Advice on Royal Caribbean Alaska cruises

[familycruzinnewbie]

Hi - we have $660 credit total from a canceled short Bahamas cruise for 2. Trying to decide if I want to rebook or use it as a credit to do something different. I had been looking at Alaska, Baltic’s or other European destination.  I live in Atlantic Canada and have to fly no alter what port we use. 
Are there any Royal Caribbean Alaska cruises that you would recommend - trying to figure out ports, if any include Glacier Bay? 

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, familycruzinnewbie said:

Hi - we have $660 credit total from a canceled short Bahamas cruise for 2. Trying to decide if I want to rebook or use it as a credit to do something different. I had been looking at Alaska, Baltic’s or other European destination.  I live in Atlantic Canada and have to fly no alter what port we use. 
Are there any Royal Caribbean Alaska cruises that you would recommend - trying to figure out ports, if any include Glacier Bay? 

Sorry RCI doesn't include Glacier Bay but that hasn't stopped me from some great RCI Alaska cruises at all. Love the Northbound out of Vancouver or even the roundtrip itinerary from there.

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, familycruzinnewbie said:

Hi - we have $660 credit total from a canceled short Bahamas cruise for 2. Trying to decide if I want to rebook or use it as a credit to do something different. I had been looking at Alaska, Baltic’s or other European destination.  I live in Atlantic Canada and have to fly no alter what port we use. 
Are there any Royal Caribbean Alaska cruises that you would recommend - trying to figure out ports, if any include Glacier Bay? 

 

RCI received a Glacier Bay permit in the last offering, which started Oct/19; however, I am not aware of any RCI ships that are calling into Glacier Bay. They tend to visit Hubbard & Tracey/Endicott. The Cruise Lines awarded Glacier Bay permits are - Princess, HAL, Cunard, Viking, NCL and Seabourn.

 

Having both worked 2 entire seasons in Alaska and booked a number as a pax, I find Glacier Bay one of the highlights. The glaciers may not be the biggest, but the ships always get in and the Rangers provide exceptional commentary. Hubbard is huge and impressive and the ships get in to the glacier most times, although I have missed it 2 or 3 times, due to ice. Tracey is also impressive, but is often blocked with ice. I have only managed to get in once.

 

Seattle - due to US PVSA, all Alaska cruises must be round-trip, using the Pacific Ocean West of Vancouver Island. These spend lots of time in open ocean, which can be rough at times. Seattle is also further from Alaska than Vancouver and the ships must stop at a Canadian port, so they get less time in Alaska.

 

Vancouver - you have a choice of R/T or 1-way to/from Prince Willian Sound. As with Seattle, the R/T cruises only visit SE Alaska, while the 1-way cruise to/from Whittier or Seward, in Prince William Sound. The N'bd cruises (Princess & Viking) spend a great day in Prince William Sound.

[Ashland]

Yes...RCCL was given the permit in 2019 which means that RCI & Celebrity could sail into Glacier Bay but neither has opted to with their 2022 schedule. Perhaps we'll see it offered  when 2023 is released.

[Coral]

I thought RCCL returned their permits. They only had enough for shoulder season cruising.

 

I could be wrong but I am guessing they won't be going there in the future unless they apply again in the future.

[jlocole]

I wish RCCL had an excursion from their Tracey Arm stop so we could get closer to the glaciers. Anyone know of a Glacier water vessel excursion from Juneau? 

Seeing Glacier Bay was a highlight of our HAL cruise a few years back.

[Northern Aurora]

3 hours ago, jlocole said:

I wish RCCL had an excursion from their Tracey Arm stop so we could get closer to the glaciers. Anyone know of a Glacier water vessel excursion from Juneau? 

Seeing Glacier Bay was a highlight of our HAL cruise a few years back.

 

Check with Allen Marine Tours.  

[Coral]

11 hours ago, jlocole said:

I wish RCCL had an excursion from their Tracey Arm stop so we could get closer to the glaciers. Anyone know of a Glacier water vessel excursion from Juneau? 

Seeing Glacier Bay was a highlight of our HAL cruise a few years back.

AdventureBound Alaska.

[jlocole]

I checked Allen and Adventure Bound.  Allen for sure doesn't have a close-up glacier tour like you could get from Tracy Arm. ABA website is less clear if their excursion is offered from Juneau or from TA stop.

[Coral]

20 hours ago, jlocole said:

I checked Allen and Adventure Bound.  Allen for sure doesn't have a close-up glacier tour like you could get from Tracy Arm. ABA website is less clear if their excursion is offered from Juneau or from TA stop.

Adventure Bound Alaska is RT Juneau. It used to be from 8:30 - 6 time frame. Your ship would need to be in port during that time. If you have a long day in Juneau - I would email them for exact times.

 

Double check with Allen Marine - I believe @Italy52 went this summer when staying in Juneau.

[Italy52]

As Coral mentioned, we did go with Allen Marine on their Tracy Arm excursion.  The trip was booked for either a Saturday or Sunday (sorry, I forgot).  We were not on a cruise ship; we did a land trip in Juneau.  We booked our tour through the following website:  https://truealaskantours.com/.

 

The trip was identical to what we had experienced in the past when booked through a cruise ship except for the fact that it was a round-trip journey rather than a one-way trip. 

[donaldsc]

Glacier Bay is a National Park for a good reason.  I have been to AK a bunch of times and have been to Glacier Bay on almost all the trip that were cruises.  Especially for a first cruise to AK, I would not take one that didn't visit Glacier Bay.  A visit to Glacier Bay is much more impressive than a stop in the big 3 ports that all the cruise lines visit.

 

DON