Are Vancouver itineraries really better?

[PoseidonGodoftheSea]

I was considering sailing out of Seattle for my spring cruise next year to Alaska, but a few people on another board mentioned that Vancouver is way better, but they didn't elaborate all that much because it was off topic. Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

Thanks.

[agabbymama]

I was considering sailing out of Seattle for my spring cruise next year to Alaska, but a few people on another board mentioned that Vancouver is way better, but they didn't elaborate all that much because it was off topic. Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

Thanks.

 

Going out of Seattle, you will spend more time at open sea. Going out of Vancouver, you will see more scenery of the Inside Passage.

 

Plus the opportunity to possibly spend a couple days in the city of Vancouver pre-cruise.

[gg3]

I was considering sailing out of Seattle for my spring cruise next year to Alaska, but a few people on another board mentioned that Vancouver is way better, but they didn't elaborate all that much because it was off topic. Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

Thanks.

 

A lot has to do with the geography of it. Look at a cruise map of the areas and you will notice that the cruises out of Seattle go on the West side of Vancouver Island - that is the Pacific Ocean, so your views are not nearly so good. Out of Vancouver, you sail on the East side of V. Island and you are in the true Inside Passage with spectacular scenery on both sides. There are times with both routes when the shore line is farther away, but most of the time the Inside Passage route is awesome. Seattle and Vancouver are both wonderful cities. We have sailed once out of Seattle and twice out of Vancouver. Vancouver is our favorite. Many folks have said that air fare is cheaper into Seattle, so they rent a car, shuttle, or take a coach or Amtrak to Vancouver. I would rent a car because the drive would be spectacular. gg

[dirtgirl]

Also, if you sail out of Vancouver, you may get Prince Rupert as a port instead of an Alaskan one. Either that, or you visit Victoria at 6:00 pm. I wouldn't want to get off the ship at dinner time! Victoria is MUCH nicer than Prince Rupert, but I would think that a lot of things would be closed at that time of day.

[ute_fan]

Also, if you sail out of Vancouver, you may get Prince Rupert as a port instead of an Alaskan one. Either that, or you visit Victoria at 6:00 pm. I wouldn't want to get off the ship at dinner time! Victoria is MUCH nicer than Prince Rupert, but I would think that a lot of things would be closed at that time of day.

 

Just to clarify -- don't you mean if you sail out of Seattle-- not Vancouver? If you sail out of Vancouver, you've already met the requirement for your foreign port, and all the remaining stops can be Alaskan ports. We sailed from Vancouver on the NCL Sun -- and stopped at Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau and Wrangell -- all Alaskan ports. When we sailed on the Pearl from Seattle, we stopped at Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau and Victoria.

 

As far as the OP's question, we definitey preferred the scenery when we sailed from Vancouver. The problem is finding the itinerary you want, leaving from the port you want. Sometimes it requires a trade-off. We were only interested in cruising on NCL, and the first time we went, we sailed from Vancouver and went to Tracy Arm. For our 2nd Alaskan cruise, I wanted to see Glacier Bay -- but the only NCL ship going there leaves from Seattle.

[dirtgirl]

Just to clarify -- don't you mean if you sail out of Seattle-- not Vancouver? If you sail out of Vancouver, you've already met the requirement for your foreign port, and all the remaining stops can be Alaskan ports. We sailed from Vancouver on the NCL Sun -- and stopped at Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau and Wrangell -- all Alaskan ports. When we sailed on the Pearl from Seattle, we stopped at Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau and Victoria.

 

As far as the OP's question, we definitey preferred the scenery when we sailed from Vancouver. The problem is finding the itinerary you want, leaving from the port you want. Sometimes it requires a trade-off. We were only interested in cruising on NCL, and the first time we went, we sailed from Vancouver and went to Tracy Arm. For our 2nd Alaskan cruise, I wanted to see Glacier Bay -- but the only NCL ship going there leaves from Seattle.

 

Oops!!! Thank you for catching that. My brain obviously was in stun mode..:o

[hotmike98]

I agree with utefan. Decide what you want to see, then compare routes and ships. If you want the from the ship view of glaciers, you will need to choose a one way itinerary Vancouver to Seward or Whittier (or the reverse).

[Toyz711]

BUT if you don't have the time for a land tour in mainland alaska and just want a easy nice cruise. cruising out of seattle is pretty dang good. our 1st night, we cruised west of vancouver island (victoria)..out to sea, through you can see the lights of the island at times. since we were "out to sea" during the night, it didn't hurt our cruise at all. by 11am the 1st morning, we had islands to our west.

going into victoria at 6pm (last night of the cruise) is not bad. the shops are all open, restaurants are full swing. though we ate on the ship before going out. street entertainers...beautiful lights around the inner harbor. during the summer when you have daylight, later..many take tours of the gardens.

while leaving from vancouver has it's views, don't discount leaving from seattle.

[ute_fan]

BUT if you don't have the time for a land tour in mainland alaska and just want a easy nice cruise. cruising out of seattle is pretty dang good. our 1st night, we cruised west of vancouver island (victoria)..out to sea, through you can see the lights of the island at times. since we were "out to sea" during the night, it didn't hurt our cruise at all. by 11am the 1st morning, we had islands to our west.

going into victoria at 6pm (last night of the cruise) is not bad. the shops are all open, restaurants are full swing. though we ate on the ship before going out. street entertainers...beautiful lights around the inner harbor. during the summer when you have daylight, later..many take tours of the gardens.

while leaving from vancouver has it's views, don't discount leaving from seattle.

 

I agree that the sailings from Seattle can be wonderful too, but we sure did miss that gorgeous inside passage scenery during that first day at Sea. I can still remember sailing on that first cruise, eating dinner in the dining room, and feeling like I could reach out through the window and grab a pine cone from the trees, as it felt like we were that close to shore. I'm sure we really weren't, but that was the impression it gave.

 

I hadn't even thought about it until now, but I'm wondering why most of the ships that sail from Alaska go west of Vancouver Island instead of east. I know it can be done, as I've read a post once or twice about the Captain going that way to escape storms in the Pacific. In previous years, it's been marked on the itinerary maps that they went east of Vancouver Island one way and west the other, but in actuality, they almost always went west both ways. I know it can be done, as we got a photo of the NCL Star as she went sailing past us the day after we left Vancouver while sailing east of Vancouver Island.

 

 

Even after seeing the beauty of Glacier Bay, I'm still torn between which NCL itinerary I'd choose to repeat. Glacier Bay was magnificent, but I might end up going with the Sun's itinerary out of Vancouver which includes Tracy Arm instead of Glacier Bay.

[gg3]

I

Even after seeing the beauty of Glacier Bay, I'm still torn between which NCL itinerary I'd choose to repeat. Glacier Bay was magnificent, but I might end up going with the Sun's itinerary out of Vancouver which includes Tracy Arm instead of Glacier Bay.

 

 

Ute - unless you are just NCL fans and don't want to try other lines, HAL does a RT out of Vancouver, Inside Passage/Glacier trip that includes Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. We did this itinerary on our third trip, last month and found it a great Alaskan vacation with stops in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. gg

[ute_fan]

Ute - unless you are just NCL fans and don't want to try other lines, HAL does a RT out of Vancouver, Inside Passage/Glacier trip that includes Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. We did this itinerary on our third trip, last month and found it a great Alaskan vacation with stops in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. gg

 

I'm eventually going to have to branch out to other lines. It's just that I have one of those wonderful NCL mastercards, and I keep being able to redeem anywhere from $500 - $1000 in certificates off my cruises --- which has been the only way we've cruised 5 times since I developed this strange addiction in January, 2004. :D . Booking on another cruise line when I've got the points built up for another $500 certificate is a little hard for me to do. However, we're also interested in doing a one-way Alaska itinerary, so I know it's going to happen eventually.

[Budget Queen]

I am a big fan of round trip Vancouver sailings for the fantastic inside Vancouver Island scenery.

 

BUT with this poster stating an early season crusie?? Before 3rd week of May is fantastic for the humpback migration going round trip Seattle. :)

 

Certainly, there are no bad Alaska cruises, and I found plenty of people weren't all that interested about the sailing and scenery. So a round trip Seattle may be the best for some people.

 

But also closely look at several factors in cruise selection- routing, ports, time in ports, glacier, ship naturalist, price.

[ute_fan]

As usual, I agree with Budget Queen's comment about the whales. We sailed on 5/20 and couldn't believe how much more whale activity we saw from the ship this year than we had done three years ago, when we sailed on 6/6.

 

Most of it was as we sailed up the west side of Vancouver Island, so if you're sailing earlier in the year, that is a definite advantage.

[NancyIL]

I hadn't even thought about it until now, but I'm wondering why most of the ships that sail from Alaska go west of Vancouver Island instead of east. I know it can be done, as I've read a post once or twice about the Captain going that way to escape storms in the Pacific.

Do you mean "Seattle" rather than "Alaska"? I think most ships that leave from Vancouver do sail east of Vancouver Island, and most that leave from Seattle sail west of it.

[ute_fan]

I should know better than to try and post a quick reply while in the middle of a project at work :o . Yes, I meant Seattle -- thanks for catching it!

[GORDONCHICK]

I've heard that you are more prone to rough seas because of being out in the sea sailing from Seattle.

[Budget Queen]

I've heard that you are more prone to rough seas because of being out in the sea sailing from Seattle.

 

Yes, definately true.