Alaska dream cruise?

[KLiving104]

My wife and I want to plan are lifetime dream cruise! We are life long Carnival cruisers, but want this cruise to be unbelieveable. We will be booking a balcony cabin or is this necessary? We don't spend alot of time in cabin but dont want to miss anything? What are best months to cruise Alaska? Not necessarily the warmest or smoothest sailing but best experience ie whales eagles just the whole experience. Any suggestion are appreciated. Is one cruise line or another better suited for the Alaskan experiencance?

[mapleleaves]

Most people will tell you that the itinerary is most important in choosing an Alaska cruise. I will always suggest an itinerary that includes Glacier BAY.

And if you want an unbeleiveable trip ... fly into Anchorage, spend a week or more exploring by land, then take a SB cruise. This will give you an experience that includes some of the interior as well as the coast.

Visit your library and borrow some Alaska travel books to learn about the various ports and destinations. There are a couple of books specific to Alaska cruises; Fodors "alaska, ports of call' and Vipond's "alaska by cruiseship'. Also read the Sticky at the top of this page called '2013 Alaska cruise review list'. Go to reply #45 which is the most recent list of cruises, sorted by cruiseline .... lots of great info about the cruise, ports, activities, etc. Some reviews incl great photos.

[murphy4]

I am also doing my "dream trip" in 2014. I have never been to Alaska but have found out a ton of info on these boards. I opted for a inside cabin--the balcony was 1K more per person. I can spend that on excursions. The other thing is that an inside cabin is nice and dark for sleeping. :)

 

have fun planning, I sure am!

[dsrdsrdsr]

It depends where you start from - my dream cruise to Alaska started and finished at Southampton, England. :D But that was a one-off by P&O.

 

You won't miss any scenery by having an inside cabin - on the contrary, if you have a balcony, half the scenery will be out of sight, wheras on the open deck you can cross over to the other side of the ship. What you miss is the convenience of easily moving from inside to outside, and the chance of taking 5 minutes on the balcony as soon as you wake or last thing before bedtime.

[ry1206an]

I am also doing my "dream trip" in 2014. I have never been to Alaska but have found out a ton of info on these boards. I opted for a inside cabin--the balcony was 1K more per person. I can spend that on excursions. The other thing is that an inside cabin is nice and dark for sleeping. :)

 

have fun planning, I sure am!

 

What cruise are you doing? How did you plan it and decide on it? I'm hoping to do Alaska as well!

[murphy4]

What cruise are you doing? How did you plan it and decide on it? I'm hoping to do Alaska as well!

 

 

I read these boards for hours for at least a year. Background info. DH and I will be 48 & 50 (me) at the time of the cruise. we are locked in to a specific time due to DH's work. I wanted land and sea, we are doing 2 weeks. I picked the cruise date first and worked backward. I am doing Coral Princess. We are flying into Achorage saturday June 14th.

 

brief summary:

sat june 14th arrive Anchorage, stay o/n airport marriott

sunday 15th- pick up rental car at airport and drive to Seward o/n holiday inn express

monday 16th- booked a Kenai Fjord 7.5 hour tour with major marine o/n holiday express again

tuesday 17th- we hope to do a kayak tour at Blackstone Bay in PWS if more people sign up, otherwise it is way to expensive. that evening we are driving back to anchorage to meet up with our princess land tour. stay o/n at the captain cook lodge

wed 18th- tour to Princess mt Mckinley lodge o/n

thursday 19th-- leave for Denali Princess lodge for 2 nights

Friday 20th -- some type of tour in Denali

Saturday21st - transported to cruise ship

 

I do have most of my cruise port excursions booked at this time. Lots of people say that doing a cruisetour is not the wisest thing. I wanted to have the chance to just "sit back and let someone else plan". as well as the experience of planning some on my own. the majority of the princess tours did Fairbanks, I have no interest in that which is why I am doing the first 3 days in Kenai.

 

good luck!

[Donut23]

It depends where you start from - my dream cruise to Alaska started and finished at Southampton, England. :D But that was a one-off by P&O.

 

You won't miss any scenery by having an inside cabin - on the contrary, if you have a balcony, half the scenery will be out of sight, wheras on the open deck you can cross over to the other side of the ship. What you miss is the convenience of easily moving from inside to outside, and the chance of taking 5 minutes on the balcony as soon as you wake or last thing before bedtime.

 

 

 

 

Take a long hard look at aft-facing balcony cabins. Here you have the comfort of your cabin, convenience of room service and you don't miss ANYTHING. You will live on your balcony and you will have no crowds. 180 degrees plus viewing.....you watch what us in BOTH sides if the ship!

 

DH's first cruise was an aft facing balcony (did I say they are gagunda) and I cannot get him to consider much along the side any longer.

 

Try it. You will be nutty happy.

 

 

Here is a video of cabin 1104. Center aft on deck 10 of Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas. Enjoy!