Alaska

[Hi Hat Crazie]

What's the best cruise to take North, South, or Inside passage?

[Sea Hag]

Any of them! :)

[sherryf]

There are varying opinions... all of which can be found on the Alaska board. I suggest you read some of the old messages there and then post any further questions to that board.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

all but you must have a balcony and don't wear shorts it gets cold in july

[teaach]

My Dh and I did the roundtrip last may because it included Glacier Bay, a must see for me. We booked Harv and Marv for whale watching in Juneau. They were excellent - small group, we saw lots of wildlife including about 10 whales. They stopped an Mendenhal Glacier (freebie) on the way back to the ship. Glacier Bay was amazing. You spend the whole day and not every ship has a permit to get into GB. The calfing of the glaciers, the wildlife (breaching whale, other sitings of whales, sea otters, tons of eagles, porpoise,etc.). You must book a balcony. We had an aft - amazing!

The park ranger boards the ship in the morning and stays on all day while you SLOWLY cruise GB. This site was worth the whole trip in itself.

You have to decide what you want to see and go for it. Also in Skagway we took the White Pass train one way and drove the Yukon Highway the other, another memorable trip. We book out trips from reading the ports of call boards. Side trips are economical,usually 1/2 price from ship's tours, small and amazing! For ex. Large cruise lines' tour to private island in Mexico $75. TA side trip, identical to Cruise Lines' tour $36. It's a no brainer. The only cruise ship tour we took was in St. Thomas 2 years ago. The tour was supposed to be a half submerged sub so you could look at the sea life. The water was murky so you couldn't see anything. The litte zoo attached to the bay was pathetic and the ride to and from the tour was anything, but safe. The cruise lines (in their contracts) state you are booking with a separate contractor and they are not responsible for any mishaps. Do your research and you will not regret it!

[docBarb]

Hi,

I have done both the inside passage and the south to north passage. I think the best option would be the north to south passage. My reason for this is - college fjord is a must see and it is plan awful getting off the ship at the northern point. We had to be off by 6:30 am to take a train to Anchorage and then spent the whole day there because the flight home was 8:30 pm. Needless to say we felt crummy by the time we got home. I think the flight options are better to get home from Vancouver or even Seattle (taking a bus there first).

The inside passage was great but it leaves out college fjord as I said. I think this should not be missed for the shear incredible beauty you will see.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you will have a great time.

Barbara