once in a lifetime cruise

my retiree friend and his wife splurged more than s$20 000 on their alaskan cruise in september this year. the airfare for both of them came up to s$10 000 as they were willing to pay extra for comfort during the long plane ride to vancouver, and so they opted for business class travel on eva airline. there was a 6-hour stopover at taipei before the long haul to vancouver in canada where the alaskan cruise was to start.

they paid more than $3000 each for a cabin with a balcony. for an oceanview cabin without a balcony, you would have to pay about $2000 plus. according to him, the cruise ship was bigger than the superstar virgo, with a passenger capacity of more than 2700. although there were more people on board the dawn princess than on the super virgo, there was no scramble for places at the many restaurants or at the amenities on the ship.

according to him, the food served at the restaurants was of the fine dining type. there was quality and quantity. service was of a very high standard. for speciality restaurants, like those that they serve steak, italian food, french food or japanese food, you had to pay a cover charge of about $15 to $20. i was told you needed to make reservations for meals at these speciality restaurants.

the cruise ship made a number of stops during the trip. at each stop, you could opt to join local tours or you go free and easy, exploring the small town on your own. there were many optional shore excursions, which meant incurring additional expenses if you joined such tours.

the towns were usually very small; one had a population of about 800. when five cruise ships called at this town, the place was swarmed by about 10, 000 tourists. the towns were spring-boards for shore excursions to historical sites or to watch the fauna found in that area. the cost of optional tours could range from a few tens of a dollar to a few hundred dollars, like whale watching which cost around $400 per person.

the more popular shore excursions are the helicopter flightseeing and glacial trek, the eagle preserve float adventure through the chilkat bald eagle preserve and the alaskan bear adventure by float plane.

i asked him the inevitable question: was it worth the money spent? yes, for the service, food, entertainment on board and the spectacular scenery.