Cruising Alaska

[Ottawa Lynne]

DH and I are thinking of cruising Alaska in late August (week of August 24).

 

I've searched through postings and haven't really come up with answers to the following two questions....

 

1. Is the Seatle (Pearl) cruise better than the one from Vancouver (Star)? We would really like to do the one from Vancouver (we're from Canada).

 

2. We would like to go in August - are we better off to wait until June 2009 to do the trip (e.g., do you see more in June than in August)?

 

We're still on a high from our 9-day Jewel Carribean trip last week! :)

 

thanks in advance for your advice.

 

Lynne

[Toyz711]

some of those questions will be better answered on the alaska boards:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

the star only does a trip out of vancouver for the 1st cruise of the year. the rest of the time it goes out of seattle. the sun is the NCL ship that leaves from vancouver the whole season.

leaving from vancouver, you get more of the inside passage. ships leaving from seattle go west of victoria/vancouver island..open sea for that night and part of the next day.

the pearl does glacier bay..great views, usually no problems getting close to the glacier. the other 2 ships do sawyer/tracy arms...closer viewing later in the year, early may and june can have problems with ice keeping the ships away from the glaciers.

i went in sept of 2006, i don't see anything wrong with august. june to end of august is prime cruising season for that area.

[BeachBumMama]

We're still on a high from our 9-day Jewel Carribean trip last week! :)

Was that your first cruise? And now you're an addict like the rest of us?:)

Sorry I can't answer on Alaska, I haven't been there... yet. But I'm sure you'll find the info.

[Ottawa Lynne]

Thanks for straightening me out about the ships - I knew I'd mix them up!

 

Yes, it was our first cruise and we (well at least I'm) addicted! I've never felt so good after a vacation. I loved visiting the various countries but never having to pack! I also really enjoyed the entertainment.

[ute_fan]

We've sailed on both the Sun from Vancouver and the Pearl from Seattle and enjoyed both cruises.

 

Basically, it comes down to a question of glacier viewing. If seeing the glaciers is very important to you I'd recommend the Pearl. There are many more glaciers in Glacier Bay, and they don't have the ice problems of Tracy Arm.

 

Tracy Arm can have problems all throughout the cruising season -- not just early. We sailed on June 6th and were lucky enough to see both glaciers, but that is really quite rare. If you do book the Sun, I highly recommend the Tracy Arm / Glacier Explorer excursion that NCL does. You get a much better view of the glaciers, and have a greatly improved chance of seeing the glaciers.

 

If you don't care a lot about seeing the glaciers, then the beautiful scenery of the inside passage east of Vancouver Island is also spectacular. Just a word of warning -- there are a lot of us who plan a "once in a lifetime" cruise to Alaska, and end up wanting to return frequently :D .