R/T SEATTLE vs. VANCOUVER

[Sunny Lady]

I posted a similar question a few days ago but it got misinterpreted so I am trying again. Bottom line, if you leave from Seattle compared to leaving from Vancouver how much less do you see scenery wise? Is is worth the extra $ to fly into Vancouver?

[dosi]

Even if you leave from Vancouver I would still fly into Seattle and then drive or take the train to Vancouver. You would save a bucket of money.

[Thoth]

I posted a similar question a few days ago but it got misinterpreted so I am trying again. Bottom line, if you leave from Seattle compared to leaving from Vancouver how much less do you see scenery wise? Is is worth the extra $ to fly into Vancouver?

Last year I sailed the Statendam out of Vancouver and this past July I did the Oosterdam out of Seattle. The only difference in scenery or disadvantage to Seattle is where the ships leaves from. Vancouver trips leave from a lovely building called Canada Place which is in downtown, while the Oosterdam in Seattle left from the cargo yards so to speak. The views of the Lion's Gate bridge and Stanley Park ARE wonderful, but is it worth the extra money and effort to depart Vancouver? Not in my point of view! Coming from the Southeastern US, Seattle was MUCH easier and cheaper for me.

As far as the cruise itself there were 2 differences of note. One is out of Vancouver the Statendam visited Skagway, while the Oosterdam visited Sitka.

The other being that out of Vancouver we visited Glacier Bay and the Oosterdam leaving from Seattle we went to Hubbard Glacier. By the way, the Amsterdam goes to Glacier Bay out of Seattle. Both Glaciers were equal in my book. Some claim that the high seas were worse out of Seattle, but I didn't find any differences.

My advise to a first timer would be find the cheapest and easiest cruise+ flight combo and book that based on your taste. In other words, both cities are good choices!

[Sunny Lady]

Thoth - Thanks for your response! Your candor is much appreciated.

[Thoth]

Thoth - Thanks for your response! Your candor is much appreciated.

Have fun!

[Mary Ellen]

We've done 4 Alaskan cruises - both Seattle and Vancouver. Number 5 will be this May and we're going from Vancouver. I agree with Thoth that Seattle is easier/less $$$ air, and the current port area is less desirable. Seattle is my 'hometown' and I do love it. All things being equal, I would rather sail from there, so I could spend time with my family that still lives in the area.

 

We do much prefer the scenery from the Vancouver cruises (reason for going to the trouble and expense of #5 being from Vancouver). While we had beautiful weather sailing off the BC coast on the Seattle cruise, the scenery was in the distance - as we were out in the Pacific. On the Vancouver cruises, we have been on more of the Inside Passage (as much as the size of the ships will allow). We are sailing amongst the islands - and scenery is close. There were times on our first cruise that I felt I could throw a rock and hit shore on either side (and I throw like a girl :rolleyes: ). Scenery in the distance vs. being IN the scenery.

 

We greatly prefer Skagway over Sitka - again better scenery. Actually I can't say if Sitka has good scenery, we've never seen it. It has always been VERY rainy when we've been in port (remember, I grew up in Seattle - I know my rain). Just a few weeks ago I showed DH a sunny picture of Sitka in a cruise brochure and said: "See - THIS is what Sitka looks like!". We'd never seen the mountain shown in the picture.

 

The first and last full days will be 'sea days' either way. Last time (May '03) we were lucky enough to have lunch with the Captain on our last day. We were in the Crow's Nest (HAL) and even though it was rainy, it was still VERY beautiful sailing among the islands. I'd made a comment to the Captain about our last cruise being out of Seattle on the Amsterdam. He replied that we should be very glad that we weren't on her at that time. She was also heading back, but she was out in the Pacific, where in addition to being rainy, it was stormy. We had gorgeous scenery and calm as could be water, as we were protected by the islands, while the Amsterdam had rough seas and nothing to look at but rain.

[trcori]

If you haven't been here before -- note that it's only HAL and Princess that dock amid the freighters on the south side of the waterfront. Celebrity and NCL (and other occasional visitors, like Silversea last year) use the lovely pier amid all the waterfront fun (aquarium, restaurants, hotels, etc.) -- our first cruise terminal. Our first Alaska cruise was last year, Infinity out of Vancouver, but next year we will be VERY excited to drive just a few MINUTES from our home to take our favorite cruise line (Mercury's second season out of Seattle) up north. P.S. Re: Skagway, we haven't been to Sitka but that's another reason we are choosing to sail from home -- Skagway was our favorite port on our Infinity cruise last year, but Celebrity has swapped it out for Sitka on the Vancouver RT itinerary, while Mercury still has it -- TR (Mercury 8/26/05)