Help planning Alaska Cruise

[NotMakingWaves]

We are looking at booking a cruise out of Vancouver to Alaska for the end of July. The flights to the Canadian Prairies from Alaska are very expensive and long, so we would rather spend our time doing a return cruise. Holland America offers a 14-day cruise doing just that and we have been happy cruising with HAL before, but we thought we would try another line this time.

 

Is it easily doable to plan a cruise going north first and then stay on the ship and book the return cruise back to Vancouver? We are specifically looking at Princess. We are just not sure of any "tricks" to booking that way (i.e. in effect booking two cruises). Also, is there any issue with staying on the ship during the changeover, or for that matter leaving the ship during the changeover?

 

Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated!

[bonvoyagie]

They are very simply called back to back or B2B cruises. Sometimes they are offered as a single cruise ie a 14 day RT Vancouver BC - in which case you would be simply booking one cruise - if not then you would be booking two 7 day one ways. Either way it is possible to stay in your same cabin for the entire cruise. Different cruise lines handle the change overs differently. Some give you new cruise cards and establish a new onboard account the night before you arrive in port others may not. Either way you will not have to go back through the embarkation process - you probably have to get off the ship - you will probably want to do something in and around the port that day anyway.

 

All of this should be explained when you book the cruise(s).

 

Enjoy

[Budget Queen]

You can book back to back cruises with any cruise line. RCI, Celebrity, HAL, NCL and Princess all have them.

 

Sorry, but have no clue why anyone would want to stay on a ship on "turn around day". This is a huge opportunity for Alaska touring.

 

An enhance opportunity would to be to take 2 different ships, with land time in between, since you state the Alaska fights were too expensive.

 

If you are looking at this year- there could be great opportunities for some deep discounted bargain cruise deals, especially if you are flexible.

[xlxo]

There's also the HAL Denali option....

1. Vancouver to Skagway
   
2. get off at Skagway to enjoy the Yukon and then travel to Anchorage....
   
3. return from Anchorage on a 7 day one way cruise.
   

[fleckle]

Is it easily doable to plan a cruise going north first and then stay on the ship and book the return cruise back to Vancouver? We are specifically looking at Princess. We are just not sure of any "tricks" to booking that way (i.e. in effect booking two cruises).

No "tricks" at all and very easily doable, as long as there is space available on both cruises you want.

Ir is done all the time.

 

Just book whichever two cruises you want, either both on the same ship or on two different ships, either with or without doing land touring between them -- entirely up to you to combine them however you choose.

 

They don't even need to be on the same cruise line, (unless that is your preference) and they don't even need to be to and from the same Alaska port.

 

You could book a northbound cruise from Vancouver up to Seward and a southbound cruise out of Whittier back down to Vancouver, or vice versa, and do some land touring in between, such as going up to visit Denali, and/or touring around the Kenai Fjords area.

 

There are lots of possible combinations worth checking out for people at all energy and ability levels, from very easy and laid back to quite adventurous.

 

There have been some cases where people got a discount by booking the same ship in both directions back-to-back, but that is not something that is done consistently, so not something you can count on.

 

We sometimes see where Holland America sells a northbound and southbound cruise on the same ship packaged together as one cruise for a lower price than what it would cost to book the two segments separately.

 

[deerhuntingal]

If you do a back to back (2 7day cruises) you may have more fees to pay so check on the total cost of a 14 day versus a B2B. If you book B2b on the same ship, you will probably return on the same route in reverse and see the same ports again but maybe not. The 14 day itinerary usually changes things up so you see different ports and glaciers the whole cruse.

I really like the idea of getting off one cruise line and hopping on another one just for the change up in scenery but you would have to do your homework to find the one that starts the day yours ends or get a hotel for a day while waiting for it to show up in port.

Perfect time for sightseeing in port but you would have to offload luggage and such so that may not be appealing.