Alaska back to back cruise.us

[Eager2Travel]

We need some help.

 

We are thinking about doing a back to back cruise in Alaska.  Vancouver is not a long flight and air travel is wearing thin  Part of our reasoning is to avoid the Juneau flight home.  The second is a seven day cruise feels very short for us.  The third is we enjoy being on Regent.  The ports are almost identical.

 

Has anyone done an Alaskan back to back?  Did it feel too repetitious?  Did it feel too long with no sitting out on deck and the same ports? 
 

We have been to Alaska several times while taking grandchildren so it is not new to us,  we appreciate any input.

[PhD-iva]

Hmmm. I think you will need to post the dates and the embarkation/ debarkation ports. It could be an issue bc of that term that I forget ……. Some thing about a distant foreign port.

Someone here will be able to explain (after you provide more details)…..

PVSA (thank you google!)

Edited May 21, 2023 by PhD-iva
Google

[PhD-iva]

However, a cruise that begins and ends in different U.S. ports (e.g. a Panama Canal cruise that begins in Fort Lauderdale and ends in Los Angeles) must stop in a distant foreign port to be in compliance.

source: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/what-is-the-jones-act-for-cruise-ships/

[papaflamingo]

I have never done b2b Alaska, but did have repeat ports on both our Regent cruises.  Since they offer multiple excursions we simply booked 2 different excursions when we had 2 stops.  In a couple of ports we chose to simply go into town and see the local sights since we had already visited and done the excursion.  We like to see the towns so only doing an excursion on one visit and simply walking into town on the second is enjoyable.  

As for the Jones Act which PhD-iva refers to, you shouldn't  need to worry about it, the cruise should be scheduled to account for it.   Since I assume you're looking at Vancouver-Seward then return, you'll be departing a foreign port and ending in a foreign port, so should have no problems.  

[douginct]

Don't know when you are looking to go - but in 2024, there are a couple of 14 day Vancouver to Vancouver cruises that you can book instead of doing two 7-day cruises. The other advantage is there are a couple of ports that are different on the two directions. We have looked at the exact same thing.

[PhD-iva]

The other thing to think about is, there will be more children and grandchildren on a seven day Alaska cruise than on a 14 day cruise, also, depending on which month you travel.

[Eager2Travel]

Thank you for your replies.  They are greatly appreciated.  We weren’t worried about about embarking or dis embarking in foreign ports. We were more concerned with easy flights.  Vancouver is non stop.  It turns out Juneau is only one change of planes in Seattle.

 

Our concern was the repeating of ports which  papa Flamingo addressed.  We are looking to go this summer otherwise the 14 day in 2024 would be perfect.  At this stage of life we try not to delay anything worthwhile.  I think we will do it using your advice.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Eager2Travel

[2012_Alaska_bound]

11 hours ago, douginct said:

Don't know when you are looking to go - but in 2024, there are a couple of 14 day Vancouver to Vancouver cruises that you can book instead of doing two 7-day cruises.

 

I was just going to mention this. The 14 days cruises are in May (that's the one I'm going on) and another in August (middle of the month also I think). Advantage is we don't repeat any ports and have 2 days of glacier sailings.  I think maybe they are trying this out to see if it is more attractive than B2B.

 

Totally agree about 7 days being too short, and long flight to or from Anchorage (not Juneau).

[2012_Alaska_bound]

2 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

We were more concerned with easy flights.  Vancouver is non stop.  It turns out Juneau is only one change of planes in Seattle.

 

 Sorry to repeat myself, but it is Anchorage you fly in or out of on a 7 day, which is also only a plane change it Seattle but a 6 hour flight from Seattle to Anchorage. I prefer flying to Anchorage and boarding in Seward and ending in Vancouver so that might shorter flight is on the "going home" end of the trip. Also, if you are flying home from Anchorage, soonest flights will be overnight ones.

 

Also, the flight will be business/first class the whole way if booked through Regent. They started that just pre-pandemic I believe.

[rcandkc]

On 5/20/2023 at 5:44 PM, Eager2Travel said:

We need some help.

 

We are thinking about doing a back to back cruise in Alaska.  Vancouver is not a long flight and air travel is wearing thin  Part of our reasoning is to avoid the Juneau flight home.  The second is a seven day cruise feels very short for us.  The third is we enjoy being on Regent.  The ports are almost identical.

 

Has anyone done an Alaskan back to back?  Did it feel too repetitious?  Did it feel too long with no sitting out on deck and the same ports? 
 

We have been to Alaska several times while taking grandchildren so it is not new to us,  we appreciate any input.

I don’t believe Regent starts or ends in Juneau.  Usually Vancouver, Seward (anchorage), and sometimes San Francisco.  

[Eager2Travel]

Thanks 2012 Alaska. and RC,DKC.  I don’t know where my head was with the Juneau instead of Anchorage.  No wonder I couldn’t find flights.  
 

The 14 day you are on next year sounds ideal but we are wanting to do something this year.  It also probably has less children onboard.  I don’t know why Regent choose to only do 7 days this year.  Seabourn has 14 days but we prefer Regent.

 

We did the flight back from anchorage once and that was enough.  I think we will just do the back to back with duplicate ports and loads of kids.

[rcandkc]

3 hours ago, Eager2Travel said:

Thanks 2012 Alaska. and RC,DKC.  I don’t know where my head was with the Juneau instead of Anchorage.  No wonder I couldn’t find flights.  
 

The 14 day you are on next year sounds ideal but we are wanting to do something this year.  It also probably has less children onboard.  I don’t know why Regent choose to only do 7 days this year.  Seabourn has 14 days but we prefer Regent.

 

We did the flight back from anchorage once and that was enough.  I think we will just do the back to back with duplicate ports and loads of kids.

I agree that Regent has too many 7 day cruises currently. Our first regent cruise was 7 days and we decided too short and never again.  We have not booked a 7 day in our subsequent cruises which we have had many.