We are going to book an Alaskan cruise again! We talked to a Princess rep on Friday. We know exactly what land/cruise tour we want, but trying to match ships and dates is confusing over the phone. It is so much easier to be able to "see" what is available.
Princess' website doesn't have Alaskan cruises or cruise/tours for May 2008. I went to cruise.com and was able to get the sailings and dates, so I don't understand why Princess' website doesn't have the same info. Am I missing something?!
At any rate, we are excited about re-booking! Our friends had a wonderful time on the cruise and were very impressed with what Princess had to offer. We were booked on the Island Princess and they really liked that ship. It looks like one of our options for next year will be the Sapphire Princess. Will we like that as well? What about the Coral Princess?
Nadine, glad to hear you've re-booked. Enjoy your cruise. I'll leave the rest to the PCL professionals like Rick and Penny, they can provide better advice than I could on the ships.
Princess' website doesn't have Alaskan cruises or cruise/tours for May 2008. I went to cruise.com and was able to get the sailings and dates, so I don't understand why Princess' website doesn't have the same info. Am I missing something?!
Nadine, I just went onto the Princess site and I was able to pull up Alaska cruises for May 2008. I clicked on "Start your search here." Then I just chose "Alaska" in the left column, "May 2008" in the middle column and "6-9 days" in the right column. It came up with 24 cruises.
I'm really happy you're ready to book another Alaska cruise.
Nadine M. - Great to hear you are booked for Alaska 08 on Princess.
Talk about re-booking. Our group went from considering Carnival to booking Celebrity then found out Celebrity did not offer Skagway on any of their round-trip Alaska cruises soooooooooo.....
we are now on the Star Princess for May 08 and I can't wait.
Nadine, that is wonderful news! I've heard good reviews from both the Sapphire and the Coral. When f-mattox gets back, I hope he reads your post. I think he's been on both ships. We've only been on the Sea, Sun and Dawn. Lord willing, I can let you know about the Emerald when we return! I'm so glad to hear you're able to cruise again! I know what you had to go through was painful and rehab is no picnic either. Sure wish y'all could join us in November. If only I could guarantee air conditioning all the way! I'm doing a happy dance for you!
Thank you! I noticed on one review page that the Sapphire and Island had four stars, the Diamond three and a half, and the Coral three. I didn't know why Coral was less highly rated. I know not to put a lot of stock in that stuff, but it did make me wonder. Do you know when f-mattox will be back? They are holding a reservation for us until Wednesday. Then we will have to make a deposit. It is on the Island, but is later in the month that I wanted to sail. I was hoping to be home by Memorial Day and it doesn't look like it's going to happen.
I wish we could go in November, too. That would be fun. Much more fun than rehab! I have 4 more weeks of that.
Nadine, you're right not to put a lot of faith on the star rating systems. My guess is that their rating had a overly heavy penalty on the age of the ship. Sapphire and Diamond both 2004 built and Coral 2002.
Another site I'm very familliar with gives Sapphire and Diamond both 5 out of 5 stars and Coral 4.5 stars. I think Rick, f_mattox just sailed this weekend on his first HAL. It'll be a while before he'll be available to comment unless he does like Dave and posts from the ship.
Pick it by the itinerary and value, all three ships would be a wonderful experience for you.
I just did a system search and I don't know what type of package you're looking for but the Heart of Alaska Tour 6N or 7N on Diamond on May 10th are the bargain of the bunch during the May, 2008 time frame (for 10 day packages).
The 4N, same ship and sail date is the best value on an 11 day and 12N, same date/ship on a 12 day.
Hi Neil! You are so kind to do that research. What we are hoping for is a 4S. The Diamond had one early in the month, but the May 17th cruise is "closed". We have a hold on the Island, but if the Coral is equally nice, I like the Coral dates better.
I know we don't have to make a decision right away, but I know the good cabins get sold out fast. We were lucky when we made our reservations last November for the Alaska cruise that we had three cabins, good location, altogether. Since we know we want to book the cruise, we figure we might as well do it now and then start counting down the days!
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