Assembling a Unique 14 Day Alaska Itinerary with Princess and HAL

[friendswithdave]

Hello All!

I'm thinking about putting together a unique Alaska itinerary and wondering if anyone else has ever tried this or something similar.

 

We're always seeking great deals and getting the most for our $$. We've been to Alaska 3 times before and enjoyed each trip. Instead of the standard 7 day cruise out and back from Sea or Van, I'm thinking about linking together two one-way cruises from Vancouver - Anchorage and back. Instead of staying on the same ship there and back, I'd like to take one ship out and another back.

 

Looking closely at what's possible in 2024, there aren't two ships that leave Vancouver and arrive in Anchorage on the same day so we could switch ships on the way back. What I did find is a ship that goes from Van to Anc on Saturday and another ship that returns from Anc - Van on Sunday. Therefore it works if we just commit to staying a night in Whittier or taking the train to and from Anchorage from Sat - Sun. Putting this together checks a number of boxes, like

- Great rates on inside rooms for one-way cruises.

- Getting to see Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. Love those.

- Different experiences on two ships, like Sapphire Princess going out and HAL NA coming back. I love HAL, but I could see more than a week things might seem repetitive. Never been on Princess, so that would be a new experience.

 

Your thoughts? Anyone else done this before?

 

[CruiserBruce]

It's done frequently on the same cruise line, and discussed on the Alaska board regularly. It's called a B2B (back to back). Doing it on two different cruise lines is less commonly done, but it has been done. It's called a S2S (side to side).

 

The other option is to do a 14 day cruise on a cruise line like Holland America,  where you will see probably 8 or 9 different ports, and probably 2 glacier days. A whole lot more of Alaska. 

[OlsSalt]

26 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

I.............

 

The other option is to do a 14 day cruise on a cruise line like Holland America,  where you will see probably 8 or 9 different ports, and probably 2 glacier days. A whole lot more of Alaska. 

 

We just put the Noordam 14 day Alaska together with the 7-Day Coastal California, since she is finishing her Alaska season.  That way we get back home to Southern California, without flying out of Vancouver.

 

Why get home in only a few hours, when you can add seven more days aboard this smaller HAL ship and accomplish the same thing?😊

[rafinmd]

I did something similar in 2014 with different cruise lines.  For me it was Radiance of the Seas Vancouver to Seward (Friday to Friday), 2 nights in Seward, and Statendam back to Vancouver.  I liked that as Royal has a fairly significantly different set of ports including Icy Strait while HAL and Princess seem to have pretty much carbon copy itineraries. There appears to be no place to stay in Whittier so I think that makes going to Anchorage for the interlude pretty much a necessity.

 

On alternate weeks Celebrity covers the same route as Royal (Radiance OTS)

 

Riy

[oaktreerb]

I wrote HAL a letter last year as they were in the process of resuming cruising and told them that their itineraries were boring.  (Same every year) My suggestion was to mix up the ports so that northbound and southbound itineraries stopped at different ports.  Glacier Bay/Hubbard Glacier and then there is College Fjord and Tracy Arm.  Sitka/Skagway/Haines,  Juneau/Ketchikan, Icy Strait, Whittier/Valdez, Kodiak/Homer, etc. With the loss of four ships a few years ago I understand that HAL’s port contracts and docking preferences need to be maintained for the ships that are now in Alaska.  In other words, It’s more complicated than I thought.

 

So, you’ve got a good idea with mixing HAL and Princess.  I wish HAL and Princess were in Whittier on the same days, then it would be easy!     

[LocoLoco1]

We’ve done Alaska ‘Round Trips’ with 1 line to avoid traipsing around with luggage etc. We’ve went all out for strenuous/physical land excursions and find more each cruise, so switching Lines mid-cruise would have served us no purpose. 

[Mary229]

If it were me I would take a week between cruises, rent a car and head out to the national parks.  

[friendswithdave]

Thanks for the feedback! Two weeks is our absolute limit since we are both working, so a week off in between sound great in theory but tougher in practice.

 

I looked at google maps in Whittier and thought I saw a few places to stay. If not, we can train to Anchorage and back which is a beautiful ride.

[oaktreerb]

Girdwood is a great place to stay at the Alyeska Resort.  There is a lot to see and do in the Turnagain Arm area.

[Greysandy]

Great idea! We have done the two week Cruise tour, then two of the two week Alaska trips, and next year we are on the 28 day Summer Solstice trip. But I'm completely confident that we will do the Northbound, then Southbound piece together of cruises some year in the future. I really love your idea of pairing a HAL with a Princess cruise to switch things up!

[VermeulT]

Before Covid my sister and I had the HAL 14 day booked.  When that cruise was cancelled we rebooked for the next year.  That was cancelled because the Maasdam was sold.  So we rebooked one HAL RT cruise from Seattle and the day after a RT from Vancouver (or the other way around - I can't recall).  That did cut down on some of the repetitive ports - let us experience different days at sea and enjoy the trip to/from the two departure ports.  Alas those cruises were also cancelled.  

Now we're beyond excited to go next June for 28 days on the Alaska Solstice trip.

[mlgb]

I think the biggest question is whether you really can find any lodging in Whittier.

 

There are still a few cruise lines which use Seward. I think that might work out better for side by side.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by mlgb

[disneyochem]

We’re heading out tomorrow for our Canada/Alaska adventures.  Starting with a Princess land tour to the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver, and then a B2B 14-day cruise on the Majestic Princess.  Once we disembark in Vancouver, we’re taking the Amtrak train to Seattle and then taking a B2B Alaskan cruise on the Westerdam. Be gone about 5 weeks.

 

We love piecing together Alaskan cruises for summer travel!  Last year we took a northbound Princess cruise, did a 10 day DIY land tour followed by a southbound HAL cruise.   It’s fun to do since we live on the west coast—a quick two hour flight or an Amtrak trip to Vancouver/Seattle!
 

 

[tupper10]

@friendswithdaveYou say you have been to Alaska multiple times - so what is it you would like to see again or for the first time. We have also been multiple times both a land only trip and cruises with land extensions. We decided to do the 14 day HAL trip that is offered only in the Spring and Fall which does some different ports.  It is one of the few cruises that actually goes to Valdez, Kodiak and Anchorage so it may interest you.  

[friendswithdave]

We enjoy the ports, scenery, and wildlife. It's also the escape, no cooking, cleaning, meal planning, etc. I'll take a look at the 14 day.

[friendswithdave]

So I looked at a few of the 14 day cruises from HAL. They seem to be an out and back with mostly the same stops both ways. However, if you book the 14 day it is more than double the price of two consecutive 7 day cruises. 

[tupper10]

31 minutes ago, friendswithdave said:

So I looked at a few of the 14 day cruises from HAL. They seem to be an out and back with mostly the same stops both ways. However, if you book the 14 day it is more than double the price of two consecutive 7 day cruises. 

Wow.  I guess we booked early enough so the fare was reasonable at that time.  It seems to have gone way up in price.

[friendswithdave]

I expect the one-way 7 day fares have dropped dramatically as they are trying to fill empty inside rooms. Happens every year.

[sunviking90]

3 hours ago, friendswithdave said:

I expect the one-way 7 day fares have dropped dramatically as they are trying to fill empty inside rooms. Happens every year.

Yes, we see this every year as we live in Vancouver. Particularly the inside cabins end up going at fire sale prices. Celebrity has some one ways at $228 cad ($170 usd). Of course the port charges are hefty for Alaska.