Round trip or one way cruise?

I am deciding on Princess or HAL for our 1st Alaska trip. Comments please!

I am deciding on Princess or HAL for our 1st Alaska trip. Comments please!

My experience has been with Princess, we have sailed Princess a number of times and are very pleased with them, we sailed Southbound first from Seward to Vancouver, most recently from Whittier to Vancouver. We did the land cruisetours first in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, most recently Anchorage, Denali, McKinley Lodge.

With the roundtrip your going to miss Anchorage, Prince William Sound (College Fjords), great scenery of the snow capped mountains from the ship and port. I understand for some the One Way Trips are not practical.

Granting that one-way (north or southbound) does offer what the round-trips cannot offer due to the latter's time constraint, for first-time cruisers there is a definite advantage in the round-trip itinerary in that it's really carefree. Since you leave and are eventually coming back to the same place, the planning aspect is simplified. If you have never cruised before, you may not want to have to worry too much about before/after the cruise that a one-way trip inevitably requires.

Then again, many people's first Alaska cruise was one-way. So it works either way.

1st trip? One-way. Absolutely. Hands down.

Alaska cruises are expensive. Gotta do it right the first time cuz you don't know when you'll be back. This is especially important once you throw in the effects of global warming cuz it might not be 10 years or more before you get back. Once you've seen all the major stops, than think about doing a round trip.

Some people also find sea days boring. VERY boring. Or, they get sea sick (especially in the open waters like that stretch btw Ketchikan and above where the Vancouver land area ends).

We're going on our first Alaska cruise on the Coral Princess next week. We're on a northbound cruise, followed by an independent land trip. I'm not sure which I'm more excited about - the land or the sea part!

Decide where you want to go and how much time you have. HAL and Princess have similar itineraries on their northbound one-way cruises - going to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, and College Fjord. The difference is that Princess ends in Whittier and HAL ends in Seward. HAL's southbound goes to Haines instead of Skagway. Princess's roundtrips are from Seattle or San Francisco, and they go to Tracy Arm. Most of HAL's roundtrips go to either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier from Seattle or Vancouver.

I forgot to mention that in 2008, the Tahitian Princess (670 passengers) will do a 14-night roundtrip from Vancouver with an excellent itinerary: http://www.princess.com/pb/itineraryDetails.do?voyageCode=T816&tourCode=&date=&noOfPax=2&resType=C&definition_name=

Nancy - Off topic. I know you probably have your hands filled - but can you email me I have a favor to ask (seauonboard at yahoo). Put something recognizable in the subject.

I disagree that round trips are lacking, I am one, who has done many round trips and highly recommend them. They do a great job at packing plenty in those 7 days and can be a great value. Alaska cruises don't have to be expensive, depending on how you wish to travel, tours etc.

For a one way, for me, I would never consider it without at least another week for interior traveling. For me, there is little advantage in going one way, when you get to Seward or Whittier, pass through without any activities, transit a couple hours then go home or reverse. I want to take advantage of being there. :)

Everyone needs to consider some homework, make lists, head to your library etc, and find out about Alaska. Then tour according to your priorities and what is right for you. The more you know the better.

Everyone needs to consider some homework, make lists, head to your library etc, and find out about Alaska. Then tour according to your priorities and what is right for you. The more you know the better.

Listening to good advice---BRILLIANT!

My experience has been with Princess, we have sailed Princess a number of times and are very pleased with them, we sailed Southbound first from Seward to Vancouver, most recently from Whittier to Vancouver. We did the land cruisetours first in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, most recently Anchorage, Denali, McKinley Lodge.

 

With the roundtrip your going to miss Anchorage, Prince William Sound (College Fjords), great scenery of the snow capped mountains from the ship and port. I understand for some the One Way Trips are not practical.

RSWBADGER, any comments on your most recent ANC, Denali, Mckinley Lodge, cruisetour ? How many days, and did youfind it rushed etc....Planning for next year and any comments helpful,

Thanks

CALBOB

RSWBADGER, any comments on your most recent ANC, Denali, Mckinley Lodge, cruisetour ? How many days, and did youfind it rushed etc....Planning for next year and any comments helpful,

Thanks

CALBOB

Day 1, We flew from Phoenix to Anchorage, arrived 1:00 PM were able to check into Captain Cook right away, enjoyed the rest of the day in Anchorage, lot's of Restaurants, Pubs, Shopping. Captain Cook has a couple of Pubs and Restaurants also.

Day 2, Met downstairs the hotel for a early shuttle to the Train Depot, boarded train for Denali, great scenic train ride, arrived Denali mid afternoon, check in at Denali Princess was easy, new room in building 11(Canyon Station) on the river. Enjoyed the outside deck of the Princess Lodge and enjoyed dinner with friends.

Day 3, 6:00 Tundra Tour in Denali returned early afternoon, hiked the trail to the Denali Visitors Center, did the Horseshoe Lake Hike and returned to the Lodge late afternoon. Relaxed on the deck, had a great dinner.

Day 4, Morning Bus transfer to McKinley Lodge, arrived early afternoon enjoyed the area, dinner in the Main Restaurant.

Day 5, took early bus to Talkeetna, wandered around the town, breakfast at the Roadhouse, walked to Train depot, train to Whittier. Arrived Coral Princess Dinner Time. Click to Enlarge

[IMG]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/[/img]

We chose round trip since the airfare was much cheaper and we didn't have lots of extra time to extend the trip.

My guess is that one way or round trip are both great options so you just have to figure out what exactly you want from the trip.

We are going in a few days on our second round trip from Seattle (2006 & 2007). In 2000 we went on the one way from Seward to Vancover. I really believe that one of the differences is that the ship stayed more hours in each port on the one way. I noticed that this year Princess changed the itinerany and switched the towns in order of stops. That seemed to give them some more time in each port. Usually on the one way you go to Glacier Bay. If you go the one way and you are on the southbound cruise, get a port side cabin. Something to look for that is rarely mentioned is the Cape Saint Elias Lighthouse and Pinnacle Rock that sticks out of the ocean several hunderd feet located south of Cordova. An interesting sight along a desolate coast.

depending on how much time you have. I would definitely recommend a landtour prior to cruise, then take a SB back..

for us it's a round-trip. there is no way DH can take the extra time off..for a good, easy 7 day trip, the round-trip out of seattle worked best.

he's boss would have a "attack" if the best salesperson took too much time off:eek: .

we had a great trip, nice ship, relaxing, saw the highlights of the ports.

price was right and airlines tickets were easy to get.

Budget Queen, What side of the ship would you recommend for the round trip cruise on Princess out of Seattle? Thanks!

I disagree that round trips are lacking, I am one, who has done many round trips and highly recommend them. They do a great job at packing plenty in those 7 days and can be a great value. Alaska cruises don't have to be expensive, depending on how you wish to travel, tours etc.

 

For a one way, for me, I would never consider it without at least another week for interior traveling. For me, there is little advantage in going one way, when you get to Seward or Whittier, pass through without any activities, transit a couple hours then go home or reverse. I want to take advantage of being there. :)

 

Everyone needs to consider some homework, make lists, head to your library etc, and find out about Alaska. Then tour according to your priorities and what is right for you. The more you know the better.

One way or round trip. I believe only you can decide what is best for you. What do you want to do and or see? If you are flying in to begin the cruise I would strongly suggest that you arrive 1 night before the cruise. The planes are flying very, very full. If your flight is delayed you may not make the ship. (I know of a group of 30 people booked by the cruiseline that were left at the dock. Their flight was delayed 6 hours by bad weather). When I booked my flights from my local airport the price differece was enough to pay for 2 nights in Vancouver. I booked for about $650 Vancouver/Anchorage vs $850 + taxes by cruise line air. Also by flying out of my local airport I am saving 90 miles in driving. Also I found there was not any difference in flying in/out of Vancouver and from flying into Vancouver and out of Anchorage. The problem you may has is the cruise lines may have open cabins, but the air flights are full especially on days the ships are beginning and ending a cruise.

Budget Queen, What side of the ship would you recommend for the round trip cruise on Princess out of Seattle? Thanks!

Both sides will have scenery except for your first and last day, may be way off. So it really doesn't matter, since you are in Tracy Arm?? If I am assuming correctly??

oops