Alaska Cruise Ships Question?

[twoatsea]

Maybe I am not searching RCCL's website correctly, but I can only find 1 ship going to Alaska - the Rhapsody. Anyone know if this is really the only one?

 

We only want an Alaskan cruise that stops at Sitka. Couldn't find that intinerary on the Rhapsody, unless I was not looking correctly at that either!

 

Hate to think we must take another cruiseline to include Sitka. No! I want RCCL!

 

Thanks

[cruisenfever]

Maybe I am not searching RCCL's website correctly, but I can only find 1 ship going to Alaska - the Rhapsody. Anyone know if this is really the only one?

 

We only want an Alaskan cruise that stops at Sitka. Couldn't find that intinerary on the Rhapsody, unless I was not looking correctly at that either!

 

Hate to think we must take another cruiseline to include Sitka. No! I want RCCL!

 

Thanks

Radiance and Serenade are also doing the Alaska itineraries for the summer of 2008. When you go to the RCI homepage...........in destination......enter Alaska. All three ships will show up.

[Gonzo70]

Both the Seranade and Radiance appear to stop at Sitka, but only have May and September dates with this itinerary.

 

I am curious, why is Sitka so important for you?

[wolfcathorse]

the cruise season in Alaska is only May to Sept. Rhapsody leaves out of Seatlle. Radiance and Serenade leave out of Vancouver. The 2009 season won't be released until about April.

[twoatsea]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

 

wolfcathorse, I am looking for this year.

 

cruisenfever, I see what I was doing wrong. I put in #days & month. So didn't see the other ships.

 

Gonzo70, thanks. I found the ones in May & Sept. Didn't see them before because I searched June & July.

 

So, am I correct - only Sitka in May & Sept? If so, that won't work for 15yo grandson! Darn it! Wonder why RCCL excludes Sitka except for May & Sept???

 

Any suggestions for similiar price range cruiseline with good stuff to do like RCCL for grandson? Maybe Princess is the only one & their buffet food is not to our liking & we mostly do buffet! Could do HAL, I guess. Their food is OK, but not much for grandson to do, but they do have the enclosed pool & they go to Sitka (love that Eagle Preserve).

 

Thanks again.

[wrp96]

Umm, I thought the Eagle Preserve was in Haines. I would check to make sure you have the correct destination. I know there is an excursion offered on our Rhapsody cruise when we are in Skagway to go over to the Eagle Preserve in Haines.

[GMoney]

 

So, am I correct - only Sitka in May & Sept? If so, that won't work for 15yo grandson! Darn it! Wonder why RCCL excludes Sitka except for May & Sept???

 

 

I can only hazard a guess, but my thoughts are:

 

> RCI only has 3 ships in the area, and they only do 7 day itineraries. They can afford to focus on only the big 3 SE Alaska ports.

 

> The town of Sitka is not a big fan of cruise ships. I don't think the residents there want to see their charming town turned into the tourist joke that is Skagway. I'm not sure if they actual limit the # of ships that come and go, but I think they might. More power to them. We stopped there on Radiance last year and it was one of the highlights on my entire AK vacation.

 

Just to clarify - the Raptor Center is in Sitka; the Eagle Preserve is in Haines, as Wrona mentioned.

[Daycare Provider]

I will be on teh August 16th sailing of the Serenade....we don't stop in sitka......

Rt out of vancouver.....Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Juneau are our ports of call.

[GMoney]

I will be on teh August 16th sailing of the Serenade....we don't stop in sitka......

Rt out of vancouver.....Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Juneau are our ports of call.

 

Only the "Ultimate Alaska" itineraries in May and Sept stop in Sitka.

[Gonzo70]

I enjoyed my HAL cruise to Alaska, but if you are cruising with a child, Royal Caribbean is probably a much better option. There is so much to do in the Alaska ports, it may be worth while to miss Sitka and stick with Royal Caribbean. My guess is that Royal doesn't go there during peak season, because it is a much smaller town so they probably can not accommodate more than 1-2 cruise ships per day. Other cruise lines likely already had established a relationship with Sitka prior to Royal Caribbean getting into the Alaska market.

[Daycare Provider]

Only the "Ultimate Alaska" itineraries in May and Sept stop in Sitka.

Frankly...I don't care where we stop. this cruise is my daughters 8th graduation gift. She has always wanted to see Alaska.....we have no idea as to why. grandpa is paying so we are going. It is ver hard to enthused about going someplace cold during the middle of the summer. DH and I truly love the caribbean and would rather sneek back there except for hurricane season. We have been there done that and got caught in Hurricane Katrina.

We will make the best of this trip for our daughter. We chose RCCL because of the family activities. This will be trip to remeber.

[Sequim88]

We were blessed with great weather at Sitka and with all those little islands it was magical. It was one of the best stops (aside from tendering). I really enjoyed the Raptor Center and the Native Arts center. The "Russian" Dancers were entertaining but ran a little long by the time they filled up the huge hall. The worst part was this was all on a tour on a school bus and it went all over the town but seemed sort of pointless. The Orthodox church was interesting but no more so than the Lutheran chruch across the street.

 

One thing we decided about that cruise (HAL-Veendam) was that shipwise the smaller the better. We took routes on the IP that the larger ships could not use and we got MUCH closer to the glaciers in College Fjord than ships from other lines...close enough so the waves from calving were rocking the ship pretty good.

[startwin]

Frankly...I don't care where we stop. this cruise is my daughters 8th graduation gift. She has always wanted to see Alaska.....we have no idea as to why. grandpa is paying so we are going. It is ver hard to enthused about going someplace cold during the middle of the summer. DH and I truly love the caribbean and would rather sneek back there except for hurricane season. We have been there done that and got caught in Hurricane Katrina.

 

We will make the best of this trip for our daughter. We chose RCCL because of the family activities. This will be trip to remeber.

 

We did Alaska last September, it was not my choice but circumstances made it the easiest and best bet for us. We ended up loving it, and will be going again this September! We went on the Ryndam, had a fantastic time, stopped in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchican (which I adored), and cruised Glacier Bay. You will love it, honestly. And it wasn't at all cold, in fact we sunbathed all the way back to Vancouver, weather was great.

[GMoney]

I enjoyed my HAL cruise to Alaska, but if you are cruising with a child, Royal Caribbean is probably a much better option. There is so much to do in the Alaska ports, it may be worth while to miss Sitka and stick with Royal Caribbean. My guess is that Royal doesn't go there during peak season, because it is a much smaller town so they probably can not accommodate more than 1-2 cruise ships per day. Other cruise lines likely already had established a relationship with Sitka prior to Royal Caribbean getting into the Alaska market.

 

Sitka is actually much bigger than Skagway, a very common cruise stop. While ships can only tender in Sitka, there were 3 in port the day I visited.

[twoatsea]

Ahhh, all this talk about Alaska has me "yernin'"!

 

My mistake. It is the Rapture Center in Sitka. We loved it. Didn't take a HAL ship tour; we walked thruout the town since it is small. Loved walking to the Rapture Center thru those Jurassic Park looking trees! We saw lots of catepillars that looked prehistoric - they were huge! Honestly, some were as big as a small hotdog! And colorful to boot. Also loved the aquarium - what fun. A small place in an old warehouse looking building on the way to the Rapture Center. What is so unique is the "hands-on" tank. We put our hands in & got to feel all kinds of creepy creatures! Our grandson would love those things in Sitka!

 

Looks like we will have to take HAL, our 2nd choice cruiseline. But I know he will love the interior pool. It's always been too cold for us on the Alaska cruises in the RCCL outside pools & the solariums are adult only. Haven't tried HAL since they went to open dining - think we will like that, especially in a port intensive cruise like Alaska.

 

Thanks everyone & happy sailing!

[polodad]

Frankly...I don't care where we stop. this cruise is my daughters 8th graduation gift. She has always wanted to see Alaska.....we have no idea as to why. grandpa is paying so we are going. It is ver hard to enthused about going someplace cold during the middle of the summer. DH and I truly love the caribbean and would rather sneek back there except for hurricane season. We have been there done that and got caught in Hurricane Katrina.

We will make the best of this trip for our daughter. We chose RCCL because of the family activities. This will be trip to remeber.

 

Hi Daycare. I'm sure you don't remember, but we followed your week on AOS last April, you were with the wedding guy. Anyway, my question is if an Alaskan cruise is your daughter's 8th grade grad present what does she get for her phd? Space shuttle to the moon?

You'll love alaska, it was our best cruise ever. try the flightseeing to Mysty fjords and see grizzlys munching on salmon, unforgetable.

[GMoney]

 

Looks like we will have to take HAL, our 2nd choice cruiseline. But I know he will love the interior pool. It's always been too cold for us on the Alaska cruises in the RCCL outside pools & the solariums are adult only. Haven't tried HAL since they went to open dining - think we will like that, especially in a port intensive cruise like Alaska.

 

Thanks everyone & happy sailing!

 

 

On AK itineraries, RCI does offer "family" Solarium hours for designated times each day.

[Sue L]

Only the "Ultimate Alaska" itineraries in May and Sept stop in Sitka.

 

 

I guess I am glad I got to go this past year to Sitka. We love the town and the rainforest on the way to the Raptor center. The eagles and other birds were amazing but the whole are was unique.

 

 

 

[negc]

You may be surprised to find that Alaska is not the"cold" location you take it to be. Temperatures can vary considerably by date and location. I can recall being outside in Anchorage in a short sleeved shirt at 11:00 pm and being quite comfortable. A day later I was in Prudhoe Bay and it was cold and snowy. Alaska encompasses a vast amount of territory and is a wonderful travel experience. I advise folks not to wait until they are to old to really appreciate all that it has to offer.:)

[Daycare Provider]

Hi Daycare. I'm sure you don't remember, but we followed your week on AOS last April, you were with the wedding guy. Anyway, my question is if an Alaskan cruise is your daughter's 8th grade grad present what does she get for her phd? Space shuttle to the moon?

You'll love alaska, it was our best cruise ever. try the flightseeing to Mysty fjords and see grizzlys munching on salmon, unforgetable.

 

Actully her gift for Senior High is to cruise the Med.....DH and I are truly looking forward to that cruise....I remember talking with you about the AOS. Did you enjoy your cruise? We did the Barbados, St.Lucia route....We had a blast.

[hoop4321]

i think that the 8th grade grad gift is great! I think I am going to steal the idea. As my son is in the 6th grade it will give us plenty of time to save $$. How much should a family of 3 budget for this trip, and is the helicopter, dog sledding excursion truly worth $500pp? It seems that would be the one thing that we would want to do.

[Sue L]

i think that the 8th grade grad gift is great! I think I am going to steal the idea. As my son is in the 6th grade it will give us plenty of time to save $$. How much should a family of 3 budget for this trip, and is the helicopter, dog sledding excursion truly worth $500pp? It seems that would be the one thing that we would want to do.

 

 

With 4 of us we spent 10,000 but the kids had their own inside room and we were in a balcony, so if you are in one cabin that will cut down the cost. We had debated the helicopter/dog sledding but chose instead the one that just helicoptered to the glacier and I am glad we did. Not only do you not see the amazing blue colors at the dogsledding area since it is all snow but the day as well as the whole week the dogsledding one was canceled because they can't adjust the landing site if the weather is less than optimal like they can with the other tours and YES the helicopter tours were worth EVERY CENT!!!

[Jakdgr]

I will be on teh August 16th sailing of the Serenade....we don't stop in sitka......

 

Rt out of vancouver.....Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Juneau are our ports of call.

I'm on Serenade on the 23rd - will be one of the happy smiling people waiting to get on :)

[kehlx2]

I guess I am glad I got to go this past year to Sitka. We love the town and the rainforest on the way to the Raptor center. The eagles and other birds were amazing but the whole are was unique.

 

 

 

 

 

LOVED the Raptor Center--we spent quite a long time there.

[Daycare Provider]

i think that the 8th grade grad gift is great! I think I am going to steal the idea. As my son is in the 6th grade it will give us plenty of time to save $$. How much should a family of 3 budget for this trip, and is the helicopter, dog sledding excursion truly worth $500pp? It seems that would be the one thing that we would want to do.

 

We have a balcony on deck 7...so far with airfare and one hotel in San Jose, California and one night in Vancouver the trip has cost me 5000.00. I have booked all of excursions through private vendors and have saved big$$$$$....my daughter didn't want to do the dog sledding or helicopter rides....works for me because I was having a hard time paying 1500.00 for 2 2hr. excursions...