Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Please help me pick an Alaskan Cruise
I'm in the preliminary phase of shopping for an Alaskan cruise to celebrate my 30th birthday this June. Both DH and I have limited vacation time so we are trying to get away with doing a 7 or 8 day trip and would love for it to be roundtrip from either Seattle or Vancouver. I know that limits what we can see, but I was hoping for advice on some of your favorite stops so I can pick the best cruise.
Here are some we are considering:
Carnival Cruise Lines aboard the Carnival Spirit
7 Night Vancouver to Seattle [Vancouver, Cruise Inside Passage, Juneau, Skagway, Cruise Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, At Sea, Seattle]
Carnival Cruise Lines aboard the Carnival Spirit
7 night Seattle RT [Seattle, At Sea, Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Victoria, Seattle]
Celebrity Cruises aboard the Celebrity Century7 Night Vancouver RT[Vancouver, Inside Passage (Cruising), Icy Strait Point, Hubbard Glacier (Cruising), Juneau, Ketchikan, Inside Passage (Cruising), Vancouver]
Celebrity Cruises aboard the Celebrity Infinity7 Night Seattle RT [Seattle, At Sea, Ketchikan, Tracy Arm Fjord, Juneau, Skagway, Alaska Inside Passage, At Sea, Victoria, Seattle]
Holland America Line aboard the ms Oosterdam7 Night Seattle RT[Seattle, Puget Sound, At Sea, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, Seattle]
7 Night Vancouver Rt [Vancouver, Scenic Cruising The Inside Passage, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Scenic Cruising The Inside Passage, Vancouver]
Any recs appreciated! TIA!
Re: Please help me pick an Alaskan Cruise
First cruise and the only one we've done so far was HA to Alaska. Loved it. Ditto PPs. Glacier Bay is really neat. Our ship stopped about a 1/2 mile from a glacier and stayed there for about 30 minutes. We stood on deck while the glacier calved, which means a huge chunk of ice fell off and crashed into the water. It sounds sort of weird to think that's cool, but it really is!
The other stops were to Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria. I loved all the ports except Victoria (I never actually got to see it). The port is far away from the city and requires a bus ride to get there. We got in to port at dinner time, so by the time we ate, it was too late to go into town to have anything be open for visits. That was a waste.
But other than that, loved it! Oh BTW, in Juneau we did a helicopter excursion and landed on a glacier, which was worth the $$$ to do it.
Take this with a grain of salt, because I haven't actually been on the cruise yet (or to Alaska ever). I have, however, spent hours researching, and have posted several times on here for advice
- Glacier Bay is a must-see. I would only consider cruises that have this port.
- On the advice from another poster, we plan to take the train from Vancouver to Seattle, and it is saving us a ton in airfare. It's about a 4 hour train ride and $80 for 2 people. I'm guessing that it's also a beautiful side trip, but I really have no idea.
- Despite the experiences of many others and the reputation of Carnival, I have had nothing but great experiences with them. We've also had a great time on RC, but will be going with Princess this time.
- This is my best deal yet: We are flying into Fairbanks to start the trip. It was a pretty pricey flight. I signed both myself and my husband for a new Alaska Air credit card. Just for signing up, we got started with enough points for 2 one-way 1st class tickets to Fairbanks. I'll cancel the card next year if they won't waive the annual fee. For now though, we paid $10 cash total, for the 2 first class tickets.
Thanks for all the info! I was a little nervous about taking HA since my parents always talk about HA being the floating nursing home. Maybe that is more true of the Caribbean & Central America (where they've been on HA), but could be a different crowd for Alaska.
I'll be sure not to miss Glacier Bay. The HA cruise that goes RT from Vancouver was the cheapest option ($500/pp for an outside room) and included Glacier Bay. We have a $500 gift card for US Airways which would not cover us all the way to Vancouver, but would definitely get us to Seattle so I'm glad to know there's a reasonably priced train. Also, I bet the ride would be very scenic!
I'm getting excited!!
I am way late on this one, but you didn't mention NCL . . . why not? They go to Glacier Bay and DH and I went on their cruise to Alaska two years and we liked it so much we are going back this summer.
Holland is a much older crowd and a little too formal and stuffy for my taste. (no offense) NCL was more laid back and had a broader age range.
I'm not opposed to NCL, but I couldn't find any sales on routes RT from either Vancouver or Seattle (for better flight deals). We're trying to budget $700/pp for the cruise portion. If you have any info on deals for those routes, please let me know.
Are you a member of Costco? Do you have an Amex?
I bought my first cruise at Costco and they had the best deal. (I ended up being the second cruise from NCL directly b/c they had a promo going go and I had a union discount.)
Amex and NCL have a deal going on for onboard credit that is pretty good. (use for excursions, tips, etc)
I'll see what I can find out. I know that NCL was cheaper than Holland when we last looked. And we were going in July which is more expensive.
Awesome, thanks! I'll check it out.