Which cruise line

[Nelie]

Ok forget throwing my mum overboard im going to strangle her. I saw her briefly yesterday and she has been going over some travel brochures she collected ehrself from the travel agent.

 

She informs me that we are going on a cruise with HAL!:eek:

 

I told her that we might be more suited to say NCL or Princess, she was like nope we are going with HAL. I even tried to explain that HAL is a bit more formal at night for dinner and she was like oh who cares we will never see these people again so who cares what we are wearing. I tried to explain about dress codes and stuff but nope she is stick on HAL

 

And the only reason is not because she has done research or anything. SHe has decided we are going to do an escorted tour with a company we have used before and were extremely happy with. The tour is 14days canadian rockies and then you can add on a 7 day return cruise with HAL. I have no problem with the tour it looks good but we dont have to do the cruise with them. There is no added benefit. We could get on another cruiseline instead or cruise before the tour grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:mad:

 

Ill let you know what we decide. I might go post a few questions in the fashion section and get a few pics of what people wear at night on HAL and show them to my mum.:(

[Budget Queen]

Ok forget throwing my mum overboard im going to strangle her. I saw her briefly yesterday and she has been going over some travel brochures she collected ehrself from the travel agent.

 

She informs me that we are going on a cruise with HAL!:eek:

 

I told her that we might be more suited to say NCL or Princess, she was like nope we are going with HAL. I even tried to explain that HAL is a bit more formal at night for dinner and she was like oh who cares we will never see these people again so who cares what we are wearing. I tried to explain about dress codes and stuff but nope she is stick on HAL

 

And the only reason is not because she has done research or anything. SHe has decided we are going to do an escorted tour with a company we have used before and were extremely happy with. The tour is 14days canadian rockies and then you can add on a 7 day return cruise with HAL. I have no problem with the tour it looks good but we dont have to do the cruise with them. There is no added benefit. We could get on another cruiseline instead or cruise before the tour grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:mad:

 

Ill let you know what we decide. I might go post a few questions in the fashion section and get a few pics of what people wear at night on HAL and show them to my mum.:(

 

Sorry, you are misinformed about the attire. HAL has casual options and certainly is not "formal". They do a superb job on their Alaska cruises, so you may want to consider that since it is likely their itinerary is superior. I have cruised Alaska many times on both HAL and NCL, along with 3 other lines.

[NancyIL]

I should've read all the way to the bottom of the first page before repeating info!

 

By the way - I considered POA for Hawaii, but couldn't get past the ship! I'll be on the April 2012 Honolulu to Vancouver repo cruise on Radiance of the Seas.

[Yukon]

She has decided we are going to do an escorted tour with a company we have used before and were extremely happy with. The tour is 14days canadian rockies and then you can add on a 7 day return cruise with HAL.

 

There's a LOT to be said for going with a company that you're happy with, especially when you're doing a crusetour with them as well. Have you really looked at HAL? It's one of our favourite lines and we're far from being "formal" folks - we love the "classic yacht" feeling of the ships, and the extra level of service beyond Princess, RCI, etc is noticeable.

[Budget Queen]

I should've read all the way to the bottom of the first page before repeating info!

 

By the way - I considered POA for Hawaii, but couldn't get past the ship! I'll be on the April 2012 Honolulu to Vancouver repo cruise on Radiance of the Seas.

 

Frankly with all that wonderful port time, the "ship" may not be as important to some. :)

 

But I'm missing what the "ship" is referring to anyway?? Enlighten me, I am just off the POA again last month and a few days ago, just booked it again.

[Nelie]

Ok so i decided to pull the stick out of my b^tt and check out HAL a little bit more.

 

See i am really bad for thinking people are judging me. So i hate being over or underdressed and having people staring at me. My husband thinks im nuts casue its not like im a movie star:D

 

Anyway i was worried about not being able to dress up enough for HAL cause we would be doing a 14 day land tour before and are limited to 1 suitcase:eek: Didnt want to be to causal for HAL or too dressy for the rest of the tour.

 

So anyway ive been sitting on my b^tt all day reasearching and surprise surprise HAL isnt all that dressy. I mean sure dress up for dinner but i think i might be able to get away with it.

 

Anyway im now looking at ports of call so at least i know what i am in for once we pick an itinery

 

Thanks for helping a frazzelled cruiser

[Budget Queen]

Ok so i decided to pull the stick out of my b^tt and check out HAL a little bit more.

 

See i am really bad for thinking people are judging me. So i hate being over or underdressed and having people staring at me. My husband thinks im nuts casue its not like im a movie star:D

 

Anyway i was worried about not being able to dress up enough for HAL cause we would be doing a 14 day land tour before and are limited to 1 suitcase:eek: Didnt want to be to causal for HAL or too dressy for the rest of the tour.

 

So anyway ive been sitting on my b^tt all day reasearching and surprise surprise HAL isnt all that dressy. I mean sure dress up for dinner but i think i might be able to get away with it.

 

Anyway im now looking at ports of call so at least i know what i am in for once we pick an itinery

 

Thanks for helping a frazzelled cruiser

 

 

Great resolution. :) Nobody cares about your attire, as long as you leave the flip flops and shorts in your cabin during dinner. :) :) :) Enjoy your trip!! It'll be excellent.

[NancyIL]

Frankly with all that wonderful port time, the "ship" may not be as important to some. :)

 

But I'm missing what the "ship" is referring to anyway?? Enlighten me, I am just off the POA again last month and a few days ago, just booked it again.

 

I know I will enjoy cruising on Radiance, but I don't have the same confidence about cruising on POA - based on reviews of the ship. Radiance has a similar itinerary as POA in Hawaii, plus 5 days at sea to Vancouver.

[TheCalicoCat]

We booked our cruise on HAL yesterday. Inside room with a 3 year old.

 

My husband is not happy about the dressing-up, but he will survive or he can eat on the LIDO deck or I have heard that he can even get room service!

 

So I went from balcony on Cruise ship "C" or "R" based on some preconceived notion of a "perk" for repeat business to an inside room on "H." I also went from a Seattle departure to a Vacouver departure. (I'm pretty sure that we will still fly to Seattle & taking Amtrak to Vacouver - We're using "miles" & it takes far fewer "miles" to go to Seattle.)

 

FYI the 3 of us did an inside room to the Bahamas already & have booked another inside room to Bermuda...

 

Maybe I am cheap, but for $3,000 we will be going to the same ports eating the same food as the people who will be spending more than that. (& 20-ish hours of sunlight in Alaska might be too much for me!)

[c-cruise]

In addition to the Lido or room service on HAL you also have the option of eating at the Canaletto italian restaurant if you don't wish to dress up on the formal nights. We skipped the formal nights on our most recent HAL cruise and just made reservations at Canaletto. No charge and it follows the Lido dress code.

 

No way I would book an inside to Alaska with a 3yr old, but sounds like you have done an inside before and know what to expect. You can certainly save a lot of money going that route. Not an option though for our family, we need more space and have to have our verandah.

 

Pretty easy to get to Vancouver and back from Seattle on the train. One thing to look for though is a lot of the daily departures that Amtrak lists are on busses and not actually on the train.

[TheCalicoCat]

Pretty easy to get to Vancouver and back from Seattle on the train. One thing to look for though is a lot of the daily departures that Amtrak lists are on busses and not actually on the train.

 

Thanks for that tip!

 

Yeah, we've done inside before & know what to expect & are o.k. with that.

[Crusin Karen]

I guess I have to bump this because I woke up this morning with the same idea: ALASKA!!! We had a B2B booked a few years ago but had to cancel. Have been okay going from Manhattan to the Caribbean once/year, but all of a sudden I realize that I HAVE TO GO TO ALASKA! So my question: why hasn't anyone mentioned Carnival? I saw a cruise on the Spirit (which we LOVE) for 9/11/12. I really want to see more of the SCENERY, glaciers and like that. I wouldn't mind seeing land and sea animals, but IF we manage to book this cruise it will be tight $ wise and I don't think we will be able to do any fancy schmancy excursions. Spirit offers Glacier Bay and inside passage. Opinions please??? :confused: TIA!

[c-cruise]

Nothing wrong with that itinerary other than it is very late in the Alaska season and you won't have as much daylight. Leaves from Seattle which will likely be cheaper for your airfare. Port times are good other than the late afternoon/evening time in Juneau. Also goes to Glacier Bay and back down the inside of Vancouver Island ending in Vancouver so you will have plenty of scenery. You would probably want to transfer back to Seattle for your flight home so you will have a round-trip flight. Otherwise you will be booking two one-way airfares which could be more expensive.

[Budget Queen]

I guess I have to bump this because I woke up this morning with the same idea: ALASKA!!! We had a B2B booked a few years ago but had to cancel. Have been okay going from Manhattan to the Caribbean once/year, but all of a sudden I realize that I HAVE TO GO TO ALASKA! So my question: why hasn't anyone mentioned Carnival? I saw a cruise on the Spirit (which we LOVE) for 9/11/12. I really want to see more of the SCENERY, glaciers and like that. I wouldn't mind seeing land and sea animals, but IF we manage to book this cruise it will be tight $ wise and I don't think we will be able to do any fancy schmancy excursions. Spirit offers Glacier Bay and inside passage. Opinions please??? :confused: TIA!

 

This cruise has the negative of daylight, will be dusk by 7pm, which cuts into scenic areas significantly. Also add the potential of foul weather.

 

You have selected Carnival??

[Crusin Karen]

I'm researching it now. As you can see by my siggy, we cruise almost exclusively with CCL. We just feel we get more bang for our buck, PLUS we are platinum, have the FCC and military discounts too. Thanks for your input both here and my question about time to cruise! ;)

[Texas Tillie]

I'm researching it now. As you can see by my siggy, we cruise almost exclusively with CCL. We just feel we get more bang for our buck, PLUS we are platinum, have the FCC and military discounts too. Thanks for your input both here and my question about time to cruise! ;)

 

Consider this - Carnival has one ship in Alaska - Princess and Holland America have something like 7 or 8 each - therefore they can offer so many more options. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish just to save a few hundred dollars. You're going a long way, if money is tight, it is especially important to get the most out of the money you have to spend. Alaska is very special (going for the 5th time in 5 years in June)!

[c-cruise]

I wouldn't worry at all about Carnival only having one ship in Alaska. Disney, Oceania and Sliversea only have one ship each in Alaska as well. Should one not consider any of these lines either?

 

I think this particular Spirit sailing is actually a better itinerary for scenery than a lot of the other Sept. round-trip sailings on HAL or Princess. There are not a lot of round-trips that offer both Glacier Bay and go inside of Vancouver Island. The two HAL ships that do round-trip Vancouver sailings offer both (and more), but are also considerably more expensive. Obviously this Spirit sailing is technically not round-trip since it starts in Seattle and ends in Vancouver, but close enough.

 

Another thing to consider about going in Sept. is that school will have already started so there would likely be very few kids onboard.