Alaska Question

[Chip and Dale]

I have a question for those who love RCI, but have travelled on other cruise lines as well.

 

We are looking into booking a Cruise Tour in Alaska during 2009. For those who have done RCI, Celebrity, Princess and Holland America could you please offer any advice/information regarding your opinions as to the best itinerary, service and overall enjoyment by your experience. We will book a balcony or suite.

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

Dee

[GMoney]

I just spent a month in Alaska - 14 days on land and 14 on Radiance. The land portion was done independently. Here are some things to think about:

 

> On a cruisetour, you will do an open jaw cruise. You'll need to decide if you want to do NB (generally from Vancouver / Seattle to Seward / Whittier) or SB. I prefer SB.

 

> You'll need to decide if you want to do the tour first or the cruise. I highly recommend the tour first so you can relax and wind down a bit toward the end of your vacation.

 

> You will need to decide what land stops are important to you. There are lots of combinations, but time in Seward (to see Kenai Fjords) and Denali (you'll need at least 2 nights here) are most popular. My favorite stop was Valdez as a gateway to Prince William Sound.

 

> You will need to pick a cruiseline. RCI and X combine to form Royal Celebrity Tours (RCT) in Alaska; they do a very nice job. However, HAL and Princess have been in Alaska for much longer, have more ships and more varied itinerary choices, and have a very strong land presence. HAL, for example, owns Grayline. Strongly consider them. SOme people will avoid X due to the past problems some of their ships have had with propusion systems.

 

> You will need to determine what (if any) glacier stops on your cruise are important. RCI cruises by Hubbard; HAL and Princess mostly cruise through Glacier Bay. Some people have preferences; both are very nice for slightly different reasons.

 

> You will need to decide when in the May - Sept season to go. Since you will be on land, you may want to avoid going too early, as the road into Denali may not be all the way open, bears may not be about, etc. June of course gets lots of daylight, July has more mosquitoes on land, etc.

 

> You will need to plan excursions to take advantage of your time in Alaska. Excursions are varied and can be very pricey, but will really enhance your trip. Determine what you like, what you want to do, what port is best for those activities and reserve early.

 

> I planned my trip largely based on CC feedback. There are some great experts on the Alaska Port of Call board. Stop by and ask there.

 

On a more personal note, I would strongly recommend an independent land tour. I loved the flexibility to go where I wanted, and do what I wanted when I wanted. I also do not like guided tours and endless bus rides. It will just depend on your personal preference. Cruisetours are good and do provide a seamless experience; they just aren't for me.

 

I know I offered more questions than answers, but I thought it might be helpful to bucket the decisions you will need to make. Good luck with your planning.

[Chip and Dale]

Thanks so much Patrick!

You have provided a wealth of information and a great place to start. We did a land tour in Newfoundland in June and it was just spectacular. The icebergs were magnificent. We want to spend a great deal of time in Alaska and possibly our Yukon and get the best bang for our buck. We are looking at CC and Tripadvisor as well for info.

Thanks so much for your input it is greatly appreciated.

Dee

[GMoney]

Glad the info helped. My biggest challenge with planning my AK trip was gettign getting my hands around what decisions needed to be made.

 

Your Newfoundland tour sounds great...

[spotter27]

We traveled last summer on vision of the sea by royal my husband and I. we had a blast.I've only been on carnival and some cruise ships out of miami that dont exist anymore. I like royal caribbean the best.Alaska was chilly in the summer months.The tours was amazing. We even saw snow.

[lucky99]

I have a question for those who love RCI, but have travelled on other cruise lines as well.

 

We are looking into booking a Cruise Tour in Alaska during 2009. For those who have done RCI, Celebrity, Princess and Holland America could you please offer any advice/information regarding your opinions as to the best itinerary, service and overall enjoyment by your experience. We will book a balcony or suite.

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

Dee

 

We went on Sapphire Princess 2006 in June. It is a big ship, Princess does a wonderful job, everything was great. Service was excellent, food was excellent. Did the inside passage from Vancouver to Whittier and would do it again in a heart beat. I have sailed 31 times various cruise lines and Princess is one of my favorites. Alaska cruise IS my favorite. Definately you must have at least a balcony. There is something to see every minute. The daylight in June was from around 3:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. If you have never seen a Bald Eagle you will see more than you can count.

[wannasail4ever]

Dee - ditto everything that GMoney said. We did the HAL 14 day Cruise/Tour #18SB beginning in Fairbanks and ending in Vancouver. I prefer the land portion first because you're working your way back home and it's an easier flight home (for us).

 

Don't settle for less than 2 nights in Denali. There is so much to do there including whitewater canyon rafting, flightseeing, park tours, etc. You'll also have a better chance of actually seeing McKinley. It doesn't always make it's face known. And also make sure that whichever tour you choose includes or can be added to the Kenai Fjords Nat'l Park Boat Tour. It was amazing! We went whale watching in Juneau which was teriffic and flightseeing over the Misty Fjords in Ketchikan. In Skagway, we hired a van to take us up to Carcross and then rode the WhitePass/Yukon RR back down to Skagway. Quite an adventure. Oh, and if you aren't afraid of heights, do the Zipline at Icy Strait Point. Whew, what a ride!

 

It was our 1st trip to AK and I was happy to have HAL handling all of the transportation details. Now that I know how it works, I would love to go back on my own as GMoney did on his land portion.

 

Just do lots and lots of research on the AK boards. There are lots of experts with plenty to share.

 

Whichever ship and itinerary you choose, you'll have a wonderful time. We will hopefully go back. Oh, we were there from June 9th to the 22nd of this year.

 

Macy

[Chip and Dale]

Glad the info helped. My biggest challenge with planning my AK trip was gettign getting my hands around what decisions needed to be made.

 

Your Newfoundland tour sounds great...

 

Hi Patrick,

It was incredible. The people of NL have made lemonade out of lemons to say the least. It is a very harsh rugged place and when the Cod Moritorium was instituded in 92 it could have destroyed them.

 

Newfoundlanders are some of the kindest hardiest and most resilient human beings I have ever met in my life. They make me proud to say that I am Canadian. The terrain is spectacular. We love the ocean and could swear that someone was leading the icebergs down the coast just for our amusement. We saw thousands of puffiins, they are the cutest darn things I have ever seen, only one whale but it wasn't the right time of year. If you have never been to Newfoundland, it truly is a wonder to see, and unlike anything we had ever seen before. We have travelled extensively throughout North America with the exception of Alaska, Yukon and NWT and this place topped them all!

 

Did you post any of your trip experiences on these boards?

Thanks again

Dee

[Chip and Dale]

Thanks to all of you for posting

I will most likely have a few questions when I can steal more time from work....naughty me:D

 

Great info

Many Thanks

Dee

[GMoney]

Hi Patrick,

It was incredible. The people of NL have made lemonade out of lemons to say the least. It is a very harsh rugged place and when the Cod Moritorium was instituded in 92 it could have destroyed them.

 

Newfoundlanders are some of the kindest hardiest and most resilient human beings I have ever met in my life. They make me proud to say that I am Canadian. The terrain is spectacular. We love the ocean and could swear that someone was leading the icebergs down the coast just for our amusement. We saw thousands of puffiins, they are the cutest darn things I have ever seen, only one whale but it wasn't the right time of year. If you have never been to Newfoundland, it truly is a wonder to see, and unlike anything we had ever seen before. We have travelled extensively throughout North America with the exception of Alaska, Yukon and NWT and this place topped them all!

 

Did you post any of your trip experiences on these boards?

Thanks again

Dee

 

Hi Dee - Thanks for the details. I'm very intrigued. Not to steal your thread, but did you arrange the NF tour independently or through someone?

 

I haven't posted a review yet; I expect to do so today.

[Chip and Dale]

Hi Patrick

No need to apologize, Newfoundland is one of my very favourite topics!

 

We used Maxxim Vacations since they were the only place we could find that would rent a vehicle with unlimited mileage and the support that was provided was amazing. If you want a good deal of info I posted a day by day experience of our trip on Trip Advisor, my screen name on there is Gotta Love Canada. It is under the icebergfinder.com thread. The Newfoundland board is not that extensive so you wouldn't have trouble finding it. You can track icebergs throughout the year on www.icebergfinder.com website. It is amazing.

 

We spent the first night in St. John's, and I have listed all of the B and B's we stayed at. Maxxim clients get the best of the best, they are truly number 1 in NL. We compared the cost and it was a little less than booking on our own and we always had the best rooms. We got off the plane, grabbed the car and drove to Witless Bay/Bay Roberts and did the O'Brien's Whalewatching. We spent 2 nights in Dildo....yup and once you have stayed there it is no longer wierd saying it:) , then 2 nights north in Twillingate (our very favourite place in the world to date), then 2 nights in Port Rexton (Trinity Bay Area) where the Shipping News was filmed, then back to St. John's for 2 more nights. We loved the island so much that we have started looking for property there. It is rugged and unspoiled.

 

I have tried to convince my DH to go to Alaska for years. He works with many from Newfoundland and they convinced him that we had to go. Now after seeing NL he is listening to me and wants to see the Yukon and Alaska. My evil scheme worked:p

 

You can order tourist info at www.newfoundlandlabrador.com and they will send a map and a great book to get you started. Yes I should work for their tourism department.

I will watch for your thread.

Dee