Alaska cruise- horrible time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh great, I’m leaving for a RC cruise in a few days. It’s going to be a multi-generational trip and I’m going in with low expectations. Wish me luck!

OP: sounds like you would be happier on a Ritz-Carlton cruise. Me too.

I think you’ll have fun. It is definitely worth spending a few hours on cruise critic forums reading the posts about your specific ships — people will say what/where to eat and what to avoid. At this point you’ve probably booked your excursions but cruise critic forums are a fabulous resource to find the best tours that are not through the ship. This really is an area where a small amount of advance research pays major dividends.

Thanks, I’ll take a look at cruise critic.

[Anonymous]

This thread is funny. Lighten up! The bonus is maybe not gaining such weight with the buffet, if the food was as bad as you say.

I am going on an Alaska cruise later this month, NCL, and am so much looking forward to it. I also love Indian food so will be thrilled with Indian buffet options.

[Anonymous]

You are "wary" of cruises and have never been on one, but went on one anyway without doing any research or planning and you came here to complain about it?

I'm very wary. RC is not upscale and one minute on the internet could confirm. No mention by OP of Alaska's natural beauty, the fabulous excursions, or enjoying an evening/day/outing with fellow travelers? Half empty glass post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

+1. Alaska has many cool options for people who dislike “traditional” or low end cruises. UnCruise runs very small ships and caters to an active clientele with lots of kayaking and hiking. They are the only company that gets an overnight in Glacier Bay and two full days and there are about 60-80 passengers only. Alaskan Dream Cruises is another and they focus on the cultural aspect of native Alaskans.

These little guys can get closer than even the luxury ships (and certainly RC). They also do less of the touristy stops - what I would call “lumberjack sh*t” - and can change their itinerary based on weather or other information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

+1. Alaska has many cool options for people who dislike “traditional” or low end cruises. UnCruise runs very small ships and caters to an active clientele with lots of kayaking and hiking. They are the only company that gets an overnight in Glacier Bay and two full days and there are about 60-80 passengers only. Alaskan Dream Cruises is another and they focus on the cultural aspect of native Alaskans.

These little guys can get closer than even the luxury ships (and certainly RC). They also do less of the touristy stops - what I would call “lumberjack sh*t” - and can change their itinerary based on weather or other information.

I got flamed for this earlier but if you want this kind of a small ship experience but don't want to pay for it, you can do an overland trip on your own. I was intimidated because everyone said "oh you have you do a cruise" but it really not much harder to plan than any other trip.

Of course if you like cruises, that is great too!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

+1. Alaska has many cool options for people who dislike “traditional” or low end cruises. UnCruise runs very small ships and caters to an active clientele with lots of kayaking and hiking. They are the only company that gets an overnight in Glacier Bay and two full days and there are about 60-80 passengers only. Alaskan Dream Cruises is another and they focus on the cultural aspect of native Alaskans.

These little guys can get closer than even the luxury ships (and certainly RC). They also do less of the touristy stops - what I would call “lumberjack sh*t” - and can change their itinerary based on weather or other information.

I got flamed for this earlier but if you want this kind of a small ship experience but don't want to pay for it, you can do an overland trip on your own. I was intimidated because everyone said "oh you have you do a cruise" but it really not much harder to plan than any other trip.

Of course if you like cruises, that is great too!!!

+1. The cruises are limited to SE. You can do a great trip and see more of Alaska by driving. You can take the ferry if you want a water view for part of the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

+1. Alaska has many cool options for people who dislike “traditional” or low end cruises. UnCruise runs very small ships and caters to an active clientele with lots of kayaking and hiking. They are the only company that gets an overnight in Glacier Bay and two full days and there are about 60-80 passengers only. Alaskan Dream Cruises is another and they focus on the cultural aspect of native Alaskans.

These little guys can get closer than even the luxury ships (and certainly RC). They also do less of the touristy stops - what I would call “lumberjack sh*t” - and can change their itinerary based on weather or other information.

I got flamed for this earlier but if you want this kind of a small ship experience but don't want to pay for it, you can do an overland trip on your own. I was intimidated because everyone said "oh you have you do a cruise" but it really not much harder to plan than any other trip.

Of course if you like cruises, that is great too!!!

Right, you don't have to do a cruise to go to Alaska. IDK why so many people think this. Sure, some of the places are convenient by cruise, but we did a 2 week road trip through Alaska and had an amazing time. We still got out on the water by taking day trip boats to Kenai Fjords,etc. Everything was much, much cheaper to do it on your own. We looked at the prices these cruise ships charge for the same thing we did and they mark it up a ton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. If we have only cruised Disney and been happy, what other cruise lines should we consider? The Disney itineraries can be somewhat limited with ports and dates.

Disney is a somewhat specialized experience because of the very substantial focus on children. It is not inexpensive, and many people would consider it mid-market, neither high-end nor a budget line. Other mid-market lines like Holland America, Celebrity, and Princess will probably come in a similar price points and will offer some children's activities, but not to the same extent as does Disney. Cunard is another to consider; it has different fare categories which limit access to certain restaurants and lounges, but which accomodate different budgets on the same ships. If you'd like to try a more upscale large-ship experience, Oceania and Azamara will have better dining and more diverse itineraries while not being quite as expensive as the smaller-ship lines like Regent, Seabourn, and the like. For something quite different, Windstar has large sailing ships which may appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. If we have only cruised Disney and been happy, what other cruise lines should we consider? The Disney itineraries can be somewhat limited with ports and dates.

We did several Disney cruises when our kids were little. When they aged out of Disney we moved to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. My kids like Royal the best because they love all the activities - flow rider, water slides, zip line etc. The new big boats are their favorites (I would not go on a small old boat). The food is not as good as Disney but still fine. We normally stay in suites and find the service very good and we find the suite areas to make the boat not feel so crowded. We go on Celebrity when we travel with my parents. The food and drinks are better and its a more refined environment. The kids miss the bells and whistles but a cruise is still fun! We find that all the lines have pluses and minuses.

[Anonymous]

Someone complaining and wanting to leave would ruin my vacation more than less than amazing food.

Suck it up and make the best of it. Making everyone around you miserable because you aren't a fan of the food is very immature.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience, OP. I know how one disappointing aspect of a vacation can stick in your craw. But as others said, I agree that with time, you’ll remember the good more than the bad, except if you fight with your family. That usually blows all hope of preserving happy memories.

I also understand how sometimes you can’t do it all: plan the trip, herd the cats, dot every i and cross every t personally! I usually plan our vacations meticulously. The rare times my husband has insisted on picking a hotel or changing a schedule, it’s led to stressful outcomes, because he’s not good at it like I am and we end up in a dirty, noisy place, or are exhausted and rushed because he didn’t plan enough connecting flight time or driving time. He just isn’t as detail oriented and careful.

You can’t change the past. Remind yourself of all the GOOD things that happened on this cruise.

And next time, you’ll have to add to your workload and verify all the arrangements…

[Anonymous]

Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruises are like flying Spirit or Frontier. It doesn’t matter if you pay more for upgrades the experience is still not going to be good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most people cruise to Alaska for the experience of seeing Alaska, not for the food and ship entertainment.

Except there are so many other ways to see Alaska...

Cruise is easiest way to see SE Alaska.

This is probably true if you want to see all of it. But you certainly can see many awesome parts of Alaska without being on a cruise (I’m from AK). If you fly to Juneau, for example, you can definitely get a lot of the SE experience. I have seen breaching whales out of Seward & Juneau and calving glaciers out of Whittier.

Being on a mega cruise ship is something super unappealing to me, so I just want to be clear that it is 100% not necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

+1. Alaska has many cool options for people who dislike “traditional” or low end cruises. UnCruise runs very small ships and caters to an active clientele with lots of kayaking and hiking. They are the only company that gets an overnight in Glacier Bay and two full days and there are about 60-80 passengers only. Alaskan Dream Cruises is another and they focus on the cultural aspect of native Alaskans.

These little guys can get closer than even the luxury ships (and certainly RC). They also do less of the touristy stops - what I would call “lumberjack sh*t” - and can change their itinerary based on weather or other information.

I got flamed for this earlier but if you want this kind of a small ship experience but don't want to pay for it, you can do an overland trip on your own. I was intimidated because everyone said "oh you have you do a cruise" but it really not much harder to plan than any other trip.

Of course if you like cruises, that is great too!!!

Right, you don't have to do a cruise to go to Alaska. IDK why so many people think this. Sure, some of the places are convenient by cruise, but we did a 2 week road trip through Alaska and had an amazing time. We still got out on the water by taking day trip boats to Kenai Fjords,etc. Everything was much, much cheaper to do it on your own. We looked at the prices these cruise ships charge for the same thing we did and they mark it up a ton.

For whatever reason people love to hate on Anchorage but basing yourself there and doing day trips out of Seward, Whittier, the Mat Su, and doing maybe some road tripping to Denali or Homer will give you a delightful trip. And everything is way cheaper in Anchorage, like expensive by US standards but not the eye watering prices you’ll see in the rest of the state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

+1. Alaska has many cool options for people who dislike “traditional” or low end cruises. UnCruise runs very small ships and caters to an active clientele with lots of kayaking and hiking. They are the only company that gets an overnight in Glacier Bay and two full days and there are about 60-80 passengers only. Alaskan Dream Cruises is another and they focus on the cultural aspect of native Alaskans.

These little guys can get closer than even the luxury ships (and certainly RC). They also do less of the touristy stops - what I would call “lumberjack sh*t” - and can change their itinerary based on weather or other information.

I got flamed for this earlier but if you want this kind of a small ship experience but don't want to pay for it, you can do an overland trip on your own. I was intimidated because everyone said "oh you have you do a cruise" but it really not much harder to plan than any other trip.

Of course if you like cruises, that is great too!!!

Right, you don't have to do a cruise to go to Alaska. IDK why so many people think this. Sure, some of the places are convenient by cruise, but we did a 2 week road trip through Alaska and had an amazing time. We still got out on the water by taking day trip boats to Kenai Fjords,etc. Everything was much, much cheaper to do it on your own. We looked at the prices these cruise ships charge for the same thing we did and they mark it up a ton.

For whatever reason people love to hate on Anchorage but basing yourself there and doing day trips out of Seward, Whittier, the Mat Su, and doing maybe some road tripping to Denali or Homer will give you a delightful trip. And everything is way cheaper in Anchorage, like expensive by US standards but not the eye watering prices you’ll see in the rest of the state.

I think axchorag is great — I always recommend the Native Life center there. We did both a self guided land version and a cruise and I agree you can get much of it pretty easily be driving and combining with some paid excursions like a boat trip out of Seward or a helicopter flight. Glacier bay and Hubbard bay are the big cruise draws and it’s somewhat of a pain to get to some of the other locations but there’s lots to see in Alaska either way.