Roundtrip Alaska Cruise AND Cruisetour

[Young Senior]

I'm organizing an Alaska trip for my family. I am anxious to find one that permits roundtrip airfare, since flights out of Anchorage to come home are both very inconvenient and very expensive. My problem is that half of us wants to do a 10 day cruisetour, and half of us can only do a 7 day cruise. Celebrity seems to leave both groups in Anchorage, although everyone can sail on the same cruise portion. Princess, while offering roundtrips, seems to use different ships for their cruisetours and simple cruises. I seem to have hit a brick wall. Does anyone know of a cruiseline that will bring us all back to the embarkation port and will allow both the cruisetour and cruise passengers to sail together?

[yogi2929]

Before you book air with the cruiseline read this sticky from the CruiseAir Board -

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322

A Travel Agent might be able to help you best. Also check on the Alaska Board. Another cruiseline to consider is Holland America.

[Assateague Island Princes]

No way that you can do that to my knowledge - not on a 7 day anyway. If you can spare 14 day, the cruise only passengers could take two 7 day (back-to-back) to get the roundtrip from either Vancouver or Seattle, while the cruise/cruisetour group could get off in Seward (or Whittier depending on the cruiseline) and continue their land tour of Alaska. OR you could take HAL's new 14 day cruise (roundtrip from Seattle) which includes the "new" ports of Anchorage, Kodiak and Homer, along with the usual ports of Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Victoria, BC, along w/both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. BUT I see that some can only do 7 day, so I guess you're out of luck with either of those two options. Good luck - but hey, what a problem to have, right??? Alaska is amazing - the longer you could spend there or on a longer 14 day cruise, the better off you'd be.

[paul929207]

Princess does not offer any cruises r/t Anchorage, unless you want to do a b2b for 14 days plus the land tour.

[thinfool]

Originally Posted by Young Senior

... flights out of Anchorage to come home are both very inconvenient and very expensive.

Are you pricing open-jaw flights or two one-way fares into SEA/YVR, ANC? Where will your trip originate? An example of open jaw flights, mid-July, ATL-SEA, ANC-ATL, less than $600. ea.

My problem is that half of us wants to do a 10 day cruisetour, and half of us can only do a 7 day cruise. Celebrity seems to leave both groups in Anchorage, although everyone can sail on the same cruise portion. Princess, while offering roundtrips, seems to use different ships for their cruisetours and simple cruises.

You can book one-way cruises, northbound or southbound, on the same ships that carry cruisetour passengers. (Princess, for sure)

I seem to have hit a brick wall. Does anyone know of a cruiseline that will bring us all back to the embarkation port and will allow both the cruisetour and cruise passengers to sail together?

The short answer is no.

To my knowledge, cruisetours only happen from one-way voyages....Northbound or Southbound. The cruise-only folks would miss the land portion of the cruisetour but would/could be on the same ship for the cruise portion.

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL doesn't offer anything like you want.

[Budget Queen]

There are no round trip Alaska cruise options with the major lines that allow an Alaska cruisetour to be added. Only a one way cruise, then the land add on. But a significant factor those interested must understand, is there are VERY few worthwhile 3 day add ons, IF that is your overall 10 day mention. Definately a 10 day add on tour to a cruise would offer plenty. IF you are considering the 3 day, most are a waste of money, seeing extremely little except "drive by". Very little time at destinations. For Denali Park, it definately is a poor choice with this short of a timeframe.

Best advice is to do your homework and understand everything FULLY about any cruisetour- most people do not. It is a mistake to jump into, "look good" bookings, only to find out, it is something very different. Better to have the facts stright before booking.