Seattle or Vancouver for Alaska?

[ACoupleAtSea]

What is the major difference in departing from Seattle vs Vancouver?

[martincath]

There's one downside to Vancouver - you have to enter the USA at the pier, so you'll go through US CBP. An extra queue, and it's BEFORE the cruise line gains control of you - so no preferential lineups for suites, Diamondanium card holders etc. etc.

 

Everything else is upside though - guaranteed to be using the Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and mainland, a rare thing for Seattle departures: calmer waters, beautiful scenery, potential Orca spotting if you spend time on deck. Stuff is cheaper thanks to your dollar being very strong compared to ours right now - so splurge on that fancy precruise hotel and a nice dinner. Plus our beer is manlier than yours;-)

[dkjretired]

There's one downside to Vancouver - you have to enter the USA at the pier, so you'll go through US CBP. An extra queue, and it's BEFORE the cruise line gains control of you - so no preferential lineups for suites, Diamondanium card holders etc. etc.

 

Everything else is upside though - guaranteed to be using the Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and mainland, a rare thing for Seattle departures: calmer waters, beautiful scenery, potential Orca spotting if you spend time on deck. Stuff is cheaper thanks to your dollar being very strong compared to ours right now - so splurge on that fancy precruise hotel and a nice dinner. Plus our beer is manlier than yours;-)

 

AGree, doing the inside passage if much better, you don't spend basically two days in the Pacific Ocean. The advantage for most going out of Seattle is the ship itself, most like Solstice better than the M class ships.

[Montana]

If I was only going once, I would choose by itinerary only which means I would sail out of Vancouver and spend at least one day prior in this beautiful city. That being said we are sailing out of Seattle on the Solstice for the 3rd time in June spending 2 days prior in Seattle. Our least favorite port, Skagway.

[iancal]

Inside passage would be the big decider for me. We would not take an Alaska cruise that did not go via the inside passage. Next would be the City of Vancouver. We like Seattle but it does not compare with a sunny day in Vancouver.

Edited May 7, 2016 by iancal

[iancal]

Inside passage would be the big decider for me. Next would be the City of Vancouver. We like Seattle but it does not compare with a sunny day in Vancouver.

 

Big plus to Vancouver now is the exchange rate.

[Phxazzcruisers]

We agree with most of above. We leave out of Vancouver. We actually prefer the M Class ships and love Vancouver. The exchange rate is a great bonus

[bigbenboys]

While going to both US and Canadian passport control is a pain. And dont forget passport control at the boarder or airport. The inside passage is nice. The biggest factor for myself is if the cruise is going to Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard Glacier is amazing.

[ImpulsivePuppy]

Seattle. It's just a really special place.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

The cost of flying into and out of Vancouver is often astronomical compared with Seattle. Easy enough to fly into Seattle and take Amtrak or Quickcoach to Vancouver, but it's one more step to consider. I'd still prefer Vancouver and the Inside Passage, though.

[4774Papa]

We are going out of Vancouver and plan a week there as well as a Rocky Mountain bus tour.

[ACoupleAtSea]

Is the inside passage from Vancouver really that much better than the inside passage from Seattle?

[4774Papa]

Is the inside passage from Vancouver really that much better than the inside passage from Seattle?

 

Before I booked my cruise northbound from Vancouver, I compared the cruises from Seattle. I found two things, much time was wasted just getting to Alaska, second the ports and route of the cruise was superior on those from Vancouver. The worst itineraries are the Seattle to Seattle cruises.

 

I wanted to see Glacier Bay as well, and I will see it on my cruise.

[goody1]

Before I booked my cruise northbound from Vancouver, I compared the cruises from Seattle. I found two things, much time was wasted just getting to Alaska, second the ports and route of the cruise was superior on those from Vancouver. The worst itineraries are the Seattle to Seattle cruises.

 

I wanted to see Glacier Bay as well, and I will see it on my cruise.

 

Have to respectfully disagree with this post. We did a 14 night Seattle to Seattle on HAL which had 8 different stops, 7 of which were in Alaska. To be fair though, there are very few cruises that do 14 nights without duplicating some Ports.

[ACoupleAtSea]

I never would have thought that there was that much of difference in terms of scenery between Vancouver and Seattle.

[Mr. Click]

We have been to Seattle a few times, love it as a city, we have been to Vancouver too and loved it, we have been on S Class ships including the Solstice and loved it too, we have been on M-Class ships and loved the time we spent but we are going to see Alaska so we chose to sail from Vancouver to see the inside passage and a bit more of Alaska and have a few days to see Denali at the end of our trip. Flights from EWR to YVR were surprisingly cheap for the distance we have to travel.

[K.T.B.]

I never would have thought that there was that much of difference in terms of scenery between Vancouver and Seattle.

 

It's just different is all. I've done cruises out of both Seattle and Vancouver and I loved them both for a variety of reasons. Since I had done Vancouver first, it was nice to see something different when we sailed out of Seattle the second time. My next cruise we're doing a stop in Seattle for a few days first, then heading up to Vancouver. It was the itinerary that "drove" the selection though, not the port location.

 

It is more expensive to fly into Vancouver, plus getting to customs is a P.I.T.A. Unless they've changed it, it feels like you walk for miles until you get there!

 

Both cities are great to visit for many reasons. You cannot go wrong with either. What it comes down to is which itinerary do you really want to do? Then go from there. Regardless of your choice, you're going to have a wonderful time!

[dkjretired]

Is the inside passage from Vancouver really that much better than the inside passage from Seattle?

 

Absolutely a big difference, if sailing from Vancouver on one of the M class ships you are sailing the inside passage pretty much the whole time. On the Solstice out of Seattle, you are in the Pacific Ocean for a day going up and a day coming back while the M class ships are sailing the passage.

[4774Papa]

Have to respectfully disagree with this post. We did a 14 night Seattle to Seattle on HAL which had 8 different stops, 7 of which were in Alaska. To be fair though, there are very few cruises that do 14 nights without duplicating some Ports.

 

Perhaps 14 day cruises, but not 7 day cruises. We didn't want a 14 day cruise and particularly didn't want to deal with HAL's smoking.

[ACoupleAtSea]

Since we only have one cruise to alaska with Princess under belt. When would experienced Celebrity cruises say is the best time to book for 2017?

[love2driveinct]

As far as flights go, I wouldn't say it's across the board astronomically more expensive to fly into Vancouver. I would highly recommend the OP check for their specific airports.

 

We were comparing these two scenarios ourselves just a few weeks ago before we booked our upcoming cruise. The difference to fly into Seattle or Vancouver was not even noteworthy. We were already leaning towards a northbound from Vancouver, but that sealed the deal. Our total fares were $600 apiece, which I didn't think was bad at all considering we're flying into and out of different airports. I think round-trip Seattle was around $550-600 at the time. We live in Connecticut.

Edited May 8, 2016 by love2driveinct

[4774Papa]

As far as flights go, I wouldn't say it's across the board astronomically more expensive to fly into Vancouver. I would highly recommend the OP check for their specific airports.

 

We were comparing these two scenarios ourselves just a few weeks ago before we booked our upcoming cruise. The difference to fly into Seattle or Vancouver was not even noteworthy. We were already leaning towards a northbound from Vancouver, but that sealed the deal. Our total fares were $600 apiece, which I didn't think was bad at all considering we're flying into and out of different airports. I think round-trip Seattle was around $550-600 at the time.

 

We didn't find there to be a huge pricing difference between flying into Vancouver vs. Seattle.

[kathynorth]

We've cruised out of both Seattle and Vancouver and found lots to do precruise in both cities. However, we thought the inside passage out of Vancouver was much prettier and had calmer waters. I've heard that there's a bus some people take from Seattle to Vancouver so they can snag a better airfare.

[varoo]

Is the inside passage from Vancouver really that much better than the inside passage from Seattle?

Most definitely.

The cruises from Seattle totally miss the scenic lower inside passage. They cruise out in the Pacific Ocean instead, and enter the inside passage further north.

 

So it means 2 days out of the 7 day cruise are spent out in the open ocean when cruising from Seattle, instead of spending that time cruising through the inside passage.

 

 

[K.T.B.]

Most definitely.

The cruises from Seattle totally miss the scenic lower inside passage. They cruise out in the Pacific Ocean instead, and enter the inside passage further north.

 

So it means 2 days out of the 7 day cruise are spent out in the open ocean when cruising from Seattle, instead of spending that time cruising through the inside passage.

 

 

 

Granted, I am referring to a Carnival cruise here, but I did not experience that.

 

We sailed out of Seattle and we were in the Pacific that day and night, the next day we were in the inside passage, then day 3 were in in Tracy Arm Fjord, the next days were spent in port.

 

Perhaps Celebrity sails it differently out of Seattle then?