Infinity or Mercury to Alaska?

There are 26 of us going to Alaska on Celebrity in June 2005. I was all set to book our Alaskan cruise on Infinity when my brother calls and asks if leaving from Seattle would be better value. My family is letting me decide the cruise for everybody. I have cruised on Mercury and will cruise on Infinity. There are only two of us on this cruise who have been to Alaska. Does anybody have a preference?

Thank you for your help.

I would like some insight before I have to book this cruise.

A couple things to consider:

--Infinity's revised AK itinerary does not include Skagway; Mercury's does. I don't know anything about Sitka, which is now on Infinity's itinerary instead, but we enjoyed Skagway most of all when we sailed Infinity to AK last year -- it's the gateway to the Yukon Gold Rush route; many take the train, we rented a car and drove into the Yukon. I would have hated to miss that.

--Because of the Vancouver departure, Infinity cruises the Inside Passage in both directions. Mercury is listed as only cruising the IP on the way back. If it's really in the more open seas on the way up, things may be a bit rougher, and less scenic. We found the IP absolutely drop-dead gorgeous in both directions, and the seas quite calm (though we certainly don't mind rough seas since none of us are seasickness-prone).

Just a couple things I'd consider. As for the ships ... we've been on both now and they're both quite spectacular, although I am developing an addiction for the C-class (century, mercury, galaxy) thalassotherapy pools ... the free one on Infinity was no comparison ... but that wouldn't be a dealbreaker!

TR

Millennium 12/12/04

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Mercury 4/04, Infinity 8/03, Century 3/03 & 9/02

Thank you for your reply. We booked Mercury because it was one hundred dollars cheaper for our family. We will be leaving from your city of Seattle in June 2005. We booked Plaza deck so hopefully this deck will be more stable in rough seas. I hope we don't have to worry about that next year.