Alaska Cruise Recommendations - Cruise Line? Itinerary? Departure Port?

[AMCJavelin]

Looking to book an Alaskan cruise.  This will be a bucket list cruise for us.   Looking for advice on:

 

Best Cruise Line for and Alaskan Cruise?

 

Interior or Balcony Cabin?

 

Best Itinerary/Duration?

 

Departure Port?

 

Are Rail tours included and what do they entail?

 

I know these are broad topics and I apologize for that, we have cruised 10 times so we are not new to cruising, but there I am assuming there is a big difference in what one would choose for a Caribbean Cruise vs and Alaskan Cruise.  We are a husband and wife in our 60's.

 

We will be attending a seminar by Princess cruises hosted by our local AAA and we plan to go to that, but expect the info to be onesided.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Senga]

With COVID still an issue, definitely a balcony cabin.  Glacier Bay a must.

https://link.shutterfly.com/xAzG0mTbsrb

[JT1962]

You will get lots of opinions as to “best”. I have taken 3 cruises to Alaska (Princess, Royal Caribbean & Carnival) and believe the itinerary and times in port are more important than the specific ship or cruise line.  I would start by reading trip reports / reviews on this and other sites to see what might be if interest to you in the ports, then try to find an itinerary that spends the most time in those ports. 
 

A one-way itinerary between Vancouver and Alaska will almost always give you more time in ports (and possibly an extra port or glacier day) than the roundtrip cruises from Seattle. Another upside to the one-way itinerary is that you can add a land tour in Alaska before or after your cruise and also spend a few days in Vancouver before or after the cruise. 
 

Glacier Bay is a highlight for many and is primarily visited by Princes & Holland America with some Norwegian Cruise Line itineraries as well. Hubbard Glacier is impressive and visited by several cruise lines. Tracy Arm Fjord with Sawyer Glacier and Endicott Arm with Dawes Glacier are visited by many cruise lines, but ships can’t always get close to the glaciers due to ice. The small boat excursions from the ship are excellent for a better experience. 
 

For us, the ship is primarily used for breakfast / dinner, sleeping and transportation in Alaska, so we don’t need the latest / greatest / largest ship.  We rarely go to any entertainment / activities on a cruise to Alaska and prefer to watch the beautiful scenery.
 

I have cruised Alaska with and without a balcony.  A balcony is nice to have, but I would not choose a balcony at the expense of not being able to do some excursions I was interested in. There are plenty of places inside and outside to relax and observe the scenery and possibly wildlife. Being outside on an upper deck gives you the ability to quickly move from one side to the other if whales or other wildlife is spotted.

 

Excursions in Alaska are expensive compared to what many are used to in the Caribbean, especially anything involving flights.  Read reviews and watch YouTube videos to find those you want to do. Money is always a consideration, but I would recommend not skipping something you really want to do just to save a few hundred dollars. You will want to go back and do it eventually and the cost in both time and money to get back to Alaska will be much more than you saved by skipping it originally. The memories will last a lifetime.

Edited July 10, 2022 by JT1962

[CruiserBruce]

If it was a once in a lifetime trip, I would take HAL's 14 day Alaska cruise. Gets you to see far more than the basic 5 or 6 ports everyone goes to.

 

Like your other thread on the Hawaii board, some reading would be very beneficial. These "What is the best" questions are asked, and beat to death almost daily here.

[Kathscof]

I would say that Alaska cruises are definitely more about the ports, so I would say “best” would be the ones with the most ports and the least amount of sea days.  I agree with the pp that a one way is the best idea, as we had only one proper sea day at the end, and our first day was glacier viewing in the afternoon, meaning we had a slight sea day, but we also had Alaska things to do.  

 

I know that Glacier Bay is amazing, but I was happy with Hubbard.....though as I have told others, my excursions before the cruise were the highlights of my southbound trip.  

 

I have no no opinions on the pre/post cruise land tours, but my parents and I are doing a tour on our own up to Denali before our trip next year on Royal.  Strangely enough, my best friend’s parents are doing a cruise land tour prior to their princess cruise, arriving in Denali 2 days after us.  It seems “just” to go there and then to the cruise, so it doesn’t seem that beneficial to do it with the cruise vs by yourself, unless it is cheaper.  I also don’t like the princess train cars versus the Alaska Railroad Gold Star cars, so I am satisfied with doing my own arrangements.  

 

For rooms, a balcony is a nice luxury.  This year my friend and I booked an interior at the price we were ok with, but through price drops, we were able to get a balcony for around 64% of our original price.  I am locked into an ocean view for next year for around the same price of the first price of our interior room, hoping for price drops.  There are plenty of places to see the outside from around the ship, and I also agree that you should use that money in your budget for a great excursion if it’s one or the other.  The only time we used the balcony for specifically “Alaska” viewing was our glacier day, when we actually got kinda bored after staring at it for a while, and we went and got hot dogs and sat there doing nothing.  The other times, it was just because we happened to be in the cabin and we were bored hahha

Edited July 10, 2022 by Kathscof

[kona_wahine]

I’ll try to make this quick. I did 2 this year, one NCL in May and one Carnival just got back Thursday. NCL did glacier bay, Carnival did Tracey Arm Fjord. I picked NCL because Glacier Bay, and was so glad I did. But Tracey Arm Fjord was beautiful! They have excursion boats (you have to book the excursion) that take you right up to the glacier and it was the highlight of both trips. They also took us up to the other sawyer glacier, to a beautiful waterfall, we got close to a bear, and saw whales. On NCL we did get close to glaciers, and in May it was still snowy and absolutely didn’t look real. Seriously, I have pictures that people ask if it was a backdrop, and I have to tell them it was actually real. So beautiful!!! I was so happy to have done both, and only because Carnival had UNREAL prices for their Alaska trips for June. Just look at the port times at each stop, as our NCL cruise were much less then the Carnival port times. We also had one extra day on Carnival, so we got Icy Straight Point, which was very cool, we saw Orcas on our excursion and our first bear. (That was my first time seeing a bear in the wild, my goal for this trip) And big ships aren’t always better when booking Alaska, just keep that in mind. But for me a balcony is a must. I would hear the Naturalist come on over the loud speaker and listen to what he was saying and if he said “port side” I would know to grab my binoculars and head outside and see what was out there. (Carnival) His name was Chris and he did a WONDERFUL job of keeping us informed of what was happening on the water. NCL didn’t do that from what I recall. 

[AMCJavelin]

Thanks all for the info - much appreciated