R/T Seattle - Early Sept. - ship suggestions

[Sunny Lady]

Undecided about the different cruise lines - We Like RCCL but the ships don't stop at Ketichikan (important stop for us) so with that said what are some of your thoughts on the other lines - and why did you choose one ship or the other? Thanks for any input.

[Qcruise]

Are you set on a RT out of Seattle....? A better trip is out of Vancouver....and those runs do stop in Ketchikan... we are taking the Serenade in September out of Vancouver... inside passage is a smoother sailing, and prettier too....

[Budget Queen]

I have sailed on 5 different lines in Alaska and the ship is always my last choice. :) Consider factoring out your priorities and then fitting them into the ship? Look at ports, route, time in ports, ship naturalist, glacier, price. Any cruise is going to be a compromise, as in RCI, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) is just excellent for a visit. Alaska isn't a one time trip. :)

[Cruisechick82]

Perhaps the NCL Star out of Seattle would work? It hits Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan as well as Victoria. The Star also cruises Glacier Bay.

 

We are taking the RCCL Serenade r/t our of Vancouver with the same stops as the Star minus Victoria and Hubbard Glacier instead of Glacier Bay. We do get to cruise Misty Fjords as well.

 

I believe HAL also has good r/t Vancouver sailings with both Glacier Bay and Tracey Arm.

 

We looked at r/t Seattle cruises and considered the Star the most as none of the other r/t Seattle cruises seem to hit either Glacier Bay or Hubbard.

[bluedevil72]

We sailed the NCL Star RT out of Seattle this past June and if I knew then what I know now we would have sailed out of Vancouver. We sailed Northbound out of Vancouver on the Carnival Spirit in '01 and sailing on the east side of Vancouver Island is just as good as any port of call. When we made the reservations for this past summer the itinerary map showed the Star sailing on the east side of Vancouver Island. (I still have a copy of the map I copied off of their website.) However as far as I know from reading this board the Star NEVER went on the east side of the island. As far as I am concerned sailing on the west side in open water is just a wasted day at sea. Going to the Caribbean sea days are a given, but as I mentioned earlier, sailing on the east side of Vancouver Island is not the same as a day at sea. The scenery is beautiful. As far as glacier days are concerned we went to Glacier Bay on the Star this past summer and College Fjord on the Spirit in '01. I really couldn't tell you my favorite, they are both gorgeous. The bottom line is, whatever your choice ends up being it won't be a mistake because of the beauty of Alaska.