Holland America itineraries help :)

[js4rq]

Hi! You may remember my Alaka post last year. We have ended up booking a Panama Canal cruise for this October but will be doing Alaska in July next year.

 

We like the look of 3 of Holland America's itineraries as we would like to go to Sitka:

7 days Seattle return - Cruising Puget Sound, Juneau, Cruising Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria

 

7 days Seattle return - Juneau, Cruising Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria

 

14 days Seattle return - Vancouver, Ketchikan, Cruising Tracy Arm, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, Cruising Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Victoria

 

We can get an oceanview cabin for the same price as an inside for the first 7 days an 14 days itinerary. We always book a balcony however it'd be outside our budget for Alaska, unless prices comes down! :D Right now we'd be happy with an oceanview cabin.

 

I know the weather is unpredictable but how likely is it for Hubbard Glacier to be cancelled in July?

 

I reckon the 14 days cruise would be even amazing, as it calls in Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak as well. This would save us doing a land tour, if we were considering this option.

 

Thanks for any advice or feedback! :D

[Keith1010]

Other than not having Glacier Bay, I like the 14 day cruise as you will get to some ports that people often do not get to such as Kodiak. Now you are still in ports with one day visit so it won't be the same as doing say a seven day cruise that starts or ends in Seward and then doing a land package.

 

Again, if it was me I would go for the 14 day cruise if it fits your budget.

 

Keith

[CowPrincess]

Hi! You may remember my Alaka post last year. We have ended up booking a Panama Canal cruise for this October but will be doing Alaska in July next year.

 

We like the look of 3 of Holland America's itineraries as we would like to go to Sitka:

7 days Seattle return - Cruising Puget Sound, Juneau, Cruising Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria

 

7 days Seattle return - Juneau, Cruising Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria

 

14 days Seattle return - Vancouver, Ketchikan, Cruising Tracy Arm, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, Cruising Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Victoria

 

We can get an oceanview cabin for the same price as an inside for the first 7 days an 14 days itinerary. We always book a balcony however it'd be outside our budget for Alaska, unless prices comes down! :D Right now we'd be happy with an oceanview cabin.

 

I know the weather is unpredictable but how likely is it for Hubbard Glacier to be cancelled in July?

 

I reckon the 14 days cruise would be even amazing, as it calls in Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak as well. This would save us doing a land tour, if we were considering this option.

 

Thanks for any advice or feedback! :D

 

If you can manage it, I'd go with the 14 day itinerary. I can't give you any idea about how likely the Hubbard day is to be cancelled. Weather is weather, the sea is the sea :)

 

As Keith1010 said, you still only get one day in each port (and IIRC Kodiak was a shortish day for us -- 7 am to 2 pm???)

[js4rq]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

 

We will have to save up for Alaska and do more research on the ports!!

 

In saying that, we will keep an eye on prices for the 14 days itinerary and see whether it fits our budget. I'm hoping it does! The itinerary sounds amazing.

 

And you're right, you get a short day in Kodiak (7am to 2pm) but longer in other ports.

 

Thanks again! :)

[Shebba]

Dh and I have done the 7-day Seattle return with Glacier Bay, Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Victoria. We enjoyed it immensely. Sitka was a new port for us and Glacier Bay was truly a highlight.

 

We just recently booked the 14-day Seattle return that you've listed. We'll be going in July and are very excited to see some new ports: Icy Strait Point, Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak as well as return to some past favorites, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka. We, too, usually book a cabin with a balcony, but chose to just do an ocean-view cabin this time. (I hope we don't regret it!)

 

We've been a bit spoiled by our last two cruises being fairly long--35 day and 21 day, so a 7 day cruise just seems SO short now. LOL But, we always feel very lucky to get to cruise at all!!

 

Good luck on your choice. Either way, I'm sure you will enjoy beautiful Alaska!

Edited March 20, 2016 by Shebba

[NancyIL]

Hi! You may remember my Alaka post last year. We have ended up booking a Panama Canal cruise for this October but will be doing Alaska in July next year.

 

We like the look of 3 of Holland America's itineraries as we would like to go to Sitka:

7 days Seattle return - Cruising Puget Sound, Juneau, Cruising Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria

 

7 days Seattle return - Juneau, Cruising Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria

 

14 days Seattle return - Vancouver, Ketchikan, Cruising Tracy Arm, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, Cruising Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Victoria

 

We can get an oceanview cabin for the same price as an inside for the first 7 days an 14 days itinerary. We always book a balcony however it'd be outside our budget for Alaska, unless prices comes down! :D Right now we'd be happy with an oceanview cabin.

 

I know the weather is unpredictable but how likely is it for Hubbard Glacier to be cancelled in July?

 

I reckon the 14 days cruise would be even amazing, as it calls in Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak as well. This would save us doing a land tour, if we were considering this option.

 

Thanks for any advice or feedback! :D

The 14-night HAL cruise has a very good itinerary, and I enjoyed ours in August 2011 very much. The long day in Anchorage is great for renting a car and driving out of town. However, it isn't quite the same as doing a land tour that goes to Denali.

 

If you would consider going in May 2017, NCL Sun has a very good 14-night itinerary that goes to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, all 3 glacier areas, and some Canadian ports: https://www.ncl.com/cruises/14-day-ultimate-alaska-from-san-francisco-SUN14SFOASTKTNJNUSGYICYSITPRRNNOVAN?numberOfGuests=4294915774&ships=4294963203&state=null&sailmonths=4294905725&destinations=4294934553&itineraryCode=SUN14SFOASTKTNJNUSGYICYSITPRRNNOVAN.

 

I also like RCI's Radiance of the Seas 9-night Vancouver to Seward itinerary in May 2017: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/9NightAlaskaNorthernGlacierCruise-RD09A005?currencyCode=USD&sCruiseType=CO&sDateMin=2017-05-01&sDateMax=2017-05-31&sailDate=05%2F17%2F2017 (I was booked on the NCL Sun, but cancelled that for this RCI cruise and the southbound return - following our Hawaii cruise on the same ship.)

[CruiserBruce]

The 14 day cruise is the one to do for all the reasons started. While I totally agree the weather and seas are totally unpredictable and out of any control, I certainly wouldn't let that stop you. That IS the cruise to go on.

[js4rq]

It looks like the longer the cruise the better! :)

 

I will have a look at NCL and RCI's itineraries in May 2017 and see whether that is something that we'd like to do.

 

Thanks again everyone! :D

[js4rq]

I may have to do a new thread for this, but I had another look at cruise itineraries as well as land tours.

 

Depending on our budget, we are looking at possibly doing a 7 day cruise and land trip instead. This would be cheaper than doing the 14 day cruise.

 

We probably wouldn't be hiring a car, but would be looking at Seward and Denali National Park.

 

Because Seward and Denali National Park are in opposite directions, we would need to go through Anchorage, is that correct? Depending on flight arrival times etc, we will probably stay in Anchorage on the first night. If not, we could stay there on our way from Denali National Park to Seward or in the reverse. Unless you have other recommendations, ie stay in Talkeetna?

 

Thank you! :D

Edited March 21, 2016 by js4rq

[CowPrincess]

I may have to do a new thread for this, but I had another look at cruise itineraries as well as land tours.

 

Depending on our budget, we are looking at possibly doing a 7 day cruise and land trip instead. This would be cheaper than doing the 14 day cruise.

 

We probably wouldn't be hiring a car, but would be looking at Seward and Denali National Park.

 

Because Seward and Denali National Park are in opposite directions, we would need to go through Anchorage, is that correct? Depending on flight arrival times etc, we will probably stay in Anchorage on the first night. If not, we could stay there on our way from Denali National Park to Seward or in the reverse. Unless you have other recommendations, ie stay in Talkeetna?

 

Thank you! :D

 

IMHO it is best to start a new thread for this :) If you aren't hiring a car, does that mean you would be doing the land tour through a cruise line? And a 7-day cruise with how many days on land? (I can't answer you at all :) but more info might help someone else answer)

[js4rq]

We'd be doing the land portion ourselves I think. It is definitely cheaper booking everything ourselves.

 

I will post a new thread. :)

 

Cheers