Itinerary Help Please

[rcarrosq]

We want to take an Alaska cruise but are not sure which route is best. We are hoping to see some whales and glaciers. Quite a few of the lines do list some sort of glacier cruise but can anybody recommend one where we might see whales as well? We plan to go in July or maybe even very early August.

 

I looked on a few of the cruiseline sites and most of them offer cruises leaving from Vancouver BC and ending in Whittier which would probably cause a 3-way airline ticket? I looked at the Amtrak site and it doesn't seem as if there are any stations in Alaska. Any suggestions for me?

[AlanAllyn]

We want to take an Alaska cruise but are not sure which route is best. We are hoping to see some whales and glaciers. Quite a few of the lines do list some sort of glacier cruise but can anybody recommend one where we might see whales as well? We plan to go in July or maybe even very early August.

 

I looked on a few of the cruiseline sites and most of them offer cruises leaving from Vancouver BC and ending in Whittier which would probably cause a 3-way airline ticket? I looked at the Amtrak site and it doesn't seem as if there are any stations in Alaska. Any suggestions for me?

 

There is no rail service from Alaska to Vancouver or Seattle.

 

All the major cruise lines also offer round-trip cruises from Vancouver and/or Seattle. One way cruises are all between Vancouver and either Whittier or Seward (depending on cruise line) with flights out of Anchorage or Fairbanks if you take a land tour as well.

 

The two largest companies are Holland America and Princess. But Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival and Norwegian all sail to Alaska. (as well as some of the luxury lines)

 

Since you are interested in glaciers, be sure that your cruise goes to Glacier Bay (several glaciers) or Hubbard Glacier or both. To see whales, you need to take an excursion either from Juneau or Icy Stait. You are not likely to see many whales from the cruise ship. I would recommend that you search the Alaska boards to find private excursions using smaller boats than the cruise ships do.

 

By the way, we are doing the 14-day round trip Seattle cruise on the Holland America Amsterdam in June. It visits both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

[alpal1993]

We will be on the same cruise as AlanAllyn.But the first time we did land/cruise with Celebrity.It was fabulous!It did include some flying Tour began in Anchorage and cruise ended in Vancouver.They also flew us from Fairbanks to Anchorage where we took a bus back to Port of Seward.We ported in Juneau,and Icy Straits and cruised Hubbard Glacier.

We are taking the RT SEATTLE cruise because of the fabulous ports of Anchorage Homer,Kodiak and Sitka.Of course the airfare played a major role in our selection as well.

[rcarrosq]

Thanks for the insight Alan; I'm heading over to RCI and Holland sites to take a look again.

[vbmom87]

We want to take an Alaska cruise but are not sure which route is best. We are hoping to see some whales and glaciers. Quite a few of the lines do list some sort of glacier cruise but can anybody recommend one where we might see whales as well? We plan to go in July or maybe even very early August.

 

I looked on a few of the cruiseline sites and most of them offer cruises leaving from Vancouver BC and ending in Whittier which would probably cause a 3-way airline ticket? I looked at the Amtrak site and it doesn't seem as if there are any stations in Alaska. Any suggestions for me?

 

The sailings out of Vancouver are more scenic than the sailings out of Seattle. However, the 14 day trip the above posters have mentioned, has enough pluses to outweigh the negatives of sailing out of Seattle. JMHO

 

If want glaciers, do not choose a cruise that goes just to Tracy Arm Fjord. Tracy Arm fjord is beautiful and well worth seeing if your itinerary also goes to another glacier. However, if your priority is glaciers and you are just going to Tracy Arm, you may or many not see the Sawyer Glaciers at the end of the fjord from a cruise ship. Sometimes it is just too dammed up with ice for the cruise ships to navigate to the end. The fjord is still well worth the journey, as the fjord is almost surreal. I loved it. Combining it with another glacier and you have one scenic cruise itinerary for yourself.

 

HAL has a round trip cruise out of Vancouver that goes to both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm Fjord. This is a good choice for someone with scenery and glaciers as a priority. If you do not have time to spend on land after or before your cruise, this round trip out of Vancouver has a very desirable itinerary.

 

If you have time to spend in Alaska either before or after your cruise, you should consider what is called a one way cruise. You start or end in Vancouver and start or end in either Seward or Whittier. With your glacier priority, Princess has an itinerary that begins in Whittier and ends in Vancouver that goes to both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. This is a great itinerary to see the two most popular glaciers along the cruise route, all on one cruise. This itinerary has not been offered since I started looking in 2007.

 

When figuring out airfare, look at the "multi-city" option on the airlines website, or use a site like www.kayak.com to help you find out prices for a multi-city. You can also check out prices for two one way tickets. Usually the multi-city tickets are cheaper, but not always.

[CowPrincess]

As for whales, think about doing a whale watch shore excursion so you can get close and personal with the whales :) Seeing a whale, or a bunch of whales, from the ship is NOT AT ALL like seeing them from 100 yds, at the waterline.

[rcarrosq]

Thanks to everyone who gave me input. I'm creating a spreadsheet as we speak....yeah....I'm a geek:)

[Willsot]

If it is your first (and perhaps only) Alaska cruise, I highly recommend a 14-day cruise itinerary if you can afford it. Our first Alaska cruise was 14 days round trip out of Vancouver and we so appreciated that we had the time to visit all of the major ports + both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier (all cruising, no land cruisetouring). For our return visit this year we are taking a 7-day out of Seattle on the Holland America Rotterdam.

In my opinion, the inside passage route out of Vancouver is nicer than the cruise we will be taking out of Seattle and if you need to choose between Glacier Bay and Hubbard, I recommend Hubbard.

[Alaska momma]

You could also put 2 7-days cruises (one north bound and one south bound) back-to-back to make a round trip. We had planned that but didn't have enough time. Some of the cruises are cheap enough (depending on how many and what ages are traveling) that it was almost equally cheap for us than the 4 point with air. As to whales, I can absolutley without reservation recommend Harv and Marv out of Juneau. They are small (6-person) boats and the pilots know what they are doing to get you up close and personal. This was our 3rd whale watching cruise (we had already done Hawaii and the NE off of Plymouth, Mass) and there was NO comparison. We saw orca's and humpbacks -- alot of them and pretty close up. My daughter got pictures of humpback pods who were bubbling. Also, some of those great tail fin pictures you see with 2-3 tail fins in the same picture (and she's a teen/non-professional photographer.) You can see some of her shots on http://www.attackingnakedmolerats.webs.com --- she named it herself, what can I say?

 

As to glaciers ... we did a Princess that included Glacier National Park and that was amazing. The ship goes right into the park and close up to the glaciers, turning the ship so all sides get a close-up view of the glacier, almost theatre-like (it was almost like seeing a curtain open up and there was a glacier and another and another. ... We also invested in a helicopter ride to stand on a glacier. (Once in a lifetime.) That was really worth it too. We did the Mendenhall near Juneau (big big day on our trip for us) ... You can all see the Mendenhall on the way to Harv and Marv (probably for free) if you just ask the driver to stop off on your way to or from the docks. He did it for us and we ended up also seeing some black bears playing in the trees right overhead! It was amazing.

 

I hope this helps. Have a great trip.

[rcarrosq]

WOW! So many things to consider and to answer some questions....yes....this will be our only cruise to Alaska. Normally we take the caribbean routes. Our daughter and her family have lived in Chugiak for the past 6 years and we have been there at least 5 times. We've been to Anchorage and Seward and last year we went on one of those nature riverboats tours. I think it was Kenai but I'm not sure. Once when we were in Seward we went to a place where you could actually walk up and touch a glacier. I sure do wish I could take a longer cruise but we have other people going with us and they can only do 7 days.

 

Last night I was on every cruiseline website trying to determine which one had a better route but basically they are about the same and so are the prices. The only one I was not fond of is Carnival. I think I'm leaning towards either HAL or Princess.

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped.

[Dunn1951]

We want to take an Alaska cruise but are not sure which route is best. We are hoping to see some whales and glaciers. Quite a few of the lines do list some sort of glacier cruise but can anybody recommend one where we might see whales as well? We plan to go in July or maybe even very early August.

 

I looked on a few of the cruiseline sites and most of them offer cruises leaving from Vancouver BC and ending in Whittier which would probably cause a 3-way airline ticket? I looked at the Amtrak site and it doesn't seem as if there are any stations in Alaska. Any suggestions for me?

We are going in July on Royal Caribbean and you should look at a cruisetour to get the most out of Alaska. Think of it as something you may never get to do again so you want to be careful and do everything you may want. The land tour is like a second vacation after the cruise. You will want to go to Denali and be sure to take the Tundra Wilderness tour. Once you go to Alaska you can't wait to go back. If you look at Royal Caribbean check out cruisetour #14 with a two night stop at Denali. When at Skagway be sure to do the White Pass Railroad

[Budget Queen]

The first decision, you need to make, that will greatly narrow down your choices, is HOW much time you have, and what route??? There are some superb round trip Vancouver sailings with HAL. IF you don't have a couple weeks, with a one way cruise then more Interior Alaska travel, it is never worth it for me.

 

With a Glacier priority, then get a cruise sailing of Glacier Bay or Hubbard. IF going one way, add a Prince William Sound boat tour out of Whittier.

 

For whales, add days and spend them on Vancouver Island.

 

Book whale watch tours out of Hoonah or Juneau- hot spots for humpbacks with 100% sightings on tours.

[MercedMike]

So many people ask about the different glacier choices that I have posted a page of pictures from our various cruises to all the different glacier sites.

 

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/alaskaglaciers.html

 

We have enjoyed the whale watching out of Juneau. Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/volendam.html for a couple of pics.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!