Alaska cruise better to sail from Anchorage or Vancouver

[partybarbie]

It's so much easier to do the Southbound cruise.

 

You won't have to go through customs in Anchorage. Customs in Vancouver takes forever. You take the Princess bus from the Anchorage airport to the ship. It's a great, scenic drive. We even saw some whales at the rest stop. At disembarkation, you can take a bus from Vancouver to Seattle, or just fly home from Vancouver. You will have already cleared customs on the ship.

 

There's a reason that the Northbound cruises are cheaper. They're not as desirable.

[BritinSoCal]

We've done SB and will again. Vancouver is one of our favourite cities and we never need an excuse to spend a few days there. There's plentiful flights from YVR to LAX and CBP always seems more friendly in Canada :) Besides that portrait on the CAD10 bill looks somehow familiar...

[jennybenny]

I am looking at Alaska cruises for summer 2018 out of either Anchorage or Vancouver. Aside from the differences of distance to the cruise port (Anchorage is apparently a long drive from the port in Whittier), are there any advantages or disadvantages of sailing out of one or the other? The itinerary is the same, and prices are similar. Just wondering about the logistics of embarking vs. disembarking in Canada, the distance of Whittier/Anchorage port to the airport to fly home, etc. Any info appreciated.

 

I prefer to start in Anchorage because I don't like post cruise excursions. Alaska was amazingly beautiful. I want to go back. we enjoyed renting a bike and riding around Anchorage, running around the lake there, and the breweries were fun. We went to Copper River, and Soldotna on our own and returned our rental to Anchorage after. It was one of the best vacations we've ever done!

We took the train on our own from Anchorage to Whittier (super easy).

We have done post cruise excursions but are usually ready to go home after a cruise.

I've heard Vancouver is beautiful as well. Doing a cruise soon that ends there and look forward to enjoying it for a day.

[rgmacm]

As far as the transport from Anchorage to Whittier, you'll have that on BOTH Northbound and Southbound. You'll either fly into ANC and transport TO the ship...or get OFF the ship in Whittier and transport to ANC. Doing a one-way means you will have to get from Whittier to ANC (or vice versa) either way. There are quite a few options for that transport...train...Princess transports...vans...buses... Research will bring all of these up. Note: The round trip cruises ONLY go from Seattle or Vancouver. That, of course, eliminates the transport completely...

 

Yes the ship may arrive at Whittier in the middle of the night (ours arrives at 12:30 am) but passengers do not start disembarking until the morning. The ship just sits there. I assume there's much work going on behind the scenes...but the passengers are snoozing away while all that is happening....

 

For the NB vs. SB decision, I think it comes down to your preferences on:

• Port times (there is a slight difference)
  
• Dates (few calendar days difference for each route)
  
• Do you want to see College Fjord or Hubbard (I think that Hubbard is cancelled more than College Fjord due to weather/ice etc... but that may be a 'subjective' statement...and it's certainly not cancelled ALL the time....)
  
• Do you want the scenery to get 'better-n-better' as you go north...or see the most spectacular at the beginning when you're rested...
  
• Flights: For most, the flight to ANC is a long one...do you want it at the beginning...or end of your cruise?
  

Those are all individual decisions...What are your preferences on them??

 

I actually created a spreadsheet with all the options (I'm a visual person...) :) listing dates...prices...ports...and times in each port... all the options for each cruise. Once I did that, the top 3 contenders {for us} almost leaped off the page. Then DH and I went to Panera for coffee and a danish and made our decision ...the rest is history...

 

I suggest you gather all the info from cruise/cruise lines you're considering...decide what your preferences are on dates/ports/scenery.....??possibly?? create a spreadsheet or something similar if you're visual like I am....then by all means...GO HAVE A DANISH :D and take a selfie to record it all.... :D;)

Edited August 7, 2017 by rgmacm

[JimmyVWine]

• Do you want the scenery to get 'better-n-better' as you go north...or see the most spectacular at the beginning when you're rested...
  

...but...keep in mind that for those of us coming all the way from the east coast, you may not be really "rested" at the beginning of a SB cruise unless you arrived in AK several days earlier. There is a four hour time difference, and one might find it better to adjust to that time difference starting in Vancouver and during the first two days of the cruise which are a "Channel Day" and then usually Ketchikan (the least impressive port stop on the cruise).

 

That said, your advice is sound. Do a spreadsheet or make a list or preferences and check some boxes. In all likelihood, the decision will jump off the page. There are certain "bucket list" things that just fit better into one itinerary than the others. But each person's bucket list is their own.

[rocklinmom]

Great info everyone, thanks again. Rgmacm, you are so right about the spreadsheet comparison. I also do that. Working on mine now, but with coffee instead of a Danish ;)

[rgmacm]

...but...keep in mind that for those of us coming all the way from the east coast, you may not be really "rested" at the beginning of a SB cruise unless you arrived in AK several days earlier. There is a four hour time difference, and one might find it better to adjust to that time difference starting in Vancouver and during the first two days of the cruise which are a "Channel Day" and then usually Ketchikan (the least impressive port stop on the cruise).

.

 

True True...we are coming from the middle section of the country... so our flight, though long, is not as long as someone coming from the east coast. That being said, I would always suggest arriving in the port the day before a cruise. In the case of embarking in Whittier, with that cruise not leaving port until evening time, that could be 24-36 hrs prior. That MIGHT give someone a chance to recover from a long day of flying and time changes.... Lots of things to consider, aren't there? ;)