which cruise to choose??

We are going to cruise next june(2007) and we are trying to decide which 7 day round trip we are going to do. We would love to do a cuise/tour, but do not have enough vacation tome to do it. We were wondering about flying into Seattle and going to Vancouver for a cruise. How long would it take to go through customs and get there? The cruise on HAL from Vancouver includes Tracy Arm and the Seattle cruise includes Victoria BC. We are leaning toward the Vancouver cruise with the Tracy Arm cruising rather than Victoria BC. Any reccomendations on either cruise?

Transferring Seatac to Vancouver is easy with a day before arrival. Quick Shuttle, cruiseline contracted bus, one way car rentals, and Amtrak are transfer options.

I mostly drive, staying in Bellingham the night before cruisings, 2 hours north of Seattle. Then with a morning start by 10am, little or no border delays, and time for a little sightseeing in Vancouver. I have rented from Avis, Alamo, National and Budget, there is also Hertz. You want a downtown Vancouver drop off- not airport.

Amtrak is cheap at about $25, plus about $35 for cabs.

If you want just a superb round trip Vancouver itinerary, look at HAL with their Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm sailings. By far, my clear preference is out of Vancouver and I don't even consider round trip Seattle. My priority is for the most scenery, any cruise is a compromise, choose what is your priority. :)

Not having been yet, but going this year, I have done my research, and IF I DID A R/T, it would have to be out of Vancouver and scenery would be a priority. Budget Queen makes a good argument for HAL Vancouver with their Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm sailings. I got some videos and decided what I wanted to see. HAL has that and Princess has Glacier Bay and College Fjord. I chose a one-way Princess to include Anchorage beforehand, but the purpose of this special trip would be scenery.

Transferring Seatac to Vancouver is easy with a day before arrival. Quick Shuttle, cruiseline contracted bus, one way car rentals, and Amtrak are transfer options.

 

I mostly drive, staying in Bellingham the night before cruisings, 2 hours north of Seattle. Then with a morning start by 10am, little or no border delays, and time for a little sightseeing in Vancouver. I have rented from Avis, Alamo, National and Budget, there is also Hertz. You want a downtown Vancouver drop off- not airport.

 

Amtrak is cheap at about $25, plus about $35 for cabs.

 

 

If you want just a superb round trip Vancouver itinerary, look at HAL with their Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm sailings. By far, my clear preference is out of Vancouver and I don't even consider round trip Seattle. My priority is for the most scenery, any cruise is a compromise, choose what is your priority. :)

Is Hal doing any Vancouver R/T's next year that do both College Fjord and Glacier bay in the same sailing?

I don't see any Vancouver R/T's next year doing both on the same sailing.:(

Bill

Is Hal doing any Vancouver R/T's next year that do both College Fjord and Glacier bay in the same sailing?

I don't see any Vancouver R/T's next year doing both on the same sailing.:(

 

Bill

I don't think anyone goes to College Fjords on a roundtrip, as it is almost all the way to Whittier.

oops I meant Tracy Arm. I better take a break from reading all this stuff. I think I'm on overload.:p

Thanks for setting the record straight.:)

I see Zaandam and Zuiderdam will be doing those cruises in 2007.

Bill

I would definately embark in Vancouver. We went RT on the NCL Star out of Seattle last June and even though the itinerary map and all the documents said we would be sailing on the east side of Vancouver, we sailed on the west side, and the first full day was almost all open water. We were very disappointed as we had sailed out of Vancouver on the Carnival Spirit in 2001 and knew how beautiful the first day of sailing could be. That first day out of Vancouver is as good as another port as far as I'm concerned.

Why would you do Vancover instead of RT from Seattle, I thought I had read it was easier to go thru customs out of Seattle instead of Vancover? Never done Alaska before, thinking about summer 07, not sure which cruise line, Princess or RCCL, or HAL, but first I thought I would decide which was the best port to go out of. I seem to remember that they sail out of different ports? Thanks for any info...

Why would you do Vancover instead of RT from Seattle, I thought I had read it was easier to go thru customs out of Seattle instead of Vancover? Never done Alaska before, thinking about summer 07, not sure which cruise line, Princess or RCCL, or HAL, but first I thought I would decide which was the best port to go out of. I seem to remember that they sail out of different ports? Thanks for any info...

Bottom line, superior scenery on your cruise out of Vancouver. You have to go through customs in Seattle as well, just not needing to cross a boarder if you ground transfer. Your ship is foreign registered. There is the timesaving US direct if you go via Vancouver airport. Otherwise you do need an extra day if you fly into Seattle and sail out of Vancouver.

Round trips sail out of both Seattle and Vancouver, can also do a round trip San Francisco.

If you don't mind an almost full first day of open water cruising, then the RT out of Seattle would be fine and probably cheaper for air fare. However, if you want to see a lot more scenery, RT out of Vancouver is much better the first day of sailing.

Thanks for the responses. I don't want to do San Francisco, too long on rougher waters so I have been told. Coming back from Mexico into California, was rough waters, and I am sure I would be hitting those same currents, going up from San Francisco, even tho that would be closer. But as a favorite ship between Hal, or RCCl, or Princess??

S.S. Oceanlover,

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your HAL Alaska 2007 ship schedule from?

I got it at a travel expo a couple weeks back. It is also online at:

http://www.hollandamerica.com/ebrochures/ebrochuresIndex.do

Just scroll down a bit and it is listed as travel planner.

Minniemom,

I don't believe that Princess does R/t's from Vancouver and the Seattle r/t's only go to Tracy Arm and no Glacier bay or Hubbard Glacier.

In 2007 HAL's Zaandam and Zuiderdam have good itineraries doing R/t's from vancouver. I think that Budget Queen spoke of these earlier. they do both tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. Zaandam leaves on Wednesdays and Zuiderdam on Saturdays.

RCI has Serenade of the Sea this year but is priced about $400pp higher than HAL.

After reading tons of post and reviews I think HAL does Alaska the best.

Bill

Thanks Bill ...

We are going to cruise next june(2007) and we are trying to decide which 7 day round trip we are going to do. We would love to do a cuise/tour, but do not have enough vacation tome to do it. We were wondering about flying into Seattle and going to Vancouver for a cruise. How long would it take to go through customs and get there? The cruise on HAL from Vancouver includes Tracy Arm and the Seattle cruise includes Victoria BC. We are leaning toward the Vancouver cruise with the Tracy Arm cruising rather than Victoria BC. Any reccomendations on either cruise?

My suggestion is to try NCL's new ship, the Pearl. She will be cruising RT out of Seattle going to Glacier Bay, which is (IMHO) superior to Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier.

Another thing to take into consideration is the port times--how long are you in each particular port?

OK, so which is better viewing of sites......vancouver round trip or a northbound or southbound? The round trip would probably be cheaper in airfare right? There are so many decisions to make for Alaska. Thanks for all your help. Sharon

I haven't done an Alaska cruise yet but I researched it to death. While I can't comment on the scenery on the Northbound or southbound trips, the Vancouver R/t's are more scenic than the Seattle R/t's.

The airfare is definitely cheaper doing the R/t's especially the Seattle one.

My plans are to try to do a R/t from Vancouver but buy R/t air tix to and from Seattle and use quickcoach to transfer us to Vancouver and back to seattle after the cruise.

An open jaw flight to Anchorage and Vancouver would cost me about $1800 total from Philadelphia while doing a R/t air from Seatle is about $800 plus transfers.

All the decisions do make your head spin.:)

Bill

Hi,

We are doing Princess Gulf of Alaska on May 22. We booked our own air to Anchorage from Charlotte, NC and then from Vancouver back to Charlotte,NC for only $453pp on Expedia. Before we booked, we checked round trip airfare and it wasn't any less. We read on the boards that Southbound thru the Gulf was a smoother trip than Northbound. That is one reason we booked Southbound. The prices usually are slightly more discounted on Northbound so maybe there is some truth to that. We also read on the boards that if you are going to spend extra time in Alaska, then it is good to do that before your cruise and end your trip with your relaxing cruise. Sounds good to me. We are going to tour Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula May17-22 and then get on the Island Princess. It is too early for Denali. The roads deeper into the park will not be open until mid June.

Hi,

 

We are doing Princess Gulf of Alaska on May 22. We booked our own air to Anchorage from Charlotte, NC and then from Vancouver back to Charlotte,NC for only $453pp on Expedia. Before we booked, we checked round trip airfare and it wasn't any less. We read on the boards that Southbound thru the Gulf was a smoother trip than Northbound. That is one reason we booked Southbound. The prices usually are slightly more discounted on Northbound so maybe there is some truth to that. We also read on the boards that if you are going to spend extra time in Alaska, then it is good to do that before your cruise and end your trip with your relaxing cruise. Sounds good to me. We are going to tour Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula May17-22 and then get on the Island Princess. It is too early for Denali. The roads deeper into the park will not be open until mid June.

If i could get air for that I'd definitely consider the R/T. I like the itinerary that the Coral Princess has. Princess' R/T's don't appeal to me at all.

Bill

Our air was not for roundtrip, but flying into Anchorage and home from Vancouver, all for $453pp. I wanted to do the Gulf of Alaska so I chose the one way cruise.

If i could get air for that I'd definitely consider the R/T. I like the itinerary that the Coral Princess has. Princess' R/T's don't appeal to me at all.

 

Bill

Oops I see i screwed up. I meant if I could get air for that I'd definitely consider the Northbound or southbound cruises. The Coral Princess does the N & S routes that look good.

Sorry for my screwup. I promise it won't be my last as the fingers never type what the mind is thinking.;)

Bill

Hi,

We read on the boards that Southbound thru the Gulf was a smoother trip than Northbound. That is one reason we booked Southbound. The roads deeper into the park will not be open until mid June.

Actually not true on my sailings, all the northbound have encountered rougher sailing than the south, no way to predict either. :) Key is to have a College Fjords sailing anyway, otherwise this is essentially a sea day.

For clairfication, Fish Creek in Denali Park shuttles start June 1 and Wonder Lake June8. Toklat starts 5-21, the best option in that timeframe.