Alaskan Cruise Suggestions

[Reefgazer]

We would like to take an Alaskan cruise sometime this year. I was just wondering what suggestions people had for cruise lines. What things should we should not miss, what things should we avoid, what cruise lines are good,  and any other tips you might have.

[Eos]

Paging @PeterPan 🙂

[KrissiK]

This must be the year for Alaskan cruises. We are booked for one in July and I keep hearing about people who are going on an Alaskan cruise. We've never been on a cruise before. 

[PeterPan]

5 hours ago, Reefgazer said:

We would like to take an Alaskan cruise sometime this year. I was just wondering what suggestions people had for cruise lines. What things should we should not miss, what things should we avoid, what cruise lines are good,  and any other tips you might have.

We've done Alaska both ways (by land/RV and by cruise). What do you like to do? Honestly, budget is going to get you more than anything. I'm pretty cynical, because people will say oh you MUST do this or MUST do that. You can spend less and have a great time and you can blow the budget in a mind popping way and have a good time. So I'd encourage you *not* to get caught up in too much enthusiasm and bandwagon for musts. The musts are great and you're going to find those lists (certain glaciers, adding the land portion, etc.), but you're going to have an amazing time no matter what you do.

Some random thoughts? 

-Interior vs. balcony--Fine, knock yourself out. Yes a balcony is fun and it's fun to sit out there. However your sleep will be crap with the light coming in, and an interior near the stairs to pop out will also give you epic views. The more I cruise, the less fussy I get. I found the light coming in very disruptive and sort of kicked myself that I paid for the upgrade. Not saying I didn't enjoy the views, because I did. Just saying if your choice is a LONGER cruise vs. a balcony, I'd go longer, just me. 

-on board lectures--When you go with the more upscale lines (Princess, Holland America, probably NCL, lots of them), they will bring on guest lecturers. Some will be really over the top, like an iditarod sledding winner and their puppies. Does that matter to you? Maybe, maybe not. It's something that comes with paying more for those more upscale cruises. We did Carnival for our Alaska cruise because I had an unbelievable deal ($250 per person before upgrades, hello), so did I care? 😉

-Some lines have ships that were *designed* for cruising to Alaska. Check but I think the Norwegian ... was. See what Norwegian (NCL) is running. When ships have that front area all in glass to sit and watch the views sort of 180, that's considered a great thing. If you're older and like to be warm or want to go to one place and not walk around a lot outside, that matters. Did *I* care about not having that? Nope. But for some people that would be really important, kwim? Like if you're going through the Inside Passage and you want to be able to SIT inside in the warm, that's going to be an essential feature.

-Going the outside route (not the inside passage) up to Alaska can be very rough. The ship we were on had just been brought back after c-d and had all sorts of funky repair issues. A stabilizer went out and I got more sick than I have EVER gotten on ANY cruise. Even with the stabilizers working, that open ocean portion is known to be rough. A bigger ship *generally* is more comfortable and you will *definitely* feel motion more with the smallest ships. To feel better, besides meds obviously, you want to go DOWN into the lowest decks of the ship. So if I have equal options in ships/itineraries, I might give deference to a ship that has a really nice promenade down on deck 3. They'll put loungers there for people to rest, and let's just say I spent a long day there. 😉

-Prices on excursions are budget busting. Unlike most cruises where you can get off the ship and have fun for free (which you can for a FEW ports), you're often going to find yourself wanting to spend money on obscenely expensive excursions. We're talking things that START at $100 per person and are often $150-200 per person. You may even find yourself lusting after excursions that are $350 per person!!! No joke. Can you do things for free in port? Sometimes, depends what you like to do. But you really want to budget for this. 

-Length of time in the ports. Don't just compare the list of ports but look at HOW LONG they're in the port. For instance, we were in Skagway a long time, like 10-12 hours iirc. We literally had time to do 3 separate things (hike up a trail, come back and do an excursion, come back and do another completely different excursion). Holland America, for instance, being more upscale, tends to have LONG times in port, which means you're getting a lot of opportunity to do things. You're only limited by your stamina at that point. Oh, and that day in Skagway? I went on a hike a couple miles from port, came back, did a RIB boat ride in the harbor to see seals, etc. (fun), then we took another excursion where they bussed us out to hike up a mountain. On the other side of the mountain we rafted down a river seeing eagles. I think we also had time to eat fish at a restaurant in the port that day. But you can see why the *cost* of those excursions adds up!!! The first hike was free, just needing hiking shoes and my feet. The RIB was maybe $80 a person, not bad. The hike/rafting was maybe $130 a person. The fish and chips was maybe $50. So your "affordable" cruise just had you spending $450 in one port! Now multiply that times 5-7 ports. Or what if you wanted to do the more epic things like helicopter to a glacier to do the sled dogs, fly out to a remote island for a salmon bake dinner. That's going to start at $350 per person, and you could even do 2 things like that in a day.

-How to save money? Hike. Look for vlogs on youtube where cruise workers show what they do in port. Rent a car. You have to be WICKED CAREFUL to be back on time when you do that, but it's a way. There's usually some kind of in port transportation and there will be vendors where you can just walk off and do something. I'm not really a wing it person, but you can. If that is how you like to travel, then I would look for vlogs where people show what they found and how it went. I like to have a reputable vendor and I like to be back on time.

-Shore excursions. There are some online vendors for shore excursions, and one of them has sort of combo deals where you book 3 with them and get a % off. Before you go crazy booking, compare like this. These vendors are LEGIT and the deals are there to be had. Also sometimes the excursion company is cheaper booking directly or has more availability (a time slot not listed on the bulk vendor site). 

-Active/crazy/unusual things? We snorkeled in Ketchikan. In Juneau we did paddled across the lake to the glacier and then hiked on the glacier a bit. You can be MUCH more active with that btw, but honestly that's not where my body is. If you want to hike parallel to the glacier, you can then put on gear and go in the cravasses, etc. That's just not what I need to do. I wanted to take my teen ds on a glacier in a sort of moderate, we were on it and now we're done, sort of way, haha. It was pretty epic and an amazing time. Definitely anything with hiking, rafting, and eagles is a must do if you can and like that. We saw SO many eagles and it wasn't even the season yet. We failed to do the sled dogs, just didn't squeeze it in. We did it when we did our land touring years ago and it's fine. There are lots of amazing things to do so just make a plan.

-Whale watching. I got snookered into a $$$$$ whale watching tour in Icy Strait Point. The people who paid $ saw just as many whales or more and people who paid ZERO saw whales from the ship. Don't get caught up in the money spending enthusiasm. If you want to do it, fine. Whale watching is kind of boring as the hills unless you happen to be there when they're bubble feeding. Just me, but I find it more fun when the boat ride itself is adding to it, like a RIB boat. Otherwise, spend less, still see the whales. That's just me. If you have more $$, hey do it all, lol. 

-Favorite ports? Icy Strait Point is a memorable surprise. It's authentic, owned by the tribes there, and you could see their pride in what they're presenting of their culture, etc. There are no bad ports in Alaska, mercy. 

-Glaciers, etc. Of course it's great to do the extra ship goes through the glacier area itinerary things. There are two ways they do it, one through Glacier Bay where the WHOLE SHIP goes through. It's slow, it's fine, and it's limited by what a massive cruise ship can do. That's limited to a certain number of ships. Also they'll do it with something like the Tracy Arm Fjord where the ship will go as far as it can and then *excursions* take you (for $$$) a bit further in. My ds enjoyed that but was it worth the $$$? That's your budget. We had done the one I'm linking below during our land touring using a smaller ship and that was a marvel. I guess I'm just sort of so so. I wouldn't destroy your budget or fail to go on the cruise just because someone said you MUST have an itinerary that includes xyz. If it's in the budget to do a cruise that includes one of these extra experiences, fine. 

https://phillipscruises.com/26-glacier-cruise/  This you can do from land if you do a one way. 

-One way vs. round trip. Again, I'd rather cruise than not cruise. If you find a DEAL on something, roll with it. If you get a DEAL on a way way, then do that and some land touring and make up for whatever you thought was missing, kwim? Going on land through Alaska and by cruise are very different. Alaska, at least when we were there, is not really like touring through the rest of the US with rest areas and motels and lots of restaurants, haha. It's more conducive to renting an RV or doing a land tour (train/bus up to the national park). Some people drive and tent camp. It's just something to think about depending on your comfort with driving an RV. If you're asking if I *recommend* the land portion, absolutely. You're going to have a GREAT TIME no matter what you do. Just crunch the numbers and see what calls to you.

-Anything you can do through the cruise lines you can do alternate ways yourself. For instance, it's more affordable than you'd think just to fly into Skagway. I want to go back and do that because there were so many more epic adventures to be had. There's a small lodge there, not too $$. You can fly into Anchorage and rent an RV. They'll rent  you fishing gear, everything you need. If the cruise is going to blow your budget, DO IT A DIFFERENT WAY. It's more important to go than it is which way you go. No matter how you go it will be amazing.

 

Edited May 5 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

These people have some of the best videos on cruising Alaska (and other places). You'll get a lot of ideas and see what is important to you. 

https://www.youtube.com/@EECCTravels/search?query=alaska

 

[PeterPan]

https://alaskashoretours.com/excursions/juneau/mendenhall-glacier-paddle-trek/

https://alaskashoretours.com/

So that's an example of a vendor selling for multiple ports. However you can book an excursion directly.

https://beyondak.com/trips/mendenhall-glacier-canoe-paddle-trek/ There are two companies I think that do this. I don't remember which we used. Probably doesn't matter.

https://www.snorkelalaska.com/ Worth it.

https://alaskanlumberjackshow.com/  Cheesy. We booked this online as they drove us back from the snorkeling. 

Btw, be super duper careful to see whether your ship is planning to TENDER or actually dock. In Ketchikan, ships do both. So the pro tip to find out? One, you can join the FB group for your cruise and ask as someone may know. Two, google for the *port schedule* and see what the official schedule says. It will tell you how many ships, what time, which piers, everything. So if your ship tenders in Ketchikan you could easily MISS a private excursion like the snorkeling. It happened when we were there. We docked at the pier so we walked right off. Someone else who had booked the snorkeling needed a tender. Tenders are shuttling 300 people say at a time, so they are going to take a while to get everyone on shore. If you have priority (suite, VIP status, etc.) you can get an earlier tender. If you are a novice, you might end up taking an hour or more to get off.

Booking THROUGH THE SHIP is the best way to be guaranteed to get off early at a tender port. If you book your excursion through the ship and it's an early excursion, they will have a dedicated tender for those people and get you off early. Pro tip. 🙂

[PeterPan]

to check the port schedules.

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551

You want to know which ports you may be tendering at. If you like to go with the flow, you might like to know how many ships will be in dock when you get there. 

[PeterPan]

I linked you to EECC and they're fun, definitely. Just be aware that they're exactly what I'm talking about with the bandwagon and musts and all that. You're going to have an amazing time no matter WHAT you do. Don't blow your budget. More days is better than less days. If you want to know if the swank things are nice, sure they are. But there are lots of ways to have fun. If your budget goes pretty high, knock yourself out. 

If I had an UNLIMITED budget? 🤣 I would go more upscale for the better food, longer times in port, etc. I would do an itinerary that also gave me land touring. I would make sure it includes Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage. 

On a budget? Go with what you can afford. Don't get hooked up in the marketing from travel agents because it's ALL a good time. I find the less I spend, the more easily satisfied I am. 😉 Put your money in meaningful excursions, not the ship, because you're not on the ship as much. Look for the deals (shoulder season, one way, repositioning cruises, etc.).

Ok, the most EPIC, amazing way to do Alaska on the cheap right now? The Carnival Panorama is going from Long Beach up to Alaska then over to Japan. It's a transpacific, I think 18 days. I'm so kicking myself that my butt is not on that ship. They just dropped the prices so you can do Alaska AND Japan for way cheaper than you ever imagined, like under $2k for two people. Now you'll pay to fly back from Japan, but hey you went to Japan too!!!

So if you want the deal of the century, there you go. Tell me if you book it so I can cry. 

 

[PeterPan]

6 hours ago, Reefgazer said:

this year.

You might want to compare prices. Usually the final payment for a cruise is 3 months out, which means 3-4 months before sail date the prices either go up or down. So right now they're dropping prices to fill ships sailing in August. Next month it will be for September. Once they do that push, sometimes the prices go back up. If you have casino status on land, you can get a deal. Otherwise, well just compare this year and next year and see what is popping out at you. I probably wouldn't pay a premium to cruise last minute, just me. You could do something else and still have a great time. (fly in, do a different cruise, whatever) Alaska is not a route that tends to have deals, but maybe you'll do well. Usually people book Alaska years ahead.

Edited May 5 by PeterPan

[Scarlett]

My friend is on RC Radiance of the Sea right now. The cruise just before hers was cancelled due to problem with the propulsion. It was really touch and go until the last few hours as to whether my friend’s cruise would happen. 

She booked it a year ago. I don’t like planning vacations so far ahead. So many things can happen. Travel insurance is a necessary expense especially for my friend who has very bad health. 
 

I always join the FB group for my friends’ cruises ( and for the one cruise I went on). It is a great way to keep up with what is going on. 
 

[Wheres Toto]

We are cruising to Alaska on Norwegian (Bliss) in June.  We did book somewhat last minute but it was due to circumstances for us and we were able to get a pretty good deal.  We booked through BJ's travel since we are members.   We went with an inside cabin in the center of the ship since that's likely to be the most stable ride (just in case).   Our cruise is going up the outside but then coming back through the Inside Passage.   We also had airfare since we live on the East Coast and had to fly into Seattle.   

Dh and I are on the older/not in great shape/not adventurous side (54 and 67) so we aren't doing any of the crazy excursions but we are doing various tours in each port.   We're interested in the cultural stuff and some smaller hikes/nature stuff.  Dh is likely doing a fishing trip at some port.  

Glad to hear whale watches aren't worth it.  That's what I was thinking - you're already on a ship and are likely to see whales, why pay $$$ to go on a different boat and see the same whales?   We've done a lot of whale watches on the east coast from Maine to the Carolinas.  

[PeterPan]

50 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Travel insurance is a necessary expense

For op, the thing to think through is travel insurance through the cruise line vs. private. Unless your flights were booked through the cruise line, they're not generally covered by insurance you purchase through the cruise line. Also, something people don't always realize is that provider default (ie. the cruiseline just cancels your cruise, which I've had happen and which does happen) is NOT covered by all policies. Now the cruiseline will usually be pretty generous and they may even cover *some* of your expenses.

If you're booking *non-refundable* anything, you want to think through how that is insured and what you're comfortable eating. For instance, if you fly Southwest to get to your departure port, then canceling Southwest means you get those funds as a credit, not a big deal. Same deal with a non-refundable hotel purchase to get a deal say on Priceline, which I do a lot. 

I like TripInsuranceStore.com because they sell for a variety of plans/companies and actually answer the phone. I've had to make some claims now, and I can tell you answering the phone is particularly nice. It's nice when you're buying and have complex questions (people leaving at different times, etc.) and nice when you have a claim. I personally do not buy an annual plan because it only allows for *one* refund (per year?). I often book back to back or more complicated scenarios, and when I did the math the annual plan did not save me any money but did put me at higher potential loss. 

So yes think through insurance and yes buy it. You don't have to know the final dollars. Just get a plan started that reflects your initial booking (the cruise, whatever) and then you can increase the amount. The site I'm suggesting has a quote engine and you can play with it to find the dollar amounts and where it bumps to the next tier, easy peasy. They also have some things they'll tell you. For instance, you don't have to insure the taxes and port fees for your cruise. You don't have to insure any excursions you book through the cruise line. You don't have to insure any flights you book that you book fully refundable, ie insuring through the airline. 

Main thing is to realize the cruise line insurance does NOT cover your whole trip, only the cruise. If you want provider default covered, you typically have to buy a "cancel for any reason" policy. You can play with the quotes and see what you think, but for me those are usually double the cost, which means I personally don't usually. However I keep it in mind as I book non-refundable things.

 

[PeterPan]

13 minutes ago, Wheres Toto said:

Glad to hear whale watches aren't worth it

I wouldn't say not worth it. We were early and we paid $$$ for a smaller boat tour and didn't see any more than people who paid ⅓ the price. For what you're describing, I would go at least once. I just would be slow to pay for the premium whale watching tours. And we were early in the season. But June the whales could be pretty astonishing. I would definitely go. 

[PeterPan]

15 minutes ago, Wheres Toto said:

We've done a lot of whale watches on the east coast from Maine to the Carolinas.  

We just did whale watching off the west coast (CA down to Mexico) which was a marvel. We got to see moms and babies! Alaska is known for the bubble feeding with the humpbacks so it might be a unique experience.

[KungFuPanda]

I’ve never been on a cruise and DH has zero interest, but we will both watch La Lido Loca, Cruise with Ben and David, and The Shiplife on YouTube like they’re sitcoms. 🤣 I’m sure their target audience is meant to be people who cruise but we’re watching anyway. 

[PeterPan]

26 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’ve never been on a cruise and DH has zero interest, but we will both watch La Lido Loca, Cruise with Ben and David, and The Shiplife on YouTube like they’re sitcoms. 🤣 I’m sure their target audience is meant to be people who cruise but we’re watching anyway. 

This completely cracks me up!!! The Shiplife guy is nuts, lol. I used to watch LLL avidly till he hooked up with a pier runner dude who would wait till the last minute to get on. I just thought it was foolish. I met him on my last cruise though, nice guy. I watch Cruising B&D quite a bit. Their Sun Princess video was quite good and they just do a great job. They really weren't really on about MSC btw with the food, or at least not to my mind. I'm very foodie and I just didn't think their take was on when I finally got on board.

Anyways, if you like those, you might enjoy the EECC travels I linked quite a bit. They just do a phenomenal job with their videos and they have a fun vibe. 

I still can't believe people watch them and don't cruise, haha. I guess that's like me watching videos about magic and never doing magic. I don't even know how it started. There are magicians on ships and last cruise the magician would come by our table every night for dinner. So much fun! 

[Tree Frog]

13 hours ago, PeterPan said:

The Carnival Panorama is going from Long Beach up to Alaska then over to Japan. It's a transpacific, I think 18 days. I'm so kicking myself that my butt is not on that ship. They just dropped the prices so you can do Alaska AND Japan for way cheaper than you ever imagined, like under $2k for two people. Now you'll pay to fly back from Japan, but hey you went to Japan too!!!

My dd just moved to Japan and we're trying to figure out a way to visit. It has to be summer because of teaching, but cruising is one of the ways we're looking at!

[Tree Frog]

Younger dd and I are taking an Alaskan cruise on Holland America in June. It's our first and we're really excited! 

One of the things I have a question about is whether I should be concerned about sea sickness. I don't get sick on smaller sailboats or ferries-the longest one I took was across Lake Champlain- but ocean going is different. Any suggestions?

[KungFuPanda]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

This completely cracks me up!!! The Shiplife guy is nuts, lol. I used to watch LLL avidly till he hooked up with a pier runner dude who would wait till the last minute to get on. I just thought it was foolish. I met him on my last cruise though, nice guy. I watch Cruising B&D quite a bit. Their Sun Princess video was quite good and they just do a great job. They really weren't really on about MSC btw with the food, or at least not to my mind. I'm very foodie and I just didn't think their take was on when I finally got on board.

Anyways, if you like those, you might enjoy the EECC travels I linked quite a bit. They just do a phenomenal job with their videos and they have a fun vibe. 

I still can't believe people watch them and don't cruise, haha. I guess that's like me watching videos about magic and never doing magic. I don't even know how it started. There are magicians on ships and last cruise the magician would come by our table every night for dinner. So much fun! 

I don’t even know what that means! 😂 We also watch a British couple that rides a van with their dogs all over North America, an Australian couple that lives on a sailboat, and a Chinese girl who travels china on a motorcycle and gets the best drone shots of some really interesting places.

I’ll have to check out the video you linked. 

[Bootsie]

I have been on Alaska cruises on both Norweigan and Holland America.. I would travel on either line again.  We left from Seattle on both lines.  One of my deciding facts was whether the itinerrary went to Victoria (which I wanted to visit) or Vancouver and how long the stop in Victoria was.  

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Tree Frog said:

My dd just moved to Japan and we're trying to figure out a way to visit. It has to be summer because of teaching, but cruising is one of the ways we're looking at!

They're sailing over, putting the ship in dry dock for 3 weeks, then sailing back. Crazy deal if you have the time to do it. The return is from Singapore I think and goes through some exotic places.

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I don’t even know what that means!

Pier runners are people who are late for the ship. There's this fad among some internet idiots who intentionally cut it all the way to the end. I just think it's not something to encourage. The ship puts a time in port (say 8am to 5pm) but they have an "all aboard" time that is before that (say 4:30). If I'm doing a private excursion, I'm usually back on the ship 60-90 minutes before the all aboard. CAN you stay till the last minute? Sure, whatever. But if you trip and fall and miss the ship because they pulled up the gangway one minute before you got there, it's on you. If your bag blows off in the wind. If you get hit crossing the street. If you take one drink too many... 

I just thought it was an irresponsible thing to encourage at all. Call me grumpy. There are a few ports where you can get away with it nicely and there are some tricks to it (watching for certain officers, etc.). But just in general? Not something to encourage. You become SPORT for the people on the ship who go out to watch for pier runners. Google it and have some laughs. I've been late coming back and knew everyone was watching, but we were on a ship excursion and not in trouble. I owned it and strutted, haha, and when I walked around the ship that evening people would stop me to ask. It's just part of the entertainment, them watching to see who gets left. Last cruise I was on, people got left at multiple ports. They're having a good time, too many drinks, whatever... It's actually really disrespectful to the staff because they have to call out each person's name to see if they're onboard, clear out their safe to leave their items with the port attendant, etc. So you're making extra work for the staff for no reason, which is just rude.

[Halftime Hope]

We cruised Holland America on an inside passage cruise 20 years ago. We've cruised 3 cruises since then on NCL and Carnival. Holland America had the very best food. Were we to cruise again, we'd probably pick Holland America because we've been pretty disappointed with the food on the others. (And we're not really foodies, either.)

The one thing that is worth splurging on is a helicopter out over and onto a glacier. There's really nothing like it from that perspective.

 

[KrissiK]

We are cruising with Princess. I don't remember exactly why I chose them, but it seemed like a good fit. Several other people we know are cruising with them, too, summer. 

Edited May 6 by KrissiK

[Laura Corin]

8 hours ago, Tree Frog said:

My dd just moved to Japan and we're trying to figure out a way to visit. It has to be summer because of teaching, but cruising is one of the ways we're looking at!

When we lived in Hong Kong,  my parents in law took a cruise to SE Asia and came to see us. My FIL wouldn't travel normally  - my MIL travelled with friends usually.  The cruise worked well for him - he got his money's worth on the food. His eyes were opened a bit just looking at countries from the ship - he refused to leave except in Hong Kong.

The only issue we had was that my FIL refused to take the clean, comfortable,  level-entry, air-conditioned public buses. Because he was visiting us, he wasn't on tailored excursions, and where we lived private cars and taxis weren't allowed. It was physically/emotionally uncomfortable for him to take the shared vans that were the only taxi-adjacent option. 

So if you are travelling with someone who is a  bit inflexible,  be aware that life beyond the cruise can be surprising.

Edited May 6 by Laura Corin

[PeterPan]

10 hours ago, KrissiK said:

We are cruising with Princess. I don't remember exactly why I chose them, but it seemed like a good fit. Several other people we know are cruising with them, too, summer. 

Oh definitely! Everyone I know who has cruised on Princess LOVES it. It's more mature, more adult, while still bringing some fun. (It's owned by Carnival Corp.) If I were taking my dh on a cruise, Princess or Holland would be my top choices. Both will get you access to the land tour option with the National Park.

Emma Cruises has some helpful videos and even an online questionaire to help you decide what cruise line you might fit well in. https://emmacruises.com/recommended-cruise-lines/  

10 hours ago, Halftime Hope said:

Holland America had the very best food.

No doubt!! Interestingly, Carnival brought Emeril on as head of food a couple years ago and it has made a radical difference. None of them are going to be as bad as MSC, lol. MSC every meal I order something is quite good, something is mediocre, and something is inedible. Princess and Holland America are the upscale lines for Carnival corp just like Celebrity and Seabourn are the upscale for Royal. Carnival, bringing on Emeril has gone all in with variety and flavor, so every dinner menu now has an Emeril Selects section with inventive cajun/creole themed appetizers and main. They also now have full dinner salads for every menu that are nice. 

But I totally agree, if best food and quiet are your goals, Holland America is where it's at. I've heard their dance classes are terrific and that they have male hosts to dance with the women who don't have partners. So if your spouse doesn't want to dance (which happens), you'd still be covered. Don't they also do the chocolate parade certain evenings? I'm all on for that, lol.  

The EECC youtube page I linked shows cruises to Alaska on a variety of lines, so you can see how they vary. The other thing to watch for is the more upscale you go the more $$$$$$ the excursions are. The SAME EXCURSION will be more. Sometimes it's that the upscale cruiseline is going to up the requirements. For instance, I did an excursion in Amber Cove, a cultural tour where we visited a local family house (multiple generations living together with a communal kitchen) and we cooked traditional food. If you take that excursion with Carnival your traditional food is made with chicken, very tasty. If you take the same excursion through NCL it costs ⅓ more because it is going to offer fish and maybe an additional meat. Ditto for Disney having more upscale requirements. So that's where I was cautioning you that getting on the ship is only the START of your costs. To see/compare excursions costs, LOG OUT of the cruise line website and then google for them. That way you can see the prices before you book. Also you can see everything during a 24 hour hold, which is another way to see what the hidden costs are.

4 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

So if you are travelling with someone who is a  bit inflexible,  be aware that life beyond the cruise can be surprising.

Haha, that's why we cruise. Ds' autism is support level 2, so he used to have meltdowns over a bathtub not being his tub, on and on. I wanted to be able to travel and was told to start now. First cruise we took was, well it was a challenge. With my ds, we approach it like therapy, which isn't what you'd do with a senior. I have his therapists work on skills he can implement when he gets to the ship, so for us it's extension to the real world.

My ds told me recently that cruising teaches him how to work, which seemed pretty ironic. 🤣 He pointed out that it: 1) makes him leave the house, 2) makes him get up early, 3) makes him do new things. And I know it has given him the opportunity to apply his skills (reading, auditory processing, conversation, self regulation, self advocacy, making friends, etc.) over and over in a variety of settings, which has brought AMAZING growth. 

But yeah, to do that to someone out of the blue could be really hard. We eased into it and we negotiate it and prepare. I show him videos and PREPARE for everything. We also have a deal that anything I book that he has agreed to do and doesn't go to he PAYS for. It's tricky, because if I *don't* book something with structure he will wig out and just sit on the ship and not go anywhere. If I overwhelm him (not enough down time, too fatigued), he'll struggle to go or have behaviors from being overwhelmed. (Eloping in a large city where you don't know the language is dangerous!) So it's a challenge to know how much to book and what types of things will bring it within reach. I probably spend twice as long as the trip itself planning everything, lol. 

Sometimes it means I book private tours or more expensive options to make it work. He needs a lot more break time than you'd expect to be able to handle things, and he can't go as hard as I do. 

Anyways, I'm sorry your loved one was uncomfortable. It's hard to help someone else travel and to predict what might work for them. Nuts, it's hard even with completely NT, socially typical people, lol. There's culture shock and sometimes people just don't know how they'll feel. It's good to have plans that are flexible and can adapt. 

Edited May 6 by PeterPan