Longer round trip cruise or land and sea combo?

[tinyvioletabroad]

This will be a bucket list trip for my husband and I. We have cruised twice in the Caribbean but first time for Alaska. We are trying to decide between a 14 day round trip on Princess from Vancouver or a 12-14 day land and sea vacation from Vancouver with Princess. Either trip would start the end of May 2024. Which do you recommend and why? Are any of the destinations non-negotiable (don’t miss) or anticlimactic (not worth the hype)? 

We are not typically early risers. Also, we are light sleepers so most recently cruised with an inside cabin (which was cooler, darker and quieter).  For our honeymoon, we had a balcony mini suite on Princess and didn’t use balcony. We didn’t spend time out on our balcony and found the room to be hotter due to the sliding glass doors. I doubt that would be an issue for a late May/early June Alaska cruise.  I was leaning toward either an obstructed view or even inside cabin to save money and maybe reduce the ambient light but everyone keeps insisting that Alaska cruises are all about being on your balcony and to definitely get a balcony. What are your thoughts and recommendations? How important is a balcony? 
 

Any other tips for a first Alaska cruise are greatly appreciated! 
 

Thanks! 🙂 

[AKStafford]

My choice would be the one way cruise for Southeast Alaska combined with putting together your own land trip exploring Southcentral Alaska with a rental car.

[no1racefan1]

We see cruise ships as a floating hotel to transport us to places, rather than as the main experience, so it depends what your trip priorities are.

 

We are sailing in an inside cabin in May 2024. We originally booked a balcony and then I called to change it. For me it was about budget and how I wanted to spend money in Alaska. I decided I wanted to have as much money as possible available for experiences in AK, rather than spending money on the cruise. By switching from the balcony to the inside cabin, we saved nearly $2K on the cost of the cruise, and I was able to allocate that to all sorts of activities and excursions. 

 

I know there will be places outside to view the scenery, and if an upgrade opportunity comes up later and it fits within our budget, I'll try for that, but will still be happy with our inside cabin otherwise!

 

 

[libtrek]

We have done Alaska cruises by themselves, cruise/land tours, and DIY land cruise combo. The best was the DIY with one way cruise. You’ll need to do research and plan early. BTW, if you aren’t early risers, you might not like cruise tours. You have to be up early to put your bags out and they are regimented. My DH is somewhat disabled now so we are hoping to do a B2B next June.

[DaveOKC]

IMO, both are great options (versus a standard 7 day roundtrip).  I like the 14 day cruise as it visits less known, smaller ports.  As to the land trip, I would do as suggested above and do a 7 day one way and then combine with 4-5 days on land doing yourself (this can be done before or after the cruise).

[SirTomster]

I would look at the ports you would not visit, if you skipped the 2nd half of the 14 day cruise.

 

Then research what you can do in Alaska by visiting locations before or after the trip.  Note, I expect that the per-day rate would be higher for a land trip than it would be for a cruise.  So you might be able to do a 10/11 day Land/Cruise vs 14 day cruise for the same amount.   My numbers are just guesses, it depends on your plans.

 

Then decide what is best for you.

 

Do price out the differences.    I just did a quick check.   The money I am spending on my 2 days in Alaska before my southbound cruise next June would be about the same if I did a 14 day cruise.  That is insane.   So you could see more Alaska by doing a land portion, but it might be a lot more.

 

[AKJonesy]

There was another post I read recently and not able to find it now, but talked about how they didn't like the land portion and specifically the very very long transportation days and the early show up.  As a few others said, do the land portion on your own.  I recommend another land option and that would be to rent an RV here which is extremely popular.  That way you have the accommodation and the vehicle in one.  I had a big Class A and never had a problem parking.  You can find parking; maybe a block or so away from your intended shopping area or restaurant; big deal.  Anyway, it does take a bit more effort to plan the land portion yourself and that is why so many just choose it as part of the cruise pkg and let the cruise line handle all of the arrangements.  But, one of the biggest reasons I prefer the RV is that you don't have to focus on the accommodations; where to stay, when to stay, etc.  Also, when you have to arrange accommodations, then you are locked into that date.  In an RV, if the weather is bad here, you can swap your plans around and go there.  This is what we have done when we had many guests visit us.  For example, if it was raining down in Seward, we'd go over to Homer instead then pop back to Seward, etc.  Just giving you some more to think about.  

[DougH]

I like doing the 14 day North/South from Vancouver combo. I have sailed Alaska 30+ times with at least half the 14 day. My only sea/land combo was my first cruise. The land portion can be very pricey (I travel as a single) and it is nice to have two visits to the ports. My trip this year the second half of Aug the first week weather was lousy but second week perfect. If it was my first trip and was a combo I would have been very disappointed with the first week

[libtrek]

1 hour ago, DougH said:

I like doing the 14 day North/South from Vancouver combo. I have sailed Alaska 30+ times with at least half the 14 day. My only sea/land combo was my first cruise. The land portion can be very pricey (I travel as a single) and it is nice to have two visits to the ports. My trip this year the second half of Aug the first week weather was lousy but second week perfect. If it was my first trip and was a combo I would have been very disappointed with the first week

Do you fly for your B2B or just take land transpo from home to port? We want to do B2B next June and are pricing home-Seattle- bus vs. home-Vancouver direct.

[DougH]

I fly into Vancouver a day early. Vancouver is a nice place to visit but hotels are pricey in cruise season. I have been staying at the Days Inn downtown , one of the cheapest in the area but still almost $300 per night. Hotels by the airport are not much cheaper. Seattle is cheaper but then you have the long bus transfer to and from the ship. Cost would be closer to a night in Vancouver I think Mid June is great, my favorite time