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Is it worth it or not?


Alaskan Joe
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I have been eye balling a 14 day cruise to Alaska. aboard the Carnival Splendor. I have done a mock booking and when all is said and done the total cruise amount is $6,623.10 for two. This would come out to around $473 pp per night. I also have been looking at RCCL (we think RCCL is a couple steps ahead of Carnival). However there is only one cruise that starts and finishes in the same port :(, and this is aboard the Explorer of the Seas. Also this cruise is only 7 days and comes out to $4,946.60 for two which means its around $707 pp per day:(. So what do you guys think, is it worth it or not to do the 14 day sailing?

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I have been eye balling a 14 day cruise to Alaska. aboard the Carnival Splendor. I have done a mock booking and when all is said and done the total cruise amount is $6,623.10 for two. This would come out to around $473 pp per night. I also have been looking at RCCL (we think RCCL is a couple steps ahead of Carnival). However there is only one cruise that starts and finishes in the same port :(, and this is aboard the Explorer of the Seas. Also this cruise is only 7 days and comes out to $4,946.60 for two which means its around $707 pp per day:(. So what do you guys think, is it worth it or not to do the 14 day sailing?

hmm..

 

Something is wrong with your math.

$6623 for a 14 day cruise comes out to $237 per person per day.

$4946 for a 7 day cruise is $353 pp per day.

OR You could stay in an oceanview on Splendor for $142 pp per day - total of aprox $4,000

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Yes, the Carnival price is very good. We have done three Alaska cruises on three different cruise lines. We had a great time on all of them. But my wife and both agree that the 14 day cruise last August on the Holland America Maasdam was the best due to the fantastic itinerary. It was round trip from Seattle. You can see pictures my wife took for her website at the link below

 

Alaska 14 day cruise round trip from Seattle

 

There are 14 day Alaska cruises round trip from Seattle available now. The prices are very reasonable depending on what type of stateroom you want and the date you select. Here is a link you might want to look at

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacations/FindCruises?destCode=A&regionCode=A,GB1,HUB,TAC&durationCode=9_16&page=0

 

Ignore the people who will say stay away from HAL because they say it's a floating senior center. We saw families on our cruise. Do what you want to do. It's your cruise. Happy sailing!

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Have you looked at the specifics of the itinerary? They are not the same. Do you have any preference in what you want to see and do? There are far more options then what you are looking at.

 

"Only one cruise that starts and finishes in one port" ?? There are numerous cruises that do this, what are you looking at?

 

Do you have any glacier preferences? Know the details of your choices? This really isn't the itinerary to just pick a ship then figure out later what you want to do. Know ahead of time.

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hmm..

 

Something is wrong with your math.

$6623 for a 14 day cruise comes out to $237 per person per day.

$4946 for a 7 day cruise is $353 pp per day.

OR You could stay in an oceanview on Splendor for $142 pp per day - total of aprox $4,000

 

OOPS:o your right I did put PP per day and its Per day for both.

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Have you looked at the specifics of the itinerary? They are not the same. Do you have any preference in what you want to see and do? There are far more options then what you are looking at.

 

"Only one cruise that starts and finishes in one port" ?? There are numerous cruises that do this, what are you looking at?

 

Do you have any glacier preferences? Know the details of your choices? This really isn't the itinerary to just pick a ship then figure out later what you want to do. Know ahead of time.

 

What I mean by one cruise is on RCCL there are multiple cruises listed but only one of them starts and finishes in the same port (Seattle), you just pick a date all the same itinerary!

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Yes, the Carnival price is very good. We have done three Alaska cruises on three different cruise lines. We had a great time on all of them. But my wife and both agree that the 14 day cruise last August on the Holland America Maasdam was the best due to the fantastic itinerary. It was round trip from Seattle. You can see pictures my wife took for her website at the link below

 

Alaska 14 day cruise round trip from Seattle

 

There are 14 day Alaska cruises round trip from Seattle available now. The prices are very reasonable depending on what type of stateroom you want and the date you select. Here is a link you might want to look at

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacations/FindCruises?destCode=A&regionCode=A,GB1,HUB,TAC&durationCode=9_16&page=0

 

Ignore the people who will say stay away from HAL because they say it's a floating senior center. We saw families on our cruise. Do what you want to do. It's your cruise. Happy sailing!

 

We have not booked HAL for this exact reason, people calling it the floating senior center. I was told on my last cruise on princess that sometime between 9-10pm ITS LIGHTS OUT! So if you into the night life forget it.

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I have been eye balling a 14 day cruise to Alaska. aboard the Carnival Splendor. I have done a mock booking and when all is said and done the total cruise amount is $6,623.10 for two. This would come out to around $473 pp per night. I also have been looking at RCCL (we think RCCL is a couple steps ahead of Carnival). However there is only one cruise that starts and finishes in the same port :(, and this is aboard the Explorer of the Seas. Also this cruise is only 7 days and comes out to $4,946.60 for two which means its around $707 pp per day:(. So what do you guys think, is it worth it or not to do the 14 day sailing?

 

We are taking the initial Carnival Journeys cruise aboard the Miracle this September. The cruise goes to the usual 7 day stops but the 14 day one will stop at a couple of ports Carnival has never been to. Our cost for an OV is around $4000.000. for two. I think its a good price for an Alaska 14 day sailing. Curious, what cabin costs the $4946.00 and $6600.00? There are many 7 day sailings returning to the port of departure.

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I have been eye balling a 14 day cruise to Alaska. aboard the Carnival Splendor. I have done a mock booking and when all is said and done the total cruise amount is $6,623.10 for two. This would come out to around $473 pp per night. I also have been looking at RCCL (we think RCCL is a couple steps ahead of Carnival). However there is only one cruise that starts and finishes in the same port :(, and this is aboard the Explorer of the Seas. Also this cruise is only 7 days and comes out to $4,946.60 for two which means its around $707 pp per day:(. So what do you guys think, is it worth it or not to do the 14 day sailing?

 

 

I assume you guys are pricing out a suite? None of the sailings seem to be priced that high otherwise. Also curious why are you limiting yourself to closed loop sailings only? The cost of 2 passports is insignificant in comparison to a $6,600 cruise? Not sure that plane fare will be too different either.

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We have not booked HAL for this exact reason, people calling it the floating senior center. I was told on my last cruise on princess that sometime between 9-10pm ITS LIGHTS OUT! So if you into the night life forget it.

 

On an Alaska cruise, night life has no attraction for us. Also, the demographics didn't matter to us. We booked this cruise for its unique port intensive itinerary below. We saw more on this Alaska cruise than we ever saw before. It surpassed our expectations.

 

01 Seattle – Point of Departure

02 Aug Scenic cruising Vancouver Island

03 Aug Ketchikan, Alaska

04 Aug Scenic Cruising Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier

05 Aug Juneau, Alaska

06 Aug Icy Strait Point, Alaska

07 Aug At Sea

08 Aug Anchorage, Alaska

09 Aug Homer, Alaska

10 Aug Kodiak, Alaska

11 Aug Scenic cruising Hubbard Glacier

12 Aug Sitka, Alaska

13 Aug At Sea

14 Aug Victoria,BC, Canada

Aug 15 Seattle,Washington

Enjoy your cruise

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I have been eye balling a 14 day cruise to Alaska. aboard the Carnival Splendor. I have done a mock booking and when all is said and done the total cruise amount is $6,623.10 for two. This would come out to around $473 pp per night. I also have been looking at RCCL (we think RCCL is a couple steps ahead of Carnival). However there is only one cruise that starts and finishes in the same port :(, and this is aboard the Explorer of the Seas. Also this cruise is only 7 days and comes out to $4,946.60 for two which means its around $707 pp per day:(. So what do you guys think, is it worth it or not to do the 14 day sailing?

 

 

To me, no way Jose. I did a 14 night cruise on the NCL Sun 2 years ago and is cost $1,099 per person in an OV cabin. First misconception is that everyone MUST have a balcony in Alaska. Not even close to being true. I simply went up to the deck and watched the world go by and when I got cold, I went inside and looked out my window. Saved about $4,000 on this trip by forgoing a balcony. Second is that one must do a 14 night closed loop cruise. I did a 7 night northbound followed by a 7 night southbound. Some ports were the same, some were different. I was happy that some were the same because we missed two things heading northbound (high winds and fog) that we were able to see southbound.

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I agree that a 14 night closed loop cruise is not necessary unless you want to visit a lot of different ports all on one cruise which we did last August to celebrate our anniversary.

 

On our second Alaska cruise, we did a 7 day southbound route from Seward to Vancouver that visited 4 different ports. It was very enjoyable.

Happy sailing wherever you go!

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On an Alaska cruise, night life has no attraction for us. Also, the demographics didn't matter to us. We booked this cruise for its unique port intensive itinerary below. We saw more on this Alaska cruise than we ever saw before. It surpassed our expectations.

 

01 Seattle – Point of Departure

02 Aug Scenic cruising Vancouver Island

03 Aug Ketchikan, Alaska

04 Aug Scenic Cruising Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier

05 Aug Juneau, Alaska

06 Aug Icy Strait Point, Alaska

07 Aug At Sea

08 Aug Anchorage, Alaska

09 Aug Homer, Alaska

10 Aug Kodiak, Alaska

11 Aug Scenic cruising Hubbard Glacier

12 Aug Sitka, Alaska

13 Aug At Sea

14 Aug Victoria,BC, Canada

Aug 15 Seattle,Washington

Enjoy your cruise

 

We are doing the sept 2017 Alaska yourney. Quite a few sea days so night life will be importantto us

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We have not booked HAL for this exact reason, people calling it the floating senior center. I was told on my last cruise on princess that sometime between 9-10pm ITS LIGHTS OUT! So if you into the night life forget it.

 

 

Expect the Carnival cruise to be similar. Our Carnival HI cruises had a very similar pax ratio as our HAL and Princess cruises.

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We've cruised Alaska 3 times and love it up there! Absolutely stunning views and beautiful ports.

 

First one was on Princess Sapphire in a mini suite. Great ship, but don't waste money on a balcony. Once your cruise is on it's way, it will be cold or rainy or both and you won't sit out there. A lot of people think you will enjoy the glaciers better from your own balcony. Nope. The best view is from either the outside promenade deck or just about any outdoor public space. The ship will spend an hour near the glacier and slowly rotate for about an hour. If you sit on your own balcony, you will miss half of the view while you are facing away. Great mix of all ages on this ship as it was only a 7 day cruise.

 

Second cruise was on HAL Amsterdam for a 14 day RT out of Seattle going to 8 ports. LOVED all of the new ports we saw. I can confirm that the majority of the guests on this ship were well over 60 and retired. We had open dining and never sat with anyone younger than us until the 6th night. We were 52 at the time. And yes, I can also confirm that everyone was tucked in their cabins by 9:00 every night with their scooter's parked in the hallway. My husband and I joked that we could have run naked in the hallways at 9:30 and not run into any other guests. We went up to the Crow's night around 9:00 to listen to the band. Other than the band, the bartenders and other HAL staff, there were only 4 other people up there. With all of this, we would still go on HAL again to Alaska. We booked that cruise about 5 weeks out from sailing and only paid $799 PP for a 14 day cruise! We couldn't get a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean for that price. We did an oceanview for this cruise and felt it was a great decision.

 

Our third cruise was on the Princess Sapphire again for a 14 day B2B cruise from Vancouver to Whittier and back. Again in an oceanview cabin. My only complaint was not having a sofa in our cabin. Sitting on the bed to watch TV was back-breaking.

 

My suggestion is to save as much as you can on the actual cruise fare, then spend it on shore excursions! Oceanview cabins get really cheap the closer you get to sailing time, so if you're flexible with your time, don't book too far in advance.

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