Alaska-What do you see from the ship on sea days?

[luv2sleep]

Besides Tracy Arm and port days, is there anything to see from the decks or balcony of the ship on sea days besides sea life (i.e. whales)? Does the ship sail close to the shore the whole time while at sea? Can you see anything besides ocean or mountains? Forgive the ignorance of this question. I just really don't know. I am trying to figure out when/where I will need to be standing on which days. If I need to be out all day to see stuff every day, I can see how a balcony would be a good idea. If it's primarily Tracy Arm day then I would probably be on the open decks for the bulk of the day so I could see more if I wanted.

Thanks!

 

[llqool]

Well, this summer they followed a slightly different course than last year, but I think next summer it should be similar to my experience in May of 2011 since they are departing from Vancouver again.

In short, the view is pretty awesome. There is a lot to see because you are travelling up the inside passage and so are close to land on both sides most of the time. Many times we saw light houses, water falls, snowcapped mountains, etc on BOTH sides of the ship. I kind of wish we had sprung for a verandah on that cruise! Especially when our kids had separate melt downs on Tracy Arm day requiring us to take turns going down to the cabin with them while they napped. Seeing the scenery from a porthole on Deck 2 wasn't the same!

If you google "inside passage" and then look at the images, it gives you an idea of some of what you might see. It was really magnificent. I was disappointed that we didn't see much on our New England cruise this summer....then it was as you described, just stuff to see when entering and leaving port.

 

[holula]

They sail close to the mountains pretty much the whole day at sea before Tracy Arm. (We left from Vancouver and sailed back to Seattle.) It was beautiful. There are some beautiful sunsets off the boat those days!

 

[Aurora l]

We had a deck 2 big round window too. There is so much to see. It was coldish, so we always had jackets on. We spent a lot of time on deck just watching amazing stuff. My DS12 then, would text us what was on the other side of the ship when we were in our room. But there was always something to see, not just water.

 

[lbgraves]

DH and I spent a lot of time on decks 4 and 10 whale watching whenever the ship was moving in 2011. If you stay in your room, even on the verandah, all day, you will miss things. We would move from port to starboard as whales were spotted. It's pretty easy to tell when they are because people will rush to the side of the ship. One day I was walking inside on deck 4 with DS and I spotted a water spout out the porthole. We ran outside so that he could see his first whale. Several people noticed us running and took the chance that we had spotted a whale...so they followed us. LOL! Turned out that was the best sighting I had because two humpback whales actually jumped out of the water together. In a way our Alaska cruise was less relaxing than others we have taken because there wasn't much down time. We did not want to miss out on seeing anything.

 

[luv2sleep]

This is great info. I was also thinking a verandah would be great with my son. I didn't realize you can see stuff all day every day. He won't want to stay out there all day with me. I can see how anything but a verandah would make it hard for me to see as much as I wanted to. I don't have a handoff person. Thank you very much for this information.

 

[luv2sleep]

DH and I spent a lot of time on decks 4 and 10 whale watching whenever the ship was moving in 2011. If you stay in your room, even on the verandah, all day, you will miss things. We would move from port to starboard as whales were spotted. It's pretty easy to tell when they are because people will rush to the side of the ship. One day I was walking inside on deck 4 with DS and I spotted a water spout out the porthole. We ran outside so that he could see his first whale. Several people noticed us running and took the chance that we had spotted a whale...so they followed us. LOL! Turned out that was the best sighting I had because two humpback whales actually jumped out of the water together. In a way our Alaska cruise was less relaxing than others we have taken because there wasn't much down time. We did not want to miss out on seeing anything.

How old was your son then. Mine would be bored after 15-20 minutes. He's 5 and will be 6 then. I don't want to keep him on the club all day. This is where my dilemma is. I'd prefer to save $$ on the cabin cat but don't know which way is the most practical way to go.

 

[lbgraves]

How old was your son then. Mine would be bored after 15-20 minutes. He's 5 and will be 6 then. I don't want to keep him on the club all day. This is where my dilemma is. I'd prefer to save $$ on the cabin cat but don't know which way is the most practical way to go.

He was 12. We did the PC repo when he was 10 and DD was 8 -- but they were done with that after a couple hours. They also told us they wanted to move to DC so they could go to the museums all the time two years before that, so they do have a good attention span. Never had a problem sitting through an entire movie with either of them. However, on our first cruise, DS was 5 and he wanted to live in the club. They did have a national park ranger in the club with the kids teaching them about things in Alaska on the cruise. That was a neat program.

 

[luv2sleep]

He was 12. We did the PC repo when he was 10 and DD was 8 -- but they were done with that after a couple hours. They also told us they wanted to move to DC so they could go to the museums all the time two years before that, so they do have a good attention span. Never had a problem sitting through an entire movie with either of them. However, on our first cruise, DS was 5 and he wanted to live in the club. They did have a national park ranger in the club with the kids teaching them about things in Alaska on the cruise. That was a neat program.

Oh he's great in a movie. He just would be bored with scenery unless it was active.

I did a 2 week with him but he played in the pool a lot of the time.

Thanks for the info!

 

[llqool]

They did have a national park ranger in the club with the kids teaching them about things in Alaska on the cruise. That was a neat program.

Our kids loved the jr ranger program on the ship and even went and did some of the land-based jr ranger programs (in Skagway and Ketchikan). In fact, we ran into our rangers from the ship in Ketchikan and Juneau. I was a little disappointed that there was nothing like that on our New England cruise.

The counselors also take the kids on deck on Tracy Arm day...we had great weather and they were all playing basketball up there. But the girls weren't too into that! The cute seals and mountain goats did engage them for a bit, but then they went back to the club.

 

[Ajojo]

We saw alot of wildlife: bunches if humpback whales, one morning a group of breaching whales, a pod of orca whales feeding, beluga whale, bears far away (or bear dots), seals, seal lions, eagles, many dall porpoises

You do have to be out on deck or on a balcony looking for wildlife. I travelled with a large group and one lady said she did not see one animal, not even an eagle. I asked her if she was out looking and she said no.

 

[kcashner]

How old was your son then. Mine would be bored after 15-20 minutes. He's 5 and will be 6 then. I don't want to keep him on the club all day. This is where my dilemma is. I'd prefer to save $$ on the cabin cat but don't know which way is the most practical way to go.

When I wanted to see the scenery, I wanted the panoramic view that you can only get from the upper decks. You'll miss way too much if your only view is from the balcony. And if your child is bored, park him in the OC. There are some good family activities on board, so he wouldn't be in the Club the whole time.

I'd save the money--I wanted to be up high looking all around.

 

[luv2sleep]

When I wanted to see the scenery, I wanted the panoramic view that you can only get from the upper decks. You'll miss way too much if your only view is from the balcony. And if your child is bored, park him in the OC. There are some good family activities on board, so he wouldn't be in the Club the whole time.

I'd save the money--I wanted to be up high looking all around.

So this is what I was wondering....how much time would I have him in the club everyday so I could really see stuff on deck? If its more than a couple of hours I thought a verandah would be better. I'm not one who to leave him there for more than a couple of hours at a time. At least for a couple of hours in the room, he can sit with me, I could take breaks hanging with him, can read books, he could play with his toys, or watch a movie all while I still get to actually look at something. He can't do all of that out on deck with me. Then we can hang on deck a bit, then I could have him visit the club for a little while before I get him again.

I haven't done this cruise before so I'm trying to get an idea about the time people spend standing out on deck looking at the scenery. Believe me my wallet would prefer the inside stateroom.

ETA: If it was just one day like Tracey Arm then I could see leaving him in the club longer for a couple of hours. It seems though its every day and I don't see the point of going of I'm going to have him in the club the bulk of the day.

Thanks for all of the info! I really want to do this cruise even more now but am just trying to figure out the logistics. I travel alone with him so it's a little more challenging with him being so young. Just trying to figure out the best way to go.

 

[tvguy]

When I wanted to see the scenery, I wanted the panoramic view that you can only get from the upper decks. You'll miss way too much if your only view is from the balcony. And if your child is bored, park him in the OC. There are some good family activities on board, so he wouldn't be in the Club the whole time.

I'd save the money--I wanted to be up high looking all around.

I agree....didn't do Disney to Alaska, HAL, but I spent hours on the top deck in a lounger just taking it all in. During sunny weather, it was cool, but still just wore a tee shirt and shorts.

 

[kay1864]

Alaska-What do you see from the ship on sea days?

Sarah Palin's house!

 

[Purdue Mouse]

It seems to be 50-50 on the veranda issue. If your family likes to spend time in your cabin, a veranda is great. Room service is free (except for tipping) and it can be fun. You should know that the weather is unpredictable in Alaska so it's 50-50 at best that you will be able to use it. There are so many areas on the ship for viewing. Truthfully there was only one day I wished I had a veranda.

 

[MedicGoofy]

While I haven't sailed DCL to Alaska, we just sailed HAL this past summer from Vancouver to Alaska. We had a balcony and had the an amazing view. We were starboard side (appearantly the side to be for better viewing, on our cruise itenerary appearantly).

We had dolphins swimming in the waves from the ship, saw whales out in the distance (could see the spray from them breaking and usually them coming to surface), saw lots of eagles, sea lions (whatever it is they have at Sea World LOL). It was amazing!!

And not just that, our weather was AMAZING, so we sat out on our deck and tanned Not too many people get to say that while vacationing in Alaska. I had a better tan coming home from Alaska, than I did for most of the summer It was great!!

 

[luv2sleep]

While I haven't sailed DCL to Alaska, we just sailed HAL this past summer from Vancouver to Alaska. We had a balcony and had the an amazing view. We were starboard side (appearantly the side to be for better viewing, on our cruise itenerary appearantly).

We had dolphins swimming in the waves from the ship, saw whales out in the distance (could see the spray from them breaking and usually them coming to surface), saw lots of eagles, sea lions (whatever it is they have at Sea World LOL). It was amazing!!

And not just that, our weather was AMAZING, so we sat out on our deck and tanned Not too many people get to say that while vacationing in Alaska. I had a better tan coming home from Alaska, than I did for most of the summer It was great!!

Wow that's great about the weather! Gives me hope that might see something (from afar) while DS is in the pool. What time of year did you go?

 

[ludari]

When cruising the inside passage you'll pass by numerous islands and you'll be close enough to see land. From the ship I was able to see bald eagles and several sighting of whales. I was trilled when I was sitting down to lunch and I noticed a pod of killer whales. All these encouters with the wildlife was just by chance where I would just look outside whenever I passed a window or was walking on deck. I'm sure I would have seen more if I camped out but who has time for that on a cruise when so much is going on.

 

[luv2sleep]

When cruising the inside passage you'll pass by numerous islands and you'll be close enough to see land. From the ship I was able to see bald eagles and several sighting of whales. I was trilled when I was sitting down to lunch and I noticed a pod of killer whales. All these encouters with the wildlife was just by chance where I would just look outside whenever I passed a window or was walking on deck. I'm sure I would have seen more if I camped out but who has time for that on a cruise when so much is going on.

Oh so you didn't camp out to look on those days? That's actually good to hear. I was hoping the camping out phenomenon would only need to occur on Tracy Arm day. An inside or ocean view might work afterall.

Thank you all for this great information. Really helps.