gramsclp

We have never been on any type of cruise and I am in the very early stages of planning an Alaskan cruise for two years from now (our 25th anniversary). We would probably do the 7 day due to time constraints, but possibly 10 days. I need advice on which cruise line is considered the best, whihc type of room would you recommend? We are not dressy-up people so please keep this in mind when advising. Would probably not do a captain's dinner, even if available.
Also, would prefer a casino on board as we like to gamble.
Would like to know the best/most interesting and "bang for the buck" ports of call to include when choosing.
Thanks so much in advance!!

Connie

We loved the Princess Voyage of the Glaciers from Whittier (Anchorage) to Vancouver--7 days with stops in Seward, Ketchikan and Juneau. We loved the ship and the route. Definitely spring for a balcony as these cruises are all about the coastal scenery. Get a balcony on the land side.

eileyann

I vote HAL or Princess - both great. My advice is to take an "open jaw" flight; into Vancouver and out of Anchorage. Sun Country has the best prices on those by far. I would take the 7 day cruise and spend the rest of the time exploring inland for as much time as you have. You could see Denali in those 3-4 days or the Turnagain Arm. On the cruise I would get a Balcony so you won't have to miss a minute of scenery. I would get out at all of the ports, plot my own excursions to save money - maybe take one fantastic helicopter ride, see the glaciers, take a whitewater raft. And finally, Haines is the one place we missed that I will always regret. You get there from another port by train. I heard it was unforgettable in a land of amazing unforgettables.

simpsonc510

You should take a look at the site cruisecritic.com for an amazing amount of information!

eileyann

One last thing; Don't worry at all about dressing up but the food in the dining room is far superior to the buffet.( I swear the buffet is all leftovers from the fantastic meals served in the Dining room) Breakfast in the dining room is especially memorable. A gentle peaceful start to your next whirlwind day. But don't worry about dressing up- This is Alaska after all - Chino's and a nice sweater will do fine on the dressiest of nights. Do dress in layers for the unpredictable weather- Nice tshirt or polo with a fleece. And remember the pools are indoors and heated. 25 years is an amazing milestone and Alaska a worthy destination.

montereybob

I've done Princess in Alaska and found it to be a very good cruise. I agree that the extra money for a room with a balcony is well worth it. If your ship is going north, you'll want a room on the right (starboard) side of the ship as most of the beautiful scenery is on that side. Most cruises now offer alternatives to the super dress-up dinners so ask your cruise line or travel agent about this. A one-way cruise in Alaska in my opinion is preferable to a round trip.

AK_49er

We took Holland America from Vancouver BC to Seward AK this spring, May 31, 2009, and absolutely loved the trip. We were in the lower 48 for work and just decided to avoid the dreaded flight back home and opted for a cruise instead.
Now; being an Alaskan, I thought that I had seen the best of this wonderful state during my 34 years of travels here. I have been in most of the towns in South-East a number of times throughout the years but there is something magical about a cruise that makes the trip soooo extra special. It could have been the way the crew spoils you, or it could have been the 85 degree weather we experienced through so much of the voyage, but I believe its the totally care free, forget all your worries, let us do this for you, atmosphere that really allowed us to enjoy the tranquil, unspoiled scenery of the Alaskan coastline.
Connie suggests that you look at Princess for your trip and I agree. We speak to their passengers in Whittier every summer and have never heard anyone say they were disappointed. We will be able to compare these two closer this fall as we are taking our son back to college on the Coral Princess out of Whittier in Sept. He is a student at Eastern Washington University in Spokane WA.
Over the 4th, we were in Seward and spoke to the passengers getting off Celebrity's Millennium and again they were very open about their trip and how impressed they were with the service, dining, entertainment, and cleanliness of the ship. Also, Celebrity is, a for the most part, a smoke free cruise line. Although we had only a couple of instances where someone smoking caused us to leave an area, aft Lido pool area, if you are also a non smoker, Celebrity might be a better choice.
Notable upcoming itineraries for Alaska includes a 14 day Alaskan Adventurer Cruise. This cruise offers three new ports starting in 2010, Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak.
Would I cruise with Holland America again? In a heartbeat... We already booked a 10 day Christmas break Caribbean/Panama Cruise for Dec. 13th. and are looking at a repositioning cruise for spring.
As for the stateroom, again I agree with Connie. If you can afford it the rooms with a balcony or Veranda are great. If money is a concern, the window rooms are a great alternative as we found we spend so little time in the room it really was not that important. If the long days, daylight, bothers you for sleeping, the interior rooms solve that for you and can sometimes be a very good bargain.
For the most interesting and "bang for the buck" ports Rent a car from Avis in Skagway and take the 1.5 hour drive on the South Klondike Highway to Carcross Yukon or beyond. Take your passport as you will cross the border. A picnic lunch is also very fun and a word to everyone, places to eat are scarce on this drive, pick up the makings in Skagway before you leave town. We also stopped at Spirit Lake Wilderness Resort and at Emerald Lake for some outstanding photo opportunities. Everyone agreed that this was the highlight of the shore trips as it's non commercial and totally a frontier experience. The rental car, a Toyota Camery, only cost $129.00 for the day.

Miramar

I did an Alaska cruise last May on Princess and really enjoyed it. I had sailed Princess before and overall it is my favorite of the lines I've sailed (Carnival, Princess and Disney), though they all have their strong points. Supposedly, Princess and Holland America are the 2 strongest players in the Alaska market.
Do get a room with a balcony if at all possible. On Pricess there are 2 formal nights on 7 day cruises, but we found formal night in Alaska to be much less formal than formal nights on a Caribbean cruise, though hard core formal night enthusiasts will do their best convince you otherwise.
The ports we visited were Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway (Skagway was my personal favorite).

BudgetQueen

Your question is way to general. I instead suggest you find out about Alaska FIRST along with determining what routing- one way or round trip??? THEN find a ship. Do your homework, determine what ports are the most interest/activites, glacier preference??

Head to your library and take out Alaska by Cruiseship.

ncounty

Thanks as well for all the great information. I am looking forward to an Alaskan cruise in the future.

Connie

I agree with renting a car in Skagway. Even though I was set on doing the train, I had read a lot of reports here and on cruisecritic.com (awesome forum) about renting the car instead. Four of us were able to rent a car, stop whenever we wanted and drove further than the train went--and all for what ONE person would have paid for the train. You pretty much follow the same route.

Doing the cruise plus time inland is the best of both worlds. There is so much more to Alaska than just cruising along the coast. We've rented an RV twice for that and just loved it but that's not for everyone. The cruise lines do tours or you can rent a car or take the train and do it yourself. My favorite Alaskan excursion was a flightseeing tour out of Talkeetna over the mountains and glaciers--absolutely breathtaking.

Get on cruisecritic.com's forums and start reading. There's a lot more cruise info there from a lot of really nice people.

BudgetQueen

For clairfication, the Klondike Highway and White Pass are NOT the same route. Only about 3 miles is common view, with the scenery and viewing from the train, far superior.

There really isn't a lot of comparism betwwen a car rental and the train trip. The Train is loaded with history, superior scenery and engineering- narrow gage. Depends on your interests.

Connie

Do a search for opinions on both routes and then decide what appeals to you.

viktoriaB

We did the 11 nite Voyage of the Glaciers cruisetour on the Princess Sapphire in July 07. It was our first cruise,and we just LOVED it!!! I can't say enough wonderful things about Princess! We had an oceanview cabin, and it was fine, but everyone is right when they say to get a balcony room. We are now starting to plan another cruise for next May and will definitely have a balcony this time, but will probably go on the Princess Islander or Coral because I believe it will cost less for a balcony on those ships,according to the "tip" on page 85 of their '09 Alaska tours book. Anyway, we are not "dressy" people, either, and did not go to the Captain's Ball. We wore jeans the whole time except for our last night when we went to Sabatini's (which was great!). I know someone else told you the buffet was awful, but we disagree on that one. We ate there every night and loved it! We thought the food was great and presented beatifully! We thoroughly enjoyed sitting next to the window every day while we ate, looking out at the view.
Ports--Our FAVORITE shore excursion of all was out of Juneau. We flew on a floatplane over several glaciers and then to Taku Lodge, where a wonderful salmon dinner was prepared for the group. If I had died that day, I would have died a happy woman! This trip was expensive (it costs $399pp now), but we justified it as a once in a lifetime experience. It was definitely the highlight of our whole trip! We also did a whale watching boat trip,which was good, but I can't remember the exact name of that trip. For the life of me, I can't recall the other shore excursions we did in Skagway and Ketchikan, except for Totembight(sp?)Park in one of them, which was alright. If you do go to Denali, I recommend a whitewater rafting trip. That was a lot of fun! We stayed 2 nites at Denali and 2 in Fairbanks. We loved the Princess Denali Lodge! The grounds were beautiful!
Also, I know the ship had a nice casino, but we don't gamble, so we didn't spend any time in it.
Sorry this has been so lengthy, but I hope everyone's input has helped you. I wish you and your wife a Happy Anniversary, ahead of time!