Last minute Alaska cruise - best line & ship?

[shuwei]

My hubby & I have the chance to cruise Alaska ( & maybe do a land tour, too)  in mid-June, pref 5-7 nts, to/from Seattle or to/from Vancouver

 

What is your favorite cruise line & ship?  Best sites for last minute rates?

[CruiserBruce]

There is no one "best" cruise line for everybody. Everyone's tastes are different. Plus, if you are trying for a "last minute" cruise, you may not have a lot of choice in what is available, and "best".  A little reading here will get you a lot of info, including the suggestion that you look for in port times, and that Alaska is about the scenery, not so much the ship.

 

Alaska cruises are typically 7 days. Not aware of any that are 5. 

 

We are not allowed to name, recommend or discuss travel agencies, on line or websites. So you aren't going to get any recommendations.

 

Assume you are somewhere close to Vancouver or Seattle? Otherwise airfare could be painful.

[donaldsc]

There is no "best" line but only the best line for you.  I can absolutely guarantee that what I would consider the best line would not be the best one for you as I like AK ships that hold less than 100 passengers.  I would even prefer but have never done an AK cruise on one of the 10 or less passenger trawler yachts.  I would never do AK on the absurdly large ships that are now doing AK unless there were unavoidable extenuating circumstances.  

 

DON

[1city@atime]

No matter what you choose, I'd recommend the "inside passage" out of Vancouver.

[JT1962]

As others have said “best” is very subjective. I prefer a one-way cruise from Vancouver to Seward or Whittier. Those generally give longer times in port and cruise inside of Vancouver Island. I prefer Northbound since I like the feeling of sailing to Alaska with the scenery getting better each day. As also mentioned by others, unless you live in the Northwest, airfare will probably be the largest expense with less than 30 days before the dates you mentioned.

[gogomez1]

There are some deals on NCL right now with last minute sailings beginning of June.

[Heidi13]

R/T cruises shorter than a week normally only visit Ketchikan and possibly Juneau, which doesn't cover much of Alaska.

 

Cruises from Seattle head up the Pacific Ocean, so no scenic cruising and must also visit Victoria, which reduces the time in Alaska. Cruises from Vancouver will see some of the Inside Passage and are therefore more scenic.

 

In Alaska the scenery is normally the primary attraction and the ship is a means to get between ports.

 

Our favourite cruise line is Viking Ocean, which is a Premium Line. We couldn't imaging booking a cruise on a mainstream line, but they meet the needs of many others.