alaska only on water..regrets?

[AlanF65]

4 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

related question. is it worth the extra for the balcony vs inside/OV rooms?  they really kick up the prices for balcony and ive never sailed in anything but it, but if you are in port 90% of the days, would balcony even matter?

 

something like this is only 1500 OV which seems insanely cheap

 

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia	---Not Applicable	4:30 PM
day2	At Sea	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day3	Ketchikan, Alaska	6:30 AM	3:00 PM
day4	Juneau, Alaska	8:00 AM	9:00 PM
day5	Skagway, Alaska	7:00 AM	8:30 PM
day6	Cruise Glacier Bay National Park	6:00 AM	3:00 PM
day7	Cruise College Fjord, Alaska	6:00 PM	8:30 PM
day8	Whittier (Anchorage), Alaska	12:30 AM	8:30 PM
day9	Cruise Hubbard Glacier	3:00 PM	8:00 PM
day10	Cruise Glacier Bay National Park	9:15 AM	7:30 PM
day11	Skagway, Alaska	7:00 AM	8:30 PM
day12	Juneau, Alaska	6:30 AM	5:00 PM
day13	Ketchikan, Alaska	10:00 AM	6:00 PM
day14	At Sea	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day15	Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia	7:30 AM	---

 

I love this itinerary  with seeing Glacier bay twice, Hubbard and College Fjord is a big plus to me

Day 4 I would  do Adventure bound 9 hour trip to Tracy arm

Day 5 I would do some version of the bus /train to emerald lake Carcross

I haven't been to anchorage yet so can't recommend.

Day 11 I would do something different, walk town, go to the nature center.

Day 12 I would do a small boat whale watch combined with a visit to Mendenhall Glacier.

 

I love glaciers so this would be a fantastic trip I am tyring to get a balcony on the same cruise in Sept. ( they are sold out) Most your May cruises final payment date is in February (90 days before sailing) right after that there may be some openings as TA release blocks not sold and people cancel last minute, if you can go short notice there are sometimes very good last minute deals.

 

 

[luckyinpa]

on that  14 nite, what are the odds of seeing whales? when we were in canada we saw the moose signs but no moose. so she would love to see moose and whales! 

 

also any opinions on grand princess. ive only been on regal. 

 

also i guess i was only looking at the 1st end of the cruise. its a b2b...didnt notice that..2800 for the OV. 

Edited January 25, 2020 by luckyinpa

[VermeulT]

HAL has a 14 day leaving Vancouver.. prices as low as $1699 pp OV.

I love this itinerary because it's not just a B2B.... you hit more ports, including a full day in Anchorage.

I did a version of this itinerary but from Seattle a few years ago.  It was one of the best vacations of my life... would I like to do more on-land?  Of course.  But I don't have the budget to live it up the way I would want so I'm happy with returning this summer for another 14 day cruise.

[luckyinpa]

2200 pp ov for this but is before mem day so i guess thats why cheaper. seems very similar to one above..this one is coral princess.  im trying to assemble some data to talk to my gf about it in general.  so does anyone get off the ship at 1230 when you get to anchorage lol.  i gotta say does seem like balcony would be  a bit of a waste when you literally are off the ship half the time..or more actually

 

Wed, May 20	Vancouver, CanadaView excursionsin Vancouver, Canada on Wed, May 20		04:30 pm
Thu, May 21	At SeaView onboard experiencefor Thu, May 21
Fri, May 22	Icy Strait Point, AlaskaView excursionsin Icy Strait Point, Alaska on Fri, May 22	12:00 pm	10:00 pm
Sat, May 23	Juneau, AlaskaView excursionsin Juneau, Alaska on Sat, May 23	08:00 am	09:00 pm
Sun, May 24	Skagway, AlaskaView excursionsin Skagway, Alaska on Sun, May 24	07:00 am	08:30 pm
Mon, May 25	Glacier Bay National Park (Scenic Cruising), AlaskaView excursionsin Glacier Bay National Park (Scenic Cruising), Alaska on Mon, May 25	06:00 am	03:00 pm
Tue, May 26	College Fjord (Scenic Cruising), AlaskaView excursionsin College Fjord (Scenic Cruising), Alaska on Tue, May 26	06:00 pm	08:30 pm
Wed, May 27	Anchorage (Whittier), AlaskaView excursionsin Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska on Wed, May 27	12:30 am	08:30 pm
Thu, May 28	Hubbard Glacier (Scenic Cruising), AlaskaView excursionsin Hubbard Glacier (Scenic Cruising), Alaska on Thu, May 28	03:00 pm	08:00 pm
Fri, May 29	Glacier Bay National Park (Scenic Cruising), AlaskaView excursionsin Glacier Bay National Park (Scenic Cruising), Alaska on Fri, May 29	09:15 am	07:30 pm
Sat, May 30	Skagway, AlaskaView excursionsin Skagway, Alaska on Sat, May 30	07:00 am	08:30 pm
Sun, May 31	Juneau, AlaskaView excursionsin Juneau, Alaska on Sun, May 31	06:30 am	05:00 pm
Mon, Jun 1	Ketchikan, AlaskaView excursionsin Ketchikan, Alaska on Mon, Jun 1	10:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Jun 2	At SeaView onboard experiencefor Tue, Jun 2
Wed, Jun 3	Vancouver, CanadaView excursionsin Vancouver, Canada on Wed, Jun 3	07:30 am

[luckyinpa]

35 minutes ago, VermeulT said:

HAL has a 14 day leaving Vancouver.. prices as low as $1699 pp OV.

I love this itinerary because it's not just a B2B.... you hit more ports, including a full day in Anchorage.

I did a version of this itinerary but from Seattle a few years ago.  It was one of the best vacations of my life... would I like to do more on-land?  Of course.  But I don't have the budget to live it up the way I would want so I'm happy with returning this summer for another 14 day cruise.

  

june 1 is this for 1500 pp which seems cheap. i'm assuming Maasdam  is not a bells and whistles kind of ship. not that you need it.  i do see many different ports vs my prior posts but since i know nothing about any, they are all the same lol 

 

 

1	Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia	---Not Applicable	5:00 PM
day2	Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day3	Ketchikan, Alaska	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
day4	Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska	10:00 AM	6:00 PM
day5	Haines, Alaska	8:00 AM	11:00 PM
day6	Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska	7:00 AM	12:30 PM
day7	At Sea	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day8	Anchorage, Alaska	10:00 AM	10:00 PM
day9	Homer, Alaska	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
day10	Valdez, Alaska	10:00 AM	6:00 PM
day11	Hubbard Glacier, Alaska	1:00 PM	5:00 PM
day12	Juneau, Alaska	11:00 AM	5:00 PM
day13	At Sea	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day14	Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day15	Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia	8:00 AM

[lissie]

5 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

 thru just reading this thread i realize there's so much i dont know that i dont know what im missing nor would want to see. also i neglected to say i have 14 or 15 days total max from the time i leave home to return

 

also a cursory glance at some princess cruise tours show them sold out already. i only have a narrow window end may/beginnig june to do this vacation.  (secondary question, why are there no panama canals during may/june?)

 

so if i go to alaska this late in the game it seems like it's going to be all cruise or  a preplanned tour. i did see some of them spent  5 or 6 days on land.  get on the train etc. we are adventuresome from the perspective that we liked climbing the rocks at peggys cove and wading thru the ocean to get to the st martins caves in canada. but not the kind to take steep mountain hikes with camping gear. 

 

I'm looking at doing a similar trip - 7 days ex Vancouver to Seward on HAL departing 24 May and then about 7 days DIY on land - probably based on the train e.g. 

Day 1  train Seward - Anchorage 

Day 2 Anchorage 

Day 3 train to Denali 

Day  6  train to Fairbanks 

Day 7 fly out of Fairbanks towards home 

 

I don't know why  you think you have to book the cruise tours - I've done fake bookings for accommodation  in Denali and the train segments - and there is still availability in the first week of June.  I havent' checked local car hire - but that's not a deal-breaker - uber would work or  public transit if it exists 

[SightCRR]

Very likely to see whales from ship but long way off. From Juneau small boat whale watch 100% chance of humpback whales fairly close. Moose is a different story. The b2b only day 8 Whittier with car rental to Homer or ANC and be pretty lucky. The 14 day 8-10 could be but again have to be pretty lucky. The b2b ship docks in Whittier and that is the closest it gets to ANC but is not very close especially since you have to be back on board to start the second half. The HAL 14 docks right downtown ANC and you can take tours of all kinds.    

[luckyinpa]

safe to say just 50s and 60s in early june? thats what the internet tells me. could be 1st cruise i never wear shorts lol

[SightCRR]

If you do an Alaska cruise I would bet you will say it  was one of your favorites. 

[VermeulT]

11 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

  

june 1 is this for 1500 pp which seems cheap. i'm assuming Maasdam  is not a bells and whistles kind of ship. not that you need it.  i do see many different ports vs my prior posts but since i know nothing about any, they are all the same lol 

 

 

Correct.  Maasdam is a smaller ship.  You don't need water slides, go cart machines, and 4000 other passengers in Alaska.

It has only 1250 guests. SO quick and easy to go to any part of the ship and never crowded. 

 

This is the view of the bow at Hubbard Glacier in 2015 on Maasdam's sister ship the Statendam. You can still get to the rail.  ANd I was on an upper deck with outside access and could move freely from side to side with no concern of loosing "my spot".

Edited January 25, 2020 by VermeulT

[VermeulT]

9 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

safe to say just 50s and 60s in early june? thats what the internet tells me. could be 1st cruise i never wear shorts lol

 

We went towards the end of August and it was in the 80's when we left Seattle.  And we wore shorts in Ketchikan.  But, being out on deck near the glaciers - the wind is in the 40's.  You have to be prepared for anything.

[Coral]

12 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

safe to say just 50s and 60s in early june? thats what the internet tells me. could be 1st cruise i never wear shorts lol

I have worn shorts in Alaska.

[Coral]

14 hours ago, AlanF65 said:

 

 

Day 4 I would  do Adventure bound 9 hour trip to Tracy arm

I completely agree. It may end up being your favorite day on the trip.

[Gardyloo]

19 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

...so just curious. out of the following which would be the most rewarding for you and why. or which should a newbie cross off the list because its not as memorable

 

I apologize in advance if I'm repeating things from earlier in the thread - I looked but not exhaustively.

 

1.  Departure point.  Vancouver BC is, in my view (and many agree) the best departure point, vs. San Francisco or Seattle (or LA.)  The reason is that the ships departing Vancouver travel on the east side of Vancouver Island, on sheltered "Inside Passage" waters, while the departures from the other cities travel on open ocean to the west of that island.  This means the Vancouver sailings are smoother and more scenic, while the others, especially the California departures, are going to be much longer on open ocean.  The Pacific is cold and tends to have higher seas than the Caribbean, so unless you're a happy blue-water sailor, the Vancouver boats offer a better experience.  Again, just my opinion.

 

Here's a view of a northbound cruise ship taken from the BC "Sunshine Coast" just north of Vancouver.  Vancouver Island is in the background.  

 

 

2.  Round trip v. one-way plus land excursion.  Most of the "cruise tours" and packaged land excursions include Denali National Park.  This year there's potentially a huge problem with this; the only road leading into the park's interior (thus the best views and main wildlife viewing areas) may well be closed for part or all of the 2020 season, due to erosion and the risk of landslides.  The National Park Service is evaluating the situation, but because of winter conditions in the park, will probably not be able to make any judgement on the situation for a couple of months.  If the road IS closed at Mile 43 or so, then there will be thousands and thousands of visitors who will need to make other plans.  This will impact cruise tour and DIY visitors alike.  So if you want to save the money and hassle of a cruise + land trip vs. cruise only, this is the year to "play it safe" in my view.  

3.  Balcony or no.  Yes, balcony if you can afford it.  There's nothing like it.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Gardyloo

[martincath]

Given you have the time OP, are willing to get passports if necessary, and did not expressly say you were not willing to do some DIY on land, I think you'll find by far the best overall value is a Vancouver to AK one-way cruise (or the reverse) plus a week on land arranging it yourself. That way you can (after researching lots!) figure out what on land are the biggest hits for you, and spend as much time as you wish at each instead of being hustled off at some horrible time of o-dark-hundred on buses to the next place because that's what the mythical Average Customer wants out of Princess etc. tours.

 

B2B cruises generally visit the same ports twice - you may get a shift from Skagway to Haines and perhaps a different glacier going north and south, but except for that handful of actual 14day HAL Seattle RT cruises, or luxury line RTs, you'd be dpoubling up on almost everything by connecting two mainstream cruises together.

 

Of course, given how fantastic Vancouver is there's also an argument to be made for spending a week here, a week cruising, and then forget any land-based AK touring 😉

[luckyinpa]

i love all the detailed info above but it really opened up my eyes that as a super detailed person, theres no way to research this to the extent i need, in the short amount of time id need to book something for 4 months from now. 

 

i was not aware of the different path leaving canada except i did see that royal princess took a different path than coral (as on their official website). also while i'm not a hot weather person, traveling in the cold days out of LA seems pointless unless you already live there. i can sail on the atlantic without a plane ride. im beginning to see more the logistics of things. 

 

if that road closes i pity those people. that wont be fun trying to handle that stress. 

[Travelingzumbamom]

Here’s the update on DENALI Park Road issues...

 

At this time, park managers anticipate that the road may only open to Mile 43 on May 20, 2020, rather than to Toklat River (Mile 53), which is the normal distance the road opens each year on May 20. Barring unforeseen problems, the park is committed to opening the entirety of the Denali Park Road on or before June 15, 2020. This could be up to one week after the normal date the entire road opens for bus traffic (June 8, generally). Visitors arriving on or after June 15 would experience no delays or issues with their visit, other than occasional short delays for on-going maintenance throughout the summer.

Additional information in the link below. 

 

https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/nature/pretty-rocks.htm

[creel5857]

It is what you have time and money to do.  If you can, the land portion or any land trips are great because it is much different than the cruise portion......give you much better understanding of size and beauty of Alaska.  However, we have heard some people turn down a trip to Alaska because they didnt have the time or money to do cruise and the land portion.  My recommendation is to do some good homework, compare prices and reviews, use this board for great source of research on specific topics.......and then get you a trip together and go.   We have been 4 times and take different land options each time along with cruises......love Alaska.......love Alaska.........

[cabland]

I hear you on the planning luckyinPA.  I actually planned the trip for my parents and siblings/spouses (9 of us in total) a couple of years back.  I started in January for a trip that Summer.  We settled on a round-trip out of Vancouver for a number of reasons (cost, time, route, elderly father, etc.).  I spent hours and hours doing the research at nights and on weekends.  It was definitely complicated by the fact that I was planning for multiple people (and had to get their "votes"...what?!). 🙂

 

A few of my thoughts:

 

1. It is totally possible to plan this in a short period of time.  Heck, people do last minute cruises all the time!  Realistically, you might leave something on the table, but frankly with Alaska, that is practically unavoidable...there is so much to see you have to compromise somewhere.
2. Figure out your budget, time and time window first (sounds like you have) and let that dictate where you go from there.  Ports would be next (from the cruise perspective).  That will start to dictate the specific cruise and even cruise line in some cases.
3. "Once in a Lifetime" may not be.  Folks seem to come into Alaska cruise planning as a "once in a lifetime" cruise, but, honestly, if you do it right, my guess is that you will want to come back.
4. In my opinion, "do it right" comes down to the excursions (at least for the cruise portion).  As a comparison, my sister-in-law and her family did a round-trip Alaskan cruise a year after we did.  They did few, if any, excursions did round-trip from Seattle instead of Vancouver, didn't see glacier bay or get "close" to any glaciers.  Her comment to us was "Been there, done that", but when we showed her our pictures (more real "inside passage", glacier bay, ziplining, Tracy Arm small boat excursion to Sawyer Glacier, Helicopter ride to Mendenhall glacier, etc.) and talked about our experience she realized it was completely different experience.

As a planner, you might appreciate the attached document I put together my family's trip.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Alaskan Cruise - v7 - de-identified.docx

[nicoleinwi]

We aren't cruising until late May but we booked just a RT from Seattle vs a one way with land portion on one end of the trip.  

 

The main reason is we want to cruise and of May but touring land based we'd want later in the season.  

 

Also for cost once we figure in the two one-way ticket upcharge form the midwest we would be looking at roughly the same cost doing a land/sea tour through the cruise line or just doing the cruise we booked and going back again and doing a weeklong DIY land tour.  But we travel like this multiple times a year so the cost, planning, time off work, etc is not an issue.  If this is your once in a lifetime trip and don't travel like this often then I would say do the land/sea tour.  

[HAL Sailer]

On 1/24/2020 at 3:23 PM, luckyinpa said:

related question. is it worth the extra for the balcony vs inside/OV rooms? 

 

If you select a Holland America ship, you could book an Inside or OV on the promenade deck. That would allow you to save money but also be able to quickly get outside on the promenade either port or starboard to see whatever is happening. And, later in the evening when it is still light outside in Alaska, you can watch the bow camera on TV to see if there is something coming up on port or starboard that you want go out on the promenade to see. We've done that on both NB and SB Alaska cruises and enjoyed a promenade deck OV with what we considered "our full wrap-around promenade balcony".

[HAL Sailer]

On 1/24/2020 at 9:08 AM, luckyinpa said:

just starting to research alaska. obviously the cruise lines land tours are expensive but all the planning is done for you. i see DIY threads here to read about doing that as well. but has anyone just done a cruise and not done any land tours and then u regret it?

 

Whether you decide on land & sea or just sea, as you are picking your specific cruise be sure to research how many ships are in specific port (Skagway or Sitka, for example) on the day your proposed cruise is there. Too many ships in port can overwhelm the small size and population of Alaskan ports (ex: Skagway pop 1,000+/-  or Sitka pop 8,000+/-) and significantly impact your port experience.

 

You can look up ports of call calendars on cruise timetable dot com. Search for the port, then go to the calendar for that port, and pick the date your proposed cruise stops there to see how many other ships will be in port that day.  

[DRS/NC]

On 1/24/2020 at 3:23 PM, luckyinpa said:

related question. is it worth the extra for the balcony vs inside/OV rooms?  they really kick up the prices for balcony and ive never sailed in anything but it, but if you are in port 90% of the days, would balcony even matter?

 

something like this is only 1500 OV which seems insanely cheap

 

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia	---Not Applicable	4:30 PM
day2	At Sea	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day3	Ketchikan, Alaska	6:30 AM	3:00 PM
day4	Juneau, Alaska	8:00 AM	9:00 PM
day5	Skagway, Alaska	7:00 AM	8:30 PM
day6	Cruise Glacier Bay National Park	6:00 AM	3:00 PM
day7	Cruise College Fjord, Alaska	6:00 PM	8:30 PM
day8	Whittier (Anchorage), Alaska	12:30 AM	8:30 PM
day9	Cruise Hubbard Glacier	3:00 PM	8:00 PM
day10	Cruise Glacier Bay National Park	9:15 AM	7:30 PM
day11	Skagway, Alaska	7:00 AM	8:30 PM
day12	Juneau, Alaska	6:30 AM	5:00 PM
day13	Ketchikan, Alaska	10:00 AM	6:00 PM
day14	At Sea	---Not Applicable	---Not Applicable
day15	Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia	7:30 AM	---

 

This itinerary is actually two 7-day cruises put together, known as a B2B -- back to back).  You could book either 7-day cruise (N from Vancouver to Whitter or the reverse) & still do several days "inland" in Anchorage, Denali, etc.

 

If you're not already working w/an experienced travel agent, please consider doing so!  Your trip will not cost anymore (TAs get a commission from the booked cruise line) & will save you LOTS of second guessing/headaches.  [No, I'm not a TA; I'm just preparing for my 5th trip to Alaska -- all w/cruise, 2 w/land tour).

 

Alaska is one of the greatest sights on earth; see as much as you can!

 

[Negril60]

We cruised Northbound in 2006 Vancouver to Whittier. Staying one day front and back . We had no more time off work. We don’t regret not doing more. It was our best cruise ever. We are finally going back this May and are doing 2 days extra on our own. Do whatever you can afford and have time for. You will have no regrets.