Cabins and direction on one way cruises

[TheCruisingBrewers]

Hey all,

 

Going to book a cruise to Alaska soon and had a question about having a cabin of the ocean side of the ship on a north or south bound cruise. I know most the cabins on the "correct" side are booked already for May, but wondered if the captain turns the ship at certain places. I seem to recall reading this or maybe seeing on TV somewhere. They did this the last time we cruised in Hawaii to allow everyone to seen the volcanoes.

 

I definitely want a balcony even if not, but would be nice to know ahead of time and even the view of the ocean can be lovely.

 

I am thinking Coral or Island Princess in mid May... Also if anyone has good contacts for land tours or reccomendations on where to stay I would appreciate those as well. I would like to do a few days in Denali and a few in Kenai.

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

NB

[judynorth]

Your ship choice is a good one. The Coral is a great ship with a great crew. As to the side of the ship to pick, it really doesn't matter that much. You are seldom in a place where there are not views on both sides of the ship. You will more than likely spend more time on deck or in the public areas of the ship anyway. In the places that matter the most - Glacier Bay and College Fjord - the ship will either go in and out of the bay or fjord giving both sides of the ship a good view or it will turn in place (at Marjorie Glacier). We had a balcony on both of our Alaska cruises but seldom used it. We definitely appreciated having it in Tracy Arm when it was raining the whole time. It was dry and relatively warm on our balcony. In Glacier Bay and College Fjord we spent most of the time on deck since the weather was better - chilly but dry.

[Sunshine Gal]

Hey all,

 

Going to book a cruise to Alaska soon and had a question about having a cabin of the ocean side of the ship on a north or south bound cruise. I know most the cabins on the "correct" side are booked already for May, but wondered if the captain turns the ship at certain places. I seem to recall reading this or maybe seeing on TV somewhere. They did this the last time we cruised in Hawaii to allow everyone to seen the volcanoes.

 

I definitely want a balcony even if not, but would be nice to know ahead of time and even the view of the ocean can be lovely.

 

I am thinking Coral or Island Princess in mid May... Also if anyone has good contacts for land tours or reccomendations on where to stay I would appreciate those as well. I would like to do a few days in Denali and a few in Kenai.

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

NB

 

We have sailed to Alaska on both the Coral and the Island. Just this summer we were on the Island. Either of those two ships is a great choice for Alaska. Most of the cruise lines do a good job in Alaska but I feel that Princess offers the most. The glacier days will also have the naturalist on TV while you are in Glacier Bay and College Fjord. If you are considering other cruise lines the one that I would not recommend would be Celebrity Infinity or Millennium because of their ongoing mechanical problems.

 

As for which side of the ship we try to get a cabin on the Port (left side) of the ship. The reasoning for our thinking is that as you turn into Glacier Bay and College Fjord, both of which are inlets, most of the Glaciers are on the left side of the ship. The Captain will turn the ship around at Marjorie Glacier and then sail back out of the inlet. It is not that big of a deal either way, it is going to be beautiful and it just seems better to us to see everything as you enter. We have had cabins on the Starboard side and just spent our time outside until the ship turned around.

 

For your land tour I would recommend renting a car in Anchorage and driving to Denali. It is a beautiful drive and a rental car allows so much flexibility.

 

Hope this helps.

Have a great cruise!

[caneable]

We did our cruise late August and were on starboard side. Not a big problem as we were up on deck most of the time. However, you should be aware that the commentaries for College Fjord and Glacier Bay are only on the way in so although you see everything on both sides, it's only the port side that sees the view while looking at the scenes.

[Carl2860]

Hey all,

 

Going to book a cruise to Alaska soon and had a question about having a cabin of the ocean side of the ship on a north or south bound cruise. I know most the cabins on the "correct" side are booked already for May, but wondered if the captain turns the ship at certain places. I seem to recall reading this or maybe seeing on TV somewhere. They did this the last time we cruised in Hawaii to allow everyone to seen the volcanoes.

 

I definitely want a balcony even if not, but would be nice to know ahead of time and even the view of the ocean can be lovely.

 

I am thinking Coral or Island Princess in mid May... Also if anyone has good contacts for land tours or reccomendations on where to stay I would appreciate those as well. I would like to do a few days in Denali and a few in Kenai.

 

Thanks a bunch!

 

NB

We just booked the Coral Princess sailing out of Vancouver on May12th, we also were on Pride of America several weeks prior. Maybe we will see all of you on the ship!