How many Alasken cruises.

[utahtea]

Have my 1st Alaskan cruise booked, I see myself as one and done. Been there done that. :) Did you sail just once to AK or have you sailed this route many times.

 

Please come back after your cruise and let us know if you feel the same way!

 

We drove to Alaska in 1992 and spent 3 weeks actually in Alaska. We had been wanting to go back ever since.

 

In 2010 we decided to try cruising and Alaska was our first choice. I didn't know if we would like cruising so I made sure we had excursions at each port in case we didn't return. That was a 7 day cruise and there were so many things we didn't have time to do. This year we are booked for Holland America's 14 Alaska day cruise. Only two ports and Tracy Arm will be a repeat of the first cruise and we will be able to go to new places at those ports. This trip we will also add Hubbard Glacier and 6 new ports.

 

Utahtea

[Luckysll]

I've done 5 - 1 NCL, 1 HAL, 2 Carnival and 1 Princess. Would do an Alaska cruise every year if I could. :)

[Assateague Island Princes]

Leaving for my fifth tomorrow (two 7 day and this will be my third 14 day), plus a 17 day land only trip last year this time. Alaska is my heart home. I have no desire to cruise (or for that matter, vacation) anywhere else. Hoping to retire to Homer someday...:p

[greatam]

Just wondering what you hope to gain from this question??

 

When I planned my Med cruise I didn't think to myself " ok, on THIS trip, I'll visit ___ and see___, and on the next Med cruise I'll visit ___ and see ____". I planned it as a one and only. And it was. People plan a trip to disneyland thinking they can always go back again, but with a big trip like Alaska, I don't people plan it with the intention of returning.

 

On my first trip to Alaska I was in awe of the coastline and the glacier capped mountains but it left me wondering what lay beyond. I've been back to Alaska for 4 diy land trips. Alaska is huge and there's so much to see and do. Denali is a place I can return to over and over, but I can't see myself doing another Alaska cruise.

 

I agree. First one was fun and exciting, second cruise, we didn't get off the ship other than to mail some packages home from Ketchikan. Real waste of money. My dear, departed husband was bored to tears and said never again. He loved cruising and love getting dressed for dinner but to him, just like you, there is so very much more to Alaska than those coastal ports.

 

I have to go to Alaska at least twice in the summer fish shipping season for business. I leave for the first trip May 29. So would much prefer to spend the time seeing something REALLY unusual or off the beaten path than ports FILLED to overcapacity with cruise passengers. I'll save my cruise money for trips to Prudhoe, ANWR, Barrow, Hallo Bay, drive the haul road or any place else that is far off the beaten path.

[geekypenguin]

We went for our honeymoon, saying it was our once in a lifetime trip, and loved it.

 

Then we went back last year for our first anniversary, adding in a week on the Kenai Peninsula before our cruise, saying we'd come back for our tenth anniversary...

 

Now we're planning a last-minute trip for our second anniversary. Alaska is SO beautiful and there is so much to see!

[caribsun]

I am back from a great Alaska cruise but as I thought one time to Alaska is enough. I really prefer warm weather cruising and Princess is not for me.

[Zuki]

We went on our first criuise last month to Alaska. Seattle RT. Just booked Vancouver to Whittier June 2015 . And planning a land tour for 2016. i live in Colorado and we have beautiful mountains, but there is something about Alaska

 

i too thought it would be "one and done". It's a magical place

[Budget Queen]

I also thought my first trip, would be my only. That was 1994. I remember spending what was a big sum of money, at the time, of $2000 on tours. :) Well, I got bit bad. I am back a couple days from a 4+ week trip (plus 3 Alaska cruises in May) with included Katmai and Prudhoe (agree with Great AM :) ) I've lost count how many cruises, but, it's now over 40 to Alaska. I do have one more Alaska cruise at the end of this month. :)

 

But Alaska isn't my only travel destination. I'm traveling about every 1-2 months, to other places I enjoy. The world is small. :)

[Daisyloo]

I just completed my first Alaskan cruise and loved it. I absolutely want to do it again. Maybe a cruise and land tour next time.

[oaktreerb]

First Alaska cruise tour was in 2005 and included a day in Denali, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. It was a sampler. This year was our 8th time to Alaska but every time there is something new. Three included the Yukon, five included Denali, one was a 14 day on the Amsterdam stopping in Kodiak and Homer. The least remembered trips will be the 7 day round trips one each from Seattle and Vancouver. This year we were on BC Ferries from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy.

 

Robert Service has a wonderful poem "The Spell of the Yukon" that has a stanza that says "There's a land - oh, it beckons and beckons, And I want to go back - and I will."

 

It speaks for Alaska as well as the Yukon experience for me!

[DaKa2002]

We have driven the Alaskan Highway north to Alaska; lived there nearly 3 years. Have taken the Alaskan Marine Highway south from Haines to Seattle. Then started cruising - HAL(2), Celebrity(2), and Disney(1). Sailed out of Seattle, Vancouver, and Seward. Can hardly wait to book the next one in 2016!

[sue1898]

Did #4 in late June/early July with first land tour. Plan to go again in a few years when the grandkids are old enough to accompany us and enjoy the splendor of Alaska! We live in Florida and it's truly another world.

[sjmbruce]

We probably won't go on another Alaskan cruise, but we'll definitely go back to Alaska.

[Hikini]

Our 10th cruise to AK is coming up in less than 5 weeks.

[donaldsc]

Have my 1st Alaskan cruise booked, I see myself as one and done. Been there done that. :) Did you sail just once to AK or have you sailed this route many times.

 

Five but they were all completely different - ship size from 50 to 2000 passengers; length from 1 week to 2 weeks; different ports and there are not any left to stop at except for those way out in the Aleutians: and one trip on the Alaska Marine Highway ferries. Have also done a 2 1/2 month 12,000 mile driving trip to and in AK.

 

The best 2 were the 50 passenger boat and the driving trip.

 

We are done w AK unless someone comes up with a really different itinerary or I can afford to do it on a small trawler yacht.

 

DON

Edited August 4, 2014 by donaldsc

[huskyguy]

We did our first Alaska cruise (our first cruise anywhere) in 2006, at least partly to prove to ourselves that cruising wasn't our style. Well, that didn't quite work out, and we've now sailed 15 times, with 9 of them being in Alaska, but I was working as naturalist or Destination Speaker on 8 of those.

 

We're probably done with cruising for many years now, though, as we've just bought a big motorhome to tour the Yukon, Alaska and other northern areas in more detail with. Our final cruise is next month, on the Solstice from Vancouver to Honolulu.

[vacationbuddy]

Hi,

There seems to be some seasoned Alaska cruisers in this thread. So if you had to make plans for Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan, what would you recommend? Since this our first Alaska cruise we want to at least touch on the much sees. We are also doing a six day land tour before our cruise in order to get into Denali and see Mt Mc Kinley, weather cooperating:-)

 

Appreciate any advice on tours.

 

Maria

[Budget Queen]

Hi,There seems to be some seasoned Alaska cruisers in this thread. So if you had to make plans for Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan, what would you recommend? Since this our first Alaska cruise we want to at least touch on the much sees. We are also doing a six day land tour before our cruise in order to get into Denali and see Mt Mc Kinley, weather cooperating:-)

 

Appreciate any advice on tours.

 

Maria

 

Shore excursions, depend on you. Have you looked over shore excursion lists? you need to narrow down your interests and go through a selection process. I suggest you avoid just selecting the popular tours without looking further at the excellent tours available.

 

Determine your budget (if any) first. The, alone, can cut down the selections.

 

As for your "land tour", be certain you are aware of all the details of what you have purchased, making sure you are going to places you want to be. :) Most important is your Denali entry. http://www.nps.gov/dena

[vacationbuddy]

Thank you for the advice. We have booked our cruise tour since I have limited amount of time for research this time around.

Our cruise history consists of mainly Caribbean ports as a winter escape from our corner of the States.

We are pretty active with few restrictions however fishing is propably not on my bucket list.

[Budget Queen]

Thank you for the advice. We have booked our cruise tour since I have limited amount of time for research this time around.

.

 

Frankly this could be a big mistake. Denali is usually the highlight- so make certain you are getting INTO the park. Especially in the fall, the colors can be spectacular, my min. distance out in that timeframe is Wonder Lake. A "must" is at least 2 nights at Denali area.

[laughing husky]

Methinks that there are a lot of people who cruise up here should just give it up and move here....Then you get to see it at its best......in the winter....:) which is stunning....

[Budget Queen]

Methinks that there are a lot of people who cruise up here should just give it up and move here....Then you get to see it at its best......in the winter....:) which is stunning....

 

I'm a New Yorker, will never be anything else. :) But, I do agree on your points. I have done two "winter" (March) trips and frankly they were spectacular and extremely excellent. :)

[ClaudiaB]

We have our third booked, a northbound for the first time. We are getting out at Seward and spending a week to 10 days in two basic locations ON OUR OWN. We KNOW it won't be our last.

 

We have done some interesting things in the ports that, I agree, can become overwhelmed with people in and out of stores. To us, that's BORING. Alaska isn't about shopping and just walking down a main street. It's about the beauty, the nature, the bigness. So that's what we do. We like to leave the crowds and the tourists and get out.

 

In Skagway you can take the White Pass train up about 1/3 of the way and get off after packing your lunch and snacks. Hike with 15 or so of your new friends for several miles up to and on the Laughton Glacier. Cross the river a couple times, picking your way up among the boulders and rocks and admiring the beauty that only those who venture past the town, past the crowds, past the cruise ships and "civilization" will ever see. Hike down, tired, perhaps cold and wet, and happy - wait for the train ride down. Funny part is seeing the faces of those returning from the Yukon on that train - wondering who those drowned rats are with the hiking poles and backpacks that they put in a special non-fancy train car! One of our best days ever! The day we did that was kind of cold (OK, real cold), rainy, and many people just stayed on the ship or just went into the town for an hour, never saw anything. Our day was awesome!! So surreal later on when we were showered and dressed for dinner on Infinity. I was wishing I was back on the edge of that creek bed eating my granola bar and apple and smashed ham sandwich!

 

In Ketchikan you can take planes to many places, land on glaciers, fly over fjords and land on lakes, or rent a car and head out to explore. We had an absolutely stunning day last time - a very rare Ketchikan day. We went on a kayaking day, with a guide - there were maybe 6 of us and my husband and I were on a two-person kayak. The lakes were crystal clear and even the guides wanted to stay out there, so since we had no other plans and they were having a great time too, we all stayed out there several hours longer than "scheduled." We kayaked in and around some fjords, some little islands, watched eagles in their nest, and all kinds of other wildlife. We got out to where I'd have been lost, there was no civilization in sight. So awesome! I was kind of glad we didn't come across a whale even though they say it's safe. I would have felt very small in that small kayak with a huge whale nearby! THAT was a fun day. To me, better than a log climbing show or a totem pole or a souvenir shop.

 

There are hikes everywhere, you don't have to do the typical tourist things. Get some guidebooks, read all about the places and see what you want to do, and be courageous! It's finding out what's over that next peak that is going to keep us going back. Right now it's been every other year but I can see the day where we just fly up there every year.