Doitforlove

Thanks mapleleaves! That’s very helpful!

Hello,

My partner (whose name is Denali 😊) and I are planning to go on an Alaskan trip for roughly two weeks in August 2020 to celebrate his 32nd Birthday and us paying off all our debt! This might also turn into a honeymoon trip but that has not been set in stone yet 😄

We are generally very frugal but since this is a large celebratory trip we are not necessarily looking for the "cheaper" option. 

As of now our plan is to cruise NCL for one week and then add on a week exploring the interior of the state. I wanted to see if anyone had any perspective on going on a cruise tour vs planning your own itinerary. We are in our late 20s/early 30s so I'm mostly concerned that we will be the youngest people on the tour by several decades. Nothing inherently wrong with that but we aren't sure what the pace/vibe is like on an Alaskan cruise tour so was hoping to get someone's experience who has done one. When visiting Denali National Park how much quality time is actually spent there?

For people who have done an interior experience on their own - was it easy to plan and navigate? We are specifically interested in spending a decent amount of time hiking in Denali National Park but haven't really done any other research on other places we'd like to see. We know we want to spend at least one day doing white water rafting as well. 

I live in Jersey City and I take a ride share (uber/lyft). You’re on vacation why lug your bags through public transit? There are risks of bad traffic no matter what airport you fly into. Make sure you get an early flight if you plan to arrive day of. I personally prefer Newark but I’m biased because it’s less than 15 minutes from where I live. 

I enjoy being able to visit many places and only unpacking once. I also live close to a port (NYC) and its nice to be on vacation immediately without the hassle of flying.

I buy the spa pass ahead of time for the discount since we always know we will get it. I’m sailing for NYE and had to call for spa passes on Escape. I’ve had a lot of issues with using myncl for booking things - I could book everything I couldn’t do online over the phone.

Even if it was possible I wouldn’t want to add that stress at the end of the trip. I would book a late afternoon flight.

On the mega ships midship deck ten to be close to the bars/waterfront but in between cabins.

My family probably thinks I’m a psycho planner

I’m named after my grandmother who is affectionately called General Jennie and I think my family may be calling me that now behind my back too.

I’m a compulsive planner when it comes to vacations. My current obsession is my NYE cruise on the Escape. My entire nuclear family is going (my parents, siblings and their sigificant others and my partner of 9 years). I booked everyone’s cabins including selecting locations in a way where my siblings and I are in a triangular pattern in order to be relatively close together but not close enough to be uncomfortable. We are closer to the bars on deck 8. My parents are booked on a deck closer to the pool deck as that’s where they like to spend most of their time. Everything is being charged to my credit card and each group is paying me back so I have a spreadsheet for all venmo transactions including date received and date payment applied to card.

When it comes to dining I’ve had a spreadsheet for each day and what restaurant we’ll be eating at indicating attendees. My partner and I have speciality dining for all nine nights while other family members are just doing the free 3 nights. We are planning speciality family meals for our sea days. So we had to get agreement on which three restaurants (Cagneys, Teppanyaki and La Cucina) which took AGES to get everyone to agree on. For the other six nights had to work out what day the other meal at Teppanyaki would be with my brother and his girlfriend (making sure they weren’t two close!) The rest of the meals are just me and my boyfriend. I’ve had him “sign off” on probably three different versions (he thinks I’m nuts and constantly tells me he doesn’t care LOL).

I have tentative schedules for each day. Since this is a one off nine day cruise I won’t have dailies to obsess over so I’ve just accepted I’ll have to go with the flow.

Ports I’m more lax about, I have a general sense of what I want to do (Kennedy Space Center, Swamp Airboat, beach days (maybe snorkeling)) and will book things as we get closer.

The other thing I’m thinking about is my cat in preparation for leaving her for over a week with my Nana. I need to provide detailed instructions (probably overboard she takes care of herself mostly).

I’m not loyal to NCL but I do like the UBP being included, freestyle dining, and the waterfront on the larger ships. My partner appreciates not having to dress up too much as well

Since they have so many cruises sailing out of my home port (NYC) I’ll stick with them for now. May shake it up to trying Royal again on one of their mega ships next year.

Definitely the green tea cake at Tepanyakki.

 

The specialties are smaller, service is always better, and the noise level is [usually] much less. We are much more relaxed therefore we enjoy our meal so much more and I never leave with a headache. :D

Yes this is my experience too. When I’m on vacation I want a relaxing experience and the MDRs and buffet are too chaotic for that. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one dining at a speciality restaurant (and several times have actually been surrounded by empty tables).

I find the speciality restaurants to have slightly better food but overall the atmosphere is what draws me back.

We do speciality dining every night of the cruise. I just have better experiences than the MDR and the cost is insignificant to me.

We are sailing on Escape for NYE for 9 nights and I’m looking forward to trying out all the speciality restaurants in one trip.

We like to get there around 10:30/11 so we board fairly early but not the first ones on board. Then we head to box office to book entertainment and then MDR for drinks and lunch.

Always do drinks and dining!

I would spring for spa passes if you want an adult only area out of the sun. We have LOVED our experiences in the thermal suite.

My partner does not handle sun well so we always opt for indoor or shaded outdoor areas. We are big fans of the waterfront bar areas as well for when we want to be outside. Usually few if any children and great shaded ocean views. We plan to split our time on sea days between spa and waterfront on our upcoming New Year’s cruise.

Enjoy your adventure! Can’t wait to read all about it as this experience nears the top of my vacation wish list.

We like to board early if possible. Grab a drink at the Mixx Bar and eat a leisurely lunch at Savor/Taste. Nothing starts a vacation better!

There is a couple we know who don't have kids and don't want to be around kids when they cruise. They have tried most major cruise lines (love cruising), and to my surprise Disney is their favorite line as they say Disney of all the lines is best at keeping kids out of adult only areas. I would have never have even imagined them even going on a Disney cruise.

This was actually my experience as well. I’m not sure if their kids clubs are so good that they manage to keep the kids in one area of the ship for the most part? Or if they just actually enforce adult only areas but my experience on DCL was fantastic.

On my last cruise my partner and I brought two RTIC each (cheaper version of Yeti). One for water and one for other. We used them to always have cold water and bring alcoholic beverages into the spa and keep them cold.

You are not locked in.

Anyone know if the puzzles are different on every ship or is it the same game across the fleet?

We really enjoyed it on the Breakaway.

I have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney and Norwegian.

Out of all of them my best experience was probably Disney for service, entertainment, adult only areas (it was odd I honestly felt like I rarely was around children) and the unique rotational dining experience. However, I sailed on a $70/night cast member rate and would never pay the going rate. I mean it’s a great experience but not $1000/night great so have never sailed again.

I find Royal, Carnival and Norwegian to be fairly similar in terms of mega ship offerings with some different bells and whistles but overall being fairly equal all things considered when it comes to food, service, entertainment and having the ability to avoid children. (I don’t dislike children but when I’m on vacation I do prefer as little interaction as possible).

What makes NCL win for me every time is the combination of the free drink package and freestyle dining. Also the thermal spa is amazing!!! I only wish they had bar service.

Editing to add the waterfront is also a really great unique feature that the NCL breakaway and breakaway plus ships have that I enjoy immensely.

I don't think there's much to do in Bermuda at night but I may be wrong. I would try to attend both because they were both fantastic. I know my boyfriend would 100% pick Rock of Ages over Burn the Floor only because it's more his "style". He was confused for a performer multiple times on our cruise by staff and passengers alike :')

Was just on Breakaway it's Fat Cats.

Sailing 4/23 on Breakaway to Bermuda. Booked Oceanview OA cabin. Bid $50/pp for balcony upgrade and $100/pp for mini-suite upgrade. Both in poor range both rejected.

As much as I don't want to advertise the greatness of the VIBE, so that it doesn't become incredibly popular, it was SO worth it. It's like child birth (maybe not quite that bad), you forget all about it when you hold that baby (frozen mudslide while sitting on a lounge chair watching New York go by while you look up to see all the crowds around the railings. :)

I believe that! :') We opted for spa passes - if only there was a bar!!