The "when, what, where, how" questions on Alaska! HELP.....

[HappyTraveling]

Hi,
I'm in the initial phase of planning our 2006 cruise to Alaska and need ALL the help I can get. Any advice will be appreciated! ;)

1) Which Celebrity ship to Alaska is best i.e. in terms of food, itinerary, etc...?
Summit, Infinity or Mercury...?

2) When to go? I want to see the glacier "up close" and the weather warm enough to sit on the balcony.

3) Which tour? Southbound Glacier, northbound Glacier or Inside Passage? What's the difference between the glacier tours and the Inside Passage tours?

4) Please advise also whether to go with portside or starboard depending on what is recommended in Pt 3) above.

Looking forward to your advice.:)

[boten]

You have a lot of research to do on Alaska, but I can tell you what we did.

1) We sailed the Summit. It's a beautiful ship.

2) July & August are peak season and warmest. We hit a very warm summer this year. Cruising near a glacier will never be too warm, We wore coat, hat, gloves while in Hubbard glacier.

3) We liked North bound, building up for our post-cruise Alaska inland tour. Inside passage is round trip. NB or SB starts or finishes in Seward (for Celebrity).

4) For our NB, we picked starboard. I think we made a good choice.

[Budget Queen]

In 2006 the ships and routes may change. Instead educate yourself on your options then fit in the ship in a year or so. Round trip Vancouver offer a great tour in 7 days and do some great sailing. You ship choices don't go to Glacier Bay- which is my preference, for superior glacier viewing overall. But the inside passage glaciers are very worthwhile. On a one way- your choices would be out for me- they don't sailing College Fjords. With a one way this a a great bonus glacier sailing. On a one way cruise, I also never go on one without adding at least 5 days for interior touring- don't miss it, take advantage of being all the way there. I do give a big edge to Seward- again TOUR it and don't just pass through this wonderful gem. Ideally overnight here. Head to your library- take out Frommers Alaska, Fodors Alaska and THE MILEPOST, consider independent touring yourself- extremely easy to do and you can see and do twice as much for half the cost of the cruisetour add ons. So - look at- routes, time in ports, ports, glacier, price. Budget fully for excursions- you get only half a trip without them. :)

[vettechick]

I agree with Budget Queen. You can't sail Alaska without cruising Glacier Bay! We just returned a couple weeks ago and the weather was very warm -- warm enough for shorts some of the time. However, this is extremely unusual weather. Our Glacier Bay day was cool and rainy, requiring fleece and raincoats. If you want to view from the deck, be aware it's very crowded. Also, our ship Island Princess had blue wind shields across the top decks and you couldn't really take pictures thru them. Everyone crowded on the 2 small staircases to take photos. Best viewing was from our own balcony. The ship sits and spins 360 degrees so everyone gets a view of the Glaciers!


Also, I would bring gloves because your hands get cool holding those binoculars!

I would try to get a cabin on the side closest to land, depending which direction you sail. I was on the opposite side and didn't feel we really missed much, but given the choice would have preferred the other side. All the Inside Passage and Glacier cruising has scenes on both sides of the ship as well as several "spin" areas for 360 viewing. Just be sure to get a covered balcony because IT WILL RAIN.

[telesaps]

Just got back from an inside passage on the Serenade. We stopped at Hubbard Glacier. It was so beautiful, one of the best parts of the trip. The weather was warm enough to stay outside. They were selling hot chocolate drinks. We did not need gloves or heavy jackets.

Our balcony was on the starboard side. I think on an inside passage either side is okay. To view the glacier, we went up on deck, because the balcony seemed so closed-in.

[Coral]

I also won't consider an Alaskan cruise with out Glacier Bay and College Fiords! These are my 2 favorite days on the cruise!