Need HELP to choose cruise (Best 7-10 day to see Glaciers and Wildlife)

[Travel To Be Free]

Trying to find the best 7-10  day cruise.  Would like to see Glacier Bay National Park, take a scenic railway trip, and see wildlife in their natural habitat.  The friends we'll be traveling with will not have enough vacation time to take a cruise AND land trip, so we’re trying to fit in the best experience on just the cruise portion.  We won’t be going until 2024.  Would love suggestions.  

[DougH]

Princess has some really nice 10 or 11 day roundtrip cruises from Vancouver this year. Pick one that goes to Glacier Bay. This is the first time they have offered this route and it has nice long port days. 

[DougH]

Just saw you are sailing in 2024, I think these are only in 2023 😞

[edinburgher]

And HAL is another often including Glacier Bay scenic cruising.

 

There may have been changes in recent years, but both Princess and HAL used to have more GB permits than some other lines so could be worth looking at both lines once itineraries come available..

[Travel To Be Free]

Thanks for this information!  Yes, I see that Princess doesn't have the same routes in 2024.  I believe Celebrity was the same.  2023 seems like it would have been a better year, but our friends have to put in ahead of time for vacation.  

 

What ports are best to have a scenic railroad excursion and ones where you can see wildlife?  When I look at the port towns/cities, they don't look too impressive to me, that's why I thought we would focus on what Alaska seems to be known for...  glaciers, wilderness and wildlife.  

[donaldsc]

On 3/6/2023 at 3:39 PM, Travel To Be Free said:

Trying to find the best 7-10  day cruise.  Would like to see Glacier Bay National Park, take a scenic railway trip, and see wildlife in their natural habitat.  The friends we'll be traveling with will not have enough vacation time to take a cruise AND land trip, so we’re trying to fit in the best experience on just the cruise portion.  We won’t be going until 2024.  Would love suggestions.  

 

Why don't you both take a one way trip with whatever land time your friends can manage,  Then they go home and you stay on for more land time.  

 

DON

[edinburgher]

What ports are best to have a scenic railroad excursion

 

Skagway is the #1 port for a railroad journey. White Pass with or without the Yukon are almost always offered although some prefer a car rental and to drive instead..

 

Multiple previous threads about it, also much online info. Highly recommend.

[Hllb]

HAL has itineraries that go to Glacier Bay and provide access to Skagway, with the railway. Skagway port had a rock slide last summer so is a little different currently, but they do intend to take ships this summer (there are multiple threads if you want to read up on it). Most people would recommend leaving out of Vancouver as the inside passage is more scenic (we chose Seattle because the flights to Vancouver were much more expensive for us). 

 

What kind of wildlife are you looking for? Many of the ports have good whale watching. We opted for a kayaking tour in Orca Cove out of Ketchikan which may provide wildlife viewing. Our cruise doesn't go to Skagway so we aren't doing the rail tour. Another option is that some cruise lines, for the Juneau port stop, offer a small boat excursion up Tracy Arm Fjord to see the glaciers up close, and I've also heard it frequently has good wildlife viewing, including possibly whales, eagles, and otters, and maybe seals. There are some recent threads on that tour as well, and it comes very highly recommended even though it's 7 hours on a small boat.

[Travel To Be Free]

Don--- now that may be a good idea.  

 

Edinburgher-This is great information.  Skagway sounds like a great stop.

 

Hllb-So the inside passage is more scenic.  That's great information.  Whales, seals, moose, elk, eagles....  these would be exciting to see!!  I think 7 hours in a small boat could be a little scary...  and possibly not good for sea sickness.  But I'm going to look into it because it seems like a great adventure.

[Ferry_Watcher]

13 minutes ago, Travel To Be Free said:

Whales, seals, moose, elk, eagles....  these would be exciting to see!!

 

Rather than moose and elk, seeing a bear is more realistic.  You should be able to see whales, seals, otters and eagles.  Taking a whale watching excursion will increase your chances for extended viewing (as oppose to seeing them from the ship).

[Travel To Be Free]

Ferry Watcher - Bears and Otters sound much better than moose and elk.  So what type of excursion would we need to take to see them and at what ports?  This is so helpful!

[Hllb]

12 hours ago, Travel To Be Free said:

Don--- now that may be a good idea.  

 

Edinburgher-This is great information.  Skagway sounds like a great stop.

 

Hllb-So the inside passage is more scenic.  That's great information.  Whales, seals, moose, elk, eagles....  these would be exciting to see!!  I think 7 hours in a small boat could be a little scary...  and possibly not good for sea sickness.  But I'm going to look into it because it seems like a great adventure.

We have a 13 yr old that gets sea sickness but we're giving it a try. Once you get to the fjord, it shouldn't be an issue. We have found Bonine to work fairly well for him, so we'll see. He's even willing to try whale watching again, as long as he's medicated. We did a really rough seas ww trip in Syndey in 2019 and it was kind of a disaster. 2/3 of that boat was puking, my son included.

[Hllb]

12 hours ago, Travel To Be Free said:

Don--- now that may be a good idea.  

 

Edinburgher-This is great information.  Skagway sounds like a great stop.

 

Hllb-So the inside passage is more scenic.  That's great information.  Whales, seals, moose, elk, eagles....  these would be exciting to see!!  I think 7 hours in a small boat could be a little scary...  and possibly not good for sea sickness.  But I'm going to look into it because it seems like a great adventure.

Oh, leaving from Vancouver will be smoother seas as well - leaving from Seattle has you in the open ocean for quite a while, so much more prone to rough seas.

[oaktreerb]

Check out Holland America Glacier Bay itineraries with a 10 day land and sea cruise tour with train that includes 2 nights in Denali..

 

The cruisetours are pretty consistent from year to year.  What is offered in 2023 should be offered in 2024.

Edited March 10, 2023 by oaktreerb

[Travel To Be Free]

Hllb-I do pretty good, but one of our friends gets very motion sickness.  But we may try this excursion as it seems like a great one!

 

Oaktreerb-Will check Holland's itineraries.  

[kitkat343]

For your friends, please note that my favorite excursions in Alaska were the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour in Ketchikan (which is fascinating and great for families), and the Temsco helicopter to Dog Sled camp in Skagway (please note that Temsco is the subcontractor for the helicopter tours for the cruise ships, and you can save 10% by booking directly through their company. Also, if you choose to visit a dog sled camp, please make sure you do it in Skagway, not Juneau since the weather is a bit more stable in Skagway. Also, please try to book your helicopter tour in the morning, since helicopter tours are often cancelled due to inclement weather. If your helicopter is scheduled for the morning, you will have a better chance of it being rescheduled for the afternoon, instead of the tour being cancelled outright. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will be able to participate in this amazing activity due to the unpredictable Alaskan weather.

 

In Juneau we went whale watching with Harv and Marv.  As it turns out, my family isn't that into whale watching, but if you can appreciate whale watching (and most people do) Harv and Marv do a great job.

 

As a general rule you want to book Alaskan cruises for itinerary, not cruise line but please just be careful booking with NCL - they are changing itineraries on cruises after final payment, and just took out the Inside Passage on the Spirit.    Historically, both Princess and HAL do a great job in Alaska, and we were really happy with our Alaskan cruise.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by kitkat343