Alaska - better to leave from Seattle or Vancouver?

[sturderick]

On 6/21/2022 at 2:50 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

I've only done Seattle.  Transportation to and from the airport is easy and hotel options near the port are good.  Also, SeaTac has a lot of flight options.  If I wanted to see Vancouver, I would just stay an extra day or two and drive there.

Could you tell me who you used to get to hotels near the port?  I am just starting to look for a place and haven’t figured transportation out yet.  Or a hotel for that matter :).  Thanks!

[Gray Lady]

On 6/22/2022 at 2:28 PM, Suetravel said:

Hi

i am wondering if I should purchase my Seattle’s ticket for 700.00 roundtrip from newark for my September 21, 2022 cruise to Alaska or wait for end of July.

 

Any thoughts would very appreciated.
Thank you. 

 

On 6/23/2022 at 5:27 AM, SueMo said:

I think that's a good price.  Buy it!

Just my two cents on airfare. We booked through our cruise line, and are eternally grateful that we did. Caught COVID on land tour, and had to quarantine, missing our cruise. Our cruise line arranged our tickets back home because we booked with them. Saved us a HUGE headache!

[quack2]

The Couv.  Not even close.

[avic77]

 

I have both a Seattle departure and a Vancouver departure on hold and have no idea which to choose. everything is the same except Seattle one stops in Victoria and the Vancouver does not, and they are different ships. The maps for the ship path even looks the same going slightly outside the islands off the coast. So is it 100% that all Vancouver cruises stay to the inside of the islands?

[dfilpus]

19 minutes ago, avic77 said:

 

I have both a Seattle departure and a Vancouver departure on hold and have no idea which to choose. everything is the same except Seattle one stops in Victoria and the Vancouver does not, and they are different ships. The maps for the ship path even looks the same going slightly outside the islands off the coast. So is it 100% that all Vancouver cruises stay to the inside of the islands?

The Inside Passage has a shallow tight passage. There are cruise ships that are too big to make that passage, so they have to go outside of Vancouver Island.

[Suzanne123]

Take the cruise that gives you the longer and better  times in the ports. Usually, that means Vancouver.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Suzanne123

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, dfilpus said:

The Inside Passage has a shallow tight passage. There are cruise ships that are too big to make that passage, so they have to go outside of Vancouver Island.

 

This is not technically correct.

 

Most of the Inside Passage is deep water, where the ships could safely go alongside the shore cliffs. You are most likely making reference to Seymour Narrows, which is 100 miles north of Vancouver.

 

Although this is shallower that other parts of the Inside Passage, since they blew up Ripple Rock in 1958, ships are no longer constrained by their draught. The channel is fairly narrow and includes 2 turns, but the challenge is not the tight passage, but the current, which can run as high as 16 kts.

 

The BC Coast Pilots minimise the risk by only taking cruise ships through within 1 hr of slack water.

 

The primary issue with the Princess ships based in Vancouver that use the Pacific Ocean, is not so much their size, but their lack of manoeuvrability. This is well known and is an issue that was also raised by the Alaska Pilots.

[tetleytea]

Normally I would totally say Vancouver is better, but this is a strange year.   Skagway's got issues, flights are expensive, but cruises are cheap.  If you live in the US, I'd do Seattle this year and sail again from Vancouver in the future.

[avic77]

10 hours ago, tetleytea said:

Normally I would totally say Vancouver is better, but this is a strange year.   Skagway's got issues, flights are expensive, but cruises are cheap.  If you live in the US, I'd do Seattle this year and sail again from Vancouver in the future.

That has been my thought as well. With ArrivCan and random changes in testing and vaccine requirments I feel like it would be easier to do Seattle. 

[cattman]

 

On 6/21/2022 at 2:40 PM, 5waldos said:

The trip up from Vancouver is lovely and far more interesting than the open ocean cruising from Seattle. The scenery is amazing. Also much less rough. So I would strongly vote for the Vancouver trip. In fact have- 5th trip next month-only 1 out of Seattle. 

 

On 6/21/2022 at 12:01 PM, martincath said:

• cruising saves hours of Zero View sail time around the outside of Vancouver Island and replaces it with the actually-more-scenic-than-anywhere-in-Alaskan-waters lower reaches of the Inside Passage, including some parts so narrow it feels like you can reach out and high-five pax on ships passing the other direction;

 

On 6/21/2022 at 2:36 PM, TashaB said:

The principal difference is that Alaska sailings from Vancouver take the Inside Passage of Vancouver Island and the Seattle sailings are on the Pacific (outside) of Vancouver Island where it is somewhat windier and less scenic.     There are other cruise lines which sail from Vancouver roundtrip in 7 days including Celebrity, Princess and Holland America. 

This. And if you choose a R/T Vancouver - we sail HAL - the last day of your cruise will be one of the best, with a full daylight sail of the Inside Passage of BC(with your best chance of Orca sightings)rather than a view of open ocean. It's unforgetable.

 

Also, better for those subject to motion sickness as your entire trip will be in protected waters.

 

On 6/25/2022 at 11:51 AM, quack2 said:

The Couv.  Not even close.

 Absolutely, and IMO, worth the extra 'hoops'..

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by cattman

[tetleytea]

These things are all true, and are why I would say to prefer Vancouver in a normal year.

 

[Nelsj099]

I chose Vancouver because the port days were longer ... I guess being able to skip Victoria and being 100 miles closer helps with that too.