What is the best Alaskan cruise?

[sewolverine]

Hi,

I am so confused. We've decided to book a cruise to Alaska, but my head is spinning from all of the information. Which do you think would be the best cruise? I notice that some go to Glacier Bay and others to Hubbard Bay. Which is better? Which ports are the best for a family? Our kids would be 7 and 10 at the time of the cruise.

 

I notice that some cruises start at one port, but end at a different port. How do you work out the flight with that? It seems like you may be pulled for extra security due to 2 one-way flights?

 

So, what is best? I'd like to know opinions on the best cruise ship and the best routes. Which ships offer options for families (kids clubs/family activities/kid-friendly environment). I'm so lost and need as much advise as you can give!

Thank you in advance!:)

[Toyz711]

let's see of i can do this without adding to the confusion.

round-trip cruises: start and finish at the same place...in cases of normal 7 day alaska round-trips, that usually means seattle or vancouver. keeping in mind that there are variations.

1-way cruises..usually best with same extra time for a land tour in mainland alaska, better known as a cruise tour. these go between either of the 2 cities mentioned above and either seward or whittier, alaska.

(example only: fly in vancouver - cruise - fly out of anchorage)

 

what's best is what works for you in the budget and time you have to do.

my hubby only had 7 days, so we choose a round-trip out of seattle.

as far as being singled out for extra security for doing 2 one-way flights...you aren't doing 2 one way flights, you are booking a 3 way trip...it's a normal thing that many people do.

as i said, there is no "best", what works for me may not work for you.

IMO, glacier bay is great for the beginner...a beautiful cruising day of outstanding views that give a good look at alaska.

a good way to start planning is to look at the ports and activities in each port and decide which ones you like best. then find the cruises that go in that direction and start looking at availablity and price (if price is an issue)

here's a start:

http://www.alaskacruises.com/alaska_glacier_viewing.asp

http://www.traveljuneau.com/

http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/

http://www.skagway.com/

i don't have the websites for sitka and icy straits point (hoonah) favorited, but they on available on the 'net.

also, read a few pages of posting...lots of information from posting similar to yours.

[ute_fan]

The best Alaskan cruise is whichever one I'm lucky enough to be on! Sorry -- couldn't resist that one :D .

 

I'm not enough of an expert to give you a lot of advice. I'd start by deciding if I want a one-way or round-trip. Then I'd decide which ports or glaciers I most wanted to see, and try and find the itineraries that most closely matched up with my choices. Somewhere in the process, you need to do enough research about the different cruise lines to see which one you think you'd feel most comfortable on.

 

For me, that cruise line choice so far has been NCL. I love freestyle cruising, which means no formal dress required and no set dining schedule with assigned tablemates. Other people enjoy those parts of cruising, but I'm not interested at all in buying a formal dress and sitting with strangers. Others posters will have their own favorite lines. There's not necessarily a wrong choice, it's just how well you match up with the personality of the particular line.

 

As far as Glacier Bay vs. Hubbard Glacier, I haven't been to Hubbard yet. I'm hoping that NCL will add that to a future itinerary. So far I've been to Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier. There were advantages to both. If you do a search on these boards, you'll probably find several opinions as to which is better, but again, they're only opinions.

 

As far as kids go, we didn't start cruising until ours were in their late teens, so I'm no help there either. I have talked with other passengers from our roll-calls who were very satisfied with the kids clubs on NCL, but that's not personal knowledge.

 

Happy cruising!

[sewolverine]

Lot's of great information! Thanks to you both. Tell me, why would someone choose a one-way cruise. Is it just for the sea/land tours, or is it because you see more?

 

I like the thought of eating when we want. I also like the idea of not having to sit with strangers. Our sons are autistic, so they make not like having strangers at their table. I'll have to look into NCL.;)

 

We new to cruising. We went on a 4 night Disney cruise and the kids had a great time. DH and I fell in love with cruising. My goal is to do a cruise to Alaska, then I'll hit DH with the idea of a European cruise.:D I want to see the World on a cruise ship!

[ute_fan]

I've never done a one way one, but you'd get much further up into Alaska that way. If you search for information on one-way cruises, most people combine them with a land tour of Alaska. We've never had time to do that, so that round trip ones make more sense for us right now. I'm sure you'd see more/different scenery from a one-way, but I don't know that they're very highly recommended unless you can do the land tour too.

 

I've got a great-nephew who's autistic, along with some extreme speech problems. It seems to me that, given his tendencies at least, not having to eat at an assigned time and with strangers would be a big plus in making the cruise enjoyable. If you think your boys might prefer that too, I can recommend NCL. We've taken 5 cruises with them since January, 2004 -- and this is coming from a person who never thought she'd like cruising at all!

 

Do spend some time researching other cruise lines, however. Just because they work for me doesn't mean they're the best choice for everyone else.

[Toyz711]

ncl only does round-trips, i did the NCL star last sept...loved it, loved the ship. but the route i did, which included glacier bay...is the route the NCL pearl is doing. the pearl is a new ship and as good or bette then the star.

but not have a set dining time with set dining partners, was great. we could eat at our own time, in the restaurants of our choosing (there are several). not having to dress up more then kahkis and polo shirts..

no suit or tie for him or dresses and nylons or me. it was great.

 

as for the 1-way cruises, many do have the extra time to go to denali park or wildlife tours. many still do this in 7 days. personally, when i only have 7 days i don't want to be do a bunch of transfers. the ships leave from whittier or seward, but you have to fly into anchorage or fairbanks.

but if i was to have 10 days or more, i could make it work:D . but to each their own, i just like the relax cruising of round-trips.

[deadzone1003]

Lot's of great information! Thanks to you both. Tell me, why would someone choose a one-way cruise. Is it just for the sea/land tours, or is it because you see more?

 

I like the thought of eating when we want. I also like the idea of not having to sit with strangers. Our sons are autistic, so they make not like having strangers at their table. I'll have to look into NCL.;)

 

We new to cruising. We went on a 4 night Disney cruise and the kids had a great time. DH and I fell in love with cruising. My goal is to do a cruise to Alaska, then I'll hit DH with the idea of a European cruise.:D I want to see the World on a cruise ship!

 

The one-way cruise allows you to see the more "scenic" parts of Alaska, such as College Fjord and Glacier Bay. Furthermore, it allows you an option of visiting Alaska. Also, inside passage from Seattle is not much as most of the traveling is through open ocean. If you do a round trip, do it from Vancouver where the inside passage is along the coast.

[ute_fan]

Just one comment -- you can see Glacier Bay if you sail round-trip from Seattle. We did it in May.

 

I will agree with the comment about the inside passage. Sailing round-trip from Vancouver provided much better inside passage viewing than sailing round-trip from Seattle. It all depends on what you're looking for!

[Toyz711]

another comment from me, juneau, skagway, ketchikan are all on the inside passage, can't get to them without cruising the inside passage.

open water is only the 1 night as you leave seattle. leaving from seattle isn't bad, you get the nice views as you leave the sounds, go to bed and wakin up with islands around you. not bad at all.

 

for 1 ways cruises, you are in open water from between either seward or whittier until you get down to glacier bay and head around to juneau. there are pluses and minus(s) to both types of cruises.

glacier bay is included on a few round-trips, depends on which cruise lines have permission to go there.

by now the OP is getting the idea..the best cruise is in the mind of the beholder.;) it's all good, it's a cruise!!

[NancyIL]

We returned from our first trip to Alaska a few weeks ago: a northbound cruise on the Coral Princess followed by 9 days in the "interior" with a rental car. We flew into Vancouver and home from Anchorage, using frequent-flyer miles. When checking web sites for fares - you are looking for "multi-city" fares rather than buying two one-way tickets.

 

There are some very good roundtrip itineraries, and some pretty mediocre ones. (RCI's roundtrip from Seattle comes to mind as one of the least-inspiring itineraries.) You may save money by flying roundtrip to Seattle or Vancouver, but you'll probably pay more for the roundtrip cruise than for a one-way cruise during the same time period.

 

Some would say it isn't worth the extra travel time and expense to do a one-way cruise unless you have time to spend in Alaska before or after the cruise. While a land trip plus cruise is ideal - I would still recommend a one-way cruise, depending on the itinerary. In my opinion, the drive between Seward/Whittier and Anchorage is so beautiful, that it's worth the extra travel time - even if you fly home the same day the cruise ends (or board your ship the day after you arrive in Alaska).

[Keith1010]

If you want to spend time in Alaska following your cruise I would take a North Bound Cruise. If you just want to cruise I would book one of the inside passage cruises. Just my preference but I would start in Vancouver and if you can spend one or two days there before the cruise. Lots to do for the family there.

 

There are many nice cruise lines that are fun for kids. A couple that come to mind that we enjoyed when our children would sail with us and have been sailing Alaska for quite some time are Celebrity and Princess. Clearly, there are others and some will have their favorites.

 

Keith

[sewolverine]

O.k, so I've narrowed it down to Glacier Bay departing from Vancouver. You guys have been a huge help!:D Thank you so much.

[Chat Noir]

O.k, so I've narrowed it down to Glacier Bay departing from Vancouver. You guys have been a huge help!:D Thank you so much.

 

I don't think you'll be disappointed.... it's a fabulous area to sail!!!

[pacthepuppies]

YEA!

a warning about vancouver- we spent a night there and spent about 3 days worth of $ on streetside (ie NOT expensive nice dining) dining- it is a very expensive place- and now the shop owners are playing a little game we called 'funny money'- they claim that the exchange rate is equal- about 6 cents to us is correct- so if you pay in american $ they will give you canadian back- they do NOT give american change... so they are making a little bit on each transaction- fine for them, I wish that we had converted some $ to bring with us ahead of time. I would look carefully at the cost of things and try to be prepared ahead of time to spend a lot...

Lisa