Alaska Cruise, Advise/suggestion please

[zhangf]

I'm planning Alaska cruise for the next summer. As I am doing research, there are several options, North, South Bound, and Inside Passage. This will be my first time cruise to Alaska. Which route I should take? Also, which cruise line (with a better ship) is the best to Alaska? I am thinking about Princess. I had experience on both Crown Princess and Freedom of the Sea, both are great ships. Any other ships close to these two cruise to Alaska? Thanks in advance.

[chelle the cruise junkie]

I've done both North and South and I prefer North. Its a lot easier to fly into Vancouver and board the ship and end in Seward on the following Friday (on RCI) which gives you two days to sight see and explore Anchorage before going home if you chose. For me its a lot this stressful this way. Getting to Anchorage is pretty easy but the 4 hour bus or train ride to Seward is tiring after you've traveled all day or part of the day to get there on Thursday because most of the trains or buses leave early afternoon on Friday to be in Seward on time. Most people chose Alaska for the beauty and wildlife and to me it seems like your stealing extra time at the end on the road to Anchorge and also this gives you time to see Denali. Vancouver is pretty but its like any other big city, Anchorage is just different somehow.

I've always gone on Royal Caribbeans' Radiance of the Seas because its primarily glass and allows for spectacular views from anywhere on the ship and its easy to enjoy the splendor of Alaska without feeling crowded. It also offers both Chops and Portofino's which you had on the Freedom and the crew is the best!!!

I believe all the ships travel the inside passage whether you do the North or South departure doesn't change this.

Hope this helps,

chelle:D

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Consider a B2B round trip from Seattle or Vancouver. The airfare to Seattle is generally less to Seattle. Vancouver is a beautiful and fun city but we're considering the overall price of a cruise.

 

I would go with Princess, RCl, or Celebrity. HAL cruises are very pleasant in terms of service, food, itinerary and price , but HAL does have a considerably older group of passengers than the other lines.

 

Also consider a Princess 10 day cruise from San Francisco.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[CPT Trips]

Hello,

 

Consider a B2B round trip from Seattle or Vancouver. The airfare to Seattle is generally less to Seattle. Vancouver is a beautiful and fun city but we're considering the overall price of a cruise.

 

I would go with Princess, RCl, or Celebrity. HAL cruises are very pleasant in terms of service, food, itinerary and price , but HAL does have a considerably older group of passengers than the other lines.

 

Also consider a Princess 10 day cruise from San Francisco.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

 

Do you mean a northbound - southbound back to back? That's two weeks. And, won't you get the same port stops?

Before decidng on Seattle or Vancouver, be sure to check prices on Air Canada to Vancouver . . . they do not always show up on the big travel sites. Vancouver is less expensive from PHL.

[coffee39]

I'm planning Alaska cruise for the next summer. As I am doing research, there are several options, North, South Bound, and Inside Passage. This will be my first time cruise to Alaska. Which route I should take? Also, which cruise line (with a better ship) is the best to Alaska? I am thinking about Princess. I had experience on both Crown Princess and Freedom of the Sea, both are great ships. Any other ships close to these two cruise to Alaska? Thanks in advance.

We too are planning an Alaska Cruise for next summer. We are going to do HAL #18 Cruise/tour. This will be our first ever cruise and we are very excited about it. I cannot wait to discover part of Alaska and then relax for a week on the cruise back to Vancouver.

 

I have found so much helpful information on this site. Answers to many questions that I didn't even know I had. Hope you enjoy your cruise whatever you choose.

[donna travels]

We did Alaska Southbound Diamond Princess June 2. I would recommend a couple of days extra to see some of the interior of Alaska especially Denali Park. I didn't mind the long flight on the outbound and the shorter flight home. Enjoyed end of May beginning of June for wildlife, flora in bloom. Princess did a wonderful job on the cruise and varying ages from families with small children to young at heart seniors. Would do another Alaska Cruise and definately in this direction. Make sure you see Glacier bay it is totally awesome. :D

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

A B2B cruise is two 7 - day cruises put together. One cruise will leave from Vancouver and sail to Seward. You stay on the ship and sail 7 days back to Vancouver.

 

While you may see some ports twice, you are not going to Alaska to see the ports. You are going to see some of the world's most magnificant scenery. Further, even if you see Juneau twice you will get to see more of this interesting port.

 

As for airfares, there may be better fares to Vancouver and it is always a treat to see this city and Victoria. However, when I was researching airfares from LA, the fares were considerably less expensive to Seattle.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[tnr]

We did a one-way from Anchorage to Vancouver on the Coral Princess this summer. We also did a 4-day Denali, McKinley before the cruise. I was very glad that we did the more hectic interior portion first, then the cruise. And, Princess does a very nice land tour. By the way, we loved the Coral.

[Toyz711]

come on over to the alaska boards

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

read a few pages, especially some of the recent reviews.

there are 2 types of cruises..

1 ways...starting or ending in vancouver or whittier/seward on the mainland of alaska. these are the "northbound" or "southbound"...each are 7 day cruises. these are great if you have more time then just the 7 days and can get out to places like denali national park.

then you have roundtrips. they leave out of seattle or vancouver and return to the same port.

most of the ports on the cruise are on the "inside passage"..so any cruise that have juneau, skagway, ketchikan and a couple of other ports, in them...are cruising some type of "inside passage". the truest inside passage goes from vancouver. but even leaving from seattle, you are cruising 3/4 of the inside passage and have great views.

last cruise we went with ease of travel, did a roundtrip out of seattle on NCL..loved it. not hauling luggage around, it was perfect for us. next time i will research ports and find excursions, then find the ship (would be hard since we love NCL so much).

http://www.traveljuneau.com/

http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/

http://www.skagway.com/

you may want to consider the glaciers, some 1 ways have more then 1 glacier..that's a plus. some newbies don't consider that fact that ships don't aways get close to either hubbard or sawyer glaciers (ice chucks in the water can be dangerous to the ship). sawyer is the worse for this, but can be worked around. glacier bay doesn't have to ice problems and is a good choice for newbies.

more answers you will find on the alaska boards. have fun researching.

 

http://www.alaskacruises.com/alaska_glacier_viewing.asp

[zhangf]

Thanks for your response/assistance/help (all). I think now I have some ideas how to choose the cruise line to Alaska. I am not looking for b2b in North and South Bounds, but when I looked up Alaska cruise, one of the choice is North/South Bounds. I thought this is the one route.

[CPT Trips]

Northbound usually goes from Vancouver to Whittier/Seward (nearest airport is Anchorage). Southbound is the reverse. You will have a couple seadays for the fjords and glaciers on these.

Then, there are round trips from either Seattle or Vancouver using the inside passage.

All are normally seven days.

The flight to Anchorage is long!

[mlj555]

We did a one-way from Anchorage to Vancouver on the Coral Princess this summer. We also did a 4-day Denali, McKinley before the cruise. I was very glad that we did the more hectic interior portion first, then the cruise. And, Princess does a very nice land tour. By the way, we loved the Coral.

 

We did this last year with the land pkg. first then sailing on the Coral. It was our first cruise and will probably always be the one we compare others to. The food was amazing and Mt. McKinley and Glacier Bay were the highlights for me. Alaska is a great experience on any cruise ship.

[NancyIL]

We chose the northbound Coral Princess in June, then spent 8 days driving around Alaska with a rental car. Since we weren't on a cruisetour, our land trip wasn't exhausting. I loved the ship and the itinerary, and would highly recommend it for a first-time Alaska visitor. I wouldn't change a thing about our independent land trip, either.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Our first Alaska cruise was northbound and we just got home on Friday from a southbound Alaska cruise. If (I really should say "when") we cruise Alaska again it will definitely be another southbound. We spent a couple of days in Anchorage--doing excursions from there--before taking the train to Whittier and then two days in Vancouver BC before going home. The flight to Anchorage is long, and we were happy to get that out of the way first--last time, taking the long flight after was much more difficult.

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[Budget Queen]

Especially, if you have more than a week, consider a one way cruise, which on the major lines is only out of Vancouver, not Seattle. Seward is my preference over Whittier, so my opinion, HAL is an excellent consideration. I suggest looking at itineraries of 2 glacier sailings on a one way, meaning Glacier Bay/Hubbard and College Fjord. A good compromise is Carnival which offers 4 ports including Sitka.

 

If possible, 2 weeks works great with a 7 day cruise and another 7 for interior Alaska. Do not underestimate time necessary and vast distances. If you go with a cruisetour- it's also very important to do your homework and know exactly what you are purchasing- many people do not. Cruisetours- get common descriptions of "rushed" "hectic" etc. Going for longer lessens this.

 

If an option, independent touring is simple and the forte of this board with clear accurate trip planning information, if you care to take advantage of it.

 

For round trip- Vancouver round trips offer an excellent adventure packed into 7 days, wonderful scenery.

[oakbriar]

I have cruised on Royal Carribbean and Princess lines and by far I prefer Royal Carribean. We are going to ALaska in May of next year and will be on Seranade of the Seas which I have not been on but a friend has and in fact, she has taken this ship twice. As fa as which direction to go it is all in what cities you want to see. Certain routes do the same cities and some do those plus a few extra. Also, consider which city you want to fly into and out of , if you have a preference. Hope this little bit of information helps you some. Have a great trip!!

[8 Bells]

We chose the northbound Coral Princess in June, then spent 8 days driving around Alaska with a rental car. Since we weren't on a cruisetour, our land trip wasn't exhausting. I loved the ship and the itinerary, and would highly recommend it for a first-time Alaska visitor. I wouldn't change a thing about our independent land trip, either.

 

We are doing the same cruise the week of Memorial Day (May 08) on Coral. Nancy, when you arrived in Whittier, did you rent the car there? Are the gas prices the same as the lower 48? Also, do you know how long the drive from Whittier to Denali is? Thinking about this for the end of the cruise. Thanks in advance for your help! :)

[NancyIL]

We are doing the same cruise the week of Memorial Day (May 08) on Coral. Nancy, when you arrived in Whittier, did you rent the car there? Are the gas prices the same as the lower 48? Also, do you know how long the drive from Whittier to Denali is? Thinking about this for the end of the cruise. Thanks in advance for your help! :)

 

We took the Alaskan Leopard shuttle (http://www.alaskanleopard.com/Tours/index.htm) to Anchorage after our cruise ended in Whittier, and spent the night in Anchorage. We picked up an Enterprise rental car downtown the next morning, then began our land trip. We went to several places, but Denali wasn't one of them. Once you're through the tunnel in Whittier, the drive to Anchorage is a little over an hour without stops. I've read that you should allow 5-6 hours for the drive from Anchorage to Denali. As far as gas prices, they vary a lot in the lower 48! We didn't find gas prices in Alaska to be more than at home (central IL).

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Are the gas prices the same as the lower 48?

 

As Nancy said, they vary here in the lower 48--so that's a relative question. :p When we left Portland on Aug. 11, the station we usually use was at $2.87 and lowest we saw on the cruise was $3.42.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[NancyIL]

As Nancy said, they vary here in the lower 48--so that's a relative question. :p When we left Portland on Aug. 11, the station we usually use was at $2.87 and lowest we saw on the cruise was $3.42.

 

I should qualify my comment above about gas prices. They were comparable to prices at home when we were on the land part of our trip, although I've read they were higher near Denali. I would expect prices in port towns to be high, since everything else costs more there.