ALASKA Advice-Pearl Vs. Star

[kfkirsch]

We (a family of 6 with 4 kids from 8yrs-14yrs) are traveling in July and I am torn between the Pearl and the Star. I realize the Pearl is the better ship and that the Glacier Bay itinerary is awesome for first timers, but I would really like to take the Tracy Arm Excursion which is not offered on the Pearl. If we decide on the Star, would this excursion make up for the lesser itinerary and ship amenities? If we take the Pearl, we are looking into the Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife Quest out of Juneau. On either ship, we are leaning towards the Chilkoot Trail Hike and Float excursion in Skagway, and in Ketchikan we will do without an excursion because we are blowing the budget at the other ports. Also, is Prince Rupert vs. Victoria enough of a weight in the decision to go for one or the other ship? And any other advice is much appreciated!

[dmtb518]

We (a family of 6 with 4 kids from 8yrs-14yrs) are traveling in July and I am torn between the Pearl and the Star. I realize the Pearl is the better ship and that the Glacier Bay itinerary is awesome for first timers, but I would really like to take the Tracy Arm Excursion which is not offered on the Pearl. If we decide on the Star, would this excursion make up for the lesser itinerary and ship amenities? If we take the Pearl, we are looking into the Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife Quest out of Juneau. On either ship, we are leaning towards the Chilkoot Trail Hike and Float excursion in Skagway, and in Ketchikan we will do without an excursion because we are blowing the budget at the other ports. Also, is Prince Rupert vs. Victoria enough of a weight in the decision to go for one or the other ship? And any other advice is much appreciated!

 

 

Hi I have been on both ships, I did the pearl a few years ago with my best friend and did the Star just this past year by myself. The pearl is a newer ship so some of the claim to fame will be this. Food is about the same, Pearl does have the bowling alley which is great for the experience. Victoria was ok pretty old town somewhat boring, however Prince Rupert was worse lol. Very small not much to do or see, but quaint little town. If I had to pick one I would definitely go with the star just for the tracey arm.. This was the best expereince I have had in Alaska and I have been there 3 times. I had a great time, I froze on the boat, but what I saw will replace my cold toes. I was lucky, the crew from the tracey arm boat were so excited and said we had the best luck they have seen all season. We saw humpback whales as well as others, we saw sea lions and many eagles. We were able to get close enough to go under a waterfall twice and touch the water, we rocked the boat close enough to touch towering rock walls. I aslo saw an iceberg just about flip over in the water to show us the great blue color. We also saw huge chuncks of the glacier fall off into the water numerous times, we were actually rocking the boat due to the ripple effect. I am not sure if you will be as lucky as I was to see all this, but even if you had the chance I would try for it... Either way it was a great trip both times.. I will try to post some pics, let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Dawn :)

[MBprincess]

I've been on both ships too. Just know that you will have a great time no matter what. I'll pick just one piece of advice to share and it is this - you can't plan Alaska. The weather will win out. So ask your self if you have to go to your plan B would you still be happy? We had amazing hot weather (in August) when we went last but the week before a lot of the excursion had been canceled because of poor weather. We did get a storm the last day and to go the real inside passage (there's one point where the tide has to be right to get through :( ) and we didn't really get to stop in Victoria. We had a blast but again you can only plan so much.

[kermodebear]

Hi I have been on both ships, I did the pearl a few years ago with my best friend and did the Star just this past year by myself. The pearl is a newer ship so some of the claim to fame will be this. Food is about the same, Pearl does have the bowling alley which is great for the experience. Victoria was ok pretty old town somewhat boring, however Prince Rupert was worse lol. Very small not much to do or see, but quaint little town. If I had to pick one I would definitely go with the star just for the tracey arm.. This was the best expereince I have had in Alaska and I have been there 3 times. I had a great time, I froze on the boat, but what I saw will replace my cold toes. I was lucky, the crew from the tracey arm boat were so excited and said we had the best luck they have seen all season. We saw humpback whales as well as others, we saw sea lions and many eagles. We were able to get close enough to go under a waterfall twice and touch the water, we rocked the boat close enough to touch towering rock walls. I aslo saw an iceberg just about flip over in the water to show us the great blue color. We also saw huge chuncks of the glacier fall off into the water numerous times, we were actually rocking the boat due to the ripple effect. I am not sure if you will be as lucky as I was to see all this, but even if you had the chance I would try for it... Either way it was a great trip both times.. I will try to post some pics, let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Dawn :)

 

Hard to say, when are you going again? Bear in mind for both Canadian ports you arrive in the afternoon or evening, but Victoria is further south and arrives two hours later so available daylight whenever will be lower. If you're looking for the experiences an Alaskan cruise has to offer, Prince Rupert is by far a better choice: jetboating, halibut fishing, crabbing, bearviewing, kayaking...

[sdmike]

I worked in Juneau for about a year and you can get privately run excursions out of Juneau to Tracy Arm. The one I did was a 1/2 day trip where I flew out to Tracy Arm in a float plane (flew out over Mendenhall, through mountain passes, etc. Simply amazing), and then met up with a tour boat that had left earlier in the morning on their full day trip. On the way back on the tour boat we saw whales breaching, etc. It was an amazing day, although it would have messed up any cruise ship passengers (none were on board) because there were so many whales we followed we got back to Juneau 2 hours late. :) I'm sure the tour is flipped where you can leave early on a boat and come back on the float plane too. Anyway, just giving you an option, and I 'm sure there are other companies and other ways to see Tracy Arm out of Juneau on your own. These tour companies are very aware of the schedules of cruise ships and will almost certainly have something that will work for you. Tracy Arm is a 30 mile long dead end with the twin Sawyer glaciers at the end. They are spectacular to see, as you can often see sections calf off into the sea. Mendenhall is interesting and very neat if you actually want to walk up ON a glacier, but driving up to a parking lot in a bus to an overlook pales in comparison to visiting Tracy Arm.