Newbie questions about boat/route/cabin selection

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Chris Fox

Guest
First I'd like to say thanks to everyone posting to this board. You have already been very helpful in our quest for our first Alaska cruise (I will be travelling with my wife, we are in our mid 30s). I have several question, some of which I think I know the answers to. Please feel free to add your input...

1. Which Cruise Line? We're leaning toward Princess right now. We really want to see Glacier Bay, so that rules out some lines. Our age and desire for a not-too formal environment makes Princess looks like a good choice for us.

2. Which route: Northbound, Southbound, or round-trip? Northbound looks the most interesting. You get to see more of the area, since you don't have to turn around midway through the trip. It seems like a better progression from the urban environment up to the northern wilds.

3. Fore or Aft cabin? A balcony is a must, just a matter of where on the boat. I would think the front of the boat would be best, as the intercom describes what you are about to see, not what you are passing.

4. Upper deck or lower deck cabin? I would also think a higher deck would give a better vantage point. But it might also be windier...

Thanks in advance,
Chris
 
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princesswahwah

Guest
If you're looking for a super deal, check www.vacationstogo.com or www.cheaptickets.com today for very inexpensive Alaska cruises in July. I just booked a northbound cruise about half an hour ago on Princess. It was $499/person for an inside cabin. My view of a cabin is, it's just there for my sleeping purposes. I can go on the decks for views. But if you want an ocean view, it was $699/person as of half an hour ago. Have a blast. If you choose July, PM me. Maybe my couple can meet your couple.
 
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halfdome86

Guest
We prefer mid-ship cabins. Ship is more stable there. Most balcony cabins are higher up on the ship so there is more motion up there. I would suggest that you make sure the balcony is covered. It seems that the newer Princess ships have many or most balcony cabins not covered. You'll most likely get some rain during some part of the cruise and you will still want to use the balcony.
IMHO....make sure you pick a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay. This will narrow your choices a lot since there is a limit to the number of ships allowed in the bay. Princess does have cruises that go there. Celebrity for example has no Glacier Bay visits.

We've only done the round trips from either Seattle or Vancouver. More scenery from the Vancouver trip (not that the scenery on the Seattle route is bad). Seattle was much more convenient when traveling from the US. Especially on the return trip.
 
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gothicreader

Guest
Hi Chris,

My husband and I are leaving for our first Alaska cruise this coming week.

We choose Princess Dawn, because of the atmosphere. Were not much into the rowdy crowd, so Princess seemed like the best choice, not to mention the cost. We enjoy being with older couples, I guess it makes us feel young. BTW we are in our 40's, so we still consider ourselves youngens.

Our room comes with a balcony. We are on the starboard side, we choose this so that we can see everything, plus we wanted the privacy.

At first we chose a inside cabin, but then reading what others were saying about seeing the sites from your own room, we decided on a room with a view. Thus, the cabin with a balcony.

We booked our trip since October 2004 and after many months, we are finally leaving for our voyage.

I hope you have luck in finding what you're looking for.
 
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OldeBagg

Guest
We've been on Princess twice - the northbound Vancouver to Anchorage (Coral Princess July 2003) and the southbound Anchorage to Vancouver (Sun Princess May 2005). Loved it both times. Probably preferred the northbound a little better - they cover the same itinerary, just in reverse order., but the schedule seems a little better on the northbound. Glacier Bay and College Fiord are both spectacular, but on the southbound cruise we entered College Fiord about 5 am, so a lot of folks missed out because they didn't know to get up early.

Also, be sure your balcony is covered and private - some ships have "staggered" decks and the people above you can look down on your balcony and/or the people below you can look up. I guess some people don't mind this, but it was important to us. As you cruise the inside passage, the views are great from either side of the ship. From your cabin it won't really matter whether its fore or aft - you'll still get a great view. Cabins toward the front tend to feel the motion a little more, although the inside passage is generally pretty calm water. We found that we usually went up to one of the upper observation levels to see the glaciers so that we could have more viewing time.

As for Princess and formality, we found that most people really got dressed up on the two formal nights, although we did not but went to the dining room anyway. They have a buffet that is always open and it's very informal. On our 2003 cruise I think we only ate in the dining room twice and opted for the buffet the rest of the time. Princess food is ok, but not spectacular.

Hope this helps!
 
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ColDoc

Guest
We are just back from our second Alaskan cruise. The first was on the Celebrity Galaxy and our latest one two weeks ago was on HAL Zaandam. I can tell you that I prefer the Zaandam in spite of what many will tell you about the higher "quality" of the Celebrity line. The Zaandam was much friendlier, better food, better cabin service, and goes to Glacier Bay.

For example, we ordered breakfast in our room on three days aboard the Zaandam. We put down 6:30 for delivery. All three mornings you could set your watch by the knock on the door at 6:30.

You definitely want a cabin with a verandah when going to Alaska. We used it extensively. Most mornings we went out and had coffee, seveeral days we opened the door and had breakfast in the cabin and in the evenings we sat out with a deck blanket over our legs and listened to the waves.

I would make sure and go with a line that goes to Glacier Bay. We were in Glacier Bay for three hours with a full 90 minues infront of Maguire (sp?) glacier. Some cruise lines only go to the Hubbard Glacier.

We went on a round-trip cruise out of Vancouver and were not bored because we returned over almost the same path. On the cruise up we went out into the Gulf of Alaska and missed the Johnson Strait coming back we went throught he strait and saw lots of orcas, whales, dolphins.

Just some things to consider.
ColDoc
 
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H2O babe

Guest
How is the cruise planning coming? I just booked the Island Princess southbound for next June. We are in our early 40's and also thought Princess would be the line for us. We have sailed Carnival but we were adament on seeing Glacier Bay and so Princess will get our $$. We have a balcony cabin on the port side on the Baja deck 9pretty high up) and it appears to be uncovered but I will make the best of it. We're from central MN so cold, wind, and rain are not new to us. I am now working on getting the airfare and transfers organized and also the excursions. Let us know if you've booked a cruise!

Good luck.
 
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