aj925

I was definitely surprised on the holiday cruise this year when the table of 20-something year olds next to our table all showed up in shorts (even short short cutoff jean shorts) and tshirts for New Years Eve. I guess they don't enforce the dress code anymore. I really enjoy dressing up for dinner and it is getting to be now that I feel overdressed if I wear a long gown because most women seem to moving towards cocktail dresses. I know not everyone wants to dress up, but I feel that at the very least a pair of slacks and blouse for women and a button up shirt and slacks for men is not too much to expect.

Currently deck 2 midship in 2 adjacent but not connecting rooms. Would it be worth it to move aft ship to get connecting rooms? Is there a disadvantage I'm not thinking of like more engine noise? Just popped up so have to decide quickly :)

So does 1 device mean 1 device at a time or 1 device period?

Ok, we finally chose a cruise and it ends in Seward. We are going to stay in Seward for a few days before heading to Anchorage for the flight home. I understand that renting a car in Seward is more expensive than Anchorage and also that the cost to get a car in Seward and drop off in Anchorage is very high. So I am thinking would it be better for the 3 of us to take the bus tour from the Seward port to Anchorage first thing in the morning and rent a car there, have lunch with relatives and then be able to leisurely drive back to Seward, keep the car in Seward for 3 or 4 nights and then be able to drive it back to the airport in Anchorage with stops along the way that we didn't do on the first day in time for a late night flight home? Or is the backtracking not worth it?

It looks like both the Volendam and Noordam are rt Vancouver and both go to Glacier Bay. If you want to see Tracy Arm (and you should) you will need to pay the extra for the shore excursion. If you have already spent time in Vancouver you may be happier to sail rt and fly home from there. I have been on this class of ship but I have never been in an inside cabin. If you look at HALfacts.com you will get a lot of information on the inside cabins as the size can vary considerably.

 

I like the Oosterdam because it is bigger and offers verandahs that are not suites.

Again, I do not sail in insides. I need to at least see daylight. If you are not planning to spend some time in Seward, Anchorage, or Denali you may as well do the rt Vancouver on the Noordam or Volendam.

 

Look on HALfacts.com. Lots of good information.

Would the excursion to Tracy Arm be out of Juneau? We already had our hearts set on doing the heli/dog sledding excursion out of that port. But I would love to see Tracy Arm too.

You are stressing way too much over the choice of ship. Remember my 7 rules for choosing a ship in AK. The ship is the last one on the list.

 

DON

I am asking about the ships because the itineraries and times in port for the 3 HAL ships is almost identical. I thought someone might suggest one ship over another because they are able to get up closer or have better viewing facilities, etc. Just anything that would set one above the other. Right now it doesn't matter whether we return from Seward or Vancouver and if people say there are some must do's around Seward or Anchorage we don't mind extending our trip 2-3 more days.

I am a HAL cruiser to Alaska but according to the info you give the Norwegian might work best for you. I Would prefer the cruise that goes to Seward. I Believe the Tracy Arm listed shows a service call only so you will not actually see Tracy Arm unless you take the excursion.

I actually just found one more HAL cruise with basically same itinerary going from Vancouver to Seward on the Oosterdam and a cabin within our budget just popped up on the Noordam so it is back in the running too. Are you familiar with either of those HAL ships, Volendam, Oosterdam, or Noordam?

We are going in August as an extension of our visit to Vancouver.

Airfare is not a factor. The price from the east coast to Vancouver RT is actually the same right now as east coast to Vancouver and then Anchorage back to the east coast.

The itineraries are almost the same except for 1 port as I mentioned above. So I'm really just asking from people's experience which one they would go with, if price was the same for all 3.

It's 3 of us so I can't wait until it's closer to departure date to book.

So looks like my original choice of the HAL Noordam is now sold out for interior rooms on the date I need (and I don't want to pay double that for oceanview) so I have the following 3 to pick from. Which one would you suggest based on the itinerary (they are all 7 day):

1) Norwegian Sun Vancouver to Seward (can get an oceanview family room for within our budget)

2) HAL Volendam Vancouver RT (can get interior or oceanview same price)

3) Princess Grand Princess Vancouver to Anchorage (cheapest of the 3 for interior room)

I'm leaning towards the Norwegian Sun because the Juneau time is 10am-8pm vs 1pm-10pm on the Volendam but not sure if that is so important.

All the ports are the same except Norwegian includes cruising by Hubbard Glacier, HAL Volendam includes Tracy Arm, and Grand Princess includes College Fjord.

We were planning on booking the heli/dog sledding trip with Coastal directly.

The cruise is in August so hopefully there won't be as many cancellations of the tour do to weather but if so, they do give you a refund.

Thanks CruiserBruce. Have you been on any of the tours out of Juneau? I was just trying to figure out if our ship arrives at 1pm, how much time I should allow to get to meeting point for the dog sledding tour.

Noordam visits Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm while the Infinity goes to icy Strait Point and the Hubbard Glacier. The other ports are basically the same. The only must do for me is the helicopter/dog sledding tour in Juneau which both cruises stop at. Btw, I didn't see any age restriction on that tour. Does anyone know if there is one? So the deciding factor seems to be Hubbard Glacier vs Glacier Bay. Any thoughts as to which cruise would be better? Trying to book ASAP but tearing my hair out trying to decide. TIA.