Back to back N/S bound Alaska?

[RoperDK]

Can't seem to find anything in searches.  Is it allowable to embark in Vancouver on a Northbound Alaska cruise and stay on the ship for the Southbound trip leaving out of Whittier and ending in Vancouver? Does it violate the Passenger Vessel Services Act?  I don't recall any trip reports of people doing this.  We would fly in and out of Seattle and have Princess transport us to and from the ship. 

 

Thanks!  

[Coral]

Yes this is allowable.

 

You can get on the ship in Vancouver, sail to Whittier and then back to Vancouver. I have done this many times. Sometimes Princess even books this as a 14 night cruise closer to sail date.

[Potstech]

1 hour ago, RoperDK said:

Can't seem to find anything in searches.  Is it allowable to embark in Vancouver on a Northbound Alaska cruise and stay on the ship for the Southbound trip leaving out of Whittier and ending in Vancouver? Does it violate the Passenger Vessel Services Act?  I don't recall any trip reports of people doing this.  We would fly in and out of Seattle and have Princess transport us to and from the ship. 

 

Thanks!  

I think you will find flights cheaper overall to just fly straight  into Vancouver. Depends on how you will make the approx. 4 hour trip from Seattle to Vancouver.  Have done it both ways and direct to Vancouver was cheaper and easier.

[memoak]

Yes we have done the back to back Alaska cruises many timeshare 

[cvpends]

It is allowable, but the problem is you repeat the ports.  Have you looked into the 12-day round trip out of Vancouver on Coral Princess embarking May 7?  Add on the LA to Vancouver repo as we are and make it a 16 day cruise 🙂  No repeated ports, and you get to go to ports you wouldn't normally sail to.  I also love Holland America's 14 day Great Alaskan Explorer sailings.  No repeated ports, and the ports are super interesting!  HAL does that all season long, so you are not confined to May as you are with Princess.  I did that on Maasdam a few years ago and it was amazing!

[Coral]

5 minutes ago, cvpends said:

It is allowable, but the problem is you repeat the ports.  Have you looked into the 12-day round trip out of Vancouver on Coral Princess embarking May 7?  Add on the LA to Vancouver repo as we are and make it a 16 day cruise 🙂  No repeated ports, and you get to go to ports you wouldn't normally sail to.  I also love Holland America's 14 day Great Alaskan Explorer sailings.  No repeated ports, and the ports are super interesting!  HAL does that all season long, so you are not confined to May as you are with Princess.  I did that on Maasdam a few years ago and it was amazing!

I have done this trip multiple time with repeating ports and I am ok with that. There is so much to do in each port, that it is not a repeat to me. For example - if I go NB, I can do AdventureBound Alaska to Tracy Arm. Southbound, I can do whale watching or another excursion. NB I think has College Fijords vs SB has Hubbard. For me, every time I visit Glacier Bay, it is different, even if it is a week apart. They are forever changing. Plus, Alaska weather can be temperamental - so hopefully by seeing the ports 2x, I can maybe guarantee one good weather day, if not two. My first trip to Alaska was in July. The week before was perfect. The week I went it was torrential downpour, sleet, massive fog every day. I barely saw anything.

 

Nothing wrong with duplicating ports on this trip. Though I will agree your solutions are great also.

[cvpends]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

I have done this trip multiple time with repeating ports and I am ok with that. There is so much to do in each port, that it is not a repeat to me. For example - if I go NB, I can do AdventureBound Alaska to Tracy Arm. Southbound, I can do whale watching or another excursion. NB I think has College Fijords vs SB has Hubbard. For me, every time I visit Glacier Bay, it is different, even if it is a week apart. They are forever changing. Plus, Alaska weather can be temperamental - so hopefully by seeing the ports 2x, I can maybe guarantee one good weather day, if not two. My first trip to Alaska was in July. The week before was perfect. The week I went it was torrential downpour, sleet, massive fog every day. I barely saw anything.

 

Nothing wrong with duplicating ports on this trip. Though I will agree your solutions are great also.

Alaska is certainly a cruise one must take over and over, for all the reasons you mention!  In fact, after a bunch of Alaskan cruises we loved Alaska so much that we drove up in our motorhome last summer to get even more.  That 2 1/2 month experience wasn't enough so we planned to first cruise (Star, June 12, cancelled by COVIDD) and then drive up again this summer, but that was postponed.  Next summer we have our May cruise up there on Coral then we plan to drive back up in our RV.  Hope it all works out!

[AF-1]

Potstech;  the airfare will depend on where you live.  I priced out roundtrip from Cincinnati to both Seattle and Vancouver.  Seatlle was a lot cheaper due to flying nonstop verses having to make stop to Vancouver. 

[cvpends]

14 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Potstech;  the airfare will depend on where you live.  I priced out roundtrip from Cincinnati to both Seattle and Vancouver.  Seatlle was a lot cheaper due to flying nonstop verses having to make stop to Vancouver. 

Flying to Vancouver from the Bay Area is expensive also.  That's why we're flying to LA then taking the repo up to Vancouver.  It isn't much more expensive to take the four day repositioning cruise than to fly up, an we fly down to LA for free with Southwest miles.  When sailing out of Seattle, flights are similarly inexpensive (often $79) or free with points.

[Coral]

I used to always use FF miles to Vancouver. Haven't been there for years now. I am not a fan of having 4 hours to reach a cruise port after flying across the country.

[cvpends]

56 minutes ago, Coral said:

I used to always use FF miles to Vancouver. Haven't been there for years now. I am not a fan of having 4 hours to reach a cruise port after flying across the country.

I wish I could use FF miles for Vancouver, but all my miles are on Southwest and they don't fly to Vancouver 😞

[Potstech]

3 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Potstech;  the airfare will depend on where you live.  I priced out roundtrip from Cincinnati to both Seattle and Vancouver.  Seatlle was a lot cheaper due to flying nonstop verses having to make stop to Vancouver. 

Just curios did you add in the cost of the transportation from Seattle to Vancouver.  Every time we did that was comprable.

[AF-1]

potstech;  yes I did a comparison;  ended up doing a roundtrip out of Seattle on Emerald.  So we ended up doing inside passage.  Maybe if just my wife and I did the cruise we may have looked more at doing a northbound from Vancouver;  but we had two of our grandkids so after we factored in the airfare for four to Seattle it was like $200 per person cheaper.  This was 2017 when we did trip.  I just priced Delta for Aug and prices are almost the same for both cities.  Go figure

Edited July 12, 2020 by AF-1

[Coral]

I do find flying into Vancouver more expensive but I find the cruises are less expensive. I don't like the RT Seattle sailings that have short port time and only 1 glacier day. It balances out.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Coral

[Potstech]

3 hours ago, AF-1 said:

potstech;  yes I did a comparison;  ended up doing a roundtrip out of Seattle on Emerald.  So we ended up doing inside passage.  Maybe if just my wife and I did the cruise we may have looked more at doing a northbound from Vancouver;  but we had two of our grandkids so after we factored in the airfare for four to Seattle it was like $200 per person cheaper.  This was 2017 when we did trip.  I just priced Delta for Aug and prices are almost the same for both cities.  Go figure

Every time we go to Vancouver to visit family we have to go figure the cheapest way.  Can be fun.

[ukestrummer]

Have done this several times. GREAT trip, diff. times in ports etc. Would like to do one next year again. Vancouver is the port for this one

[cvpends]

1 hour ago, ukestrummer said:

Have done this several times. GREAT trip, diff. times in ports etc. Would like to do one next year again. Vancouver is the port for this one

Of which itinerary do you speak?

[AF-1]

ukestrummer;  what did you do in Vancouver;  do you spend extra days there?

[ukestrummer]

Been on 22 Alaska cruises, done a lot of stuff, some on every trip over & over. Vancouver as a general rule is better port out of, more scenic etc, more time in ports, better times sometimes arriving & departing. TOO much to type here. Whittier is great port for turnaround, not much of a town but some great trips to do out of

[AF-1]

Thanks ukestrummer for your quick reply

[cvpends]

5 hours ago, AF-1 said:

ukestrummer;  what did you do in Vancouver;  do you spend extra days there?

I do realize that I am not ukestrummer, but I wanted to respond anyway.  Vancouver is a wonderful city for those of us who enjoy walking.  So many things to do and see!  Here is a site with some ideas:

 

https://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/vancouver-548.html

 

Also, Stanley park is worth a day. 

 

https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/what-to-do.aspx

 

I also love renting a car and taking the ferry over to Vancouver Island, where you can go to Butchart Gardens and Victoria, etc.

 

Really, I could go on and on.  Vancouver is a wonderful city with endless opportunities for those who love to explore.

[gmjc2]

Has Canada given a date to open the ports and accepting US visitors?  Might check into that?

[Potstech]

Not anytime soon.

[Coral]

I like going to Whistler. Beautiful drive.

[CrazyIrving]

We booked our June 2020 cruise over to June 2021 when Princess canceled the 2020 cruise we move the FCC to the 2021.  Surfing on Princess website and say they posted a 14 day round trip. So we extended our voyage. 
 

i have a question. 
 

can we get off in Whittier and head over to the tram and back to Whittier. I was seeing bus for Anchorage only. Has anyone ever did a disembark to vist the Tram and head back to the cruise.