Alaska Cruise and Transportation.

[awboater]

We are looking into a future cruise, and we thought we might take an Alaska cruise.

 

There are two ships and itineraries available for next summer (but we might wait until 2012). The Radiance with an alternating 7 night Northbound and Southbound cruise, or the Rhapsody with a Sawyer Glacier cruise.

 

The main difference is the Rhapsody begins and ends in Seattle, and the Radiance goes between Vancouver and Seward.

 

One goal is I hate to fly. So we have found that Amtrak's Empire Builder leaves from Chicago to Seattle daily, and it goes through some of the most rugged and beautiful scenery in the US. We live only about 3 hours from Chicago, so it would not be a big deal to get to the train station.

 

While it is a bit more expensive to take the train if we book a stateroom, it takes 2 days to go between Chicago and Seattle, so we're thinking that it would almost be a second vacation onto itself.

 

If we go to Seattle, the the ship of choice is going to be the Rhapsody. We have been on the Radiance and Grandeur (similar to the Rhapsody), so I think we know what to expect on both ships.

 

My question then is the different itineraries. If we take the Sawyer Glacier cruise on the Rhapsody, are we going to be disappointed that we did not do the full cruise on the Radiance?

 

Anyone been on both? If so, what are we going to miss on the Radiance's itinerary by taking the Rhapsody?

 

Here are the two itineraries:

 

Rhapsody:

-----------------------

Seattle

Alaska Inside Passage

Juneau

Skagway

Tracy Arm Fjord

Victoria

Seattle

 

Radiance:

------------------------

Vancouver

Alaska Inside Passage

Ketchikan

Icy Strait Point

Skagway

Juneau

Hubbard Glacier

Seward

 

(or the reverse route)

[denamo]

We have done both itineraries and loved both! There is nothing like the Hubbard Glacier. Tracy Arm Fjord is gorgeous scenery. We totally enjoyed our Rhapsody cruise. You can't go wrong with either itinerary.

[dirtgirl]

I live in Vancouver. The cruises out of Vancouver have better itineraries, scenery, and calmer seas. But I wouldn't just restrict myself to Royal Caribbean for Alaska. Check out the Princess itineraries from Vancouver, as well. HAL is the number 1 cruise line in Alaska, but HAL may not suit you.

 

RCI and Celebrity one-ways have 4 ports and one glacier. Princess has 3 ports and 2 glaciers. Both are good - depends on what you like.

[vickiw0318]

Duplicate. See below.

[vickiw0318]

I've done Alaska twice from Seattle and twice from Vancouver. One of these was a round trip and the other was a one way on the Radiance. I enjoyed both of the Vancouver cruises more. That being said, any first time introduction to Alaska is going to be wonderful. If you think this may be a once in a lifetime event though, I would do the one way. You would see more of that beautiful place.

[Nancynurse]

We did both and enjoyed them very much. When we did the one way we actually did a B2B and found that to be very relaxing.

[Scooters]

If you decide to take Amtrak, I'd make sure that I planned to arrive at the port a day or two early. While I'm sure things have improved, lots of things can and do mess up the train schedule. If I was going to fly one way and ride the other, I think that I would fly out and train my way back home. The uncertainty of getting to the port via train would ruin the fun for me.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've not Amtraked for a long time, but I loved the experience. Just consider their timetables to be a "rough estimate," not a fact.

 

I will certainly defer to the wisdom of anyone who has had a more recent experience on Amtrak.

[awboater]

I have heard that Amtrak's Empire Builder has an impeccable record for being on time. That being said, there are a million and one things that could go wrong to cause a delay.

 

At any rate, ever since our first cruise, we have always traveled so to arrive the day before the cruise. The whole fly-in in the morning then get to the ship thing is just too hectic all for one day, and it is a lot more relaxing and less stressful to arrive a day ahead of time.