Northbound or Southbound

[Go Noles62]

First time to Alaska, a little overwhelmed. Please share pros and cons of northbound and southbound. Thanks in advance. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Go Noles62 said:

First time to Alaska, a little overwhelmed. Please share pros and cons of northbound and southbound. Thanks in advance. 

 

Need a little more information to provide a helpful response.

 

Which cruise line(s) are you considering and more importantly, what itinerary, including the port ETA/ETD's.

[Glaciers]

Also, do you plan on doing a land tour as well as the cruise? Month you're looking at going. Some things may not be open very early or very late in the season. Also the shuttle bus at Denali begins June 1 for the Tundra Wilderness Tour.

 

[Go Noles62]

Most likely princess or Hal, July or August. Probably come in a day early and stay one extra day at end.  Want to see glaciers. Other than that ports aren’t that important as they will all be new to us. Thanks. 

[AKStafford]

8 minutes ago, Go Noles62 said:

Want to see glaciers

I'd include several days before/after the cruise in Southcentral Alaska. You could include a hike on the Matanuska Glacier, visit Knik Glacier and do a Prince William Sound glacier cruise.

[Go Noles62]

8 minutes ago, AKStafford said:

I'd include several days before/after the cruise in Southcentral Alaska. You could include a hike on the Matanuska Glacier, visit Knik Glacier and do a Prince William Sound glacier cruise.

If we take the train from Anchorage do you know if the 26 Glacier cruise would store our luggage should we take that excursion prior to boarding ship?

[CruiserBruce]

47 minutes ago, Go Noles62 said:

If we take the train from Anchorage do you know if the 26 Glacier cruise would store our luggage should we take that excursion prior to boarding ship?

Why not just check your bag at the dock?

[surgie]

21 hours ago, Go Noles62 said:

First time to Alaska, a little overwhelmed. Please share pros and cons of northbound and southbound. Thanks in advance. 

A friend advised us to go northbound for our first trip as the scenery gets more magnificent as you travel north. This worked for us as we were not adding many days on either end for land tours. Our ship left from Vancouver and returned to Seward where we traveled on to Anchorage for the flight home. 

[no1racefan1]

18 hours ago, Go Noles62 said:

If we take the train from Anchorage do you know if the 26 Glacier cruise would store our luggage should we take that excursion prior to boarding ship?

My understanding is you can check your bag through to your cruise ship when you get on the train in Anchorage.

[Heidi13]

21 hours ago, Go Noles62 said:

Most likely princess or Hal, July or August. Probably come in a day early and stay one extra day at end.  Want to see glaciers. Other than that ports aren’t that important as they will all be new to us. Thanks. 

 

No experience with HAL, but spent 40 yrs with Princess, both working for and cruising with them. Also spent 35 yrs working the coast, so know these waters reasonably well.

 

Pre-Cruise

Vancouver probably has more direct flights from various destinations than Anchorage, so for most pax, Vancouver might be an easier option for flights. Unless using Princess transfers to the port, Vancouver is probably the easier of the 2 with options and ease of getting to the port.

 

Hotel costs in Vancouver are very expensive. Cheaper options are available in Richmond out by the airport. Never stayed in Anchorage, so can't comment on hotel prices.

 

Embarkation

Depending on the number of ships in port, Canada Place can vary from a reasonable to horrendous overall experience. Never embarked in Whittier, but with a single ship, I have only seen it run smoothly at the ship. Note - I recall reading they are building additional dock(s), but don't know the status.

 

In Vancouver, you go through US Border control during the embarkation process, but in Whittier it is not required.

 

Disembarkation

Haven't disembarked in Whittier, but based on observations, it runs smoothly. No Immigration/Border Controls required in Whittier. In Vancouver, you must clear Canadian Immigration, which entails completing a declaration and for most walking out through Border Agents. Depending on the number of ships, it can be a challenge finding a taxi. Generally, I find Vancouver disembarkation is smoother and faster than embarkation.

 

Glaciers

The N'bd and S'bd itineraries are slightly different.

 

N'bd cruises spend the last sea day in Prince William Sound/College Fjord. This passes a number of glaciers. However, the N'bd cruise does NOT stop at Hubbard Glacier, which is huge and most impressive.

 

S'bd cruises sail directly from Whittier to Hubbard Glacier, so you miss the scenic cruising in Prince William Sound/College Fjord.

 

Glacier Bay is on both itineraries and while not the most impressive glaciers, it is still a brilliant day. Got well over a couple dozen visits into GB, but I'm still one of the first out on deck.

 

Inside Passage

Cruise lines take extreme liberties promoting "Inside Passage" cruising. Some of the most scenic areas you may sail through are the waters between the Mainland and Vancouver Island.

 

On N'bd cruises, on departure Vancouver, the Master sets a speed for Seymour Narrows, a very narrow passage 100 miles from Vancouver, with extreme tides. Cruise ships can only transit within 1 hr of slack water. Therefore, you will steam up Georgia Strait, hopefully seeing a spectacular sunset. By morning, the ship is already in Queen Charlotte Sound, so you miss the scenic part at night.

 

On S'bd cruises, the Master again sets speed for Seymour Narrows, catching a late night slack water. This provides most of this scenic cruising in daylight.

 

Scenery

Having spent way too many hours on a ship's Bridge navigating these waters, in my opinion, the scenery does not improve as you go north. As is common in most parts of the World, the scenery changes, and in these waters it also changes extensively with the season. So, yes, the scenery changes, but whether that is for the better or worse depends on your preferences.

 

Recommendation - S'bd

You mentioned seeing glaciers was important, so I suggest a S'bd is your best option.

 

Since you mentioned arriving a day earlier, I suggest booking the Phillips 26 Glacier Tour, which is exceptional, as it visits even more glaciers than the N'bd cruise. This also gets you Hubbard Glacier. Flights into Anchorage might be more challenging than Vancouver, but that is the only potential negative I can think of.

[Coral]

What @Heidi13 said!