Alaska Clues for the Clueless?

[In the Pink]

We keep saying we want to take an Alaskan cruise, but we really don't even have a clue on when's the best time to go, which cruise line to choose, which route to take, etc. I realize that most of these things are purely subjective, but I would love to gather some opinions so that we can begin to form our own.

 

We are both 50, empty nesters (Yah!), and would definitely have to save up for this trip, so we can't do a really expensive one, but when we do it, we want to do it nicely, not on the cheap.

 

What would you suggest?

[NancyIL]

1. Read the info at Cruise Critic to get some clues: http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/area.cfm?area=1 (esp. "Fun Facts")

 

2. Spend some time reading through several pages of topics on the Alaska board, since the same questions are asked repeatedly

 

3. I recommend reading a good guidebook - my favorite being Frommer's Alaska 2007 by Charles Wohlforth

 

Even though the Alaska cruising season doesn't begin for 4+ months, the cabin selection on many ships will be quite picked over. You can gather info now in order to book a cruise for 2008, or you might be able to snap up a bargain cruise for this season after people begin making (or not making!) their final payments.

[In the Pink]

Even though the Alaska cruising season doesn't begin for 4+ months . . .

 

Ahh, see, I didn't even know when the season is. I mean I'm REALLY ignorant re: Alaska

 

. . .the cabin selection on many ships will be quite picked over. You can gather info now in order to book a cruise for 2008 . . .

 

Yes, I figured we'd be looking at '08 or maybe even '09 since we've already booked an aft cabin on Voyager in Jan '08. We'll probably not be able to afford Alaska 'til the following year.

 

you might be able to snap up a bargain cruise for this season after people begin making (or not making!) their final payments.

 

Now that's a thought I hadn't thought before.

 

Thanks for your input.

[In the Pink]

double post

[NancyIL]

The season for cruising is May-September, with May and September being the shoulder season, and June-August peak season - especially beginning mid-June.

[kingsgirl]

My biggest suggestions are these:

 

a) Browse the difference cruiselines and see what itineraries they offer. That way you can decide if you want to do a...

1. Round trip

2. Northbound

3. Southbound

 

And then think if you want to extend your vacation with a cruise tour. All this keeping in mind for prices to fly home if you go just north/south bound.

 

b) Then when you narrow the itineraries, look at each of the ports and see which ones you are interested in going to. Check to see what type of excursions you can do through the ship and independently (lots of suggestions in the forums).

 

c) Pick a date. Sailings run from May through September. May/September are the cheaper dates. Going too early (like first 2 weeks of may) may limit what you can do so be careful. The last week of may and early June are known for being more dry than other times.

 

d) Book early. Alaska is so hot right now (as in popular, not climate wise, hee hee) that the prices are likely NOT to go down. The ships will be filled and the prices will keep going up. Usually booking starts (for example) in late April/May of the cruise the year BEFORE. My cruise has jumped 200pp since I booked in May 06.

 

That's the big things I can think of. Anyone, add stuff if I missed something crucial.

 

Hope this helps. BROWSE these boards and get obsessed - it's the best way to make sure you know everything you can so you can have a great trip and not miss anything you wanted to see and be disappointed.

[halbfl2]

From what I've gleaned on this site, I would suggest late May and early June rather than Sept. for a cruise-only trip. It seems you are more likely to have good weather then than in Sept. when the bargain fares are again in effect. Also, it seems that if you really want to save, to do a r/t from Seattle because the airfare there is sooo much less. (However, you can still do Vancouver and get between the 2 places by rail, shuttle, or rental car. All of this adds to your cost, however, and would most likely add one or two hotel nights.) If you want to do land, too, you should probably wait until at least mid-June. When we picked our dates, we looked at the schedule to see when the "high" season prices started, and picked the cruise right before that. If you do either a nb or a sb, you will have one leg of your air going to or coming from Alaska adding alot to your price.

[dateacher]

What are the advantages to:

 

roundtrip cruise?

 

North or south bound cruise?

[In the Pink]

Thanks for all responses thus far, and I am reading the boards, etc., but sometimes answers from experienced cruisers give a better view, not to mention, are quicker to read.

 

I, too, have wondered about the difference between north and south bound? I realize, of course, that doing a one-way adds airfare, but if I decided to go one-way, does it matter which way?

 

And what about inside passage vs other?

 

It seems from what I've read so far, Glacier Bay is not to miss, rather than Hubbard Glacier? Does everyone share that opinion?

 

What about RCCL for Alaska... can anybody comment on an RCCL experience?

 

Thanks, everybody!

[Toyz711]

on the 1-way cruises..it only matters about NB vs SB for when you want to do a land tour (denali?) before or after your cruise.

if you look at a map of alaska and the coast leading down to vancourer..you will see to go to juneau, skagway, ketchikan, sitka..it's the inside passage. the ships only do open seas after glacier bay heading north or going around vancourer island (victoria) if they start/stop from seattle. (simply put) so there is no "other".

inside passage refers to the route along the coast, between the islands to the west and british columbia/alaska to the east.

to avoid getting confused..go get a book on travel to alaska. it will have maps and information about the different ports. plus, while on-line, to the the website for each of the main cruise ports..juneau, sitka, haines, skagway, ketchikan..they will give you a wealth of information. just google each port.

if you have the time and money, a land tour around the main-land alaska area would be nice. but if you are on a time/money budget..a round-trip is nice.

[TrojanJulez]

My family and I (9 of us) are cruising to Alaska on the Dawn Princess this June. We also felt clueless about Alaska and have done a lot of research. Budget is a big concern for us, and that played a major part in our route decision. Although the Northbound and Southbound cruises allow you to see more of Alaska than a roundtrip cruise (which has to go there and back in the same amount of time), we found it too expensive to fly into/out of Alaska to start or end the trip - much cheaper to fly roundtrip to Seattle. We lucked out and found that Princess now offers roundtrip cruises 10-day from San Francisco, and it didn't even add more $ to the price because it meant that we didn't have to fly to Seattle (we're from the San Francisco area). So if budget is an issue, make sure you take into account the money that it will cost to get you to the departure/arrival port(s). Hope that helps!

[FLbeachbaby]

Trojanjulez, just wanted to say we visited your beautiful city during Christmas break for the first time and loved it ! What a great city!!

 

Now, my 2cents about Alaska- we are going in mid-May because of the prices. For us it was definitely a consideration of price first or we wouldn't even be able to go. I booked in Sept 2006 out of Vancouver in great mini-suite which at the time was the same price as a balcony (for us Floridians who crave fresh air this was a must expenditure) We used our United miles for free air fare (and it's a long flight!) We booked with NCL because we have done many cruises with them and like the relaxed atmosphere. The downside, if you can really find one, is our short port times. But we are going to Alaska for the best price I could find anywhere at the time and we are thoroughly ecstatic.

 

Good luck to you in your planning.

[TrojanJulez]

Wow FL, how funny that you were in Brentwood! Good point about May and September being good price-wise. We had to wait until the end of June because all of the women that are going work in schools!

[Budget Queen]

My opinion only, I don't do one way cruises without at least another week added for interior Alaska touring. Consider taking advantage of being there. A difference to consider with one way sailings, is southbound has more inside passage sailing, since it sails inside Vancouver Island during daylight, northbound has most of it at night. When I sail north, I am always out until dark upon leaving and up at least 30 mins. before dawn the next day. It is a spectacular sailing area.

 

I am a strong advocate of round trip cruises, although there is an amount of people who are not. They certainly do pack a LOT of wonderful sailing into 7 days.

[gabberqueen]

hello iam also clueless about alaska but i have booked my cruise already :( i booked my southbound cruise on the 3rd of aug this year and oh boy do i feel like i have made a big mistake....

 

im from australia and i feel my ta did not give me any info on flights etc me and my husband plan on doing our trip to alaska and that is going to cost us heaps because we will have to fly into ANC then go to seward board the ship.

 

then we will depart the ship in vancouver then have to go to LAX to go to vegas then disneyland then we are off to hawaii ive been trying to workout how much this is going to cost us and just in airfares its going to cost around 7,000 just in flights :( do any of you know if i can cancel this cruise and try and get my deposit over to a round trip :(

[Toyz711]

just wondering..are you really doing it in that order...lax to vegas? to disneyland? hmmm, i think i see some of your problems right there.

the anchorage to seward, no one can help with..anchorage has the airport and seward has the port for the cruise ships. your real problem seems to be the rest of your trip. you can't fly from vancourer to 'vegas?

or go to disneyland from lax, it's not a bad drive or take a shuttle to disneyland from LAX?

[gabberqueen]

looks like im just going to juggle around and see how i go with this.

[In the Pink]

A difference to consider with one way sailings, is southbound has more inside passage sailing, since it sails inside Vancouver Island during daylight, northbound has most of it at night.

 

Now THAT's a very important tip!

 

Gabberqueen, it does seem like your agent has you jumping all over the North American continent. Even if you don't change the Alaskan part of the cruise, ( which you certainly could if you wanted, but availability may not be as great at this point in time) you should at least re-do the order in which you make the other stops so you don't have to go back and forth as much.