GOOD IF IN THE HAVEN

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 28

Review summary

My wife and I just returned from this Alaskan Cruise in late August. We both have mixed reviews. There is a lot to like about this ship - it's new, it's clean, it's got a wonderful spa and thermal area! We also paid the premium rate to stay in the VIP section called the Haven. Definitely worth the extra $$. The Haven has it's own dining room with excellent dinner and breakfast and ok lunch. You also have your own indoor pool area and outdoor sun deck with hot tub, which we used a lot. The Haven guests have their own separate observation room, consierge desk and bar area. You also get special access when getting on and off the ship using the crew elevators so you can really avoid the big crowds that are in the general population onboard. So, if you're going to do this boat, I highly recommend the Haven experience...otherwise this is a very very crowded ship. In terms of excursions, we did the Mendenhall Glacier and whale watch which I rate a 7 of 10, we also did the helicopter, hike and train glacier experience in Skagway which i rate a 8/10, if you are in shape for the hike of 6 miles. We saw the Jersey Boys show and it was excellent but it only played for two nights and the rest of the trip was void of any really good entertainment. We both had massages at the spa and were very pleased, but the best part of the spa is the (extra charge $) Thermal suite which was never too crowded and had a wonderful sauna, steam room, salt room, and pretty cool massaging pool area. Besides the Haven restaurant, we ate a several specialty dining places including the seafood restaurant (excellent), the steak house (very good) and the french restaurant (excellent dover sole). But there arent many restaurants that are always open on this ship, so we had to do the garden buffet once or twice just to get some late lunch and it is a massive food trough. As far as the schedule, there is a whole lot of onboard ship time on this cruise. And with a lack of activities and entertainment, you can get bored. One stop in Victoria was at 8pm at night, for only 2.5 hours! Ketchikan was only half day and it took 48 hours from getting on the ship to getting off at the first port in Juneau. So the negatives are the crowd size, elevator wait times, the lack of activities and entertainment and limited port times. The positives mostly are due to the Haven experience we had. Alaska is wonderful and so beautiful!

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

Juneau, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

Cruise Glacier Bay

Ketchikan, Alaska

Victoria, British Columbia

Disembarkation

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