Alaska newbie: North or south, itinerary?

[FreestyleNovice]

For all the Alaska experts, 

 

We are looking for an Alaska cruise, somewhere around June 2024 on Celebrity (seems to be just Summit cruising there at that time). To us the whole of Alaska looks appealing, we are indecisive on north or south bound. It will be our first Alaska cruise, we might add some days before and/or after the cruise but a second week of full land tour will probably not be an option to due time.

 

What would you choose and with what reason(s)?

 

Southbound (June 14th or 28th)

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Friday, June 14	Anchorage (Seward), AK		7:00pm
Saturday, June 15	Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising)
Sunday, June 16	Juneau, AK	10:30am	9:00pm
Monday, June 17	Skagway, AK	7:00am	8:00pm
Tuesday, June 18	Icy Strait Point, AK	7:00am	3:00pm
Wednesday, June 19	Ketchikan, AK	10:00am	6:30pm
Thursday, June 20	Inside Passage, AK (Cruising)
Friday, June 21	Vancouver, BC, Canada	7:00am

 

Northbound (June 7th or 21th)

Friday, June 7	Vancouver, BC, Canada		5:00pm
Saturday, June 8	Inside Passage, AK (Cruising)
Sunday, June 9	Ketchikan, AK	7:00am	3:00pm
Monday, June 10	Sitka, AK	7:00am	3:30pm
Tuesday, June 11	Juneau, AK	7:00am	9:30pm
Wednesday, June 12	Icy Strait Point, AK	7:00am	5:00pm
Thursday, June 13	Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising)
Friday, June 14	Anchorage (Seward), AK	6:00am

 

I've read that Sitka for instance is less touristy and that a northbound trip will build up in scenery as you sail.

 

Looking forward to any advice you have to give gus a good start planning. Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

Just down the board:

 

There is also a thread about Sitka, and many discussing Sitka vs Skagway:

 

The "northbound has increasing" scenery thought has some merit, but I don't know I would determine the route based just on that. 

[cw2go]

NB for the port times and ease boarding in YVR rather than getting from ANC to Seward. 

 

But SB for Skagway if the train is of interest, it's amazing scenery. I suggest looking at tours you want and pick based on them. NB/SB is a win win either way imo. I've done both. 

 

As far as less "touristy" I never hang in the ports, always leave for my adventures so a trinket store isn't any issue for me. I skip out of port the second I debark the ship.

 

 

Patty

 

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, FreestyleNovice said:

For all the Alaska experts, 

 

We are looking for an Alaska cruise, somewhere around June 2024 on Celebrity (seems to be just Summit cruising there at that time). To us the whole of Alaska looks appealing, we are indecisive on north or south bound. It will be our first Alaska cruise, we might add some days before and/or after the cruise but a second week of full land tour will probably not be an option to due time.

 

What would you choose and with what reason(s)?

 

Southbound (June 14th or 28th)

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Friday, June 14	Anchorage (Seward), AK		7:00pm
Saturday, June 15	Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising)
Sunday, June 16	Juneau, AK	10:30am	9:00pm
Monday, June 17	Skagway, AK	7:00am	8:00pm
Tuesday, June 18	Icy Strait Point, AK	7:00am	3:00pm
Wednesday, June 19	Ketchikan, AK	10:00am	6:30pm
Thursday, June 20	Inside Passage, AK (Cruising)
Friday, June 21	Vancouver, BC, Canada	7:00am

 

Northbound (June 7th or 21th)

Friday, June 7	Vancouver, BC, Canada		5:00pm
Saturday, June 8	Inside Passage, AK (Cruising)
Sunday, June 9	Ketchikan, AK	7:00am	3:00pm
Monday, June 10	Sitka, AK	7:00am	3:30pm
Tuesday, June 11	Juneau, AK	7:00am	9:30pm
Wednesday, June 12	Icy Strait Point, AK	7:00am	5:00pm
Thursday, June 13	Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising)
Friday, June 14	Anchorage (Seward), AK	6:00am

 

I've read that Sitka for instance is less touristy and that a northbound trip will build up in scenery as you sail.

 

Looking forward to any advice you have to give gus a good start planning. Thanks!

 

I have never been able to figure out what the difference between north bound and south bound is in terms of the quality of the cruise.  There is not a lot of difference between either of your cruises.  Your port time on the south  bound is marginally better.  However the north bound gets Sitka instead of Skagway and in my opinion Sitka is a much better stop than Skagway.  When 3 or 4 Genormous of the Seas ships are in Skagway at the same time it becomes a zoo.  Sitka is a much better stop.

 

One problem w both of the cruises is that your only visit to a glacier is to Hubbard Glacier.  Hubbard is great IF you get into it but many times the ships can not get into Hubbard because of ice this means that you don't get to see any glaciers.  Try to find a cruise that includes Glacier Bay.  That is a great visit and the odds of getting into Glacier Bay are almost 100%.

 

DON

[CCJack]

I think this would depend on what your plans are before and after the cruise, not really the cruise itself.  We stayed in Vancouver for 2 days pre cruise (Northbound) , it is a beautiful city and easy to get to ship from downtown.   I think Vancouver is better for a big city stay pre cruise than Anchorage.   However, Anchorage would be better if you are planning on "Alaska type"excursions away from the city.   You could do both as well.   I just would not fly in the day of a cruise or even late the night before, too many things can go wrong these days with airlines and luggage, etc.....

 

[Nelsj099]

I think I would go Southbound and do a land tour through Denali, especially since you mention 2024 and they are saying the road will be clear by then.  I also personally looked at doing it by train. I am also not sure about your adventure level but if I had extra days, I may do a multi day kayak trip through Glacier Bay.  

[Northern Aurora]

The debate about north versus south bound comes up so frequently I generally don't comment.  Even though we live in Alaska we periodically do Alaska itineraries and even have done a B2B which was a south bound for the first leg with the return back northbound.  I never find much difference.  What is more important is the amount of time in ports.

 

I don't know who the "they" is who is reporting that the single road into Denali National Park will be operational past the Pretty Rocks problems area.  We are reading no such reporting in our local newspaper, which has a year round reporter stationed in Healy.

[FreestyleNovice]

Thanks all! Before we were not sure if one was much better than the other, our next step will be looking into what to do before and after with some good recommendations given here. Thanks again! 

[Gardyloo]

Since it sounds like you have some constraints regarding time, I'd recommend the northbound route for a reason nobody has mentioned (I think.) 

 

Coming from Amsterdam you'll have a 9-hour time change and related jetlag to overcome.  Some people don't find that troublesome, but others do, but combining the need for coping with the time change AND the fact that daylight hours in southcentral Alaska (Anchorage, Kenai, Denali etc.) will be at their longest in mid- to late June, might run the risk of exhaustion if you do your "land" portion first.  

 

By comparison, by cruising at the outset, you can be as active as you want, or just sit and watch the (incredible) scenery go past, with no logistical hassles, hotels or cars to book, etc.  

 

I'd also say Sitka would be my preferred port call over Skagway, but I'd also say that you won't be hurt by waiting a little while before booking.  Let the cruise lines work through their current instability.  Who knows what ships might be substituted or added to Alaska itineraries by the summer of 2024?

[Mountaineer0313]

I have done both, and loved both. Pros of northbound, as you stated, are that the scenery just gets better and better as you go along. What I liked about southbound was that we could do our land portion before the cruise instead of after. We're booked on another northbound next year, because it has Sitka as a port and I have always wanted to go (and I got a great price on an aft balcony). Basically, either way, you can't lose.

[FreestyleNovice]

We've booked northbound, thanks to all the advice.

 

Land portion (a few days, we will be back one day ) after unwinding onboard fits our schedule best.