Last cruise was Royal Carribian. Everything was included except the
various sightseeing ventures in the ports of call.
various sightseeing ventures in the ports of call.
Alaskan Cruise
- Thread starter Jeff423
- Start date
Alaska Cruise
Cruise life is fine. There's a tendency to eat too much and the standard cruise joke is that if you failed to book the whale-watching excursion, just go up to the breakfast buffet.
I found a bit of sameness at the various cruise ports---mostly T-shirt and trinket shops. I also didn't appreciate the captain blasting his horn to cause the glaciers to calve for the guests' viewing pleasure.
Cruise life is fine. There's a tendency to eat too much and the standard cruise joke is that if you failed to book the whale-watching excursion, just go up to the breakfast buffet.
I found a bit of sameness at the various cruise ports---mostly T-shirt and trinket shops. I also didn't appreciate the captain blasting his horn to cause the glaciers to calve for the guests' viewing pleasure.
Arik
Member
Never been to an Alaskan cruise but been to Caribbean. Yes food is free, yes drinks cost, yes excursions cost. You don't have to drink or take excursions. You can simply wonder around and explore by yourself. Or you can sit on the ship
I drank, some, and I took some excursions. It was fun.
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I drank, some, and I took some excursions. It was fun.
Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
We really like cruises for vacations, nothing to do but eat, relax and have fun. The excursions, tips and alcohol cost extra, we have a couple drinks and like sipping on one in the lounge high overlooking the ship. Have been on abt 11-12 cruises and the Alaska one was great. Went out of Seattle, kept the plane fare a little cheaper. We like Royal Caribbean, the only one we have been on. Would do it again but take a longer cruise then a week and do some of the better land tours. Cruise ships almost NEVER CRASH. Do it then tell, us how much fun you had, Larry
Ivan the Butcher
Member
When my wife's grandmother was in her 60's she and her y0unger sister took an Alaska cruise. I saw her 3 to 10 times a year for the next 25 years, she was as excited about her cruise the day she died as the day she left for it!
Her excitement is what convinced me to go on my first cruise in 2004. I had many misgivings. I don't like being under someone else's control.in other words, I prefer to drive, or I'll walk thank you very much!!! I put that aside, and had the time of my life!
The cruise cost about $800 each. The air fair was about $400 each for both ways. We went on 3 days of excursions, about 125 total each. Drinks and trinkets, Maybe $50 each (we don't drink much.) Tips for you dinner staff and room staff about $65 TOTAL (that was a little high, but we had great staff!) That totaled about $1400 each, I budgeted $3000 each! This didn't include the $450 I lost on the Black-Jack table, a friend from our group won $3200 sitting next to me, I got his bad cards!
This was our first Caribbean cruise took a second and loved it too (with daughter, S-I-L and triplet grandsons and the wife of course)
I got sick and let go at work 6 years ago, I'm still looking for a way to afford an Alaskan cruise! (maybe as a retirement gift when the wife call the job "Quits".
Ivan
Her excitement is what convinced me to go on my first cruise in 2004. I had many misgivings. I don't like being under someone else's control.in other words, I prefer to drive, or I'll walk thank you very much!!! I put that aside, and had the time of my life!
The cruise cost about $800 each. The air fair was about $400 each for both ways. We went on 3 days of excursions, about 125 total each. Drinks and trinkets, Maybe $50 each (we don't drink much.) Tips for you dinner staff and room staff about $65 TOTAL (that was a little high, but we had great staff!) That totaled about $1400 each, I budgeted $3000 each! This didn't include the $450 I lost on the Black-Jack table, a friend from our group won $3200 sitting next to me, I got his bad cards!
This was our first Caribbean cruise took a second and loved it too (with daughter, S-I-L and triplet grandsons and the wife of course)
I got sick and let go at work 6 years ago, I'm still looking for a way to afford an Alaskan cruise! (maybe as a retirement gift when the wife call the job "Quits".
Ivan
DWalt
Member
Check on American Cruise Lines for Alaska inside passage cruises. In August we took the 11-day north-to-south cruise starting at Juneau, down to Seattle, total all-in for both of us including air fare to/from San Antonio was close to $20K (including full trip insurance) but it was worth it. Small ships (sort of like large yachts), and they go places and stop at places that the large cruise ships cannot go. Typically, only about 80 passengers, so you get to meet a lot of people (mostly senior citizens, plus one young couple on their honeymoon was on our cruise). Also a lot of side trips are included. All meals (excellent dining) and liquor (all you want) at Happy Hour are also included. We saw lots of Humpback whales from the ship, didn't need any whale watching tours. See: http://www.americancruiselines.com/cruises/alaska-and-pacific-northwest
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We did an Alaska cruise in 2010 (Princess), Voyage of the Glaciers from Vancouver, BC, to Whittier, AK, followed by another 7 days ashore. We did excursions every day on the cruise portion. Neither of us has interest in tourist traps, so doing things like whale watching was much more to our liking.
Costs - well, Princess charges for dang near everything. Meals in the formal dining rooms and the never-closes buffet are part of the cost, but any drinks aside form water and tea cost. Plus they have photographers all over taking pictures they want to sell you. For Alaska and New Zealand (2012), the total cost averaged out to $1000/day.
After a river cruise on Viking, I doubt we will do a cruise with any company other than Viking. Everything except bar drinks is included in their price. No photographers chasing you around either.
Costs - well, Princess charges for dang near everything. Meals in the formal dining rooms and the never-closes buffet are part of the cost, but any drinks aside form water and tea cost. Plus they have photographers all over taking pictures they want to sell you. For Alaska and New Zealand (2012), the total cost averaged out to $1000/day.
After a river cruise on Viking, I doubt we will do a cruise with any company other than Viking. Everything except bar drinks is included in their price. No photographers chasing you around either.
Arik
Member
You may not want to stay homeI realize that taking a cruise is safer than driving but with all the bad press over the last couple of years I think I'll stay on dry land.I wouldn't want my first trip to be my last.
The numbers are so small they are almost insignificant. There are 20 MILLION cruise passengers each year. About 5 times more people die in airplane accidents and 125 times more people die in car crashes each year than on cruises.
If that's the case I'd be afraid to live. Planes can fall on my house, death in a plane crash, death in a car is almost a certainty, food poisoning, electrocution, weather, train derailment, an angry coworker, a terrorist, a mental patient escapee....etc...
Have you ever seen the show....A Thousand Ways to Die? O.M.G!!!
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crsides
US Veteran, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
We flew into Fairbanks and then did Denali for couple days, train to anchorage, the cruised the coast stopping at 5 coastal towns. Same shopping stuff in all of them, but we enjoyed it. Highly recommend the Fairbanks/Denali deal. Also, we were 10 days early for the salmon runs. that means 10 days early seeing all the wildlife that the salmon draws. We did see everything on the inland tour except wolves. It was a great trip. The package was $2500 each, but we spent $10k before it was over. I would do it again. But book after 1st week in july. Yeah, its going to rain.
Charlie
Charlie
coltle6920
Member
You may not want to stay home
The numbers are so small they are almost insignificant. There are 20 MILLION cruise passengers each year. About 5 times more people die in airplane accidents and 125 times more people die in car crashes each year than on cruises.
If that's the case I'd be afraid to live. Planes can fall on my house, death in a plane crash, death in a car is almost a certainty, food poisoning, electrocution, weather, train derailment, an angry coworker, a terrorist, a mental patient escapee....etc...
Have you ever seen the show....A Thousand Ways to Die? O.M.G!!!
To quote a friend at a funeral where a good friend of ours died on the highway when someone was driving southbound in the northbound lane....Geez,What are the odds?
Statistics aren't always in one's favor!
Arik
Member
Absolutely true. Which is why you can't do anything, anywhere, anytime cause death is everywhere and it could be just a second away.
Can't go by odds? So I can't step outside. Or stay inside, or.....
Ever drive in a thunderstorm? I hope not! 18 people died in thunderstorms in 2015
Humberto Hernandez, a 24-year-old Oakland California, resident, was killed after being struck in the face by an airborne fire hydrant while walking. A passing car had struck the fire hydrant and the water pressure shot the hydrant at Hernandez with enough force to kill him.
Have pets?
Peter Robinson died after he fell on ice and drowned in his cat's water bowl.
Sorry, not to get morbid. Cruises are fun and dying in one is about the same as drawing in you pet's water bowl
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klondike
Member
My Gr grandfather took a cruise up the inside passage in '97 to Skagway. from there he hiked over the Chilkoot Pass and built a large flat bottomed boat to make it to the gold fields. He said that he never found any gold but he sure seemed to have a lot to spend when he returned to Tacoma a year later. Funny, he never lost the bug to find gold and spent many subsequent summers in the Cascade Mountains prospecting.
Your trip might be as profitable.
Your trip might be as profitable.
I haven't been on an Alaskan cruise - yet - but we went on a cruise to Mexico for our 20th anniversary 10 years ago and it was one of the best vacations I've ever had.
This year we celebrated our 30 year anniversary so come summer, we're going on another cruise. And yup, you guessed it - this one will be to Alaska....
This year we celebrated our 30 year anniversary so come summer, we're going on another cruise. And yup, you guessed it - this one will be to Alaska....
twodog max
Member
We have cruised many times but only one Alaskan cruise. I think it was the absolute best trip. I will go back for sure sometime. We also spent a week driving the interior in a rented RV. Fantastic trip also on its own.
The inside passage is really something to see. We went late August early September. No mosquitoes but we did not take enough warm clothes. A good rain suit is a must. We hardly ever took ours off. We had some bright sunny days but we needed the windbreaker and fleece lining.
The inside passage is really something to see. We went late August early September. No mosquitoes but we did not take enough warm clothes. A good rain suit is a must. We hardly ever took ours off. We had some bright sunny days but we needed the windbreaker and fleece lining.
DWalt
Member
When we were there in August, it was cool and overcast the whole time, but no rain. You really do need to take a jacket and/or sweaters. There is very spectacular scenery going down the inside passage. One neat thing, the ship had was a large monitor in the main lounge connected to the GPS navigation equipment, and you could see exactly where the ship was at any time.
We did an Alaskan cruise On Norwegian Cruise Lines 3 years ago. My wife enjoyed the whole thing. And she is not happy about boats...even big ones. We had lots of fun. Looked at some tourist traps..had great food on board it was a nice experience. I lived/worked in Alaska back in the 70s so kinda knew what to expect. Alaska has changed in the last 40 years. We did the gold panning thing..yeah we found some. Almost impossible in most streams up there to NOT find gold. Any time in the summer or fall there is a chance of rain...especially in the south of Alaska..Interior not as much. Fall is from first of August to the middle of Sept so remember to bring coats etc..especially if going to McKinley to see the mountain and animals. Yes they ARE wild animals. Main thing is have fn. It truly is easy to do. A friend from back in Md took his wife in August this year and she is a city girl...and she had a ball. They got to see the top of the mountain 2 days in a row(kinda rare) When we did our trip. The final cost from Seattle to Alaska and back was about 4 grand total..except for the baubles I got momma. She does like Bling...and shoes. I even bought a handgun up there and had it sent to my FFL here in Wyoming. A decent model 57 for 500 bucks?? Left lots of room even with the shipping etc.
Here is a cruise education for everybody. Most people don't know these facts:
When you book a cruise, you essentially give up most of your rights by a contract called "The Conditions of Carriage."
If you suffer an injury or damage or loss of your property, your rights are going to be very limited and the limited remedies usually involved being forced to arbitrate in an inconvenient forum in front of a very cruise ship friendly board. You are a lobster trying your case in a boiling pot under those arrangements. They also invoke very short notice periods for you to make any claim, if a family member wants to file a claim for your death, that time period may lapse before they even learn about it.
If an event occurs that sinks the ship, results in a cancellation of the trip, and causes port cancellations, trip cancellations, or results in you being dumped off in a port other than that you originally booked at the end of the trip, that is your problem, not theirs. You are on your own.
On the last and final cruise of my life on Silverseas Cruise line, I was booked from South Hampton to New York. The boat hit something en route, or had a mechanical problem that caused an oil leak. A stop in Newport was cancelled, the trip terminated early, and we were dumped off of the boat at a shipyard in New Jersey, and told we were on our own.
It was a god-awful trip, and we had to make our way back to New York at our own expense. During that trip my wife was seasick in high seas in our cabin about half of it. A lot of the crew seemed to be falling ill, and I contracted a virus that took me months to get over.
Cruise ship lines make their money by filling their boats with people and then using various schemes to extract as much money from those people as possible. Although the schemes vary, they usually involved the following:
Premium dining charges. The ships have a number of choices for food service, buffet lines, beach bar food service, a formal dining room, and often a restaurant where you make a reservation to eat really good food at exorbitant prices.
Spa services. Haircuts, ladies spa services and massages are also very expensive.
Liquor sales. Most won't let passengers bring their own booze aboard, and that drink or two you have with dinner or by the pool adds up. On top of the high drink prices they also automatically add a "service fee" of 20% or so and expect you to tip on top of that.
Crew tips. The cruise ships expect you to tip everybody you see practically, the stewards, the maids, the bartenders, the head waiter, the sommelier, among others.
Casino revenue. Don't even think about it.
Shore visits. The ship lines heavily market their shore excursions because they are over priced and mislead people on expectations before they buy. The fact is the ship lines put the screws on the locals who do the excursions by extracting huge kick backs and the locals barely make ends meet.
Beach visits. In some cases the cruise ship line may drop you off at a beach and recommend the local beach bar for you to dine. They probably own the bar and thus get you to pay for food on shore when you could eat for free on the boat.
Jewelry shops and merchants. Often the cruise ship lines may own them, or they take you to shops where they extract high rents from the local merchants because the own the properties.
What the cruse ship line did in my situation was invoke the so-called "force majuer" clause and made their magnanimous offer of giving us a ten percent discount on a future cruise with Silverseas. Some big offer, huh?
Cruise lines always market their trips by showing pristine boats, huge abundant buffets, beautiful beaches, smiling faces, and smooth water. It is possible you might experience some of that, it is doubtful you will see advertising showing the other possibilities:
Boats that are just plain worn out and dirty. Interior windowless cabins that smell of mildew and are damp.
Boats where inadequate sanitation, ventilation, improper food handling practices result in huge blooms of norovirus outbreaks amongst both the crew and passengers.
Boats being driven into storm conditions or sea states that make walking around difficult and potentially dangerous.
Staying in your cabin with your spouse who is to seasick to get up and can't keep food down.
And finally, being forced to leave your cabin and sit in a stairwell or hallway for a couple of hours while you wait for your deck to be called to another longer line to clear customs and immigration.
So now, do you have a better grip on what happens?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
When you book a cruise, you essentially give up most of your rights by a contract called "The Conditions of Carriage."
If you suffer an injury or damage or loss of your property, your rights are going to be very limited and the limited remedies usually involved being forced to arbitrate in an inconvenient forum in front of a very cruise ship friendly board. You are a lobster trying your case in a boiling pot under those arrangements. They also invoke very short notice periods for you to make any claim, if a family member wants to file a claim for your death, that time period may lapse before they even learn about it.
If an event occurs that sinks the ship, results in a cancellation of the trip, and causes port cancellations, trip cancellations, or results in you being dumped off in a port other than that you originally booked at the end of the trip, that is your problem, not theirs. You are on your own.
On the last and final cruise of my life on Silverseas Cruise line, I was booked from South Hampton to New York. The boat hit something en route, or had a mechanical problem that caused an oil leak. A stop in Newport was cancelled, the trip terminated early, and we were dumped off of the boat at a shipyard in New Jersey, and told we were on our own.
It was a god-awful trip, and we had to make our way back to New York at our own expense. During that trip my wife was seasick in high seas in our cabin about half of it. A lot of the crew seemed to be falling ill, and I contracted a virus that took me months to get over.
Cruise ship lines make their money by filling their boats with people and then using various schemes to extract as much money from those people as possible. Although the schemes vary, they usually involved the following:
Premium dining charges. The ships have a number of choices for food service, buffet lines, beach bar food service, a formal dining room, and often a restaurant where you make a reservation to eat really good food at exorbitant prices.
Spa services. Haircuts, ladies spa services and massages are also very expensive.
Liquor sales. Most won't let passengers bring their own booze aboard, and that drink or two you have with dinner or by the pool adds up. On top of the high drink prices they also automatically add a "service fee" of 20% or so and expect you to tip on top of that.
Crew tips. The cruise ships expect you to tip everybody you see practically, the stewards, the maids, the bartenders, the head waiter, the sommelier, among others.
Casino revenue. Don't even think about it.
Shore visits. The ship lines heavily market their shore excursions because they are over priced and mislead people on expectations before they buy. The fact is the ship lines put the screws on the locals who do the excursions by extracting huge kick backs and the locals barely make ends meet.
Beach visits. In some cases the cruise ship line may drop you off at a beach and recommend the local beach bar for you to dine. They probably own the bar and thus get you to pay for food on shore when you could eat for free on the boat.
Jewelry shops and merchants. Often the cruise ship lines may own them, or they take you to shops where they extract high rents from the local merchants because the own the properties.
What the cruse ship line did in my situation was invoke the so-called "force majuer" clause and made their magnanimous offer of giving us a ten percent discount on a future cruise with Silverseas. Some big offer, huh?
Cruise lines always market their trips by showing pristine boats, huge abundant buffets, beautiful beaches, smiling faces, and smooth water. It is possible you might experience some of that, it is doubtful you will see advertising showing the other possibilities:
Boats that are just plain worn out and dirty. Interior windowless cabins that smell of mildew and are damp.
Boats where inadequate sanitation, ventilation, improper food handling practices result in huge blooms of norovirus outbreaks amongst both the crew and passengers.
Boats being driven into storm conditions or sea states that make walking around difficult and potentially dangerous.
Staying in your cabin with your spouse who is to seasick to get up and can't keep food down.
And finally, being forced to leave your cabin and sit in a stairwell or hallway for a couple of hours while you wait for your deck to be called to another longer line to clear customs and immigration.
So now, do you have a better grip on what happens?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
