Hotel Before/After Alaskan Cruise

[chuckc54]

I plan on taking an Alaskan cruisetour summer 2007. I will be flying from Washington, DC. Is there a need to book the pre/post hotel package or is the timing of the flight/cruise good enough so I don't have to worry about it?

[gratefulguy]

From what has been posted in many threads on these boards, almost any trip involving a flight can cause a lot of stress if you don't leave plenty of time before scheduled cruise departure! One thing to consider would be whether you will know if you're comfortable with what they plan for you in enough time to change your plans. If you won't find out the details until soon before your trip, you might not be able to find flights/hotels if you decide to stay pre/post. Some other posters have said the cruise-line flight arrangements often involve stops, or are otherwise inconvenient. Depending on how much control you like to have in these matters, you may want to plan the whole thing out on your own. You certainly have enough time!

Have a great cruisetour.

[LAKaye]

Definitely fly the day before your cruise. That will be your travel/stress day. Get a good night's rest so that you can get up early the next morning all refreshed. You can get to the port early-ish, board as soon as possible and be eating lunch at the Windjammer or lounging at the pool around noon instead of schlogging through an airport half awake wondering whether your bags will make it.

 

On the return though, go ahead and fly back the same day if you'd like.

[molly361]

We took our Alaskan cruise several years ago and flew from Florida to Seattle the day of the cruise, with, what we thought was plenty of time to make it to Seattle and then on to Vancouver to meet the ship-long story short, original flight was cancelled, had to reroute us and , luckily for us, this was the one time we had transfers that we got thru the cruiseline so the shp waited for us- ship left around 1 or 2 hours later waiting on us and a few others- way to stressful - especially when flying cross county-:eek:

[maxs mom]

We've done this twice and I would never think of flying in the same day as embarkation. This is what we did last summer. We flew to Seattle....saved a bunch on airfare that way......rented an SUV (there were 4 of us)....stayed one night in Seattle and saw some sights. Drove to Vancouver the next day and dropped the car off. (You don't need a car in Vancouver.) We stayed in Vancouver two nights. Vancouver is absolutely fantastic....easy to get around....we got great 4 star accomadations through Hotwire. There is so much to see and do in Vancouver....I can't say enough about that.

 

So my answer is.....definitely go at least two days ahead so that you can experience Vancouver. You can make it back on the same day as debarkation, but we took the Quick Shuttle back to Seattle and stayed another night in Seattle before coming home. But the Quick Shuttle will get you back to the airport just fine. Or if you're flying directly to Vancouver $$$...you should have no problems. We prefer to do it the stress free way!

[RDeagazio]

I recommend the Hyatt downtown Vancouver-- great staff, nice room and within walking distance to Robson St and everything else. Got a rate of $109 Canadian which was a good deal. I suggest staying 1-2 nights pre AND post cruise to enjoy this great city and avoid the cruise rush at the airports.

[Hornet]

But....what if you're doing a cruisetour and the land first. Then you would start in Whittier and end up in Vancouver. Would you just book the same hotel that is part of the land tour? We're also planning for 2007. Still waiting for the schedules to come out from Princess. Also would it be worth staying an extra night in Vancouver at the end of the cruise?