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Need Help Please planning 7 day cruise to Alaska


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I’m a veteran cruiser, but never been to Alaska... I would so appreciate your help planning my trip. We would like to go in June of this year.

 

I will be cruising with my good friend and her husband. I’ll have my own cabin, so I think I’m going to get hit with the single supplement again. (or is there a suite with two bed rooms??)

 

Which ship would you recommend? (We are open to any cruise lines EXCEPT Carnival and Norwegian.)

 

Which port should we sail out of?

 

Which excursions would you recommend? I’ve saved up more than I need for this trip, so money isn’t a problem. I would love to go out on a glacier if possible. I heard there are float boat trips?

 

Thank you for any help. I’ve been trying to do my homework, but I’m overwhelmed.

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I'm sure you'll get a lot of advice, and if you search the forum you'll find a number of prior threads that asked the same question (and garnered a lot of advice that you could use, as well). Having said that, we went through this process a year and a half ago leading up to booking our upcoming Alaska cruise.

 

The considerations we factored in were: (and I recommend considering these issues in this order, since most of the time a question later in the list relies on the answer to a previous question)

 

 

  1. Cruise-only or Cruise plus land tour?
  2. If cruise-only: One way or round-trip? If Cruise plus land tour: Land tour before or after cruise?
  3. Seattle (i.e., more exposure to open ocean) or Vancouver (i.e., more exposure to the Inside Passage)
  4. Is Glacier Bay important?
  5. Do you need to worry about how many days off from work you're going to need to take?
  6. Does it really matter if you're on the newest ship or not?

We couldn't afford the time or money of a land tour, but really wish we could; that would have changed everything about the decisions we made. Given that we decided to go cruise-only, we also decided to go round-trip rather than one-way for a couple of (personal) reasons: We don't like to fly so eliminating the extra flight up to Anchorage was a plus for us, and we also don't like cruising exposed to the open ocean and the round-trip avoids the exposure to the open ocean that the one-way cruises have crossing the Gulf of Alaska. That also affected our decision about from where to cruise: Our preference would have been to go round-trip to/from Seattle, except that round-trip Seattle cruises tend to cruise up the west coast of Vancouver Island, exposed to the Pacific, while round-trip Vancouver cruises tend to cruise between the mainland and Vancouver Island.

 

With Glacier Bay important to us, that limited the choices further, mostly to Princess and Holland America (though other cruise lines do sometimes cruise Glacier Bay). We do need to worry about conserving days off from work, so a weekend-to-weekend cruise works better for us than a midweek-to-midweek cruise. That focused us on Ruby Princess and ms Nieuw Amsterdam. They're both pretty new so either would have worked for us. We went with the latter because we've cruise Holland America previously.

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Thank you for responding. I have searched the forum, and haven’t found the answers that I’m looking for. I want to do seven days because I have a pet at home, and although I have someone coming in to take care of her, I don’t want to leave her more than seven days. Maybe I need to talk to a travel agent. I was really hoping to get some responses from some people who have been on the trip.

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Your initial post is less than 24 hours old. Not sure you’ve given it long enough to get some more suggestions. I think you need to look at this a bit differently. Most lines are more similar than different so you might start looking at what you want to do and see while off the ship. Then, look for a line and itinerary that fits. There’s really not a lot of port variety when cruising the main lines, most go to the same ports with some exception like Glacier Bay.

 

There are posts from folks who thought a travel agent might be a good idea only to find out that they were given blatantly incorrect information regarding Alaska. If you go the TA route, make sure they are well versed in everything Alaska, most are not.

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In 2012 we did a r/t out of Seattle on the Golden Princess. Maybe we were lucky but the first day out (sea day) was calm. Just because you are in open ocean does not mean it will be rocky.

 

In Skagway we did an all day excursion with Chilkoot Charters. They were highly rated on here. It did not disappoint. We were in a small bus (about the size of the buses at the airport that take you to car rental or hotel). The driver/guide was excellent. We went up to Carcross in the Yukon. You need to take your passport. Somewhere along the way was lunch and then we took the train down the mountain. Excellent tour.

 

In Juneau we did Harv and Marv to go to Mendenhall Glacier and then Whale watching. We had to get to the glacier on our own but they picked us up there and took us out on the waters. They came highly recommended.

 

Ketchikan we took a ship excursion to Totem Bite State Park. There are totem poles there. It was interesting but not a highly recommend.

 

At the time we went we had only cruised Carnival which we loved. Their schedule did not mesh with ours so from reading online here I narrowed it down to Princess and HAL. We chose Princess and loved it. Princess has at least 5 ships up in Alaska. I think the best thing is to go to their website and and click on plan a cruise. You pick the month you want and you will see the ships and dates. Once you narrow down what dates work for you then you can post the ships on here and people will tell you which ships they preferred. It is all preference. None are bad but people who have been on several may prefer one over another for a specific reason.

 

If you don't want to do r/t from Seattle then you can go from Vancouver. There are one way sailings, northbound or southbound. I hear that the air from the states to Vancouver is more than the r/t fares to Seattle but check it out to see.

 

Hope this helps a bit. I know it can be overwhelming but unless your travel agent is an experienced Alaskan agent the people on here are much better to help.

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We sailed on HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam this past July Vancouver RT. We wanted to see Glacier Bay so that’s what helped narrow down the options for us and we are glad we did. Glacier Bay was our favorite day of the cruise. The HAL ship was very nice, the food was really great in the specialty dining and good to great in the included restaurants. Depending on where you live it may be much easier to fly to Seattle so that is something to consider but we wanted to see Vancouver so we were ok with the extra travel time. We thought the entertainment on board was very good in the BB King Lounge but not so much in the main theater. Also enjoyed America’s Test Kitchen. And the spa was really nice. The excursions were great too. The demographics of the crowd is of course older than other cruise lines but we thought the other passengers were very nice and since we were traveling with our kids it was nice that the atmosphere was not full of heavy drinkers and people partying late at night because our kids go to sleep by 10. There were probably about 150 kids on board which is enough for our kids to enjoy new friends to play with but not so many kids as to be overwhelming. I would be happy to answer any questions you have based on our experience.

 

 

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We have sailed with Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Our favorite was Celebrity, mostly because of the naturalist and historian they had on board. Their talks were wonderful about the wildlife and habitat, and then the history for the area and ports of call. All 3 lines were very good in entertainment and food. We have sailed out of Seattle and Vancouver. My preference is Vancouver because I like to spend a couple days sightseeing prior to the trip. Seattle was good too and the airfare was less expensive. Enjoy your trip, Alaska is one of our favorite cruises.

 

 

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I was going thru this dilemma 7 years ago before I booked our 2013 Alaska cruise. After asking a TON of questions on here (BudgetQueen was a HUGE help), we decided to do a week inland pre-cruise and then a one way from Seward to Vancouver on Celebrity. Celebrity sailed on a Friday then and that worked out time wise for my now ex. One thing I found in my research was that the port times on a one way were much longer than on a round trip. My mom decided to join us for the cruise portion and so I wanted to make sure we maximized our time on land so my mom could see as much as she could - she was 76 at the time of the AK cruise. We had a blast and checked off everything on our lists - wildlife, flight plane, glaciers.

 

Go to the library or a bookstore and get some guidebooks on Alaska so you can decide what you may want to see/do. I relied on a Frommers guide, but Anne Vipond's Alaska by Cruise Ship is also highly recommended on here. Once you've narrowed down what you really would like to see, head to a cruise specialist travel agency and request cruise brochures for every line that has a ship in Alaska. Then you can compare the ports of call, length in port, ship amenities (although frankly those were very low on my list) and cost. Yes, it may still be overwhelming. I actually did an Excel spreadsheet so I could keep it all straight in my head. Plus it really helped seeing it all in print and made it a whole lot easier to narrow things down.

 

 

If you do decide on a one way, I would strongly suggest flying in to Anchorage at least a day early and making your way to either Seward or Whittier and taking a Kenai Fjord (out of Seward) or Prince William Sound (out of Whittier) tour. We did the one is Seward and we saw whales (orcas & humpbacks?), kittiwakes, seals, sea lions, otters and we got close enough to see/hear a glacier calving...phenomenal cruise.

 

Enjoy Alaska. It's soooooo beautiful and so vast, that you'll be planning another trip before you know it. I'm still working on saving up so I can go again!

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Roundtrip tickets to Seattle or Vancouver may be cheaper but I just priced out a princess 7 day roundtrip and southbound and the southbound with airfare was cheaper. I wanted to do land tour but shortened it due to my dog. I have been to Alaska before but not to glacier bay so I was looking at princess and Hal. Have refundable deposits on both but leaning toward 7 day southbound on star princess since shorter. Flying into anchorage day before and taking train to Whittier and PWS cruise before boarding the ship.

I advise you to do mock bookings of various cruises and look at airfare and excursions. Alaska is pricey but so worth it.

 

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I have been on two Alaskan Cruises. Both trips were RT/Seattle on the Golden Princess.We loved both of them. We will be cruising to AK this June on the Emerald Princess, another RT/Seattle. I really enjoy sightseeing in the Seattle area.

One cruise included Glacier Bay, and one included Tracy Arm Fjord. I highly recommend a cruise that includes Glacier Bay. It is breathtaking!

We have done lots of different excursions. We will be trying different excursions for the upcoming trips. In Juneau we have done, zipline, salmon fishing, Mendenhall Glacier. My sister and her husband did the plane, glacier landing trip. They loved it. My sister raved about it.

In Skagway, we took the Yukon bus trip to Carcross and Caribou Crossing. We really had fun on that excursion. The scenery was beautiful and there were lots of photo stops. Lunch was included also.On the second trip to Skagway, we took a jet boat ride through a nature preserve near Haines. That was a great excursion. We saw moose, bear eating salmon, and lots of eagles up close. It was raining and we still enjoyed it. A picnic lunch was included also. In Ketchikan, we walked through town on our own during the second cruise. On the first cruise, we did the lighthouse, eagle and totem tour. That was very enjoyable. Loved seeing all the eagles. We saw both adult and juvenile eagles. On the upcoming cruise we will be trying different excursions. All of our excursions were booked through the ship. A lot of people like to rent cars and do their own driving, but neither one of us like to drive and sightsee at the same time, so we chose organized tours. Also, many people like to book tours on their own with local companies. We did not choose to do that either, but people seem happy with these.

In Victoria, we did the double decker bus tour and toured a castle. Victoria is a beautiful city, but it is short stop in the evening.

I am sure you will love this cruise, no matter which ship and route you take. Alaska is such a magical place. I love it and am excited about the upcoming trip. Please post which trip you choose.

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With 2 cabins, likely you are looking at double occupancy rate, You have eliminated 2 cruise lines, for what ever reason, then I'd suggest you look first at "Alaska". Determine WHAT you want out of the trip??? There are only 6 inside passage ports, so I suggest you look at each one- closely and determine what touring you would do at each one. then rank your priorities. Determine what glacier preference.

 

You'll be looking at round trips I'll speculate? Choices will be Seattle or Vancouver.

 

With claiming 7 days are your limit- means you are ok - taking the risk of flying in the same day of your cruise?

 

I suggest, trying and see if your library has, or can get the book Alaska By Cruiseship by Anne Vipond

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This is wonderful information, thank you! I will be ordering the two books recommended. It is so overwhelming, and I’m so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to respond.

 

I watched an Alaskan special on TV, and saw where you can helicopter onto a glacier and walk on one with a guide. I would love to do that!

 

I do want to take the train ride everyone talks about. I would also love to pan for gold.

 

I know what I don’t want to do.. I don’t want to do the lumberjack show, nor the totem pole tour and being a dog lover, I think the dog sled tour would upset me. I also have no interest in fishing, although my friend’s husband wants to do that.

 

I did say seven days, but I realize I would need to fly up a day earlier for the cruise. I have someone coming in every day to take care of my parrot, but she is miserable when I’m gone. Seven or eight days is my limit. I’m sure other pet lovers here understand.

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