Alaskan crusie

[molsonschooner]

We are looking at taking a cruise from Vancouver to Seward next year. We live in Ontario, Canada. We could fly from Toronto or Buffalo to Vancouver. The problem is getting back to Ontario from Anchorage. We would like to fly home right after the cruise. I understand it is a couple hours from Seward to Anchorage so we would be looking at a flight late afternoon at the earliest. Can anyone suggest ways to get home that won't take 15 hours and many stops. Any help will be appreciated

[Coralc]

Maybe sail the southbound and fly home from Vancouver instead?

 

By the time you fly home from Vancouver....the difficult part of the trip will be in the distant past. :)

[NorbertsNiece]

If you've not done this already you could post this question on the Cruise Air board here, just give as much info as poss including dates. You will love Alaska :)

[spotgrey]

We did the same cruise but different route. We flew into Anchorage, spent the night in Anchorage. Next day took the train to Seward (loved it). It took a few hours but we saw moose and the scenery was beautiful...Boarded the ship in Seward. Seven days later cruise ended in Vancouver where we boarded the plane and flew home.

[texasnana]

We are doing the same cruise too. We will be taking a bus to anchorage. I found a shuttle for rccl cruises for 40.00. I do not have info on me but I googled it up. Good luck. When are you going?

[Sigtau21]

Maybe sail the southbound and fly home from Vancouver instead?

 

By the time you fly home from Vancouver....the difficult part of the trip will be in the distant past. :)

 

 

I agree I think ending in Vancouver would benefit you on the back end of your trip.

[Sequim88]

There's a lot to be said though for doing the northward route. Mainly because the scenery changes from low green hills and builds to huge mountains (when clear anwyay). It also reinforces the concept of "going to" Alaska. We rented a car one-way in Seward to get to Anchorage but we were staying up there for an additional week so traded that rental for a much cheaper weekly rental from Anchorage.

 

Check on the Alaska destination forum for transport options to Anchorage airport. Also check out forums at TripAdvisor.com .

 

We did our return to Minneapolis via Seattle but there ought to be a flight to Vancouver too that would connect to Torronto. Or if using Buffalo connect via Seattle and do customs once via car. Hard to get around the long distance home making it a very long day. Might be worth doing a round trip to Vancouver or Seattle and staying a night after one-way down there from Anchorage. There is a ton of hotels right at Sea-Tac airport and most have shuttle service.

 

Downside of R/T via Seattle is getting to Vancouver so R/T via Vancouver may be easiest and there are hotels near airport there too.

[sail2sea]

I just did this cruise earlier this year. I would highly recommend doing a land tour. An Alaska cruise is great, but only a land tour get get you into Alaska.

 

If you really really prefer coming home right after the cruise, you might want to consider a southbound.

[epixx]

Have you considered a round trip Vancouver cruise? If you're not planning for extra time on land in Alaska after the cruise, why are you doing the one way northbound? You could save yourself a lot of hassle by doing a round trip Vancouver cruise, and the itineraries are excellent.

[Tapi]

Can anyone suggest ways to get home that won't take 15 hours and many stops. Any help will be appreciated

 

Geographically speaking, it's hard to reduce the amount of time it takes to get back home from Seward.

 

As you mentioned, you have to drive from Seward to Anchorage. From there, it's 5,275 kilometers back to Toronto! (and there are NO nonstop flights).

 

Looking at the different flight combinations, the quickest connection I found for next summer is with United, departing Anchorage at 8:15pm, making a 1hr and 20min connection in Chicago, and arriving back in Toronto at 9:07am. Total travel time is 8 hours and 52 minutes.

[Alexat2]

I just did this cruise earlier this year. I would highly recommend doing a land tour. An Alaska cruise is great, but only a land tour get get you into Alaska.

 

Every one's experience is different, but as far as land tours go, ours was definitely anything but great... When we did Alaska we made the mistake of doing the land tour after our cruise. We saw NO wildlife, not even in Denali, in fact the only "wildlife" we saw were mosquitos (there's a reason it's the state bird)... Our advice ever since has been "Stay on the Ship"!

[klingoncruiser]

Every one's experience is different, but as far as land tours go, ours was definitely anything but great... When we did Alaska we made the mistake of doing the land tour after our cruise. We saw NO wildlife, not even in Denali, in fact the only "wildlife" we saw were mosquitos (there's a reason it's the state bird)... Our advice ever since has been "Stay on the Ship"!

 

ROFL.... are you sure you went to Alaska? I have been in Denali 7 times and NEVER come away with no wildlife. You must have done the short tour in and not the long one. I have to say that the short tour can be problematic for seeing any big game.

[molsonschooner]

Thanks for all the replies. We will be traveling with 2 other couples and we haven't got all the details worked out yet. We do seem to favour the northbound trip(probably Jul 26). With the cost of the flights to the west/north it's easy to see why many people choose to cruise the caribbean.