Itinerary -- Help me choose!

[umieesa]

Hey All,

 

I posted in another thread, but now that I've narrowed down my choices I thought I would be more specific. It will be a family of 5 travelling, plus my parents most likely coming along and possibly mother in law.

 

I keep reading how everyone says choose Alaska based on itinerary but not sure what the best itinerary should look like! :confused:

 

I know that I definitely want to see Glacier Bay, and want to head to the Yukon when in Skagway. Beyond that I'm still in the early planning stages and not sure what else is a must. Tough decision between Hubbard and College Fjord (HAL only visit GB).

 

We've decided that we will do the NB route from Vancouver to Alaska.

 

We've only sailed with Princess once before but loved it. I'm attracted to NCL because of the capacity to hold 5, but can have one of my kids sleep with the grandparents.

 

Here are the 3. Prices are fairly similar on HAL and Princess, with NCL coming in about 800-1000 cheaper depending on the sale date I choose.

 

We will be travelling either Mid or late August, so please let me know if that sways the itinerary choice.

 

Oh and does NCL offer a park ranger that comes onboard during the cruise through Glacier bay? And does it have a covered pool? Couldn't seem to find anything on that.

 

Thanks!!

 

1.

Vancouver 430pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 630-2pm

Juneau 8-9pm

Skagway 7-830pm

GBay

Hubbard

Whittier 1230am (what time would we have to disembark!?:eek:)

 

2.

Vancouver 4pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 7-4pm

Juneau 11-9pm

GBay

Hubbard

Seward 5am

 

3.

Vancouver 430pm

inside passage

Ketchikan 7-3pm

Juneau 10-10pm

Skagway 7-9pm

Gbay

at sea

Seward 6am

 

Any and all advice is appreciated!

[umieesa]

Ships are:

 

Star

NCL Sun

HAL Noordam

 

if that plays an influence ;)

[Kamloops50]

Hey All,

 

I posted in another thread, but now that I've narrowed down my choices I thought I would be more specific. It will be a family of 5 travelling, plus my parents most likely coming along and possibly mother in law.

 

I keep reading how everyone says choose Alaska based on itinerary but not sure what the best itinerary should look like! :confused:

 

I know that I definitely want to see Glacier Bay, and want to head to the Yukon when in Skagway. Beyond that I'm still in the early planning stages and not sure what else is a must. Tough decision between Hubbard and College Fjord (HAL only visit GB).

 

We've decided that we will do the NB route from Vancouver to Alaska.

 

We've only sailed with Princess once before but loved it. I'm attracted to NCL because of the capacity to hold 5, but can have one of my kids sleep with the grandparents.

 

Here are the 3. Prices are fairly similar on HAL and Princess, with NCL coming in about 800-1000 cheaper depending on the sale date I choose.

 

We will be travelling either Mid or late August, so please let me know if that sways the itinerary choice.

 

Oh and does NCL offer a park ranger that comes onboard during the cruise through Glacier bay? And does it have a covered pool? Couldn't seem to find anything on that.

 

Thanks!!

 

1.

Vancouver 430pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 630-2pm

Juneau 8-9pm

Skagway 7-830pm

GBay

Hubbard

Whittier 1230am (what time would we have to disembark!?:eek:) Starts around 7AM.

 

2.

Vancouver 4pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 7-4pm

Juneau 11-9pm

GBay

Hubbard

Seward 5am 7AM

 

3.

Vancouver 430pm

inside passage

Ketchikan 7-3pm

Juneau 10-10pm

Skagway 7-9pm

Gbay

at sea

Seward 6am 7 AM

 

Any and all advice is appreciated!

 

NCL doesn't usually have rangers come on board in Glacier bay. We have dome both HAL and Princess to Alaska . HAL did a better job because they can get closer to the glaciers. The problem with the Hubbard Glacier is ice . Depending on weather and wind you might not even get close to the Glacier.

Questiob :Why NB not SB ?

[umieesa]

Questiob :Why NB not SB ?

 

The decision to rule out SB only comes based on flights. It'll strangely cost a few hundred more to do the flight from toronto to ANC than the reverse :eek::confused: and so at that point I really don't want to keep adding expenses that could be used toward excursions.

Edited October 27, 2016 by umieesa

[Kamloops50]

The decision to rule out SB only comes based on flights. It'll strangely cost a few hundred more to do the flight from toronto to ANC than the reverse :eek::confused: and so at that point I really don't want to keep adding expenses that could be used toward excursions.

 

Check your prices.. I used a site and the difference is $14 per person one way (July 2017). Try using this website to search for airfares. I've been able to book the

same flights with my TA for the about the same.

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com

[AryMay]

1.

Vancouver 430pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 630-2pm

Juneau 8-9pm

Skagway 7-830pm

GBay

Hubbard (Should be College Fjord?)

Whittier 1230am

 

2.

Vancouver 4pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 7-4pm

Juneau 11-9pm

Skagway 8-8pm

GBay

Hubbard

Seward 5am

 

A couple of corrections that I think should be made to your list (see RED text.)

 

Also...the Coral Princess does a northbound cruise from Vancouver to Whittier.

[Kamloops50]

All Princess cruises from Vancouver do NB and SB.

 

 

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[TheCalicoCat]

Hey All,

 

Oh and does NCL offer a park ranger that comes onboard during the cruise through Glacier bay? Not sure, but the other do. And does it have a covered pool? Couldn't seem to find anything on that. If it wasn't obvious on the NCL website, ask on the BCL board... AKA I don't know.

 

Thanks!!

 

1.

Vancouver 430pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 630-2pm

Juneau 8-9pm

Skagway 7-830pm

GBay

Hubbard

Whittier 1230am (what time would we have to disembark!?:eek:)

 

2.

Vancouver 4pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 7-4pm

Juneau 11-9pm

GBay

Hubbard

Seward 5am

 

3.

Vancouver 430pm

inside passage

Ketchikan 7-3pm

Juneau 10-10pm

Skagway 7-9pm

Gbay

at sea

Seward 6am

 

Any and all advice is appreciated!

 

I'm not thrilled with the 11 arrival time in Juneau.

 

Have you decided on what to do (if anything) in Whittier or Seward - that could narrow down your selection. That is how I would choose between the two other options.

 

& because 10 isn't that much earlier, I'm more heavily leaning on the first one. unless you have something to do in Seward.

 

Bottom line when people say choose based on the itinerary, they mean:

If you are interested in the Russian part of the Alaskan story - go to Sitka.

 

If you want to see bears feeding on Salmon, go when the bears feed on salmon - not in May or September. (I also would shy away from September because it gets darker earlier, but that is me...)

[umieesa]

A couple of corrections that I think should be made to your list (see RED text.)

 

Also...the Coral Princess does a northbound cruise from Vancouver to Whittier.

 

Thanks you were right! I just don't know how to edit my original post?! :confused:

 

Should read:

 

1. Star Princess Aug 12-19 OR Aug26-Sep2

Vancouver 430pm

inside passage

Ketchikan 630-2pm

Juneau 8-9pm

Skagway 7-830pm

Glacier Bay

College Fjord

Whittier 1230am

 

2. NCL Sun Aug 14-28 OR Aug 28-Sep4

Vancouver 4pm

Inside passage

Ketchikan 7-4pm

Juneau 11-9pm

Skagway 8-8pm

Glacier Bay

Hubbard Glacier

Seward 5am

 

3. HAL Noordam Aug27-Sep3

Vancouver430pm

inside passage

Ketchikan 7-3pm

Juneau 10-10pm

Skagway 7-9pm

Glacier bay

at sea

Seward 6am

 

I didn't include coral only because prices were higher, and at that point I'm not too particular between the two princess ships. I know most people choose the Coral over the star, but I'd rather save where I can.

[mapleleaves]

I'd be concerned about the short port time in Ketchikan in #1, 6:30am - 2pm.

Realistically you won't be off the ship until 8 or 9 and you'll have to reboard by 1 so you'll only have a few hours.

 

#2 has a late arrival to Juneau but you'll have plenty of daylight. ie if you want to visit Mendenhall at 7pm after an excursion, the Visitor center will be closed but the trails are open.

[umieesa]

 

Have you decided on what to do (if anything) in Whittier or Seward - that could narrow down your selection. That is how I would choose between the two other options.

 

If you want to see bears feeding on Salmon, go when the bears feed on salmon - not in May or September. (I also would shy away from September because it gets darker earlier, but that is me...)

 

I was planning to stay at least 5 extra nights post cruise in Anchorage to explore from there. Whether I split that time up with Fairbanks or somewhere else I'm still not sure. Because my husband needs to submit his vacay dates for next year by tomorrow (how crazy is that?!) I'm rushing to at least pick the cruise and then hopefully all the land portion I can work on afterward.

 

What would be the best times to see the bears feeding? I read somewhere that parts of Alaska you can see this until early September.

[TheCalicoCat]

What would be the best times to see the bears feeding? I read somewhere that parts of Alaska you can see this until early September.

 

Probably too late for you but, based on my research July in Ketchikan. I have paid in full for my trip on the 19th of July with an independent pilot who got the permits for Anan creek.

 

There are other locations with other time frames, but "July" is the easiest answer. the 5 different varieties of salmon spawn at different times in different areas - the time frames are based on those variations (again based on what I have read - not experienced.)

 

Our previous AK cruise was in early June - too early.

[umieesa]

I actually still haven't decided on the cruise. I narrowed it down to Princess and Norwegian just so we can go Mid August and the sail dates are almost the same, so he won't need to modify his vacation time.

 

As for the cruise itself Im still not sure. My kids are begging me to choose Princess, but I'm torn because I like that NCL is cheaper and we can be in one stateroom, plus the fact it leaves on a Monday so I can fly into Vancouver a few days earlier, and spend more time post cruise in Alaska.

 

I did read that it is still possible to see salmon run in August, and some varieties even until October. I definitely don't want to risk not getting to see this since that happened to us this year in the Rockies. We were told we just missed the Salmon run at the Fraser River by a week or so, so I really don't want to be disappointed again.

 

I'm tempted to try NCL just to experience it, but if everyone's disappointed I don't want it to come down on me. At least with Princess we pretty much know what to expect.

[xlxo]

My vote goes to the Star Princess...

-date.... Aug 12 is the earliest date.... mid-August statistically starts the wet season. You also get more daylight.

 

If you can get July..... even better! I like dry weather when I'm walking around in port.

 

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Edited October 28, 2016 by xlxo

[Coral]

NCL doesn't usually have rangers come on board in Glacier bay. We have dome both HAL and Princess to Alaska . HAL did a better job because they can get closer to the glaciers. The problem with the Hubbard Glacier is ice . Depending on weather and wind you might not even get close to the Glacier.

Questiob :Why NB not SB ?

 

While I have not been on a HAL cruise to Alaska - I believe rangers board EVERY ship in Glacier Bay. It is a requirement of entering Glacier Bay.

 

Not sure why HAL would get closer than any other line with a similar size ship. We are not talking about a lot of difference. Maybe if it was a 100 passenger boat vs a 3,000 passenger ship. An 82,000 town ship compared to the Coral or Star would not make much difference.

[mapleleaves]

Bear viewing excursions have peak periods of time and those periods vary by location. Often timed with a salmon run. Even out of Ketchikan there are different peak periods for the popular viewing location. Given the high cost of these excursions it's best to do your research and go at a peak time.

 

Here's a link for Ketchikan locations and time frame.

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/bear-viewing-in-alaska.html

 

If a fly in excursion isn't in your budget, Denali is a good option for bear viewing or the Wildlife Conservation Center near Girdwood. Also sincce you have a car you can access places in the evening like the local fish hatchery or the creek/river feeding that hatchery. We found such places in Seward and Valdez.