Alaska Cruise or Hawaii

[hondo1717]

Hello Friends,

 

 

 

 

We have a question. Having trouble deciding on a 7 day Alaska Cruise out of Seattle on April 28, or spend 7 days in Oahu in Hawaii. We have seen a couple of things in Oahu, (Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach) But not everything... We have also been on cruises (Not Alaska). We have heard that going out of Seattle is not a good thing??? Going Late April early May not a good thing as well??? Hence, the indecision on this. It is for me and my better half... Thanks so much in advance. Also have a chance at a Cruise on Princess dated May 19 for one week leaving Anchorage and traveling to Victoria BC. Any assistance from anyone who has done this Alaska Cruise in late April or early May would be very much appreciated...

[easyboy]

We have a question. Having trouble deciding on a 7 day Alaska Cruise out of Seattle on April 28, or spend 7 days in Oahu in Hawaii. We have seen a couple of things in Oahu, (Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach) But not everything... We have also been on cruises (Not Alaska). We have heard that going out of Seattle is not a good thing??? Going Late April early May not a good thing as well??? Hence, the indecision on this. It is for me and my better half... Thanks so much in advance. Also have a chance at a Cruise on Princess dated May 19 for one week leaving Anchorage and traveling to Victoria BC. Any assistance from anyone who has done this Alaska Cruise in late April or early May would be very much appreciated...

 

We did the Alaska cruise in May 2 years ago round trip Seattle. We like the weather though there were intermittent rain. But it did not prevent us from enjoying the shore excursions.

Edited June 30, 2017 by easyboy

[4cats4me]

I've never heard of ships going to Alaska before May, so this is a new one on me, but I would always choose an Alaskan cruise, even though we love Hawaii too. Alaska is so breathtaking. We love an itinerary which has Glacier Bay on its itinerary. But going in April May, you might not be able to get in to see the Glaciers yet.

Our favorite cruise was the Anchorage to Vancouver route.

 

 

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[nukesubsailor]

I have done 4 Alaska cruises, one was in early May. I have been to Hawaii 7 times, 3 cruises and 4 land visits. Without a doubt I would choose the Alaskan cruise over a trip to Hawaii. The scenery and wildlife in Alaska is awesome. A bit of trivia---------the humpback whales you see in Alaska in the summer spend their winters in Hawaii.

[Shelly97060]

We have sailed out of Seattle a number times without issue. What are you hearing that concerns you?

 

Alaska is beautiful no matter when you go and the inside passage provides a lot of good scenery. Glacier Bay in particular is lovely.

[hondo1717]

We heard that going in late April or early May is not rewarding enough and that you can miss a lot. Also, round trip out of Seattle is not as good as other locations. Thanks for your reply.

[Potstech]

Look at how many sea days are in each cruise. Look at how many days you are actually at the destination. I do not mind sea days but when there are more sea days than port days I look else where. We are doing a Hawaii trip for 11 days all on land. A cruise is 10 days at sea and only 5 days in port.

[iceleven]

Look at how many sea days are in each cruise. Look at how many days you are actually at the destination. I do not mind sea days but when there are more sea days than port days I look else where. We are doing a Hawaii trip for 11 days all on land. A cruise is 10 days at sea and only 5 days in port.

 

OP is not thinking of cruising to Hawaii but taking a land vacation.

 

 

I would recommend the Alaska cruise as there is so much more to see and experience.

[SoCalTraveler]

If you go too early the bears and salmon will not be out.

[Shelly97060]

We heard that going in late April or early May is not rewarding enough and that you can miss a lot. Also, round trip out of Seattle is not as good as other locations. Thanks for your reply.

 

Because we live within driving distance of Seattle we been able to do the Alaska itinerary many times and regardless of which month we have gone it has been terrific.

 

Whichever vacation you choose I am sure it will be terrific because you are on vacation. Enjoy!

[cr8tiv1]

I am partial to Hawaii but that's another story.

 

I've enjoyed all of my Alaskan cruises. But do keep these things in mind:

 

May is very early for the season.

 

You may not be able to get into some of the areas for glacier viewing (still too icy).

 

The animals are not really out. Although I did enjoy the adult eagles teaching their eaglets touch and go water landings while we were in Ketchikan. I did see a few whales, but it is a very long haul from Lahaina to Alaska.

 

You are very limited to the months you can truly enjoy Alaska. Just distance to get there is harder than a flight to Honolulu or the neighbor islands. I would take the Anchorage to Victoria (you sure it's not Vancouver) on May 19th. Much better voyage than roundtrip out of Seattle.

 

I would go to Alaska and plan another time to go to Hawaii when you might have more time to enjoy a couple of islands.

[SmoothFlying]

I have done 4 Alaska cruises, one was in early May. I have been to Hawaii 7 times, 3 cruises and 4 land visits. Without a doubt I would choose the Alaskan cruise over a trip to Hawaii. The scenery and wildlife in Alaska is awesome. A bit of trivia---------the humpback whales you see in Alaska in the summer spend their winters in Hawaii.

 

My wife and I spent a week in Maui, twice. one week in 1999 and then again in 2003 and the scenery IS beautiful ! But never did get to finish the road to Hana (Made the wife sea sick !:eek: Tooooo curvy for her, every time we'd get halfway up, she'd end up having too lay down in the back seat. LOL ! My wife has a 14-15 day cruise from LA to the islands on her bucket list. And luckily she's NEVER had a problem of seasickness on a cruise.:D

 

Did an 7 day Alaskan cruise out of Seattle ( Inland passage Tracey's Arm, Juneau, Skagway, Ketichkan in June of 2010 and saw some the most beautiful scenery (IMHO) this poor southern boy has ever seen. I just wish we could have done the Glacier Bay trip, but..well, that's another long story. Either way, on BOTH trips you will see some beautiful sights. My wife still raves about Alaska, how breathtaking the scenery is. So, whichever you chose ? ENJOY ! The 'worst' vacation is better than a week at work !

 

Mac

[jasbo49]

When you look at people's preference for Vancouver over Seattle, it's helpful to look at a map. Cruising out of Seattle, you're out in the Pacific Ocean within a few hours. If you look at the route from Vancouver, it's windy through narrow channels for quite a long ways. We've never cruised out of Vancouver, but it looks like a fascinating route on the map.

 

As for Hawaii vs. Alaska, they're so different that it seems like the big question is what kind of vacation you want, warm and relaxing or cooler with more emphasis on exploring. I personally wouldn't go to Hawaii for a week. I'd need at least 10 days and preferably two weeks. We go there for the relaxation, usually to Maui, and we're just too comfortable to get up and go after only a week.

 

Jim

[A&Jfamily]

This is like deciding if you want a rich hot chocolate lava cake or a cool light lemon meringue. Both excellent - just depends on mood.

 

Do you want sun and beaches or cold with scenery and wildlife?

 

We did Alaska the last week in May and had great weather - but a April??? Not sure I would change that - could be very hard to see glaciers - we could only go so far in May because they were needing more melt. So am April trip would tilt me to Hawaii.

 

 

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[xlxo]

Thoughts...

• Which has more sea days? Do you like sea days?
  
• is there still a Dengue health warning on the big island?
  
• April to July has great dry weather in Alaska. Other months I would look at other itineraries.
  
• Does your Alaska itinerary include Glacier Bay?
  

[partybarbie]

This past May, I took the Grand Princess out of San Francisco to Alaska. As others have said, it's a little early for salmon spawning and bears, but otherwise we had great weather. The temps were in the mid 50's to low 60's, with very little rain. What I don't like about the Seattle cruises is the short port times and having to fly to Seattle. If you are going to fly, I would do the cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver.

 

As far as Hawaii goes, Oahu is my least favorite Island. Since you have already been there, I would suggest a land vacation to either Kauai, or Kona on the Big Island. Late September or early October is normally less crowded.

 

If it were me, I would probably go with Alaska, especially because you have never been there before.

[NavyVeteran]

Hello Friends,

We have a question. Having trouble deciding on a 7 day Alaska Cruise out of Seattle on April 28, or spend 7 days in Oahu in Hawaii. We have seen a couple of things in Oahu, (Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach) But not everything... We have also been on cruises (Not Alaska). We have heard that going out of Seattle is not a good thing??? Going Late April early May not a good thing as well??? Hence, the indecision on this. It is for me and my better half... Thanks so much in advance. Also have a chance at a Cruise on Princess dated May 19 for one week leaving Anchorage and traveling to Victoria BC. Any assistance from anyone who has done this Alaska Cruise in late April or early May would be very much appreciated...

A cruise to Alaska and a land trip in Hawaii are so different that the choice really depends on your preferences. If you have not taken an Alaska cruise, I would certainly recommend you try one.

If you have a choice between the southbound cruise from Whittier (Anchorage) to Vancouver or the round trip out of Seattle, I would definitely recommend the one way cruise. You would have two days of glacier viewing instead of one, and you would have the opportunity to see some of Alaska before the cruise.

Since you posted this question on the Princess board, I would assume you were talking about a Princess cruise. But Princess doesn't have any cruises to Victoria. The one-way southbound Princess cruises go from Whittier (a bus or train transfer from Anchorage) to Vancouver BC. The round-trip Seattle cruises stop at Victoria.

Another advantage of the one-way cruise is that you can see Vancouver BC (and Victoria also if you have time) at the end of the cruise.

 

The stop at Victoria on the round-trip Seattle cruises is a joke just to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Services Act. The ship stops at Victoria for a few hours at dinner time on the last night of the cruise. If you want dinner on the ship and you need to pack to get off the next morning, it's not very convenient to see Victoria.

[Cruise Raider]

Hello Friends,

 

 

 

 

We have a question. Having trouble deciding on a 7 day Alaska Cruise out of Seattle on April 28, or spend 7 days in Oahu in Hawaii. We have seen a couple of things in Oahu, (Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach) But not everything... We have also been on cruises (Not Alaska). We have heard that going out of Seattle is not a good thing??? Going Late April early May not a good thing as well??? Hence, the indecision on this. It is for me and my better half... Thanks so much in advance. Also have a chance at a Cruise on Princess dated May 19 for one week leaving Anchorage and traveling to Victoria BC. Any assistance from anyone who has done this Alaska Cruise in late April or early May would be very much appreciated...

 

We've sailed on Alaskan cruises 10 times, 2 times in May and the rest in Aug (1) and Sept (7). One of the May ones was early May .. May 7th as a matter of fact (San Francisco to Vancouver) and we had phenomenal weather ... even the mid-May one was awesome and also with very decent weather ... but that just depends. Here it is July and in the SF bay area, it's only in the 40's this morning....brrrrrr!! I had to actually put the heater on ... and just thinking that for Father's Day, it hit 100 degrees here ... that was just a couple of weeks ago. Anyhow, one of the worst ones weather wise was in late Sept. Still a great cruise just nasty weather ... the next time, we were at the glacier out by the pool in our bathing suits. So, you will never know this far in advance and cruises to Alaska are awesome no matter when we've gone.

Myself, I see absolutely NO issue with sailing out of Seattle....such an awesome city and relatively cheap and easy flight to/from California. As a matter of fact, we just sailed out of Vancouver and the embarkation was a kind of a nightmare ... beginning of the season and too many ships in port up in Vancouver. I don't care for the one way cruises myself so if I had a week, I would either do Vancouver RT, Seattle RT or even Seattle to Vancouver (or vice versa), which are offered on the shoulder seasons. But, that is just me ... I wouldn't enjoy that flight to or home from Anchorage. I am sure others wouldn't mind it at all.

I do love Hawaii as well but for me, it is still just not as high on my list as an Alaskan cruise! I never ever tire of Alaska ... it is just so beautiful there!! They are very different experiences so it would definitely depend on your likes / dislikes. I like cooler weather, some like the tropics, I love the sea days, some like having their feet firmly planted on the ground, I like smaller / quaint places, some like the city life. I don't think you could go wrong with either one....but for me, Alaska would be my pick, regardless of the time of year (except for the dead of winter...hahaha).

[tinybiny]

You are deciding between my 2 favorite places to vacation. Choose Alaska if you want gorgeous scenery and don't mind being cold. Choose Hawaii if you want to do water stuff and want a combo of nature and the big city available to you. I'd do Hawaii for April, but I've never done Alaska in April. I am just guessing it will be very cold and I'd end up spending a lot of time indoors, which is the opposite of how I like to vacation.

[Msail]

BOTH why choose

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

I agree.....do both. :)