Alaskan Preferance

[Dutchman]

Which do you prefer on an Alaskan itinerary:

1. Round trip from Seattle

2. Roundtrip from Vancouver

3. Northbound one way from Vancouver

4. Southbound from Anchorage

[Sage]

I love the round trip from Vancouver. Tracy Arm is incredibly beautiful, and Vancouver is a wonderful city.

[jhannah]

I prefer the one-way (either way, really) because IMO you see so much more of Alaska that way.

[Esme]

Being a Canadian it is much easier for us to fly to Vancouver from our home city and back home again. No immigration to go through at the airport - only at the pier and this is very quick, whereas flying to & from the US there is usually a very long line-up. We have to go through US Immigration flying to the US and Canadian Immigration when we arrive home.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Could not vote!

You didn't have a selection of: north to Seward from Vancouver AND south to Vancouver from Seward.

We did that itinerary a couple of years ago and our TA is looking into nearly the same schedule for 2006.

7 days on an Alaskan cruise is just not enough.

Many years ago we Denali so now we just like to cruise.

[bellebaby]

I agree with Sage 100%. We sailed the itinerary in May and have already booked a repeat for 2006. Tracy Arm was awesome.

 

B

[kruzkeen]

I voted for R/T Vancouver. The main reason being that the first day of the cruise of the Inside Passage is between Vancouver Island (where the city of Victoria is but the city of Vancouver is not) and the coast of British Columbia. There is lots of beautiful scenery, trees, islands and mountains to view. Vancouver is a wonderful city to spend some time in before or after the cruise.

 

Seattle is also a nice city, but their cruises go on the west side of Vancouver Island and it is a lot of open ocean.

 

Whatever cruise I would choose would include Glacier Bay, words cannot do it justice.

 

If time and money were not a factor. Some day they might not be! I would fly into Vancouver taking advantage of their US Direct package where you can travel directly from the airport to the pier on special busses that skip the customs, security and immigartion lineups. My friends told me it is like being in bond as they seal the bus.

 

Then I would sail one way North to Anchorage, do a land tour or just rent a car and do my thing and then take a one way South back to Vancouver. One trip sailing into Glacier Bay (Veendam or Ryndam this year) and the other way visiting Hubbard Glacier.

 

Back in Vancouver, I would spend a day or so and then take a ferry over to visit Victoria. After that take another ferry to Seattle and fly home.

[Ray-Barbara]

I vote for Stewart to Vancouver. Several years ago, we flew into Fairbanks and took the 1-week land tour and then crusied from Steward to Vancouver. It is a better way as you see more not having to go through the inland passage twice. Plus, I heard some of the ships this season that take off from Seattle go out to sea rather than travel the inland passage way.

 

Ray

[HAL92]

I prefer roundtrip from Seattle. I like Hubbard Glacier better than the other Glacier experiences, and it is nice to start and end in the same city. I personally like Seattle more than Vancouver.

[Dutchman]

Hi Krazycruisers, the one way north from Vancouver goes to Seward (Anchorage) unless I am wrong and the one way South from Anchorage (Seward) goes to Vancouver. I gues I didn't make myself clear on those trips? Sorry?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Well, since we have only done the round trip out of Seattle I had to vote for that but I plan to book the Ryndam for 2006 that is round trip out of Vancouver.

 

Other than the cost of plane tickets being slightly higher to Vancouver what are if any other disadvantages to going out of Vancouver?

[Copper10-8]

I like both the R/T inside passage cruises from either Vancouver or Seattle and the one way S/B from Seward (never done N/B). Vancouver is an awesome city, one of our favorites

 

Take care and be safe!

 

John

[RevNeal]

Round Trip out of Vancouver is fantastic ... but I would be tempted to do Alaska by doing a b2b round trip out of Vancouver to Seward and back. 14 days. Wow.

 

I wish I could get Christopher to say yes to that itinerary. Yes, I DO want to see Denali ... and we will, eventually. But ... I DO love cruising. And, doing a b2b round trip out of Vancouver to Seward and back has the advantage of NOT needing a long, expensive flight all the way up to Anchorage. If only there were a fairly inexpensive way to cruise up, do Danli, then cruise back. :)

 

Perhaps there is ... I've not researched it.

[Druke I]

My first choice is not an option on your list: round trip out of San Francisco, a beautiful harbor.

 

Given your choices, I would probably pick round trip out of Vancouver, a great city.

 

Never been wild about Seattle, although I have stayed there several times.

[RuthC]

I voted for the one-way northbound and the one-way southbound, as that is the best available. If I were to go alone to Alaska that is what I would do. Since I'll be bringing the grandgirl next year we'll do the round-trip Vancouver. I think 14 days would be a bit much for a teen.

 

But! My absolute first-choice would be a 14-day round trip from Vancouver. My first Alaska cruise was that itinerary (RVL), and it was perfect as cruise-only. We got as far as Homer (great little town).

[Himself]

I answer these polls and the questions are always easy. This one was difficult to answer. First of all, I have gone round trip out of Vancouver on many of the HAL ships. I once went Vancouver-Seward--Vancouver and enjoyed it very much though the Gulf of Alaska was rather rough on the Northern Journey. Then last month, I went out of Seattle on the OOSTERDAM and I enjoyed that very much. I voted for Vancouver because I have done so many out of there and I love the inside passage. However, Seattle is a very close second. I might do it next year because I would love to try the Zaandam.

Himself