Considering Alaska and Need Help!

[Fyrefly]

Hello Lovely People of Cruisecritic,

 

I tend to ramble a lot and so I will do my best to keep this as brief as possible. If I leave anything key out I apologize in advance - I'll jump back on ASAP to fix it! :D

 

I have been curious about cruising for a while, but my family does not cruise, and we don't know anyone who does. I suggested Alaska for a possible family vacation in August 2010, as my dad is not a beach person and my mom and I both love wildlife. I consider myself a budding photographer and I think I would very much enjoy a trip to Alaska.

 

When I mentioned it, my dad just looked at me and said "Price it out. Make me a plan and I'll tell you what I think." while looking a little skeptical...:rolleyes:

 

We are very independent travelers, that is, we don't go on tours to multiple locations. We map out our own routes and go to places that interest us. So, may I please have some advice on how to begin planning a vacation to Alaska which would have a cruise component? Some points I am considering:

 

1) My parents are both over 55. I'm 22. Activities with lots of physical exertion are probably not in the cards, though they are AARP and AAA members so that may help with cost. All three of us want to share a room.

2) I'd like to make this as good a value as possible. I'm not saying we don't know the value of a good vacation, but I'm planning on doing a few "packages" to run by my dad.

3) For first-timers, would you suggest a round-trip cruise only, or land component? I'm thinking having some time to drive about by ourselves and hit a few sights might appeal to my dad's "I like to plan my own vacations." nature. Do the packages offered by HAL and Princess offer any value advantages or freedom in planning?

4) Motion sickness is a major concern for my mom, and a pretty decent concern for me. I've heard both outside rooms and lower, inside, midship rooms to combat this and I don't know what to make of any of this. Are there routes that tend to be rougher, going out to sea further, etc. that we should avoid?

5) Ports will definitely be important, probably more so than fancy things on the ship like rock-climbing walls or whatever. If the bigger ships which are less likely to make us sick have that, hurray, but ports > ships for me. I want to see Glacier Bay and learn all about it, and see maybe some wildlife (if I'm lucky), which is why I'm thinking HAL or Princess, but being able to see diverse ports, or even historical ones since we're history buffs, would be fantastic.

 

Thank you so much for sticking with me this far. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm incredibly overwhelmed and confused trying to plot out a first cruise and a first time to Alaska all at once. I'm told the cruises are THE way to do Alaska.

 

I'd be eternally grateful for tips as to various line recommendations, especially based on the criteria I've mentioned about, tips on how to go about this planning process, and anything else any of you can think of to help me. :o

[firefly333]

I had a older friend (sounds like older than your folks) who was concerned with all the things you are. She choose HAL, which has multiple ships, so they often have bargains compared to other cruiselines. You might feel HAL is too quiet for you, even though it might be great for your folks.

 

For myself, I would only do a round trip, from probably Seattle, though I would consider Vancouver. .. because of airfare. One way airfare is prohibitive from Dallas where I live.

 

I would choose a simple 7 day round trip, get a cabin very midship in case you are prone to seasickness .. but these cruises on the inside passage are probably very calm compared to be out in hurricane type ocean waters, so are not that rocky.

 

Excursions on the Alaskan cruises are high .. I would choose some private excursions to keep the price down .. this is where you will spend most of your money for Alaska .. more so than the price of the cruise. A few $200 pp excursions .. they will be your largest expenditure. This is where I would watch what you spend the most.

 

Princess, RCL, Carnival etc are all good to Alaska as well.

 

May and Sept will be bargain rates. How do your parents feel about cold .. they are much cheaper because its colder this time of year and less daylight to see the sights.

 

This is the one cruise I would do a balcony so I could hear the glaciers calving at night and be able to run out and see them. Other cruises I dont care if I can see the ocean or not as it is endlessly the same.

[Mrs007]

If you go to the Alaska board under the Ports of Call, you will find an abundance of information. And, everyone has there own special preferences. You will need to do a lot of research and make decisions as to what YOUR preferences are. I prefer a cruise that has a stop in Sitka. It is a great place for whale/sealife tours. Ketchikan is a great place to wonder around and not have to spend a lot for expensive tours there. I prefer Hubbard Glacier - others prefer Glacier Bay. If you are on a smaller ship that can get into Tracy Arm, that is wonderful, but make sure it sails far enough into Tracy Arm.

 

There are a lot of expensive excursions in Alaska, but you don't need to take them if the budget doesn't allow. There are plenty of wonderful things to see and do on a budget. Having said that, I would highly recommend a whale watch in either Sitka or Juneau. We have been there 4 times on a cruise. There are things I would not worry about doing and things (like a whale excursion) that are a must for me.

 

If your family is more of a "do it ourselves", you might just consider flying to Anchorage and renting an RV and touring Alaska on your own and forget the cruise. You may enjoy that more.

 

Have a great time with your parents. It will be a vacation you will talk about for the rest of your lives.

[cb at sea]

After you choose the ship and route, get a guidebook on your ports. That way, you'll know WHAT there is to see, and it will tell you how to go about it on your own. Somethings may best be done via an excursion...simply because of time constraints....if you're not there when the ship is scheduled to leave, you're out of luck---they will NOT wait for you, unless you're on a ship-sponsored excursion. If something is far away and will take your entire time allotment, I'd go with the ship's excursion. Otherwise, most things are much easier and cheaper to do on your own, in many cases.

[Great Sky Girl]

I think you should definitely go! :D We had never cruised before and My husband is one that would not cruise to the Caribbean or Mexico ever. But Alaska was just outstanding!!! Late May it is light practically all night, the "night" is about 2 am! I am also one who gets "sea sick", but had absolutely no problem on Princess. I did get a patch from my doctor before I left and wore it 3 days, but did not need it after that. Our Princess cruise ship was so wonderful!:) A cruise from Vancouver has calmer waters than from Seattle. We were in our sixties when we first went and are going again next year. The excursions can be as costly as you want...there are so many! We reserved them on our own, making sure we would be at the ship on time. Most port times are plenty long enough to get to do a lot. This year we are renting a car in Skagway and driving to Carcross! So excited!

Your Dad will just love it and talk about this vacation for so long, probably go back because you can not get it all in one trip.:D

[jsummerton]

I had a lot of your concerns when I planned my first cruise ever to Alaska. I get motion sickness in the back seat of cars and on smaller boats. But I never have gotten sick on a ship because of the stabilizers I guess. Also, just in case, have draminine in some form and like others have said go midship for a room.

 

I went very cheap my first cruise and walked around many of the towns we were in. I wouldn't recommend that because there are so many beautiful things outside the towns you stop at. But in Juneau, Mendenhall glacier is a nice place to see on your own with just a bus ride (about $12 round trip) to the park. There you can hike or just take a walk to the water and there's a waterfall and it takes you close to the glacier. That park is where I saw a bear catching salmon in a little creek just off the parking lot.

 

So, a really nice trip can be had for not a lot of money. Like others have said, read the Alaska destinations and see what appeals to you most.

 

Since you're talking about doing things yourselves, perhaps you could take a one way trip and do a land based tour, possibly in that RV, on the northern end and really see alot of Alaska.

 

Also, many recommend Skagway as a do-it-yourself port. Rent a car and take the road up to Canada to the Klondike. They say there's often a lot of wildlife along that road and it's very scenic too. Also, historic for the gold rush days.

 

I think you'll love the cruise. I know I loved mine and it started a long love affair with cruising for me.

[chasintrail]

My dad and I went in 2009. We're the same way, very independent. This was my first cruise and honestly I did not expect to enjoy the cruise aspect but was pleasantly surprised when I did. I chose HAL for the smaller ships and fewer activities, it was a good fit for our personalities. We took an early May sailing and had fantastic weather all week, I understand that it was VERY unusual though.

 

If you are history buffs, I highly recommend an itinerary that stops in Sitka. It was the least commercialized of our port stops, and was originally a Russian town (I think the capital?). Great Russian Orthodox cathedral, nice town to walk around. More history than most port areas. And the Raptor center was awesome! Great photos from there.

 

Definitely take a private whale watch tour, we took one with only 6 other people, many of the ship excursion boats that we saw were much larger and packed and couldn't get to some of the places we went. Check the port of call board for Alaska, the one we took is highly recommended for Jeneau. If you're shooting with an SLR, get or rent the longest glass you can for the whale watch. My one regret is that my camera didn't allow me some of the shots that I could have taken. I still got some great pics, but with a longer lens, I could have gotten better. Oh well, it's an excuse to go back ;>

 

The float plane tour of the Misty Fjords was well worth it also.

 

Alaska can be expensive, but the trip was worth every penny and I'd do it again in a heart beat. If you can, get a balcony room. The scenery on the inside passage and for the glacier viewing is worth it.

 

I did look into the cruise/land tours for HAL. I loved the idea of them. But I knew that we'd hate the bus tour part. You may want to consider a one way and rent a car and travel on your own on the other end. There's sure to be someone that has done this and you can find some info on the Alaska board.

 

Whatever way you decide, go, you won't regret it!

[Cruisin' Chick]

One thing I would suggest for you that I suggest for anyone thinking about going on their first cruise: go find a cruise specialist (a travel agent knowledgeable about cruises). He or she could recommend a great first cruise.

 

We used Princess for our Alaskan cruise, a round trip out of Seattle. We didn't want to do any land excursions as we felt our daughter who was 7 at the time wouldn't be interested (she OD'd on scenery on our train trip up the west coast to Seattle). I believe Princess has developed some excursions that work with those doing the round trip (otherwise the land trips that you can purchase through Princess are in connection with the one-way cruises between Vancouver and Anchorage).

 

Princess and HAL both have special touches that make them the leaders in the Alaskan cruise market, including providing a naturalist onboard during the glacier cruising (when that is going on, everyone, but everyone, is either on their balcony if they have one, or else up on deck...the naturalist is on the PA system narrating what we're seeing...ours started at 7am so we had to bribe our little one with hot chocolate in the buffet where she saw the waterfalls and bears, while we were outside with our cameras).

[chipmaster]

Welcome to CC,

 

For your first cruise research, research, research. Read the boards here including the Alaska ports of call ( here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55 ), visit the library or book store and get a few book on Alaska, and also visit a cruise TA to get brochures and bounce questions.

 

Unlike many other cruise stops, Alaska is one where often you can only get to some of the sites only by boat.

 

If you love scenic and pristine nature its a cruise for you, very different than warm weather or other cruise destinations.

 

There are activities that are geared from the mosth fit and adventurous to the older crowd. My parents and inlaw joined us and they were in their 70-80s and had a great time.

 

As to price, remember to factor in airfare and port excursions. Do plan to do some quality port excursions or you'll miss one of the highlights of Alaska.

 

Good luck

[bbwex]

DW and I are a bit older than your folks, so I might be able to offer some help, though there has been a lot already.

 

As for the round-trip cruise, I am not sure it is necessary. We flew to Anchorage with a stopover in Seattle, but is was not very expensive. We used Southwest to Seattle, then Alaska Air to Fairbanks (more on that later), and then found an Air Canada flight home that was very reasonable. We used Kayak to search for air fares, and as a frequent traveler, I think we did pretty well cost-wise. So I am unsure that a round-trip cruise is necessary, and if you use one you will cut down on how much you see, or you will spend a lot for a long (2-week) round trip. All in all, given the cost of the trip, the air fare will not be the killer.

 

We took a HAL cruisetour, so we started in Fairbanks, went to Denali for two days, and then on to Anchorage (to catch the ship in Seward).

 

We expected the river steamship, gold panning, etc. on the day in Fairbanks to be pretty hokey, but it turned out that we had a great time. I guess finding some gold in the pan helped, but the experience at the gold mine was quite interesting, as was the Athabascan village and dog sled exhibition on the boat tour. There was a stop at a pipeline viewing station as well.

 

Denali was exceptional. We saw everything (Dall sheep, caribou, moose, wolves, and more bears than you could believe). We did not get to see Denali (Mt. McKinley) itself due to the weather, but the tour in the park (8 hours) was unbelievable. Not to be missed.

 

As for Hubbard vs. College Fjord, etc., I have to point out that our day tour of Kenai Fjord National Park was by far better than any cruise ship visiting glaciers. It was about a five hour tour on a small (100-150 passengers) boat. You get close enough to the glaciers to appreciate the size and to hear the noise they make (they are not silent!). We were up close and personal with the glaciers, the sea ice, seals, sea lions, puffins, etc. Yes you see more glaciers from the cruise ship, but you will be further away, and the Kenai Fjords trip was fantastic.

 

In Juneau, DW and I took a whale watching tour (Harv and Marv) and we were lucky that we got into the middle of 12-15 whales while they were feeding. Saw tons (literally) of whales, and lots and lots of bald eagles. We then took a short (1 hour) glacier trek. DW isn't great on ice, and until we got the crampons on, she was walking like a 100-year-old, but even on a drizzly day (which made the ice even more slippery), it was an impressive and not taxing trip. This was about the most expensive thing we did, but we figured we wanted to do a lot. It did cut down on our shopping in Juneau, but there was lots of time for that anyway elsewhere, and we did have time for a nice lunch in between the two tours.

 

We did use private tours everywhere. I set up what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. The only ship's tour was the Kenai Fjords tour, as the cruisetour bus took us right there, and they handled everything. It did make that easier.

 

As has been suggested, spend a lot of time on the Alaska Port of Call board, and ask your questions periodically. I used tour companies suggested there, and had no problems.

 

As for seasickness, I have posted lots of responses about that on this board and elsewhere. Having a cabin amidships will minimize pitching (fore and aft motion -- the bow going up and down), but will do nothing for rolling (side-to-side motion). Ships are not like cars, they move very slowly, but they do move. A brief rundown: if you are feeling ill, or think you will, particularly until you get your sea legs, be somewhere where you can look out and see the horizon and see the motion. If you can be outside in the fresh air, that is even better, but it might be pretty cold. Eat normal meals -- this sounds counter-intuitive, but eat normally -- an empty stomach is worse -- but stay away from greasy foods and don't overeat. Ginger (pills, candied ginger, ginger snaps, etc.) are proven to reduce or eliminate motion sickness. No need to start way in advance, but take/consume it while getting used to the motion. OTC pills help most people who need medication, and these should be started before you board. The patch is the strongest alternative, but it does, occasionally, have serious side effects. If you are thinking of this, get an Rx in advance, and try it on dry land first to see how you react.