Narrowed down time & cruise line for Inside Passage, need help with the rest please!

Hello,

This is my first post. I would like to book an Inside Passage tour of Alaska in September and would love some additional advice. From what I've read, a roundtrip from Vancouver would be the best option so we'll do that.

I've done as much research as I could on my own but it's definitely been information overload. My main concerns are booking the right cruise line at the right time.

 

Here are my questions...

 

+Which cruise line is the best of the three below? Is there any cruise line I'm missing that is significantly better? I will most likely be choosing balcony cabin. This cruise would be for a senior couple (early 70's).

• Holland America Line - Westerdam
  
• Holland America Line - Noordam
  
• Norwegian Jewel
  

+I read that weather in September can be unpredictable, should I be trying to book in early Sept. as opposed to mid or late Sept.?

+Very interested in the following excursions; bear trekking, whale watching, salmon fishing/watching, fish bake

 

+What are other things I should consider when booking?

Thank you for your help.

Is this for 2018, or 2019?

if bear viewing excursion is a priority you need to research WHERE you plan to do this. Peak viewing has limited time frames at each location. They aren't cheap so you'll want to go during peak season. Web sites such as this one, or the Alaska Fish & Game:

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/bear-viewing-in-alaska.html

Hello,

This is my first post. I would like to book an Inside Passage tour of Alaska in September and would love some additional advice. From what I've read, a roundtrip from Vancouver would be the best option so we'll do that.

I've done as much research as I could on my own but it's definitely been information overload. My main concerns are booking the right cruise line at the right time.

 

Here are my questions...

 

+Which cruise line is the best of the three below? Is there any cruise line I'm missing that is significantly better? I will most likely be choosing balcony cabin. This cruise would be for a senior couple (early 70's).

• Holland America Line - Westerdam
  
• Holland America Line - Noordam
  
• Norwegian Jewel
  

+I read that weather in September can be unpredictable, should I be trying to book in early Sept. as opposed to mid or late Sept.?

+Very interested in the following excursions; bear trekking, whale watching, salmon fishing/watching, fish bake

 

+What are other things I should consider when booking?

Thank you for your help.

 

I have never used Holland America before but have gone on Norwegian. The Norwegian Jewel only does one-way cruises from Vancouver to Seward. You'd have to take two back-to-back cruises for 14 days to come back to Vancouver. That could be very nice if you wanted to stay gone that long. The two cruises are slightly different in the ports so it wouldn't be like a complete copy - on the way north you see Glacier Bay (pretty special!) and on the way back you'd get to stop at Icy Strait Point (very rural and not quite so touristy). The other stops are the same - Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. The port times are fairly good too - plenty of time to do things. The upside to doing the back-to-back would be being able to do two excursions in any of those three cities on different days. You wouldn't have to worry about one excursion interfering with the other on the same day - do one excursion the first time there and the second excursion on the next stop.

 

I haven't been on the Jewel but have been on Norwegian's Pearl. They are sister ships with nearly identical layouts and amenities. I was pleased enough with the Pearl that I will be on her again in just over two weeks. We had a "mini suite" (not a true suite, just an over-sized balcony room) that was just right for us. There are plenty of dining choices on board. Having our on private outside space was fantastic.

 

I've not done a whale watching tour but it seems a lot of people recommend "Harv & Marv's" at Juneau. There is also the Gold Creek Salmon Bake at Juneau - I'm planning on doing that when I'm there next month.

 

Good luck! You'll find plenty of advice and information here! You're going to love Alaska!

Thank you for everyone's replies thus far. To follow up on a couple of the questions I was asked, I was thinking September 2018 and below are the two itineraries I am looking at. It seems like Norwegian Jewel doesn't do roundtrip from Vancouver so I probably have to leave that out.

• Vancouver; Cruising the Inside Passage; Juneau; Skagway; Cruising Glacier Bay; Ketchikan; Cruising the Inside Passage; Vancouver
  
• Vancouver; Cruising the Inside Passage; Tracy Arm Fjord; Juneau; Skagway; Cruising Glacier Bay; Ketchikan; Cruising the Inside Passage; Vancouver
  

Those are both Holland America Line cruises, so I guess that leaves me with a couple more questions...

-Is Tracy Arm Fjord worth the extra money

-Are all my excursions doable during the time of year I want to go and at the places I will be going? See below...

bear trekking, whale watching, salmon fishing/watching, fish bake

Practically everything I've read about it, including practically every review of the Excursion itself, have led me to believe that the Tracy Arm Excursion, available only on ships that make a service call at Tracy Arm, is very much well worth the money. Just be aware that we are talking about a ship's Excursion. This is not a port that you get off the ship and walk around or anything like that. The Excursion involves transferring from the ship to a small boat which can get up very close to the glaciers in Tracy Arm. And that Excursion from what I understand sells out at times. You've got the choice between the two itineraries right now and it just seems logical to me to choose the one that gives you the better choice.

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

Since you are looking at doing a round trip cruise from Vancouver, check out the HAL ship Volendam. The ship leaves mid-week from Vancouver. It is a smaller ship than the Westerdam or Noordam. I believe it does Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay.

Thank you for everyone's replies thus far. To follow up on a couple of the questions I was asked, I was thinking September 2018 and below are the two itineraries I am looking at. It seems like Norwegian Jewel doesn't do roundtrip from Vancouver so I probably have to leave that out.

• Vancouver; Cruising the Inside Passage; Juneau; Skagway; Cruising Glacier Bay; Ketchikan; Cruising the Inside Passage; Vancouver
  
• Vancouver; Cruising the Inside Passage; Tracy Arm Fjord; Juneau; Skagway; Cruising Glacier Bay; Ketchikan; Cruising the Inside Passage; Vancouver
  

Those are both Holland America Line cruises, so I guess that leaves me with a couple more questions...

-Is Tracy Arm Fjord worth the extra money

-Are all my excursions doable during the time of year I want to go and at the places I will be going? See below...

bear trekking, whale watching, salmon fishing/watching, fish bake

 

 

The small boat excursion to Tracy Arm is definitely worth it to me. Just realize it may not leave you much, if any time to do anything else in Juneau, which is the primary port for Whale Watching in the itineraries you listed.

 

I would check the excursions you are interested in and see what time they stop having them in n September. Some vendors may shut down before the end of the month, so that may mean going early in the month.

 

Also, check for the best time for the bear excursions. September may be past the prime season and the excursions can be expensive, especially if flights are involved. I know I would hate to spend a lot of money with only a minimal chance of actually seeing them.

 

 

 

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Periods of daylight are noticeably shorter the farther you go into September.

 

SE Alaska is a rainforest, so expect the possibility of misty, rainy days. Still this should not impact any excursions you expect to take.

I chose the Volendam for Alaska. I think the only balcony cabins are suites on this ship. There are showing some cabins for May and September on the HAL website. You might want to check out the Niuew Amsterdam, that does the R/T on Saturdays. I think they have balconies that are not suites.

Me again. I think you are too late for bears at the ports you are visiting. :(

Thanks everyone, this is a lot more daunting than I ever imagined. I have traveled all over the world but this seems way more complicated than anything I've ever booked done. My main concerns right now are the price of the excursions I want to do for three people which can possibly be more than the cruise itself and also the time of year.

 

I am limited to September and maybe I can push it up to late August but I am concerned I am not going to see bears. Of the three ports I'm stopping in (Juneau, Scagway, Ketchikan) where is the best place to do an excursion to see bears (preferably Grizzly and not brown/black).

We first planned to cruise Alaska 2018, but couldn't coordinate two weeks with our friends until after Labor Day. After reading trip reports from that time of year, we decided to go in June 2019. I've sailed on HAL, liked it; but note that the Noordam is way overdue for an upgrade.

Of the 3 locations, Ketchikan is the prime spot for bear viewing tours. I already posted the web site for bear viewing locations and times in Ketchikan. The other good resource is Alaska Fish and Game.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=bearviewing.main

 

As you compare itineraries, be mindful of port times. Make sure you're in port long enough and at the right time of day for any planned activities. ie port time of 7:30 - noon may be problematic for a bear viewing tour.

Ketchikan is mostly black bears. Icy Strait Point is the best port for brown bears and you don't have an expensive airplane trip to see them. Holland America does go there.... Also, I would take Glacier Bay over Tracy Arm any day. Note that brown bears can often be seen on the shores in Glacier Bay. Juneau is the best for whale watching. Salmon are still running in September. I would push it to early September if possible given your interests. A bonus for September is that the Northern Lights can be seen.

I would say try to go as early in September as you can. Either Noordam or Westerdam, but Westerdam has just been refreshed in a dry dock so she should be in good shape. A balcony cabin on either of those ships will be cheaper than if you go for the smaller HAL ships. Your age group would fit in quite well on HAL.

where is the best place to do an excursion to see bears (preferably Grizzly and not brown/black).

 

You might find this interesting:

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm%3Fadfg=brownbearhunting.main

 

Technically you won't see grizzlies on your cruise. You would have to do a one way and go to Denali (of course that isn't the only place they are, but it is a safe bet you will see them there in September).

We were on the Noordam in May of 2016 and enjoyed it very much. It was our very first cruise. We had a balcony, but in the end didn't use it all that much because the weather was still quite cool in early May. It was great, however, on Glacier Bay day, as we didn't need to fight the crowds on deck for views when the captain did the 360s. The ship itself was fine as far as we were concerned and we liked the fact that it was only 2000 people. They had a nice variety of entertainment in the evenings and we found the staff was very friendly. I would go on it again.

 

Our cruise just sailed right past Tracy Arm even though it was indicated on the itinerary. Not sure why, as nothing was said about that. We went to Mendenthal Glacier in Juneau, hiked up the Chilkoot Trail/floated down the Taiya River in Skagway, and did some sea kayaking in Ketchikan. Enjoyed them all! We were also happy to see many humpback whales from the decks of the ship and close by when we were kayaking. I have a bit of a hang-up about whale watching tours after seeing motorized vehicles zooming around pods of orcas in Johnstone Strait--I find it very invasive of these animals. So, we were happy to enjoy seeing the whales from the ship (which I guess is also a rather large motorized vehicle in their habitat--sigh). Lots of eagles, seals, and other shore birds too. No bears.

Our cruise just sailed right past Tracy Arm even though it was indicated on the itinerary. Not sure why, as nothing was said about that.

I think there is some misconception about the Tracy Arm Inlet service call. Noordam doesn't seem to have that listed on its itinerary anymore, but when it did it did not consist of the ship docking somewhere or anything like that. I watched Nieuw Amsterdam make the Tracy Arm Inlet service call several times last summer via the marine traffic tracker, and I couldn't really even catch it noticeably slowing down. However, what I did see was a small tour boat operated by Allen Marine catching up to Nieuw Amsterdam, coming quite close to it (and, in reality, docking with it, although that was not all that evident on the tracker). That's the Tracy Arm Inlet service call. I could readily believe that if you aren't on the side of the ship where the Allen Marine vessel picks up its passengers, or aren't paying attention to what's happening eight or nine decks below your balcony, you wouldn't think anything of it.

We went the last week of August, first week of September. We hiked at Mendenhall Glacier and saw a mother bear with her cubs. Weather was great! Only one day of rain and that was in Ketchikan!