Roundtrip Seattle Cruise

[emjayel56]

Can anyone tell me if it is true that cruises departing from Seattle to alaska that sail west of the inside passage going north will encounter rougher seas than sailing from vancouver and staying within the inside passage. I'm weighing both itineraries and like the Seattle itinerary but am leery because I heard the seas are rougher at least on the first day. Also, is the scenery much nicer from Vancourer (inside passage). Many thanks.

[Paulinda]

We did the Seattle cruise this past June. The ship did sail west of the inside passage and we did notice a bit of sloshing around. We mostly viewed seas and not much land or scenery for one + days. On the return the ship did some inside passage and we could see islands etc. The seas were much calmer.

[Gardyloo]

Can anyone tell me if it is true that cruises departing from Seattle to alaska that sail west of the inside passage going north will encounter rougher seas than sailing from vancouver and staying within the inside passage. I'm weighing both itineraries and like the Seattle itinerary but am leery because I heard the seas are rougher at least on the first day. Also, is the scenery much nicer from Vancourer (inside passage). Many thanks.

Calmer seas and more scenery both ways from Vancouver.

 

A note on nomenclature - most people in the area regard the "inside passage" as everything east of Vancouver Island all the way up to Haines/Skagway. Others want to say the true "inside passage" is everything north of Dixon Entrance, i.e. past the north end of Vancouver Island. Regardless, we're talking about sheltered water instead of open ocean, which extends in Canadian waters all the way north from Vancouver until Dixon Entrance, then resumes in Alaska waters after that.

 

Here are Princess' maps showing the difference.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by Gardyloo

[emjayel56]

Calmer seas and more scenery both ways from Vancouver.

 

A note on nomenclature - most people in the area regard the "inside passage" as everything east of Vancouver Island all the way up to Haines/Skagway. Others want to say the true "inside passage" is everything north of Dixon Entrance, i.e. past the north end of Vancouver Island. Regardless, we're talking about sheltered water instead of open ocean, which extends in Canadian waters all the way north from Vancouver until Dixon Entrance, then resumes in Alaska waters after that.

 

Here are Princess' maps showing the difference.

 

 

 

Thank you Paulinda and Gardyloo... this helps so much!! MJ

[TheCalicoCat]

Can anyone tell me if it is true that cruises departing from Seattle to alaska that sail west of the inside passage going north will encounter rougher seas than sailing from vancouver and staying within the inside passage. I'm weighing both itineraries and like the Seattle itinerary but am leery because I heard the seas are rougher at least on the first day. Also, is the scenery much nicer from Vancourer (inside passage). Many thanks.

 

We sailed from Vancouver & (maybe its just us) did not see a whole lot the first day - we were getting our bearings, napping, etc. (I also was not CC savvy & did not realize that we could have been outside looking. My previous cruises left from Baltimore - not much to see once you are in the bay &/or Atlantic...)

 

My next AK cruise will be a Seattle round trip - chose the 14-night itinerary over the possibility of rough seas.

[xlxo]

We sailed from Vancouver & (maybe its just us) did not see a whole lot the first day - we were getting our bearings, napping, etc.

Thoughts....

• The closer you are to a June sailing.... the longer the daylight in the inside passage.
  
• The Canadian inside passage is often crossed when cruisers are asleep going North and Southbound. You can still see things in the moon and twilight.
  
• the perk for me is calmer waters when sleeping.
  
• In another discussion the Seattle ships travel far West of Vancouver Island where you barely see any land.
  

[donswife]

Princess doesn't have any round trip Vancouver 7 day cruises, so if you want to stick with Princess you could do a B2B from Vancouver for a total of 14 days. I enjoy the open ocean the first day at sea, and if you are prepared, the motion should not be a huge problem. The green apples really do help, by the way. One nice thing with the Vancouver round trip is the possibility of a longer time in Ketchikan, but you miss the evening in Victoria, which I always enjoy.

[gknep]

I have been on 3 cruises to Alaska out of Seattle on NCL. 2002, 2004, and 2014. Each has gone on the west side of Vancouver Island. The only time things were really rough was in 2002. The captain actually made an announcement that he had never seen it that bad. I remember the crew placing the air sickness bags you would see on an airplane in the landings on every stairwell. It was my first cruise and I thought I had made a terrible mistake. I thought I was going to be sea sick, luckily it turned out I was just hungry for breakfast. I don't remember the 2004 cruise being anything like that. In 2014 we were moving pretty good that first day. It did not bother me at all but my sister in law spent most of the first day not feeling very good.

[emjayel56]

I have been on 3 cruises to Alaska out of Seattle on NCL. 2002, 2004, and 2014. Each has gone on the west side of Vancouver Island. The only time things were really rough was in 2002. The captain actually made an announcement that he had never seen it that bad. I remember the crew placing the air sickness bags you would see on an airplane in the landings on every stairwell. It was my first cruise and I thought I had made a terrible mistake. I thought I was going to be sea sick, luckily it turned out I was just hungry for breakfast. I don't remember the 2004 cruise being anything like that. In 2014 we were moving pretty good that first day. It did not bother me at all but my sister in law spent most of the first day not feeling very good.

 

Thank you. Very helpful information.

[mickeysgal]

We sailed NCL out of Seattle RT five years ago to Alaska. I don't remember anything being rough the first day. What was rough however was when we sailed out of our last port, Ketchican toward Victoria. We had a solid sea day of very rough seas due to a storm. Wish Princess would have a RT out of Vancouver, not thrilled with HAL, and we like Seattle, so next year we are once again sailing out of Seattle.

[LEtue]

Princess doesn't have any round trip Vancouver 7 day cruises, so if you want to stick with Princess you could do a B2B from Vancouver for a total of 14 days.

 

Except for early in the season - the Coral and the Emerald in 2017.

[Sequim88]

After doing a couple of crossings of the North Atlantic I am expecting our Seattle R/T to be a piece of cake even if it does stir up a bit. The Pacific usually starts to calm down pretty good by May when cool high pressure ridges take over along the coast. It's the time of year for pop-up showers more than large organized storms. It can be sunny then pour and be sunny again in an hour but usually not with a lot of wind to make waves. Since the ships all leave around 4pm you end up passing Vancouver Is.in the dark - on either side of the island.

 

As far as rough water the roughest we saw by far on our NB one-way was crossing the Gulf of Alaska. Rock & roll under the midnight sun.

[thyme2go]

We had our wildest ride on a cruise ship while taking an inside passage and hitting storms going both ways outside the Queen Charlotte's in September! It was fun to watch the bow of the ship from our room though (TV)......... nonstop whiteness. Anyway, my point is that rough can happen in the exposed transit esp. early or late in the season even on an inside passage cruise--but usually you are in for a smoother ride.

[emjayel56]

We had our wildest ride on a cruise ship while taking an inside passage and hitting storms going both ways outside the Queen Charlotte's in September! It was fun to watch the bow of the ship from our room though (TV)......... nonstop whiteness. Anyway, my point is that rough can happen in the exposed transit esp. early or late in the season even on an inside passage cruise--but usually you are in for a smoother ride.

 

wow ... that's unreal... thanks for the info .. maryjo

[peety3]

Except for early in the season - the Coral and the Emerald in 2017.

Exactly what I was going to say. Princess might send a ship up from another US port and have it go to Vancouver (as part of the PVSA compliance), BUT the timing makes sense to "stall for a week" to get the northbound/southbound cycles alternating correctly. Rather than sit for a week, or remain elsewhere past prime season, they toss in a Vancouver RT to stir the schedule a bit. If done early in the season, they could end up with two of their own ships in Vancouver at the same time, but if they get there when the other lines haven't transitioned onto their Alaska schedule, it may not be too bad. Or, it could happen on a 3-ship day in Vancouver...