anyone ever taken an alaska cruise?

[mopinko]

Dh has an annual conference in san fran. i have gone along a few times, and am kinda not that hot on going along again. but i might come out at the end, and we will take a mini vacation. we are thinking of taking a cruise up to alaska, and flying home from there.
anyone got any great ideas about arranging that? is it hard to find casual cruises? i know someone who has a lot of family, so time in alaska would be cool/cheap.
whatcha think?

[Chan790]

1. My parents went last year

Loved it. They highly recommend taking the land tour up though Coldfoot to Prudhoe Bay to anybody who asks them for sightseeing advice. Also, they were there for 3 weeks and said "you can't see everything and if you try, you'll miss everything."

[KitchenWitch]

2. My parents went a few years ago and LOVED it

Their boat was on Princess cruise line.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. By all means, DO IT!

You won't be sorry. The scenery up through the Passage is fabulous, and then if you've got time to spend some days on the road system, that's great, too. Give yourself plenty of time -- you can't do this state in just a week.

[nytemare]

4. I would like to take one to see the aurora.

One of those things I want to do before I die.

Sounds like you have a good opportunity.

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

8. If you want to do that, come in the winter (obviously)

and make your way up to Fairbanks. We don't always see the aurora down here in the south part of the state.

[madinmaryland]

5. I've been there once, though not on a cruise

My sister and bil are up there and i went up there in the early 90's. Go during the summer, as it is a beautiful landscape. I'm not into cruises, though my parents have done the cruise thingie a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

:hi:

[grace0418]

6. I'm going in July, but I suppose that doesn't help you.

I've heard lots of good things though, I'm really looking forward to it.

[Elidor]

7. I took one years ago. It was achingly beautiful

The sunsets in summertime stretched on for five or six hours over the water. Twilight of the Gods. Magical.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. I went twice and loved it

'95 and '05.

'95 was the best, taking car and camper on the small ferry system after driving to Prince Rupert. The Clinton economy was allowing me to take 3 full months off every summer in that era, and damn straight I took advantage. I stayed at least several days each in Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway before traipsing through the mainland for more than a month.

'05 was more commercial, aboard the NCL ship Norwegian Star. That was excellent also, since I love freestyle cruising and the weather was wonderfully nippy. Plus I made $1141 in their tiny casino by playing vision machines, ones which had been all but eliminated from Las Vegas but I stumbled upon about 15 of them on the Star. Selective play when a machine has been abandoned near the bonus level is a huge edge to the player. But those machines might be yanked now, 3 years later.

The inside passage is not to be missed. I have hundreds of pictures of various trips and inevitably the Alaska photos garner significant interest.

[Biscottiii]

10. Took the Sun Princess cruise Ketchican/Juneau/Skagway last summer

Fantastic and unbelievably breathtaking scenery. When you consider all the amenities room/food/entertainment/$10ppTip per day, it's really almost cheaper than staying in hotels while eating in restaurants. And much more comfortable. The food is 5-star at any time of the day.

Several folks in the ship's bar/lounge, I was listening to, were talking to each other. This was my first trip, but they were all agreeing the Princess lines were the most polite and pleasant of any they had traveled (some had been on 5-6 cruises). Our AAA travel agent had gotten us on this one because she also preferred it.

Check out http://messages.cruisecritic.com/
for lots of great feedback and questions answered.

WHATEVER you do, take ponchos from the DollarStore! We wore them like a 2nd skin, lot's of rain but not all that cold. If you have this opportunity, it's well worth taking!!!