Round Trip versus One Way

Hi All,

I am having trouble deciding which cruise to book for next year. We definetly would prefer to go on Princess. We will most likely not have time to do a land tour before or after the cruise. Some people are telling us a round trip is fine even if you don't go to Glacier Bay, some are telling us Glacier Bay is a must and the one way cruises are well worth the extra cost in airfare, etc.

What do you guys think? I know Carnival and a few other lines go to Glacier Bay on round trips, but we really prefer princess.

Thanks,

Greg

You could always do a one-way on the Coral/Island and then do a B2B. That is what we are doing next May. Granted you will be seeing Glacier Bay twice but hey it is a 14 day. I am not sure if the other ships of Princess does Glacier Bay. I do know that this year the Dawn out of S.F. some of their cruises went to Glacier Bay. Now for next year you will just have to check out the schedules.

Marilyn

Princess has a so so itinereary on their round trips. So if Princess is your priority, then go with a one way. Although probably will be more costly with your air. If you do this at all possible, add any time you can. It is well worth the time there. Take advantage.

However, HAL does excellent round trip cruises and in my opinion, a notch above Princess. Usually a little more per person space overall.

Choosing a cruise line (and ship) is very subjective, so this is just my opinion, based on recent experience (not nearly as vast as BQ's!). As you can see from my signature, I've tried four "brands" of cruise lines and a variety of ship sizes, and now will choose HAL if the itinerary and cost are similar for a given trip. The Ryndam itinerary included Glacier Bay for a full day and PWS/College Fjord for a half-day--the highlights of the trip for me because of the magnificent scenery (the reason I went to Alaska). It only took a few days after I was back home to decide to look for an itinerary including Hubbard Glacier--I just wish I had booked a b2b to start with!

If seeing wildlife, or fishing, or "adventure" excursions are your priority, you may choose differently. It seemed to me that the part of the cruise spent in the "Inside Passage" is somewhat wasted because it occurs when you are at dinner, a show, or sleeping! On a round trip, this could happen twice, depending on when you Dep/Arr in either Seattle or Vancouver.

One strategy is to print out the full itineraries, with Dep/Arr times for all the ports, for all the ships that you might take. Then check to see how many other ships are in port with you, what excursions or independent sightseeing you can do in the time allowed, and then decide which voyage provides the most of your "must-dos".

And then, decide to plan another time to do what you will, inevitably, miss!

Happy Cruising

We just completed B2B on Sapphire. We started LA to Vancouver, then Vancouver north to Whittier and Whittier south to Vancouver. I would recommend a B2B north, then south. There is so much to do in each of the ports, that two in each is great. Also, Glacier Bay is a must as far as I am concerned. Twice is not too often, as there is always something different about it.

We didn't have a land tour that would work with our time frame and what we wanted to achieve with this trip, so we decided on the B2B's and were quite happy. Next time we go, we won't have college aged kids with schedules to worry about, so we will do a northbound, then tour on land, then get back on a(nother?) Princess ship and go southbound.

We are hooked on Princess, so we can understand your preference as well. Princess brings park service rangers aboard for the Glacier Bay time, and I think they do a nice job with commentary, etc.

Also, in terms of airfare, we found that taking the Princess transfer from Vancouver to Seattle was worth it in terms of ticket costs, and schedules for flights. (I HATE busrides, but they provided a very comfortable bus, complete with a head, and it was not full, at about 1/2 capacity, so that made for a pleasant trip. Enjoyed the scenery on the way south, too.) That, of course, could change with the whim of the airlines. Didn't encounter any difficulties in getting to Vancouver, since we did it by ship.

Hope you can find a total trip that works for you - Alaska is fantastic. Photos don't really capture the enormity of it all.

I love Glacier Bay. One of the highlights of my trip. I'd only choose a roundtrip if it included going all the way up to Glacier Bay.

if you have two weeks, definitely do landtour then south bound one way.. Otherwise, round trip in one week should fit in as well

We are hooked on Princess, so we can understand your preference as well. Princess brings park service rangers aboard for the Glacier Bay time, and I think they do a nice job with commentary, etc.

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For clairfication- ALL ships entering Glacier Bay, are escorted in by Park Rangers. This isn't exclusive to Princess.

we did NCL star last sept, round trip out of seattle. nice trip.

but this year the NCL pearl is the one to go on..it does glacier bay with park rangers. like BQ says...all ships entering glacier bay national park have park rangers come aboard. fun to see them climb up to the ship.

we HAD to do a round-trip..only time DH had had 1 week and air fares to seattle were great when we booked. family lives in seattle...leaving from there was just enough to talk them into going with us. relaxing trip, easy flying in and out of seattle. for us it worked!!

Our first Alaska trip was on HAL one way followed by land trip we did on our own in rental car: Seward, Kenai, Denali and Anchorage. Two years ago we did Sapphire round trip from Seattle. This year we are doing Island one way north bound, and though I wish we had time to do land tour again, I feel we finally have the itinerary we want, as this will be our first trip to Glacier Bay. Just can't get enough of the beauty of Alaska! I definitely recommend departing Vancouver, even if you fly to Seattle, and recommend the mid-size ships, which usually cruise east of Vancouver Island. The more of the inside passage you take, the better IMHO. There's nothing wrong with doing the round trips when you only have the one week; and limited funds for airfare (but PLEASE make sure you fly in a day early--you don't want flight delays to spoil your cruise). Almost any day on a ship is a good day, and the scenery is so dense that you will have little, if any sensation, of repeating any portion of the cruise. My feeling, however, is that Alaska may be a once in a lifetime trip for many folks, and they probably want to see as much as possible. Itineraries that don't get you far enough for the possibility to see the calving are less than the full experience, but maybe it will whet your appetite for a return trip.