cruisequeen4ever

I got my five this week, too. Now done with the Alaska one and look forward to those points!

If you were sailing Princess, I’d 100% say yes because they have the most experience and the greatest presence here in AK. They own their own lodges, and they’re lodges are definitely the best. Royal contracts out their land tours to a company called Premier Alaska Tours. They are a good tour company here, but they don’t own lodges, so they contract independent lodges. It’s still good, just not as seamless as Princess. As some have said, if you’re so inclined, you can simply rent a car, explore on your own, book your own hotels, and book your own activities. Denali is definitely worth seeing. If you decide to explore independently, just make sure you book early as places sell out far in advance.

Definitely! Our last cruise pre-pandemic was on their oldest ship, the Pacific, and everything was great except for abysmal internet. We’ve also sailed on the other old ship, the Grand, and had a blast, except for my in-laws had a leak in their suite, and the sofas and chairs in the Explorers Lounge were bottomed out. The Grand class ships are gems!

I love Bingo and wish they’d have both Bingo and Deal or no Deal instead of replacing one with the other.

Nope

Wow, that’s an awesome deal; enjoy!

I agree; that was very helpful in understanding what each is like.

Even though Celebrity has been trying to steer toward the younger for quite a while, it seems the demo still skews older.

Great decision! Have fun!

I hope they still have it. We last did it the summer of 2019 on the Royal. To the Op, you’re correct; it’s different from the free one you can experience in the dining room and well worth it. You’re served a tower of treats like you would get in England, they have live music, and you’re served several different teas.

I’m really enjoying your account of your cruise; keep the posts coming! 😀

That’s helpful info to see; so some people will experience a savings this way.

Like others on here, I really just wanna see ship ops and life aboard. I was hoping they’d stream it on a service we have, but I guess I’ll just have to subscribe to Paramount+ for 1 month after the show finishes to binge it.

Thank you for being considerate of others, and I’m sorry for your loss! I’d call Royal and explain there was an outbreak at your child’s school resulting in exposure within a week of your school and see what they can offer you. You’d think they’d want you to stay home.

I’ve cruised AK both of those times of year. Weather is completely unpredictable, so I wouldn’t base it off that. The end of May is generally better pricing and before many schools get out, resulting in somewhat fewer people, so I’d go then.

I live in AK, and April can still have snow. For your one AK experience, I wouldn’t risk that time of year. Last week of May through early August are good. If you absolutely need to do the San Francisco itin to make your trip work, do it, but the 7 day one way between Vancouver and Whittier (Anchorage) is the best. To really see it all, do the cruisetour that takes you to Denali. Happy planning!

We love Princess’s food and consider it far superior to Celebrity’s (unless you sail in Aqua or above and get special options- we don’t have experience with those). I haven’t been on Holland America in many years, but I have read many accounts of people saying the food is good. It seems like the atmosphere on Princess would be more fun for a girls’ trip.

It’s crazy how all over the place the offers are.

For your specifications, I’d go with the Majestic, Discovery, or Royal. They’re all in the same class of ship with some variations. The Majestic has an indoor pool, which is wonderful for Alaska. As others have said, definitely do Glacier Bay. Happy planning!

When they were doing upsells, the offers were much more reasonable than what I am seeing for bid opps. Didn’t someone say they hired a third party to handle this?

Have a blast!

I got the bid offering for our cruise, and the pricing was out to lunch! It was basically no savings off of upgrading ourselves by paying full price.

The tendering process isn’t bad as long as you have an excursion booked, get up early to be in one of the first groups, or don’t mind leaving the ship later. Yes, there will be a long line to return, and that sucks, but it’s not a deal breaker IMO.

Book the train through the Alaska Railroad! You get to transit a section roads don’t access. It’s a relaxing, beautiful way of getting to Seward.

Goodness, all 3 itins are fabulous! Anything with the Greek Isles will allow you to swim. There are lots of cool places to explore in Italy. Have fun planning!