Glaciers

Agree the Cedarbrook is one of the nicest airport properties. Doesn’t really seem it’s at the airport due to its dandy setting. They also have a good restaurant. Another option is the Radisson. It’s directly across the street from the airport. They have a shuttle although it’s a short walk from the airport baggage area. 13 Coins is next door.

I had read that RCCL/Celebrity were awarded a GB contract but chose not to sign the agreement so they will not be eligible again until 2029. With the popularity of GB you have to wonder why.

@Dopeyjoy The Marriott Waterfront is across the street from the cruise terminal. A very short walk.

I think you may need to let go of something. There are no practical day trips to Sitka or Glacier Bay from other ports while on a cruise. Princess has a dandy 11 night that includes both plus Hubbard Glacier which would be a treat although it’s round trip out of Vancouver. Agree Sitka has been an exceptional port, our favorite. Glad we went several times years ago now. There is a recent thread on Trip Advisor that indicates it is now getting overrun by visitors and just isn’t what it used to be although still a good stop.

I’m partial to south-central Alaska, there is just so much to do. Two of our favorite excursions are the Matanuska Glacier hike and the Spencer Glacier Iceberg Float. A day wildlife/glacier cruise out of Seward and/or Whittier are good. Depending on your itinerary, drive times between Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks eat up a lot of time that could be spent enjoying other areas rather than sitting in a car/bus/train for many hours.

According to their website FAQs there are no shuttle buses to the Wildlife Conservation Center and it’s a 1.5 mile walk from the Portage Station to the entrance. Not a bad walk but you’d be walking along the highway shoulder much of the way. It’s about 1 mile to complete the loop within the center. You might contact them directly by phone or email for transportation options.

If you won't have time for exploring the area staying at the airport will save some money. You can then use Seattle Express to the port. There are two cruise terminals in Seattle. Knowing which one you'll be departing from may help in recommending a hotel. The Mediterranean Inn is one of the closest to Pier 91. The Belltown Inn is a 4 block walk to Pier 66. Both are reasonable by downtown hotel standards.

Is there any news regarding this? I can find nothing about it.

We drove down from Anchorage and stayed a couple nights there early in the season one year. It was nice to have the car as they didn’t have the shuttle at the time like they do now. The restaurant had just reopened for the season and it was packed with locals. They were so happy that the seasonal restaurants were reopening and were beating the crowds that were to arrive shortly. We would stay there again.

@poohbear8 I’ve driven it twice in about 4 days in the early 80’s before most of it was paved. 8 days is certainly doable although the difficulties are in the details. Are there rentals available? How would you get from Seattle to Vancouver after dropping the car? The drive is nice although not really a good last minute decision. There is a lot of planning involved. There are folks over at Trip Advisor that can give you some better advice regarding this. There are many posts now on Facebook that appear to indicate that RCL is really stepping up to help those affected.

Look at the Windsong Lodge. It’s about 4 miles out of Seward towards Exit Glacier. They do have a shuttle into the downtown area and have a restaurant onsite.

The only practical way would be flying from Anchorage. Even then, depending on schedules, you may need to fly to Seattle and then back up to Vancouver for your cruise. You may be able to rent a vehicle from GoNorth and drive although the problem will be that this may be last minute which may be problem with booking a flight too. Hopefully you purchased insurance. You may have already seen this but there is a thread for others with the same problem.

The two best spots for humpback whale watch tours are Icy Strait Point and Juneau. There are many that guarantee sightings, if not all of them. Early cruise season is good for whale sightings in Sitka although not sure there are any guarantees like Juneau & ICP.

Another option might be to use PJ's Taxi to take all of you from Whittier to Seward. It's easy to do Seward activities without a car. You can always rent one there if needed, if they are available. What's your time worth?

There are several posts in this forum that address that. Try the search function. Also, @martincath is a local who may jump in here and answer your question.

Look at the YWCA Hotel. It gets good reviews and is reasonable by downtown Vancouver standards. https://ywcavan.org/hotel

Harv n Marv, Jayleen’s & Juneau Whale Watch get consistently good reviews. The main differences are the size of the boat and time on the water. Harv n Marv & Jayleen’s spend 3 hours on the water, JWW 2 hours on the water but also have a combo tour where they take you to Mendenhall Glacier after the whale watch and then back to the ship. If motion sickness is an issue, the JWW boats are bigger holding up to about 40 passengers. We have had about 25 passengers on 4 trips out with them. They all go to the same places. If seeing whales is a priority, more time on the water is better.

Agree with @Meander Ingwa, Charter or Motif, simply better locations. Some hotels like the others you mentioned with "downtown' in the name aren't really downtown and a bit more difficult to explore from although everything is pretty much walkable.

That's interesting. I had not heard they were doing multiple excursions from the same ship.

At what point did the excursion pick up from the ship? Was it still miles off or did they pick up after getting that close?

Do you know about how far you were from the face of the glacier. Did you make it past Haenke Island?

Anyone on a Princess trip this year make it to the face of Hubbard Glacier? Seems since they started the optional excursion a few years ago they are not making any attempts at getting closer. I do see several posts that other lines are making it much closer.

We did a Panama Canal in April/May on NCL and we're charge the local tax on drinks onboard while in port. Maybe $1/drink. We had the drink package.

There’s no state tax, but some of the local communities do have a tax.

Quick Shuttle may be your best bet since they pick up at Smith Cove. @Ferry_Watcher may have suggestions here. There’s always luggage storage at the Purple Store next to Pike Place Market.