Alaska - What would you do?

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, judatt said:

We did a celebrity cruise tour. Flew into Fairbanks and took 8 days to get to Seward and then a 7night inside passage Cruise to Vancouver. It was great. The lodging while not owned by the cruise line was great in every place. The viewing train from anchorage to Seward was also phenomenal. 
for what it’s worth, I’d like to try holland America sometime but have never had the opportunity. We did try princess and had a horrible dining room experience - never again. Tried NCL and it was ok but don’t think we’d like their dining arrangements they have now. 

 

Is this because you like a set dining time with a large table with the same table mates every night?

[judatt]

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Your Fairbanks - Seward - Vancouver with train sounds a lot like what I'm toying with.  What lodging did you use?  Was it an organized tour or DIY?  

 

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts.

we booked nearly everything through celebrity with one of their cruise tours  they made all the hotel and transportation arrangements and they were great  we did contact celebrity to find out the hotel they used in Fairbanks and we contacted the hotel and booked 2 additional nights and also rented a car for those 2 nights  

everything was great  celebrity did a great job 

 

[judatt]

1 hour ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

 

Is this because you like a set dining time with a large table with the same table mates every night?

You nailed it. We love a large table with the same table mates each evening. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

16 minutes ago, judatt said:

You nailed it. We love a large table with the same table mates each evening. 

 

Yes that definitely won't work on NCL.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. 🙂

[woodz]

10 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Can just imagine the line to get in that!  Bad enough everyone crowding the open bow deck on the railing.  😮 

We were on a 11 night on Ovation in May.  They charge

$50 for the Northstar when they are at the glacier.  We had our one time and did standby every day. Never much of a wait. 

 

 

 

 

[akb5k]

I would choose the one way itinerary to or from Vancouver over a round trip from Seattle for sure. I've done both Royal (Radiance) and Princess (Star) and enjoyed both. The Princess ship was more dated and the theater shows were terrible, but they did have a park ranger and a naturalist which was cool, and Glacier Bay which was great. And don't book a group land tour- rent a car and do it yourself! 

[Illbcruzn4life]

51 minutes ago, akb5k said:

I would choose the one way itinerary to or from Vancouver over a round trip from Seattle for sure. I've done both Royal (Radiance) and Princess (Star) and enjoyed both. The Princess ship was more dated and the theater shows were terrible, but they did have a park ranger and a naturalist which was cool, and Glacier Bay which was great. And don't book a group land tour- rent a car and do it yourself! 

 

We have done northbound cruise to Alaska.

 

If we ever get a chance to go to Alaska again I would definitely do the southbound and not the northbound. It took us 3 planes and 26 hours to get home after we got off our cruise.

 

It would be much easier and faster getting home from Vancouver after a cruise.

[Tapi]

I’m a fool for big/new ships, but Alaska is one place where I would not sacrifice itinerary over ship. Alaska is mostly about the places you’ll see rather than the ship. 
 

I echo what others said. Look at Princess and Holland America. They are the big players in Alaska with the most itineraries and most permits to enter Glacier Bay. This was without a doubt one of the highlights of our cruise to Alaska. Simply breathtaking. 
 

We chose Holland America based on itinerary. And even though we were on a relatively smaller and older ship, it was the absolute right decision. 

[Linsifer]

16 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

If you want the best itinerary, look into Princess or Holland.

Princess is the way to go in Alaska. 

[Jimbo]

19 hours ago, extiger1 said:

If Glacier Bay is a must, consider going there before or after the cruise.  Stay at the lodge for 2 nights and do the small boat cruise thru the Bay,  Spectacular!

 

We did the Celebrity CruiseTour a couple of years ago and thought it was great.  Chose the one that was all train from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

Doing a DIY land tour in 2020, where would we have to be to do a small boat cruise thru Glacier Bay? What company offers it? WE are on Radiance from Seward to Vancouver, we are flying into Anchorage though and starting our Land Tour there?

[island lady]

This will be visit number four for us.   Did first one (HAL) round trip Seattle, and quickly realized the one way trips give you so much more to see.  Also too much time bouncing around out on the open sea.  

 

Will be on Radiance Alaska again for the third time.  First time was a week of tour on our own, then one way southbound to Anchorage.  Still not enough.  Second time was B2B out of Seward.  

 

Adding more time again..this August is two weeks on our own visiting various B&B cabins, a tour to the arctic circle, and another B2B on Radiance from Seward.

 

Each time to Seward we have taken the train, and paid the well worth it extra for Gold star class.  

[extiger1]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Doing a DIY land tour in 2020, where would we have to be to do a small boat cruise thru Glacier Bay? What company offers it? WE are on Radiance from Seward to Vancouver, we are flying into Anchorage though and starting our Land Tour there?

We flew from Juneau to Gustavus and stayed at the Glacier Bay National Park Lodge for 2 nights. The Lodge  provides free shuttle to/from Gustavus airport. The Glacier Bay boat tour is 7 hours duration with native and NPS guides on board.  It can be booked with the Lodge.  The Glacier Bay NP website has detailed info on the boat tour.

Wings of Alaska, Alaska Sea Planes and Alaska Air fly into Gustavus.  We used Alaska Sea Planes as Alaska Air started its flights about a week or so later.  The plane was a 6 passenger prop, so it was also a memorable experience.  Seeing Glacier Bay up close is awesome.   

We were told that we were 1%ers, that Glacier Bay NP is a heavily visited Park, due to the cruise ships, but only 1% of the visitors stay overnight in the Park.  It was truly a memorable experience.  

When our Glacier Bay experience was over we flew from Gustavus to Juneau and then Juneau to Fairbanks to join our cruisetour.

[bobmacliberty]

OK...Alaska is a lot more complicated than choosing between eastern/western/southern Caribbean.  😄  Here's what I think Iearned about trains from the Alaska Railroad site.  Please feel free to correct anything that's not correct.  There are 3 primary routes associated with cruises (plus a few others for locals):

• Anchorage to Fairbanks and vice-versa, with stops in Talkeetna and Denali (Denali Star Route)
• Anchorage to Seward morning and Seward to Anchorage evening (Coastal Classic Route)
• Anchorage to Whittier morning and Whittier to Anchorage evening (Glacier Discovery Route)

The Denali Star and Coastal Classic have Goldstar service which includes reserved seats in the domed upper deck.  All trains have less expensive Adventure Class seating which includes lower level seats and access to a shared dome car.  There is a Wilderness Express set of Dome cars that used to be owned by Royal but was sold to a 3rd party and still used by Royal/Celebrity.  They are pulled by the Alaska Railroad trains.  Similar to Goldstar but a little less expensive (and no included drinks/meals??).  

 

There is also a McKinley Explorer Dome train (similar to Goldstar class on Alaska Railroad) that is owned by HAL/Princess and used mostly for their tours.  They sometimes open seats for purchase independent of HAL/Princess cruises.

 

Because of limited train timing, people will often combine trains and motor coaches.  Are there other train companies or are the above options it?

 

My tentative thinking...spend a couple of days at the Glacier Bay Lodge and take their Glacier Bay day tour (thanks extiger1!).  Then somehow use a mix of planes, trains, and automobiles to visit Denali and Anchorage before heading to Seward for a southbound cruise.  The trick is to figure the logistics.  Maybe I can visit Glacier Bay first and then connect up to a pre-cruise tour.  I'm generally a DIY excursion person and enjoy getting off the beaten path but given the complex logistics, it might make more sense to just follow the crowd.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

29 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

OK...Alaska is a lot more complicated than choosing between eastern/western/southern Caribbean.  😄  Here's what I think Iearned about trains from the Alaska Railroad site.  Please feel free to correct anything that's not correct.  There are 3 primary routes associated with cruises (plus a few others for locals):

• Anchorage to Fairbanks and vice-versa, with stops in Talkeetna and Denali (Denali Star Route)
• Anchorage to Seward morning and Seward to Anchorage evening (Coastal Classic Route)
• Anchorage to Whittier morning and Whittier to Anchorage evening (Glacier Discovery Route)

The Denali Star and Coastal Classic have Goldstar service which includes reserved seats in the domed upper deck.  All trains have less expensive Adventure Class seating which includes lower level seats and access to a shared dome car.  There is a Wilderness Express set of Dome cars that used to be owned by Royal but was sold to a 3rd party and still used by Royal/Celebrity.  They are pulled by the Alaska Railroad trains.  Similar to Goldstar but a little less expensive (and no included drinks/meals??).  

 

There is also a McKinley Explorer Dome train (similar to Goldstar class on Alaska Railroad) that is owned by HAL/Princess and used mostly for their tours.  They sometimes open seats for purchase independent of HAL/Princess cruises.

 

Because of limited train timing, people will often combine trains and motor coaches.  Are there other train companies or are the above options it?

 

My tentative thinking...spend a couple of days at the Glacier Bay Lodge and take their Glacier Bay day tour (thanks extiger1!).  Then somehow use a mix of planes, trains, and automobiles to visit Denali and Anchorage before heading to Seward for a southbound cruise.  The trick is to figure the logistics.  Maybe I can visit Glacier Bay first and then connect up to a pre-cruise tour.  I'm generally a DIY excursion person and enjoy getting off the beaten path but given the complex logistics, it might make more sense to just follow the crowd.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

On Princess look at the cruise tour option FB4.  It’s one of the most popular and includes quite a few excursions .  It starts in Fairbanks. The only drawback is that most flights arrive after 6pm and they call that day 1 of a 4 day cruisetour.  Look at going in the day before the cruisetour then you get the entire day in Fairbanks on your own.  

Even if you consider an Anchorage start to a cruisetour your flights won’t get in until mid afternoon so again consider at least one day early. 

 

https://www.princess.com/html/global/brochures/pc/alaska-brochure-2020.pdf

[Jimbo]

5 hours ago, extiger1 said:

We flew from Juneau to Gustavus and stayed at the Glacier Bay National Park Lodge for 2 nights. The Lodge  provides free shuttle to/from Gustavus airport. The Glacier Bay boat tour is 7 hours duration with native and NPS guides on board.  It can be booked with the Lodge.  The Glacier Bay NP website has detailed info on the boat tour.

Wings of Alaska, Alaska Sea Planes and Alaska Air fly into Gustavus.  We used Alaska Sea Planes as Alaska Air started its flights about a week or so later.  The plane was a 6 passenger prop, so it was also a memorable experience.  Seeing Glacier Bay up close is awesome.   

We were told that we were 1%ers, that Glacier Bay NP is a heavily visited Park, due to the cruise ships, but only 1% of the visitors stay overnight in the Park.  It was truly a memorable experience.  

When our Glacier Bay experience was over we flew from Gustavus to Juneau and then Juneau to Fairbanks to join our cruisetour.

Sounds great, just think we won't have the time, plus the added expense of flying into and out of Gustavus on this trip. Maybe another year.

[bobmacliberty]

55 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

On Princess look at the cruise tour option FB4.  It’s one of the most popular and includes quite a few excursions .  It starts in Fairbanks. The only drawback is that most flights arrive after 6pm and they call that day 1 of a 4 day cruisetour.  Look at going in the day before the cruisetour then you get the entire day in Fairbanks on your own.  

Even if you consider an Anchorage start to a cruisetour your flights won’t get in until mid afternoon so again consider at least one day early. 

 

https://www.princess.com/html/global/brochures/pc/alaska-brochure-2020.pdf

 

Thanks Ken!  Very helpful brochure.  The lodges and excursions look very good.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Thanks Ken!  Very helpful brochure.  The lodges and excursions look very good.

If you go a day early you can get booked into the same hotel as the cruise tour uses for the first night.  Prices were reasonable. $200 a night in Fairbanks and $250 in Anchorage.  This was for early June.  

[twangster]

Personally I find Hubbard more impressive over Glacier Bay but more so on a smaller ship that can get closer. 

 

Out of three times to Hubbard the best experience was on Radiance.

 

 

Calving action changes day to day, week to week, month to month.  No guarantees I'll ever see it like this again.  Who knows?

 

I can say that Radiance got closer than Ovation did.  

Edited November 26, 2019 by twangster

[LGD]

On 11/24/2019 at 10:18 AM, bobmacliberty said:

We are looking to book an Alaska cruise in 2021 and I'm struggling with the choices.  I'd like to get opinions/suggestions from those who have been there and done that.  We are bigger ship people and would therefore default to Ovation.  We've not sailed Quantum class and that has a definite appeal.  The "smallest" ship we've been on is Serenade and we missed some of the bells and whistles (mostly in the evening).  Ovation however does the round trip from Seattle itinerary.  Seems like that does not allow us to see as much of Alaska as the north or southbound itineraries between Vancouver and Seward.  The train through Alaska (before or after the cruise) is also appealing to us.  Those Seward itineraries are on Radiance, which has us worried because of size.  I'm guessing that Alaska is more like the Med where the ship is less important than the destination (other than having great views of the outside, which both Radiance and Ovation have??)  I think we will likely just eat and sleep on the ship in the evenings after tiring port days.  Time is not an issue as we will be retired by then.  Money is not a primary criteria.

 

What would you do?  As I am writing this, I think I'm trying to talk myself into Radiance and the Seward itinerary.  But I sure would love to sail on Ovation.  

We've done 4 cruise tours and a Seattle RT, including Yukon and Calgary itineraries.  Each was awesome, but if only going once, suggest fly to Fairbanks and do a 13 day cruise tour coming south into Vancouver. Find an itinerary w the train from FB into Denali into Anchorage, spend time in each, then head toward the ship to relax. Our favorite time is early August.  Enjoy!

[fla gang]

We did the Ovation this past June out of Seattle and actually like the ship better than the Oasis class ships we have been on. This was our first Alaska cruise and we really enjoyed it. May try a southbound Princess cruise tour in the future. Been on one Princess ship and it was very nice and top notch service.

[zebra]

We are avid RCCL cruisers EXCEPT for Alaska where I wouldn't use any other than Princess .... how strange is that.  Their cruises and cruise tours are magic I concur that Glacier Bay is a total must, and this is where I would definitely agree with the smaller ship.  We loved the way he stopped alongside the glacier and when it calved the sound was so magnified that it was etched our memory forever.  The Princess trains and lodges are amazing as well. I woud suggest doing the train BEFORE the cruise as the itinerary is much more go, go, go and then you can relax more on the cruise afterwards.  I don't think this is an itinerary where you will be needing all the "bells and whistles" because you do so much outdoor activity that you are pretty tired at the end of the day.  You won't be sorry if you choose Princess, they are so geared for Alaska ......... for sure!