Alaska - once is enough?

[mrbbear]

AS ABOVE..........ALASKA OVER THE CARIBBEAN 100 TIMES. I HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH POVERTY STARING AT ME IN THE FACE IN JERSEY, I'M NOT PAYING GOOD BUCKS TO TRAVEL TO IT AND SPEND HARD EARNED TIME TOURING IT.IMHO U CAN HAVE THE CARRIB. WHEN I'M IN THE NEED OF HOT WEATHER I GO TO VEGAS,PHOENIX, PALM SPRINGS ETC. AFTER DW AND I DO EASTERN AND WESTERN MED. WE'RE HEADING BACK UP TO "THE LAST FRONTIER".

 

WE WENT IN AUGUST AND THE TEMPS WERE JUST FINE, DRESS IN LATERS AND U GOT IT MADE,(I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN CHI. AND AUGUST IN ALASKA IS BABY-FOOD).IF U CAN I STRONGLY SUGGEST U TAKE A LAND/SEA CRUISE-TOUR, U'LL HAVE ALL ALASKA BASES COVERED. HEY,........IT'S EVEN DAYLIGHT UNTIL 10 PM(IN AUG. ANYWAY).

 

YES........FLYING FROM N.JERSEY TO SEATTLE TO FAIRBANKS IS A REAL BUTT-BONE KILLER.I HATED THAT PART OF IT BUT FORGOT IT THE SECOND I SET FOOT ON ALASKAN SOIL.TAKE THE LAND END OF THIS FIRST SO THAT THE ENTIRE WAY BACK U CAN REALLY CHILL OUT ON THE CRUISE PORTION.

 

I TALK TOO MUCH...

CIAO,

 

Steve,

 

Absolutely agree with all that you've said. DW and I went to AK last July and did an extended cruise tour--spent a total of seven days on land w/7 day cruise.

Alaska is so big and there's so much to see that even with that amount of time you can't do it justice.

We hail from NH, and with the connections it was nearly 18 hours just to get to Fairbanks, and that was a ROYAL pain....

...but despite that, I'll take what Alaska offers anytime over the Caribbean. Yes, there are other destinations/itineraries that we're planning on doing, after all variety is important. Despite that, we already are setting up the general structure for about a month in the last frontier sometime around 2008 or 2009. That trip will include side excursions to Kodiak Island, as well as maybe a B2B cruise. Princess can arrange anything that you want up there.

Expensive? You bet. There's not much that's cheap in Alaska--after all it's a seasonal travel itinerary. But for our money, this gem offers absolutely everything we could ever want for a "total vacation" experience.

By the way, we had four days on land when the temp was in the 80's...

no beaches, but it was great sunning by the pools and hot tubs with a view of Mt. McKinley!

[spongerob]

I think if you take a one-way cruise to Alaska, you are missing a lot if you don't add some time on land before or after to visit the interior. Alaska has few cruise ports, therefore they can be crowded and sadly, commercial.

 

Different places have different things. Europe has history, the south Pacific has its beaches, even the Caribbean has its attractive qualities. Alaska has primal grandeur. For a tourist, once might be enough; for a traveler, there is always more to see.

[NancyIL]

I have been anticipating our 2007 Alaska cruise since last summer! The Caribbean is a nice getaway when the weather at home is cold, and Alaska will be a great getaway when the weather at home is hot!

[terrierjohn]

Although we appear to be very much in the minority I think our one trip to Alaska will probably be our only one. Main reason was weather, coming from the wet & windy UK, holidays for us need to be hot & sunny. Glacier bay was cold cloudy and not very scenic, College Fjiord was better because it was sunny and we did witness a bit of glacier calving. Whale watching at Juneau was OK we managed to see some reasonable activity, but I was unable to capture any worthwhile footage on the video. The balcony cabin was a waste of money, it was far too cold to be able to sit out and enjoy the scenery, that is if we had been able to see it through the mist and low cloud. Plus one contentious point, we thought the passenger profile was inferior to the Panama Canal trip, much more blue collar with the odd baseball cap at dinner.

On the post cruise land tour we thought the interior was no better, the scenery was quite dissappointing, too many trees and very few wild life sightings. In all honesty the Lake District in the UK is much more scenic.

I realise that a lot of pro Alaska CCers will disagree strongly, but whilst we did enjoy the holiday it was not enough to want to repeat it sometime soon.

[Dena]

Although we appear to be very much in the minority I think our one trip to Alaska will probably be our only one. Main reason was weather, coming from the wet & windy UK, holidays for us need to be hot & sunny. Glacier bay was cold cloudy and not very scenic, College Fjiord was .

 

I live near Cleveland - one of the cloudiest cities in the US. I do not think I'd want to spend my vacation time in a cloudy place (maybe after I've retired and moved to a sunny climate). I've been assuming Alaska is cold - the cloudy aspect did not occur to me. How likely is it to be overcast during a summer cruise? I mean will the sky be blue or gray?

[mrbbear]

I live near Cleveland - one of the cloudiest cities in the US. I do not think I'd want to spend my vacation time in a cloudy place (maybe after I've retired and moved to a sunny climate). I've been assuming Alaska is cold - the cloudy aspect did not occur to me. How likely is it to be overcast during a summer cruise? I mean will the sky be blue or gray?

 

Dena,

 

Timing is everything for an Alaska trip. The season is relatively short: mid May to late September. The climate depends greatly on when you go.

 

My extensive research (and personal experience) says that from the start of the season to about the third week in June you can experience more cloudy days and cooler temperatures. The precipitation level is also higher then.

Prime season is from the last week in June to the first week in August. I mention in my other post that it can and indeed does get into the 80's in the interior. While on the Coral Princess in mid July the coolest it ever got was about 60, and that was in Glacier Bay. But what would you expect when you're surrounded by glaciers?

The remainder of August to Labor day is generally nice, but the fall season start early in Alaska, so the nights will be noticeably cooler and the days a bit shorter (only about an average of 14 hours worth of light instead of 18 or 19). This time of the season is also generally less crowded.

 

My golden thought: if you can, go for a prime season booking. They're a bit more pricey, but they're well worth it. You'll have to reserve well in advance (we were almost a year in advance on our trip), but a little planning pays big dividends.

 

Hope that you go for it because I know that you won't be disappointed!!

 

Tom

[NancyIL]

Dena,

 

Timing is everything for an Alaska trip. The season is relatively short: mid May to late September. The climate depends greatly on when you go.

 

My extensive research (and personal experience) says that from the start of the season to about the third week in June you can experience more cloudy days and cooler temperatures. The precipitation level is also higher then.

Prime season is from the last week in June to the first week in August.

 

From what I've read, late May/early June is the driest time to visit Alaska, and it gets wetter as the season progresses.

[joeandmaria]

From what I've read, late May/early June is the driest time to visit Alaska, and it gets wetter as the season progresses.

 

That is also what I heard, and why we will be going in several weeks.

[NAS-KARR]

After two pages of sweat and tears....what r u going to do ???????

Ciao,

[susancruzs]

I've only been to Alaska once and it was fantastic! I'll go again sometime but a combo land/cruise trip. My cruise was different because we sailed from LA to Alaska then back to Vancouver. The good part about it more ports than usual, first cruise of the season no other ships in port, no mega ships, no crowds! Absolutely wonderful!

 

I was looking at Alaska cruises and could not get Sitka and Haines along with Juneau, Skagwag and Ketchikan so I did this positioning one and we went to Wrangall, too. Best part was the weather, first week of May and I was way over dressed. Turns out it was way warmer than usual, not a cloud in the sky the whole cruise. Lots of my pictures I don't even have a jacket on.

 

I haven't gone back because this cruise was so great, on a smaller ship and I don't want to be in those little towns with thousands of people. I did alot that cruise, train, raft, sea plane, helicopter, just in case I didn't go back real soon.

[emjayel56]

Hi there,

Well I sailed to Alaska (live in NJ)about 5 years ago; since then we've travelled the caribbean over and over again (we take 3 cruises a year). June is my 50th Birthday and my fiance was giving me a cruise wherever I wanted to as my gift. We discussed Hawaii but I wanted to go back to Alaska. I found Alaska to be the most breathtaking and awesome place I've ever seen. We are leaving in a about 6 weeks and I cannot wait. I guess it's whatever you like but I have no hesitation to fly cross-county to see Alaska. I am counting the hours, the minutes and seconds.

take care.

maryjo & joe

[edYYZ]

Both times we went in May and the weather was great (except in Seattle). Very clear, warm, bright, sunny days. In fact, I went home with quite a tan both times too. Don't know about the rest of the season though!

[vacationhappy]

We love the Caribbean, we love Alaska but would choose a cruise in the Med (even my teens) over any other cruise. Each experience is very different from the other. The caribbean is relaxed and fun. However, like the Caribbean, Alaska can be boring or adventurous depending on how you spend your port time. If you get off the ship and just walk around the ports, then you would be wasting your time in Alaska and probably will not enjoy it. If you take advantage of some of the adventure tours then you will have a once in a lifetime experience. We found the ship's fare to be very reasonable however the once-in-a-lifetime excursions were expensive. There is nothing like seeing a bear swipeing at the salmon, seeing the whales breach as you pull into port, the eagles soaring, panning for gold or taking a dogsled ride...you actually feel like you are on the Discovery Channel!

 

We try to cruise once a year - every other year we go to the Caribbean to sun and fun. On the off years, we cruise to tour - Europe/Alaska. For us, when we cruise the Caribbean, the ship is definitely part of the destination - the resort. This is when we splurge on a balcony. For the other cruises, we spend very little time on the ship, we think of it more as a hotel and transportation. The itinerary becomes the most important selection criteria and then price. We typically choose an inside cabin because most days are port days and spend the money on excursions (which can add up in Alaska and the Med).

[vacationhappy]

BTW - we went on August and saw tons of wildlife. It is my understanding that the animals are moving in May and August. August is when the salmon spawn...

[Sea and Me]

After reading all the posts it has me rethinking booking Alaska for '07. I'm for the warm climate and the wonderful blue waters of the sea. In fact we have done repeat islands and I would do them again and again. However, living in Pgh. PA we have more clouds than sun and the winters are cold and damp. People say you have to do Alaska at least once!! We'll see still debating!! If we do Alaska we are thinking round trip out of San Fransico have any of you done that cruise??? I'm not into all that time travel for seven days. Any opinions???

[DrD]

I've done 6 cruises, all to warm areas. I'm really looking foward to Alaska, variety is the spice of life!

 

Denver in the summer is very sunny and warm and dry, so cool, cloudy, and damp sounds great to me.

[Tinknock50]

Although we appear to be very much in the minority I think our one trip to Alaska will probably be our only one. Main reason was weather, coming from the wet & windy UK, holidays for us need to be hot & sunny. Glacier bay was cold cloudy and not very scenic, College Fjiord was better because it was sunny and we did witness a bit of glacier calving. Whale watching at Juneau was OK we managed to see some reasonable activity, but I was unable to capture any worthwhile footage on the video. The balcony cabin was a waste of money, it was far too cold to be able to sit out and enjoy the scenery, that is if we had been able to see it through the mist and low cloud. Plus one contentious point, we thought the passenger profile was inferior to the Panama Canal trip, much more blue collar with the odd baseball cap at dinner...............

 

Oh no not BLUE Collar! Gasp!

 

I am blue collar and I have never worn a ballcap to dinner. LOL

 

Coming from Arizona, I love having the total change in climate Alaska provides. To spend lots of money to go someplace I can sweat does not appeal to me. I can do that at home. When I go to Mexico, I go in November, December and January when it is likely to be cooler.

[Dena]

THank you for all your input - especially about timing the trip. I believe we will go on an Alaska crusie and find out for ourselves - although our next few cruises destinations are spoken for - DH is stuck on Tahiti and who am I to argue?