Best 7 day cruise for 1st timer to Alaska?

[joeyillinois]

Wondering if it's better to leave out of Seattle or Vancouver? We'll take the train over to Seattle & can leave from there or I believe there's a bus that connects with Amtrak that goes to Vancouver and could leave out of there. Looking at late/mid June or August.

It would be nice to take more time, but I don't think we'll be able to do that so I was looking at a round trip 7 day.

I'm a non-flyer so train, bus, & car besides the cruise is my mode of travel.

Thank you for any suggestions about Seattle or Vancouver cruise point, or other suggestions regarding the trip.

[negc]

Wondering if it's better to leave out of Seattle or Vancouver? We'll take the train over to Seattle & can leave from there or I believe there's a bus that connects with Amtrak that goes to Vancouver and could leave out of there. Looking at late/mid June or August.

It would be nice to take more time, but I don't think we'll be able to do that so I was looking at a round trip 7 day.

I'm a non-flyer so train, bus, & car besides the cruise is my mode of travel.

Thank you for any suggestions about Seattle or Vancouver cruise point, or other suggestions regarding the trip.

By most accounts you will have a more scenic cruise if you sail from Vancouver rather than Seattle.

[sandytoes03]

You'll get into Alaska more with a Vancouver cruise.

[Budget Queen]

Round trip Vancouver offers way more scenic sailing, and frequently better port times compared to Seattle, which has to have a Ca. port stop. Can only do so much in 7 days.

[vbmom87]

IF your priorities are glaciers and scenery, HAL has a nice round trip out of Vancouver that goes to both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm Fjord. This is a nice scenic itinerary for a first time cruiser to Alaska. As mentioned Seattle sailings are less scenic and they also have a greater potential for some rough sailing.

[joeyillinois]

Sounds like Vancouver will be the best way to go, I'll start looking for specific cruises now. Is late June a pretty good time to go? I suppose most of the cruise lines have similar stops??... I'll have to start researching that now. And, with arriving via train I have to allow an extra day as "just in case the train arrives really late".

Thanks for the input.

[joeyillinois]

Yes, glaciers & scenery are our main goal this time -- just to see what it's like. I'll check out what HAL has.

[bmcc]

either HAL or Princess has the best route/itinerary for Alaska cruise. Have you considered one way?

[Fblack]

I have done 4 Alaska cruises. Three round trip out of Vancouver, and one Southbound from Anchorage. If I ever go again, and I will, I plan to go out of Seattle.

 

First, it is substantially less for me in California to fly to Seattle. But more importantly, flying home from Vancouver airport Vancouver is terrible. I did use the Luggage Valet last time in Vancouver which was a big help.

 

My worst experience was in Vancouver, about 2.5 years ago. It took over an hour to get through the first line and we were told we were too early to check in for a 2:00PM flight and we had to go back to the end of the line. I had emergency knee surgery about 90 days before the cruise and was on crutches. It took two supervisors to approve me continuing on to the gate.

[iamaqt2]

either HAL or Princess has the best route/itinerary for Alaska cruise. Have you considered one way?

 

OP stated flying was not an option, so I doubt they'd do a one way.

 

Is late June a pretty good time to go?

 

All months are hit and miss with weather in Alaska. I will tell you that May and September are the cheapest months to sail, and depending on what day of the week you sail, there might be less ships in your ports of call.

[Budget Queen]

June is a great time to go.

 

There are only 6 Alaska, Inside Passage ports. Head to your library and get Alaska By Cruiseship. Along with Fodor's Alaska and Frommer's Alaska.

[vbmom87]

Since Glaciers are a priority I would not choose a cruise that goes just to Tracy Arm. Tracy Arm is a beautiful fjord and well worth seeing. However, with a glacier priority you may or may not get to the Sawyer glaciers at the end of the fjord. HOwever, with a cruise that combines Tracy Arm with another day of Glacier Sailing you get a great glacier viewing and scenic sailing. Hubbard is the other popular glacier that is found on many cruise itineraries. Often you will see debates on this forum as to which is better. It seems that they both have their fan clubs. Like BQ suggested, do some reading and determine your personal priorities. THen you will be able to select a cruise that meets your needs.

[joeyillinois]

Yes, we had considered 1 way, but the logistics wouldn't be easy because we don't want to fly back. We'd considered one way with one cruise line up and another back, but don't have enough time. Thanks for the suggestions, will check out the library for those books and cruise line information. I'm pretty sure we'll leave out of Vancouver. Amtrak has a connection on their time schedule for Vancouver from Seattle, so that won't be a problem -- just finding a cruise line that goes where we want to.

 

Thanks for all the help!

[negc]

Sounds like Vancouver will be the best way to go, I'll start looking for specific cruises now. Is late June a pretty good time to go? I suppose most of the cruise lines have similar stops??... I'll have to start researching that now. And, with arriving via train I have to allow an extra day as "just in case the train arrives really late".

Thanks for the input.

 

In mid to late June, you will have the most hours of daylight which will give you significantly more time to appreciate the spectacular Alaskan scenery. Check the train schedule to see just how much time there is between the train's scheduled arrival and the time you must be on the ship. Vancouver is a wonderful city and well worth arriving a day or more early, but unless the train's scheduled arrival is terribly close to the ship's departure time, you might be able to arrive on the train and depart on the ship on the same day. I believe that Amtrak may even be able to report on its on-time performance to give you a better idea of what you can expect.

[vbmom87]

In mid to late June, you will have the most hours of daylight which will give you significantly more time to appreciate the spectacular Alaskan scenery. Check the train schedule to see just how much time there is between the train's scheduled arrival and the time you must be on the ship. Vancouver is a wonderful city and well worth arriving a day or more early, but unless the train's scheduled arrival is terribly close to the ship's departure time, you might be able to arrive on the train and depart on the ship on the same day. I believe that Amtrak may even be able to report on its on-time performance to give you a better idea of what you can expect.

 

We chose mid-June and did love this time of the year for all the daylight. Although I had no trouble sleeping, I didn't want to go to bed. I wanted to watch Alaska go by. Never even took in a show on the ship. My entertainment was the Alaska scenery.

 

OP did say he planned on arriving the day before. His name implies he is from Illinois. I think it is very wise if he tries to get in the day early as he mentioned. That is a long way to travel by train and things can and do go wrong.

[thego6girl]

Wondering if it's better to leave out of Seattle or Vancouver? We'll take the train over to Seattle & can leave from there or I believe there's a bus that connects with Amtrak that goes to Vancouver and could leave out of there. Looking at late/mid June or August.

It would be nice to take more time, but I don't think we'll be able to do that so I was looking at a round trip 7 day.

I'm a non-flyer so train, bus, & car besides the cruise is my mode of travel.

Thank you for any suggestions about Seattle or Vancouver cruise point, or other suggestions regarding the trip.

 

We did the 7 day out of Seattle with Princess (on the Golden). It was an amazing experience with the bonus being the last night when we thought the trip was over, and then we docked in Victoria, BC and spent the last few hours of our cruise experience in the Butchart Gardens.

[timetravler]

A must see for your first Alaskan cruise is Glacier Bay. So you would be best to take that cruise from Vancouver. I, myself am taking that cruise, but in reverse ending in Vancouver. My first Alaskan cruise was to glacier Bay and I can't wait to see that spectacular sight.

[joeyillinois]

Yes, we've taken the train before (not this route), but other routes and know to allow leeway... Even in the best of situations it would be too close to not allow an extra day, both coming and going. And, coming back the ship arrives too close to when we need to leave to pick up our train connections to be comfortable. We looking forward to doing more research on cruise lines.

[vbmom87]

Yes, we've taken the train before (not this route), but other routes and know to allow leeway... Even in the best of situations it would be too close to not allow an extra day, both coming and going. And, coming back the ship arrives too close to when we need to leave to pick up our train connections to be comfortable. We looking forward to doing more research on cruise lines.

 

Let us know what you decide and post on our return. We regulars on the forum really enjoy hearing how things went.

[azrose]

Yes, we've taken the train before (not this route), but other routes and know to allow leeway... Even in the best of situations it would be too close to not allow an extra day, both coming and going. And, coming back the ship arrives too close to when we need to leave to pick up our train connections to be comfortable. We looking forward to doing more research on cruise lines.

 

Yes, you must know Amtrak :eek: .... leave enough time...

 

Also, look Amtrak's pricing to Seattle with adding on the Seattle to Vancouver seperately. I just checked and it is cheaper to do them as 2 seperate trips (obviously both going to end in Vancouver) than to price it directly to Vancouver ... hopefully I made sense in explaining that....basically price home to Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver and compare it to home to Vancouver....I found it to be cheaper to do 2 trips out of it!!