Leland Posted October 5, 2009 #26 Posted October 5, 2009 Did the "Land and Sea" on Princess in '06. Three days on land, seven on sea. Great trip. But, whatever you do, I highly recommend that you spend the extra money and get a cabin with an outside balconey. Unlike ocean cruises, there is always something to see! Doesn't matter which side of the ship, the Captain will turn the ship around at the highlights.
Sheradan Posted October 5, 2009 #27 Posted October 5, 2009 Pat and I did the inside passageway on Norwegian Cruise line 2 years ago and absolutely loved it. Would love to go again. That was the 2nd time on Norwegian for us (went Caribbean the first time) so of course we had a discount on the Alaskan trip. We love their ships, they are fairly new and the service couldn't be beat. Couldn't leave our cabin for 5 minutes and the room steward would have it cleaned up. The restaurants were fabulous. Alot of different type menus to choose from. I stayed in the casino alot when cruising, Pat always knew where to find me. this one stops at 4 different ports in Alaska. The only mistake we made was scheduling activities at each one so that by the last stop we were so tired. Wished we had just visited some of the towns and maybe even rented a car to drive ourselves around. I think you can also rent motorcycles in some of the towns. We saw lots of wildlife, aquatic and otherwise. We also got to see a couple of glaciers, even up close. We went in late May and couldnt' have asked for better weather. It was absolutely gorgeous and we never needed the heavy coats / boots / longjohns that we had packed. I would seriously recommend Norwegian Cruise Line. And the inside passage can't be beat. Sorry this is so long...but I wanted to let everyone know how much we love this cruise line. (Can you all tell that Pat is typing this??) Don I would highly recommend HCL also. Great service.
hale374 Posted October 5, 2009 #28 Posted October 5, 2009 Folks, I think that Eileen and I are going to try to take an Alaskan Cruise in July or August of 2010. We have a lady here who sells cruises and she asked me a year or so ago if I thought there was any interest within the club of a group package. I just thought I would throw it out here and see. Also, anybody who has done the inland passage Alaskan cruise and wants to share their opinion of the best cruise line to use and etc., it would be appreciated. I am thinking that we will depart from Seattle and do a 7 night cruise. I've looked at ads from Norwegian, Celebrity, Carnival and Princess at this time. Don, as I used to book "cruises only" as a travel agent, all of the cruise lines listed are great cruise lines. You may want to look at Royal Caribbean as well and take off Carnival. Nothing against Carnival, but they usually cater to a younger crowd. I've had some complaints from older folks (over 30 crowd) that I booked, but price on Carnival will be cheaper. Holland America is also another great line. When looking, ask your agent what they can get for free for you and your group if you can book a certain number of rooms. That's important. I booked a group cruise on Costa last year with 10 rooms booked and was able to get my guests $50 per person onboard credit, a free bottle of champagne and strawberries in their room when they board and a 1 hour free cocktail party which included drinks and snacks for the entire hour at no charge (drink as much as you want). If you can book at least 8 rooms, most will give you these perks, so shop around and let me know if you need anything. Chris
Freebird Posted October 6, 2009 Author #29 Posted October 6, 2009 I know that prices vary depending upon when you go. The prices I'm seeing for July are approximately: Holland: 940 Interior 1249 Oceanview 1799 Balcony Ports of Call: Departs From Seattle, Washington visiting Cruise Glacier Bay; Juneau, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia Norwegian: 859 1029 1499 Ports of Call: Departs From Seattle, Washington visiting Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Cruise Glacier Bay; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia
1BigDog Posted October 6, 2009 #30 Posted October 6, 2009 Thats something that Jean and I have been wanting to do for a long time. Id never be able to leave the dogs for that long.......sigh......
Guest tx2sturgis Posted October 6, 2009 #32 Posted October 6, 2009 7 to 10 days without my bike? Holy Titanic, Batman!!!!
Sleeperhawk Posted October 6, 2009 #33 Posted October 6, 2009 Freebird, how many bookings does she need to get a great discount. I vote for the Norwegian.
Lone Eagle Posted October 6, 2009 #34 Posted October 6, 2009 Thats something that Jean and I have been wanting to do for a long time. Id never be able to leave the dogs for that long.......sigh...... Ruffy, I am with you on that one - and I won't kennel / board our dogs. After 12 years being together and taking separate vacations, the wife finally talked me into having someone house/ dog sit while we were gone. We hired a bonded / licensed dog sitter who would do overnights at our house - cost was about $55.00 a day. The mail was brought in, paper picked up (along with other stuff LOL), dogs / fish etc were fed twice a day, the folks we used were awesome. Something you may want to consider if you are / were doing a longer trip like this?
Freebird Posted October 8, 2009 Author #35 Posted October 8, 2009 Folks, I just found out last night that our best friend is getting married in February and she expects us to be there. This is going to be a one week ordeal for us to get then and then back so the cruise may be out for us in 2010. We have a member here that goes by Cruiselady and she has offered to look at some various options for us. Not only for Alaska but possibly even some lower cost Caribbean cruises. I'm going to ask her to jump in here and offer some options and then we will see who is interested in what or if there is even enough interest at all. So...I will turn it over to her. I'm sure that she will be posting here soon.
Aussie Annie Posted October 8, 2009 #36 Posted October 8, 2009 Cruise, Why don't you all cruise "Downunder" then us Oz VR member's could enjoy meeting you all.
cruiselady Posted October 9, 2009 #37 Posted October 9, 2009 Hi everyone I am Karen the Cruise Lady!!!! I am very excited to see how much interest there is in cruising! (Not just on your bike's either!) I am trying to possibly get a feel for how many of you would like to do a cruise for 2010. Are you interested in this as a group or just going as individuals?? I can do both!! I am able to obtain group pricing on most anything that floats. The possibilities are endless... Alaska is very popular and usually the most expense if you go at peak season which is in the summer. Alaska is only open for cruise ships about 4.5 months a year. Caribbean with warm sandy beaches has really good prices year round. Summer is peak season for the Caribbean too. Prices are normally the lowest in the early fall. I am a experienced travel agent as well as a avid cruiser. (Cruise number 36 is coming up next week!) Gary and I have been in business for over 13 years. Let me know what you think and I will proceed!!! Thanks for you time!!! Karen The cruise lady You have not lived until you've CRUISED!!! 505-342-0067 1-888-840-SAIL
RJD Posted October 9, 2009 #38 Posted October 9, 2009 What little bit we have looked into an Alaskian Cruise, we thought we would like the smaller boats better to get closer and into more places. For the benefit of everyone interested, do you need a close count to get pricing or can you do ball park pricing based on your past experience. I know someone who went the end of May because it was less expensive and really wasn't too bad. Prime time would be nice too. For us any kind of price range would be helpful. Bob
Gary N. Posted October 9, 2009 #39 Posted October 9, 2009 Very interested in an Alaska VR cruise. We can go anytime.
Ponch Posted October 9, 2009 #40 Posted October 9, 2009 What little bit we have looked into an Alaskian Cruise, we thought we would like the smaller boats better to get closer and into more places. Bob For what it's worth, the inside passage is very rough seas in places. Not that a small ship would be in danger, that's not it. The larger ships smooth out rougher waters quiter a bit. If you succomb easily to motion sickness, it matters. The 300+ passenger ship we were on got pretty darn close to the Glaciers.
cruiselady Posted October 9, 2009 #41 Posted October 9, 2009 Good morning and thanks to all of you who have responded already! A ballpark figure on a small ship cruise (around 100 passengers) to Alaska would be about $3000.00 per person for a 7 night cruise. If you are looking for Alaska for 7 nights and don't want to pay the higher premium consider going in May or September. Right now the lowest inside cabin is around $870.00 per person I have group space at the moment on a 7 night Alaska from Seattle, sail date 06-01-10. The price per person for a inside cabin is $906.81. This cruise line is Carnival and the ship is the Spirit. Or 07-30-10 sail date, 7 night sailing from Seattle $982.00 per person for a inside cabin. This ship is the Rhapsody, Royal Caribbean. There is not much difference between the 2 sailings price wise and the 07-30-10 sailing is peak time too. Peak time being, best weather and more animals to see!!! And when I quote a price it includes all taxes. My phone number is 505-342-0067 or 1-888-840-SAIL or you may e mail me direct cruisebts@yahoo.com If this is your first cruise or your 50th cruise I would be very happy to assist you with it.
kevin-vic-b.c. Posted October 12, 2009 #42 Posted October 12, 2009 I know that prices vary depending upon when you go. The prices I'm seeing for July are approximately: Holland: 940 Interior 1249 Oceanview 1799 Balcony Ports of Call: Departs From Seattle, Washington visiting Cruise Glacier Bay; Juneau, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia Norwegian: 859 1029 1499 Ports of Call: Departs From Seattle, Washington visiting Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Cruise Glacier Bay; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia Any time you leave from a US port you will have to stop in a Canadian port of call.... I do recommend the stop in Victoria!
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