momto3gr8boys

We leave for our cruisetour in just a few weeks. We are a family of five (three boys ages 21, 19, 16), and have the following excursions booked. I was just wondering if anyone has done any of these and what your experience was. We still have a little time to change things if anything is really a bust. On our last Alaskan cruise we did the Deadliest Catch, Yukon, and helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier, so no need to repeat those. Thanks!

Talkeetna Zip Line Adventure

Husky Homestead Tour

Tundra Wilderness Tour

Glacier Point Wilderness Safari (Skagway)

Alaska's Whales & Mendenhall Glacier Trail (Juneau)

Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show (Ketchikan)

Totem Bight State Park Tour (Ketchikan)

The only cruise line that has a true queen (not 2 twins pushed together) is Disney Cruise Line.

True, and while I do love a real queen on DCL, it causes problems when my kids (teenage boys now) want separate beds in their cabins like on the "other cruises".

We last cruised to Alaska in 2009. Not only did we have towel animals every day, but one day I walked across the hall into my kids' cabin to find our cabin steward teaching them how to make towel animals! They had about a dozen of them. So they do (or did) do them at certain times.

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Thank you all for your thoughts and input. We are leaning toward the Danube, but I don't think we will go wrong with whatever we choose! I look forward to hanging out in this section of cruise critic while we plan our trip!

Hi,

We are in the early planning stages for a fall 2018 river cruise. We are currently looking into an Adventures by Disney adult only food and wine Rhine cruise or an Oktoberfest Danube cruise. The food and wine is on the AmaKristina and the Oktoberfest is on the AmaViola. Each hits the following ports:

Food and Wine:

Basel, Switzerland

Strasbourg, France (overnight)

Mannheim, Germany

Rudesheim, Germany

Cologne, Germany

Amsterdam, Netherlands (overnight)

Oktoberfest:

Munich, Germany

Vilshofen, Germany

Passau, Germany

Linz, Austria

Melk, Austria

Vienna, Austria

Bratislava, Slovakia

Budapest, Hungary (overnight)

For those of you familiar with both areas, which would you choose and are there any issues/advantages of one itinerary over the other? I read the "New to River Cruising" articles above and did read the article on choosing the Rhine or Danube, and I think I know which way I'm leaning. But I'd love to hear experiences from those of you who have sailed these rivers and visited these ports. Thanks!

We are booked on a July 8th cruise out of Whittier and received an upsell offer a few weeks ago. We have three cabins booked, and all three got the email. The last time I cruised in Alaska the move offer came around the same time. So based on that, I would assume you just haven't been assigned yet and they are finalizing the upsells to see what is left.

I have scanned them all. They are too big to upload here and I checked photobucket but that only allows uploads of photos. Any other suggestions? I would be happy to email them to folks too, just let me know your address and I will send them off.

I would love a set! My email is ccookie49@gmail.com Thank you so much for doing this!!

I have just finished a call to Princess about this email before I read your replies. He said he had received 100's of queries. The rep told me that it was a glitch in their system and I had completed all info required on the Presonalizer. Take no further action.

Thanks for finding out. I also got the same email, but my cruise personalizer is complete. Glad to hear it's a glitch.

If you have a current booking, can a sale be applied or do you need to cancel and rebook? Our sailing is pretty full, so I wonder if they would even have any specials, and we have two cabins (adjoining), so I'd be nervous cancelling to rebook. Any advice? Thanks.

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We are going on the Star Princess this summer. First time. I am under the belief they have a covered pool too.

Yes, the Star does have a covered pool. My kids swam several times despite the weather - it was colder than normal when we were in Alaska.

Usually you need to pay port charges for the baby, so it shouldn't be as much as a full cruise fare, but they are still considered passengers in the passenger count.

I'm glad you had a great cruise! As for number 3, I agree. We have cruised on Disney from 1999 until this past year. Last year's cruise had a much more casual vibe in the dining room than in the past. I'm not completely sure how I feel about it because I do like to dress a little nicer for dinner, but I agree that you can definitely get away with very casual attire on DCL.

You will need to take a shuttle to any of them. The shuttles are lined up right outside the terminal, so just go with whichever company you can get the best deal from.

Our first Alaska cruise was on Princess and my kids were 13, 11 and 8 at the time. After a lot of research we decided to go with Princess since they got great reviews for Alaska. The kids clubs were great and relatable to Alaska...my 8 year old was dissecting squids and learning all sorts of things specific to our destination. The naturalist presentations were also appropriate for all age groups as well. They loved meeting Libby Riddles and her dogs, and were able to swim since the Star had a covered pool even though it was cool out. There were a bunch of kids on board. Probably not as many as a Disney cruise, but many more than any of our experiences on other lines (RCCL and Celebrity).

We have chosen to sail Princess again this summer and add on a land portion as well.

The excursion offerings are very similar on all the ships. I would go with availability (believe it or not it's getting late to book for this summer depending on what type of cabins you want) and itinerary and a line that is known to be strong for an Alaskan itinerary. From what I have found, Princess and HAL seem to fit that bill.

Hi. We have two nights booked at both the Princess Denali and Mt. McKinley lodges as part of our cruisetour in July. We currently have the Natural History tour booked as part of our package for the full day in Denali. I am planning on upgrading this tour.

My question is in regards to the rest of our time at the lodges. Are there any offerings aside from official tours, such as onsite activities at all? I don't want to overschedule us ahead of time, but I also don't want to be left with nothing to do.

Thanks.

I haven't done a cruisetour yet, but we are booked with Princess for July. We went with one that is similar to your Princess option (land first though, and 2 nights in Anchorage, 2 Denali, 2 Mt. McKinley).

Everything I read advised to spend two nights in each stop on land since you spend so much time traveling. If you spend half the day getting to a lodge only to leave it at 8 am the next day, you will spend more time on coaches than at the lodges. I don't know how close the HAL locations are to each other, but I would look at distance and how much time you will actually have on those one night stays.

Here is a pic from the Golden. Just a tip, take something to hold it open in case there is no door latch ;)

Thank you! Is that a cord of some sort holding yours open?

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Thank you for the input! I will play it by ear and fit in my runs in the fitness center if I can't get them in on the decks. I have some extra time in the ports as well, so that may work too as an alternative.

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Does anyone have pictures of the partition when it is opened? We have cabins B406 and B410 on the Star. It would be nice if they could be opened up!

Does anyone have any advice for running on the Star that does not include the treadmill? I see the Promenade deck doesn't wrap around without needing to go up and down a flight of stairs, which isn't the worst thing. I did a search and saw a jogging track around the basketball court, but it was dated 2008, and based on the picture I am thinking that is where they put the Sanctuary as I don't see anything on recent deck plans.

Is there anywhere else that this would work, or will I have to just deal and use the treadmill? I'll be in the first few weeks of marathon training, so if I miss a run or two it won't be the end of the world, but I'd rather not go all week.

Thanks!

I see you are on the east coast. Getting to Anchorage or Fairbanks is no easy (or cheap) task from the east coast. The first time we went we did an inside passage round trip from Seattle. It was good for us at that time.

This time we wanted a different itinerary and a more immersive experience so we are doing a cruise tour, flying into Anchorage, spending a week on land and then doing a SB to Vancouver, and spending two days there.

I liked that order because it gets the long flight out of the way first (10+ hours from NY to Anchorage, vs. 5+ hours back home from Vancouver).

You may want to take a look at flight options to help you decide as well in terms of time, price and availability.

Yes. The package includes pictures taken on boarding, port pictures, formal portraits, informal portatraits, and any candid pictures the ship's photographers take at events.

Thank you!

Are boarding and port pictures included in this package as well, or are they just the pictures they take around dinner time?

Thanks for the replies! I noticed that the deck plan is changing after February 2017. Is the Coral scheduled for dry dock? Anyone know what they are changing? As far as I can tell on the deck plans the only thing that seems different is that they are taking away the lower Universe lounge and adding a fitness studio. I'm just wondering if they are going to make changes like they did to the Island that seems to have upset people.

I pulled up this thread in a search. I am in the process of choosing which ship for our 2017 Alaska cruise and have the same three choices as the OP. I see the Coral is the clear choice with the exception of one comment. We did an Alaskan cruise on the Star in 2009 and were happy. What are the differences with the Coral that have so many people favoring that ship over the Star?

We will have our three boys with us (ages 21, 19 and 16 at the time). When we did this cruise last time they enjoyed the kids programming, but now they would be happy with a pool they could use if it's cool (does the Coral have a covered pool the way the Star does?) and a basketball court. Also, last time we had a balcony and inside room across the hall. This time I am planning on two balcony cabins next to each other. Can the divider be removed on the balcony?

And I am pretty sure I have this right, but let me double check - if we are traveling southbound (Whittier to Vancouver) I want to book rooms on the port (left) side of the ship, correct?

Thanks for any advice!