the worst time was in Glacier Bay. It would have been nice to oooh and ahhhh at the glaciers with someone. But I had a sail-away party (with some Aussies I had met through CC) on my wrap-around balcony afterwards that more than made up for it! :)

 

I'm thinking about going on a singles group cruise to Alaska in '07. It's such a gorgeous, untouched piece of the world.

 

If you want to meet a whole bunch of Aussies, cruise the first May or last September Carnival Spirit cruise. It seems like it's very popular for them to book the back-to-back Hawaii to Alaska. There were over 300 B2B Aussies on my cruise! And they're very very welcoming of solo travelers. The men hang more with the men and the women with the women, so it's not all couples all the time.

[constructiondude]

I cruised solo to Alaska this past May and found it to be much more rewarding than traveling solo on a land based vacation. There was a ship full of people anytime I wanted to converse and found most people very easy to get along with and willing to talk to people they didn't know; I was even invited to dine with one couple I met in the spa and they quickly became good companions the remainder of the cruise.

 

Due to the weather/climate the outdoor decks were deserted most of the time. It was very much an indoor oriented cruise which maybe encouraged even more socializing.

 

There were a handful of children, all had adequate supervision and were very well behaved; not once did I witness the horror stories I've read about children running wild on some of the Caribbean cruises.

[gxchan]

Hi Paul,

 

As all the others have said, Alaska is a great cruise. I was on NCL's Dream in 2005 and believe Alaska is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Although I went in July (we sailed on June 30) there weren't many kids on the ship but there was a age range passenger-wise. The weather was better (I'm told) in July, we had an equal number of rainy days and really beautiful days (70s-80s). The rain didn't stop anyone from going on excursions. I would highly recommend the ropes & zips in Ketchikan.

 

There was only one other solo on my cruise but but it was very easy meeting people.

 

I hope you go because I believe you will love it.

[PaulfromPA]

Hello Thoth, Kathleen, CruiseIsGood, ConstructionDude and Ginnie:

 

I just wanted to thank you for your posts. I have been following them, and along with Lois and Roz's initial replies, you have given me some great insights. Starting next month I will begin looking for an '08 Alaska deal. If I find a real early bird bargain, I am going to plunk a deposit down. If you happen to see my signature area updated with a future Alaska cruise then you'll know I got something booked! ;)

 

Happy Halloween to everyone! :)

 

- Paul