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Recommendations for Alaska Cruise


greatnitz
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Hello all,

 

It's been a long time since I've used the resources of these boards to research a cruise. There is so much information out there that it can be a daunting task. I'm looking for some recommendations from the experience cruisers on this board to get me started on researching a specific cruise line and itinerary.

 

I'm looking to go on an Alaskan cruise with family (all adults over 40) on a cruise line that offers at least a seven-day cruise along with a land package with a tour within Alaska. Planning to go in July of 2019 and would like a nice, elegant ship, not one of those humongous ships geared towards family with children. Long as it has dining options, bars, casino and some entertainment...I'll be happy. Don't want to spend a ton of money, but willing to spend for a nice cruise line. Also, what's the recommendation on whether to go on a southern cruise or a northern cruise?

 

Any help is appreciated, trying to get an idea on where to start!

 

Darren

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I highly recommend Holland America Line. They have a wide selection of options. First cruise years ago was a 7 Night northbound (Vancouver to Seward) with HAL and have been cruising ever since! Returned a few weeks ago from a fabulous 14 Night Cruise, RT Seattle, and cannot say enough good things about it!

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I'm looking to go on an Alaskan cruise with family (all adults over 40) on a cruise line that offers at least a seven-day cruise along with a land package with a tour within Alaska. Planning to go in July of 2019 and would like a nice, elegant ship, not one of those humongous ships geared towards family with children. Long as it has dining options, bars, casino and some entertainment...I'll be happy. Don't want to spend a ton of money, but willing to spend for a nice cruise line. Also, what's the recommendation on whether to go on a southern cruise or a northern cruise?

While 'nice' and 'elegant' and 'ton of money' are subjective terms and your personal definition may differ from mine, I'd suggest that you actually entirely ignore the ship design/size rather than unduly restrict yourselves - short of a serious upgrade in cost to a premium line, in July you are going to be stuck with kids on anything mainstream (even HAL, a stereotypically fogey-licious line, has so much of a presence in Alaska that all their cruises have plenty of kids onboard in summer).

 

Alaska is about the destination - you'll be on board during sea days and some evenings so if it comes down to a choice of X, Y and Z ships that all meet your date/price/route preferences, sure you pick the ship that best meets your needs. Given long port days, and one of the 'sea days' at least being a 'sailing near one or several glaciers' day that you'd be silly not to spend on hours on deck during, the ship itself is best thought of as a 'floating hotel room' IMO.

 

North or southbound? Two camps of thought - heading North you have the scenery getting 'more Alaskan' daily. Heading South, all the hard work of touring (ferociously early mornings, hours of sitting on buses) is over with and you can chillax on the cruise. There's also flight timing - assuming you fly to and from the cruise then you may find your local airport has better options to rather than from Anchorage, or the other way around. South end whether it's Vancouver or Seattle you fly from, there are many more daily flights to anywhere, so it's really on the Alaskan end that you want to check the schedules.

 

Good news - some of your other criteria are easily achieved. Literally ALL one-way cruises will sell you a land tour if you want one, and in July there shouldn't be any issues with parks not being open. This also means you are locking yourself in to a Vancouver departure or arrival - so this means passports for everyone are a necessity regardless of cruise line (if you don't fly in or out of Vancouver, e.g. using Seatac and a bus/train/car to/from Vancouver you could get away with Enhanced Driving License/NEXUS cards instead). Ditto on the on-board requirements - you won't find any non-casino ships on any 'not a ton of money' line, even the smallest ship will have at least a couple of alternative dining options plus MDR and buffet, HAL is probably the least-busy line in terms of evening entertainment but even they have at least a couple of bars, a 'piano guy', stage shows, comedians and any other line will do as much or more. All the other bells & whistles that you do not want can help subsidize fares - bigger ships cost proportionately less per passenger and have more 'extra income' options that other pax will spend cash on, so unless the presence of such stuff on board actually offends you just don't USE facilities that you're not interested in!

 

Your land-based tour part - especially with a group, DIY Alaska touring will not only be superior in flexibility but also cheaper. Some of the timings in lodges included by cruise-tours are god-awful short due to long travel distances, and the cruiselines are at best less-than-informative with the nitty-gritty details of their tours. Make sure you hit up Google Maps or similar to figure out how long the drive from lodge X to lodge Y is - a lot of the organized tours have just one night in each place and that could mean just barely enough time to arrive, do an excursion, eat, and sleep before you have to be up and moving on next day. DIY means you can choose to spend 2, 3 days in a place where you want to do lots of stuff - or at the very least customize your timing and route so that you can e.g. manage to take the much-cheaper (and longer!) Eielson Shuttle into Denali rather than the shorter and WAY pricier (and-usually-cruiseline-tour-included) Tundra Wilderness or Natural History Tours...

 

You have no language barrier, few roads making it hard to get lost, and except if you choose to tour into Canada no currency issues or different road signs to deal with, so as long as you have at least one person willing to drive renting a vehicle and doing your own thing is as easy recommended by virtually every regular AK visitor who posts on these boards for good reason!

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Great information, thank you very much!

 

While 'nice' and 'elegant' and 'ton of money' are subjective terms and your personal definition may differ from mine, I'd suggest that you actually entirely ignore the ship design/size rather than unduly restrict yourselves - short of a serious upgrade in cost to a premium line, in July you are going to be stuck with kids on anything mainstream (even HAL, a stereotypically fogey-licious line, has so much of a presence in Alaska that all their cruises have plenty of kids onboard in summer).

 

Alaska is about the destination - you'll be on board during sea days and some evenings so if it comes down to a choice of X, Y and Z ships that all meet your date/price/route preferences, sure you pick the ship that best meets your needs. Given long port days, and one of the 'sea days' at least being a 'sailing near one or several glaciers' day that you'd be silly not to spend on hours on deck during, the ship itself is best thought of as a 'floating hotel room' IMO.

 

North or southbound? Two camps of thought - heading North you have the scenery getting 'more Alaskan' daily. Heading South, all the hard work of touring (ferociously early mornings, hours of sitting on buses) is over with and you can chillax on the cruise. There's also flight timing - assuming you fly to and from the cruise then you may find your local airport has better options to rather than from Anchorage, or the other way around. South end whether it's Vancouver or Seattle you fly from, there are many more daily flights to anywhere, so it's really on the Alaskan end that you want to check the schedules.

 

Good news - some of your other criteria are easily achieved. Literally ALL one-way cruises will sell you a land tour if you want one, and in July there shouldn't be any issues with parks not being open. This also means you are locking yourself in to a Vancouver departure or arrival - so this means passports for everyone are a necessity regardless of cruise line (if you don't fly in or out of Vancouver, e.g. using Seatac and a bus/train/car to/from Vancouver you could get away with Enhanced Driving License/NEXUS cards instead). Ditto on the on-board requirements - you won't find any non-casino ships on any 'not a ton of money' line, even the smallest ship will have at least a couple of alternative dining options plus MDR and buffet, HAL is probably the least-busy line in terms of evening entertainment but even they have at least a couple of bars, a 'piano guy', stage shows, comedians and any other line will do as much or more. All the other bells & whistles that you do not want can help subsidize fares - bigger ships cost proportionately less per passenger and have more 'extra income' options that other pax will spend cash on, so unless the presence of such stuff on board actually offends you just don't USE facilities that you're not interested in!

 

Your land-based tour part - especially with a group, DIY Alaska touring will not only be superior in flexibility but also cheaper. Some of the timings in lodges included by cruise-tours are god-awful short due to long travel distances, and the cruiselines are at best less-than-informative with the nitty-gritty details of their tours. Make sure you hit up Google Maps or similar to figure out how long the drive from lodge X to lodge Y is - a lot of the organized tours have just one night in each place and that could mean just barely enough time to arrive, do an excursion, eat, and sleep before you have to be up and moving on next day. DIY means you can choose to spend 2, 3 days in a place where you want to do lots of stuff - or at the very least customize your timing and route so that you can e.g. manage to take the much-cheaper (and longer!) Eielson Shuttle into Denali rather than the shorter and WAY pricier (and-usually-cruiseline-tour-included) Tundra Wilderness or Natural History Tours...

 

You have no language barrier, few roads making it hard to get lost, and except if you choose to tour into Canada no currency issues or different road signs to deal with, so as long as you have at least one person willing to drive renting a vehicle and doing your own thing is as easy recommended by virtually every regular AK visitor who posts on these boards for good reason!

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Great info from martincath.

I'll just add my 2 cents about the land portion. DIY will provide lots more flexibility in your travels, regarding the destinations and schedule (no luggage at the door by 6/7am), plus you'll have access to lodging options than the large cruise hotels, and you 'll be able to stop for other points of interest and wildlife sightings.

It's very easy to drive in Alaska .... once you get out of Anchorage, the hwys are 2 lanes and there are few hwys so impossible to get lost.

If you don't want to drive you can also arrange DIY trips by using the Alaska Railroad and/or Park Connection Bus.

I suggest reading thru past trip reports posted at the top of this page. Some are detailed photo journals with lots of info on sights, activities, etc. Also, borrow some Alaska travel books from your library. There are a few books specific to Alaska cruises; Ann Vipond has Alaska by Cruiseship and Fodor has Alaska Ports of Call. Both have info about ships, cruiselines, ports, excursions, etc.

As you look at the various cruise options, be mindful of the port times. Ensure that you're in port long enough and at the right time of day for planned activities.

Have fun with your research and planning !

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