Rest_Relaxation

This will be my first trip to Alaska and first ever cruise come to that! and I am trying to find the best way to include most things that I want to do. However, I have a funny feeling that I may need to do my trip in two parts, as my ever growing list of must-sees/dos is going to mean that I need to take a month off work and save around £15k!! :D

My absolute musts are to do a cruise (obviously) and see bears. I like the sound of HAL's 15-Day Yukon+Triple Denali cruise (cruise tour) and I wondered if anyone has done this trip and whether you see much wildlife (mainly bears)? The itinerary on their website is quite vague, so I would appreciate any reviews/feedback from anyone that's done it (or the 11,12 or 13 day one) I'm not sure whether I am better off arranging my own bear trip from Anchorage and then booking a cruise separately...however I notice that most cruises depart from Seattle or Vancouver.

I'm also a solo traveller and currently driving myself crazy trying to find an Alaskan cruise without a hefty single supplement. Unfortunately, as 1025cruise points out, I don't think there is one.

In my experience of extensive research, NCL seems to be the best for solo travellers and offer studios with an exclusive lounge area for people staying in these cabins. However, they are inside cabins and I'm guessing they will be quite small.

I appreciate that cruise lines can't be giving solo travellers a double occupancy room for nothing, but it really is quite soul destroying to have to pay for someone that isn't there!! They are basically saying find someone else or pay double!

I hope you have better luck than I have in your search.

Thank you Cruisingthesuitelife and hbgroadends for your kind words and helpful advice.

I think I have decided on mid to late June. I know you can never guarantee the weather and the chances of seeing wildlife, as these two things are both uncontrollable, but I'm hoping that mid to late June will increase my chances.

hbgroadends - I agree and a balcony is an absolute must for me. It will cost considerably more, but I feel that if I am going to do this holiday, then I want to do it properly!!

I have just purchased Fodor's 'the Complete Guide to Alaska Cruises', as I have been told it is invaluable. I have about 18 months to research and I personally feel the research and run up to a holiday is the best bit!

Like everyone has said, I think no matter who I end up booking with and when I go, I will love Alaska and I can't wait!! I just want to get it booked and start looking forward to it!! :D

Thank you to everybody for taking the time to respond.

Old As Dirt Mom – Apologies for all the questions and I guess I do have high expectations, but this will be my first cruise and in fact my first holiday for 6 years, since I have suffered ill health and so I guess I do want it to be as special as possible, because personally I feel I deserve it!! 😊 Although,I appreciate it may not be perfect. I would love to be closer so that I can do it yearly, but unfortunately living in the UK and so far from Alaska means I can’t necessarily afford to do it every year. I do appreciate the point you are getting at though and perhaps I am being a little overzealous for my first cruise! I just want to make the most of my money and make sure I do the main highlights.Thank you so much for all the info though and providing me with the link to the blog that your sister has put together, she’s certainly a very talented lady and that is so interesting!! Looking at the photos and reading through it just makes me want to go tomorrow!!!

Snowmc – Thank you also for the link to your blog and packing list (that is very helpful and I’ve heard layering is key!) It will make interesting reading.

I’m a bit all at sea (excuse the pun) with the itineraries and I’munsure what glacier to choose. Some include Tracy Arm, or Hubbard Glacier, some Glacier Bay and some Icy Strait Point. So I guess a good thing to ask would be, can anyone recommend must-sees out of those for my first ever Alaskan cruise?

Can anyone also recommend ‘must-do’ shore excursions?? I appreciate there are so many, but at least the top ones for Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

I realise that with Alaskan cruises, Alaska is the main attraction and I will probably not get much time to experience the ship and won’t care too much about nightlife, as I will probably be too tired!!

Firstly, I’ll tell you a little more about me. I’m 33, female, single(will possibly be travelling with friends, but most definitely have my owncabin) and this will be my first ever cruise. I’m not a great one for nightlife(however, if I went with friends, we would want a fairly decent level ofnightlife), but I love spas and chose an Alaskan cruise as I also love wildlife/animalsand sightseeing. I do love the luxuries in life (who doesn’t?!) and I wouldlove a fairly new and modern ship. I appreciate that not all ships/cruise linestravel to Alaska, so this also limits me somewhat. My budget is around £3-4k. Ihave suffered with ill health, so this cruise will be one of my bucket listthings and the trip of a life time, so money is not the be all and end all. However,I don’t have an unlimited amount to spend (I wish!)

Now that I’ve given you a little info about me, I’m hoping you guyscan answer the following questions:

• 
  
• What is the best time of the year for spotting wildlife? I really want to see as many animals as possible, but my main aim is to see bears and whales. I have read that late June/early July is the best time for this, but I’m also conscious that the weather might be worse. May is apparently the driest month, but no good for spotting bears, as they aren’t out of hibernation yet.
  

• 
  
• What is the best cruise line/ship? I appreciate this maybe like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’, but I have narrowed it down to Holland America, Celebrity and NCL. I did look at Oceania, but they were quite a lot more expensive than the other three. As mentioned above, I really like spas and modern cabins etc, so I don’t know if anyone can recommend a ship/cruise line well suited for this. I know that NCL are launching ‘Bliss’ in 2018 and this looks really nice, but I really want to fly into Vancouver and this only flies into Seattle.
  

I’d greatly appreciate any advice and love to hear about anyone’sexperience on an Alaskan cruise (hints and tips and advice on excursions too!).

Many thanks,

Firstly, I’ll tell you a little more about me. I’m 33, female, single(will possibly be travelling with friends, but most definitely have my owncabin) and this will be my first ever cruise. I’m not a great one for nightlife(however, if I went with friends, we would want a fairly decent level ofnightlife), but I love spas and chose an Alaskan cruise as I also love wildlife/animalsand sightseeing. I do love the luxuries in life (who doesn’t?!) and I wouldlove a fairly new and modern ship. I appreciate that not all ships/cruise linestravel to Alaska, so this also limits me somewhat. My budget is around £3-4k. Ihave suffered with ill health, so this cruise will be one of my bucket listthings and the trip of a life time, so money is not the be all and end all. However,I don’t have an unlimited amount to spend (I wish!)

Now that I’ve given you a little info about me, I’m hoping you guyscan answer the following questions:

• 
  
• What is the best time of the year for spotting wildlife? I really want to see as many animals as possible, but my main aim is to see bears and whales. I have read that late June/early July is the best time for this, but I’m also conscious that the weather might be worse. May is apparently the driest month, but no good for spotting bears, as they aren’t out of hibernation yet.
  

• 
  
• What is the best cruise line/ship? I appreciate this maybe like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’, but I have narrowed it down to Holland America, Celebrity and NCL. I did look at Oceania, but they were quite a lot more expensive than the other three. As mentioned above, I really like spas and modern cabins etc, so I don’t know if anyone can recommend a ship/cruise line well suited for this. I know that NCL are launching ‘Bliss’ in 2018 and this looks really nice, but I really want to fly into Vancouver and this only flies into Seattle.
  

I’d greatly appreciate any advice and love to hear about anyone’sexperience on an Alaskan cruise (hints and tips and advice on excursions too!).

Many thanks,

Hi Hank,

Thank you so much for your advice.

Sorry, I should have given more info. I'm looking to do a cruise in the Caribbean/Bahamas and to get me started I was thinking 8-10 days. I haven't holidayed in 6 years, so I am not too worried about it being a cheap holiday and I have kind of sussed that cruising isn't for the budget conscious! I guess about £2-3K for the cruise and flight. Then I guess there will be a lot more hidden costs. I did look at the treatment price list for NCL and the prices weren't too high, but I guessed they would naturally be more as they have a captive market. The only thing that worries me is I noticed they charge 18% service charge on treatments, so that adds a significant amount of money to each treatment.

I'm not a major party animal and don't mind my own company, but it would be nice to meet like minded people and possibly make some friends I can dine with etc. However, I'm a cruise virgin, so I have no idea whether that's likely.

From the research I've been doing already, I really like NCL, MSC and Princess. The only trouble with Princess is they charge pretty much the same for 2 adults as they do 1.

I'm a 33 year old single female and I have always wanted to take a cruise. Can anyone recommend a good cruise line for my age range and solo travellers?

Also, I really love spas, so if anyone can recommend a cruise line with the best spa facilities that would be great.