Solo to Alaska 2016

I've done 2 solos to Alaska - one on HAL and one on Carnival. Both were great. Met a few solos on both. Alaskan cruises are more about the destination than the ship, and people are more into the port excursions and activities than onboard goings on.

 

Roz

I just returned from a Princess Ruby cruise to Alaska and can't wait to go back. So all I have is knowledge about this Princess cruise regarding Alaska, although I have done European, Mediterranean, and Caribbean cruises. When cruising Alaska, everything starts way early in the morning. That being said, many people were pretty low keyed in the evenings on the ship after a day of sight seeing and excursions in the Alaska ports. Having traveled after most schools had started, it was a relief to me not to have a bunch ch of kids running around. There were indoor and outdoor movies, several lounges, several naturalist events (which greatly added to our cruise), and many other things to do if you were up to it. As a 54 year old who is very friendly, I had no problem drumming up conversations and buddies with whom to spend some free time. But I also found myself winding down after dinner on board lying in a lounge chair, covered with a blanket and eating popcorn, cookies and white Russians while waching Movies Under the Stars. I too are looking for another cruise to Alaska in 2016. Beth

Speaking as a photographer, I'd like to present an alternate viewpoint on SD card size. Even a "small" card is 8gig and can hold several hundred photographs. I would be nervous to put my entire trip on a single card (or even a single camera) which could be lost or fail to operate. I would bring 5 or 6 8gig cards and use a different card at every port of call.

In a way I agree, what I do is backup all the new pictures on a card to my laptop. But I don't erase the pictures on the card until after the trip when I also transfer them to my desktop.

I learnt my lesson when I went to a cousin's funeral with a smaller card, after transferring the pictures to the laptop I cleared the SD card so I would have room to take pictures at the reception. We will not go into the stupid mistake that caused me to lose the entire contents of the laptop, but if I had used a larger card or had multiple cards so I never erase the old SD card I would not lost my first shots. Of 144 photos of the funeral I was only able to recover 88 of them.

Having backup copies is important.

If you take more than 200 photographs in a single day, you may not be thinking about your composition. Take your time, focus, bracket, make every shot meaningful.

Well, I am a rank beginner in photography, and I am probably too busy to really learn how to take good photos. So I take as many as possible then go thru them later. I know it is me and not the camera, the girl I bought it off goes on camping trips with me and I have taken photos of the same locations/objects as she has with that very same camera. I can see how much better her shots are.

The exception is whale watching. If you've got the beastie in your sights, focus, hold steady, and set the camera to capture multiple frames. That improves your chances of getting lucky. Use a "Class 10" or higher card so the camera doesn't need to wait for the card.

This I finds applies to all sea mammals, Whales, Killer Whales, Seals and even Sea Otters move too fast to spend time trying to get the best shot, just keep shooting and sooner or later you will get a great photo to show off. In-fact I like using the movie mode of my camera, the resolution is lower but you have a far better chance of catching a breach or the sprout for the blowholes.

Hope it's not bad forum manners to resurrect a several-month-old thread, but it's on point - I'm in the market for a solo cruise to Alaska this summer 2016. I've narrowed it down to Princess and NCL, Memorial Day weekend departures for itineraries that include Glacier Bay. (I'm thinking the Norwegian Sun's cruise from Vancouver to Seward or the Coral Princess from Seattle to Seward.)

I do hope one of Norwegian's ships with its studio cabins will someday be located somewhere other than the Caribbean. I'm not a big "beach cruise" person, and the single supplements do put quite a dent in the budget.

Hope it's not bad forum manners to resurrect a several-month-old thread, but it's on point - I'm in the market for a solo cruise to Alaska this summer 2016. I've narrowed it down to Princess and NCL, Memorial Day weekend departures for itineraries that include Glacier Bay. (I'm thinking the Norwegian Sun's cruise from Vancouver to Seward or the Coral Princess from Seattle to Seward.)

 

I do hope one of Norwegian's ships with its studio cabins will someday be located somewhere other than the Caribbean. I'm not a big "beach cruise" person, and the single supplements do put quite a dent in the budget.

I know what you mean. I'm excited to try those new NCL solo cabins, but I don't have much interest in traveling solo to the Caribbean. The new HAL ship, Koningsdam, has solo cabins and that has itineraries to Norway during the summer, so I made an early reservation on that ship for June 2017! Unfortunately, it's much, MUCH more expensive than an NCL solo cabin in the Caribbean. My solo cabin is a whopping 172 square feet, and is oceanview. But it's on the lower deck, all the way forward.

But... fjords! :)

Hope it's not bad forum manners to resurrect a several-month-old thread, but it's on point - I'm in the market for a solo cruise to Alaska this summer 2016. I've narrowed it down to Princess and NCL, Memorial Day weekend departures for itineraries that include Glacier Bay. (I'm thinking the Norwegian Sun's cruise from Vancouver to Seward or the Coral Princess from Seattle to Seward.)

 

I do hope one of Norwegian's ships with its studio cabins will someday be located somewhere other than the Caribbean. I'm not a big "beach cruise" person, and the single supplements do put quite a dent in the budget.

I'm not a beach person either. So I'm always looking at cruises in other areas.

I keep hoping NCL and Princess will add "single" rooms and lower their prices. I believe they would get more "solo's" cruising if they did so. It is having to pay double that keeps us away!

I ended up on Sun in AK several years ago when denied B2B on Solstice to Hawaii after Alaska due to PSVA. Marginal experience is a polite term. Especially poor food, few amenities\ on older ship. Consider Princess or Celebrity for a better experience.

I ended up on Sun in AK several years ago when denied B2B on Solstice to Hawaii after Alaska due to PSVA. Marginal experience is a polite term. Especially poor food, few amenities\ on older ship. Consider Princess or Celebrity for a better experience.

Oh dear. Welp, already in the process of booking, so the Sun is pretty much the done deal. (Limited choices due to my available vacation days and how late it got approved.) Thanks for the warning, I guess just wish me luck!

I was looking into Princess for a longer cruisetour. I don't mind going solo, but I think I may be SIGNIFICANTLY younger than their demographic. I will be 41 at that time.

It would be HAL where your age would matter, not Princess.

Princess and HAL have pretty much the same demographics in Alaska. When cruising solo, price is more important to me than the age of the other passengers on the ship.

Roz

Princess and HAL have pretty much the same demographics in Alaska. When cruising solo, price is more important to me than the age of the other passengers on the ship.

 

 

 

Roz

I ended up booking princess just as a cruise, and a land tour in Alaska with globus. Price was a hugely important factor, but not just keeping the price low-- seeing what I wanted (glacier bay, Denali, Kenai) for the lowest price possible.

Hey Denatravels, I just noticed you're doing a Koningsdam sail of northern isles and Viking sagas. Is that terribly expensive as a single, or do you have a roommate? Those kinds of trips are just too out of my league as a single traveler. Did you use a TA? Sure would like to know and would appreciate any help. Thanks and happy journeys, Beth

Princess and HAL have pretty much the same demographics in Alaska. When cruising solo, price is more important to me than the age of the other passengers on the ship.

 

Roz

Roz, I'm with you regarding the price of a cruise vs. the age of the other passengers.

I love Alaska and have cruised solo 2 times (once with family) and looking to book a 4th trip there this summer. I've cruised solo with RC and HAL and had good experiences with both. I'm glad I found this thread because I was on the fence about trying a new line. I liked the HAL so leaning towards that one but now going to look into others mentioned here. Like a few have said, price matters more than age.

I just returned from my solo cruise to Alaska on the Sun (Vancouver to Seward, 5/30-6/6) and had a wonderful experience. The single supplement for a midship balcony was hefty, but well worth it. For dining, I didn't share any tables - just always was in an introverted mood by dinner time in the MDR - and that was never a problem - I was seated immediately at a two-top, often with an excellent view, and also had no trouble with a table for one at the specialty restaurants. My steward was very attentive and I never felt less than appreciated and looked after by the staff.