All Ports to go to For Alaska Cruise

[khsb14]

Hello! I am working on planning my first ever Alaska Cruise and we are hoping that we might be able to do this in as few cruises as possible, but we dont know where to begin. We have only seen one cruise that seems to cover all of Alaska, the Great Alaskan Explorer on Holland America; but looking at the reviews on here it looks like the ship HA is using is not very good so I am hesitant to say thats what we want to go with; so I thought I would try my search a different way.

 

If you had to give someone advice on the ports they ABSOLUTELY need to go to when going to Alaska, what would you tell them? And if you could give a little information, such as, lots of shopping, need to do an excurision, or lots of sightseeing, I would sooo appreciate it!!!

 

FYI we are not looking at certain cruiselines at this time cause we are truly just trying to figure out our itinerary right now so please dont suggest itineraries, just ports.

 

Thank you everyone in advance!!!

[Zoedokey]

Juneau if you can take the Tracy Arm small boat excursion. It was amazing. Also, float plane In Ketchikan was great.

 

 

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[GradUT]

I suggest you get a copy of "Fodor's Alaska Ports of Call". It will give you a good idea of what each of the possible Alaskan ports is like--sightseeing, shopping, excursions, etc. It was a valuable tool when I planned our May 2017 Alaskan cruise. (I got it at my local library.)

[Glaciers]

Sitka-The best walk-around port and it also has exceptional wildlife tours.

Juneau-Whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier

Skagway-White Pass Yukon Route Railroad, driving the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake.

We don't shop on cruises and normally don't spend much time in the actual port town.

[Crew News]

Hello! I am working on planning my first ever Alaska Cruise and we are hoping that we might be able to do this in as few cruises as possible, but we dont know where to begin. We have only seen one cruise that seems to cover all of Alaska, the Great Alaskan Explorer on Holland America; but looking at the reviews on here it looks like the ship HA is using is not very good so I am hesitant to say thats what we want to go with; so I thought I would try my search a different way.

 

If you had to give someone advice on the ports they ABSOLUTELY need to go to when going to Alaska, what would you tell them? And if you could give a little information, such as, lots of shopping, need to do an excurision, or lots of sightseeing, I would sooo appreciate it!!!

 

FYI we are not looking at certain cruiselines at this time cause we are truly just trying to figure out our itinerary right now so please dont suggest itineraries, just ports.

 

Thank you everyone in advance!!!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Sorry you let a few bad reviews influence your choices. Cruise Critic is famous for a few members implying that they speak for all of their fellow passengers on board when they declare their cruise/ship a disaster. Food, service, condition of the ship, decor, etc are all subjective and tend to described in extreme terms by those trying to convince others of a horrible experience. If you read 20 reviews for the same cruise with the same complaints, there may be a pattern but just a few complaints out of 1400 passengers make me consider them just anomalies.

 

 

I booked the Holland America 14-day cruise to Alaska for May 2018 and will be enjoying some new ports on the Ms Veendam that I have not visited in my past eleven cruises to Alaska.

 

Key Alaska cruise ports are:

Juneau - any whale watching

Ketchikan - Crab Fishing on Aleutian Ballad of the TV series Deadliest Catch where they stop to feed the eagles

Skagway - Dog sledding in the snow

Sitka - Otters, Raptors, and Bears to see otters, whales, sitka deer, eagles, grizzly bears

 

Here is a link to my daily activities two weeks ago covering some of the ports above to give you an idea of typical things to enjoy on board a HAL ship in Alaska:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/on-locations-specific-cruises/alaska-2017-noordam-when-where-daily-activities/

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Crew News

[easyboy]

Nice shots Crew News!

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[Crew News]

Nice shots Crew News!

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

 

Going to Alaska is all about wildlife and photos speak better than words to describe what can be seen.

[Dejagirl]

Hi! We were just in Alaska last year and truly loved every moment! We did a land + sea package. We flew into Anchorage a day early - we walked around town and took a trolley tour that day. The next day we booked our own excursion to Seward and the Glacier Quest to get up close to a few glaciers. Our land tour started the next day with a train ride up to Denali (we spent 3 day there). We went on the Tundra Wilderness tour. We were extremely lucky and clear skies let us see Mt. Denali all 3 days! Next we bussed up to Fairbanks and did an excursion to Gold Dredge No. 8. The next day we boarded a plane to take us to Dawson City Canada. This is where the gold rush of 1898 started, and we did an excursion to see how modern day gold mining is done. From there we bussed down to Fraser and boarded the White Pass train and rode that all the way down to Skagway. Amazing scenery! In Skagway we learned more about the 1898 gold rush ( I honestly could have cared less about this history, but once you are there ... wow, I couldn't get enough of it). The town of Skagway is small and cute (lots of cruise ship port stores), so we rented a car and explored the outskirts. My favorite cruise port of the ones we spent any time at. We boarded our ship here and saw Glacier Bay (stunning, but I'm glad we did the excursion in Seward too) before heading to Ketchikan. Ketchikan was more of a "normal" town away from the port, and not what I thought it would be. I can't say I liked or disliked this port. I was feeling a bit sick that day so didn't enjoy anything like I should have (not the ports fault by any means). Next we cruised the inside passage - not exciting, but we were there at the end of the season so it's possible that it would have been more breathtaking earlier when there was still snow melting. Our cruise ended in Vancouver - a large city with some cool history we learned while on one of the hop on/hop off tours. I do not recommend getting off though as you may not be able to find room to get back on. I would love to go back. My wish list includes Juneau (Mendenhall Glacier), Haines (Davidson Glacier), Sitka and Hubbard Glacier. Of course I want to go back to Denali too! If you have any specific question ask!

[xlxo]

I say... must include

• Glacier Bay for glacier seekers.
  
• Vancouver
  

[zqvol]

If you are only going once skip the cruise and do a land based vacation.

[Crew News]

 

I booked the Holland America 14-day cruise to Alaska for May 2018 and will be enjoying some new ports on the Ms Veendam that I have not visited in my past eleven cruises to Alaska.

 

My error. I am booked on the Ms Zaandam for Alaska May 2018.

[Coral]

I wouldn't dismiss the smaller HAL ships. This itinerary is amazing and would be wroth it IMO.

 

Often the smaller, older ships have better service. The reviews on the 14 day HAL cruise are amazing. They have a lot repeat passengers who do this 14 day itinerary which says a lot.

[Cornishpastyman1]

Hello! I am working on planning my first ever Alaska Cruise and we are hoping that we might be able to do this in as few cruises as possible, but we dont know where to begin. We have only seen one cruise that seems to cover all of Alaska, the Great Alaskan Explorer on Holland America; but looking at the reviews on here it looks like the ship HA is using is not very good so I am hesitant to say thats what we want to go with; so I thought I would try my search a different way.

 

If you had to give someone advice on the ports they ABSOLUTELY need to go to when going to Alaska, what would you tell them? And if you could give a little information, such as, lots of shopping, need to do an excurision, or lots of sightseeing, I would sooo appreciate it!!!

 

FYI we are not looking at certain cruiselines at this time cause we are truly just trying to figure out our itinerary right now so please dont suggest itineraries, just ports.

 

Thank you everyone in advance!!!

 

The first 6 videos in the ALASKA (Inside Passage)/CANADIAN ROCKIES/VANCOUVER playlist below show what we did in Juneau, Skaway, our Glacier Bay day and at Ketchikan. All the best, Tony

[snowmc]

Alaska is our favorite destination....been 10 times with our 11th coming August 4th. I have a travel blog...http://www.zest4travel.wordpress.com and have several posts about the different ports, glaciers and a packing list. Maybe you can find some useful information there. Hope you have an amazing cruise! :ship:

[TheCalicoCat]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Sorry you let a few bad reviews influence your choices.

 

 

I agree 1000%. I'll be on HA Amsterdam in a couple weeks for the 14-night cruise & I couldn't be more excited!

 

Next year a different HAL ship will be sailing that route...

 

As for your question about ports, that depends on what you want to do. I have no desire to take a train, but 1000's (if not 10,000's) do in Skagway.

 

I also am not keen to take a whale watch (those are done mostly out of Juneau or Icy Strait Point.)

 

I bet you might be interested in either or both of those...

 

I want to see bears - so I am going to Kodiak! (I'm flying to see them out of Ketchikan too.)

 

We sailed on HA Volendam in 2012 & loved it.

Tracy Arm excursion off the boat is a can't miss IMHO.