ALASKA May 2013

Good advice. We are Canadian anyway, so would prefer to fly into Vancouver.

Awesome pics! I would love to take that cruise!

So awesome! I've always wanted to do a cruise to Alaska.

love these pictures

*Thread Bump*

We are looking at an Alaskan cruise this summer (late) or possibly next summer....

A few questions:

Why do I see people on the Disney Alaskan cruise laying out in the sun and swimming??? Isn't it always cold?

I feel like if there is no sun on a cruise ship...what do you do?

What was your opinion of NCL? We've been on DCL and RC and loved both!

WOW! Thanks for bumping, Eeyore! I'm just now seeing this post. Looks like an awesome trip, Angie! I'm psyched to do this eventually. I think Benn will need a Disney break after this year, so I think next year's trip will probably be a cruise.

A Disney break? Nooooooooooooo!

Wow..Awesome trip..Way too adventurous for me..And too cold..LOL..I've a friend who loves going to unusual places and he's just back from South Korea..Said it was amazing...Unemployment is zero..No one is on benefits..That rules Scotland out..This is the land of benefits...

Eeyore - we (me and niece and nephew) did a Holland America Inside Passage cruise out of Vancouver and loved it. The food was wonderful and the excursions superb. We had a room with verandah and even though chilly we spent time out there every day. We went the end of June and had variable weather.....as folks have posted..bring layers and expect rain. I would love to go back but this next time spend more time on land and see Denali.

I know, right? For me a Disney break would be going to Disneyland or on a Disney cruise or to Disneyland Paris or maybe to Aulani. I don't understand this desire to travel to non-Disney destinations. Maybe I can get him to do an Adventures by Disney trip...and rob a small bank to pay for it!! LOL!

I so want to do an Alaskan cruise, but since we live on Vancouver island, and DH has taken bc ferries from Prince Rupert to port hardy to many times to count, he's not interested. We could even do a super last minute trip as we can be at the terminal via sea plane in under an hour. And that includes driving to the sea plane from our house and checking in and waiting.

Somehow I will convince him, or just go without him.

Thanks Nhshorty! Did you like Holland America? How would you rate it v. Disney?

Thank you! That def. helps me. Black fly season? What is this? An influx of annoying house flies? Yea, if we went, it would be during August, probably one of the last cruises for the season. It just looks so amazing! Cookies and hot chocolate? I'm in!

Wow, I don't know how I missed this thread! Great photos Magic!

Jan and I are about to push the commit button on a one week cruise on the Norwegian Getaway. It's a brand new ship and cruises the Eastern Caribbean. Probably will be traveling the week of April 12th.

I too have been researching the different lines and everything I've read seems to indicate that Norwegian is a more relaxed atmosphere with no scheduled dining times/tables and no formal dress requirements.

My parents have cruised with Princess and Holland America and really liked both. Holland America is a more "mature" setting from my understanding. But to be honest, I would kinda like that as well.

We've NEVER cruised so this will be our first. I figured we must try it and see if we like it!

Eeyore, thanks for bumping this thread! It sounds like a great trip you are looking to do. Would really like to do an Alaskan cruise someday!

We really enjoy cruising. We've been on RC and DCL. RC was very, very nice. It also had a more mature crowd, which we liked because we were on our honeymoon. We happen to like dressing up for dinners so wearing cocktail apparel nightly kinda fits our style. No matter what line you choose, you will have a blast. Very relaxing and great food!

Have fun! You must complete a trip report on the cruise. Who cares if it's not Disney!!

Loved all your pictures .The Alaskia cruise we will be taking in a few years. We Love cruises , been to Bermuda and Carribean (St Thomas & St Martin & Bahamas ) We love Norwegian Cruise line

Wow, this all sounds great! I'll definitely do a trip report in case anyone is interested even though it's not Disney.

would love one !!

Okay, it's a done deal. Booked 4/12/14 on the Norwegian Getaway for Eastern Caribbean.

Beautiful pics! An Alaskan cruise is on our must do list. Thanks for sharing!

Here she is!

We did this Cruise in November on the Epic Now we look forward to going on the Getaway.

Beautiful Ship !!

I would love to see the TR too! This is definitely on my bucket list!

Hey Rob, would love to hear about your experience on the Epic! Do you have any advice for first time cruisers like us? We've already booked an "ADR" at Cagney's steak house for Jan's birthday dinner. I've read that it's quite good there.

We're also going to try the Teppanyaki restaurant onboard.

It felt really strange booking dinner reservations on a non-Disney site as we are so used to the Disney system. Norwegian is pretty good though as they seem to allow booking everything online.

We also purchased the transfers from Fort Lauderdale airport to the Miami port both ways. The travel agent highly recommended this to us as our flights are rather tight timing wise but still within the limits.

Anyway, we're really pumped about this new experience and I'm looking forward to exploring this giant ship.

Oh, any idea what internet is like? I don't have any real info on that. I'd like to do a daily update trip report, but that may not be possible if the internet is spotty/slow or really expensive. If that's the case, I'll just do up a report when we return.

We Loved Cagney Steak house best meal there .We enjoyed the fine dining. Cagney,Moderno,La Cucina,Shanghais,we liked them all found them worth the extra money. Moderno was a close second!! The transfers from Fort Lauderdale airport to the Miami port is smooth nice A/C bus waiting for yea!Folks from Norwegian will have signs easy to spot.We also had a close window but still made it no problem. We did the murder Mystery diner was very good. Was hosted by Second City. We did all shows (make reservations as soon as you can for best times) Dueling Pianos was one of our favorite things they take request for a small fee. Make sure you take a stroll atop of ship late night so BEAUTIFUL !! I didnt use my laptop at all this trip. but you can buy minutes a little costly.
Couple of hints to save a little $$ Take alot of your own Pictures . They Charge alot for Picture Packages . You are charged a Daily Gratuity Fee i think 15$ per person,per day(not sure if your agent had you pay it already) if not you will be charged daily to your room. So i dont tip for every drink. I only tipped for exceptional service. Make sure to get a Daily balance for your Room.Drinks and Fees have a way to sneak up on yea !!
We did a couple excursions one at each port
Bahamas we did the Jeep exploration. was fun riding along the coast ..brought us to caves that was cool !!
St Marteen we did the See & Sea it was awesome. You get a little tour of the island. Then you go on a glass bottom boat. Then you head over to Marigot with time to explore and shop. We grabbed a lite lunch in this little cafe outside was beautiful !!
St Thomas we did the St Johns Island Tour a MUST DO !

Preview	Attachment	Size
	dscn3975.jpg	2.8 MB
	dscn3827.jpg	2.53 MB
	dscn3854.jpg	2.6 MB
	dscn3954.jpg	2.58 MB
	dscn3889.jpg	2.58 MB
	dscn3961.jpg	2.65 MB

Wow, thanks for all that info!

I'm glad to hear the transfer usually goes smoothly. We arrive as a domestic flight since we clear US customs here in Toronto before boarding the plane. That should save some time upon arrival at FLL.

We did the pre-purchase of gratuities as part of the booking. I'm still trying to get a handle on when you still tip people, but your info definitely helped me understand.

As crazy as it sounds, one of the things I want to do in St. Maarten is to visit Maho beach. I just have to experience the planes flying right over my head and watch people be blown into the water by jet blast! I've watched hours of footage on YouTube and always wanted to go there in person. Looks like it's going to happen!

And for those that don't know what I'm referring to...

we were just at Maho Beach in January for our honeymoon, it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Preview	Attachment	Size
	EEK!!!	2.16 MB
	ONE OF THE BIGGEST PLANES OF THE DAY	2.15 MB
	from our seat at the bar	2.42 MB

Haha! Nice! Did you do the take off thing?