Cruise tour before, after or no difference?

[Love Cruis'n]

I’m sure this has been discussed before, but after searching for over a half hour, I’m posting the question…

 

Is it better to do the cruise tour before or after the cruise, or does it matter? DW and I will do a (3 or 4 day) cruise tour, plus a (7 day) cruise with the kids/grandkids. To what extend does it matter if we do the land portion before or after the cruise? (August of 2015 or 2016 if it matters)

 

Thanks,

Terry

[oaktreerb]

Kids and grandkids lead me to think that rather than a cruise line tour you would be better off renting a car so that you can control your itinerary. Three or four days is not very many days on land and might best be spent between Anchorage and Seward area around Turnagain Arm. There is a lot to do and would be more fun for kids (how old?).

 

Most people prefer to do the land tour first and relax on the ship.

[mapleleaves]

What activities do you have planned for the cruise and land portions? How busy will you be each day?

 

It depends on how you manage your time. On cruisetours you have to be up with your bags outside the door at 6am every morning, so you might find it relaxing to followup with the cruise. OTOH, you might have an action packed itinerary during the cruise so the land portion might be more relaxing since you'll be sitting in a bus or train most of the time.

 

I would think twice about taking children on a cruisetour..... too much time is spend travelling, with little time to enjoy the sights when you arrive. Plus cruisetours are primarily seniors. I'm a senior and I wouldn't take a cruisetour. If you only have 3 days for land travel; it's easy enough to arrange on your own.

 

There are a number of trip reports that include cruisetours. Trip reports are in the STICKYs at the top of the page. For the 2013 list, start with reply #45 where the reports are sorted by cruiseline/ship. The reports are very detailed with loads of useful information. Many of them are photojournals so lots of great photos to enjoy as well.

Edited September 3, 2014 by mapleleaves

[Cookiecookie]

We have just returned from a Canadian Rockies Alaskan Cruise tour. We did the 7 day tour before the cruise because we thought the cruise would be relaxing after the tour. This totally worked for us. All the tour days started at around 8.30 - 9.00 am and didn't get us to our next hotel until 4ish most days. We loved every minute of the tour, it was amazing. When we got to the cruise we were able to enjoy a few lie ins, and take it a bit easier.

[donaldsc]

I’m sure this has been discussed before' date=' but after searching for over a half hour, I’m posting the question…

 

Is it better to do the cruise tour before or after the cruise, or does it matter? DW and I will do a (3 or 4 day) cruise tour, plus a (7 day) cruise with the kids/grandkids. To what extend does it matter if we do the land portion before or after the cruise? (August of 2015 or 2016 if it matters)

 

Thanks,

Terry[/quote']

 

With regard to the sequence of events, I do not think that it makes any difference. However, I would also point out that a 3 or even 4 day tour is hardly worth the effort and cost.

 

DON

[Love Cruis'n]

Thanks everyone, but you misunderstand (or I said it poorly.) :eek:

 

We are not taking the kids on the land portion with us. We would either do a southbound trip and meet them onboard ship in Anchorage after we conclude our 3-4 day Denali experience, OR start with them in Vancouver, and bid them farewell in Anchorage as they headed home and we went on to the land tour.

 

Question is - does it make a difference as to which order we do it?

[ubarpants]

I think it would depend on your own plans and preferences. Is any one part of the trip going to be more hectic? If so, would you rather do that first and relax afterward? Or would you rather be in vacation mode already and end the trip with the busier portion? One thing to keep in mind is that it would be a long flight home at the end if you did the cruise first.

 

For my trip, we're planning to cruise out of Vancouver and then do a DIY land tour for 5 days. Because the cruise portion is pretty firmly planned out and the land portion is going to be more of a free-form exploratory experience, we're doing our relaxing at the end of the trip. We're also lucky to have a fairly short flight from Anchorage.

 

Your planning may be the opposite, and that's why they have two different directions for cruises!

[mapleleaves]

PP brings up another point ..... where do you want your longest flight to be?

Will it be easier on you and the kids to end the vacation with a flight home from Anchorage or from Seattle/Vancouver?

 

Personally, I like to get the longest flight out of the way first; I'm so excited to begin my trip that a long flight and/or lack of sleep doesn't bother me. But I don't want to face a long flight home AND a return to work!

[fishin' musician]

We recently did a land first cruisetour, and really liked the relaxing cruise following the structured tour (bags out at 7, hit the road at 8, get to the next destination late afternoon/early evening). However, I prefer the northbound itineraries (better port times)... so to me, it would be a toss-up.

 

With you, it may be a toss-up because trying to keep up with the grandkids may be as taxing (or more?) as the structured land tour.

[KroozFoolz]

We did the land part first followed by the cruise. I learned how much cruising has me spoiled. After 4 different hotels in 7 days, I was so glad to get on the ship and unpack once for the week. I am so glad we did the land part first.

[oaktreerb]

I’m sure this has been discussed before' date=' but after searching for over a half hour, I’m posting the question…

 

Is it better to do the cruise tour before or after the cruise, or does it matter? DW and I will do a (3 or 4 day) cruise tour, plus a (7 day) cruise with the kids/grandkids. To what extend does it matter if we do the land portion before or after the cruise? (August of 2015 or 2016 if it matters)

 

Thanks,

Terry[/quote']

 

I would do the land tour first so that you can tell your family all about your trip while you are all on the cruise.

[GORDONCHICK]

It does make more sense to do the land tour first and relax on the ship, but that reason it isn't going to work out in that order for us is because the northbound cruise visits both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, and the southbound cruise only visits Glacier Bay. We've seen both but at completely different times of the year. I'm excited to get to compare the back to back.

 

If the cruise itinerary is identical, I'd do the tour first. If they aren't, I'd choose by itinerary.

Edited September 4, 2014 by GORDONCHICK

[grobma]

It does make more sense to do the land tour first and relax on the ship, but that reason it isn't going to work out in that order for us is because the northbound cruise visits both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, and the southbound cruise only visits Glacier Bay. We've seen both but at completely different times of the year. I'm excited to get to compare the back to back.

 

If the cruise itinerary is identical, I'd do the tour first. If they aren't, I'd choose by itinerary.

 

I have to agree with Carmen that the itinerary should be the first determining factor. We just returned from a northbound cruisetour, chosen primarily because it stopped at Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, and the southbound did not. Yes, the cruisetour left early (bag pull at 7, departure at 8) and got in later in the day, but we also expended a lot of energy on the cruise, waking for amazing sunrises and some early excursions at the ports we arrived at early.

 

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Personal preference. Either way, I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[agabbymama]

First off, we live in Southern California, so flight times weren't a big issue, Vancouver vs Anchorage really didn't make a big difference.

 

Our first trip to Alaska was a cruise only. We flew to Anchorage, bus to Seward and cruised South to Vancouver. We didn't do any ship's excursions, more do it yourself as we got to each port. The big thing was as we cruise South, you know each day you are nearing the end of your trip. The last day aboard is really kind of sad when you know you leave the ship the next day. Kind of puts a damper on the whole trip.

 

Our second trip to Alaska, we did a Northbound cruisetour. We arrived in Vancouver and boarded the ship. Each day going North, the scenery just got better and better. We cruised only 3 days (Tracy Arm, Ketchikan & Juneau) debarking in Skagway. White Pass Yukon RR up to Fraser BC, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Eagle, Chicken, Tok, Fairbanks, Denali ending in Anchorage (8 days on land), with our flight home the next day. Totally an awesome experience. And by the end of 11 days, we were ready to head home, no sadness to the ending of our vacation at all.

 

Only you can decide what is going to be best for you. I might add that sailing Northbound was about $500 cheaper pp, as most folks want to cruise Southbound and prices reflect that. Just do your homework. Go to your library and check out travel guides (Frommer's, Fodor's, etc) and decide just what it is you want to see and do. Then I like to start a graph chart with the ships across the top, and the things of importance to me (ship size, cabin type, cost, ports, time in ports, excursions, etc) down the side. As you research put an "X" in the conjoining box. As you near the end of your research one should have more X's than the rest.

 

Have fun planning, then taking your cruise/tour to Alaska. It is an AWESOME destination. Whatever you choose won't be bad!!!

[Potstech]

Also is you look closely you will see that the southbound cruises are a little more expensive than the northbound ones for the same itinerary. Good luck and have fun on your cruise whichever way you decide to go.

[beachseeker]

We did the land part first followed by the cruise. I learned how much cruising has me spoiled. After 4 different hotels in 7 days, I was so glad to get on the ship and unpack once for the week. I am so glad we did the land part first.

 

Ditto. We went two days early plus 7 day land tour. I was ready to get on the ship and relax. First two days out of Whittier were glacier viewing days so felt rested when we hit Skagway.

[ROCruiser]

We did the land tour part first, then the cruise. Totally relaxed on the ship after the intensive land tour. You may also have sticker shock when you pay for meals during your land tour if you cruise first. Whereas we kept telling ourselves we didn't need to eat too much too well knowing we could have all the food we want once on board the ship.:D