What is considered Inside Passage?

[MillbrookMom]

Alaska cruise newbie here and looking for verification.  I was looking at cruise tracker and it shows the route of our ship as being on the ocean side of Vancouver island.  However, our itinerary says that day 2 a sea day is Inside passage cruising.  Does that mean we sail between Vancouver Island and Mainland BC?  We are a round trip from Vancouver and our 1st port is Sitka if that helps.  Thanks in advance.  

[JT1962]

Most of the cruises to / from Vancouver sail the full inside passage by going inside of Vancouver Island. This is much more scenic the first / last day than the cruises to / from Seattle that  usually enter / leave the inside passage North of Vancouver Island closer to Ketchikan.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by JT1962

[MillbrookMom]

4 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

Most of the cruises to / from Vancouver sail the full inside passage by going inside of Vancouver Island. This is much more scenic the first / last day than the cruises to / from Seattle that  usually enter / leave the inside passage North of Vancouver Island closer to Ketchikan.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage

 

Thank you.  That is what I was hoping for.  

[dfilpus]

Some cruise ships are too big to sail the narrow passage between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland. They then enter the inside passage in Queen Charlotte Sound. The inside passage continues north to Juneau and Skagway.

[MillbrookMom]

6 minutes ago, dfilpus said:

Some cruise ships are too big to sail the narrow passage between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland. They then enter the inside passage in Queen Charlotte Sound. The inside passage continues north to Juneau and Skagway.

We are on Serenade of the Seas.  

[JT1962]

14 minutes ago, MillbrookMom said:

Thank you.  That is what I was hoping for.  

If you can, make sure to be awake and on deck (or your balcony) when the ship passes through the Seymour Narrows . It is usually about 5 hours after departing or before arriving in Vancouver. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Narrows

 

 

[MillbrookMom]

9 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

If you can, make sure to be awake and on deck (or your balcony) when the ship passes through the Seymour Narrows . It is usually about 5 hours after departing or before arriving in Vancouver. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Narrows

 

 

That is a fantastic tip.  Thank you.  We have friends who live in Campbell River who were hoping to see us go by.  And our balcony does face them heading north.

[SightCRR]

link didn't work, never mind. sightcrr

Edited April 22, 2022 by SightCRR
link didn't work.

[don't-use-real-name]

Google Map image - In the center of the image ZOOM IN to see the Seymour narrows

Campbell River is at the bottom of image.

 

Google Maps

[5waldos]

But to generalize- cruise lines also refer to the inside passage as what happens in Alaska. Cruises leaving from Seattle say they are sailing the inside passage but only north of Vancouver Island. I was very disappointed when we sailed from Seattle and missed the beautiful trip north of Vancouver. I don’t know for sure about ships leaving from Vancouver-whether all of them sail east of Van. Island. 

[xlxo]

Yes, there are two inside passages.  The Alaska side from Skagway to Ketchikan is the North Inside passage.  The South inside passage is between Vancouver Island and British Columbia that is travelled by ships going to/from Vancouver.

Seattle ships skip the South Inside passage and sail the stormier "Graveyard of the Pacific".

[Eaglecw]

The ships make better time if they go South out of Vancouver and head out the Straits of Juan De Fuca to Pacific Ocean and go straight North up to Sitka. The speed restrictions going between Vancouver island and the B.C coast make it a long passage. It’s kind of disappointing for a lot of people thinking they going to see all kinds of wildlife when in reality once they get out to the ocean they are miles away from land and on the so called inside passage they can’t really see much as they are so far away from land. In all of our cruises to Alaska we only got to do the south inside passage once and that was on a smaller cruise ship.

[kochleffel]

In addition, the Alaska Marine Highway System (Alaska state ferry) route in the southern portion is, according to their map on board, more inside than the route that cruise ships to/from Vancouver use, because the ferries can navigate narrower channels.

[muffin]

Look carefully at the maps used by the carrier in their ads. The inside passage between Vancouver island and the mainland is not used by larger ships such as the majestic or sky princess. The route is narrow, the Chanel subject to intense tidal fluctuations and if you add a good wind on the side of a large ship you could get trouble.  In our opinion the voyage from Vancouver using the inside all the way is VERY much more awesome than days at sea knowing there is an island out there somewhere as you head north in the Pacific Ocean.  Admit huge bias as we live here! 

[MillbrookMom]

I decided to see if I could find more info on what route our specific ship takes and was able to find this:  Your ship offers the perfect platform for viewing British Columbia’s Inside Passage. This archipelago spans 25,000 miles from Seattle to Prince Rupert near the Alaskan border. Here you’ll ply calm waters sheltered between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. Along the way catch a glimpse of breathtakingly rugged scenery, plus staggering wildlife like salmon sharks, white spirit bears, and millions of seabirds.

[Heidi13]

On 4/22/2022 at 2:21 PM, xlxo said:

Yes, there are two inside passages.  The Alaska side from Skagway to Ketchikan is the North Inside passage.  The South inside passage is between Vancouver Island and British Columbia that is travelled by ships going to/from Vancouver.

Seattle ships skip the South Inside passage and sail the stormier "Graveyard of the Pacific".

 

That isn't correct. The Inside Passage runs from Skagway down to Puget Sound.

 

In BC, the Inside Passage runs from Juan de Fuca to Georgia Strait, then between Vancouver Island & the Mainland. After Queen Charlotte Strait, it continues up Fitz Hugh Sound, Princess Royal Channel, Grenville Channel and into Dixon Entrance. These waters are all navigable and was the preferred route for Alaska cruises when I worked 2 Alaska seasons out of Vancouver.

 

Some of the smaller cruise ships still use the full Inside Passage route. This route is also used by BC Ferries and Alaska State Ferries.

[muffin]

Millbrook, looks like you are in for a delightful voyage!  We are looking forward to one ourselves in a month, and otherwise will watch them go by in the early evening from the beachfront for the entire season!   

[MillbrookMom]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:09 PM, muffin said:

Millbrook, looks like you are in for a delightful voyage!  We are looking forward to one ourselves in a month, and otherwise will watch them go by in the early evening from the beachfront for the entire season!   

 We have a few lucky friends who also live on Vancouver Island.  Enjoy your ship watching and especially your own cruise.