I've heard that HAL is one of the better cruise lines, but I am concerned that my son might find it "boring"; it appears that other cruise lines have more activities geared to the "younger" crowd; i.e., video arcade, disco, etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We are considering doing a 10-day trip; 3 day pre-trip vacationing in Seward (doing the sights, etc.) and then a 7-day southern inside passage cruise. We've looked hard at HAL for their Glacier Discovery Cruise on the Statendam, using a Category B Verandah stateroom.

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Best, Onno

[ 10-30-2002: Message edited by: Onno ]

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Originally posted by First-timer:
It's the ol' toss-up; better stateroom or better overall activities... Any suggestions?

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Welcome aboard! All big modern ships have a range of comfortable (and often) similar staterooms. The balconly cabins are always a nice treat, if you don't mind paying the extra.

I'm not sure HAL or Celebrity would be my first choice for a youngster?

I'd certainly reccomend ANY RCI ship in terms of value, activities and facillities. I'd suggest 'Radience of the Seas', if she offers the itiniary that you require? I sailed on her (almost twin) sister, 'Brilliance of the Sea's', earlier this year. She really does have something to offer for EVERYONE, including Mom and Dad!

Check at my Ship Review of Brilliance, to give you an idea of what is onboard: Click Here

Do check out our 'Ship Reviews' and especially the 'Readers Reviews'in general, (menu left) they are a great resource!

Please report back some day a let us know what choice you made and how it went?

[ 10-30-2002: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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I'm not sure HAL or Celebrity would be my first choice for a youngster?

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At 17 I wouldn't call him a "youngster". He's a "teenager". I've always found that there are a number of teens on HAL ships especially on the Alaska cruises during the summer - I am sure there will be a lot of them and they often hang out together. No matter which ship/line you choose, there is so much to see and do in Alaska, that I doubt that he will be bored.

[ 10-30-2002: Message edited by: sympatico ]

Personally I'd choose a round-trip from Vancouver, and stay in Vancouver for three nights (before or after).

The one-way cruises do make sense if you plan on taking a land tour (Denali park, the railway, etc.) after your cruise but the cruise itself shows you nothing a round trip cruise will not. If you have ten days I suggest you allocate at least some of them to Vancouver... A very nice city.

If you have been to Vancouver and don't want to stay there, I'd either take the weeklong roundtrip and make that all, or take a real land tour in Alaska, arranged by Holland America Tours (Carnival, Holland America), Princess Tours (Princess) or Royal Celebrity Tours (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity). In Seward most people would be utterly bored after three days. If anything go to Anchorage, at least there is something there, though I did not stay enough to discern whether it was of any interest...

I find that cruise line marketing leads many people to the extra hassles of a one-way cruise when they get nothing out of it.

Then again if you have easy flight access to Anchorage (not the case from those of us on the East Coast) it is possibly a moot point...

Just my opinion, from having been on the one-way trip and noticing that the day other ships spent at sea going south, we spent going north, and the sea looks the same in all directions .

For what it's worth HAL does have a childrens/teen program and have been working hard to shed the "old folks home" stereotype - if they have in fact succeeded is up to others to judge...

Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Princess probably have somewhat more upbeat programs than HAL or Celebrity but they all do cater to families...

Fly into Anchorage; go to Danali Nat'l Park for a night, tour the park, get back to Seward and take the Kenai Fjords 6-hour tour (we've heard it's not to be missed by a friend who lived in Alaska for a time). Once done with that, go on a SB inside passage 7-day cruise back to Vancouver and then fly home.

The problem is this; there are very few cruises offering the pre-cruise trip described above. So far, the only one I've found is with Princess, on the new Coral Princess. However, since we need a stateroom with a sofa bed (for our son) and my husband is insisting on a balcony, the total cost for their trip is over $11,700!
That's getting too pricey for me for a first-time cruise. It's likely worth it since the tour package is for 14 days total - and we can't help but think that while we're up in Alaska, we should see some of the "wow" sights.

There's a company in Anchorage that offers a la carte trips that I could personally try to throw together and create my own package, but that's a little scary (for me) since if anything goes wrong, we have no recourse and could potentially screw up the whole trip (as in miss embarking on the cruise on time!). I'd much rather leave it to a professional who's "been there, done that".

Anyway, that's my dilemna for now...trying to figure out how I can have my cake, eat it, and afford to pay for it once all is said and done!

[ 10-30-2002: Message edited by: First-timer ]

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Originally posted by First-timer:

Does anyone have any suggestions? We are considering doing a 10-day trip; 3 day pre-trip vacationing in Seward (doing the sights, etc.) and then a 7-day southern inside passage cruise. We've looked hard at HAL for their Glacier Discovery Cruise on the Statendam, using a Category B Verandah stateroom.

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I would definitely recommend the Southbound itinerary on HAL. We've done it several times and there are several advantages over Northbound or Round-trip.

First advantage is that you reduce jet-lag. By sailing south over the course of the week you typically are at least 4 hours closer to your home port than if you were to sail north and fly home from Anchorage.

Another advantage is that by the end of the trip you are back to the daylight/nighttime routine. If you go north, the end of your trip is spent in almost 24-hour daylight and it does take some adjusting to.

If you take a round-trip out of Vancouver you never really get to experience the real Alaska as you do not get to Anchorage and surrounding areas - Denali, Fairbanks, Talkeetna, Kenai, etc. During your three days prior to the cruise you should seriously consider staying in Anchorage and renting a car to see the sites. The scenery you pass through whether you go north or south is spectacular. On one of the days we like to visit Talkeetna where on a clear day you get great pictures of Denali and can even fly out to the mountain if you are adventureous. During the climbing season this is the jumping off point for climbers.

Adding another day or so for Vancouver is also highly recommended.

HAL now has great activities for teenagers although the number onboard will be fewer than with RCI. We had a 17-year old on our last trip with us and he had a great time and was able to meet friends as soon as he got on board.

A Category B stateroom should be fine for the three of you and the verandah is a great place to take in the passing scenery without having to fight for room at the railing.

For more information about our Statendam Alaska Cruise check out our review.

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Originally posted by First-timer:
What we are hoping to do on our trip:

Fly into Anchorage; go to Denali Nat'l Park for a night, tour the park, get back to Seward and take the Kenai Fjords 6-hour tour (we've heard it's not to be missed by a friend who lived in Alaska for a time). Once done with that, go on a SB inside passage 7-day cruise back to Vancouver and then fly home.

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If you only have three days here's what I would recommend...

Day 0 - Arrive Anchorage around 11:00 PM local time/midnight your time. Check into hotel, pull the curtains shut and get some sleep.

Day 1 - Rent car and drive to either Denali Park (4 hours) or Talkeetna (2 hours) and spend the night. For trip planning in Denali check out
Denali National Park's web site.

Day 2 - Return to Anchorage late afternoon and have dinner at Club Paris.

Day 3 - Get rid of rental car and drive to Seward for your Kenai Fjords tour. Check out theTravel Alaska website for options.

Board ship later that day and have fun.

Hope that helps.

A balcony cabin would be great but, with a Naturalist on board, it's interesting to be on deck as sights are described and pointed out.

Alaska is a 'different' cruise experience - it is perhaps better defined as ' educational, getting in touch with nature' which is all too rapidly disappearing.

I don't believe any Cruise Line does it better than HAL. I'd suggest you pick up the 2003 Alaska and The Yukon brochure.