jowahe

I did this itinerary (Alaska, round trip from L.A.) several years ago on the Royal Viking Star. It was 14 days with 4 ports in Alaska, plus a stop in San Francisco and Vancouver. The sea days were very restful, but had several activities for those who wanted them. I'd do that itinerary again if offered.

Weak dollar should affect all pricing, not just singles. Seems discriminatory to me.

I have been on 5 Grand Circle European river cruises and loved them all. The Program Directors (usually 3 per ship) were exceptional -- kind, knowledgeable, helpful, and always available for questions and assistance. The ship layouts were well designed, clean and comfortable. The food was delicious, and plentiful with good variety. Service throughout the ship (cabin, restaurant, front desk, lounge) was always first-rate.

On two trips, I selected a balcony cabin since the itinerary passed thru such gorgeous scenery and I wanted to be able to sit on my balcony and enjoy it. On the other trips, I had a standard cabin (which was slightly roomier since the balcony's space was now inside) with a large picture window. There was always outdoor seating available on the top deck to view the passing scenery and watch the interesting routine of going thru the numerous locks. The lounge also had comfortable indoor seating with large windows on three sides if the weather wasn't favorable to sit outdoors.

As pleased as I was with those 5 trips, I won't be taking any more with Grand Circle since they raised the price for singles by a whopping 15% for trips in 2008. Why, I don't know. Am I suddenly going to eat 15% more food next year? Is the plane ticket for me going to cost 15% more than for those traveling as couples? I don't think so. I've inquired several times but have not had the courtesy of a reply from GCT. My conclusion is they just want to discourage single passengers from traveling with them. Well, in my case they have succeeded since I won't be going on more of their trips until they return to the reasonable single supplement they used for the past several years.