lovinger Posted October 22, 2020 #1 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I was wondering if anyone with experience cruising in Alaska could provide feedback on the two Royal Caribbean cruises out of Seattle in 2021? Both cruises stop in Juneau and Victoria, but Ovation of the Seas stops in Skagway and goes through the Inside Straight, while Quantum of the Seas only stops in Sitka. The Ovation itinerary seems far superior to me, but I've never been to Alaska before, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Ovation of the Seas Quantum of the Seas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanF65 Posted October 22, 2020 #2 Share Posted October 22, 2020 There is a lot of nice scenery in the Alaska inside passage when you leave Dawes Glacier. Sitka is a nice stop but maybe not as much to do as Skagway. In Sitka you have the raptor center, the fortress of the bear, the Sitka National Historical Park (totem Park). Skagway going over the hill or taking railroad is a nice trip. Its a quaint town with different historical background than Sitka. For a first trip I would pick the Ovation more from the calmer waters and its closer to the coast for two days on the way home. On a clear day you can probably see 300 miles panoramic from north to south. A- 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted October 22, 2020 #3 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Both spend some time in the Inside Passage....its almost impossible to avoid the Inside Passage, but the key would be day time sailing of the Inside Passage is key. Your sailing to Dawes Glacier gets you some Inside Passage day time sailing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanF65 Posted October 22, 2020 #4 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Now that I look at the Ovation Map your are going outside southbound so the views will be northbound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted October 23, 2020 #5 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I probably wouldn't do either. I think they are both poor itineraries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted October 23, 2020 #6 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Since both of them have only 2 port stops, I wouldn't take either of them. Also, port arrival and departure times are important to know and you have not told us what they are. DON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinger Posted October 23, 2020 Author #7 Share Posted October 23, 2020 15 minutes ago, donaldsc said: Since both of them have only 2 port stops, I wouldn't take either of them. Also, port arrival and departure times are important to know and you have not told us what they are. DON Ovation Juneau: 12:00 - 9:00 pm Skagway: 7:00 am - 8:30 pm Victoria: 8:00 - 6:00 pm Quantum Sitka: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Juneau: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm Victoria: 4:00 - 10:00 pm There are fewer ports of call, but these two ships have so many on board activities and all the latest bells and whistles that I don't mind extra cruise days. They also offer by far the cheapest prices for unobstructed balconies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted October 23, 2020 #8 Share Posted October 23, 2020 1 hour ago, lovinger said: Ovation Juneau: 12:00 - 9:00 pm Skagway: 7:00 am - 8:30 pm Victoria: 8:00 - 6:00 pm Quantum Sitka: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Juneau: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm Victoria: 4:00 - 10:00 pm There are fewer ports of call, but these two ships have so many on board activities and all the latest bells and whistles that I don't mind extra cruise days. They also offer by far the cheapest prices for unobstructed balconies. You talk about on board activities and bells and whistles. I have been to AK several times by ship, driving and by Alaska Marine Highway. I just do not understand why people worry about ship facilities and ship activities on an AK cruise. When you go to AK, you go the for the wonderful stuff (sights and places to visit) that is outside of the ship and not the stuff that is on the ship. You can worry about ship board stuff if you are doing a Caribbean cruise. On an AK cruise, you are there for the sights and experiences of AK. Ignoring those comments, I will make specific comments on the 2 places that you get to stop at on your 7 day cruise. I like Sitka much better than Skagway. The town of Skagway is totally a tourist town. The full time population of Skagway is less than 1000 and it the ships stopped coming, the town would dry up and blow away. The town of Sitka is a real town with a population of about 9000 that was founded in the 1860's with a great Russian and Alaskan indigenous peoples heritage as part of its history . If the tourists stopped coming to Sitka, the residents of Sitka would continue to live there as they did before tourists arrived. Do you want to visit a place that only exists for the tourist or a town that represents the real Alaska. Also, Skagway gets a bit overcrowded when they are hit with 4 or 5 cruise ships with more than 2000 people per ship. Sitka tends to not be overcrowded because fewer ships visit. Juneau tends to be overcrowded almost every day of the week during the summer and most of them never leave the downtown shopping center. I don't go to AK to shop. I do feel that the Quantum port times for Juneau are better than the Ovation port times. One final comment and I will get off my high horse. You say in your post that you do not want to miss anything. You are going to be on land in Alaska for 2 days so you will be missing almost everything. Almost everyone who takes a ship cruise to AK misses most of Alaska even if you add a 3 or 4 day land tour to your cruise. On one of our trips, we spent 2 1/2 months in Alaska driving about 10,000 miles and we missed stuff. You will be missing almost almost all of Alaska. Regardless of which ship you select, you will have a good experience but don't believe that you are really seeing AK. DON 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted October 23, 2020 #9 Share Posted October 23, 2020 4 hours ago, lovinger said: Ovation Juneau: 12:00 - 9:00 pm Skagway: 7:00 am - 8:30 pm Victoria: 8:00 - 6:00 pm Quantum Sitka: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Juneau: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm Victoria: 4:00 - 10:00 pm There are fewer ports of call, but these two ships have so many on board activities and all the latest bells and whistles that I don't mind extra cruise days. They also offer by far the cheapest prices for unobstructed balconies. I go to Alaska to see Alaska. These itineraries are weak at seeing Alaska. If your goal is to spend time on the ship with bells and whistles, then these ships will work. They are not a good itinerary for Alaska. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted October 23, 2020 #10 Share Posted October 23, 2020 2 hours ago, donaldsc said: You talk about on board activities and bells and whistles. I have been to AK several times by ship, driving and by Alaska Marine Highway. I just do not understand why people worry about ship facilities and ship activities on an AK cruise. When you go to AK, you go the for the wonderful stuff (sights and places to visit) that is outside of the ship and not the stuff that is on the ship. You can worry about ship board stuff if you are doing a Caribbean cruise. On an AK cruise, you are there for the sights and experiences of AK. Ignoring those comments, I will make specific comments on the 2 places that you get to stop at on your 7 day cruise. I like Sitka much better than Skagway. The town of Skagway is totally a tourist town. The full time population of Skagway is less than 1000 and it the ships stopped coming, the town would dry up and blow away. The town of Sitka is a real town with a population of about 9000 that was founded in the 1860's with a great Russian and Alaskan indigenous peoples heritage as part of its history . If the tourists stopped coming to Sitka, the residents of Sitka would continue to live there as they did before tourists arrived. Do you want to visit a place that only exists for the tourist or a town that represents the real Alaska. Also, Skagway gets a bit overcrowded when they are hit with 4 or 5 cruise ships with more than 2000 people per ship. Sitka tends to not be overcrowded because fewer ships visit. Juneau tends to be overcrowded almost every day of the week during the summer and most of them never leave the downtown shopping center. I don't go to AK to shop. I do feel that the Quantum port times for Juneau are better than the Ovation port times. While I agree Skagway is a tourist town - getting out of Skagway and doing the White Pass train or driving into the Yukon are definitely worthy. I have friends who do flight seeing to Glacier Bay National Park from Skagway/Haines that they rave about. I think there is a lot to do from Skagway. This is not to say it is better than Sitka - they are just different. I feel the same about Juneau. I love excursions from Juneau but I don't hang out in the tourist shops in Juneau. Glacier tours, Tracy Arm boat ride, whale watching, etc.... Lots to do once you get out of Juneau downtown. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted October 23, 2020 #11 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I'd pick neither. IMHO, neither of those ships have any business doing Alaska cruises. Way too big. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyMac72 Posted October 23, 2020 #12 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Just for the purposes of comparison... this is our September cruise route on Carnival. Not saying mine is better or worse (mine doesn't do Dawes Glacier) but it *is* much more port intensive. Regardless of whichever one you pick, I hope you have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted October 25, 2020 #13 Share Posted October 25, 2020 On 10/23/2020 at 2:35 AM, lovinger said: Ovation Juneau: 12:00 - 9:00 pm Skagway: 7:00 am - 8:30 pm Victoria: 8:00 - 6:00 pm Quantum Sitka: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Juneau: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm Victoria: 4:00 - 10:00 pm There are fewer ports of call, but these two ships have so many on board activities and all the latest bells and whistles that I don't mind extra cruise days. They also offer by far the cheapest prices for unobstructed balconies. I was thinking more about this comment. If the ship is what you care about versus cruising Alaska, pick a sister ship in the Caribbean versus Alaska. You'll save some money. If you are cruising for Alaska (which most of us do), pick based on itinerary, then by ship that does that itinerary. Don't pick a ship just because of bells and whistles and then try to decide between the itineraries. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinger Posted October 25, 2020 Author #14 Share Posted October 25, 2020 On 10/23/2020 at 4:23 AM, donaldsc said: You talk about on board activities and bells and whistles. I have been to AK several times by ship, driving and by Alaska Marine Highway. I just do not understand why people worry about ship facilities and ship activities on an AK cruise. When you go to AK, you go the for the wonderful stuff (sights and places to visit) that is outside of the ship and not the stuff that is on the ship. You can worry about ship board stuff if you are doing a Caribbean cruise. On an AK cruise, you are there for the sights and experiences of AK. Ignoring those comments, I will make specific comments on the 2 places that you get to stop at on your 7 day cruise. I like Sitka much better than Skagway. The town of Skagway is totally a tourist town. The full time population of Skagway is less than 1000 and it the ships stopped coming, the town would dry up and blow away. The town of Sitka is a real town with a population of about 9000 that was founded in the 1860's with a great Russian and Alaskan indigenous peoples heritage as part of its history . If the tourists stopped coming to Sitka, the residents of Sitka would continue to live there as they did before tourists arrived. Do you want to visit a place that only exists for the tourist or a town that represents the real Alaska. Also, Skagway gets a bit overcrowded when they are hit with 4 or 5 cruise ships with more than 2000 people per ship. Sitka tends to not be overcrowded because fewer ships visit. Juneau tends to be overcrowded almost every day of the week during the summer and most of them never leave the downtown shopping center. I don't go to AK to shop. I do feel that the Quantum port times for Juneau are better than the Ovation port times. One final comment and I will get off my high horse. You say in your post that you do not want to miss anything. You are going to be on land in Alaska for 2 days so you will be missing almost everything. Almost everyone who takes a ship cruise to AK misses most of Alaska even if you add a 3 or 4 day land tour to your cruise. On one of our trips, we spent 2 1/2 months in Alaska driving about 10,000 miles and we missed stuff. You will be missing almost almost all of Alaska. Regardless of which ship you select, you will have a good experience but don't believe that you are really seeing AK. DON Thanks Don, this advice is definitely helpful. I also realize my comment about not missing anything came off the wrong way. I know this trip isn't designed to see everything in Alaska - far from it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything about the differences between Sitka and Skagway, and you convinced me that Sitka might be more my thing since I prefer natural beauty to touristy things. The really good itineraries with Glacier Bay are all $500 or more per person, and most have worse ships. I figured I would spend the savings on a helicopter excursion to a glacier, but I am thinking about switching to a different itinerary if any of them have a sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted October 26, 2020 #15 Share Posted October 26, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, lovinger said: Thanks Don, this advice is definitely helpful. I also realize my comment about not missing anything came off the wrong way. I know this trip isn't designed to see everything in Alaska - far from it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything about the differences between Sitka and Skagway, and you convinced me that Sitka might be more my thing since I prefer natural beauty to touristy things. The really good itineraries with Glacier Bay are all $500 or more per person, and most have worse ships. I figured I would spend the savings on a helicopter excursion to a glacier, but I am thinking about switching to a different itinerary if any of them have a sale. There is natural beauty when you go to the Yukon from Skagway. It is stunning. You picked probably the 2 weakest itineraries in Alaska. I would do some more research, maybe read a book on Alaska (Alaska by Cruiseship Anne Vipond) and then decide on where you want to go. Go to Glacier Bay. Way better than Dawes Glacier. Edited October 26, 2020 by Coral 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted October 26, 2020 #16 Share Posted October 26, 2020 7 hours ago, lovinger said: Thanks Don, this advice is definitely helpful. I also realize my comment about not missing anything came off the wrong way. I know this trip isn't designed to see everything in Alaska - far from it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything about the differences between Sitka and Skagway, and you convinced me that Sitka might be more my thing since I prefer natural beauty to touristy things. The really good itineraries with Glacier Bay are all $500 or more per person, and most have worse ships. I figured I would spend the savings on a helicopter excursion to a glacier, but I am thinking about switching to a different itinerary if any of them have a sale. Glacier Bay is worth $500. There is a reason why Glacier Bay is a National Park & Dawes isn't. I will admit that Dawes is impressive but Glacier Bay is a who day of impressive glaciers. As I and others have already said, you go AK for AK and not for what is on the ship. DON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanF65 Posted October 26, 2020 #17 Share Posted October 26, 2020 19 hours ago, lovinger said: Thanks Don, this advice is definitely helpful. I also realize my comment about not missing anything came off the wrong way. I know this trip isn't designed to see everything in Alaska - far from it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything about the differences between Sitka and Skagway, and you convinced me that Sitka might be more my thing since I prefer natural beauty to touristy things. The really good itineraries with Glacier Bay are all $500 or more per person, and most have worse ships. I figured I would spend the savings on a helicopter excursion to a glacier, but I am thinking about switching to a different itinerary if any of them have a sale. If you are going to look at other itineraries I suggest you look at sailing from Vancouver. Those sailings tend to get more ports and some of the off the track ports compared to Seattle 7 day. This NCL trip gets more ports and glaciers Princess has a 10 day and 14 day from Vancouver, we don't know what HAL will do in 2022 yet. A- 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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