Hello all,

I have ALWAYS wanted to take an Alaskan cruise and all my family and friends know it. I just asked my bf if he wanted to take a vacation this summer thinking that we'd just take a relatively quick trip somewhere not too far away because of rising costs of traveling and the fact that he has quite a few medical expenses now (due to a small stroke suffered in October). Well, he surprised me by saying what about taking an Alaskan cruise.

I work in a school, so my vacation period is pretty much limited to August every year. This means we'd have less than two months to research cruise lines, itineraries, excursions, whether we want to take a land tour as well, arrange air flights, hotel accommodations (if needed), etc. and I *am* a planner when it comes to trips. As much as I'd like to "go for it" and take this trip that I've always wanted to take, I'm feeling super anxious about trying to get it together on such short notice.

Should we just go for it or wait?

This message board can make planning much easier if you decide to Go Fo It. Cruise Critic is also a good source of info.

Our opinion...go for it. IMHO there's nothing like an Alaskan cruise. We've done it repeatedly and will probably go again next year.

Something else to think about. We have met many travelers who tried to pack everything into one trip thinking they couldn't afford to come back. But they found a way. I, for one, don't care if we ever cruise anywhere else.

Jim,

Thanks so much for your opinion. I'm proceeding as if we're going to go, but if I don't feel like I can do enough research to do a trip justice, then we're going to wait until next year. Then, I'll be ahead of the game. When I told my bf all the things that we would need to look into and consider, I think it was pretty clear that he hadn't really thought it through when he made the trip suggestion.

Aside from knowing that I wanted to take an Alaskan cruise, I've never done any research on it. Even in doing just a little research now, I'm learning that there are just so many options to consider and research -- northbound vs southbound, RT vs OW, departure cities, ports, itineraries, excursions, land tours before or after, etc. As much as small cruises sound wonderful, I think those are just a bit out of our price range, so that's one decision made, but there are still SO many different larger cruise lines to consider.

Compound that by the fact that he's never taken a cruise and I've only taken two short local ones (3-day and 4-day), we would even need to learn about cruising, in general.

Makes my head spin.

Since itineraries differ, any opinions/preferences on any of the above (departure city, N/B vs S/B, ports, etc.)?

Here's our opinion, for what it's worth. We're two active retirees in our 70s

We've never taken a land tour of Alaska. For our first trip, we signed up for a one week bus trip thru the Northwest followed by a 10-day cruise and land tour. But we cancelled that. We didn't like the idea of living out of a suitcase.

Yes, we've missed a lot of Alaska. But our purpose has always been the cruise...the sea, the ship, having our hotel carry us from place to place. If my goal was to visit Alaska, I'd fly up there for 2 - 3 weeks.

We've been blessed by exceptional weather on our trips. On a NB trip, we arrived to crystal clear weather in Anchorage. Mr. McKinley was clearly visible. For us, this was like looking out our North Texas windows to see Austin some 200 miles away...fantastic! On a RT out of Seattle, we had similar weather...Mt. Rainier clearly visible from our stop in Victoria, BC.

Which cruise line? Itinerary? Ship? That's personal preference. We prefer smaller HAL ships because, among other things, they get closer to the glaciers in Glacier Bay than the larger Princess ships. Celebrity ships don't go to Glacier Bay, a distinct disadvantage IMHO.

My son's retired father-in-law cruises a lot...always in the least expensive accommodations so he can cruise more often. We tend to be claustraphobic so we prefer larger cabins with balconies. As fpr entertainment, after a great dinner, we prefer brandy around a nice piano bar rather than glitzy stage shows.

So here's one opinion. I hope it provides an answer or two.

Take the advice to go to cruise critic, study the cruise line profiles and then read reviews about the ships that interest you.

The ports of call board for Alaska are extensive and a great source of info.

I have cruised Alaska 7 times and am just back from the most recent. You will need to establish a budget for the excursions - critical to Alaska - and then the cruise itself.

Decide if you prefer to dine at your leisure or to have fixed times each day for dinner. Decide how important night life and activities are to you.

This is an expensive trip and a big investment so research is key. Make a list of your priorities and then go from there.

I would start with talking to his doctor. If the sea is rough, can he take motion sickness medications? Is a flight involved? Is he allowed on the plane, and how soon after the stroke?

After that, with the doctor's clearance, I would plan a trip.

If you plan shore excursions, every cruise company has notes of difficulty: mild, medium, strenuous. Plan according to this strength.

If he is on a diet, don't worry, it's easy to keep ANY kind of diet on ANY ship!

Thank you all for your replies. At this point, I don't think we're going to get it together for an Alaskan cruise this summer. I know there are different kinds of travelers, but I'm the type who loves the research and decision making beforehand and the pressure to learn and decide on such short notice is stressing me out more than being enjoyable. I guess it's because I don't really have the time I'd like to devote to it right now because I'm very busy at work (working OT everyday).

I do really appreciate everyone's opinions though because I still have every intention of going on an Alaskan cruise eventually. I'm going to start now (leisurely) looking into a cruise for next summer!

Thanks again!
Judy