Who Has Booked Alaska for '09???

[Host Caroline]

We just booked the Golden Princess out of Seattle for May 16.. DH has never been to Seattle so we are going early so I can show him around a bit... my boss swears I get even more ornery if I don't get an Alaska fix at least every other year:rolleyes:

[ronandannette]

Girls trip planned on the Golden Princess as well, 4 night Vancouver to Seattle via Ketchikan (May 5 - 9/09). Really looking forward to trying Princess but I can't help wishing it was the Caribbean up the coast from B.C., not Alaska...:rolleyes:

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

[morriscats]

DH and I have booked the Sea Princess RT from S.F. 9/1/09 - long time away. I have been but my Hawaiian hubby has never been to Alaska. Can't wait to show him.

[chefcaw]

We have booked the RCL for June 12, 09. We will be traveling with a group of 11. We sail from Seward.

 

Chris

[wrp96]

I board my 2nd Alaska cruise exactly 365 days after I get off my first Alaska cruise so it's 9 days plus 7 days plus 365 days until I board Serenade of the Seas on 5/30/09 with a large group of my friends from Cruise Critic.

[NancyIL]

I was wondering when someone would start a 2009 thread! I don't have an Alaska trip in the works for 2009, as much as I would love to return a 3rd time. We're going on a Canada cruise this fall, and I could see wanting to spend more time in Canada on a land trip next summer. But if I found a really great last-minute deal on a cruise early in the cruise season - especially for a roundtrip - I just might do it! :)

[lorilea]

DH and I have been booked for a Southbound cruise on Carnival Spirit 07/15/09 since January!!! 8th cruise but first time to Alaska. It'll be the first cruise for DS14 and DD11. I'm so excited for them. I've been researching this for about a year now. We're flying into Anchorage 6 days before for an independant land tour and are visiting family on Vancouver Island for 4 nights after the cruise.

[CincinnatiGal]

My husband and I are so looking forward to going back to Alaska and traveling to other Alaska areas that we did not see on our trip in 2007. We end in Seward and then we are doing Kenai and heading back to Cincinnati via Anchorage.

 

I think see the Hubbard Glacier will be interesting after seeing Glacier Bay on the Princess cruise we took in 2007. I am happy to be booked on the Radiance of the Seas ship and I think we will enjoy this more than the Princess cruise. So I have high hopes for this upcoming cruise! But, first we are cruising in November to the Southern Caribbean and then waiting for 2009 to start so we can start planning the Alaska cruise! Yeah....gosh I love taking vacations!

 

CincinnatiGal:p

[morebeaches]

MEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, we booked 8/21/2009 Southbound on the Radiance with some Cruise Critic friends the first day tthe itinerary was available. We will spend 9 days on the Kenai Peninsula before the cruise. This will be our first, long awaited trip to Alaska.

[karatemom2]

We have booked a cruise on the Sea Princess out of San Francisco for 7/3/09. We had to cancel our Dawn Princess cruise this summer due to work and family demands so I am really counting down to next summer!

[Cosmic Rays]

We would like to be able to BUT Princess UK won't allow it until sales of the 2009 itinerary are opened for sale and that might not be until June/July!!! Why is that? We just don't know yet wish we could book with a US TA but Princess don't allow that!

 

Colin:mad: :mad:

[Italy52]

My husband and I are so looking forward to going back to Alaska and traveling to other Alaska areas that we did not see on our trip in 2007. We end in Seward and then we are doing Kenai and heading back to Cincinnati via Anchorage.

 

I think see the Hubbard Glacier will be interesting after seeing Glacier Bay on the Princess cruise we took in 2007. I am happy to be booked on the Radiance of the Seas ship and I think we will enjoy this more than the Princess cruise. So I have high hopes for this upcoming cruise! But, first we are cruising in November to the Southern Caribbean and then waiting for 2009 to start so we can start planning the Alaska cruise! Yeah....gosh I love taking vacations!

 

CincinnatiGal:p

 

If you don't mind me asking why do you think you will enjoy the Radiance over your Princess cruise? Just curious as we have taken two Princess cruises to Alaska and will be taking the Radiance to Alaska on the May 30th.

[NancyIL]

If you don't mind me asking why do you think you will enjoy the Radiance over your Princess cruise? Just curious as we have taken two Princess cruises to Alaska and will be taking the Radiance to Alaska on the May 30th.

 

I wondered the same thing, because our Coral Princess Alaska cruise last year was FABULOUS! A number of people here seem to think RCI doesn't do such a great job in Alaska.

[CincinnatiGal]

If you don't mind me asking why do you think you will enjoy the Radiance over your Princess cruise? Just curious as we have taken two Princess cruises to Alaska and will be taking the Radiance to Alaska on the May 30th.

 

Why I think I will enjoy Radiance of the Seas over the Coral Princess....wow I had so many negatives on that ship and cruise....I will start venting and I am sure I will get flamed or something by the Princess lovers. THe cruise part and the cruise tour part were horrible. The bed was too short for me; the overwhelming majority of the travelers on this cruise were elderly or senior age. Some were beyond rude to us and the staff on this ship catered to the seniors and the elderly over the younger cruisers on this particular cruise for some crazy reason. The elders pushed their way into lines in front of us constantly and the shows and the food seemed to be for senior taste. I had a terrible experience coming down the gangplank when a rush of Coral Princess workers pushed me over almost sending me over the wired handrails going down the gangplank as they raced running down to get to the phone banks located right off the gangplank this incident occured in Juneau and I could have landed many feet downward and died. I grabbed the wires and my husband grabbed my shoulder. It was really scary and no one from Princess at the bottom who watched this incident even asked me if I was alright. Complaining to Princess never got me even a single response and the staff on the ship when I complained told me to send my comments in as they must have known the company never responds to written comments if they are negative. I felt that since Carnival knows owns Princess the cruise line has really gone downhill and they have cheapened many aspects of what made Princess in the past a good cruise line. I only met three other couples that were relatively younger on the cruise. I am 50 and my husband is 46. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary on this trip and it just wasn't that special. The scenery of Alaska is what we paid attention to and gave up on Princess. The cruise tour part is quite frustrating due to the attention the Princess staff gave to seniors over younger travelers again. We gave good tips but the service back to us were below par for other travel experiences we have taken in the past. I love RCCL and I think Radiance to Alaska is a better move for our enjoyment.

 

I hope my comments will be educational for your needs. ANy further questions please ask!

 

CincinnatiGal

[Italy52]

CincinnatiGal -

 

Thank you for your honest and detailed response. I can certainly understand your frustration with your Princess experience.

 

My experience with Princess was aboard the Sapphire and Island; both cruises went to Alaska and we enjoyed them very much. However, I will say I enjoyed the Island (Whittier-Vancouver) a bit more than the Sapphire (Seattle-Seattle). We found a few small "anoyances" but nothing we hadn't experienced on other lines. We are looking forward to our Radiance experience to see how it compares with our Princess experiences.

 

Again, thank you for sharing your story.

[NancyIL]

CincinnatiGal - I'm sorry you had some bad experiences on the Coral Princess. We were on the Coral in early June, and there weren't many families onboard yet, but there were plenty of people middle-aged and younger. Alaska cruises do attract older cruisers - even on Royal Caribbean. I hope you'll have a better experience on your 2nd cruise to Alaska.

[Italy52]

I wondered the same thing, because our Coral Princess Alaska cruise last year was FABULOUS! A number of people here seem to think RCI doesn't do such a great job in Alaska.

 

Nancy - I have seen the posts as well. We chose Radiance because Princess could not give us Hubbard and we really want to go there. We also had a future cruise credit we needed to use so we thought we might as well use it on Alaska and see for ourselves if there really is a big difference.

[Scubagal1]

We're booked on the Golden Princess sailing 8/15/09. Already have a small group of friends and family joining us. 4 staterooms so far. It's the first Alaska cruise for all of us, so saying we're excited is an understatement! We plan to fly in a day prior and explore the Seattle area.

 

Can't wait!!!

[krogerlady]

Me me me me <waving hand frantically> Yup, just got it paid off today, and still have to wait 392 days. Carnival Spirit Northbound leaving Vancouver June 10, 2009. I am watching my flights really close. Can't book yet for two months, and have to do two one ways. I hope the other 25 people in my group will start looking at things soon. They all travel a lot, and are not nearly as excited as I am!!! Whoopeeee.!! I have one cruise tour decided on, and my TA said I can go thru carnival to confirm as soon as they get the money that I sent to her. The photo safari out of Juneau. Only 14 people can go, and I am not taking any chances on missing it.

[NancyIL]

Nancy - I have seen the posts as well. We chose Radiance because Princess could not give us Hubbard and we really want to go there. We also had a future cruise credit we needed to use so we thought we might as well use it on Alaska and see for ourselves if there really is a big difference.

 

I first booked Radiance for 2007, then kept second-guessing myself after reading the negative comments about RCI in Alaska. Within a month after booking RCI, I changed to the Pacific Princess due to its 3-glacier itinerary and smaller size. We "jumped ship" to the Coral leaving 2 days earlier in order to have more in Alaska post cruise, rather than time in Vancouver pre-cruise. I would gladly cruise again on the Coral - or any Princess one-way.

 

This July I'll be on a one-way HAL Alaska cruise due to an itinerary I really like (similar to Radiance and Celebrity Millennium) and favorable comments about HAL in Alaska. But I have been tempted by RCI's one-way itineraries, and I still may cruise with them to Alaska some day - in spite of the negative comments by some on this board.

[NancyIL]

I am watching my flights really close. Can't book yet for two months, and have to do two one ways.

 

You don't have to book your flights as individual one-ways. Any airline web site or a site like http://www.kayak.com will allow you to book "multi-city" flights: flying to Vancouver and home from Anchorage. That's usually less expensive than buying two one-way flights.

[krogerlady]

I asked somebody about the muli-city option, and they said that was only if you were visiting several different cities, but going to each one from the same place you got off...not sure that makes sense....but anyway, they indicated that was not what I wanted. But, you are saying, that if I am just searching, and hit the muli-city option, I can book to vancouver and then back out of Anchorage? Seems like the airlines would be willing to work with folks....considering the gazillions that cruise every year.

[krogerlady]

I just checked thru kayak, which I had never heard of...thank you thank you thank you....and they found flights like you said, that run about 200 less than I was anticipating, and that is flying out of my home city, not having to travel to get to an airport that is even cheaper.

[msmoger]

You don't have to book your flights as individual one-ways. Any airline web site or a site like www.kayak.com will allow you to book "multi-city" flights: flying to Vancouver and home from Anchorage. That's usually less expensive than buying two one-way flights.

 

I asked somebody about the muli-city option, and they said that was only if you were visiting several different cities, but going to each one from the same place you got off...not sure that makes sense....but anyway, they indicated that was not what I wanted. But, you are saying, that if I am just searching, and hit the muli-city option, I can book to vancouver and then back out of Anchorage? Seems like the airlines would be willing to work with folks....considering the gazillions that cruise every year.

 

Nancy is correct and we're testament to that. It was considerably cheaper for us to book multi-city (aka "Open Jaw") flights than two one-ways (Newark to Anchorage and Vancouver to Newark).

[johninwpa]

We booked the 14 day Pacific Princess cruise, for Sept.3, 2009. Looking forward to Kodiak and Valdez, but will miss staying in Alaska on our own, as we start and end in Seattle.