Alaska Cruise Decisions

[Coral]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:42 AM, TNTLAMB said:

You will still see glaciers. As far as Glacier Bay goes, chances in early June of actually cruising the area without having to abort early due to ice are between slim and none. Listen to your wife and daughter. I have have been the only Male in my house for the last 45 years (am raising two grandaughters now due to an accident) in any event when you have two with an opinion, you have none. I did have a Male cat  too commiserate with. The daughters and wife had him neutered for singing.... As I said before there is no wrong decision for a cruise to alaska. They are all amazing.  As long as everyone has an opinion,  mine is simple 2days on a cruise ship or a day of flying? There is no decision to be made lol.....(especially if it involves LAX)

I have cruised over a dozen times to Glacier Bay in May and early June and have gotten close to Glacier Bay each time.

[Coral]

On 12/11/2019 at 1:03 PM, bubbapuck said:

Hello Everyone! I had a post removed for some reason. Not 100% sure why but I read the rules and am rewording my post to get the info I need. 

 

1) 14-Day Inside Passage (Roundtrip Los Angeles w/ Hubbard Glacier) out of Los Angeles in July 2021. This will be on the Sun Princess. It hits Ketchikan, Skagway, Icy Straight Point, Sitka, Juneau, Victoria, and the Hubbard Glacier

 

2) 14-Day Voyage of the Glaciers Grand Adventure out of Vancouver in May 2021. This will be on the Star Princess. It hits Ketchikan twice, Juneau twice, Skagway twice, Glacier Bay twice, Hubbard Glacier, Anchorage, and College Fjord.

• We would have to fly to Vanc

 

The B2B out of Vancouver is the best as far as seeing Alaska, which is the point, I think for you.

 

I love May. There is snow on the mountains and May typically is a dry time to cruise in Alaska.

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Coral

[XBGuy]

15 hours ago, Ferd Berfle said:

 

Yea! for Hump Island Oysters, also available at the Mean Queen @ Totem Square in Sitka.  The tour I mentioned is a ship's excursion out to the farm - family owned and friends and family staffed.  The farm recently started shipping (it takes 3-5 years for 1st market sized oysters).  New tour this year.  See how oysters are grown from babies on *.  And you may see whales in the channel on the boat ride out to Hump Island. They share 2 Oysters pp, and Kelp Salsa.  No affiliation, just a fan!  You can also get Alaska oysters at Skagway Fish Company (but they are occasionally out of them).

 

 

 

Yes, we have also had Alaska oysters at Skagway Fish Company (which is adjacent to the Railroad Dock).  In 2018 they had Kake Oysters.  This past September they had Hump Island Oysters.

 

Another story.  As you might have gathered from some of my other posts, I am a wine snob, and we both really like wine with oysters--Sparkling Wines, Muscadet and Sauvignon Blanc (domestic or Loire) are favorites.  At the Skagway Fish Market I ordered a Sparkling Wine from Oregon:

 

 

Yes, the waiter told us it came in a can.  We were in a good mood and thought we would try it.  It was fun.  An OK wine, but similar to my evaluation of most wines it was certainly not an ethereal experience.

 

[HappyCruiserettu]

On 12/11/2019 at 2:16 PM, Sea Hag said:

 

Having said that, we loved Sitka and for some reason only managed to get there once. Been trying to get back again ever since.

That's because so few cruises go to Sitka. We've been on three Alaska cruises, and have never been to Sitka, but it is on my list.

 

[HappyCruiserettu]

Going to Anchorage on the b2b is not a big deal. You probably won't even get into Anchorage during the turn around. A one-way, Vancouver to Anchorage, with a cruisetour to Denali would be ideal. Then you fly back from Anchorage. But that may bust your budget. I suggest you check it out to see another option.

[HappyCruiserettu]

On 12/12/2019 at 10:55 AM, BarbinMich said:

Yes, that would be the Lion's Gate Bridge, which isn't quite as spectacular as sailing under SF's Golden Gate Bridge, but still a great way to start a cruise.  We have done several Alaskan cruises:  from San Francisco most recently and from Vancouver twice.  On the one from SF, we did NOT go between Vancouver Island and the mainland, so that may be the case when sailing from LA as well.  Cruises leaving from Vancouver (and probably Seattle) may go between Vancouver Island and the mainland.  However, I believe the term "Inside Passage" refers to the area between the Alaskan mainland and various islands, from the port of Ketchikan to the port of Skagway.  BTW, the city of Vancouver BC is NOT on Vancouver Island, but is on the BC mainland.

 

Enjoy your first cruise to Alaska!

Strangely however, Victoria BC IS on Vancouver Island, while Victoria Island is in the arctic north.

 

[polmcs]

On 12/18/2019 at 5:23 PM, donaldsc said:

 

Again, just my opinion but major mistake.  If you want to do a California cruise, go out of LA.  You are going to do an AK cruise but are going to waste 2 days each way getting to AK.  Makes no sense to me but different strokes etc.

 

DON

My different stroke.. Some people cruise for the itinerary and some people like to cruise simply because it’s cruising. When we first started cruising, it was all about the destinations and the excursions.

 

Nowadays, that’s not as important and whilst it’s nice to visit someplace new, it is not the be all and end all. On our last Thanksgiving Cruise around the Mexican Riviera, my wife and I did not get off the ship once until it was time to get off in a San Pedro. We’ve done this exact same cruise 4 times now and slightly different MR cruises two other times and have visited the various ports of call umpteen times on land vacations. This cruise was all about relaxing, not having to cook, wash up clean, etc. and have a few more drinks than we typically would have. 😉 

 

Our very first cruise on Princess was the HI circle out of San Pedro. At our MDR table was a wonderful retired couple from Germany. We were stunned when they told us that they were not planning in getting off the ship at all. I mean, who goes all the way to HI on a cruise ship and doesn’t take a look around? They said that they had been there many times before and in fact would be back (via Air) a few months later to stay for a month or so during the Winter. Many years later, we now get that.

 

As for the Alaska cruise, we’ve done a round trip of Seattle and had a wonderful cruise a few years back. This time we are doing the round trip out of San Pedro in August next year. We’ll get to visit Sitka this go round and also do some cruising to Hubbard’s Glacier, and we get 6 totally relaxing sea days, plus we don’t need to catch a plane anywhere as we can drive to the port from home.

 

Horses for courses.

[K.T.B.]

On 12/18/2019 at 11:47 AM, CruzinNoony said:

 

I also think this is a mistake.  You will miss Glacier Bay and Collage Fjord.  Give it some more thought.

 

Huge mistake to miss Glacier Bay, especially if you have an option to go to it.

 

Here's one on many pictures I took of it when we were there in 2006.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by K.T.B.

[XBGuy]

2 hours ago, polmcs said:

. Some people cruise for the itinerary and some people like to cruise simply because it’s cruising.

 

👍👍👍

 

 

[BarbinMich]

20 hours ago, HappyCruiserettu said:

Strangely however, Victoria BC IS on Vancouver Island, while Victoria Island is in the arctic north.

 

I'm not sure what is "strange" about that.  As you may know (or not) Victoria is the provincial capital for BC.  Perhaps that's because "Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843."  While "Vancouver is among BC's youngest cities."  [both quotes from Wikipedia]

[Hlitner]

We visited Icy Strait Point (last summer on a Seabourn cruise) and were really pleased with the experience.  It is actually a private facility operated by the local Native American group.  Just imagine, an Alaskan port not overrun with multiple cruise ships, no Diamonds International (there is a God), no Tanzanite International, etc.  We went on a small group tour which was a fascinating hike into the bush....where we looked for bears and other wild life.  Because you are in genuine wilderness (not some structured tourist trap) they actually have an armed security person with each group.  They are there to protect the groups from bears (they carry short barreled 45-70 rifles) and fortunately have never had to shoot any bears since they started these tours many years ago.  And yes, we did see two bears (fortunately at a distance) on our hike.  The local tribe has acquiesced to the tourist world by putting in a long zip line.  But so far, they have kept out Diamonds International :). 

 

IMHO many Alaskan ports have been ruined by the large number of cruise ships and commercialization of the ports.  Icy Strait Point as well as Glacier Bay are two wonderful examples of what Alaska should be.   As to Whittier it is nothing to write home about.  Other then being a place where one can catch the train or a bus to Anchorage it is not one of our favorite places.

 

Hank

[lstone19]

11 hours ago, polmcs said:

Our very first cruise on Princess was the HI circle out of San Pedro. At our MDR table was a wonderful retired couple from Germany. We were stunned when they told us that they were not planning in getting off the ship at all. I mean, who goes all the way to HI on a cruise ship and doesn’t take a look around? They said that they had been there many times before and in fact would be back (via Air) a few months later to stay for a month or so during the Winter. Many years later, we now get that.

 

 

I can definitely relate to that. We go to Kauai every February. With retirement ahead in late 2020, we wanted a cruise to someplace warm to go to in January 2021 ahead of that annual trip to Kauai. The best fit is a Hawaii cruise. We'll get back to San Francisco, spend three nights there, and then fly right back to Kauai. While we do plan to get off the ship in all the Hawaiian ports, our port call on Kauai will probably consist of nothing more than going to a favorite restaurant within walking distance of the cruise port. For that trip, the 9.5 sea days is more important than the Hawaiian ports.

[HappyCruiserettu]

10 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

I'm not sure what is "strange" about that.  As you may know (or not) Victoria is the provincial capital for BC.  Perhaps that's because "Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843."  While "Vancouver is among BC's youngest cities."  [both quotes from Wikipedia]

A previous poster, responding to a mention of Vancouver Island, pointed out that the city of Vancouver is not located on Vancouver Island. (A point I'm sure some do confuse.) I simply wanted to expand on that point. Maybe I should have called it ironic rather than strange. BTW, I love both Victoria and Vancouver and am aware that Victoria is the BC capital. I am disappointed that cruise stops in Victoria are often so short. I did not know that Vancouver was so much younger. I should have realized that from my visits to both. Just never thought about it.

[bubbapuck]

22 hours ago, polmcs said:

My different stroke.. Some people cruise for the itinerary and some people like to cruise simply because it’s cruising. When we first started cruising, it was all about the destinations and the excursions.

 

Nowadays, that’s not as important and whilst it’s nice to visit someplace new, it is not the be all and end all. On our last Thanksgiving Cruise around the Mexican Riviera, my wife and I did not get off the ship once until it was time to get off in a San Pedro. We’ve done this exact same cruise 4 times now and slightly different MR cruises two other times and have visited the various ports of call umpteen times on land vacations. This cruise was all about relaxing, not having to cook, wash up clean, etc. and have a few more drinks than we typically would have. 😉 

 

Our very first cruise on Princess was the HI circle out of San Pedro. At our MDR table was a wonderful retired couple from Germany. We were stunned when they told us that they were not planning in getting off the ship at all. I mean, who goes all the way to HI on a cruise ship and doesn’t take a look around? They said that they had been there many times before and in fact would be back (via Air) a few months later to stay for a month or so during the Winter. Many years later, we now get that.

 

As for the Alaska cruise, we’ve done a round trip of Seattle and had a wonderful cruise a few years back. This time we are doing the round trip out of San Pedro in August next year. We’ll get to visit Sitka this go round and also do some cruising to Hubbard’s Glacier, and we get 6 totally relaxing sea days, plus we don’t need to catch a plane anywhere as we can drive to the port from home.

 

Horses for courses.

 

Love the different perspective.... as I mentioned in the beginning of this thread, my wife is a warm weather person. She may like the first 3 days there and back in the warm July weather for swimming. Then enjoying the 8 middle days in the cold weather. Nice variation for a long relaxing trip.

[BarbinMich]

On 12/17/2019 at 4:35 PM, bubbapuck said:

. . .

I am definitely doing the train in Skagway but my wife and I love to hike. Since we are going to Skagway twice, this will a nice cheap thing to do and see other parts of Skagway.

. . . 

We've been to Skagway 3 times.  The first time we took the train trip--the train goes along the north side of the valley, "hugging" the mountainside once you get out of town.  The second time we took the bus tour and it goes along the south side so you can possibly see the train at some points.  The third time I guess we just walked around Skagway (which doesn't take long!).  Have a great cruise!

[BarbinMich]

On 12/21/2019 at 5:32 PM, HappyCruiserettu said:

That's because so few cruises go to Sitka. We've been on three Alaska cruises, and have never been to Sitka, but it is on my list.

 

Sitka is one of those small ports where larger ships have to tender.  We visited it on a HAL ship years ago and were able to dock, which was very handy.