Expert brain picking required

[ohnonotmeagain]

Hi

Help!!!  I am completely overwhelmed, and don't know where to start.Decided Alaska would be a good place to go and started to research the area, and now I have confused myself. SO where do I start from Van/Seattle and return to those ports or do a "one way" and finish in Anc?  What's the best time to go, I don't mean a Tuesday afternoon @4pm but May - Sept is a bit portion of the year.When do you see most wildlife and what? Is a cruise and stay the way to go or just a 2 week cruise? Is one glacier better than another?

Been cruising before so not so much bothered which line but I am from UK, so this might influence some answers.Not got money to burn but I don't need budget  tooo much.

Basically all opinions and tips would be welcome to a complete newbie.

Thanks in advance

[CruiserBruce]

Everyone of your questions has been asked here many times, so some reading on the board would be very beneficial. You ask a lot of "best" questions, but don't give any definitions of what is best to you.

 

Most cruises are 7 days, there are an occasional 10 day, and Holland America does a 14 day, which covers a number of lessor visited ports. We will be on that cruise next summer.

 

A little reading would reveal Glacier Bay is a prime site. But not all cruise lines go there. So cruise line selection might be important.

[ohnonotmeagain]

I have read a lot of threads here and that's where I've got my self confused. I think what I need is for someone to say...I went to Alaska for the first time and we did this.... but I wished now we had done this......if that makes sense !

I am NOT being sarcastic when I say I don't know what's "best" for me, certainly the time of year. On reflection a cruise is better than a cruise and stay and a 10/14 day sounds more appealing than 7 days, obviously you get to see more

[Kellybc]

I learned a lot by reading the Trip Reports (posted at the top).  We knew we wanted one-way, but were still undecided on which way, ports, time of year (coordinating work schedules with friends limited us to September or June).  Ultimately decided on June (more daylight, hopefully better weather), Vancouver to Anchorage, 10- day cruise including Sitka and Hubbard Glacier.    

[ohnonotmeagain]

27 minutes ago, Kellybc said:

I learned a lot by reading the Trip Reports (posted at the top).  We knew we wanted one-way, but were still undecided on which way, ports, time of year (coordinating work schedules with friends limited us to September or June).  Ultimately decided on June (more daylight, hopefully better weather), Vancouver to Anchorage, 10- day cruise including Sitka and Hubbard Glacier.    

thanks for your reply

[Gardyloo]

Okay, let's deconstruct some of your questions.  

 

First, the questions of "when" and "where" are strongly linked.  Because Alaska is so big, there are different climate zones, and one area in May can still be wintry while another can be summery, and by late August or early September autumn will be arriving in places while other areas will still be enjoying decent weather.   So the first big decision, one that will drive other considerations, is whether you want to do a return or round trip cruise, vs. one that goes in one direction.  In the former case, the timing is less critical, since many of the things you'll see in Southeast Alaska - the "panhandle" that extends south by east from the "bulk" of the state - will be accessible throughout most of the cruise season.

 

If you pick a one-way cruise, then you'll have the opportunity to do some land-based touring in Southcentral or interior Alaska before or after the one-way cruise.  In this case the timing can be more important, with a general rule of thumb that the farther north you go, summer conditions will start later and end earlier.

 

In the one-way scenario, not only does the month come into play, but also the length of time you have overall.  The north/south one way cruises, like the return trip ones, are mainly for seven nights.  But obviously if your intent is to tour around before or after the cruise, you'll need more time altogether.  The majority of visitors who want to do that kind of touring will find that an additional week is something of a minimum, because the various attractions in Southcentral and Interior Alaska are far apart and require a fair amount of time to access, never mind actually visit.

 

So those are the two big, initial questions you need to resolve.  How much time do you have altogether, and do you want to spend time on land in Alaska before or after the cruise, or are you content with a week's return trip.  Of course you should also consider the fact that the Pacific Northwest and BC have endless touring possibilities too, so you could easily spend extra time in the Vancouver or Seattle areas before or after the round-trip cruise, and have the opportunity to visit various national parks, scenic areas and historical sites close to two of North America's most beautiful and interesting cities.

 

The second tier of questions depends on your initial choices on length of holiday and month.  In the case of one-way cruises, due to US maritime law these all start or end in Vancouver, and in Seward or Whittier in Alaska, both of which are linked by road and rail to Anchorage.  In the case of the round trip/return cruises, these sail from both Vancouver and Seattle, and largely include the same ports of call, with some variations, in Southeast Alaska.  The big difference between the Seattle and Vancouver round-trip sailings is that the Seattle boats travel to the west of Vancouver Island on open ocean, with rougher water and no views, while the Vancouver boats travel on sheltered "Inside Passage" waters to the east of Vancouver Island. (The Seattle ships turn east into sheltered waters once they're past Vancouver Island, from which point the routes are very similar.)

 

Alaska cruises are very "port intensive," meaning they spend a lot of time in port.  So in choosing a cruise, either a one-way or round-trip one, you need to look carefully at the choices of ports of call, and especially to how long the ships are IN port.  Some places you can see quite a lot in just a few hours; in others you'll need most of a full day.  

 

All the cruises visit some tidewater glaciers, but which ones will vary.  Glacier Bay National Park has been mentioned, but the US government restricts the number of ships that are allowed to visit, so many itineraries don't include Glacier Bay.  However, other glaciers or areas with glaciers surrounding the various inlets and bays don't have those restrictions, so the ships that can't get into Glacier Bay will visit one or more of those instead.  You'll see these listed as Hubbard Glacier or Tracy Arm, for example.  In all these cases the ships spend time near the glaciers so that the passengers can see them and photograph them, but won't be put ashore as there are no facilities on land near them.

 

For one-way cruisers, you also need to decide what attractions or destinations in Southcentral or Interior Alaska (or, by air, the north or west of the state) you want to see.  Denali National Park is a top target for many visitors, followed by the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound (visit to Kenai Fjords National Park, for example, or Homer and Kachemak Bay.)  Others will want to visit the interior city of Fairbanks, and others will want to visit arctic villages.  It comes down to budget and time availability.

 

Speaking of budget and time availability, obviously the one-way-plus-land option is going to be pricier than a round-trip cruise, since you'll need to include accommodation, transportation, and additional airfare costs.  Things can be costly in Alaska, from hire car costs to hotel accommodations.

 

So I don't know if this helps or confuses things further.  Come back with more questions.

 

 

[ohnonotmeagain]

Gardyloo… thanks for your most detailed reply, it's given me plenty to think about as somethings I hadn't even considered before:)

[luvteaching]

HI Ohnonotmeagain, 

 

We've done 15 cruises to Alaska and live north of Seattle, actually about 1/2 way between Seattle and Vancouver. That being said we've done all our cruising out of Seattle. One reason, even though I'm Canadian and from the Vancouver area, is that I have no desire to battle the traffic and parking! In Seattle I can get to the pier before the heavy congestion, etc. 

 

We've done about 11- 7 day trips and 4 - 14 day trips with most of them being on Holland America. We love the 14 day itinerary on Holland America out of Seattle. If you have the time it's great! Not only do you see the usual towns of Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka you also get Icy Strait Point, Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak as well as Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier (my favorite of all time). 

 

The ship that is currently doing the 14-day itinerary is the Amsterdam and it is a smaller ship (about 1400 passengers) and its size allows it to get into the smaller ports. In addition the port times are longer. For instance you are in Ketchikan from 8;00 AM - 5:00 PM (about 4 hours longer) and Juneau from 8:00 AM - 10;00 PM (about 4 hours longer). The smaller towns you visit aren't as touristy as Juneau and Ketchikan as well. You also get all afternoon and evening in Victoria rather than the usual 7:00 PM to midnight stop. 

 

The Amsterdam is a lovely ship and has a great crew. We will be on it again in August and are counting down the days. It's not glitzy but rather more elegant in terms of decor. We have cruised in the June-August window as I'm a teacher and that's when summer break is. We haven't had a bad time to cruise. Last year we were gone two weeks in mid-July and the first week was cloudy and cool and the second it was close to 80 in Juneau. 

 

Do some looking at itineraries and definitely check out port times. Since you are coming quite a distance it would be nice to do the longer cruise and, just think, no unpacking for 2 weeks! 

Karen

[martincath]

7 hours ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

...I am NOT being sarcastic when I say I don't know what's "best" for me, certainly the time of year. On reflection a cruise is better than a cruise and stay and a 10/14 day sounds more appealing than 7 days, obviously you get to see more

You've given a couple of indicators of YOUR idea of 'best' right there; more info like this, so that us total strangers who don't know you from Adam, have an idea of which of the many options are most likely to be good for YOU rather than US will get you more specific (in both volume and accuracy) replies.

 

e.g. you mentioned wildlife in your first post - do you care about seeing whales? Eagles? Bears? Is one more important than the others? If seeing bears would be your biggest priority for example that cuts down on the timeframe, whereas whales are around for the whole the AK cruise season (and eagles in Alaska are like Seagulls or Pigeons in the UK - you'd really have to try hard not to see them!)

 

What about other vehicles than cruise ships? Are you good on small boats? Small planes? If you're scared of taking a small plane for example, then Misty Fjords and several bear-viewing locations will be much harder to visit - so again if bears were a priority for you there would be a further restriction of your viable cruise options if you aren't willing to fly to them (offhand I think Prince Rupert, a much less visited cruise port in BC, would be the best bet for a boat-based bear viewing for example - Khutzeymateen has a huge concentration on grizzlies - while Icy Strait Point, a much more frequently visited port in AK, offers land-based bear viewing but with different peak times to do so).

 

So as you can see, just because you haven't been to Alaska yet does not mean you can't give us more data to work with! Any aspect of your preferences that you DO know will help - whether it's cruise-specific info like you prefer ships with many resto options, or general vacation preferences like you would rather visit sites of cultural significance than pretty mountains, and how mobile/physically-capable you and your traveling companions are (no point suggesting an excursion that requires hiking if you cannot/do not want to walk about on rough terrain).

 

A preference for a >7 day cruise-only vacation already helps narrow things down - you can combine B2B North & Southbound 7 day trips on pretty much all the mainstream lines, but that HAL 14 day RT is the only mainstream one I can think of offhand that doesn't repeat ports. More luxury/niche cruises tend to be the ones who offer 10 day RTs, but you can also find mainstream lines doing an 'almost RT' at the beginning and end of the season so that they can legally bring their ships up to Seattle from elsewhere in the US, e.g. my fave cruise was our NCL May Vancouver-Seattle one, as it added a couple of extra days and ports to the typical Juneau/Skagway/Ketchikan trio that most 7 day cruises visit - this was also my first visit to Sitka, which is by far the most interesting AK port of call (for me, since I really enjoyed the cultural/historic stuff related to the Russians which you don't get in the other ports - your mileage will of course vary...)

[ohnonotmeagain]

Thanks for all of your detailed replies folks...you really ARE helping:) and some are answering questions I didn't even think about.! Perhaps I should have titled the thread " what don't I know that you do " 

Defo want to see whales either long distance [ship] and tour ie Juneau, and love the idea eagles are the UK equivalent to pigeons, that's really funny to me !! Wouldn't mind seeing bears as well - not greedy/demanding at all really!!

Quite like the idea of HAL 14 day R/T , will investigate that some more. 

 

Thanks again people.. CC contributors are very helpful.

[Coral]

Go get the book Alaska by Cruiseship by Anne Vipond.

[JBSteelerfan]

We prefer to do a OW sailing, like going southbound, getting the longer flight out of the way first.  Of course a longer time in Alaska is good if you can.  Are you planning to do a land tour in addition to a cruise?  You will certainly see different things doing that over just the cruise ports. 

[wolfie11]

I've done a lot of Alaska cruises.  Call me jaded, but as ships get bigger and more ships are added every year, a lot of the attraction of doing the standard Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway route just isn't there anymore. I was in Skagway this summer with 12,000 other people - it's a town of 800 permanent residents. There are new cruise lines coming into Alaska that you might want to look at, such as Viking and Cunard (Queen Elizabeth).  There are smaller ships with all-inclusive itineraries like Silversea and Seaborne which might give you sticker shock at first, but when you sit down and figure our how much you'll spend on drinks, shore excursions, etc., sometimes aren't so bad after all.  My advice would be to get off the beaten track a little and go on a ship that includes Sitka, Haines, Wrangell, Icy Strait, and other smaller ports. 

 

I only do one-ways because I love the animals and try to maximize time in Denali.

[Heidi13]

Over the years I completed 2 Alaska seasons working and latterly a number of additional cruises as a passenger, so have seen Alaska way too many times all throughout the season.

 

The weather can best be described as variable, as I have experienced everything from flat calm to 70 kt storms and cold temps to mid 90's. In general, mid June to end of August has the best chance of nice weather. Storms are more prevalent in May and again mid September/October.

 

Personally, my first decision would be how much of Alaska to you want to visit. Are you happy with SE Alaska and the ultra touristy Ketchikan/Juneau/Skagway? If yes, then consider a 7-day R/T from Vancouver or Seattle.

 

Do you want to see glaciers, most likely yes. In Alaska, cruise ships routinely visit  Tracey Arm, Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier and Prince William Sound. If on a SE Alaska itinerary, your options are limited to Tracey Arm, Glacier Bay or Hubbard - Tracey Arm is long narrow channel with a tight entry and is frequently blocked by ice, early in the season. In 40 years, I believe I have only been in twice. Glacier Bay only has 2 ships per day, and most permits belong to Princess & HAL. I have never missed Glacier Bay, which was included on every Alaska cruise completed. Hubbard Glacier also has a potential for being blocked by ice - have missed it twice. Personally, I would opt for a cruise visiting Glacier Bay, if not, I would look for both Hubbard and Prince William Sound. 

 

If you want to experience Prince William Sound area, you are looking for a 1-way cruise, which must depart from or arrive in a Canadian port. Most are 7-day cruise departing Vancouver to Seward/Whittier, although some Line have 10-day cruises - Viking Ocean being one of them. You can also do a B2B, which affords time for a scenic cruise through Prince William Sound. If, 1-way you can take an optional inland excursion to Denali and/or Kenai.

 

Personally, we plan to drive to Alaska with the RV in a couple of years, so have no desire to do an inland cruise ship tour, so we normally opt for B2B out of Vancouver. While it repeats ports, it gives you additional opportunities to catch things you missed the first time.

[ohnonotmeagain]

THANK YOU for all your replies, really helpful.

[kjmcneil89]

In my opinion, from traveling and living all over Alaska, you don't get the true experience unless you do a land and sea trip to Southcentral and into the Interior. Southeast is beautiful but Southcentral also has abundant wildlife, glaciers, and extremely dramatic geology. Everything you would (probably) want to see and experience you could do with a cruise from Vancouver to Seward and post cruise land tour. After you get off the cruise I would recommend exploring the Kenai Fjords and Kenai Peninsula, they have the best wildlife and fishing, and then heading up to Talkeetna and then Denali before flying out of Anchorage. 

[Mountaineer0313]

On 11/17/2018 at 8:38 AM, ohnonotmeagain said:

I have read a lot of threads here and that's where I've got my self confused. I think what I need is for someone to say...I went to Alaska for the first time and we did this.... but I wished now we had done this......if that makes sense !

I am NOT being sarcastic when I say I don't know what's "best" for me, certainly the time of year. On reflection a cruise is better than a cruise and stay and a 10/14 day sounds more appealing than 7 days, obviously you get to see more

I went to Alaska for the first time and...it was the most incredible vacation of my life and I would go every year for the rest of my life if I had the choice (and a million dollars).

We did northbound out of Vancouver. We LOVED Vancouver, and wish we'd had a few extra days there. After we got off the cruise in Seward, we stayed for two days in Girdwood, and traveled around exploring the areas between Seward and Anchorage. Next time, we will probably not do a cruise, and we'll do Air B&Bs in a few spots between Seward and Denali.