We had read online that this was the most luxurious cruise ship out there. It was and then some. First let me start with their service before we even boarded. Our airline did not send our luggage with our flight into Vancouver. It was a long story of a missed connection and an unexpected overnight in Dallas with re-routed flights to Vancouver to arrive the day of sailing. We reported it to ...
This was our first cruise with Cunard and while we had previously read some saying it's standards had dropped, we can only say that those previous standards must have been off the top of the chart as we have no complaints at all with regard to the comfort (both our room and the general areas of the ship), the attentiveness of staff, the food and dining options, the on board activities (especially ...
We chose this cruise because we had sailed on Cunard twice (before Covid) for a total of 29 nights and the Main Dining Room (MDR) at dinner was almost always exceptional and the two times it was not, it was made right by ordering something else, so we had zero complaints.
We tried Azamara last year and the MDR dinners were awful, so we were gun shy of trying another different cruise line ...
This was my third Silversea cruise and my first ever time to Alaska. I chose to do the Denali extension ahead of the 7 night cruise, then two nights in Vancouver on my own, making this a 2 week trip in total.
First, the Denali extension. In my opinion this is completely skippable, and I was not impressed with much about the 4 night trip. The Captain Cook hotel is charming from a decor/history ...
Cruise PRO's:
Silver Suite was wonderfully spacious and well equipped; you get what you pay for.
Butler was excellent, and anticipated every need; you get what you pay for.
Laundry service (complimentary with Silver Suite) was excellent; you get what you pay for.
Mini-Bar was well stocked and replenished daily by excellent butler; you get what you pay for
Unlimited Wifi ...
I booked Oceania mainly due to Tips For Travellers channel recommendation: Gary Bembridge. Oceania has a high crew to passenger ratio so service is very good, we’ll organized and happy crew.
Boarding and cleanliness were also very good.
Passengers were mostly elderly and crew looked after disabilities marvelously though about 10 passengers were clearly too unwell or infirm to travel.
Food ...
Most Alaska cruises are 7 day affairs with stops at a glacier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. Been there, done that. We chose a 14 day itinerary that included the normal ports plus much more. Some examples: a fantastic excursion to watch bears fishing for salmon. A zodiac at the nature-rich Inian Islands (humpbacks, sea lions, otters, eagles). Zodiac from the ship up to Dawes Glacier; icebergs ...
I used critic extensively to research cruises and thought I’d give back as Ive been on 12+ cruises,3 in the past year.
We booked the Odyssey fairly last minute. We’re from the Vancouver area and decided to go about a month in advance.We’re casual, outdoorsy people and thought Seabourn might be a good fit, we were not wrong.
We were a little frustrated with the port of Vancouver experience,it ...
This was our first time cruising on Cunard. We did a Viking Eastern Mediterranean cruise in October 2022 and it is still fresh in our memory. On a scale of 10, Cunard was at least 3 notches down from Viking. I would rate the Viking cruise as 8/10 and Cunard as 5/10. Mind you there is a price difference to consider. We have also done cruises on Azamara, Holland America and Celebrity. Our Cunard ...
This was our first experience sailing with Oceania. Overall, it was very enjoyable with a few minor problems I’ll outline later.
Here are the positive points.
Check in was a breeze. We arrived about 2:30pm and were immediately accompanied to the empty immigration and security areas. A few minutes later we boarded and checked in the quiet Insignia Lounge (again zero people waiting) and were ...