Alaskan cruise help please

[gone_cruisin]

Which intinerary is better and why? Which ship would you recomend?

 

 

Norwegian Star

 

Seattle, Washington; At Sea; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; At Sea; Ketchikan, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington

 

Norwegian Sun

 

Seattle, Washington; At Sea; Ketchikan, Alaska; At Sea; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; Prince Rupert, B.C.; At Sea; Seattle, Washington

 

Norwegian Wind

 

Vancouver, British Columbia; At Sea; Ketchikan, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Skagway, Alaska; At Sea; Vancouver, British Columbia

[Don Haynes]

The Star is the only ship of the three that will cruise beautiful Glacier Bay, the other two sail Sawyer Glacier instead. However, the Star cruises outside Vancouver Island to reach Glacier Bay in both directions, whereas the Sun will cruise the Inside Passage going north and the Wind going in both directions. Therefore which is more important to you, sailing the Inside Passage once, twice, or none.....or sailing Glacier Bay or not.

 

Also the Sun leaves Seattle on Saturday, while the Star and Wind leave Seattle or Vancouver on Sunday. I prefer a Saturday departure, but others differ. On my first cruise to Alaska I wanted to see the Inside Passage, on my second cruise I will want to see Glacier Bay.

 

Three of the ports of call are similar, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway are on the intineraries of all three ships, the fourth port of call are different. But this can be the deciding factor for you.....a choice of Prince Rupert, Wrangrall, or Victoria.

 

Since I'm American I prefer to sail out of Seattle, however, after I have seen Seattle the next cruise I may choose to sail out of Vancouver, just to see it. Isn't this wonderful, having slight differences in these ships intineraries to make you want to cruise Alaska again? While you can see Alaska on one cruise, you can't do all of the interesting shore excursions on one trip.

 

Sailing outside Vancouver Island can be rough, whereas the seas are much calmer sailing the Inside Passage. Notice that NCL is using the smaller of the three vessels sailing the Inside Passage in both directions. And vice a versa, NCL is using the largest of the three ships sailing outside Vancouver Island. Its your choice, you choose which you prefer.

 

If you only plan to do Alaska once in your lifetime, I suggest the Star and Glacier Bay. If you plan to do Alaska again, any of the three ships will suffice.

[KeystoneCruiser]

We did the Star last summer on the exact same run and loved it. My parents, who have taken a number of Alaskan cruises say that Glacier Bay is the best and most picturesque of all the galciers up there. I have been on the Star twice and to me it is the best ship on the fleet, plenty to do for all.

 

Also, there are more balconies on the Star than the other ships and balconies are great for seeing the glaciers in an uncrowded way.

 

I do echo what Don said, it is much easier for Americans to sail in and out of Seattle than Vancouver. Basically out of Vancouver, you have to get checked into Canada through immigration when you arrive at the airport, you then have to get checked in by US Immigration at your first US port on the ship, then you have to get checked through Canadian immigration again when the ships returns to Vancouver and then you face US immigration again when you fly home. My parents did a Vancouver cruise once and said they spent way too much time doing paperwork and going through checkpoints. The stop off in Victoria for the Star was easy. We were admitted into Canada and back to our ship without hassle. Going through customs upon our return to Seattle was a breeze also.

 

I highly reccommend the Star.

[CruisinMK]

seems easy to pick the star, good ship and especially glacier bay.

 

My favorite itineraries start in vancouver (to see more alaska than seattle itins) and do glacier bay, but none of the three here fit that.

[mbisson]

I've sailed the Jewel (sister of the Star) and Sun, although neither was to Alaska, but I've cruised to Alaska on a few other ships. We're within days of booking the Star for next Sept. The amount of time in the various ports is actually more important to us than which glacier we cruise (but yes, we do prefer Glacier Bay). I believe either the Star or Sun would be a good choice to Alaska (I'm not especially high on the older Wind-but I haven't sailed her AND for me it's a lot easier to get to Seattle than Vancouver). If you pick a cruise that goes to Sawyer, I'm sure you'll be impressed. Well, sure might be too strong a word. I remember a guy once saying "big deal, my refrigerator makes ice to"

 

I do think freestyle is a really good choice for an Alaska cruise! Can you imagine being on deck when a whale blows, just as you're scheduled to head into the dining room! In my case, that actually happened once on a Royal Caribbean cruise. The whale won out and I ended up eating in the buffet that night.

 

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy whichever you choose.

 

-Monte