Please answer about Alaska

[heretohavefun2#]

My life has changed I have wanted to see Alaska...We were booked on a 10 day crusietour but my husband received a job offer so we had to cancel...Now we are settling in to a new home and a new city...we would like to go to Alaska next spring but he can not be gone but the 7 days...IS it worth JUST taking the cruise and not seeing Denali etc....AND if so should I just go out of Seattle and back to Seattle or Vancouver in...Thank you:cool:

[CruiserBruce]

Come over to the Alaska board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

for tons of info. Some research there will tell you Glacier Bay is VERY desirable, so that limits your cruise lines some, and pushes you towards sailing out of Vancouver.

 

I am guessing you don't realize that probably 90% of the people who sail Alaska don't see Denali. Haven't heard too many complaints. In fact, we have sailed Alaska twice (third one booked for next June) and have yet to see Denali, and won't see it on our next cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Check air fare for cruises out of both Vancouver and Seattle. That can make a difference on what you plan.

Sailing out of Vancouver does have a lot of beautiful scenery.

7 day cruises are very popular. We have done Denali but it is not a requirement for an introduction to Alaska.

[Heidi13]

I have completed 2 seasons working Alaska cruises and also numerous as a passenger and to date have never completed the extension to Denali. As a pax we normally did 14 day R/T from Vancouver, to save flying.

 

Seattle departures must be R/T, with all transits heading up and down the West Coast. You also visit Victoria, but only for a few hours.

 

From Vancouver you have the option of 7-day R/T or a 7-day N'bd to Prince William Sound (Whittier/Seward). You can also fly into Anchorage and do a 7-day S'bd to Vancouver. Having completed both R/T and N'bd/S'bd trips, my preference is always a N'bd or S'bd, as it provides greater exposure to Alaska.

 

Therefore, if the flight timings work for your schedule, I would look at either a 7-day N'bd or S'bd. I would definitely want to visit Glacier Bay, which does limit your options, as only 2 ships per day visit the Park. Princess & HAL have the most permits. Hubbard Glacier is another worth visiting.

[Roz]

I've been on 4 Alaskan cruises and have a 5th one booked for next year. Have never been to Denali. That will have to wait until I'm retired. I'm in love with Alaska.

 

Roz

[kctwinmommy]

If you want to see it, then take what you can. We did a 7-day R/T from Seattle and loved it all! I didn't feel any regrets about missing anything. We saw amazing things, and things that we felt really represented Alaska.

[Essiesmom]

Please bear in mind that the cruise is 7 days...But you will have to fly in a day early, especially as you will be going from the Southeast. And you will be traveling all day the day you get off of the ship. Just no way around that. EM

[klfrodo]

Let me turn this around on you.

 

If seeing Florida was on my life long bucket list and I asked you if going to Disney World would fulfill my bucket list,, what would you advise?

[XBGuy]

My life has changed I have wanted to see Alaska...We were booked on a 10 day crusietour but my husband received a job offer so we had to cancel...Now we are settling in to a new home and a new city...we would like to go to Alaska next spring but he can not be gone but the 7 days...IS it worth JUST taking the cruise and not seeing Denali etc....AND if so should I just go out of Seattle and back to Seattle or Vancouver in...Thank you:cool:

 

 

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. You may like it, and, so, you can do it again, tomorrow.

 

 

Since 1991 we have taken four Alaska cruises--and have two booked for next year, We have never been to Denali. We just enjoy cruising. Since you are still of working age, I might suggest that you have plenty of time to make multiple visits to Alaska. So, I would encourage you to go ahead and book a 7-day cruise-only trip.

 

I am an outlier here on Cruise Critic in that I think the itinerary for an Alaska cruise is inconsequential. There is tremendous beauty all over Alaska. Do not be trapped into FOMO. Pick a cruise based on your requirements. Specifically, one that works with your time schedule and one that works with your budget.

 

I will, however, also second the recommendation from a previous poster. It is prudent to plan to fly to the departure city the day before embarkation. It does give you much more flexibility.

 

Personal story (with a happy ending): Our first AK cruise was an Anchorage to Vancouver 7-day. We flew from Southern California to Anchorage the day of departure. We landed in Anchorage late morning. Uh-oh. One of our suitcases did not come off the aircraft. We found the cruise line lady in the baggage claim area and explained our situation. She took our claim ticket and had us board the bus. Cutting to the chase, our suitcase was on the next flight, and it was delivered to the ship prior to departure. We were lucky but lesson learned.

[DRS/NC]

Alaska is fantastic!

 

I've taken 4 cruises to Alaska & hope to do more. With 2 of the cruises, we did a land tour (Fairbanks to Anchorage) that included going into the national park -- but we did not see the mountain either time!

 

We were told that only about 30-40% of visitors get to see Mt. McKinley; it is cloud covered much of the time. As for Denali Park, we saw little wildlife -- the animals are on their own schedule. But it was still fun.

 

A 7-day cruise is great! There is still so much to see, including Glacier Bay NP.

 

Our last trip was May 2016, RT from Seattle. GREAT! DO IT!

[ldubs]

Let me turn this around on you.

 

If seeing Florida was on my life long bucket list and I asked you if going to Disney World would fulfill my bucket list,, what would you advise?

 

 

Umm, I guess I would advise you to go to Disney World? :D I was there over 20 years ago. They had a pretty decent golf course in the park. :D

[lenquixote66]

My life has changed I have wanted to see Alaska...We were booked on a 10 day crusietour but my husband received a job offer so we had to cancel...Now we are settling in to a new home and a new city...we would like to go to Alaska next spring but he can not be gone but the 7 days...IS it worth JUST taking the cruise and not seeing Denali etc....AND if so should I just go out of Seattle and back to Seattle or Vancouver in...Thank you:cool:

 

 

We did a 7 day land and a 7 day cruise.Denali was the highlight for us .

[crystalspin]

I took 6 members of my family on the HAL 7-day roundtrip out of Vancouver. Not ONE person said "oh my I haven't seen Alaska". Go to Totem Bight in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, and the railroad up/bus back in Skagway. See Glacier Bay.

 

There will always be more to come back to!

 

There are weekend and weekday departures. Figure out which one will let you get into Vancouver the day before because you cannot count on airplane landing on schedule. But you can fly out anytime after about noon on day of disembarcation. Find a way to make this work with DH's work. You will thank me!

 

PS I have been to Seward, Palmer, Denali, Fairbanks, -- if you do the excursions I recommend you will see 75% of what I've seen in Alaska. You will have missed caribou running in circles to get the mosquitos off them in Denali NP, the chance to have a moose cross the road in front of you, bears and bighorns on the far hillside looking like raisins and grains of rice, respectively, and a 50% chance of seeing some piece of Denali/MtMckinley peeking out of the clouds.

[Herfnerd]

Uhm……..seeing Alaska on a 7-night cruise is better than seeing nothing. Go for it

[JML1010]

My life has changed I have wanted to see Alaska...We were booked on a 10 day crusietour but my husband received a job offer so we had to cancel...Now we are settling in to a new home and a new city...we would like to go to Alaska next spring but he can not be gone but the 7 days...IS it worth JUST taking the cruise and not seeing Denali etc....AND if so should I just go out of Seattle and back to Seattle or Vancouver in...Thank you:cool:

 

I took a 7-day Alaska cruise on Norwegian Bliss this summer round trip to/from Seattle by myself. If you have the time and money, I definitely suggest seeing Denali. If I had to do it all over again (and had the time and money), I would fly up to Alaska, perhaps take a land tour, and then do a south bound cruise. You can see more of Alaska that way. I didn't feel like I got to see a lot of Alaska on my cruise and there was too much time on the ship. I suggest looking at Princess for an Alaskan cruise.

[evandbob]

Seems like those who haven't been to any of Alaska's interior will say they didn't miss it, and most who have done a land tour as well as a cruise will say do both.

 

I'll say whatever the OP's budget and time allows would be best. If the OP is thinking it's a once in a lifetime trip, then try to incorporate as many aspects as you can; if planning to return, you can do it in chunks.

 

We were pretty sure that Alaska was a one time event for us, so we decided to do Princess' land/tour. Many of the land experiences rival those we had during the cruise. We're glad we did both, and now have other bucket list locations targeted.

[XBGuy]

Here's another thought.

 

OP, is there some reason your adventure has to happen in the spring?

 

The Alaska cruising season extends from April through September. If you can look at late summer/early fall, can your husband build up a few more vacation days?

 

I have cruised in April/May, August and September. I can't say that the month affected my enjoyment one way or the other.

 

No need for you to come back here and answer. I'm just trying to think of ideas that give alternatives.

[LuckyStar]

My life has changed I have wanted to see Alaska...We were booked on a 10 day crusietour but my husband received a job offer so we had to cancel...Now we are settling in to a new home and a new city...we would like to go to Alaska next spring but he can not be gone but the 7 days...IS it worth JUST taking the cruise and not seeing Denali etc....AND if so should I just go out of Seattle and back to Seattle or Vancouver in...Thank you:cool:

 

Absolutely. If that's all the time you have, you should still go. We did a one way cruise, departed Vancouver, arrived Anchorage. Totally worth it. We saw so much just on the cruise. Not sure if your husband has weekends off but you might be able to time it so you could arrive Anchorage on Friday or Saturday, rent a car drive north and fly home from Fairbanks on Sunday. It's not ideal but you can potentially see Denali in one day. You can't see it all but the shuttle to the end of the road is pretty awesome. We only had one day at the park.

[dread_pirate]

We did only the 7 day cruise as well. It was absolutely worth it. If you can, I suggest a one-way rather than RT Seattle. They go further north in Alaska. I also suggest one that goes through Glacier Bay National Park; it's spectacular. Currently, I believe that only Princess, Holland America and Norwegian have licenses to sail there.

[ldubs]

I agree 100% with everyone suggesting you go for the 7 day SE Alaska cruise. I may sound like a broken record, but you might consider timing your cruise for the salmon runs. I think it would be spectacular and regret not doing that. I think that might be August, but strongly suggest you not rely on my memory (haha).

[crystalspin]

Timed this year's family cruise for the salmon run (mid-July to mid-August) but the run(s) were very disappointing to residents, wildlife, and tourists! The large salmon in Ketchikan (where I hoped to see seals from Creek Street in town and bear at a cove outside of town) were barely occasional. The chum/dog salmon were running good in a small stream at the Raptor Center at Sitka, but that is all we saw.

 

I recommend mid-to-late June, when the whales in Auke Bay (Juneau) are very active with much breaching and other surface behavior as they are newly back from wintering in Hawaii's waters.

[Sea Hag]

The round trip Seattle 7 day that visits Glacier Bay is wonderful and well worth going on.

[ldubs]

Timed this year's family cruise for the salmon run (mid-July to mid-August) but the run(s) were very disappointing to residents, wildlife, and tourists! The large salmon in Ketchikan (where I hoped to see seals from Creek Street in town and bear at a cove outside of town) were barely occasional. The chum/dog salmon were running good in a small stream at the Raptor Center at Sitka, but that is all we saw.

 

I recommend mid-to-late June, when the whales in Auke Bay (Juneau) are very active with much breaching and other surface behavior as they are newly back from wintering in Hawaii's waters.

 

 

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[bakersdozen12]

It’s absolutely worth it to just take the cruise! We didn’t do a land tour and I don’t regret it at all. You can see so much more via a cruise ship anyway.

 

 

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