KathyWdrf

I was on the same cruise ship/itinerary, also in August. I was happy enough with what we saw. I knew that merely being on a cruise ship in Alaska would be limiting -- however, for a variety of reasons I kept the trip to a week (i.e., just the cruise) and didn't go to Denali and other places, which I expect I will do some other time.

It always cracks me up when people say the dining room was good but the buffet was bad (or vice versa). I found that a lot of the SAME items were served in BOTH the dining room AND the buffet! Also, I cannot believe that anyone can claim the buffet is bad UNLESS they have tried most of the items on it, which for most people is just not possible. There was a large selection of food at the buffet, pretty decent fare, and enough of a variety to satisfy most tastes. Perhaps the presentation was more appealing in the dining room, but even there, occasionally a dish was not up to par, flavor-wise.

I managed to snag a good last-minute deal on a well-located balcony cabin on the Aloha deck, so I feel we got our money's worth. Shore excursions, of course, were another matter. No discounts, and pretty expensive, even if/when booking through companies other than Princess. Ah well, that's Alaska.

I agree that Tracy Arm was great -- sat on the balcony and took photos. However, the ship was limited in its ability to get up close to the glacier -- a much smaller ship (forget its name right now) passed us and went further in.

armybrat

Because of family crises, this is the first time I have been back to review the responses to my original inquiry oh so long ago! Alaska is still a desired destination however and I loved being able to peruse these postings. Thanks so much, FT'ers! The recommendations to include a land passage were especially welcome.

jschutz

Kagehitokiri: Why the attitude? I've been reading several of your posts on different threads and this seems to be prevalent in all of them. Stay off the thread if you can't be helpful in a friendly manner.

ludocdoc

If you do a one way cruise, obviously if Alaska is the focus you want time available on the end of the vacation in AK -- I'd recommend going northbound out of Vancouver -- thats what we did -- if you go with a major line. The smaller lines often have shorter distance trips, such as the nice Linblad trip focusing out of Juneau. I would NOT go southbound from Whittier/Seward simply because you will visit College Fjord at the beginning of the trip, which is a bit anticlimactic. Better to go northbound and visit it at the end, I think.

dtsm

I've already found: cruisecritic.com and slowly reading through the zillions of things, but thought I'd see what fellow expert FT'ers have to say.

Looking to celebrate our 30th anniversary and given it's already Feb, most people saying to book in advance, looking at first week of Sept time frame. Here are some initial questions but please feel free to jump on board:


1. Princess cruise seems to be the preferred choice?
2. Princess Island and Coral are the two preferred boats? Comments on large vs smaller vessels (they can get closer to the glaciers?).
3. Starboard for northbound sailings, port for southbound? And some suggest sailing north with College Fjord as final sight?
4. Better to do land tour first (3-4 days, then cruise (5-7 days)? So that means southbound sailings ending up in Vancouver (vs. #3 above). Some say the land tour is expensive and better to do on your own?
5. Is Sept 'too late' in season. We understand less crowds, less bugs and no rain/mist for land segment?
6. Booking with 'cruise agent' better than directly on-line - in case of upgrades, discounts, etc.? Any recommendations for cruise agents?

Also, after reading cruisecritics.com for a couple of hrs last two days and browsing their threads, it appears Princess cruises are the most popular and they apparently have a monopoly on land sites (?). However there is also a vocal group that is emphatic: do only the HAL northbound cruise to get most sights in? Any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.