DocLC

I've sailed Jewel of the Seas, which is substantially smaller than Voyager, Freedom or Oasis class and the attraction of a small ship is a more intimate feel as well as different itineraries.  The smaller ships can go to ports the bigger ships cannot.

I agree with Bryce G. I am price conscious and often book interior unless an ocean view or balcony are only $100 or so more per person as my family does use our balcony nearly as much as we use to when my son was younger. However, in Alaska, you miss out on a lot of scenery without a balcony and you're going to fight your way for rail space when viewing the glaciers. It was also nice to have a room to retreat to. We also ordered room service to enjoy when visiting Glacier Bay.

I did Alaska out of Vancouver in August 2013. 
 
Flights around that time must be jam packed because when we missed our connecting flight, and Delta was having trouble rebooking us on WestJet, they resorted to Air Canada who was booked thru 2 days or so. (We were scheduled to fly in EARLY the day before embarkation). We flew direct to Vancouver.
 
We selected it because we wanted Radiance instead of Rhapsody. Both are beautiful and newly refurbbed.
 
I NEVER get a room besides interior, except in Alaska. An oceanview balcony is HIGHLY recommended (coming from the cheap-o over here).
 
Snorkeling in Alaska (yes, you heard right) is an unreal experience. Also highly recommended.

Oh man, I must have been drinking something when I wrote that post  :lol:

I've done Alaska twice on two different lines from Seattle. It's a great trip and one of my favorite itineraries in all of my cruises. Canada/New England would be a close second, which I've also done twice. The scenery is amazing and the glacier viewing is something that I think everyone needs to experience at least once in their lives.
 
Seattle is a great city, as is Vancouver, but Seattle is easier and much more affordable to fly into. The downside, though, is that you'll likely sail outside of Vancouver Island. As a result, your "Inside Passage" cruise is significantly truncated as a result as you don't cut into the Inside Passage until after you're past Vancouver Island. From Vancouver, you're always in the inside passage. Also, depending on the ship and itinerary, you may have a very late night port of call in Victoria for the required foreign port stop, which doesn't really give you a lot of time to enjoy the beautiful city.
 
If I had to do it over again, I'd fly into Seattle and take the train or the shuttle services, some run by the cruise lines, to Vancouver to get the full Inside Passage experience and to reduce costs compared to flying in. However, there's a lack of convenience as a result. In addition, the cruises I've priced out of Vancouver have always been more expensive than out of Seattle.
 
Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer.

Think of it this way - We usually fly Delta which has a $25/per bag fee, so for an extra $5 I don't have to drag around an extra bag for additional clothes and laundry.  That's worth it to me, so I'll pay the $30 for laundry.

quantum-of-the-seas-floated-out
 

I have done both the discount bag and self-service laundry - I bring those little laundry detergent pods with me in a Ziploc and just check on it every once in a while - note though, don't get rooms near the laundry rooms unless you like to be hot all the time

If you have iTunes, you can find the current episode of the Podcast there. Here's the iTunes link to it: Weekend Travel Show

Thanks for the shameless plug!

If you're not getting enough of Matt on the blog, the discussion boards, or through the podcast, check out this week's episode of The Weekend Travel Show. Doug Parker interviews Matt regarding the Quantum of the Seas and Matt identifies what he thinks are the ship's Top 5 features.

If you're not getting enough of Matt on the blog, the discussion boards, or through the podcast, check out this week's episode of The Weekend Travel Show. Doug Parker interviews Matt regarding the Quantum of the Seas and Matt identifies what he thinks are the ship's Top 5 features.

I mostly listen to cruise related podcasts to help the time pass and to add to the excitement. I must admit that I've listened to various RCBlog podcast episodes repeatedly just in case I missed something. YouTube videos help as well and have the advantage of giving you a good feel for the ship.

You might find this blog post interesting. Avoiding the post-cruise depression: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2012/06/26/cruising-101-avoiding-post-cruise-depression

RC has said the gratuity will go to crew fund

The only way to tell is to book a cruise for each ship  :)

Now you're talking!  :D