Down to two Iteneraries - thoughts?

[parentsof5]

Celebrating our 25th anniversary in May 2018. I have it narrowed to two itineraries. We will have a few days before and after on land in Vancouver/AK respectfully. I go back and forth and would like opinions. I know we are all different, however, anything you can share is always helpful. We are in our late/early 40/50's. Husband loves to hike, outdoors, etc. I love photography, hope to participate in a cooking demo, and relax. We are both good at give and take, and aren't concerned about doing something separately (husband is much more adventurous than I). These are 2 separate weeks in May, we will have a little more time on land before and after potentially with one, but not too long to make that big of a difference. Ketchikan vs Icy Straight Point are the differences (I have spent some time looking at things to do in both, but there so many similar things between all of the areas as far as type of activities for all areas on AK - aka beautiful no matter what). We will spend time in the Matanuska Glacier area after, including a guided hike on the Glacier for husband.

 

It may be a 50/50, if you have strong thoughts either way, would love to hear.

 

Itinerary 1

Vancouver

Icy Straight Point

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Anchorage

 

Itinerary 2

Vancouver

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Anchorage

[martincath]

Personally I prefer ISP to any of the 3 typical ports - Juneau/Skagway/Ketchikan - precisely because it's quiet and almost totally undeveloped away from the pier (just one ship a day instead of 5+ at times - although in May there will probably be fewer ships in the ports anyway compared to peak season) so it's nice to be able to wander around without being part of a horde of fellow cruisers.

 

But then living in Vancouver, Alaska cruises are easy for us to schedule and J/S/K port stops are ten a penny so I'm not concerned about missing any of them. If this is a 'one and done' for you, Ketchikan is likely a higher net value since it has more to do compared to ISP.

 

Unless you want to do the really big zipline the biggest Pro of ISP may be if you had multiple Juneau options and were struggling to fit them all in. Whalewatching tours out of ISP go to the same area as Juneau, so you could do one of those there and free up 3-4 Juneau hours.

[SuperCrewBear]

It might not be the cooking demonstration you would want but there is one at ISP that I went to last year - a local lady shows how to filet a halibut, how to make some salmon items, you grill your own halibut steak and salmon, etc. I booked that through NCL, I'm not sure if you can do it independently or not. Otherwise your two itineraries are practically the same. Ketchikan is more hectic and touristy, ISP is the opposite. We also did an ISP sea kayak tour that was nice - but I think I'd probably swap that for a whale watching excursion the next time. If you have a pretty day you're going to get some seriously nice pictures at Glacier Bay.

[Kamloops50]

Celebrating our 25th anniversary in May 2018. I have it narrowed to two itineraries. We will have a few days before and after on land in Vancouver/AK respectfully. I go back and forth and would like opinions. I know we are all different, however, anything you can share is always helpful. We are in our late/early 40/50's. Husband loves to hike, outdoors, etc. I love photography, hope to participate in a cooking demo, and relax. We are both good at give and take, and aren't concerned about doing something separately (husband is much more adventurous than I). These are 2 separate weeks in May, we will have a little more time on land before and after potentially with one, but not too long to make that big of a difference. Ketchikan vs Icy Straight Point are the differences (I have spent some time looking at things to do in both, but there so many similar things between all of the areas as far as type of activities for all areas on AK - aka beautiful no matter what). We will spend time in the Matanuska Glacier area after, including a guided hike on the Glacier for husband.

 

It may be a 50/50, if you have strong thoughts either way, would love to hear.

 

Itinerary 1

Vancouver

Icy Straight Point

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Anchorage

 

Itinerary 2

Vancouver

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Anchorage

 

I would take the one without Icy Strait. Icy Strait was built to be able to make money off cruiseshp passengers.

[mapleleaves]

You left out an important detail .... the port times for each. But based on what you 've shared, i'd choose the itinerary with Ketchikan as it offers more to see and do than Icy Strait/Hoonah.

[Ashland]

Itinerary #2...very easy choice.

[OhJinkies]

My cruise is coming up in June, so I can't make any recommendations, but I'll share my research. Like you, I also love photography. And while I'm not the most outdoorsy person, I'm eager to get outside, do some light hiking, and enjoy the beauty of Alaska. Here's what I have planned during and after my cruise:

Juneau: I've booked a Smartphone Photography Hiking Tour of Mendenhall Glacier with Adventure Flow (just look them up on Google). They provide RT transportation and a guided hike of Nugget Falls Trail and Trail of Time (about 3 hours) with lots of opportunities and tips on getting great photos of and around the glacier. This company also offers more adventurous hikes as well.

Knik Glacier: This is in the Mat-Su Valley, like the Matanuska Glacier, but is about one hour from Anchorage. I've signed up for a tour that combines an off-road vehicle with a jetboat ride to get an up-close view of the glacier, with an hour on shore of Glacier Camp. I'm hoping for the late-day Photography tour, but am currently booked on the morning tour awaiting availability of the later tour.

Anchorage: After having to reschedule my return flight, I now have more time in Anchorage and decided to spend my final evening taking a late-evening sunset photography tour around Cook Inlet Coast, the Turnagain Arm, and the Chugach Mountains.

I just thought I'd share some cool ideas for enjoying the scenery, wildlife, and getting some great photos!

[parentsof5]

Itinerary #2...very easy choice.

 

Can you expound on what makes it an easy choice?

[parentsof5]

My cruise is coming up in June, so I can't make any recommendations, but I'll share my research. Like you, I also love photography. And while I'm not the most outdoorsy person, I'm eager to get outside, do some light hiking, and enjoy the beauty of Alaska. Here's what I have planned during and after my cruise:

Juneau: I've booked a Smartphone Photography Hiking Tour of Mendenhall Glacier with Adventure Flow (just look them up on Google). They provide RT transportation and a guided hike of Nugget Falls Trail and Trail of Time (about 3 hours) with lots of opportunities and tips on getting great photos of and around the glacier. This company also offers more adventurous hikes as well.

Knik Glacier: This is in the Mat-Su Valley, like the Matanuska Glacier, but is about one hour from Anchorage. I've signed up for a tour that combines an off-road vehicle with a jetboat ride to get an up-close view of the glacier, with an hour on shore of Glacier Camp. I'm hoping for the late-day Photography tour, but am currently booked on the morning tour awaiting availability of the later tour.

Anchorage: After having to reschedule my return flight, I now have more time in Anchorage and decided to spend my final evening taking a late-evening sunset photography tour around Cook Inlet Coast, the Turnagain Arm, and the Chugach Mountains.

I just thought I'd share some cool ideas for enjoying the scenery, wildlife, and getting some great photos!

 

OhJinkies! Thanks!! I appreciate you sharing this information, sounds exactly like me.

[OhJinkies]

OhJinkies! Thanks!! I appreciate you sharing this information, sounds exactly like me.

:D Happy to help -- I've been planning this trip for a couple of years! CruiseCritic and TripAdvisor have been wonderful resources. I love reading the trip reports in this subforum!

[Budget Queen]

OhJinkies! Thanks!! I appreciate you sharing this information, sounds exactly like me.

 

information may be different from a first hand report.

 

I don't find the Turnagain Arm tour necessarily a good choice since it will be fixed with time. This simply is a great area to take advantage of multiple times with driving. Way more stops possible that aren't listed and won't be included with a tour. Not sure what the Chugach reference is, but that is the whole area. Multiple trails to take advantage of.

[Budget Queen]

. Ketchikan vs Icy Straight Point are the differences (I have spent some time looking at things to do in both, but there so many similar things between all of the areas as far as type of activities for all areas on AK - aka beautiful no matter what). We will spend time in the Matanuska Glacier area after, including a guided hike on the Glacier for husband.

 

It may be a 50/50, if you have strong thoughts either way, would love to hear.

 

Itinerary 1

Vancouver

Icy Straight Point

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Anchorage

 

Itinerary 2

Vancouver

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Anchorage

 

Is your "Anchorage" reference mean the same arrival port, either Seward or Whittier?

 

I question, your claim of the port actives being similar in both Hoonah and Ketchikan. I find very big differences between the two.

What "similar" activities would you be doing? Maybe schedules work out better in one over the other?

 

What "land" touring are you adding, mainland Alaska. Extra days can be significant. Especially if the ability to add a more distant location, vs a day in Anchorage is the choice.

[snowmc]

I would recommend Ketchikan over ISP. About the only thing to do here is the zipline, whale watching, or walking the forest trail. In Ketchikan, you can do a Misty Fjords tour by floatplane or boat. This is something not to be missed. Zest4travel has a good post on Ketchikan at https://zest4travel.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/fun-in-ketchikan/

[parentsof5]

Is your "Anchorage" reference mean the same arrival port, either Seward or Whittier? Yes - I just copied from how it is listed in the cruise lines itinerary - I believe it is Whittier for both.

 

I question, your claim of the port actives being similar in both Hoonah and Ketchikan. I find very big differences between the two.

What "similar" activities would you be doing? Maybe schedules work out better in one over the other? I meant similar activities throughout all of the ports. I do realize Hoonah does not have as many activities as Ketchikan. Definitely a good point to look at timing and which works better when choosing what to do in each Port. I haven't gotten that far yet.

 

What "land" touring are you adding, mainland Alaska. Extra days can be significant. Especially if the ability to add a more distant location, vs a day in Anchorage is the choice.

"Matanuska Glacier area after, including a guided hike on the Glacier for husband." Not sure of specifics yet. We will spend part of a day and evening in Anchorage, most likely, and the rest out.

[Ashland]

Can you expound on what makes it an easy choice?

Much more to do in Ketchikan...Have been to both a few times...I guess I just prefer the fact that Ketchikan is an actual town...just my personal opinion...although some will disagree that ISP is too...but not the same.

[CCJack]

Although our ISP day was our favorite of our cruise (due to great (and perhaps lucky) whale watching - lots of whales), I would tend to agree with others and take Ketchikan over ISP for the reasons mentioned above. A bit more of a destination, a bigger town, etc. You could certainly have a great time either way, however. For me these decisions usually come down to price, dates, airfares, etc.

[EeyoreFan1967]

Thanks for the question. We're also choosing between these two itineraries for May 2018. Maybe we will see you on the ship!

 

Happy planning and congrats on 25 years!:D

[parentsof5]

We ended up choosing the IHP itinerary. Not because of the destination, but because it allowed us to have an extra day on land afterward, AND a day to recoup at home before returning to work. We will also have a couple of extra days before to fly to Seattle and then take the train to Vancouver if we want. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and the well wishes on our anniversary.