I will be taking the 7 night Alaska Cruise at the end of August. Can you recommend an excursion? Does anyone have any tips to make the cruise a better experience?

I took my parents on a cruise in May and the Spirit is beautiful. The best excursions are the train in Skagway, the glacier flight in Juneau (or if you don't have a lot of money, then go for a tour off the ship $5 to Mendenhall Glacier, and tkae the tram up Mt Roberts, followed by a MUST- the salmon bake- with fresh salmon cooked in front of you set in a forest)

The salmon will be running in August, so make sure you see the creek in Skagway, its full of fish unbelievable sights!

Ketchikan too, walk up Creek st and save your shopping for Ketchikan, they have all you need at discount prices!

I will be leaving on the Spirit from Seattle on August 7th. I will let you know what I think when I get back.

My parents just returned from a 7 day trip aboard the Spirit to celebrate their 50th Anniv. They loved the whole experience and are planning a return trip already.

[quote="debbie o."]My parents just returned from a 7 day trip aboard the Spirit to celebrate their 50th Anniv. They loved the whole experience and are planning a return trip already.[/quote]


This is my first cruise. How did they like the ship. What about the wait staff. I have been told the staff was rude and failed to make you welcome.

Please respond.
Thanks

[quote="LoriL"]I will be leaving on the Spirit from Seattle on August 7th. I will let you know what I think when I get back.[/quote]
I certainly will appreciate any information. I am excited on one hand and nervous on the other hand.

Hello There:
. . We are first time cruises - out of Seattle, on the 7 night Alaska Inside Passage tour in September. I can tell you that from what I hear personally from folks around here who have been on this one - it is an experience to remember. You can grumble about anything, or be determined to enjoy each and every day of this wonderful experience. Go for it. I will be looking for your postings after your return. I am going regardless of what anyone says - One guy we know has gone for the past three on the Norwegian line to Alaska. He says it is wonderful. Have a great trip.

[quote="Alaska Bound"]Hello There:
. . We are first time cruises - out of Seattle, on the 7 night Alaska Inside Passage tour in September. I can tell you that from what I hear personally from folks around here who have been on this one - it is an experience to remember. You can grumble about anything, or be determined to enjoy each and every day of this wonderful experience. Go for it. I will be looking for your postings after your return. I am going regardless of what anyone says - One guy we know has gone for the past three on the Norwegian line to Alaska. He says it is wonderful. Have a great trip.[/quote
Four of us are also going on the September 10 Alaska 7 night Tour - is this the one which you are going on. I think all of the negative stuff wa from the first few trips that the Spirit made. They were adjusting crew, etc. from what I can determine. I have been talking vis email with several people who recently returned from this trip, and they rave about the Spirit. I can hardly wait to go. I am determined to love every last minute of it - even the hard beds (We are taking along feather bed covers - just in case) See ya on the Spirit in September!!

We did Alaska on the Wind. Staff were all incredible except for a few snooty Romanian ladies. Didnt find beds too hard, I had the sofa bed it was SO comfy. One thing I would say for excursions is most ppl pay so much ahead of time, but when u get off the ship there will usually be tour guides trying to sell u tours, eg. to a glacier, every half hour they drastically drop their prices..so def. book ahead if something is important to you, but if you arent sure, there will be options once u get off the ship too usually.

Our family just came back from the 7 day Alaskan Cruise. It was our first time and everything was great. The shows were good and we thought the food in the restaraunts were quite good as well. The waiters were excellent, especially the ones we had, depends on who you get. The buffet was okay. Like someone said before, you can either just enjoy everyday that you are there or start griping about things and have a horrible time. I saw some of those faces, stay away from them.. .. .

For the excursions, it's cheaper when you get off the boat, for larger groups, they lower their prices a little bit more.

We had one of the inside staterooms and it was small but we didn't spend much time in there except to sleep and that was pretty much it so that didn't matter.

We will go again in the future, it was a great experience and you won't regret it.