Which Alaska routes are the least rough?

[Arwenmark]

I was thinking of the Seattle departure route for Alaska but I have seen some comments saying the water was very rough, is this common on that route? and which Alaska route is the least rough? where are the rough parts?

thanks.

[melika091900]

i think its all hit or miss on that, all the cruises that go to alaska leave from either CA, or washington, or canada, so they all end up in the same place, it just depends on the weather in the pacific

 

i noticed on ours, we went Round trip from SF,in august, the only time it was rough was when we were leaving the inside passage heading back out to the pacific, but it wasnt bad at all... only for about 1 day, but again , not bad..

 

as far as the ships that sail farther north in alaska, im not sure the farthest we went was juneau...

[dhmom99]

The cruise from Vancouver or to vancouver should go inside passage and will experieence the least amount of open sea.

[Budget Queen]

The potential smoothest sailing routes are round trip Vancouver, roughest- round trip Seattle. One ways, have the rough potential one day, crossing the Gulf of Alaska. The above reference "they all end up in the same place", is not accurate. There are different routes.

 

The first and last sailing day of round trip Seattle routes are the roughest sections. Generally one of these day will be rough.

 

However, ANY cruise can encounter rough seas, it won't make any difference- how many "smooth as glass" responses you get to these posts based on single past trips. Bottom line there is no way to predict the future. Best is to avoid round trip Seattle, if you want to hedge your chances, and finally - take precautions.

[luvncruising]

We left in September from Vancouver - went to Alaska (Sitka, Icy Strait, Ketchikan, Juneau & Skagway) back down to Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles and didn't experience one bad sea day! It is definetely a hit and miss!

 

Enjoy whatever you choose. Alaska is the best!