Help Alaskian itinerary

[rojay]

Hi,

I'm trying to work out what is the best itinerary, would love see Hubbard Glacier, but notice most of those itineraries don't go through the inside passage. Am I missing out by not doing the inside passage?

As we live in Australia, it will be the only time we get to do Alaska, and want to do it right.

Would love to see Glacier Bay and Tracey Arm also, just not sure what the best of Alaska is.

Thanks for everyone help.

Rojay

[RMLincoln]

Not knowing how much time you have it's hard to guide you specifically. I understand your dilemma though, had similar problems when we went to Australia!

 

My general advice is to book an itinerary with as many opportunities for glacier viewing as possible... because not every opportunity may happen. We were closed out of Tracy Arm due to ice one year, it was early June. Each glacier viewing has it's own beauty, some more massive, some closer, each special.

 

The Inside Passage is pretty, lot of good sightseeing among the islands and waking up from your first sleep after the Vancouver departure in the many narrow places, lots of waterfalls. But you'll have some open sea that first full sea day also as you cross the gap, so it's not all "Inside" Passage.

 

Whereas the Outside Passage from Seattle is open sea after you leave the Strait of Juan de Juca on your way north from Seattle to the open ocean. But then it gets closer in as you travel near Ketchikan and the start of heading in among the islands.

 

Any chance to do the 14 night itinerary? Really, it's hard to pick a bad itinerary to Alaska. We factor in proximity to departure port too, along with air fares, (usually higher for us to Vancouver), transfers if we had to fly into Seattle and cruise out of Vancouver etc. I hope you find the right one for you. m--

[crystalspin]

If it were going to be my only time, I would vote for cruising out of Vancouver and up the inside passage. If you do this with HAL, you then get Glacier Bay and an optional cruise-by of Tracy Arm (which I have NOT done, because I wanted to do an excursion including whale watching from Juneau).

 

You can get that combination either one way (I suggest S>>N so that you are getting deeper and deeper "into" Alaska as you go) or round-trip (experiencing the inside passage twice!). DH and I (and my mom) have done both!

 

Princess also has plenty of permits for Glacier Bay, but I'm a HAL fan-girl, so I'll let someone else fill in on that.

 

The above said -- I have not seen Hubbard Glacier, but when I started to research a 14-day itinerary on HAL -- it sails out of Seattle, skips the main part of the Inside Passage (between Vancouver Island and Canada), and visits Hubbard Glacier instead of Glacier Bay -- and the reviews of Hubbard and the cruise as a whole are very enthusiastic!

 

As far as I know you get one or the other, not both.

 

We took six members of my family on the Vancouver R/T cruise last June -- it was first cruise for four of them, and first Alaska for five, and they all loved it very much! We sailed mid-week on the Volendam and had midship oceanview cabins on the Lower Promenade deck (which means we were steps away from the largest balcony on the ship, the promenade)... for considerably less than four balconies!

[Krazy Kruizers]

A seven day cruise will give up only 1 glacier viewing. If you can do the 14 day cruise out of Seattle you have the chance to do 2 glaciers.

Hubbard Glacier -- JMO -- has bluer ice.

Tracy Arm we have missed a couple of times. Also there are some itineraries where you don't get near it all because it is just a drop off for passengers to get on a smaller boat and get close before they go to Juneau.

[Tinknock50]

I would not choose one that just did Tracy Arm, as beautiful as that is because it's likely you won't get close to the glacier.

 

Hubbard is a much more prolific calver and it is huge and awesome, but I would choose Glacier Bay if I were only going to do Alaska once. The main reason is that it is a longer, very scenic trip in there to where the active glacier is.Kind of like an inside passage experience, just a lot better, which you may have missed earlier. You pass more glaciers on the way in.

 

I have been to Alaska more than 30 times, for what that's worth. :)

Edited January 13, 2017 by Tinknock50

[sctexan]

Another thought is doing a Tracy Arm excursion in a small boat out of Juneau. We are doing this on our 7 day out of Seattle.

 

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[Alberta Quilter]

If you have the time and budget, why not do the 14 day cruise out of Seattle, then go to Vancouver (by bus, train, rental car, or fly) and then take a 7 day cruise from Vancouver? Then you would get the opportunity to see Hubbard, Glacier Bay and possibly Tracy Arm.

 

If you wanted to, you could also take the high speed passenger ferry to Victoria from Seattle (or vice versa) and spend some time in Victoria (more than the 10 or so hours you'd get on the 14 day cruise). There are several ways to get to/from Victoria and Vancouver, some more expensive than others.

 

If this is the only opportunity that you think you'll have to get to Alaska, that's what I would do. Of course, I understand if the budget/time does not permit it; I just wanted to offer the suggestion.

[janmcn]

Much more of an opportunity to see glaciers in Glacier Bay only because it is large and open, vs Hubbard which is sometimes fogged in or iced in and same with Tracy Arm. I agree if coming from Australia and you can do it, the 14-day would be awesome. We're doing it this year since we love AK, but have been fortunate to have taken many cruises there as well as done a 3-week driving trip. The time of year makes a big difference in what you'll see...May/June will be more snow on the mountains, whereas by Aug. it's gone. IMO, May/June are the best times to go.

[geoherb]

My ideal Alaskan cruise would be a northbound one from Vancouver, a week in Alaska to go to Denali, Fairbanks, etc., then a southbound cruise back to Vancouver on a different ship. Between the two cruises, I'd hope to go to Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, College Fjord, and Tracy Arm. In Juneau, I'd go to Mendenhall Glacier--either by bus and then hiking or a helicopter trip that lands on the glacier.

[RuthC]

If you have the time and budget, why not do the 14 day cruise out of Seattle, then go to Vancouver (by bus, train, rental car, or fly) and then take a 7 day cruise from Vancouver?

 

If this is the only opportunity that you think you'll have to get to Alaska, that's what I would do.

Best suggestion on the entire thread. Since you are coming so far, why not make the most of the travel and do as much as you possibly can.

 

I did the reverse of Alberta Quilter's suggestion a couple of years ago. I made my way to Vancouver for the Volendam round trip cruise that has a catamaran cruise up Tracy Arm, then headed down to Seattle for a few days. Boarded the Amsterdam for the 14 day cruise which took me to ports most cruises don't go to, and to a different glacier experience.

 

Had Glacier Bay been my only glacier, I would have been bitterly disappointed. We were there very early in the morning; it was pouring rain so hard it was just about impossible to go outside; and then we headed out. Everything was pretty much done before 11:00 AM, and the views we did have were terrible.

Sawyer Glacier at the end of Tracy Arm was fabulous, but that was only due to it being a decent day weather-wise, and a small boat to get near it.

The Amsterdam had a better afternoon at Hubbard Glacier than the Volendam at Glacier Bay, but keep in mind you are at the mercy of the weather for all glacier viewing. The more opportunities you can set up, the better your chances of some great memories.

[Sequim88]

Am I missing out by not doing the inside passage?

 

The biggest difference is just the first sea day and either way that is nearly the same route. Seattle based R/T itineraries go "outside" Vancouver Is. but this is mostly done the first night when it is dark. Same with the Vancouver R/Ts that go "inside" the island but again that's mostly done over night and by morning both routes are entering (or soon to enter) Queen Charlotte Sound which is pretty wide open. The Vancouver routes do use Hacate Strait but that's pretty wide and the Seattle R/T goes outside the Queen Charlotte islands. On the return the Seattle R/T does go inside these islands but once again outside Vancouver Is. mostly at night. Bottom line is much of the differences are in the dark of night anyway. Outside might have a little more wave action but it's a case of some versus none.

 

The inside/outside aspect is not a big deal so let the rest of the itinerary (which glaciers, which ports) be the bigger factors.

[crystalspin]

One note is, if you go in June to early July -- it doesn't get dark until very late at night, so more viewing of Inside Passage if that's the route you choose. We saw very nice scenery last June!

[joekerstef]

Took the 14 day from Seattle last year. Highly recommend it.

* Scheduled for Tracy Arm, couldn't do that due to ice, but we went up Endicott Arm (right next door) and saw Dawes glacier instead. Really nice.

* At Juneau, you can travel over to Mendenhall Glacier easily. I thought it was rather disappointing, but hey, it's a glacier (if you can spring for it, maybe do one of those helicopter landings).

* From Anchorage, there is an excursion called 23 glaciers or something like that. Do that. OMG, lots of great, closeup views of glaciers.

* Then you get Hubbard Glacier. Huge, lots of calving, and as someone mentioned, there seems to be more blue ice there than at the other glaciers.

[dcsam]

We love catching one of their smaller ships in Vancouver; cruise to Seward; take a Kenai excursion on turnaround day; hop back aboard and cruise back to Vancouver. Incredible scenery and plenty of glacier viewing.

[dcsam]

FYI:

Our favorite tour in Seward is with Major Marine. We have also used Kenai Fjords, but their boats were simply too crowded. So many wonderful things to do on the Alaska cruises. But you really need to get out of the busy towns and experience just a bit of real Alaska. Easily done on your own - no need for ship tours.

[dcsam]

One more bit of advice (given from someone who has cruised Alaska numerous times and also work there). Don't depart out of Seattle. Yes, it is nice. But do the true inside from Vancouver. I wouldn't feel bad about missing Hubbard glacier. Tracy Arm wouldn't be high on my priority list either. If you can do Glacier Bay; take the local bus to Mendenhall; do the longer boat tour out of Seward, then you might actually begin to wear of seeing so many glaciers;-)

In Ketchikan: walk Creek Street and take the local bus to the totem pole park.

Skagway: rent a car or do the train tour (might have to do this through the ship)

Juneau: Red Dog Saloon, Mendenhall and Harv and Marv's whale watch trip. Or rent a car and explore on your own.

Well, I lied... That was a bit more than one bit of advice.;-)

[keikobad]

We did the 14 day cruise two years ago in August as we thought we will go to Alaska only once in our lives. It was one of the best cruises we ever did and I think we will repeat it one day.

 

I would like to recommend activities in Juneau as this was the best day we nearly ever had on any cruise.

 

We went up to the mountains by cable car in the morning and did a two hour hike with stunning views. You even see Glacier Bay from a distance.

In the afternoon we did the "Taku Lodge Feast and 5 Glacier Discovery Tour" You have 40 Minutes of flight by sea plane over 5 impressively huge and stunning glaciers. This flight alone will pay out the travel from Australia to Alaska. The sea plane lands on water close to a Glacier and you have a great barbecue in an old lodge in front of the glacier in a great natural scenery. As black bears are living close to the lodge they smell the barbecue and will most likely visit your group. We had two and to see a bear coming out of the bushes right in front of you is amazing. The lodge owner makes sure you keep distance to the bear and the bear to you.

 

If Alaska is a one time only thing I highly recommend this tour as the scenery during the flight is breathtaking and you have a high chance to see at least one bear.

 

 

 

 

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[rojay]

Wow, thankyou everyone.

Some great ideas for us to think about. We were actually planning this for 2018 and our idea at this point was to do a Canada New England cruise and also Alaska.

We would really love to see ice and snow. so we were actually thinking of April/May.

The 2018 itineraries for Canada/New England are not out yet, but if they are the same as this year we really like the 11 day cruise from Boston to Montreal this years date is 25th April and is the only time it is run. I know it would be lovely to see the fall trees, but the choice between the fall colours and seeing floating ice and ice cubes is a easy as we just don't get floating ice downunder.

We would then fly to Vancouver or maybe Anchorage to do a 7 or 14 day cruise.

We cruised the Norwegian Fjords a few years ago up to North Cape, and loved it. We enjoy the cooler scenery and weather.

Does anyone know if we will see much wildlife doing these cruises during April/May?

Again thankyou all cruise critic community for all you advice.

Rojay

[keikobad]

We did the same like you and combined a New England/Canada cruise with an Alaska cruise two days later. You will love it!

 

 

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[crystalspin]

We did both of our Alaska trips mid June (I can't get over the Solstice thing!) -- from the ship we saw sea otters and seals or sealions (in Glacier Bay hanging out on "little" icebergs), it's also POSSIBLE to see a random whale. You will see bald eagles in ports -- they are like seagulls to Alaska! If you take the 14-day to Anchorage, I do not know what additional things you might see up there from the ship.

 

I cannot recommend highly enough that you take a whale-watching boat tour/trip in one port or another. I know, it doesn't seem 'sensible' to take a boatride when you are spending 7 or 14 days on a ship! But they GUARANTEE whale sightings for a reason! It is amazing.

 

On our one-way cruise, we stayed on in Seward and did the Major Marine trip (with a meal in their lodge), and last year on the Vancouver R/T, I chose the ship's triple-trip in Juneau -- Mendenhall, Whale-watch, and Salmon Bake. Now, neither of those meals were 5* restaurant-class, but they do round out the day.

 

So now you have TWO recommendations for Juneau!

[OBX-Cruisers]

Great suggestions and we have done most of them and agree with your choices. You CAN book the train in Skagway yourself and get tickets in advance on their on-line site. Watching the salmon in the stream on Creek street in Ketchican is nice at the right time of year.........after the run you may see many that will never swim again. On this same walk there is a small museum that is fun to go into for a half hour or so.

 

One more bit of advice (given from someone who has cruised Alaska numerous times and also work there). Don't depart out of Seattle. Yes, it is nice. But do the true inside from Vancouver. I wouldn't feel bad about missing Hubbard glacier. Tracy Arm wouldn't be high on my priority list either. If you can do Glacier Bay; take the local bus to Mendenhall; do the longer boat tour out of Seward, then you might actually begin to wear of seeing so many glaciers;-)

In Ketchikan: walk Creek Street and take the local bus to the totem pole park.

Skagway: rent a car or do the train tour (might have to do this through the ship)

Juneau: Red Dog Saloon, Mendenhall and Harv and Marv's whale watch trip. Or rent a car and explore on your own.

Well, I lied... That was a bit more than one bit of advice.;-)

[OBX-Cruisers]

One note is, if you go in June to early July -- it doesn't get dark until very late at night, so more viewing of Inside Passage if that's the route you choose. We saw very nice scenery last June!

 

Wife and granddaughter went in June and said it NEVER gets really dark and at most a dusky twilight before it starts getting light again. They also said the locals in Anchorage never seem to go to bed and made a lot of noise in the streets into the wee hours of the "night" that never got dark.

[rojay]

Thank you all for your ideas,

have any of you cruised Alaska in May, am I going to see whales ect.

We really want to see floating ice (like you see in the adds:) and snow, but is there a greater chance that we won't get into the glaciers by going this early in the season?

cheers rojay

[Alberta Quilter]

Thank you all for your ideas,

have any of you cruised Alaska in May, am I going to see whales ect.

We really want to see floating ice (like you see in the adds:) and snow, but is there a greater chance that we won't get into the glaciers by going this early in the season?

cheers rojay

 

I have been three times in May and once in June. You will see bergie bits and snow in May, particularly at higher elevations. You might want to really consider the White Pass & Yukon Railway excursion in Skagway if you want to see snow in May. As for glacier viewing, I would say that you have a 99% chance of seeing them in Glacier Bay and a 50/50 chance seeing the Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm, maybe less.

 

A couple of years ago, I was on the 14 day cruise in mid May. We did get down Tracy Arm, all the way to Sawyer Glacier, and got very close, for sure, less than a mile from the glacier. The next day, when we were in Juneau, I did the small boat tour from and back to Juneau (7 hours). It was the first time the Allen Marine did the tour that season; we did NOT get close to Sawyer Glacier as we did the day before on the Amsterdam. It was due to the ice that was pulled from the front of the glacier, by the tides, farther down the fjord. Instead of lingering some distance away, we went to see the North Sawyer Glacier, which the larger ships can't get to.

 

If it works for your timing, go in May. It has the best chance of drier weather. If going down Tracy Arm is what you really want to see, then go in June. But to see glaciers, and have a sure chance of seeing them, make sure you go to Glacier Bay in any month.