What would you choose?

[lpbabygirl19]

Hey there everyone! My boyfriend, his family, and I are planning an Alaskan cruise for this summer (probably August). This would be his mom and dad's second Alaskan cruise and our first. We live in Minnesota so we're planning on booking through a website that includes roundtrip airfare from Minneapolis and the cruise for incredible prices. My question is...which of the following would you choose? Which is your favorite ship? Favorite itinerary?

His mom and dad are in their early 40s, I am 20, and my boyfriend is 21. On previous cruises we enjoyed going to the casino, doing fun activities, playing bingo, going to the pool (will they be open?), and enjoying yummy food. Which ship would be best? As far as itinerary goes, we're not that picky. Any of the places we go to will be beautiful and we will be able to find something to do i'm sure, but I love to hear your opinions anyway. I would love to zip-line though...so keep that in mind.

 

I have only been on the Carnival Valor with them, but they have been with Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norweigan (they hated it and will never cruise with them again). They're willing to do HAL, just never have.

 

All of your feedback is greatly appreciated, I can't wait to hear your answers!

 

 

The cruises...

7 night from $689

Celebrity Infinity Alaska

Ketchikan, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Victoria

7 night from $719

Zaandam

Departs from Seattle, Washington; Juneau, Alaska; Glacier Bay Scenic Cruising; Sitka, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria Canada

7 night from $749

Carnival Spirit Alaska

Summer 2009

Visiting Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Lynn Canal, Sitka, Prince William Sound, College Fjord

7 night from $769

Amsterdam

Departs From Seattle, Washington visiting Juneau, Alaska; Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia

7 night from $769

Star Princess

Seattle, Washington visiting Ketchikan, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia

7 night from $849

Rhapsody of the Seas

Seattle, Washington visiting Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska; Prince Rupert, British Columbia; Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

[wrp96]

Well, if you have time to do some interior touring after getting to Whittier then I would take Carnival Spirit (you are aware that's a one way cruise not a round trip, right?

 

Otherwise, I would choose HAL Zaandam based on itinerary.

[lpbabygirl19]

Well, if you have time to do some interior touring after getting to Whittier then I would take Carnival Spirit (you are aware that's a one way cruise not a round trip, right?

 

Otherwise, I would choose HAL Zaandam based on itinerary.

 

Thank you for such a quick reply. Would you think that we would feel a little out of place on HAL considering our ages? I know that Alaskan cruises are port intensive, but we do enjoy lots of on-board activities as well...does HAL have plenty do on the ship?

[Budget Queen]

Thank you for such a quick reply. Would you think that we would feel a little out of place on HAL considering our ages? I know that Alaskan cruises are port intensive, but we do enjoy lots of on-board activities as well...does HAL have plenty do on the ship?

 

No Alaska ship is going to meet this expectation. Alaska cruises are definately scaled down in ship activites.

 

IF you are sailing Alaska for Alaska, then HAL is an excellent choice.

[Yukon]

>>Which ship would be best? As far as itinerary goes, we're not that picky.<<

 

For many of us here at CC, it's the ship that's not that important as they're all wonderful. The itinerary is the important thing in Alaska.

[NancyIL]

You have included two of HAL's ships that sail from Seattle. My choice would be HAL Westerdam from Seattle - with the same itinerary as the Zaandam, but a much longer port time in Juneau.

[rubytue]

We had a similar delimma and ended up with the Zaandam. We wanted to see Glacier Bay and we didn't want to end on a Sunday and have to fly home and work on Monday.

 

HAL has a on-board naturalist, which was a big selling point to us. We know the demographics skew older and activities will be more limited. But we did a 10-day honeymoon on HAL, and loved it.