Before I Boook First Alaska Cruise...

[NayaSantaFe]

As a husband who fishes, I think you should involve your husband early in the fish trip planning. Alaska is an expensive place to fish, so let him help make the most of it with you. If you are not into fishing with him, I can almost guarantee that he has interests about fishing that he doesn't want to bore you with.

 

A second option, if you must keep it a secret until the last minute, is to discreetly talk to some of his fishing buddies about how to plan it.

 

I am actually going to tell him on our anniversary this April. That way he can plan what he wants to do regarding his fishing trip because like you said I am not into fishing at all, so I want him to make the decision on that. I will only be booking the actual cruise as a surprise.

[NayaSantaFe]

I have cruised many times the end of May - love that time. Most of the time the snow is still on the mountains and it is beautiful.

 

So it turns out that May 30th date is 2016, not 2017, my bad. The itinerary available for 2017 is April 30th or September. September doesn't work for us, but April makes me think it might be to early for port excursions to be open.

[flatlander321]

I am actually going to tell him on our anniversary this April. That way he can plan what he wants to do regarding his fishing trip because like you said I am not into fishing at all, so I want him to make the decision on that. I will only be booking the actual cruise as a surprise.

That sounds like a nice plan. He is very fortunate, and you should remind him of that, often ... :D

[Coral]

So it turns out that May 30th date is 2016, not 2017, my bad. The itinerary available for 2017 is April 30th or September. September doesn't work for us, but April makes me think it might be to early for port excursions to be open.

 

I wouldn't go that early (April)......

 

Check out some books and do some research on ports, glaciers. I wouldn't tie yourself to one line.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Coral

[xlxo]

Thoughts...

• another vote for June or later dates visit to Alaska. There's a reason why the cruise prices are higher as the weather is warmer.
  
• I agree about contacting fishing tour operators on their thoughts on when is the best time to fish. In August, you can even fish from the Ketchikan bridge by the cruise docks!
  http://krbd-org.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Fishing-Stedman-Bridge-e1405552153166.jpg
  
• another vote for Vancouver. If you choose to arrive in Seattle... $50 shuttle in Vancouver and you get to see more of Cascadia
  
• you can fish from Vancouver too. http://www.tourismvancouver.com/activities/boating-fishing/fishing-hot-spots/
  
• Personally I do my fishing at the sushi restaurants.
  

Edited February 15, 2016 by xlxo

[NayaSantaFe]

I wouldn't go that early (April)......

 

Check out some books and do some research on ports, glaciers. I wouldn't tie yourself to one line.

 

:( I thought so... I am looking at Norwegian. I have never sailed with them and I am not to sure how kid friendly they are, any input?

[Coral]

:( I thought so... I am looking at Norwegian. I have never sailed with them and I am not to sure how kid friendly they are, any input?

 

I haven't sailed NCL. NCL is known for their flexibility (dining, dress code, etc...)

 

Your 5 year old will have no problems on any line I have been on. I think your 1 year old will be with you as I don't know of any line that has a kids program for a 1 year old. I would look more at itinerary as the mass cruise lines will all entertain a 5 year old with out problems.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Coral

[Budget Queen]

:( I thought so... I am looking at Norwegian. I have never sailed with them and I am not to sure how kid friendly they are, any input?

 

For fishing, go as late in June as you can. it's a poor choice to go in May.

 

You are making some wrong assumptions. ALL the cruise lines, do a great job with kid programs. Demographics are similar on all the lines. it isn't the Caribbean, and no where near the number of kids you may be expecting on Carnival. Last year, I did 4 cruises b2b2b2b 1 Carnival, 1 HAL and 2 Princess. again- over many many years, similar amounts of kids, with a lower number.

 

I like NCL, with you now looking at Glacier Bay, the Pearl is a great ship, that I have enjoyed several times.

[bgauger]

We took NCL out of Seattle end of May 2015. We were lucky with good weather and were able to see the Tracy Arm glacier. Bring layers, gloves/mittens, hats, scarves, long johns. It gets cold near the glacier even if it is "nice" in the port. After doing a round trip cruise I would suggest looking into one way trips. You get more ports. See if the airfare works. Hotels in Seattle are pricy, as is transportation (unless you use bus/train). You may want to take your whale watch out of your start/end port and spend some extra time there. We did not see whales on our cruise unless you went on a whale watch excursion. NCL has kids clubs that get good reviews. Cruises out of the US need to have one port in Canada (in order to traverse Canadian waters) so you may get more Alaska ports by leaving/arriving from Vancouver. We had to stop in Victoria which is a hop, skip, jump away from Seattle. Have fun planning. It is worth the effort.

[bar_20]

If your husband is into fly fishing there are half day fly in fly fishing trips out of Juneau. One thing you will need to know is what are the times in a particular port to make sure you can make the fishing time. Every cruise line offers fishing trip excursions. If you book through the cruise line they will wait for you if there is a problem or get you to the next port at their expense. A private tour will not.

[SuperCrewBear]

If your husband is into fly fishing there are half day fly in fly fishing trips out of Juneau. One thing you will need to know is what are the times in a particular port to make sure you can make the fishing time. Every cruise line offers fishing trip excursions. If you book through the cruise line they will wait for you if there is a problem or get you to the next port at their expense. A private tour will not.

 

Not true. Most every tour operator will have a guarantee of getting you back to the ship on time or they will get you to the next port. You're not going to be left stranded. You've got to remember; these people make their living from the cruise tourists so their livelihood depends on everything going well. A few bad experiences wrote about here on Cruise Critic (or similar forum) or plain word of mouth would quickly ruin their business.

 

Good luck!

[Coral]

If your husband is into fly fishing there are half day fly in fly fishing trips out of Juneau. One thing you will need to know is what are the times in a particular port to make sure you can make the fishing time. Every cruise line offers fishing trip excursions. If you book through the cruise line they will wait for you if there is a problem or get you to the next port at their expense. A private tour will not.

 

I know there are plenty of fishing excursions. My main point to the OP is that I have often sailed at the end of May/first of June and have yet to speak to someone who had a good fishing experience. Everyone I have spoken to said that they didn't know when they got on the shore excursion that it was not in season until later in the summer.

 

Again, not a fishing person by any means. I just talk to a lot of people and many are upset that they spent that much money to fish when the chances were low to catch anything. They wish they knew this in advance. Most of these were in Ketchikan.

 

So my point to the OP is to research and talk to vendors and find out what the chances are of catching something during the time period. Maybe her husband doesn't care if he catches anything. Or maybe they want to pick a time when fishing has a better outcome.

 

There is nothing wrong with booking through private tours. They would not be in business long if they didn't return cruisers to their ship on time. These private companies do well due to their reputation amongst cruisers.

[NayaSantaFe]

I am looking at the Norwegian cruises and there is not that big of a price difference between Carnival and them and their dates are a lot more flexible. So, I might go with them instead. It never hurts to try something new! It would be awesome to catch one of their "3rd and 4th guests travel free" sales for 2017 cruises. I will keep my eyes open.

 

Thanks to all of you for your great advice! :)

[Budget Queen]

I am looking at the Norwegian cruises and there is not that big of a price difference between Carnival and them and their dates are a lot more flexible. So, I might go with them instead. It never hurts to try something new! It would be awesome to catch one of their "3rd and 4th guests travel free" sales for 2017 cruises. I will keep my eyes open.

 

Thanks to all of you for your great advice! :)

 

Yep, my sister, got one of their 3/4 free deals for her Alaska cruise- also on the Pearl (I surprised her and showed up the Seattle hotel, picked up a late price dump :) )

[Alaskanb]

Carnival has a few dates where it travels to Glacier Bay. The date that would best work for us would be May 24th. I would prefer June, but if it comes down to itinerary we will adjust to that date. I will also look at the other cruise lines for more options.

Our first Alaska cruise was May 23, 2012 out of Vancouver --it was wonderful. This will help about Glacier Bay http://www.nps.gov/glba/planyourvisit/enjoying-your-cruise-ship-visit.htm

[NayaSantaFe]

Yep, my sister, got one of their 3/4 free deals for her Alaska cruise- also on the Pearl (I surprised her and showed up the Seattle hotel, picked up a late price dump :) )

 

I guess it's just a matter of patience and checking their deals often. Do these sales come around often or is it pretty much a once/twice a year sale?

[Budget Queen]

I guess it's just a matter of patience and checking their deals often. Do these sales come around often or is it pretty much a once/twice a year sale?

 

Yes, you do need to keep track of the trends. But, every year, I've been able to stack those deals up like dominoes for my Alaska travels. :) You HAVE to be flexible, as example- 2014 NCL was the winner with the deals. Last year- I didn't do any NCL, and picked up HAL and Princess, in addition to my pre booked Carnival.

 

I find Princess and HAL, consistently having the late booking deals- every year.

 

I'd suggest start looking after final payment, I've booked up to less than 2 weeks before sailing.

 

The NCL deal I mentioned above- was less than a month before. I was in Anchorage and got the notice from one booking agent, booked it that day. :)

[TheCalicoCat]

I did read about the recommendation to add Glacier Bay and looked into it. But, the ones that include Glacier Bay end in Vancouver, not Seattle. This might be a problem for us depending on the price of airfare from Vancouver compared to Seatlle. I will look into it. If the difference in airfare is not huge then I might got with the itinerary including Glacier Bay. Thanks for the advice!

 

I also forgot to mention in my initial post that we would like to see some whales. Are our dates good for whale watching?

 

We flew into & out of Seattle, but sailed out of & into Vancouver. We easily used Amtrak to get us back & forth.

[TheCalicoCat]

So it turns out that May 30th date is 2016, not 2017, my bad. The itinerary available for 2017 is April 30th or September. September doesn't work for us, but April makes me think it might be to early for port excursions to be open.

 

With the caveat that in theory they wouldn't offer it if it were too early, that is too early! (& better be cheap as a consequence! It's too iffy & limited otherwise.)

[TheCalicoCat]

:( I thought so... I am looking at Norwegian. I have never sailed with them and I am not to sure how kid friendly they are, any input?

 

My 3.5 year old loved Club HAL, so don't let "kid friendly" be your determining factor. (He has also had a good time in Camp Carnival & RCCL's kid club.)

 

Most if not all mass market cruise lines offer kids activities - though I think your 1 year old may be too young for the drop off types of activities.

 

(My son was 2 on his first cruise so I don't have first hand knowledge of the offerings for the under 2 set.)

[TexasBorderAussie]

I did the glacier bay on Norweigian Pearl a couple years ago. I saw many families on board and some with very young children. Seemed like they were having a good time. At the end of the cruise at the CC meeting, one couple said they had a hard time getting their son out of the kid's club, he liked it so much. He wanted to stay instead of eat!!:D Norweigian does have a very relaxed atmosphere aboard and I believe that if I still had young children would be comfortable with them on the Pearl.

[bottom-dragger]

I know there are plenty of fishing excursions. My main point to the OP is that I have often sailed at the end of May/first of June and have yet to speak to someone who had a good fishing experience. Everyone I have spoken to said that they didn't know when they got on the shore excursion that it was not in season until later in the summer.

 

 

i read this and wonder, why does Juneau have their king salmon derby the month of May, why is Petersburg's the last weekend in May, Wrangell is the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks in June, Ketchikan is the last week of May and the first two weeks of June.

 

you'd think all these towns would have figured out by now that there are no king salmon during their scheduled events.

[dijid]

We've chosen NCL for our family for Alaska this year. Our kids have done Carnival and NCL kids clubs and are split on which one they liked best. In other words, they've both worked out.

 

We managed to get a Kids Sail Free promotion last August for our May cruise. I'm not sure whether they'll repeat that again, but thought I'd mention the timing in case they do. My suggestion would be to book something now if you're comfortable with the price and then you can cancel it if a better deal comes up before final payment is due.

[Budget Queen]

i read this and wonder, why does Juneau have their king salmon derby the month of May, why is Petersburg's the last weekend in May, Wrangell is the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks in June, Ketchikan is the last week of May and the first two weeks of June.

 

you'd think all these towns would have figured out by now that there are no king salmon during their scheduled events.

 

I don't fish. ;) But, is King Salmon as easily and frequently successfully caught as other salmon? My family has gotten a lot of sockeye and silvers, but no kings.

 

It has been my experience on my May crusies- every year- to hear nothing but grumbling about the "expensive fishing trips" and not catching anything.

[bottom-dragger]

I don't fish. ;) But, is King Salmon as easily and frequently successfully caught as other salmon? My family has gotten a lot of sockeye and silvers, but no kings.

 

No, but there is a different feeling bringing a 40lb king to the dock vs a bunch of 3lb sockeye or 8 lb coho.

 

Kings require a major mainland river for spawning, the island systems are just not massive enough. Only 4 major king rivers in SE, the Alsek and Situk near Yakutat (extreme north SE), the Taku south of Juneau, and the Stikine north of Wrangell. I don't know BC rivers.

 

You have to know where they are feeding as there are limited places they are pooling up before moving upstream to spawn.

 

July 4 is the unofficial time to start fishing for sockeye. But tough to catch with a lure, they are filter feeders. Their extreme bright flesh comes from eating krill while in saltwater. When first exported to Europe there were concerns that the they had been artificially dyed. Most are commercially caught in gillnets or crazy fly fishermen that'll drift a red fly past a sockeye time and time again until he finally gets pissed off and takes it.

 

August through early september is time for coho. Stream timing varies by location. Lots of fish everywhere as even the smaller island streams have runs. Crazy fun on light tackle at the mouth of the stream or from the bank.This is when I fill my freezer, canner, smoker.

 

I do eat chum and pinks (don't tell my mom) when sea run but the moment they begin to get spawning colors their meat really goes downhill.

 

Fishing does not equal catching. But if catching is a requirement go for coho. You want a big mofo impressive fish, TRY for a king.

 

"and" he said (these may burst your bubble)

i always choose cod over halibut, halibut can go dry really easy

tanners taste better than king crab, just doesn't have the stage presence

coon stripe shrimp are better than side stripes but spot prawn are the bomb (see my avatar)

if you ever see smoked black cod and red potatoes on a menu, grab it. You won't need to butter the potatoes..............

 

last memorial weekend during my tiny town's derby, over 150 kings were entered. More were caught but because of catch limitations were released; i'm going to let this 20 lb go as there's a 41lb one with my name on it.

Edited February 18, 2016 by bottom-dragger