Alaska cruise question july of 2018

[dadof3girls]

Ok so having reviewed most of the " best" threads here regarding Alaska I have come up with a few conclusions: itinerary more important than ship, (first time wife and I cruising Alaska ( mid- late 40s). Going without the kids and will likely come back with them in future. seems like " key feature" are in a " perfect world": leave from Vancouver for inside passage and calm waters, see glacier Bay, see hubbard glacier. Am I wrong that the only itinerary that hits ALL of those points is the Norwegian Jewel? Thanks in advance its been a long time since i posted on this site but respect everyone's thoughts and advice. once i get the itinerary set i can focus on excursions & coming early or staying a few days on the end of the trip.

[katrina915]

You should check princess also.

 

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[dadof3girls]

You should check princess also.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

 

I ddint seea princess itinerary that left from vancouve went inside passage and visited both Hubbard and Glacier Bay, do you suggest one in particular? i know Princess is preferred by many of this board. thanks for the prompt feedback :):D

[Coral]

I ddint seea princess itinerary that left from vancouve went inside passage and visited both Hubbard and Glacier Bay, do you suggest one in particular? i know Princess is preferred by many of this board. thanks for the prompt feedback :):D

 

Look at Princess Southbound (Whittier/Anchorage to Vancouver). Your trip will start in Alaska and end in Vancouver.

[wolfie11]

Princess southbound only. Northbound go to College Fjords (also beautiful).

[Kamloops50]

Some cruise lines don't have permits to enter Glacier Bay.

[bUU]

And some only do a small handful of cruises that include Glacier Bay. Holland America and Princess have the most experience and most itineraries to Alaska.

 

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[Glaciers]

According to the park service website these cruise lines currently have permits to operate in Glacier Bay. Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Seabourn, and Carnival Cruise Lines.

 

There are several other small lines that can operate there although they do so under different permit requirements such as UnCruise and Alaskan Dream. These two also have itineraries that do overnights in Glacier Bay.

[donaldsc]

You missed one - don't take a first cruise that does not go to Glacier Bay. This one trumps all the other selection parameters.

 

DON

[dadof3girls]

You missed one - don't take a first cruise that does not go to Glacier Bay. This one trumps all the other selection parameters.

 

DON

 

thanks for everyones thoughts. So aside from the NCL one i originally listed I see the southbound Princess ships that do Hubbard and Glacier Bay and while they dont say " inside passage" they seem to be identical to the ones that state " cruise inside passage" is this just semantics? marketing? am i missing something?

 

Basically i want to sail inside passage, Glacier Bay & Hubbard glacier - that seems like the ideal trip, but i feel like i may be confused & look to you guys to simplify for me, THANK YOU

[wolfie11]

The inside passage in Alaska is Ketchikan to Glacier Bay (Sitka is not Inside Passage). This is the route most ships take. The entire Inside Passage goes on the inside of Vancouver Island as well so that you spend very little time in open waters and pass through some spectacular scenery on your way to Alaska. This is only on cruises in and out of Vancouver. Cruises out of or into Seattle go on the outside of Vancouver Island so that your first (or last) sea day is in open waters a good distance from shore.

[dadof3girls]

The inside passage in Alaska is Ketchikan to Glacier Bay (Sitka is not Inside Passage). This is the route most ships take. The entire Inside Passage goes on the inside of Vancouver Island as well so that you spend very little time in open waters and pass through some spectacular scenery on your way to Alaska. This is only on cruises in and out of Vancouver. Cruises out of or into Seattle go on the outside of Vancouver Island so that your first (or last) sea day is in open waters a good distance from shore.

 

Thanks for clarification Wolfie, so with my desired itinerary in Mind do you have a recommendation which ship you would sail for this proposed trip? seems like south bound princess has several ships, Northbound Norwegian are my best bets?

[Kamloops50]

Thanks for clarification Wolfie, so with my desired itinerary in Mind do you have a recommendation which ship you would sail for this proposed trip? seems like south bound princess has several ships, Northbound Norwegian are my best bets?

 

During most of the season Princess has four ships from Vancouver going all the way to Whittier.

[Krisco]

Thanks for clarification Wolfie, so with my desired itinerary in Mind do you have a recommendation which ship you would sail for this proposed trip? seems like south bound princess has several ships, Northbound Norwegian are my best bets?

 

Doing our first Alaska cruise this July and siblings and I have done a lot of research. Some are doing land tour before cruise and found Princess well recommended by their TA too. Doing Star Princess southbound mid-July. Star is older but was just in dry dock December of 2017. Good luck. Lots of planning.

[dadof3girls]

Doing our first Alaska cruise this July and siblings and I have done a lot of research. Some are doing land tour before cruise and found Princess well recommended by their TA too. Doing Star Princess southbound mid-July. Star is older but was just in dry dock December of 2017. Good luck. Lots of planning.

 

Dry dock in Dec of 2017 doesnt necessarily mean refurbished , does it? we might be on the same cruise :)

[bUU]

Unless you know of some unforeseen mechanical issue that caused the dry dock I think it's a pretty reasonable assumption that a refurbishment of some sort that place.

 

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[wolfie11]

Thanks for clarification Wolfie, so with my desired itinerary in Mind do you have a recommendation which ship you would sail for this proposed trip? seems like south bound princess has several ships, Northbound Norwegian are my best bets?

 

I would choose Princess over Norwegian. I have been on Norwegian but didn't care for the food and they don't have nearly as good a program for Alaska as Princess does. Princess has a naturalist, Tlingit cultural representative, local speakers, puppies in the piazza, Libby Riddles (first woman to win the Iditarod) etc.

[Lazy K]

I would choose Princess over Norwegian. I have been on Norwegian but didn't care for the food and they don't have nearly as good a program for Alaska as Princess does. Princess has a naturalist, Tlingit cultural representative, local speakers, puppies in the piazza, Libby Riddles (first woman to win the Iditarod) etc.

 

 

I totally agree!!! I am an Alaskan and have cruised Alaska many times on various lines. I think Princess has by far the most "Alaskan" experience.

[dadof3girls]

I totally agree!!! I am an Alaskan and have cruised Alaska many times on various lines. I think Princess has by far the most "Alaskan" experience.

 

i apologize for being thick :) but are the princess itineraries ( Golden, Coral, and Island princess Whittier to Vancouver) they have the itinerary: Hubbard, glacier bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan( are those considered inside passage?) . seems some itineraries visiting those exact ports specify " Inside passage" thats where im confused.

 

sorry if redundant, thanks for helping

[Krisco]

Dry dock in Dec of 2017 doesnt necessarily mean refurbished , does it? we might be on the same cruise :)

 

If you do a search on here for Star dry dock there are some threads talking about what was done and pictures. Just cosmetic things like paint, new carpet, interactive TVs, new chairs, fabric and all new mattresses. Remodeling type things. But we figured at least some things are newer so choose that. July 14th Southbound.

[wolfie11]

Ships IN Alaska (Ketchikan/Juneau/Skagway/Icy Strait/Haines) are sailing the ALASKA inside passage. Even cruises going to Sitka, which is outside, travel mostly on the inside passage. Only ships in or out of Vancouver travel the entire inside passage, going up the inside of Vancouver Island. Ships to and from Seattle travel OUSIDE Vancouver Island in unprotected waters and then INSIDE when they get to either Haida Gwaii or Alaska. See below.

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by wolfie11

[bUU]

i apologize for being thick :) but are the princess itineraries ( Golden, Coral, and Island princess Whittier to Vancouver) they have the itinerary: Hubbard, glacier bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan( are those considered inside passage?) . seems some itineraries visiting those exact ports specify " Inside passage" thats where im confused.

The term "Inside Passage" is great promotional marketing for a cruise. It sounds mysterious, first of all, and folks who have traveled the Canadian Inside Passage gush so much about how incredible it is that there is fantastic attraction to cruises that say that they cruise the Inside Passage.

 

However, the reality is that there really are two Inside Passages and arguably three.

1. The southern, Canadian Inside Passage, begins (northbound) at the Straight of Georgia (i.e., to the east of Vancouver Island), goes through the Johnstone Strait and beyond, into Queen Charlotte Sound, which I don't consider "Inside" anything since it is effectively fully open to the Pacific Ocean.
   
2. The Canadian Inside Passage continues into the Hecate Strait to the very northern tip of the coast of British Columbia, but the strait is so short and so wide that it doesn't have the scenic punch that the lower portion of the Canadian Inside Passage.
   
3. Finally, the Alaskan Inside Passage are the waterways between the various parts of southeast Alaska. There is nothing especially impressive about an Alaskan cruise that cruises the Alaskan Inside Passage because there is no way to get to the cruise ports of Juneau, Skagway, or Ketchikan, or to cruise Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, or Endicott Arm, without doing so.
   

So what's special about a cruise itinerary, with regard to the "Inside Passage" is when the cruise includes cruising the (southern portion of the) Canadian Inside Passage. Generally speaking, the only cruise ships that cruise that most scenic portion of the Inside Passage are cruise ships cruising out of the Port of Vancouver, BC, and very small cruise ships, such as the American Constellation (which has six decks, and is 96 GWT (as opposed to sixteen decks, and 96,000 GWT, which is closer to what you could expect on a more mainstream Alaska cruise ship).

 

 

I hope this clears it up for you.

Edited April 8, 2018 by bUU

[Kamloops50]

Depending on the time Holland will go further into the inside passage BC. There is a passage that many commercial traffic .

[martincath]

...into Queen Charlotte Sound, which I don't consider "Inside" anything since it is effectively fully open to the Pacific Ocean.

 

Well put bUU - marketing Seattle RTs that visit Juneau etc. as 'Inside Passage' routes is exactly the same as marketing bottled water as 'gluten free.' Technically correct, but literally ALL these cruises or bottles whether so labeled or not fit the criteria so it's utterly meaningless for anyone except those completely ignorant on the topic!

 

But aside from a very short section between Hope and Calvert Islands, small vessels can travel inside islands the whole way - check out the routes for some BC ferries up to Prince Rupert via Namu and Bella Bella. Even when popping out again north of BB your boat would be slightly north of the southern tip of the Haida Gwaii, so still getting some shelter from the Pacific proper for the handful of miles before sneaking back in behind Price Island. Google Maps actually shows these routes if you zoom in enough - and smaller boats can go further in among the many even-more-sheltered channels along the coast.

 

Maybe some time you can try one of the local freighter or sailboat cruises, or even BC ferries trips, if you want to be surrounded by land on both sides as much as possible!