Best Alaska itinerary

[devdale]

What is the best itinerary for cruising Alaska? I've heard that cruising one directiona and traveling by train the other is the best way to see the sites, but is northbound better than southbound, and why?

[geoherb]

My parents liked that they did the land portion first and then the southbound cruise. We've only taken a roundtrip cruise from Seattle to Alaska. I know we hardly saw any of the state--but we loved what we saw and are going again to the same ports this summer.

[Toyz711]

head ovoer to the alaska boards (click here) read a few pages to see some of the other posts.

the best is one with glacier viewing of either glacier bay or hubbard glacier. tracy arms is nice, but some ship have trouble getting close to the glaciers.

[UlvaZell]

What is the best itinerary for cruising Alaska? I've heard that cruising one directiona and traveling by train the other is the best way to see the sites, but is northbound better than southbound, and why?

 

Ours was north bound from Vancouver to Whittier. It was fantastic. One of the best parts was the last day of our cruise, sailing into the College Fjord and watching ice calve off the Havard Glacier for about an hour. Absolutely incredible and a great finale to our sail...

[devdale]

Thanks, both ideas make a lot of sense.

[uppitycats]

We started in Fairbanks and did the land portion first -- which can be pretty hectic and tiring -- and then got on board the ship down to Vancouver. We'd do this again in a heartbeat!

[FINTUCKYFARMS]

I don't think there is a BAD Alaskan cruise :D

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

I can't tell you which is better but I will suggest that you find a cruise that spends as much time as possible in Skagway. And this allows you to rent a car and drive up into the Canadian Yukon as far as Whitehorse.

[Cruisin Kay D]

If you choose a round-trip out of Seattle, be sure it includes GLACIER BAY!!!! Accept no substitute!!! We've done northbound & southbound & round trip.

We were disappointed in Hubbard Glacier because our HAL ship was out-manuvered by the Celebrity ship & we didn't get even close to the glacier.

We were disappointed in Tracy Arm because we didn't even see a glacier in the distance -- it was more of a fiord look-see.

 

I would strongly suggest planning a land portion "ON YOUR OWN" -- stay in Seward a day & absorb this lovely little town. Go on a small boat glacier cruise from Whittier. Rent a motorhome in Anchorage & drive the gorgeous drive down to Valdez, another charming little town (none of the land tours go there). Drive around Lake Hood near Anchorage airport where all the seaplanes are "moored" and go to Earthquake Park and see the earthquake exhibit at the downtown "experience/adventure" place.

 

Few people realize that the various Princess lodges can be booked by regular travelers too when the land-tour groups are not there or if the group doesn't fill the lodge. Over Memorial Day we camped (rental RV motorhome) at Kenai Princess Lodge's RV Park, where we learned that very few people were staying at the lodge, which was so lovely & rooms were more like studio-units & quite nice.

 

RE Whitehorse in comment above: We stayed a night there in a campground & drove around the town twice, but frankly we were disappointed in it compared to Valdez and Seward and previous stops at Skagway. Driving a rental car up into Yukon is fine for a couple hours but don't bother to go all way to Whitehorse. Be sure to see the cute local museum in Skagway.