Booking Alaska Questions

[ykckby]

We are a family of 4, (parents, daughter 26, special needs ( with m r) son 22) and have cruised several times using NCL, Princess, Carnival (once), Celebrity and Oceania. We have not done Alaska and are looking at August 2010. I have a few basic questions and would appreciate any input.

 

1. Time....prices drop in August is that due to weather? Demand? Water roughness? We can only go in that month due to schedules.

 

2. Itinerary...not looking to open a can of worms but I see "round trip" from Seattle, north or south passages. We can do only 1 week. Are we cutting ourselves short by doing a round trip? We would be flying to wherever from Boston. Would we be better given this is our first to do a one-way?

 

3. Youngest son with mental retardation enjoys cruising immensely but obviously is not likely to do zip lining etc. due to anxiety levels. Most he has done is cave tubing in Belize...a hit. Is there an itinerary that would be more beneficial with simpler excursions or shorter port stops?

 

4. Is there a preferable time - price wise - to do the booking?

 

5. Cabin selection..we usually prefer aft cabins (well I do and I do the booking :D) but am wondering if a port or starboard is actually better from a scenic perspective? We would do balconies or suites.

 

6. I know everyone prefers certain lines but is there one or two that seem to excel in Alaska cruises?

 

Thanks for any answers. CC always is incredibly helpful and with our youngest son it is important that we are fully prepared for what might be ahead.

 

Kim

[FrogLover215]

We have gone in August and July and will be going again in August of this year. I believe (but am not positive) that the price drop in August is due to the East Coast schools going back in session. I know that there are not hoards of people with school-aged children on Alaskan cruises, but I can't think of any other reason. The weather in August was fine (variable, but not extreme). The seas weren't rough (except leaving San Francisco, but that was true in July too).

 

Each itinerary is a little different. My advice is to carefully check port times on each cruise you're looking at and see what's the best fit. I think some of the RT Seattle 7-day cruises have some weird port times in Victoria, like 8 PM to midnight. We're big fans of the 10-day RT from San Francisco :D - seem to have nice port times generally, although some go to Glacier Bay and some go to Tracy Arm instead, so verify where your sailing would go if interested. I don't know if anyone but Princess sails out of SF.

 

You will find a range of activities in all the ports. Just carefully look over the options and I'm sure you'll find something that fits your son - after all, you know him best.

 

I don't think there's a difference in side of the ship for scenic purposes. Maybe I'm just not picky enough. ;)

 

Good luck with your planning. Alaska is great!

[thinfool]

 

6. I know everyone prefers certain lines but is there one or two that seem to excel in Alaska cruises?

Princess and HAL have been in Alaska longer than any others. Both do a wonderful job. Both carry onboard naturalists to narrate your passage, and the National Park Service provides Rangers to narrate your cruise thru Glacier Bay.

 

I suggest that you look into round trips from Vancouver rather than Seattle. Better chance for calmer seas and definitely more scenic.

 

No RCL line (RCL, Celebrity, etc) does Glacier Bay...they do not have the permits.

 

Ports are pretty standard. Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. A few go to Sitka.

 

Side of the ship makes little difference....I suppose that starboard is a tad better. So much time is spent 'up on deck' trying to see it all that room location isn't a major issue.

 

As experienced cruisers you already know that informing the cruise line of your needs ahead of time is vital to having your needs met.

[coloradogreycat]

I haven't been to Alaska yet - but will be going at the end of July/beginning of August. We had the same quandary as you ... RT or one-way. When I priced out airfare, it was SO much cheaper to fly to and from Seattle, but the cruises out of Seattle were more expensive than the one-way cruises. So that ended up being a "wash" for us. (If you want to cruise out of Vancouver, you can fly into Seattle and then take Quick Shuttle or Amtrak to Vancouver to save a small fortune on airfare.)

 

We decided that this was probably going to be our only chance to see Alaska, so we chose the one-way in order to see more of the state. We were thinking that on a round trip, we'd be seeing the same scenery on the way home that we saw on the way out.

 

As far as the side of the ship goes - if you're RT, it really doesn't matter. You'll be on the "land side" either coming or going. And when you're in the Inside Passage, there will be plenty to see from either side of the ship. For the one ways, you might want to book a cabin on the "land side" (starboard if you're Northbound, port if you're Southbound). :)

[CowPrincess]

If you take a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay, the vast majority of the time that is spent at the Margery Glacier has the port side of the ship facing the glacier, so you can view from your balcony if you are on the port side.

 

There are GAZILLIONS of excursions available in Alaska -- from as sedate as a bus tour of the port to "way out there" physical adventure. So you'll have lots of options, short & sedate, long & sedate, short & physical, etc., etc. regardless of the ports you go to.

 

If you go to Skagway, and are thinking of doing the White Pass train trip, look at the various lengths of time -- I suspect your son would get b-o-r-e-d with the longer ones. Whale watching in Juneau is always IMHO worth the price.

 

I agree with the suggestion of flying to Seattle and bus/Amtrak/one way car rental to Vancouver.

 

The Aug 4 Holland America Volendam has really good port times, it is a RT 7 day out of Vancouver. It does both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm. Unless you are planning on adding on some land touring of Alaska either pre or post cruise when doing a one-way, IMHO you're not gaining a whole lot of much :) in exchange for the "hassle factor" of the necessary flights and the associated expense. I'm sure others will disagree with me on this :)