Thinking of family trip to Alaska - what is best for seeing nature

[Irarelycruise]

Hi Folks, my user name says it all. I have been on 3 or 4 ocean cruises and 2 river boat cruises and loved all. We just usually do other things. We have a beautiful RV and have spent time in 20 US national parks. We were thinking of taking our 2 adults children and their spouses on an Alaska trip. My wife is a bit skeptical as we always comment on people who do national park trips where they ride on a bus to a scenic spot get out walk 20 feet from the bus and they're done. So my question is what is the best way to really get out and see and do things. We do love to hike etc, but recognize that we won't likely have time for anything serious we just don't want to be in a large group of people seeing what we could see in a book.

 

So my detailed questions:

 

1) Is there a specific cruise line that would work best for us (our few ocean cruises were years ago on Princess and we had a great time - Caribbean), or

2) Will any of the lines do with appropriately chosen shore excursions

 

My wife and I are in our early to mid 60's and our children are all 30's and not to be ageist, but no one will feel comfortable completely surrounded by folks much older and possible not very mobile. Like most we can't spend infinite amounts of money ...

 

TIA,

 

Steve

[CCJack]

I do not think there would be a difference in cruise lines. 

 

I do think there will be plenty of excursions offered that are more "nature" or "hiking" than in a cruise elsewhere (Caribbean)   One that comes to mind is glacier wilderness safari out of skagway (or haines) some hiking, some canoeing all to get to the Davison glacier.    There are others.   You can also choose to hike on own.   Alaska is a great place for people who enjoy national parks, etc.

 

If you have not been on a whale watching excursion I would recommend that - no hiking  but a fun experience. .

 

Good luck.

 

 

[Gardyloo]

Well first, welcome!

 

While this often elicits groans, the fact remains that the best advice you can probably get at this point is to do some independent research - not so much on which cruise line or itinerary, but on Alaska itself.  How you spend your time (always not enough) and dollars (always a lot) visiting and experiencing Alaska is (in my view) a much more complicated subject than you'd encounter visiting the Caribbean or visiting national parks or other scenic destinations in the lower 48.  It's more on a scale similar to visiting Europe - huge variety, huge range of experiences, impossible to see more than a small part in a typical vacation period, be it two weeks or two months.  

 

Cruises travel between the western US and Canada through the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska (the "panhandle") and some go as far as Southcentral Alaska (Seward, Whittier, Anchorage etc.)  but obviously can't go inland to interior Alaska or to western or northern parts of the state.  

 

So learning about the various attractions in those different parts of the state is job one.  Many people combine a cruise through SE Alaska with a land tour in Southcentral and interior parts of the state, but even then, the size of Alaska, the distances between places and the logistical challenges can limit what's practical to experience in a couple (or a few) weeks' time.  

 

Cruising in SE Alaska is mass tourism.  Millions of people visit annually, the majority on big cruise ships carrying anywhere from 2000 to 4000 or more passengers.  The ports of call are small communities - Juneau is the biggest at 32,000 people.  It's not uncommon for 4 or sometimes 5 cruise ships with, say, an average of 2500 passengers on each, to call at Skagway, population 900 counting dogs, on the same day.  Do the math.  

 

Of course, there's a reason for this.  The landscape - ocean, mountains, forests, glaciers - is spectacular.  Even viewed from the ship - like with Glacier Bay or the Hubbard Glacier near Yakutat - the scenery is beyond awesome.  But once you're off the ship, you need to choose between self-arranged visits or go with organized excursions that will of necessity involve many other people.  Now there's a huge variety of experiences offered in these excursions, but you're not going to be alone.  

 

Now if you have the time and resources to include both a cruise and some time in Southcentral or interior Alaska, the options for independent travel increase.  You can join a cruise tour, which will be very much a get-on-the-bus-get-off-the-bus experience, or you can rent a vehicle and hit the road.  

 

Now it's worth noting that there aren't that many roads, and the places they go can also be popular with visitors, but obviously with less intensity than in a cruise.  There are national parks, but they're NOT like the parks in the "lower 48."  The interior of Denali NP is accessed only by bus, and for the next couple of years even that will be curtailed by roadworks on the only road into the park interior.  Other national parks, like Wrangell-St. Elias NP or Kenai Fjords NP, can only be reached by foot, by air, or by water.  It's not like driving from Old Faithful to Mammoth Hot Springs, parking the car and walking to the viewpoint.  You'll probably see more wildlife in one day in Yellowstone than you'll see in two days looking from the bus windows in Denali.  

 

Which is not to say you shouldn't come, nor to say that you won't want to come back again and again.  Alaska is addictive, if for no other reason than its very size.  Just beyond that mountain range is a whole 'nother world.  

 

Others will chime in on which cruise line or which itinerary is best, but you'll be doing yourself a favor by going through trip reports here on CC, or on TripAdvisor or other travel websites.  Alaska's a case where homework really pays off.  

[Irarelycruise]

Thanks so much for the replies. One takeaway I get is we might do better for the kind of thing we want if we book our own excursions more suited to our tastes than might be offered from the cruise line. 

[CCJack]

27 minutes ago, Irarelycruise said:

Thanks so much for the replies. One takeaway I get is we might do better for the kind of thing we want if we book our own excursions more suited to our tastes than might be offered from the cruise line. 

perhaps.  You are correct, in that  Alaska is such a popular cruise destination there are a lot of independent companies that offer differing excursions.   We cruise quite a bit and we used to always do DIY or independent excursions.   However, last couple years we have migrated to taking mostly ship's excursions.   The price advantage of independent isn't what it used to be.   An issue we have also had is getting off the ship in a timely manner.  In Reykjavik there was a problem with the gangway - 1.5 hour delay -then they allowed only those with cruise excursion tickets in hand to go first.   Everyone else was further delayed by an additional hour.    In Waterford, we tendered with 3 boats.   One boat's motor stalled in route.   They used boat # 2 to rescue the people from boat #1 (no one was ever in danger),  leaving only one boat for everyone else to tender.  Again, ship's excursion people went first.  Very long delay.  Lastly in Flam, our ship docked, they let ship's excursion people off, then they backed off and everyone else tendered.   A different cruise line's ship then  took the dock space.  I have no idea why they did this.    

 

I would look at all options..  have fun planning !

 

 

[edinburgher]

23 hours ago, Irarelycruise said:

I there a specific cruise line that would work best for us (our few ocean cruises were years ago on Princess and we had a great time - Caribbean),

Both Princess and HAL have many years of experience in Alaska and you would find many threads praising both They also tend to have more slots for Glacier Bay than some other lines, and are often allocated the preferred docking locations, quite important really..

[Crew News]

On a first visit to Alaska, you must treat it like a "box of chocolates".  I would recommend the typical ship-sponsored excursions:  whale watching in Juneau, crab fishing (eagle feeding) in Ketchikan, and a train ride into the Yukon Territory (scenery) from Skagway.

 

As a hobby photographer, I have been drawn back to Alaska 17 times by whales, eagles, glaciers, seafood, scenery, and the pollution-free environment.

 

Juneau

 

Ketchikan

 

Skagway

 

Yukon Terriroty

[Irarelycruise]

Thank you all, I will work on deciding on a trip and reseller this weekend.

 

Steve