Alaska Cruise

[sarahvch]

Which Alaska cruise is the best for someone that has never been to Alaska.

Would like to book something today but can't decide which one to take.

If you have experienced one of the trips please tell me about it. If you have experienced both I would love to know which was your favorite.

We just want to see Alaska.

TIA

Sarah

[Got2Cruise]

Which Alaska cruise is the best for someone that has never been to Alaska.

Would like to book something today but can't decide which one to take.

If you have experienced one of the trips please tell me about it. If you have experienced both I would love to know which was your favorite.

We just want to see Alaska.

TIA

Sarah

 

When I was researching my Alaska cruise, everyone said that for the first timer, "Glacier Bay" is a must, not matter which cruiseline. So, that is how we ended up on the NCL Pearl, round trip from Seattle. A few of us from the 7/13 sailing, all posted the same remark, "awesome". Besides going to Glacier Bay, it stops at Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican, and Victoria, B.C. It is a ship that appeals to a wide range of ages and interests. It is a new ship, and it is very large.

[GORDONCHICK]

Sarah - there are so many variables. Have you narrowed your choices down? You either need to decide what ports you want to see, your departure port or if you want the ship/cruiseline to be factored into seeing Alaska.

[ute_fan]

We've been on both the Sun and the Pearl to Alaska. I'd very happily do either one again. As the previous poster stated, the normal recommendation for first time cruises is Glacier Bay, so I'd recommend the Pearl to start off with.

 

Between the Sun and the Star, I'd recommend the Sun since she sails from Vancouver and you get more of the "inside passage" sailing, but you probably can't go wrong with any of them!

[Toyz711]

if you are thinking of just a round-trip cruise...any of NCL's ships are a good choice. if you want a 1-way cruise with a chance to tour mainland alaska, you need to go to the alaska boards for more research.

the NCL pearl and star leave out of seattle. the pearl has a great route with glacier bay...it's considered a must for 1st timers because of the problems and chance of NOT seeing glaciers in tracy arms/sawyer glaciers.

the NCL sun will give a full inside passage tour, leaving from vancouver. the pearl and the star do inside passage...as all the port towns are ON the inside passage...but from vancouver it's considered the "true" inside passage.

i would research the ports...they have websites..and decide between times in ports and the actual ports.

[sarahvch]

Got2Cruise Thanks for the advice.

 

GordonChick We want to sale on NCL so our choices are 7 day Glacier Bay or 7 Day Sawyer Glacier.

We were also considering the 18 day Endicott.

[CaribQween]

Which Alaska cruise is the best for someone that has never been to Alaska.

Would like to book something today but can't decide which one to take.

If you have experienced one of the trips please tell me about it. If you have experienced both I would love to know which was your favorite.

We just want to see Alaska.

TIA

Sarah

 

I asked essentially the same question over on the Alaska board so you could go over and read the responses I got. Basically I was looking at two of the round trips that NCL offered from Seattle. The only difference was that one had Glacier Bay and Victoria and the other had Sawyer Glacier and Prince Rupert with both having Juneau, Ketchican, and Skagway. All of the answers pointed towards the itinerary with Glacier Bay and Victoria. Most were due to the fact that there are times that the larger ships can't get far enough in for you to see Sawyer Glacier so they advise to go with Glacier Bay and save Sawyer Glacier for a smaller boat. The other reason was that some do prefer Victoria over Prince Rupert but that seemed mostly a preference thing. Some people don't like Prince Rupert because it doesn't have as much of what they call a "touristy" feeling but some prefer it for that same reason. There are some itineraries that leave out of Vancouver which they say has more cruising in the "inside passage" than Seattle, however, most of those have more days "at sea" than the itineraries out of Seattle and therefore less ports. Hope this helps.

[Mari619]

I found the HAL land/sea cruise to be the best ever. They are all booked for this year (my sister-in-law & husband tried to go after our recommendation) but if you really want to see Alaska, wait until next May. What a way to go. You start with a domed train from Anchorage to Denali & then on to Fairbanks. HAL adds their cars to Alaska Railroad & it is a great ride. At Fairbanks you board their deluxe motor coaches. All hotels are included, Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Beaver Creek Yukon, Whitehorse & Frayser where you ride the White Pass Yukon rail (this ride alone is worth the trip )...ending in Skagway where the cruise starts into Glacier Bay & the Inside Passage. It was a 10 day tour with beaury every mile.

[garycarla]

Along with advice above, you should visit the ALASKA ports of call message boards.

 

Click on BOARDS at top left of this page, then PORTS OF CALL.

 

Enjoy.