My parents want to go on a cruise to Alaska in 2011

[JEDI]

They're thinking summer 2011. I might join them.

1) Which cruise lines are good? Which to avoid?
1a) Dad doesnt do anything too exciting. He has high blood pressure (and taking meds for it). He just likes to sight see.
2) Where to depart from? Vancouver?
3) How not to get ripped off/What to look out for?

Their budget is $10k.

 

[rockyct]

I can only offer my advice from my limited experience. Rubycon would be someone to PM as she works on a cruise ship.

Anyway, I went on a Diamond Princess cruise. It was a very nice ship and I think it's a well respected line. My whole family went and my Grandparents had a nice time. They don't like to do much so they hung out on the ship while we would get off the ship at port. We went down Baja California, so I can't offer any advice about an Alaskan cruise. Vancouver is a beautiful city though.

 

[F1N3ST]

inb4titanic

 

[alfa147x]

Watch out for the terrorists

 

[ProfJohn]

I think any Alaskan cruise will be fine for your dad.

Alaska is more of a sit back and watch type of cruise than a go out and do stuff cruise.


One of our members actually worked on an Alaskan cruise as an entertainer. Anyone remember who that was??? Perhaps you can search for his thread about the job.

 

[thegimp03]

I went on an Alaskan cruise a few years ago. I took a Princess line out of Seattle for 7 days. Princess is nice, probably upper-mid range when compared to other cruise lines. I'd recommend they get a balcony room so they can wake up and sit on the balcony in the morning and have a couple cocktails at night. The balcony really pays off when they float past the glaciers and see all the icebergs. If they have a room in the middle of the ship, they won't ever be able to tell when it's day or night. There's a lot of activities on board like nightly comedy and magic shows, 24/7 movies in a theater, a casino, arcade, tennis courts, gym, pools, bars everywhere, a 24/7 buffet and a bunch of different stands with different cuisines, plus nightly "nice" dinners at a table with a bunch of random people - the key with those is that on the first night if your parents don't like who they're sitting next to, to complain and try and get seated somewhere else, because they have to eat every dinner with that same group of 8-10 people.

 

[0roo0roo]

you can probably have a nicer vacation for 10k if you don't go on a cruise.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

you can probably have a nicer vacation for 10k if you don't go on a cruise.

This...

The cruise will get you around the coast... which is very pretty... but that's all you'll see. I think they'd be happier seeing more of the state.

Your parents could contact Princess or Westours and see what they offer for bus/train excursions from Seward or Anchorage up to Denali and then to Fairbanks. Valdez is also nice to visit. Girdwood, Portage...

You can do a lot for $10k up there. BTW... I lived in Ak for 33 years. I'm not a huge fan of the pre-packaged vacations that Princess and Westours put on but if all your parents want to do is kick back and see the sights they could see pretty much everything on their budget.

 

[syee]

Where you depart from will depend on the cruise company. I think almost all of them depart from Vancouver, with Carnival being the exception. (from Seattle)

Most of the major cruise lines are pretty good. I guess Carnival would maybe be the only one to avoid, although to be honest, I've been on a Carnival cruise and it wasn't as bad as some make it out to be.

Vacations To Go probably has the easiest to find listings of discount cruise fares so I'd check there first for pricing to get a general idea of how much it should be. To be honest, a 7 day cruise shouldn't cost any more than $1000 per person (unless of course you upgrade your room to something really nice).

 

[D1gger]

Just let me know what boat and when it leaves Vancouver and I'll try to get a picture as it sails out of the harbour.