Background: I'm 38 and my spouse is 43, we have two children 8 and 5. We don't cruise heavily, I've been on 4 cruises total - One NCL when I was a teen and three Carnival as an adult, all before Covid, all without children. Honestly, for the value and experience, I wouldn't even be switching away from Carnival but for our next cruise I would like to go to Alaska and I think that a cruise tour makes the most sense which Carnival does not offer. I'm considering both Holland America and Princess.
We have only ever sailed on the Spirit Class ships from Carnival (88K / ~2,000 passengers). I don't think I would be interested in ships all that much larger than that. My ideal sea day on Carnival would include waking up early to room service coffee & fruit to eat on our balcony, heading to the gym to run or cycle for half an hour, using the fitness center shower and sauna before getting ready for the day. Next would be brunch at the main dining room. In the afternoon we'd likely hang out in the adult only area or our balcony. We would be going to afternoon tea in the MDR. We are very much into the shows and like to catch the earlier show and have the late set dining time in the MDR. Our wait staff have always been a highlight of a cruise and I much prefer set dining times to have the same wait staff every night. After dinner, we like to go to the Piano Bar or Comedy show most nights. I really value how much of this is included in the cruise fare on Carnival and don't like feeling like we are being "nickel and dimed" we aren't heavy drinkers, but usually get a package of 3 bottles of wine to have in the MDR in addition to our 2 bottles we bring on for in-room use.
While I haven't cruised with my children, I would like to have the kids join us for meals and wouldn't mind if they were in the kid clubs during the day while we had some adult time. My children are very used to going to restaurants and shows at home and would do just fine with a later dinner time.
Any thoughts about what would be the best option for an Alaska Cruise Tour for me?
Background: I'm 38 and my spouse is 43, we have two children 8 and 5. We don't cruise heavily, I've been on 4 cruises total - One NCL when I was a teen and three Carnival as an adult, all before Covid, all without children. Honestly, for the value and experience, I wouldn't even be switching away from Carnival but for our next cruise I would like to go to Alaska and I think that a cruise tour makes the most sense which Carnival does not offer. I'm considering both Holland America and Princess. We have only ever sailed on the Spirit Class ships from Carnival (88K / ~2,000 passengers). I don't think I would be interested in ships all that much larger than that. My ideal sea day on Carnival would include waking up early to room service coffee & fruit to eat on our balcony, heading to the gym to run or cycle for half an hour, using the fitness center shower and sauna before getting ready for the day. Next would be brunch at the main dining room. In the afternoon we'd likely hang out in the adult only area or our balcony. We would be going to afternoon tea in the MDR. We are very much into the shows and like to catch the earlier show and have the late set dining time in the MDR. Our wait staff have always been a highlight of a cruise and I much prefer set dining times to have the same wait staff every night. After dinner, we like to go to the Piano Bar or Comedy show most nights. I really value how much of this is included in the cruise fare on Carnival and don't like feeling like we are being "nickel and dimed" we aren't heavy drinkers, but usually get a package of 3 bottles of wine to have in the MDR in addition to our 2 bottles we bring on for in-room use. While I haven't cruised with my children, I would like to have the kids join us for meals and wouldn't mind if they were in the kid clubs during the day while we had some adult time. My children are very used to going to restaurants and shows at home and would do just fine with a later dinner time. Any thoughts about what would be the best option for an Alaska Cruise Tour for me?