hello, am a first time cruiser and i need advice please

hello all

am new to this site and also a first time potential cruiser

id like to ask for advice

here is my situation

am very experienced in travelling, i travelled in a couple of country and did several road trip, both by myself and with friends or family

and now id like to try my hand on a cruise, a round trip 1 week cruise in alaska from vancouver

i managed to pine down a couple of cruise line who do that

celebrity cruise, holland america, carnival and norwegian cruise

the advice i need is, for a single traveller like me, am 25 years old, wich cruise line would you recommend? wich company wich i am less likely to feel out of place, either by age difference or because am surrounded by couple etc??

also, am not the kind of person to trie to get a cruise in order to meet a soulmate, i just want to spend some good time and see the ice mountain

ived read information on both cruise critic and cruisemate, but from once place to another, i noticed that they oftend contradict eachother

well, thats about that for now

thanks in advance if any of you can give me some information

redhydra

Of the four lines you mentioned, I would not recommend HAL for you. It generally has a large percentage of older(68+) adults. Now there is nothing wrong of course with older adults. We enjoy traveling with well seasoned travelers. ANd have had wonderful visits with some while cruising. But because of your young age and MORE SO the fact that you're traveling solo, I think the activites and entertainment probably would be more fun for you on another line. We enjoy Celebrity, but haven't done NCL.

If you plan your trip in June -August, you will find more families than the other months because school will be out. When are you planning on going?

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Have you considered Princess?

There is also a thread for those who like cruising Solo. You may get answers geared more toward what you are looking for. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=373

Princess has a awesome cruise to Alaska too you didnt mention.

Probably Carnival is your best bet. They have younger pax and they have 1A cabins that you can book for 150% solo subsidy. Generally all the other cruiselines you will be paying 200%.

Depending on the ship, Carnival has some 1As with portholes so you would still get a view. To get a balcony, even on Carnival you will still pay 200%.

Sometimes cruiselines have lower subsidys, but hard to find.

Most cruise lines will charge you extra, if you want a room by your self. Check with all the lines you are considering to find out what is the single supplement.

Holland America is single friendly – 50% single supplement for inside or outside cabins, cabins share program, singles meet and greet activities and lunches, they assign singles to tables with other singles if you choose traditional dining.

Alaska summer (mid June to mid August) cruises have a lot of 3 generation family groups so you’ll find a younger crowd, especially on their larger (vista class) ships.

HAL passengers tend to be more experienced travelers and less of the cruise party crowd.

Aunty Pat

NCL - Norway ’85, Pride of America ’05, Southward ’87, Star ’97 & ‘05, Starward ’92, Sun ’02 & Windward ’93

RCC - Song of America ‘89

HAL - Volendam ’99, Noordam ’06, Oosterdam ’07 & ‘09, Statendam ’02 & ‘08, Prinsendam ’03 & ’06, Westerdam ’09 & Zuiderdam ’04, ’06 & ‘07

Carnival - Spirit ‘05

Celebrity – Summit ‘05

Cruise West - Yorktown Clipper ‘06

Princess - Golden Princess ‘07

Cunard - QM2 ’08

You didn't mention Royal Caribbean, which does this route too, on one of the most beautiful ships afloat. You wouldn't feel out of place on Royal Caribbean at all! I also think Princess would be a good choice for you.

As another poster mentioned, try the Cruising Solo board for better advice.

hi and welcome. i am a solo cruiser as well and love doing it. my first cruise was on the carnival spirit doing the glacier bay (AWESOME ). we left out of vancouver. it is an awesome town. the spirit has a great variety of ages for the alaska cruise and everyone was so nice and friendly. the crew was great. they set you with other singles in the main dining room. of course you can always move to a different table if you want or eat at the buffet. do not be afraid to cruise alone. i was invited to go with others to the shows and do port things. i was never lonely or afraid for my safety. of course you have to use good judgement where ever you go solo so just carry that along with on your cruise and you will be fine. my 4th solo cruise is coming up in may and i cant wait. i hope you have a wonderful cruise and let us know what you decide to do . dont forget, get to the port city the day before so you can enjoy it and not miss the ship. :)

Personally, I would stay away from the roommate/cabin share programs oferred by various cruiselines. To me it's like going on a blind date that lasts a week.

I always travel solo, land based vacations as well as cruises, and I find it very comfortable. I can join in the various oferrings or not as I see fit and or my mood at the time. I generally enjoy dining alone most of the time, but again, depending on my mood I'll be seated at a large table.

A cruise will give you the opportunity to do and see things you might not get to do otherwise.

norweigian specializes in alaska cruises plus there a good cruise line for people your age looking for someone to meet in one of the many hotspots

Hi i just got back last week from my first cruise.A B2B Alaska & Hawaii

My boyfriend was comming with me but had to go back to Australia,so i had to cruise alone:eek:

I went on the Carnival Spirit and had the time of my life:D As well as meeting wonderful new friends from here i also made some really nice friends on the ship.

I never felt lonley,if anything i couldn't fit everything in each day:p

You will love Alaska i did.

Cheers

Sue.

Hi...as you can see, getting advice here isn't easy, because everyone loves different cruise lines. Nothing wrong with that. Just confusing.

Have you done any research into ports yet? For Alaska, that might be a good place to start. It's great you've already been reading. Here are a couple other sites you might want to read:

http://www.alaska-cruise-advisor.com/index.html

http://www.susanmilne.com/glacier/glacier.htm

The scenic cruising day(s) of a 7 day cruise are what most people remember as the highlight. Deciding which glaciers you want to see will help, because different lines go different places.

Glacier Bay National Park is being really restrictive how many cruise ships can visit. Not as many cruise lines go there anymore. Carnival Spirit has a 7 day return at the very beginning of the 2009 season. For the rest of the season, only Holland America has 7 day cruises from Vancouver that visit there.

Hubbard Glacier is also amazing. Celebrity does 7 day Vancouver cruises there.

Norwegian Cruise Lines visits Sawyer Glacier. Royal Caribbean cruises Tracy Arm. Nothing "wrong" with either - read about them and look at pictures.

I think you're smart to settle on Vancouver as where you start your cruise. You will cruise the Inside Passage, which is beautiful. Seattle cruises don't do this because they have to make up time. Cruising in the Pacific can be rough. Also, when you leave from Seattle, because of U.S. law you must make a stop in a foreign country before you return. This usually results in a brief stop in Victoria, B.C. - not long enough to see the city, yet wasting a day to make the stop. Stick to your guns.

People here like to put cruise lines into boxes: "Holland America is for seniors!" (Not in Alaska.) "Carnival has party ships!" (Not in Alaska.)

Aunty Pat is 100% right HAL has the lowest single supplements. I like HAL, have cruised with the line solo, and can vouch for the fact they have "solo cruiser" events. But, so do the other lines. The age of fellow solo cruisers is always a crap shoot. There are more senior women who cruise alone (on ALL lines) than 20something women.

Cruising solo can be tough, and you should give serious consideration to dinner arrangements. Would it be a relief to sit at the same table each night (often single travelers are seated together by the Maitre d') and talk over your day with the same people? If so, the fixed time/fixed table dining may be for you. Carnival and Celebrity do only this style. Holland America has both this style, and open seating (arrive when you want, get seated alone or with new people every night). However, fixed dining usually gets booked out early, and you can get "stuck" with open seating when you don't want it. Royal Caribbean used to only have fixed time dining, but is experimenting with open dining - you'd have to check what the deal is on your voyage. Norwegian Cruise Lines only has "freestyle", so you'd have to either meet new people every night, or hook up with someone and go to the dining room together.

I'll be honest...for me, it's just too much work to have to be "up" every night and meet new people. I want a fixed table to "come home" to. I'd only cruise with traditional fixed dining when I'm on my own. That's me...just wanted to point out this could be a deciding point for some.

Hope that helps.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Alaska from Vancouver -- sunds great -- have done that.

To me it is not the cruise line.

I would choose by itinerary -- which ports interest you? What kind of activities are you interested in?

Check the schedules of each cruise you are interested in -- do some itineraries give more port time than others?

I did Carnival Spirit from Whittier to Vancouver. I noticed that even on the Spirit the average age of passengers was much older than me, and I was 50! I'm not sure why Alaska does not attract younger cruisers :confused: I think if I were in your situation I would plan by itinerary and price...the amenities on most ships are basically the same. You will have a cabin steward take care of your cabin twice a day, and wonderful meals in the dining room if you desire. Many ships have a naturalist on board to help you enjoy the beauty of Alaska even more! You will find a variety of ages on any cruise lines, and I think most try to pair you with someone close in age in the dining room. Whatever you decide, please continue to research! The Alaska section on these boards helped me plan ahead and make my cruise the trip of a lifetime!

Princess has a awesome cruise to Alaska too you didnt mention.

 

OP didn't mention Princess because they aren't doing RT out of Vancouver.

To the OP - for your age and the criteria you've given, either Carnival or NCL seem like they would be a good fit. As far as contradictory info, remember that so many parts of cruising are completely subjective. But in Alaska, there truely is something for everyone.

hello all, thank you very much for all the replies, i am pleasantly suprised that i got this many awnser that fast

yess i did considered princess cruise, i've heard lots of good commentary about it, but it doesn't seem to do round trip from vancouver

i am not sure when yet ill do this because i am trying to coordinate my holiday time with when my friend who live in vancouver's gonna be free

because i want to 1 week and cruise from vancouver, then visit my friend who lives there the 2nd week

i also had the chance to interogate some passenger (around my age) of a celebrity cruise ship (the constellation) who were in a visit on quebec city

and also heard good comments about it too

about the share program, i havent decided yet if i get my cabin on my own or trie to find a roomate, tought, i am a bit hesitant about goeing on what treven nickname a blinddate via share program, because i must admit i am a bit paranoid of getting my valuable stuff (my laptop) stolen

well see when the time's gonna come to make a decision

yess i saw Royal Caribbean too offering the kind of tripi want, thought i forgot to mention it, thanks for reminding me

tommorow i also intend to go to sears travel agency because i noticed last time i passe there that they've got princess cruise magasine with lots of information on cruise, might be usefull

well anyway, for the moment, ill content myself with my 18 wheeler shaped cruiser

i wish you a nice week end to all, thanks again for the information

hi again, i forgot

i noticed, alot of you mentionned carnival being a good cruise line , i think i might consider this one first

i also read that its a good company adapted for pretty much everykind of people

and i also saw their ships in person, (carnival victory and carnival paradise) so i have no doubt about quality

i also heard similar comment about princess cruise and i also met their ships (sun princess and sea princess)

Good luck, Red Hydra! Just remember: Carnival only has ONE cruise from Vancouver that returns in a week. It's Carnival Spirit, May 6 - 13.

I think that's probably a very good choice, and hope you *love* Glacier Bay, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan!

For someone your age traveling alone I'd suggest Carnival or Royal Caribbean. Have fun.

Royal Caribbean and NCL aren't single friendly in their pricing.

NCL's freestyle dining isn't always friendly to singles either.

I would stick with Carnival, Princess or HAL. Don't discount HAL. If you're interested in the scenery and the ports, you may enjoy they're more laid back atmosphere.

Roz

Royal Caribbean and NCL aren't single friendly in their pricing.

 

 

Roz

Roz-Do any lines offer discounts to singles having a cabin to themselves?

I've always thought a single just had to pay for the "double" minus the port fees.

thanks for all your advice, yep, from what i seem to read, from both your message to what i read on the cruise critic, i think carnival might be my best bet, followed by princess cruise if of course i can pine down a cruise leaving from seattle with final destination vancouver via alaska

as i noticed, princess doesnt seem to do any round trip in vancouver

Oh2Travel,

I've always paid 130-150% for inside or outside cabins on Carnival and HAL. Princess will also do this. It doesn't apply to higher levels of cabins or peak periods, such as Christmas or Easter break.

You can go to the cruise lines' website or an online agency and do the pricing yourself. It's discounted more than just the port fees and taxes.

Roz

i think you will be very happy on the carnival spirit. i have sailed her twice to glacier bay and i loved it. the spirit is not as big as the pearl but it is still a lage ship and very well layed out. there is the main dining room and one specialty restuarant plus the buffet. the staff was superb and the entertainment was great. i love vancouver. so if you decide to go on the spirit or any ship from vancouver please get there at least a day ahead of time. land/sea tours puts together some great tours of vancouver, grouse mt. and suspension bridge. priceline has always given me a great price on a 4star room in the downtown area. flying into seattle is alot cheaper and you can take the quick shuttle to vancouver from there. they drop of passengers at the airport or downtown hotels in vancouver. if you fly out of vancouver the same day you get off the ship give yourself plenty of time to get there , go through security and get to the plane on time. even thoughfthe spirit doesnt have all the restuarants as ncl and princess it is still a great ship for the money and they give you a awesome cruise through the inside passage and glacier bay.

whoever you choose i know you are going to have a fantastic time and will amazed at alaska. enjoy and keep reading the boards here to get set for the cruise. i hope this has helped you in some way. :)

Hi

roz, the peak time period for cruising is on chrismas?? i must admit i am suprised, i kind of expected to be the summer, but well, i am inexperienced in cruise lol

dusty road: thanks for the advice, i also read the topic (do you guys even cruise single) and its really encouraging about carnival

today i went on a agency to obtain brochure of both carnival and celebrity

yess, agree with you, vancouver is a very lovely city, i've got a friend who live there and i had the chance to visit it before

i take the oportunity while am there to visit her