Advice-which itinerary?

[josask]

I'm hoping I can get some advice since we are unsure of where to start.

 

My sisters and I are hoping to take our parents on a cruise to Alaska. My dad has health issues so would likely not be doing much as far as excursions go. We'd like to know which is the best itinerary to see the most from the ship. We are assuming the inside passage might be the best option?

 

Is there also a better time of the season to go to see wildlife and glaciers?

 

Our hope was to do a 7-day round-trip out of Vancouver, but would consider 7-day one way if that would let us see a lot more.

 

thanks so much for any advice you can give us!

[rayliang]

If you are looking to see the most from the cruiseship, can I assume glaciers will then be the most important factor for this cruise? If so, I would suggest Princess Voyage of the Glaciers. Northbound takes you to Glacier Bay & College Fjord, Southbound takes you to Hubbard Glacier & Glacier Bay. I personally prefer Southbound because Hubbard Glacier is a sight to behold. Glacier Bay is also a can't miss.

 

If you must do round trip, then chose a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay (I don't remember if there's a round trip going to Hubbard). Most round trip cruises go to Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier), but there's a chance, depending on when your cruise is, that the fjord will have floating ices that might prevent the cruise ship from getting close to the glacier, might even prevent you from seeing the glacier. Glacier Bay & Hubbard, given its size, usually does not have the ice problems.

[paddingtonbear]

I was reading a trip report on here and on the southbound cruise that ended on July 16 in Vancouver they couldn't get right into Glacier Bay because of the ice on the bay. This could have been just as far as the ship was allowed to go (regardless of the ice) I do not know for sure.

[MSMcDuffy]

I was reading a trip report on here and on the southbound cruise that ended on July 16 in Vancouver they couldn't get right into Glacier Bay because of the ice on the bay. This could have been just as far as the ship was allowed to go (regardless of the ice) I do not know for sure.

 

Are you sure this wasn't Hubbard Glacier? Usually that's the one that has the ice issues (it did when we were there; we could not get close at all).

 

To OP - I did a RT Vancouver on HAL that included Glacier Bay & Tracy Arm and I recall there being scenery every day, at least most of the day, if not all day. Wonderful itinerary!

 

I haven't done the one-way yet but the Princess itineraries, as previously mentioned, look the best. Since your preference is to view as much from the ship, then those two glaciers on Princess would be better than only one of them + port stop that most other cruiselines' itineraries offer.

 

When you say the "inside passage" might be the best option - take a look at this thread describing the inside passage:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1557605&highlight=inside+passage

 

I personally would avoid too early in the season (too much ice) and late in the season (shorter daylight hours and more potentional for bad weather). I've read that there are better periods to see certain wildlife. There are always a lot of bear & whale related threads if you do a search here.

 

I'm sure others will chime in.

[paddingtonbear]

I was reading a trip report on here and on the southbound cruise that ended on July 16 in Vancouver they couldn't get right into Glacier Bay because of the ice on the bay. This could have been just as far as the ship was allowed to go (regardless of the ice) I do not know for sure.

 

Are you sure this wasn't Hubbard Glacier? Usually that's the one that has the ice issues (it did when we were there; we could not get close at all).

 

To OP - I did a RT Vancouver on HAL that included Glacier Bay & Tracy Arm and I recall there being scenery every day, at least most of the day, if not all day. Wonderful itinerary!

 

I haven't done the one-way yet but the Princess itineraries, as previously mentioned, look the best. Since your preference is to view as much from the ship, then those two glaciers on Princess would be better than only one of them + port stop that most other cruiselines' itineraries offer.

 

When you say the "inside passage" might be the best option - take a look at this thread describing the inside passage:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1557605&highlight=inside+passage

 

I personally would avoid too early in the season (too much ice) and late in the season (shorter daylight hours and more potentional for bad weather). I've read that there are better periods to see certain wildlife. There are always a lot of bear & whale related threads if you do a search here.

 

I'm sure others will chime in.

 

Yes you are right it was the Hubbard in July because of ice:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=86209

 

and because of fog:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=86948

 

Sorry for the confusion.

[Budget Queen]

I would highly recomnend HAL's round trip Vancouver with Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm. For added scenic sailing, consider the add on Tracy Arm boat tour, via a ship excursion. Really wonderful close up viewing that is superior to the cruiseship transit.

 

If you can add a couple days, it would be worthwhile to consider a one way cruise, but weight the longer flight tolerance.

 

Head to your library and take out Alaska By Cruiseship, informative on Alaska cruising with many details.

[indigosails]

I agree with others who say Voyage of the Glaciers. There are two days of scenic cruising around Glacier Bay and (maybe) College Fjord (Princess). Your dad can sit inside and watch through the windows if it's too cold out on deck and still see plenty. The rest of the time the ship is in port days and it sails at night.

[huskerdan25]

I, too, would highly recommend doing the Voyage of the Glacier cruise, either northbound or southbound. I think you will get more of Alaska going on the one-way cruises. We took the northbound in 2010 and Glacier Bay was the highlight of the itinerary. This time we are going southbound and will go to Hubbard Glacier as well as Glacier Bay.

 

A round-trip definitely saves you money with the one way flights needed for the northbound or southbound cruises but if you can afford the flights, definitely go one-way and make sure at a minimum you go to Glacier Bay.

[rayliang]

I, too, would highly recommend doing the Voyage of the Glacier cruise, either northbound or southbound. I think you will get more of Alaska going on the one-way cruises. We took the northbound in 2010 and Glacier Bay was the highlight of the itinerary. This time we are going southbound and will go to Hubbard Glacier as well as Glacier Bay.

 

A round-trip definitely saves you money with the one way flights needed for the northbound or southbound cruises but if you can afford the flights, definitely go one-way and make sure at a minimum you go to Glacier Bay.

 

There's a way to help on the airline tickets, if you still got time. Many airline credit cards now gives you miles for signing up. For example, Alaska Air's credit card gives you 25,000 miles, United credit card is giving away up to 30,000 miles just to sign up, and Southwest credit card gives you 25,000 points (good for a free flight, so it claims). You can use these miles to offset some flight costs, especially if you are doing one ways. I don't know if other airlines are still doing it. But for myself, I applied to a United card and a Continental Air card (before the two officially merged this month), and got enough miles for a round trip coach seat to China, which I'm using this summer :) that about $1200 saving per person.

[josask]

Thanks so much for the responses.

 

We are still trying to convince him to go on the cruise so I now know what to search to 'sell' him on the idea.

 

Cost is a factor which is why we were looking Vancouver, but also because it's only 1.5 hr flight for him, with no stops, making it that much easier for him. I think we'll have to stick with round trip from Vancouver but will look at other options too.