ohiocruiser76

Thanks, everyone, for sharing the gorgeous pics and recommendations! I want to do it all, of course, and hopefully we'll get to go back and hit whatever we miss next year. 

On 6/22/2024 at 1:39 PM, robbinsca said:

As someone who has been to Athens (my DD taught at OU and lived across the street from Miller’s Chicken) I respectfully submit that I would choose the Skagway option.
 

We will be in Alaska for the 4th time this fall and Skagway offers more than the other stops. Ketchikan is fun, but Juneau is more of a city, and ISP has become just a cruise company port with locals working at it. Skagway has character, and history, and the train ride. Bring some high powered binoculars and you can see (and hear) the glaciers calving at either of those options.

I know Miller's well! 😁

Thanks for the wonderful tips! I will definitely pack binoculars! 

17 hours ago, royal3 said:

Very hard choice. Skagway is our favorite Alaska port, and Hubbard is our favorite glacier. If you luck out and get Hubbard on a clear day, the calving is amazing. If you plan to take another cruise to Alaska in the future, I would go with Hubbard this time since more ships visit Skagway then Hubbard so it would be easy to catch Skagway next time. Most of the ships that visit Hubbard are Anchorage/Vancouver (NB, SB), or Vancouver RT. Skagway has those voyages and also Seattle RT so more choices next time. 

I appreciate everyone's input so much. I think this is a great suggestion. Hubbard this time, Skagway on a future trip...I already have a sneaking suspicion I'll fall in love with Alaska. 🙂

10 hours ago, screwsmcernst said:

 

We recently sailed to Alaska on Celebrity Edge out of Seattle, WA.   Our itinerary was Ketchikan, Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier, Juneau, and Skagway.  We sailed May 31 - June 7, 2024.

 

We got up at 5 am and watched the sailing to Dawes on Deck.  It was breathtaking.  There was also an excursion boat that picked up a group from the ship and took them closer to the glacier.  They actually did see the calving of the glacier.  (I saw the video from someone who took the excursion).

 

We took the railway in Skagway.  It was beautiful.  If you do this excursion, sit on the left side of the train car. That is what the Naturalist on the ship suggested. 😃 

 

When we were in Skagway, there were a lot of people who signed up for a helicopter glacier tour, and it was delayed and then canceled due to some bad weather.  So they never made it.  

 

whichever one you choose will be amazing and Vancouver is one of our favorite cities to sail from.

 

  The best piece of advice we received and took was to purchase "Frog Togg" waterproof pants to take with us.  Ketchikan is VERY rainy and we took a boating excursion.  I wore them over my leggings, and we were some of the few people who had dry pants getting back on the ship.  😃

 

 

Thank you so much for the great tips! Already putting those pants in my Amazon cart. 😀 

My husband and I are looking to book a 7-day, round-trip cruise from Vancouver on the Celebrity Solstice for our anniversary in June 2025. It would be our first time to Alaska and our first Celebrity sailing. Both itineraries include the Inside Passage, Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan, and are priced similarly. 

The first itinerary includes:

Skagway

Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier

While the second offers up:

Hubbard Glacier

Juneau

Which would you choose for a first-timer? We will definitely want to do a whale watching excursion (most likely out of ISP), and if we were to do Skagway, I'd likely book the railway, too. Just torn about Hubbard vs Skagway. I'd love to see a calving glacier up close, and Hubbard looks more impressive than Dawes/Endicott Arm. But I also love the idea of seeing some of the inland Yukon territory, too. 

Thank you for any help you can offer me!