OK, this is the tough one. After watching many cruise vlogs to Alaska, I think the expectation was that that you have to love it or there is something wrong with you. Don’t get me wrong. I really liked the cruise, but it was definitely not my favourite. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous but day after day becomes Groundhog Day. Mountains and trees. And the weather. I know, I know it’s Alaska, you have to expect rain! Yup, you’re correct, but I’ll tell you one thing, we definitely enjoyed the sunny days much more than the cold and drizzle.
If you love Diamonds International, great, this is the cruse for you. Every port is full of jewelry stores and few are locally owned. Most of the people working the stores aren’t Alaskan but transient workers following the ships from Alaska to southern ports in the winter. Am I glad we went? Yes. We did have fun and we loved the ship but we won’t be rushing back any time soon.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Took the train from Anchorage and boarding there was awful. Got our room keys and travelled to Seward and off the train. Again, the process was a little chaotic.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
With a few exceptions, the food was very good. Cagney’s was not as good as usual. Although my filet was quite good, my wife had lamb and it was tough. Chin Chin was excellent as was La Cucina. I was hesitant going to Moderno but it was great and the service fantastic. The MDR, well hit and miss. For the most part it was quite good with a few really bad dishes. The fish and chips were awful. Think the cheapest frozen fish you can get at Walmart and it would be better than what was served, yech. My wife had gnocchi one night and it was almost inedible. Other than that the food was good and twice we had the pleasure of being served by fantastic young man, Vijeesh Puthenparampil who was friendly and informative about the dishes. Well done. The Buffett looked good, but was always very busy. Not our kind of dining experience. We did really enjoy the smaller buffet at the back of the ship, the Great Outdoors. It was more relaxing and great views from the back of the ship.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Basically only did Bingo and the Casino. Bingo was fun but outrageously expensive. C’mon, $80 for cards and for the most part payouts were really poor, under $200. I think this is the last time in the Casino for us. Nobody seemed to be winning and the odds on the slot machines poor. Not fun.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Although this was a smaller ship without big production shows, the talent of the performers was extraordinary. We loved every show. Really well done.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff was always attentive and lines at the bars minimal. Friendly an always with a hello and a smile. Special cudos to the bar staff in O’sheehans, our servers in Moderno and Vijeesh in Azura.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
For an older ship she was beautiful. Clean and well laid out.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
We had an obstructed oceanview room classed as OK. That’s what it was too, okay. This was our first oceanview cabin, usually booking a balcony or better and it was tight. The bathroom tiny and difficult to maneuver around and storage was hard to access. The bed took up most of the room and there was very little sitting room besides the bed. The obstruction didn’t really bother us though and with a larger room we really would consider and oceanview in the future. We had a lifeboat outside the window and it was lit up at night but we find that kind of nice. I will include a picture from our window.
Ship tip
Our favourite spots on the ship were the Great Outdoors and the Spinnaker Lounge. If it’s really busy a nice quiet spot was the Library. Nice and relaxed and great views too.
Took the tram up to the top and it was too cloudy for pictures. A short hike in the woods and back to the ship. Not a lot to do other than shop expensive tourist junk.
We liked Juneau. Took the tram up the mountain and ate at the restaurant at the top. Very reasonable and great views. Wandered around the town and did some shopping
Had lunch downtown and wandered down to Creek Street. Watching the salmon heading upstream was really cool but the area itself was just overpriced stores.
I took my first cruise to Alaska in 2016 and enjoyed every minute of it, and now go every year. Yes its a little pricey, but thats due to the short season. Okay, so you liked it and won't return, that's your prerogative, but there's more to Alaska than mountains and trees. My opinion, if a person goes to one Caribbean island, you've been to them all, but I still go on Caribbean cruises which have pretty much same ports stops on the cruises, but it doesn't stop me from cruising there.
To each their own. I cruised Alaska from Seward in September 2022 and loved every minute of it. I'm not a sunshine person, so having a few days of mostly cloudy, some light rain, and cool weather was right up my alley. I have made the comment to folks back home that I could live there very easily. Loved it so much, in fact, that we're doing it again in September 2024. This time, as a family cruise. Some of our kids and grands are going with us. And I still won't check it off my bucket list because I plan on going back even after that.
There's some guys named Ben and David that do very good video reviews. They commented that Alaska was a very expensive Cruise choice. And that's the reality of it. There's a really not much to be gained by walking around the port cities and you're going to have to shell out some cash for the most part to really get into the wildlife and scenery
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