Question for all the Alaskan Cruisers...

[sredish]

Wow! Thanks to all my cc peeps for all the great information. I think we are going to book this while on the Allure.

 

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Oh my gosh!! Book Alaska from the Allure!! You're my HERO! Good luck and have fun and know that we are all jealous! :-)

[NorbertsNiece]

You will also miss Seward and the Kenai Fjords breathtaking scenery and amazing wildlife.

[relaxatsea]

I have taken two 7 dayAlaska cruises RT from Vancouver. They were both wonderful and I'm sure you will get a good overview of Alaska. On another trip, my DH and I flew to Anchorage, stayed there a few days and took the Alaska Railroad on our own to Seward, Talkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. This had nothing to do with a cruise, but gave us the land-based experience. No matter what you do, you can't go wrong since Alaska is breathtakingly beautiful. If you like your first cruise, you can always go again!

 

By the way, I did not have a balcony on either cruise, I had outside (window) cabins and I enjoyed going up on deck or sitting in one of the lounges to see the passing scenery.

 

Have a great cruise!

[EuroDate20]

I'm also considering this cruise on the Radiance from Vancouver in September. Which side is better for scenery, Starboard or Port?

 

This will be our first trip to Alaska and it may be our last because my husband doesn't like the cold weather

[Shippy]

This train is NO way associated with "Denali" (there isn't any forest??)

 

this is a skimpy option, that can be greatly enhanced by adding days and taking advantage of the excellent touring options. At the very least, don't be in any rush to get on your ship, and take a Kenai Fjords boat tour- this is a superb varied wildlife with close up glacier viewing- that is FAR superior to anything seen from your ship.

 

It is fabulous & through a 'forest' for 4 hours.

For people that cannot take the extra time for whatever reason for other tours.....this is a great option.

We first found out about this when taking a Princess cruise many years ago. I would say that about half the train was full of the cruise passengers. A great way to start the cruise off !

There were many people on the ship that were not informed about the train & booked the bus transfer through the cruiseline. They were very upset when people were talking about how great the train was because they probably were never have another chance to do it.

[klingoncruiser]

Is the Rhapsody or Radience better for Alaska?

 

RADIANCE! Stay off of any runs out of Seattle. They are forced to stop at some British Columbia port, some are good, others not so much.

 

You may also want to look at Princess. While I prefer RCI, Princess has a better line up out of Whittier. (ie... both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier).

[CVU]

RADIANCE! Stay off of any runs out of Seattle. They are forced to stop at some British Columbia port, some are good, others not so much.

 

You may also want to look at Princess. While I prefer RCI, Princess has a better line up out of Whittier. (ie... both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier).

Rhapsody stops at Victoria, which is the capital of BC and a beautiful city.:D

[sr4mjc]

I'm also considering this cruise on the Radiance from Vancouver in September. Which side is better for scenery, Starboard or Port?

 

This will be our first trip to Alaska and it may be our last because my husband doesn't like the cold weather

 

I dunno, I booked D2 afts :D

[Ashland]

It is fabulous & through a 'forest' for 4 hours.

For people that cannot take the extra time for whatever reason for other tours.....this is a great option.

We first found out about this when taking a Princess cruise many years ago. I would say that about half the train was full of the cruise passengers. A great way to start the cruise off !

There were many people on the ship that were not informed about the train & booked the bus transfer through the cruiseline. They were very upset when people were talking about how great the train was because they probably were never have another chance to do it.

When we sailed a Northbound we booked the train transfer from Seward-Anchorage and it was one of the highlights of our cruise. Nice way to end a cruise too..Looking forward to having this option again May 2013.

[Cheryl H]

Thanks!

Here is the itinerary pasted from the RCCL website. Bear with me I am Clueless about Alaskan Cruises;)

 

 

06-Sep Vancouver, British Columbia 4:30 PM

 

07-Sep Cruising

 

08-Sep Icy Strait Point, Alaska 10:00 AM 6:00 PM Tendered

 

09-Sep Hubbard Glacier (Cruising) 8:00 AM 12:00 PM Cruising

 

10-Sep Juneau, Alaska 7:00 AM 4:00 PM Docked

 

11-Sep Ketchikan, Alaska 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

 

12-Sep Cruising

 

13-Sep Vancouver, British Columbia

 

We did a north bound last summer and loved it. However, I think I was most "wowed" at the ports you are seeing. Skagway was nice, and to me it was wow, but not as much wow as the other stops. The scenery on the Seward highway between Seward and Anchorage was beautiful though. We did a private tour all day between Seward and Anchorage. I'm glad we did the one way, but next time we will probably look at this itinerary you are doing.

 

PS: To us, the only major mistake we made, was going north. That left us with a very long overnight flight home from Anchorage and we were drop dead tired. I should have gotten the long flight out of the way first.

 

If you want to see photos from our trip, they are split into two photo books and there's a link to them below.

 

I agree with the suggestion to get a balcony. It was so worth it.

 

By the way, our favorite tour all week was the whale watch at Icy Strait with F.I.S.H.E.S. with the second runner up being the floatplane trip to Misty Fjord with Seawind.

 

Have a great time and enjoy all the planning.

[Cheryl H]

Rhapsody stops at Victoria, which is the capital of BC and a beautiful city.:D

 

I agree! We love love love Victoria. We went out of our way to visit it again before going on to Vancouver to get on the ship.

[scapel]

When you get to Hubbard after cruising up Yakatak bay the captain will usually continue to have the ship turn slowly on it's own axis so all sides get a good view of the Glacier. It is nice to have a lunch planned early if you leave at 12 noon and enjoy this from the Veranda. Listen for the calving and be quick with the camera.

Other option is to be topside all the time.