Tell me about cruising to Alaska

[Frwinkley]

I'm doing some research for a family member. I see some cruises that are round trip out of Seattle, round trip out of Vancouver, and others that are one way. Which route provides the greatest opportunity to see the most of what Alaska has to offer?

Any particular cruise line better than another?

 

[dotfurio]

We did a DCL round trip out of Vancouver. We added on a few days before our cruise to sight-see Vancouver, which was a lot of fun. It's a beautiful area with lots to do.

My mom went a cruise with Princess cruise line (I think) where she started in Denali for a couple days, then took a train to the cruise port and cruised one way to Vancouver. She absolutely loved it. I think if we do another Alaska cruise I'd do that, too. I'd love to explore more of Alaska and Denali National Park.

 

[kdonnel]

Just did a southbound Anchorage to Vancouver on RCCL Radiance of the Seas.

If you want to see the most of Alaska I would take a southbound from Anchorage and pair it with 3-4 days pre cruise in Denali.

 

[sonnyjane]

The one-way cruises let you see much more.... but it’s also obviously more expensive because you need to book airfare. I really enjoyed my round-trip cruise but next time will do a one-way!

 

[JLTraveling]

We did a one-way on Celebrity from Vancouver to Seward, then spent about a month traveling through the interior and it still wasn't enough to see everything. If you have any extra days, definitely do a one-way. Celebrity was incredibly nice, plush blankets on the lounge chairs on open deck, welcome mimosas, choice of champagne or hot chocolate coming back from each port. They had an expert on board to discuss Hubbard Glacier when we cruised by it, and did tons of talks on sea days about the history and wildlife and what to see in port (instead of the shopping talks many lines focus on). One tip: buy the Alaska TourSaver book before you go (normally $100, sometimes they run half off promos), and book your own excursions with it. Pretty much all the deals in the TourSaver are BOGOs, we saved about $1500 for two people over that month, still worth it even if you're just doing the cruise though.

 

[okeydokey]

We did a round trip Celebrity out of Vancouver. It is a great city and we stayed two nights before and two nights after our cruise. Went to Grouse Mountain and Capilano bridge area. Just beautiful.

We loved ,loved the cruise, the scenery is amazing. Celebrity has the best on board enrichment speakers in the business. Excursions are expensive, but so worth it. We booked our own and got small boat whale watching in Icy Straight (Hoonah). float place in Ketchikan, and an amazing day out of Juneau on a small boat to the Tracy Arm glaciers. Best vacation of our lives.

 

[tvguy]

We have done 2 Alaska cruises, both on HAL and both out of Seattle. HAL has been cruising Alaska longer than anyone, hence they have some of the best permits to visit glaciers etc. However, I suspect there isn't a bad cruise to Alaska, on any cruise line. The scenery is amazing just from the ship.

 

[design_mom]

We just got back from a Northbound one-way cruise on Princess. It was wonderful. You can add-on time a land tour of Denali National Park on either the Northbound or Southbound cruises (after the NB cruise, before the SB cruise). We were not able to do that due to time and cost, but I wish we could have. (If you can, definitely do it.)

Our NB cruise started in Vancouver, stopped at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and cruised through Glacier Bay (amazing) and College Fjord (equally amazing.) We disembarked in Whittier and transferred to Anchorage to fly home.

We read various opinions of whether Northbound or Southbound is better for a one-way cruise. We found that on a NB cruise the landscape gets more different/interesting the farther north you go, so every day was something new and exciting. We took a galley tour on one of our at-sea days. During it, they told us that they load all the food for the NB voyage, and the following SB voyage, in Vancouver... so I would guess that would mean that the food on the NB portion is fresher... although I had never seen that as a pro or con from anyone else. Just something to consider.

 

[Meriweather]

Going on 4th Alaska cruise in August
1 was HAL round trip Seattle (lived in WA at the time). Loved it. It was our first cruise. Glacier Bay!!
2 was RCCL round trip Seattle (still lived there). It was good, but missed Glacier Bay!
3 was Princess round trip Seattle. Didn't like the ship and didn't like cruising with all of our 11 people group. But the ports were great....made sure to have a cruise with Glacier Bay
4 will be RCCL again round trip out of Seattle. Looking forward to it. We really enjoy the ports in Alaska.

5 is Aug 2019....RCCL again. Cruise/tour this time. Anchorage to Vancouver......looking forward to it

 

[ronandannette]

Just did a southbound Anchorage to Vancouver on RCCL Radiance of the Seas.

If you want to see the most of Alaska I would take a southbound from Anchorage and pair it with 3-4 days pre cruise in Denali.

We took the exact same one on RoS and although we weren't originally too stoked about Alaska in general, I'd highly recommend this itinerary because of the stop in Hoonah (Icy Strait Point). We absolutely fell in love with it and not a lot of other ships port there.

 

[low-key]

You go North, until you get to the end of Canada and hang a left

 

[Wishing on a star]

Go one-way....
Maybe cost a little more, but you get what you pay for!
And, the flights are not always much more. The cruise fares can be more, too.

Glacier Bay is a MUST... Go with a cruise line that has permits to cruise Glacier Bay. Not all do.
And, the route in/out of Vancouver is better than Seattle.. the best part of the Inside Passage.

We did Southbound on Princess.
Princess does Alaska well!!!!
Before boarding, we were able to cruise Prince William Sound/College Fjord on a boat tour.
The cruise visited Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, etc...

Just wish we were also able to see Tracy Arm Fjord. Maybe thru an excursion. But a cruise itinerary with the opportunity to do both that and Glacier Bay is very hard to find.

Happy Planning!

 

[jaiminee krikit]

We cruised Alaska last summer on the Emerald Princess. It was spectacular! We did roundtrip from Seattle. We got the Club Class Mini-Suite (it was only a few hundred more than a regular MS) and it was awesome! We had a mid-ship verandah room, dedicated wait staff and seating in the MDR whenever we wanted to eat (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). One thing that made me nervous about Princess was that if you wanted anytime dining, sometimes there's quite a wait. When I heard about CC and no-wait for seating, I was sold.
I loved whale watching from our verandah. I was out there for hours every day. We loved every port. Victoria, BC was my favorite, though. I wish we'd had more time there. In Juneau we did a kayak excursion and that was my favorite excursion. We had a sea lion pop his head up right in front of our kayak!
I do wish we would've done a one-way cruise up further into Alaska, but I'm nervous about flying and didn't want to fly that far. That is my only regret about it. DD15 wants to do another one in a couple of years - she told me it was her all time favorite vacation!

 

[AppleDumpling]

We went southbound from Whittier to Vancouver on Princess, with a 4 day land tour before the cruise (flew into Anchorage). Since we may not get there again, we wanted to see some of the interior, including Denali NP.

We had an outside cabin with balcony, which for us, was well worth it. We went at the end of the season (early September) and were lucky enough to have great weather and even got to see the Northern Lights, which were truly spectacular.

 

[Cubbiecakes]

I've done Alaska via cruise multiple times, it's a great trip.
Favorites include Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Bay.

Prefer Seattle round-trips, but one-ways to/from Anchorage/Vancouver work well. Go Princess and stay in Denali, it's amazing! (do Denali first so you can relax afterwards on your cruise)

 

[vacationer1954]

Regarding roundtrip Seattle vs. roundtrip Vancouver vs. one-way, here are the differences:

One-way includes cruising across the Gulf of Alaska. You may like that extra cruising or you may prefer to avoid it, since it is effectively open ocean. One-way itineraries also typically include scenic cruising along that part of the voyage, such as Hubbard Glacier. The main reason to pick a one-way is to combine your cruise with a several-day-long land excursion into the Alaskan interior.

I wouldn't say that you see so much more with a one-way: With the roundtrip itineraries, you still make three ports of call and still do a day of scenic glacier cruising.

The main difference between roundtrip Seattle and roundtrip Vancouver is typically where you are cruising on your first and last full days of the cruise. With roundtrip Seattle, you're cruising on the open sea, to the west of Vancouver Island. With roundtrip Vancouver, you're cruising the breathtakingly beautiful Canadian Inside Passage, between Vancouver Island and then mainland.

We just completed a roundtrip Vancouver itinerary, and it was worth the extra cost and whatever extra inconvenience there may have been to enjoy the Canadian Inside Passage as well as the Alaska Inside Passage.

 

[vacationer1954]

Just wish we were also able to see Tracy Arm Fjord. Maybe thru an excursion. But a cruise itinerary with the opportunity to do both that and Glacier Bay is very hard to find.

We just completed that itinerary, and went on the small boat excursion to Tracy Arm that met up with the cruise ship while it was underway from Vancouver to Juneau. It was fantastic. I believe there are only two ships that offer all three: the Canadian Inside Passage, Glacier Bay, and the Tracy Arm Inlet excursion: Nieuw Amsterdam and Volendam, both Holland America.

 

[antmaril]

I have cruised Alaska twice, both times round trip from Seattle. My first Alaskan cruise was on HAL and the second time, we were on Princess. Both lines go to Glacier Bay, which is spectacular! On the HAL cruise, we stopped in Sitka, which is a beautiful little town. On Princess, we stopped in Skagway and took an excursion to the Yukon. We took a bus to the Yukon (needed our passports) and then took the train back to Skagway. Fabulous!

Whatever you decide, you will love Alaska. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[lorimay]

We cruised Alaska in 2013 on Disney, it was so beautiful, scenery through almost the entire cruise (inside passage).
We sailed from Vancouver, which is a beautiful city to visit. We spent a couple days in Seattle as well, also very nice.
But Alaska was just something to see and shouldn't be missed. We are from Florida so views like that are not at all what we're use to.

 

[JaxDad]

Slight change of topic...

Has anyone planned a land-only tour of Alaska recently? I'm thinking of doing one next summer with my kids, and it is pretty daunting. I have compiled several things I would like to see and do, and it looks manageable, but there is just so much, and things are just so spread out...