Opinions for Alaskan Cruise

[kshees]

My DH and I are considering an Alaskan cruise next year. We have been on the Legend and Love the aft vista suites. We always do a suite but we know Alaskan cruises are different than Caribbean cruises so are aft suites good for Alaskan cruises or will we see more with a normal side view balcony suite? TIA

[SadieN]

Aft wrap (corner) deck 4 are the sought after suites on the Spirit class.

 

It's all beautiful no matter your cabin choice.

[kcbbq]

Any balcony will be wonderful in Alaska. I know this is the Carnival board, but I would consider choosing another line with one-way itineraries including Glacier Bay rather than doing the Seattle loop with Carnival. Glacier Bay National Park limits cruise ship entry to two per day, and Princess and HAL have almost all the passes locked up. Also, on the one-way itinerary you start either from Seward/Whitter AK and sail to Vancouver or the reverse and are in the Inside Passage the entire trip, while round trip sailings out of Seattle require a sea day coming and going. No matter what you choose, you will love Alaska.

[evandbob]

I'll second the opinion of kcbbq that another line would be better for Alaska. We did a Princess land cruise starting in Fairbanks and worked our way south through Denali to Whittier/Anchorage on land. Then we boarded the ship for a 7 night southbound that included Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau and Kitichan, ending in Vancouver. I do think you see way more on a 7 night N/B or S/B than you do on a Seattle RT.

 

Just for serendipity's sake, our Alaskan cruise was on the Crown Princess, which we had sailed on for a 10 night Mediterranean cruise previously.

[Whoop98]

I agree, Alaska will be wonderful any way you can see it, BUT if you can do another cruise line and do a land and cruise package I highly recommend it! I have done the inside passage out of Seattle and the land/sea package starting in Fairbanks and ending in Vancouver. Love both trips and say if you can only do the inside passage do it, but if you can do more/longer go with a land/sea package. You will not regret seeing Alaska and her beauty!

[nhsails]

Princess, Holland and Celebrity have been voted the best for overcast decade in Alaska. Contracts and permits other lines don't have. Take a peak, you may be surprised.

[A&Jfamily]

If you look at my signature, we usually cruise Carnival; but chose Princess for Alaska, and are glad we did. We always have a balcony, and Princess, on the Carib deck, offers a HUGE balcony (half covered/half open) at standard balcony prices which was perfect for the Alaska weather as you could stay dry if you were in a shower. We also had our boys in an inside across the hall and we had room for all 4 of us, including the table.

 

I don't care for the aft balconies as they are more exposed to your neighbor. And really, either way you look at it, you still only get 180 degree view. And with the side balconies, at least you can see what is coming, and it is easier to see whales and wild life passing the sides of the ship, where you aren't going to find them in the wake. JMTC!

[luckymbt]

I have to agree with previous answers. We LOVE Carnival. My count down is on for our May sail away. However...there are better choices for Alaska. We did HAL once when invited by friends and loved it so much returned with nearly my entire family. Alaska is a cruise not to be missed but also as others have said you need to cruise a line w/ rights to spending the day in Glacier Bay, plus Seattle is fabulous be sure to book a day prior or post cruise. There are some great things about the lines that are noted for their Alaska service. We loved our HAL experience. I hope you plan soon and enjoy. The beauty just cannot be described.

[IntrepidFromDC]

WOW.

 

After the amazing experience I had on Carnival Legend, r/t Seattle, Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, Victoria... to hear so many people say other cruise lines offer a better Alaska experience...

 

It's hard for me to imagine a better experience than our Carnival Legend cruise.

 

As for the cabin choice, I say forget about that and join the general population at the front of the ship. Due to its' pointy nature, and the on-board naturalist's descriptions of wildlife left and right, BOW is the only place to be if you want the best experience. Just dress warmly.

Edited April 21, 2017 by IntrepidFromDC

[bmetz34]

WOW.

 

After the amazing experience I had on Carnival Legend, r/t Seattle, Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, Victoria... to hear so many people say other cruise lines offer a better Alaska experience...

 

It's hard for me to imagine a better experience than our Carnival Legend cruise.

 

As for the cabin choice, I say forget about that and join the general population at the front of the ship. Due to its' pointy nature, and the on-board naturalist's descriptions of wildlife left and right, BOW is the only place to be if you want the best experience. Just dress warmly.

Glad to hear. I can get a balcony on the carnival legend for the price of an inside room on other lines. We were looking at this trip round trip from Seattle. I know it's not a lot of ppl first choice but time and cost will be big players if we want to.go in the next few years! Did your trip go through glacier bay? I keep seeing conflicting info on if carnival does or not

 

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[springs741]

Did your trip go through glacier bay? I keep seeing conflicting info on if carnival does or not

 

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As previously posted Glacier Bay is limited to two ships per day. Possibly the reason you are getting conflicting reports is only a few Carnival itineraries go to GB and most go to Tracy Arm.

 

For example our 2013 Carnival Seattle to Seattle 7 day was Tracy Arm, our 2014 Vancouver to Seattle 8 day was GB and our Carnival Long Beach to Long Beach 14 day will have GB.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Aft Vista Suites are the way to go on the Legend Alaska cruises. We had one last summer and have back to backs in a VS booked in 2018.

[zdcatc12]

Glad to hear. I can get a balcony on the carnival legend for the price of an inside room on other lines.

 

I'm with you on that. We did Princess last time and an aft balcony on Princess would have been $1000 more than we paid for one on Carnival this year.

[bmetz34]

I'm with you on that. We did Princess last time and an aft balcony on Princess would have been $1000 more than we paid for one on Carnival this year.

Though I was reading legend reviews last night and read about the listing issue and had nightmares about it!!

 

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[zdcatc12]

Though I was reading legend reviews last night and read about the listing issue and had nightmares about it!!

 

I was on her in September and there were no issues then, has something come up? I hadn't read anything about it.

[bmetz34]

I was on her in September and there were no issues then, has something come up? I hadn't read anything about it.

It was august 29th. Some kind of mechanical issue and it topped enough to the side that water was up to the dining room windows and plates were smashing on the floor. Ppl were freaked out but seemed more purses that carnival have no explanation and said nothing happened and down played the whole thing. I guess it was 20 degrees to the side and can supposedly go to 40 before capsizing. Wikipedia says it went to 30degrees. I guess this happened one other time but there were injuries the first time

 

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