Oceania & Alaska

[gbits]

We are taking our second Oceania cruise in September and now consider it our line of choice. We are interested in doing an Alaskan cruise but have been told by others who have taken them that it should be one that either starts or ends in Alaska and includes a land cruise tour that allows you to explore Denali. Celebrity and Princess both offer cruises that work this way. However, all of Oceania's 2018 Alaska cruises are round trip Seattle, which of course does not allow for the Denali land tour. Do es Oceania ever offer this type of cruise? I'm not a fan of the bigger ships and would prefer to use Oceania but only if we can get the cruisetour of Denali option.

[sammiedawg]

This year Oceania operated out of Vancouver and Seattle. I am not aware they do any one way sailings, northbound or southbound, that easily link up with cruisetours.

You could fly from Seattle up to Anchorage to join a land tour but it is not a short flight. Tauck, Gray Line and other operate land tours independent of cruise lines.

 

Alaska is all about the destination. We think Princess has the best program up there as they own five or six lodges including a big one at Denali. Several lodges are in the wilderness. They also have Glacier bay permits and almost all sailings go in there. I don't think Oceania has any Glacier bay access.

Regardless of which land tour company you choose remember Alaska is a seasonal operation. Generally food, lodging and service will be adequate but not luxurious.

[4Lakes Lady]

We did Alaska on Oceania last year. San Francisco/Vancouver 10 days. Loved the Regatta but others are right- no land tour to Denali. Also no Glacier Bay but Hubbard Glacier was spectacular! With a smaller ship, our captain got us so close to the Glacier! Princess may be a better option because is the land tours.

 

 

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[azam71209]

We did a 14 day cruise years ago and then later did an independent land trip in Alaska. Last year we did the 10 day Seattle-Seattle trip and loved it. Agree that Hubbard Glacier was spectacular and only us there, as opposed to Glacier Bay where there will be other large ships as well as small ones. Denali is interesting but personally it is not so different from other US national parks that I would skimp on cruise days to get there. Lots of time the mountain is in the clouds anyway. If you like hiking, as we did, it is fun but just riding a bus through the place wouldn't be so interesting to me. We did do a paddle boat trip in Fairbanks that was unforgettable and the Kenai Peninsula is worth a stay.

 

Whatever you do, I'm sure you will have a great time.

 

Mary

[michigankate]

My husband and I did Alaska last year. We ended up sailing on Regent so that we could start in Vancouver and end in Anchorage. After the cruise, we did a land tour on our own and spent time in Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage. We love Oceania, but their Alaska cruises didn't meet our needs.