blog post

Although I still have a few clients on Alaska voyages yet this summer, I wanted to go ahead and present some of the impressions and feedback so far from this year's Alaska cruisers as we prepare to introduce the 2010 season!

I had a nice mix of cruise lines that people selected -- NCL, Celebrity, Princess, and Holland America.  In most cases, we (the client and I working together to decide on the best cruise) didn't feel that Royal Caribbean or Carnival offered the best itineraries this year.  In cases where the itinerary wasn't the deciding factor, then it came down to what was the best travel date or to which one offered a lower price .

It's interesting how we always talk about price, but in the end it's when we can go and what we most want to see, do, and experience that influences our decision the most.  I felt confident from the beginning in recommending Glacier Bay and Victoria as highlights for "Inside Passage" cruises -- and my clients confirmed that these were among the most beautiful places.  Actually, everyone said they wish they could have spent more time in Victoria!

Some people thought Sitka was interesting, and others thought it was just OK; while Ketchikan, Skagway, and Juneau garnered more comments because of the sheer variety of activities:

*  We really enjoyed the tram up the mountain in Juneau.

*  I found the salmon hatchery in Juneau to be most interesting.

*  I was amazed to learn how far back Mendenhall Glacier had receded this year -- it was still beautiful, but quite a-ways back from the visitor's center.

*  I was afraid the train ride in Skagway would be kind of cheesy, but it actually was really fun!

* My favorite thing was going fishing and catching a Halibut!

* We enjoyed shopping in Ketchikan, even though it seemed a lot more commercialized than years ago when we were there.

* Glacier Bay was magnificent!  * I'm so glad we went to Glacier Bay!  * We spent all day in Glacier Bay!

As for the ships, the Westerdam, NCL Pearl, and Golden Princess all received rave reviews.  I always say -- it's important to match the client with the right ship, and this year we batted 100%! Also, everyone was glad they selected an ocean-view or balcony stateroom.  I was particularly thrilled for the ladies who were upgraded to non-obstructed ocean-views (and so were they)!

There weren't a lot of wildlife sightings, but several people reported seeing whales from their ship and there were a few seal sightings, and most of them saw bears while out on tours.

Now for those who went on CRUISETOURS:

For whatever reason, my clients this year chose Princess and Celebrity for their cruisetours.  The Coral Princess and the Millennium both lived up to their billing as elegant, beautiful ships; with excellent service, food,  and onboard activities.

Everybody saw wildlife and had wonderful land excursions:  from fishing; to flying over Mt. McKinley; to spotting moose, bears, a wolf, sheep, and many many bald eagles; to the train rides; to the lodges -- it was all thrilling and breathtaking.

One client particularly noted the Princess lodges:  he said they are magnificent.  The views are spectacular, the buildings are immaculate, the rooms are really, really nice; and the food in the restaurants is very good and surprisingly reasonably priced.  He was also impressed with the Princess service -- he said the entire cruisetour ran like a precision watch.  The only thing he might have done differently is choose the Diamond or the Sapphire because he likes the bigger ships better (he and his family were on the Coral).

I hope within the next 2 or 3 posts to have my preview of Alaska 2010 -- changes to note, preliminary pricing information, and updated recommendations.  Thanks again and talk soon -- Janet