14 Day Alaska Northbound/Southbound Trip 6/17/2020

[Jenny2121]

Just booked the 14 Day Grand Alaska Trip Northbound/Southbound trip starting and ending in Vancouver, Canada on Coral Princess.  Interested in hearing from everyone who has taken the trip. Excursions in each place to take/avoid? Which port can u just walk off ship and into town? Companies to take excursions with vs Princess excursions .  Any help would be great. How cold/warm will it be? Thanks

Edited January 1, 2020 by Jenny2121

[Colo Cruiser]

18 minutes ago, Jenny2121 said:

Just booked the 14 Day Grand Alaska Trip Northbound/Southbound trip starting and ending in Vancouver, Canada on Coral Princess.  Interested in hearing from everyone who has taken the trip. Excursions in each place to take/avoid? Which port can u just walk off ship and into town? Companies to take excursions with vs Princess excursions .  Any help would be great. How cold/warm will it be? Thanks

You also might try joining the roll call for your cruise.

 

 

 

[Coral]

You may want to post this over on the Alaska forum.

 

I have done this several times. I would strongly recommend purchasing the book "Alaska by Cruiseship" by Anne Vipond.

 

You can walk into town from all the ports.

 

Your questions are just way too broad - you need to do some research first and then ask questions. Lots of information on Alaska board but you still have to do some research.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

Edited January 1, 2020 by Coral

[satxdiver]

I have completed a number of AK cruises either round trip out of Seattle or one way northbound.  The three usual ports to visit are Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway.  In all three the ship will be near the town so you can simply walk off and see the town.   Juneau and Ketchikan are land locked and only way in/out is by air or sea.

 

Ketchikan is small and it is easy to walk around the business and tourist area.  Don't miss the creek street where the bordellos once thrived (all gone now).   You can take tours to the several different areas or a taxi.  Ketchikan is in a rain forest and gets over 200 inches of rain a year so be prepared.  It also is where the infamous "bridge to nowhere" was going to be built.  We once took a tour to the park that had the totem poles and replica of native village (it rained).  Another time we went on a duck tour (amphibious vehicle).  Both we did on our own not using a ship tour. 

 

Juneau is the largest town you will visit.  The glacier about 12 miles north is the most visited spot which can be accessed by taxi, city bus or tour (private or ship).  There is an excellent AK museum in walking distance of the ship as well as the town business district.  You can take a gondola ride up the side of the mountain to a lookout with great views of the city as well as the area around it.  Go to their office and buy a ticket.  They have food and tourist items at the top as well as an observatory.  Many will book a private or ship tour of the whales just make reservations ahead of time.  Fishing trips (ship or private) are also available.  Last cruise our DS and his friend took a single engine private airplane up into the mountains landing on a lake.  

 

Skagway is an old mining jump off point.  The miners would take a ship to Skagway and then would climb through the pass to the Yukon mines.  Now there is a train that goes up to the top of the pass where you can return on the train or take a bus.  If you take a Princess tour the train will pick you up at the ship.  This is an old mining town with essentially one street which is in easy walking distance of the ship now with the usual tourist shops.  We have done the train on our first visit which most pax will do.  Then we rented a car (well in advance) and drove it up through the pass and into Canada to Emerald Lake.  Now we simply walk around the small town and watch the tourists. 

[satxdiver]

One thing I forgot to mention is that there will be 4 or more ships at every port many times with more pax than there are people in the town.   Expect crowds and if using a private tour book ahead.  

 

The Alaskan Brewery is in Juneau and they give free tours.  Go to their store in downtown Juneau and they will put you on a van ($) and take you to the brewery for a tour and free samples.  Each sample is about 12 ounces and you can get 5 although last time I was there they did not count. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by satxdiver

[geoherb]

I did back-to-back cruises last summer on the Island Princess about the same time period (June 19 through July 3). I had been on Alaskan cruises three previous times--twice round-trip out of Seattle and once southbound after five nights on land starting in Fairbanks. This was my first time cruising solo. DH had to work. I still had a great time.

 

Make sure you visit the Alaska board to get an idea of excursions you can take in each port. In Icy Strait Point, I walked to Hoonah and back. There's not much there. People I spoke with who did land-based excursions were disappointed. It was too early for bears apparently. Those who took whale-watching excursions had a great time. In Skagway, I just walked to the Gold Rush cemetery on the northbound cruise and then took one of the free National Park Service tours at Soapy Smith's house. There are several different free tours offered. I just chose the one that was within a few minutes. It was very informative. On my southbound cruise, I rented a bike to go along Dyea Road. It was good exercise. The road is paved for about four miles then turns to gravel. There are hills, but nothing too steep. 

 

In Juneau, I took one of the shuttle buses to the Mendenhall Glacier on my northbound cruise. I liked that I could see things at my own pace. I walked the trail to Nugget Falls. It's paved and very easy. I also walked the trail near the bus drop off. It was still too early for bear sightings, which was fine with me. On the southbound cruise, I walked to the Alaska State Museum to tour it. We had visited the old location on our first Alaskan cruise back in 2003. There's a lot of history presented there to take in. I also ate some good seafood from a food truck.

 

In Ketchikan, I walked along Creek Street and up to the fish hatchery and Totem Heritage Center. 

 

My favorite activity was the voyage of the 26 glaciers excursion on the turnaround day in Whittier. I highly recommend it. You can book through Princess then apply for the price match guarantee. Here are a couple of photos from that day. I fell in love with watching the sea otters.

 

 

[BarbinMich]

2 hours ago, geoherb said:

. . .

In Juneau, I took one of the shuttle buses to the Mendenhall Glacier on my northbound cruise. I liked that I could see things at my own pace. I walked the trail to Nugget Falls. It's paved and very easy. I also walked the trail near the bus drop off. It was still too early for bear sightings, which was fine with me. On the southbound cruise, I walked to the Alaska State Museum to tour it. We had visited the old location on our first Alaskan cruise back in 2003. There's a lot of history presented there to take in. I also ate some good seafood from a food truck.

. . .

 

Just wanted to comment that the Mendenhall Glacier was barely visible across the lake (from the Visitors Center area) when we were last there in 2014.  Over the years it has retreated mightily.  Our prior visits were in 1996, 2004, 2005.  My great aunt visited Alaska in the 20s or 30s and the glacier came close to the highway back then!

[geoherb]

I noticed a big difference from when we were there in 2012 and back in 2003. There's a map in the visitors' center showing where the glacier was at different points in time. They say that it may not be visible from the visitors center in a few decades. In 2012, we kayaked in Mendenhall Lake. We had to stay clear of the numerous icebergs in the water. This past summer, I didn't see any of them.

[Coral]

On the NB route in Juneau - you have time to do this tour:

 

https://www.adventureboundalaska.com  (Privately).

 

South bound, you don't have time. Very few ships have time to do this tour in port.

 

I found this much better than the 26 glacier tour in Whittier but if you don't have plans in Whittier, I would do that one also.

[tmt218]

We did a NB/SB on the Royal last May. 

Since the ship stopped twice in each port we did different things each stop. 

 

Ketchikan we walked creek street and then took the  local bus to Totem Bight park. 2nd stop we did the lumberjack show and walked around the shops around there. 

 

Juneau we walked around the town and went to the Alaska State Museum. 2nd stop we rented a car from Avis drove out to Eagle Beach, the Shrine of St. Therese and Mendenhall Glacier visitors center where we hiked to Nugget Falls.  We wanted to also do the Mount Roberts Tramway but ran out of time on both stops. On a previous trip we did a whale watching tour with a stop at Mendenhall Glacier. 

 

Skagway we walked the town shopping and visited the national park buildings. 2nd stop we did an excursion through the ship touring the town. The  Cemetery and the days of 98 Show. On a previous cruise we did the Skagway Train trip. 

 

On the turn around day in Whittier  we rented a car from Avis drove to Girwood to the Alyeska hotel tram. Drove along the turnagain Arm stopping along the way to take photos. On a previous trip we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation and Portage Glacier. You could also take the tour through the ship on a 26 Glacier cruise. We felt like we saw enough glaciers on the cruise and the previous stops so we opted not to take the Glacier cruise. We had also taken something similar on a previous trip. There isn't anyrhibg to do in Whittier.  

 

 

[LeeW]

Northbound should do a swing up the College Fjord on the last night.  Southbound should have cruising near the Hubbard Glacier. 

 

Highly recommend the Phillips 26 Glacier tour, although you won't get back until around 6 PM and may not get the same table at dinner.  Book direct - it is both cheaper and they seat you based on when the ticketing is done.  Early booking gets better seating.  In practice doesn't matter that much since the seating is only a place to eat and leave your stuff while being out on deck for pictures but we got front outside corner table.