Just seeing which cruise lines people recommend for an family Alaskan Cruise for Summer 2011. Good and bad experiences welcome. Additionally any that should be avoided?
If you are a real Tri person and fit…no matter what…you will feel SMALL when you stand next to the others on the ship (and wonder how it floats)
Carnival - terrible
RC - not as bad, still all fatties on the ship.
Norwegian - super nice, but still a ton of fatties.
If you are a real Tri person and fit…no matter what…you will feel SMALL when you stand next to the others on the ship (and wonder how it floats)
One of my most memorable runs ever was on the top deck of a huge cruise ship during an Alaskan cruise. They had a track that went around the perimeter 11 decks up. I ran 70-something laps to get my run in at sea. It was awesome getting a 20 knot headwind in one direction and a tailwind in the other. The surface was nice and soft to run on and the scenery was unmatched as glaciers drifted by and wildlife did their thing. The most surreal part, though, was that one end of the track went through the beer garden. I got more than a few bewildered looks from the brat-munching, bud-light-swilling, Jabba the Hut wannabes in their deck chairs as this skinny, geeky looking guy ran through 70+ times. 
But, I do confess to stopping there myself for some…ummm…recovery fuel and rehydration after the run. 
if you’ve been on a cruise before and liked it, ignore what I have to say . . . went on a 7 day cruise once - (Carnival) and by day 5 I wanted to jump over board just to experience something real - and we made the best of every island by getting far away from the drop off site. On board the decor and food is way over the top and totally artificial, and everyone is desperately trying to get fat or be amused. I like the planet and want to be close to it - a cruise does everything to keep you away from earth.
Try the book A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again. (David Foster Wallace)
WOW, this description of the book at WIKI (below) reads like my experience. At one point late in the cruise a mother got sick and puked, partially over her young daughter, who then stood there in shock and disbelief. It was the only real thing I experienced while on board.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again is a 1997 collection of nonfiction writing by David Foster Wallace.
In the title essay, originally published in Harper’s as “Shipping Out”, Wallace describes the excesses of his one-week trip in the Caribbean aboard the cruise ship MV Zenith, which he rechristens the Nadir. He is ironically displeased with the professional hospitality industry and the “fun” he should be having and explains how the indulgences of the cruise turn him into a spoiled brat, leading to overwhelming internal despair.
Wallace uses footnotes extensively throughout the piece for various asides. Like much of Wallace’s work, the essay is written in postmodern style. Another essay in the same volume takes up the vulgarities and excesses of the Illinois State Fair.
This collection also includes Wallace’s influential essay “E Unibus Pluram” on television’s impact on contemporary literature and the use of irony in American culture.
I’ve been on a Royal Carribean cruise (Liberty of the seas boat) to the Eastern Carribean and on the Sapphire Princess to Alaska. Not sure if RC goes to Alaska but the ship was really nice, awesome gym. All the equipment had their own tvs and it was pretty new. The Sapphire Princess has a smaller gym. Only one upright and the bikes are the only pieces of equipment that don’t have tvs.
I did notice there wasn’t a lot of kids on the cruise to Alaska, but there are a lot of older people with walkers, wheel chairs and canes. The Sapphire Princess also had an endless pool, indoor pool and outdoor pool–they are obviously smaller than the pool at the gym but if you don’t want to use the endless pool the indoor pool was free of kids in the morning.
Most of the ports in Alaska have biking, canoeing, ziplining, or hiking for the excursions. I’m not sure how old your kids are to enjoy these. The boat did have a kid zone, but I’m not sure how good that was since
I heard Carnival isn’t very good. RC and Princess were both good in terms of service and food.
if you’ve been on a cruise before and liked it, ignore what I have to say . . . went on a 7 day cruise once - (Carnival) and by day 5 I wanted to jump over board just to experience something real - and we made the best of every island by getting far away from the drop off site. On board the decor and food is way over the top and totally artificial, and everyone is desperately trying to get fat or be amused. I like the planet and want to be close to it - a cruise does everything to keep you away from earth.
That sounds like a frickin nightmare.
A few years ago my family went on a cruise to Alaska for my mom’s 60th. It was interesting…
I don’t have the slightest clue which line is was, but I do seem to recall that there was an “X” somewhere in the logo.
There was an on-board casino, shopping mall, food was available something like 22hrs/day, and they constantly had people wandering around with trays of stuff for sale as well (hot chocolate with Baileys in a “collectible” travel mug, etc). I remember being fairly unimpressed with the food. I was impressed by the sheer quantity and availability of food, but the quality was quite mediocre. There was the option of sit-down (served) dining, for which one needed to make a reservation, and buffet-style meals that were available for fairly lengthy periods at around the normal mealtimes. The sit-down dining options were far superior, but still nothing to write home about. Interestingly, apparently there was a sufficiently large East Indian customer base for them to also serve Indian food at dinner. We didn’t find that out until near the end, and the Indian food was actually pretty good. In between meals they had “snacks” available nearly all the time at the buffet stands.
There was a small gym that was packed the first day and then empty afterwards, a “mineral spa”, and a small track that was generally clogged with people just standing around eating.
I spent most of the trip sitting on deck watching the scenery and reading. The scenery is truly breathtaking, and I was ready to quit my job, buy a canoe, and paddle up the coast (and likely die of exposure) as soon as I got back. It was absolutely amazing.
The stops were pretty heavily commercialized, but one could take excursions in the various ports to snowshoe, mountain bike (with a bus up ride downhill option), helicopter tour, train ride, etc.
Seeing the glaciers calve was a pretty cool sight.
They had a kids program for little ones, and they appeared to be having fun whenever I saw them (marching around with pirate swords, etc).
I’d say that it’s worth doing for the scenery, as that’s pretty much the only way to see it and it’s definitely very cool. Don’t believe all the rave reviews about the food, though - unless your idea of “excellent food” means “excellent availability of food and no limits on gorging”. They say the average person gains 12.5lbs on a week long cruise. I can definitely see how that happens - it’s just always there, in your face (and “free”).
Our friends just did one that followed the Titanic’s route .
They said some seniors go on cuises instead of nursing home . If you’re still mobile
enough to do your own bathroom stuff . You get food and folks to talk to , you dont need a car.
Plenty of staff to push the wheelchair . The costs are about the same , as the Home for the year .
Predictable replies for a tri forum, lots of holier than thou. I’ve been on most of the cruise lines, never had a bad trip. Different lines are aimed at different market segments, what are the demographics of your group?
Have not been on an Alaskan cruise, but I work off and on in one of the port towns, Ketchikan.
The major lines that come through are Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival (I think that’s the one with the X someone mentioned), Holland America.
Demographics seem to be older people, but there are younger folks, too.
In Ketchikan, you can hike, zipline, fish, go on the Deadliest Catch boat tour, go on a seaplane to see Misty Fjords, go kayaking. It doesn’t have to be just shopping and eating. The hike up Deer Mountain is like being on the stairmaster for a while, but it might not leave you with lots of time for other things.
One tip for running on the boat deck (a blonde moment of mine): if you’re at sea, don’t try to use your GPS/Garmin to count your laps for you. I tried that on a Caribbean cruise (on RC, and I liked them) one time and it took me a while to figure out how I was running 2 min/mile!
p.s. take a rain jacket for an Alaskan cruise. Sunny weather is a bonus!
We have 2 teens, and my in-laws (in their late 60’s early 70’s, limited mobility) so the cruise idea is to have a little something for everyone to do as a family vacation. Not really looking for the vacation of a lifetime just a fun time with the kids and in-laws.
Of the mass market cruise lines, Carnival aims at the younger partying market, Holland America aims at the oldest segment. In between are Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian, etc. That is probably your sweet spot.
I personally like Holland America, bigger rooms and nicer all around (to me). Your kids would hate it. On an Alaska cruise I would highly recommend a balcony room.
The ST of cruising is www,cruisecritic.com. Reviews of individual ships and a message board for each port of call. Highly recommend you look there before you spend your money. Have fun.
Thanks will check it out
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We did the Holland America Alaskan cruise a few years back. It was family friendly in that it wasn’t a “party” boat like Carnival might be, but there weren’t a huge number of teens for yours to interact with.
If you can help it, don’t pass a kidney stone your first night out like I did. The doctor for the crew was useless, couldn’t even start an IV, finally they called the doctor for the passengers (an ER doc who gets a free two weeek cruise for him and his family in exchange for 2 office hours/day) and he got it started. Luckily for me it passed on it’s own cause they would have put me off the ship at the next port if necessary.
Avoid all of them. If you are at an active person, you will want to jump overboard after a couple of days. Even my in-laws, whose idea of exercise is doing the wave at a football game, find them excruciatingly boring. You would be better off just going to Alaska and planning your own trip.
The major lines that come through are Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival (I think that’s the one with the X someone mentioned), Holland America.
The one with the X on the stack is Celebrity. Better than most, but at the end of the day, a cruise is a cruise and more people than not are on it to eat their faces off for a week straight. That said, in my experience, the food is better on Celebrity than Carnival, Royal Carribean or Norwegian (NCL).
There are a lot of smaller cruises that do Alaska. You don’t have to go with a big Carnival ship or something like that. A lot of the smaller cruise lines have a better experience, can go to better spots, and can make for a more “intimate” experience, where you know the other cruisers and the crew better. Plus, several of them offer a combination cruise/land trip, in case you think you’ll get claustrophobic on the ship.
Bottom line is, you don’t have to feel tied into one of the major cruise lines, and all the stuff they bring with them.
Good to know
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