Will it be ok if I miss the inside passage on Alaska cruise?

[Jimbo]

On 12/16/2019 at 9:55 PM, masterdrago said:

I sure wanted to see the Inside Passage but the part we transited southbound in late May was during dark hours which astounded me.

Yes, you  pretty much have to be going Northbound to see the Inside passage during the daylight. I believe most people don't know that.

 

We did the northbound Alaska cruise from Vancouver a few years ago, doing a southbound cruise in 2020, Inside Passage is on our intinerary but we know sailing through there willbe nothing like our first cruise to Alaska. We know that going in though so we will not be disappointed.

[Heidi13]

On 12/22/2019 at 7:09 AM, Jimbo said:

Yes, you  pretty much have to be going Northbound to see the Inside passage during the daylight. I believe most people don't know that.

Not sure how many times you have cruised to Alaska, but I can assure you that there is no such standard. This may have been your experience, but it is not a standard. Based on the total length of the Inside Passage, the variety of itineraries and order of ports, you can see portions of the Inside Passage on both Northbound & Southbound sailings.

 

How much of the Inside Passage you see varies with the Cruise Line and size of ship. Unfortunately, for the past 20 yrs some of  the Mainstream Lines spend increasingly more time outside the Inside Passage, as they can significantly reduce the pilotage costs. When I completed 2 full Alaska seasons back in the 70's, we spent the entire week in the Inside Passage.

 

The smaller premium & luxury ships will often spend more time in the Inside Passage than the mega ships, but they do cost more.