Alaska Cruises

my wife and i are planning an Alaskan Cruise in 2006, could anyone tell
us which is the best month to go, whats the best the inside or outside
passage, and opinions on different cruise lies. any help would be
greatly appreciated, thanks

(-Barry-) wrote in news:26900-41DB592F-414@storefull-
3358.bay.webtv.net:

my wife and i are planning an Alaskan Cruise in 2006, could anyone tell
us which is the best month to go, whats the best the inside or outside
passage, and opinions on different cruise lies. any help would be
greatly appreciated, thanks


You could use some good help. First the cruises are inside passage (which
really means roundtrip from Vancouver or the somewhat inside passage which
means roundtrip Seattle) or Glacier or some such ( which means north or
south bound from Whittier or Seward to Vancouver) The latter do the inside
passage and generally give you a glacier (Hubbard) if not Glacier Bay. I
prefer the North and South routes as you get to see more of Alaska (just
the drive or train from Anchorage is a trip)

As for cruise lines. what kind of hotels do you like Motel 6 or Hyatt?
There is huge range of quality in ships though most hit rightin the
middle.

Are you adventurous? there are trips on Cruise West that get you rihgt up
and personal with wildlife on very small ships that have few amenities
other than a "real" alaskan experience.

In short there are a lot of questions. A good travel agent can help you
sort through the factors. What you will get here is everyone's opinion on
mass market cruise lines. Find an agent that has been to Alaska, one that
deals with people in your economic situation. Despite the rants about how
we are passe, there is no substitute for a guiding hand when you are
looking at uncharted waters.

Alaska can be a wonderful experience, or
it can be not so great; it all depends
on what you (and your wife) like to do.
We (my wife and I) do not like bus tours
and "following the dancing umbrella" so
we've done two "self directed, self
drive" experiences in Alaska.
We've had a ball and never had any
problems. Being able to wait for Denali
to come into view while the bus load of
people get back on their bus is great.
Of course planning is critical; don't
arrive in Homer on the opening day of
Salmon season without a guaranteed
reservation.
We've also learned to take the cruise
after the self-drive trip. Great for
unwinding and sorting out the pictures.
A good travel agent will be a great
help, especially in sorting out what
type of ship you would prefer.
Have a wonderful trip, take lots of
pictures, and bring an extra bag for the
things you buy enroute.
Cheers,
John

jcoulter wrote:
(-Barry-) wrote in news:26900-41DB592F-414@storefull-
3358.bay.webtv.net:


my wife and i are planning an Alaskan Cruise in 2006, could anyone tell
us which is the best month to go, whats the best the inside or outside
passage, and opinions on different cruise lies. any help would be
greatly appreciated, thanks



You could use some good help. First the cruises are inside passage (which
really means roundtrip from Vancouver or the somewhat inside passage which
means roundtrip Seattle) or Glacier or some such ( which means north or
south bound from Whittier or Seward to Vancouver) The latter do the inside
passage and generally give you a glacier (Hubbard) if not Glacier Bay. I
prefer the North and South routes as you get to see more of Alaska (just
the drive or train from Anchorage is a trip)

As for cruise lines. what kind of hotels do you like Motel 6 or Hyatt?
There is huge range of quality in ships though most hit rightin the
middle.

Are you adventurous? there are trips on Cruise West that get you rihgt up
and personal with wildlife on very small ships that have few amenities
other than a "real" alaskan experience.

In short there are a lot of questions. A good travel agent can help you
sort through the factors. What you will get here is everyone's opinion on
mass market cruise lines. Find an agent that has been to Alaska, one that
deals with people in your economic situation. Despite the rants about how
we are passe, there is no substitute for a guiding hand when you are
looking at uncharted waters.

it can be not so great; it all depends
on what you (and your wife) like to do.
We (my wife and I) do not like bus tours
and "following the dancing umbrella" so
we've done two "self directed, self
drive" experiences in Alaska.
We've had a ball and never had any

problems. Being able to wait for Denali
to come into view while the bus load of
people get back on their bus is great.
Of course planning is critical; don't
arrive in Homer on the opening day of
Salmon season without a guaranteed
reservation.
We've also learned to take the cruise
after the self-drive trip. Great for
unwinding and sorting out the pictures.
A good travel agent will be a great
help, especially in sorting out what
type of ship you would prefer.
Have a wonderful trip, take lots of
pictures, and bring an extra bag for the
things you buy enroute.
Cheers,
John

jcoulter wrote:
(-Barry-) wrote in news:26900-41DB592F-414@storefull-
3358.bay.webtv.net:


my wife and i are planning an Alaskan Cruise in 2006, could anyone tell
us which is the best month to go, whats the best the inside or outside
passage, and opinions on different cruise lies. any help would be
greatly appreciated, thanks



You could use some good help. First the cruises are inside passage (which
really means roundtrip from Vancouver or the somewhat inside passage which
means roundtrip Seattle) or Glacier or some such ( which means north or
south bound from Whittier or Seward to Vancouver) The latter do the inside
passage and generally give you a glacier (Hubbard) if not Glacier Bay. I
prefer the North and South routes as you get to see more of Alaska (just
the drive or train from Anchorage is a trip)

As for cruise lines. what kind of hotels do you like Motel 6 or Hyatt?
There is huge range of quality in ships though most hit rightin the
middle.

Are you adventurous? there are trips on Cruise West that get you rihgt up
and personal with wildlife on very small ships that have few amenities
other than a "real" alaskan experience.

In short there are a lot of questions. A good travel agent can help you
sort through the factors. What you will get here is everyone's opinion on
mass market cruise lines. Find an agent that has been to Alaska, one that
deals with people in your economic situation. Despite the rants about how
we are passe, there is no substitute for a guiding hand when you are
looking at uncharted waters.


In my experience- you will be VERY hard pressed to find a Travel Agent who can
or be willing to arrange an independent tour. Rarely do they have any
experience going outside a cruise tour (fam trips). I encourage research and
booking on your own, extremely simple to arrange and much more personal for
you. No TA is going to go through B&B's listings etc for a good lodging for
you. Head to the library and take out Frommers and Fodors Alaska books, also
THE MILEPOST. Head over to www.cruisecritic.com Alaska board. Plenty of
first hand posters to offer advice.

(JLeary256) wrote in
:





In my experience- you will be VERY hard pressed to find a Travel Agent
who can or be willing to arrange an independent tour.

In defense that was not asked for, OP asked for a Cruise
Rarely do they
have any experience going outside a cruise tour (fam trips). I
encourage research and booking on your own,

A good idea especially if B&B is in the scene as many of these do not pay
commission and a TA is going to need a fee from the client for any such
booking. If one of my clients wnats something like that I tell them that
they will need to do it themselves as by booking I accept liablility
without any reward.

(JLeary256) wrote in
:





In my experience- you will be VERY hard pressed to find a Travel Agent
who can or be willing to arrange an independent tour.

In defense that was not asked for, OP asked for a Cruise
Rarely do they
have any experience going outside a cruise tour (fam trips). I
encourage research and booking on your own,

A good idea especially if B&B is in the scene as many of these do not pay
commission and a TA is going to need a fee from the client for any such
booking. If one of my clients wnats something like that I tell them that
they will need to do it themselves as by booking I accept liablility
without any reward.

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 05:57:43 -0600 in rec.travel.cruises,
jcoulter wrote:

Are you adventurous? there are trips on Cruise West that get you rihgt up
and personal with wildlife on very small ships that have few amenities
other than a "real" alaskan experience.

a small ship cruise comes a lot closer to the real alaska than
the big ships. remember that the goal of the cruise lines is to
vacuum as much money out of suckers' pockets as possible, so they
need to own or control every where the pax go.

if you like being herded around with all the other sheeple on a
trip where you never ever have to think about anything but just
pay, pay, pay, come on a cruise ship. but you certainly won't
see the real alaska, just the tourist traps and stage shows.

================================================== ===========
If you want to see the real Alaska, don't come on a
cruise ship! See the cruise industry rogue's gallery
at http://www.cruisejunkie.com/#Environmental_Issues

Dennis P. Harris

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 05:57:43 -0600 in rec.travel.cruises,
jcoulter wrote:

Are you adventurous? there are trips on Cruise West that get you rihgt up
and personal with wildlife on very small ships that have few amenities
other than a "real" alaskan experience.

a small ship cruise comes a lot closer to the real alaska than
the big ships. remember that the goal of the cruise lines is to
vacuum as much money out of suckers' pockets as possible, so they
need to own or control every where the pax go.

if you like being herded around with all the other sheeple on a
trip where you never ever have to think about anything but just
pay, pay, pay, come on a cruise ship. but you certainly won't
see the real alaska, just the tourist traps and stage shows.

================================================== ===========
If you want to see the real Alaska, don't come on a
cruise ship! See the cruise industry rogue's gallery
at http://www.cruisejunkie.com/#Environmental_Issues

Dennis P. Harris

We recommend Vancouver to Seward ROUND TRIP ( back to back ) its sooooo
much easier to fly into Vancouver RT.

We recommend Vancouver to Seward ROUND TRIP ( back to back ) its sooooo
much easier to fly into Vancouver RT.