Alasks cruise newbies

[injebreck99]

Hi all, we are two seniors from the UK, looking to first cruise from Vancouver or Seattle to Anchorage then doing a land tour afterwards, maybe by ourselves or as part of a package, although we generally do our own thing, any particular feelings about the Royal Carribean International cruise line, it seems a bit less expensive (for us) than Princess etc.

We are not dressing up types, nor do we need entertaining with shows etc, we are not into tuxedo's and fine dining either, any recommendations bearing in mind we are UK based.!:)

[Keith1010]

Welcome To Cruise Critic.

 

The best place to get advice on Alaska is the Alaska Ports Of Call Board so no matter what feedback you get here be sure to post there.

 

Normally the lines I recommend for Alaska are Princess, Celebrity and Holland but in the end Alaska is more about the itinerary and less about the cruise lines and RCI has been sailing there for several years.

 

To me the line isn't as nice as say Princess but they still do a nice job and if this one fits better for your budget I would not hesitate to book it.

 

Keith

[CruiserBruce]

Here is the Alaska board for your research:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

[Goldiedog]

We did a land tour and cruise with Holland America last year finishing in Vancouver and starting in Fairbanks. What I would suggest is you do the land portion first as it can be very tiring with early morning starts (5.00am) so that when you board the ship on the second week you can relax a little bit. In my opinion HAL and Princess would be the best companies to go with de to them going to Glacier Bay,they have licences to do these. HAL have a slightly older clientel than Princess, we found on HAL after about 10.00pm the ship was like a ghost town as everyone had gone to bed.

[zookiebird]

I totally agree with Goldiedog's suggestion of doing the land portion first.

[fleckle]

Hi all, we are two seniors from the UK, looking to first cruise from Vancouver or Seattle to Anchorage then doing a land tour afterwards, maybe by ourselves or as part of a package, although we generally do our own thing, any particular feelings about the Royal Carribean International cruise line, it seems a bit less expensive (for us) than Princess etc.

We are not dressing up types, nor do we need entertaining with shows etc, we are not into tuxedo's and fine dining either, any recommendations bearing in mind we are UK based.!:)

You are right to pick your cruise by itinerary and price.

 

All the major cruise lines do a good job and a lot of the differences between them just come down to a matter of personal preference.

 

The Royal Caribbean Radiance class ships (such as Radiance of the Seas) are lovely ships that are great for Alaska, not too large and not too small, known for their expansive glass viewing areas throughout the ship.

 

Look at the route maps of the cruises you are considering.

The itineraries that take the scenic route east of Vancouver Island are highly preferable to the ones that go around the west side of Vancouver Island in open ocean.

 

If you want to see Glacier Bay and are on a cruise that does not go there, you can take a spectacular flightseeing tour of Glacier Bay from one of the ports.

 

You get to see a lot more of the glaciers from the air than what you can see from a cruise ship, so people will often book a flight over Glacier Bay even if they are on a ship that goes there.

 

Many choose a cruise that visits Hubbard Glacier (a much larger glacier than any of the glaciers in Glacier Bay) and also take a flight over Glacier Bay to experience the best of both.

 

As for a land tour in interior Alaska, if you like to do your own thing at your own pace and don't want a packaged tour it is very easy to do on your own. The traffic is light and there are very few roads, so it is almost impossible to get lost if you book a rental car.

 

About the hardest thing for Brits would be remembering to stay to the right side of the road when you have been driving along for miles without seeing another car, and then one suddenly appears on the horizon coming toward you and your automatic instinct is to swerve to the left side.

 

We Americans had the reverse problem, needing to concentrate on staying to the left, when encountering traffic coming toward us on lonely, narrow country roads in the English countryside. ;)

 

It was also great fun driving a stick shift with not only the driver's seat but also the shift on the "wrong" side, but you will not have that experience in the US since just about any car you rent would be an automatic.

 

 

As suggested, the

 

ALASKA Board

 

is a great source of information.

 

Look for advice there from Budget Queen, a regular on that board who has a wealth of experience with Alaska cruises and is a strong advocate of touring the Alaska interior independently and saving money.