REGENTS SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR ALASKA CRUISE

Can anyone help me with a review? I have the opportunity to go on a 12
night cruise from San Francisco back to Vancouver airfare included from
and back to Los Angeles. The $5,700 price includes everything including
day excursions, all food, drink and tips plus, a $300 onboard cash
credit.

This would be my first cruise and the dream of a life time. Oh, for an
addtional $800 a balony suite is available if you think it is worth it
for enjoying the views I know must be spectacular.

On 10/3/10 6:47 PM, Connie Van wrote:
Can anyone help me with a review? I have the opportunity to go on a 12
night cruise from San Francisco back to Vancouver airfare included from
and back to Los Angeles. The $5,700 price includes everything including
day excursions, all food, drink and tips plus, a $300 onboard cash
credit.

This would be my first cruise and the dream of a life time. Oh, for an
addtional $800 a balony suite is available if you think it is worth it
for enjoying the views I know must be spectacular.



To be honest, you don't want to be on your balcony when you're in the
good places. The view from your balcony will be to limited. You want
to be some place like the bow, or on the top deck where you can get a
view of the front, both sides and back of the ship.

The good places are sites like Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, etc. As far as
other spots along the inside passage, there really isn't anything
spectacular, since you see mostly ocean much of the way. The narrow
channels from Vancouver north are mostly done at night. It's not till
you get up to Tracy Arm that you get up near the really good stuff.

So to me, a balcony simply isn't that critical on an Alaska sailing.
The weather won't be nice. It will be cold and very likely rainy. I
think a balcony is much more wonderful in the Caribbean where you can
take advantage of the great weather. We were in Alaska a few weeks ago,
and I had an obstructed view outside... which for me was sufficient.

--Tom

On Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:32:01 -0400, in rec.travel.cruises you wrote:

On 10/3/10 6:47 PM, Connie Van wrote:
Can anyone help me with a review? I have the opportunity to go on a 12
night cruise from San Francisco back to Vancouver airfare included from
and back to Los Angeles. The $5,700 price includes everything including
day excursions, all food, drink and tips plus, a $300 onboard cash
credit.

This would be my first cruise and the dream of a life time. Oh, for an
addtional $800 a balony suite is available if you think it is worth it
for enjoying the views I know must be spectacular.



To be honest, you don't want to be on your balcony when you're in the
good places. The view from your balcony will be to limited. You want
to be some place like the bow, or on the top deck where you can get a
view of the front, both sides and back of the ship.

The good places are sites like Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, etc. As far as
other spots along the inside passage, there really isn't anything
spectacular, since you see mostly ocean much of the way. The narrow
channels from Vancouver north are mostly done at night. It's not till
you get up to Tracy Arm that you get up near the really good stuff.

So to me, a balcony simply isn't that critical on an Alaska sailing.
The weather won't be nice. It will be cold and very likely rainy. I
think a balcony is much more wonderful in the Caribbean where you can
take advantage of the great weather. We were in Alaska a few weeks ago,
and I had an obstructed view outside... which for me was sufficient.

My experience was just the opposite. We had sunny clear weather most
days (in May a few years ago), and the balcony was the perfect place to
sit and watch the glaciers calve without having to get dressed to go up
on deck. Having a balcony gives you more options, and another $800
added to a cruise that's already almost $6000 is probably not a
deal-breaker.

It's raining in Juneau right now, but according to the weather history
at wunderground.com there were many days in September when it was not
raining (scattered clouds to overcast, but not raining). I think it
depends on whether you're lucky or not.

And if it's raining, I'd rather sit in a blanket on a covered balcony
than be exposed out on the deck.

I'm sure it depends on the ship and the location of the balcony. We had
a midships balcony on the Celebrity Infinity. The balcony location was
good, and the Infinity had some protected outside viewing areas (unlike
the NCL ships I've been on). My next Alaska trip will be on the
Norwegian Pearl with an aft balcony, so I will gain a new perspective.


--
Jack Hamilton
California
--
Qui vit sans folie n'est pas si sage qu'il croit.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld

Thanks to you both. I'm trying to get as much information as possible
before booking.

Can I request a room on the side of the ship that will be facing land as
we cruise North?

On 10/3/10 9:11 PM, Connie Van wrote:
Thanks to you both. I'm trying to get as much information as possible
before booking.

Can I request a room on the side of the ship that will be facing land as
we cruise North?


Sure. But the land will be pretty far away as you sail north much of
the time. So you won't see much till you get way up north, close to
Juneau. And the mountains won't get majestic with white caps until
there as well. On the way up, you'll see humpback whales, orcas,
fishing fleets, etc.

But you won't see mountains like this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...er_Glacier.jpg

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguid...s-i-tgphotoid-

until you get up to the Tracy Arm/Juneau area.

--Tom

On Sun, 3 Oct 2010 18:11:56 -0700, (Connie Van)
wrote:

Thanks to you both. I'm trying to get as much information as possible
before booking.

Can I request a room on the side of the ship that will be facing land as
we cruise North?

Yes, you can. Your travel agent (or the cruise line if you book
directly) will be able to do that for you. You might or might not see
much during the trip up, depending on the route and how close you get to
shore. I think it's likely that you won't see much between San
Francisco and your first stop.

You can see deck plans on the cruise line web site. You might also want
to check on www.cruisecritic.com to see if past passengers have favorite
locations. Keep in mind, though, that tastes vary, so what someone else
likes might not be what you life.

On Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:29:45 -0400, Tom K wrote:

But you won't see mountains like this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...er_Glacier.jpg

Wow!

That place has just been added to my bucket list.

On 10/4/10 6:25 AM, Gettamulla Tupya wrote:
On Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:29:45 -0400, Tom wrote:

But you won't see mountains like this:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...er_Glacier.jpg

Wow!

That place has just been added to my bucket list.


If you like that kind of stuff... another place to add to that list:

http://www.norway-cruises.net/wp-con.../geiranger.jpg

http://www.frafjordtilfjell.com/bilder/flydalsjuvet.jpg

I appreciate everyone's effort to share your experience and thoughts
about the cruise. It has been very helpful.

On 10/4/10 8:06 PM, Connie Van wrote:
I appreciate everyone's effort to share your experience and thoughts
about the cruise. It has been very helpful.


so, what are you going to do?