Help!!! My wife and I are having a great debate. We are planning a May/June 2008 cruise to Alaska. I say we need at least an outside cabin she says inside and many side trips with the extra money saved. I want to watch the landscape and wildlife. She thinks we will see just as much from one of the open upper decks. Any suggestions?

Thanks to all.

We cruised in Alaska with princess last year. I would say certainly an outside cabin at the very least. A balcony is even better. It is magic to watch a glacier calf or a whale suddenly spout from your own balcony. Sometimes the wildlife appears very suddenly and you may not have time to reach the upper decks.
Have a wonderful cruise.

I'd have to agree with esrosa on this one. I can understand wanting to go on excursions as well. However, you never know when something unexpected is going to happen. I personally love the balconies, just for this reason. But an outside is nice because at least you can see out. Best wishes and I know you will love your Alaska cruise!

We have done Alaska twice. Once on the Princess Sun, and on the Hal Zaandam. We choice an inside both times and saved money for our excursions. I would do the same again. On the Zaandam we were on deck two aft. It was a few cabins from the aft deck on the outside of the ship. We loved it there.

I always recommend a balcony to clients on an Alaska cruise. I recently went on the Summit in Alaska in August. I used my balcony a lot. If you are visiting a glacier for 6-8 hours you will get tired of standing up on deck fighting the crowds for space at the rail. I sat on my deck at Hubbard Glacier and just enjoyed the view. You could hear the Glacier "thundering" and then you watched for the calving. We sat for an hour and watch sea otters playing in the water right in front of our balcony. I ran upstairs, grabbed some hot chocolate and brought it back down to the balcony. On another day when in Ketchikan I enjoyed coming back to the ship and sitting on the balcony watched the float planes landing and taking off. It is also great to watch a sunset. When leaving a port you could see beautiful scenery for hours from your balcony. This is one trip you do not want to skimp. Get a balcony.

What you would miss on a balcony (at least on the Zaandam) was the narration. We were in the Crow's nest no real crowds, it was warm and they served Split pea soup, coffee, tea ect. We got to listen to the Rangers and natives that were brought on board to narrate the Glacier part of the Cruise.

Alaska was our first balcony, always got interior rooms. We have never gone back to an interior room. 100% I would say a balcony is a must for an Alaskan cruise. We spent so much time on our baclony even when just cruising the open seas. But during the "narration" parts of the trip it was wonderful to enjoy the scenery in privacy and confort while sipping coffee and hot cocoa. I personally wouldn't do an Alaskan cruise without a balcony. You're gonna love the trip, but you'll love it even more with a balcony!! Have a great time!

We just booked with Princess for a 7 day inside passage. My Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and a few others had done it a few years back. My Aunt had a balcony and said it was far too cold to enjoy. She said they did not use it enough. She is usually not the cold natured type. We live in the Sierra Mountains snow is part of our life. We got an Ocean View. She also said the Narration part was interesting and you could not hear it in the cabin, only the public areas of the ship. It sounds like they have some big charts/maps out for you plus they handout some stuff you would miss in your cabin.
My Aunt also has trouble sleeping unless it is dark. (Here I would call he fussy!!!) She will go for an inside cabin next time.

Hi everyone. When would you suggest would be the best time to take a cruise in Alaska.
Thanks,
Sandy P

We've cruised twice to Alaska and will make it a third time in June....We've always taken an inside room....Most of the time it's raining, cold, windy and a balcony wouldn't be worth the extra money....at least I think so...we take the extra $1,000 to $2,000 that a balcony would cost and do some GREAT excursions....plus in the summer it's light almost 24 hours and hard sleeping...besides, I'm never in my room except to sleep and shower....But to each his own...Just enjoy the Alaska experience...It's almost a religious experience...

Bob E

Thanks to all for your valuable input. We book a balcony cabin. As usual everyone on this site is great!!

Caseyg

Hi
Just to add my two cents' worth. We have cruised Alaska twice. Once in July and once in August. We found a lot more wildlife in August. Because of the salmon running, there were more bears to be seen as well.

Regarding the balcony, this past August we saw a lot of whales from our balcony and two groups of dolphins. The balcony was priceless and it was rarely too cold to be on it. (We're pretty hardy Canadians

It is always hard to say what Alaska weather will be like. It's hit or miss. Which actually is weather anywhere. I just went to Alaska Aug 10-17th. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was sunny mid to high 70's the whole time, and not a drop of rain. Beautiful.

We were lucky and were upgraded to a balcony when we had booked an inside. We went on the 2nd ship up the coast in May, so it was cool, but we bundled up and enjoyed the balcony. The narration in Glacier Bay was broadcast over one of the TV channels so we turned it up and heard everything. But most of the passengers on this cruise found the balconies too cold for their taste. Later in the season it would be well worth it.

Between inside and OV to Alaska there is typically not a huge difference in cost. Be aware that many lines starting prices for the OV however is fully obstructed. Princess first 5 categories on most ships affords no view at all, they are fully obstructed, cirectly behind the life boats. On HAL beware of Cat H, it's behind the beams and sheet metal on the Lower Promenade deck (they hold up the deck above). Also any cabin on Lower promenade will have foot traffic outside your window. Celeb, RCCL and Carnival design their ships a little differently and hang lifeboats on activity decks and don't have OV cabins on the promenade deck.

By the time you upgrade to an unobstructed view (and non-porthole) cabins on some ships you're close to balcony pricing. Be sure you know a lot about the ship and cabin you book before deciding.

Cheers, Neil

We did Alaska departing the 17th of Aug. 2006 on the Carnvial Spirit. We elected to do a balcony and loved every minute of it. Our weather was fantastic, we never used the heavy clothing we had packed. Sweatshirts were more than enough. Only had rain one day in Sitka and it never lasted very long. We spent a lot of time on the balcony watching the whales, eagles, sea lions and beautiful scenery. The sunsets were just beautiful. While in the ports and on tours saw lots of wildlfe. Salmon were running and it was a sight that is hard to explain. Seemed like millions of them in the streams. What ever cabin you take Alaska is just an unbelivable sight. I was the one person in our group of 50 that really didn't want to go to Alaska, I'm a beach person, but we are planning to go again in a year or so.

Hi, we went on this cruise on June 8 of this year on the Diamond and had a balcony and we would never cruise agsin without a balcony. Also the weather was great, no rain and warm. The warm clothes we took did not get taken out of our suitcase. I would hate a inside cabin.

Wow Jill, inside to balcony -- what an upgrade! What ship was that?