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North, to Alaska! Go north, the rush is on! Bookings are open!


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6 minutes ago, Kathleen said:

@Baked Alaska I saw on another posting you use Sharla from MEI for your travel needs. Need to find a new TA and wanted to see how I could contact her for my travel needs. TIA

sharlam at mei-travel.com

Hi Kathleen. I sent you a PM. Here is her info for others! Replace _at_ with @. Wanting to avoid those bots! In addition to knowing what she's doing, she is SUPER nice!

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2 hours ago, mworkman said:

@Baked Alaska I take it that y'all have secure an Alaskan cruise for 2021? July 9th or 23rd i'm assuming. 

Well, slight change of course. Instead of open-jaw, we are going to round trip it, out of Vancouver on Serenade on July 18th, 2021 (sooooo longggg awayyyyy).Looking forward to Sitka!  Suite and Balcony have holds on them. Now, looking at fishing guides/outfitters for BC fishing and hoping now to catch an MLS game either at the beginning OR the end of the vacation. Since our last Alaska was southbound, we had just the one weekend to try and fit a game in. So STINK'N excited!! Thank you @Sharla at MEI!! 

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  • Baked Alaska changed the title to North, to Alaska! Go north, the rush is on! Bookings are open!
13 minutes ago, Auto said:

Ovation, Radiance, or Serenade? That is the questions...just my wife and I on our 20th anniversary. 

Thoughts?

First trip?  Once in a lifetime trip?  Starter trip to explore with the intent to come back?

Serenade is a smaller ship that does the RT from Vancouver.  RT tends to make flight logistics easier.  As it is smaller it can visit smaller ports such at Sitka that you won't see on the Ovation itineraries.

Radiance does the one-way trips.  Same smaller ship, but being one-way it can visit more ports in a 7-day span than the RT cruises.  These are also the cruises that link with the optional land tour components (which I highly recommend if you have the time/$ and it's the bucket list/once in a lifetime trip).

Ovation is the newer ship with much more to do onboard (bumper cars, flowrider, iFly, NorthStar).  It does the RT itineraries from Seattle, so it's only a couple of Alaska port stops plus Victoria to comply with the necessity for a foreign port stop.  Again being RT from Seattle, that means flights are usually easier to figure out.

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2 minutes ago, Auto said:

@AshleyDillo I’ve been to Alaska, but wife hasn’t. We’ve been on Rhapsody before, so smaller ship isn’t a big deal. Pricing is pretty similar for them all (around $300-400 difference one way or another). 

Just can’t decide, but anxious to get one on the books!

I really enjoyed Icy Strait Point which you are only going to get on the one-way North/Southbound Radiance sailings or the single 9-day RT Radiance sailing out of Vancouver.

I also liked taking the Alaskan Railroad Anchorage to Seward the morning of embarkation for the southbound sailing.  The views from the train are very scenic and it's an enjoyable way to be able to spend the night in Anchorage (which is easier to find hotel accommodations) and then transfer to the cruise in the morning.

I'm also trying to make a decision with a group who have never been before.  If it was just me going then it's a toss-up between that 9-night Radiance sailing or the 7-night Serenade sailing that visits Sitka (since that's one Alaska cruiseport I haven't visited).

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18 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I really enjoyed Icy Strait Point which you are only going to get on the one-way North/Southbound Radiance sailings or the single 9-day RT Radiance sailing out of Vancouver.

I also liked taking the Alaskan Railroad Anchorage to Seward the morning of embarkation for the southbound sailing.  The views from the train are very scenic and it's an enjoyable way to be able to spend the night in Anchorage (which is easier to find hotel accommodations) and then transfer to the cruise in the morning.

I'm also trying to make a decision with a group who have never been before.  If it was just me going then it's a toss-up between that 9-night Radiance sailing or the 7-night Serenade sailing that visits Sitka (since that's one Alaska cruiseport I haven't visited).

I have to echo everything you've said here! Loved our southbound with Goldstar service from Anchorage to Seward. Icy Strait was my favorite stop, maybe because the fly-fishing was wonderful. I wish the 9-nighter on Radiance was during the summer, though and not during the school year (at least here in Missouri). Two ports we've not visited before on their offered itineraries are Sitka and Victoria. We will visit Sitka, now, as we are booked on the round trip out of Vancouver on Serenade. We will hire a fishing guide so we will have a fair comparison between Sitka and Icy Strait/Hoonah.

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54 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

First trip?  Once in a lifetime trip?  Starter trip to explore with the intent to come back?

Serenade is a smaller ship that does the RT from Vancouver.  RT tends to make flight logistics easier.  As it is smaller it can visit smaller ports such at Sitka that you won't see on the Ovation itineraries.

Radiance does the one-way trips.  Same smaller ship, but being one-way it can visit more ports in a 7-day span than the RT cruises.  These are also the cruises that link with the optional land tour components (which I highly recommend if you have the time/$ and it's the bucket list/once in a lifetime trip).

Ovation is the newer ship with much more to do onboard (bumper cars, flowrider, iFly, NorthStar).  It does the RT itineraries from Seattle, so it's only a couple of Alaska port stops plus Victoria to comply with the necessity for a foreign port stop.  Again being RT from Seattle, that means flights are usually easier to figure out.

Took Radiance in 2017 plus 3 day land tour.  I agree with the above.

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