What, Where, When - 1st time to Alaska

[Markj]

Hello everyone - newbie here!! Ive cruised a few times before - Europe, Carib Hawaii, and so know what to expect on board - but have bever been to Alaska.

 

We (the wife and I)plan to fly to San Francisco and have a few days (French Laundry is a must do) before flying up to Seattle.

 

Couple of days here amongst the coffee and then an Alaskan Cruise.

 

Ive done searches and looked at reviews but am none the wiser as to:-

 

When the best time is to go?

 

What the top 5 things are to see and do?

 

Where the best places are to go?

 

Yes - I know that this can 0pen up all sorts of ideas and opinions - but unless someone can point me in the direction of something already posted then I would welcome your advice, help, opinions and ideas!!!

 

Ta muchly

 

Mark :)

[Budget Queen]

You need to make some decisions first, otherwise you aren't going to be any further ahead. :)

 

What are you looking for? A round trip Seattle cruise, round trip Vancouver, one way?? How much time do you have for the cruise/touring? There are only 6 Alaska ports on the inside Passage, so do your homework on them. Find out which is of interest to you, that will narrow down your list. Do the same with the glacier. Find out about the significant differences of areas.

 

I generally recommend mid May through first week of Sept. So, most of the season, there are NO guarantees on any weather.

[trophy_23]

Well just purely basing it on experience from my two trips the weather in May was far nicer than in Sept, does not mean it can't be nice later in the season or ugly in May. As for popular things to do, I would think whale watching, flightseeing (some combine with glacier landing or dogsledding), and tours of the ports. All ports are very easy to walk around yourself and usually there is enough time to do atleast one excursion and then some time to explore town. To give you an idea of our trips.....

 

First trip (Sept 2008)

Juneau - Mendenhall visitor center

- Mt Roberts Tram

- Walk through town

Skagway - White pass train tour

- Walk around town

Ketchikan - Walk around town

 

Second trip (May 2009)

Juneau - Glacier dogsledding

- Mt Roberts tram / walk around town

Skagway - Phototour to Haines

- walk town

Ketchikan - walk around town / duck tour

[moosetracks17]

Hi, I'm getting ready for my 2nd AK trip. First and foremost- you need to decide what your priorities of this trip are- you will see wildlife while onboard including elk, bear, eagle, and some whale. The whale watching excursions are awesome (but you can also do this in Seattle if you want to spend an extra day after the cruise.... and open your day in Juneau for dogsledding).

 

My 1st trip to AK was May 11th 2007.... it was a bit cold and the ship couldnt get back into tracey arm forjd because the ice was still too big for the ship to go by.... as soon as you hit mid June through August you're paying prime price for a reason- its prime season. AK gets rain 200-300 days a year so just plan on having misty mornings.... in May we only got 1-2 days of light drizzles.... nothing too bad at all. As you get closer to September the wildlife is hunkering down for the winter and are less noticeable. I would suggest the earlier the better as the staff onboard (and on the tours) have just started their season and arent worn out yet.

 

Completly your decision... tennis shoes will work just as good as hiking boots, a beanie, warm jacket and gloves are always nice on deck with the chilly breeze, and jeans are a given as dockers dont cut the chill as well. Its BEAUTIFUL in late May/early June as the snow is still surrendering to the suns rays but warm enough to enjoy being outside.

 

We've planned our 2nd trip for May 28th-June 4th on Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the seas.

 

Best wishes!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

My first trip:

 

Juneau: booked through RCI mendenhall glacier & salmon hatchery tour, then walked around town and had lunch at a cool little place.

 

Ketchican: walked around a lot

 

Skagway: went hiking to Lower Dewey lake and beyond (google skagway hiking trails) and youll get a PDF map..... the trail was very easy and breathtaking.

 

Prince Rupert: went on rain forest guided hike booked through RCI

 

 

 

 

This upcoming trip:

Juneau- either renting a $19 compact car through AVIS and driving to mendanhall ourselves, or booking a zipline tour through http://www.alaskazip.com/ as I had friends that went and loved it (theyll take you by the glacier as well).

 

Skagway- hiking again for sure- that was the best part of the last trip

 

Victoria Falls- either walking around town and the mansions, or doing a zipline with http://www.adrenalinezip.com/ as my uncle has used them and likes them.

[bottom-dragger]

- you will see wildlife while onboard including elk, .

 

don't think so, unless you go to afognak/raspberry or etolin/zarembo islands. both are transplants, not native.

[Budget Queen]

don't think so, unless you go to afognak/raspberry or etolin/zarembo islands. both are transplants, not native.

 

Yep, I was going to say the same thing. Actually the above post has several inaccuracies The "wildlife" is a major one, add, the "whale" watch with an extra day out of Seattle- poor choice, and Sept. having "hunkering" down wildlife? They claim they have been once to Alaska in May?? Their reports are not typical.

[timetravler]

First, the French Laundry is the absolutely BEST restaurant I have ever eaten at(4 times) and I do hope you have reservations. I believe they take reservations a year in advance.

We have sailed to Alaska in July and in August last year. We cruised right out of San Franciso last August and that was amazing. Tracy Arms Fjiord was beautiful, but so is Glacier Bay. The Princess cruise from SF goes to Tracy Arms, but not Glacier Bay. Never the less sailing under the GG bridge in SF was great(no fog, we were lucky). So bottom line is do consider cruising right from San Francisco.

[Markj]

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply - looking at the people here who have been on Alaska cruises most seem to have been more than once - so it looks like a trip this time around using he advice and ideas here and then another one to do all the bits we didnt see the first time - dont ya just love planning holidays!!!

 

French Laundry - is a definite, we are lucky in the UK to have some truly great restaurants all comparitiely close to each other, but cant wait to try Thomas Kellers flagship!! :D

 

Then I think a couple of days in SF then fly to Seattle - couple of days there then cruise from Seattle for 7 nights.

 

At the moment we are favouring NCL as we went wit them to Hawaii and like the "freestyle" programme!

 

If anyone else has any more thoughts or ideas then these are always welcome!!

 

Mark

[msd360]

If you are doing a RT cruise, you might want to consider sailing from/to Vancouver. Seattle based cruises go around the west coast of Vancouver Island instead of the Inside Passage route from Vancouver. As you can see from my signature, I have only cruised to Alaska once, but spent considerable time here doing research and it paid off with a great cruise.

[Koval]

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply - looking at the people here who have been on Alaska cruises most seem to have been more than once - so it looks like a trip this time around using he advice and ideas here and then another one to do all the bits we didnt see the first time - dont ya just love planning holidays!!!

 

French Laundry - is a definite, we are lucky in the UK to have some truly great restaurants all comparitiely close to each other, but cant wait to try Thomas Kellers flagship!! :D

 

Then I think a couple of days in SF then fly to Seattle - couple of days there then cruise from Seattle for 7 nights.

 

At the moment we are favouring NCL as we went wit them to Hawaii and like the "freestyle" programme!

 

If anyone else has any more thoughts or ideas then these are always welcome!!

 

Mark

Here is my plug for your cruise.

We are going on the Carnival Spirit 7 day out of Seattle, back in to Vanc. BC

It is Sept. 7th, we get the benifit of booking with a Cruise Critic Group, you can call the CC Ta,

and she will see about getting you any discounts and the Amenities.

The destinations are obviously Seattle, Juneau, Sailing Glacier Bay, Skagway, Ketchikan, Cruise the inside Passage, and Vanc. BC

So there is a ton of seeing going on, for this sailing.

It sounds like you have the time, so you might want to fly out of Vanc. after a day or two there.

If so, you could ferry over to Victoria for a day, and really have seen and done plenty.

Oh, if you do book with the CC Group, we have an official page for Chatting and planning,

and also a Roll call for this sailing is started for any more Questions

 

Click the button

it has lots of information.