Alaska Cruise Basics

Last year (2013) I got to cruise to Alaska for the first time and I enjoyed the scenery and the ports.

Since then I (mostly me) and a close family member have spent time writing Alaska tips and posting them on my blog.

I thought I would share this here instead of the typical blog/website section because the information I share pertains to people here. I try to give tips that can be applied to any cruise line or itinerary, but I also give some itinerary specific information too!

http://www.embarkandaway.com/alaska.html

Please enjoy and ask questions!

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions write away! :)

Thanks for posting. We are doing our 2nd Alaska cruise and land tour this year. I'll be checking out your blog.

Mary Lou

Thanks for posting. We are doing our 2nd Alaska cruise and land tour this year. I'll be checking out your blog.

 

Mary Lou

Have a good cruise! I hope you enjoy the blog and feel free to ask questions!

Thanks for posting such useful information. I'm looking forward to studying your information more thoroughly. We are booked for June 2015 sailing from Seward, AK to Vancouver. We will also be doing a 5 day land trip prior to sailing, and I'm responsible for all the planning and bookings since we're going the independent route. I rely on great information like yours to make good decisions for our group of 4 adults!

Thanks for posting such useful information. I'm looking forward to studying your information more thoroughly. We are booked for June 2015 sailing from Seward, AK to Vancouver. We will also be doing a 5 day land trip prior to sailing, and I'm responsible for all the planning and bookings since we're going the independent route. I rely on great information like yours to make good decisions for our group of 4 adults!

We are looking at June, 2015 as well for 4 adults. Which cruise line did you pick?

Thanks for posting such useful information. I'm looking forward to studying your information more thoroughly. We are booked for June 2015 sailing from Seward, AK to Vancouver. We will also be doing a 5 day land trip prior to sailing, and I'm responsible for all the planning and bookings since we're going the independent route. I rely on great information like yours to make good decisions for our group of 4 adults!

You're welcome! Feel free to ask questions!

I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Alaska with my wife, hopefully this summer. I'll be browsing your blog in hopes it's got the answers and info I'm looking for..thanks for sharing!

Ed

I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Alaska with my wife, hopefully this summer. I'll be browsing your blog in hopes it's got the answers and info I'm looking for..thanks for sharing!

 

Ed

Let me know if you have any questions! If you I don't have something online and you want information about a particular subject I would be more than happy to give you some links here on this thread.

We are looking at June, 2015 as well for 4 adults. Which cruise line did you pick?

I'm also wondering what cruise line that poster picked. I hope they come back to answer.

When I cruised I did the Carnival Miracle from Seattle.

Thank you so much for posting this. I am currently planning for my first trip to Alaska next year so am soaking up all the information that I can!

Jo :)

Let me know if you have any questions! If you I don't have something online and you want information about a particular subject I would be more than happy to give you some links here on this thread.

We are researching a 2015 cruise and want to visit the Yukon. Will probably use HAL since they are currently the only cruise line that oes there.

Any advice would be appreciated

But not our first cruise

After 3 cruises to Alaska - we decided that we had to do the Land portion of the cruising before we got to the point that we couldn't do it.

Thank you for the blog and all the tips. We did a lot of research and looked at a lot of the cruises before we chose HAL's Seattle Gold Rush. This gives us an opportunity to spend 3 nights at Denali as well as days spent in Fairbanks, Dawson, and Whitehorse before we spend one night in Skagway before we join the Volendam in Skagway. We will be cruise Glacier Bay on our 40th wedding anniversary.

So this cruise will be a totally different aspect of Alaska and we getting just as excited as we were before we went on our first one.

Barbara

Previous Cruises

Alaska - Westerdam - September 2009 - 7 days

Alaska - Rotterdam - September 2010 - 7 days

Mexican Riviera - Oosterdam - April 2011 - 7 days

Alaska - Amsterdam - September 2012 - 14 days

Currently in Planning Stages: Panama Canal - March, 2015

We are researching a 2015 cruise and want to visit the Yukon. Will probably use HAL since they are currently the only cruise line that oes there.

Any advice would be appreciated

If you could provide any more itinerary details here I can post some links to some websites that I found useful.

If you could provide any more itinerary details here I can post some links to some websites that I found useful.

Would like to visit Dawson City, Whitehorse, Yukon Pass, etc. Also, want to see some glaciers.

Would like to visit Dawson City, Whitehorse, Yukon Pass, etc. Also, want to see some glaciers.

Here is a Travel Yukon Tourist website:

http://travelyukon.com/

Here is Trip Advisor's Yukon Page:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g155045-Yukon-Vacations.html

On this page you will find links to Dawson City information, Whitehorse Information, and some other cities.

Both of these websites seem to have good information and this is what I suggest to try for more research. None of these are my websites or information so I don't know exactly how relevant or current the info is, but I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for posting this. I am currently planning for my first trip to Alaska next year so am soaking up all the information that I can!

 

Jo :)

I hope the information helps! Let me know if have any questions!

I hope the information helps! Let me know if have any questions!

Thank you so much, I may well do! Hoping RCI releases the cruises this coming week and once it has been booked, I may be back with LOTS of questions!

Jo :)

Thank you so much, I may well do! Hoping RCI releases the cruises this coming week and once it has been booked, I may be back with LOTS of questions!

 

Jo :)

Good luck with booking!

Hi!

I read your section on balconies (thanks for that, BTW!), and still can't make up my mind on which cabins for June 2015. I'm planning to surprise my mom with an Alaskan cruise for her birthday, so I will need to get 2 rooms for four of us: Me, hubby, my mom, and my 8-year-old. I'm torn between 2 aft balconies or 2 "bowling alley" balconies on the Carnival Miracle. Which would be our best bet?

Pros of aft balconies:

- Better view (correct?)

- Quieter hallway

- Partial covering on deck 4

- No lifeboats below

Cons of aft balconies:

- The dividers between the balconies do not open.

- The Carnival Miracle layout has only 2-person and 3-person cabins adjacent. I would be booking my mom and daughter in one cabin and me and hubby in another to avoid the "singles' penalty."

- More expensive: about $400 per person more!

- Farther from the elevators. (My mom has mobility issues and can't walk long distances.)

Pros of "bowling alley balcony"

- HUGE balcony!

- One is handicap accessible (so my mom doesn't have to deal with a heavy balcony door)

- Less expensive than an aft balcony

- Divider between the 2 balconies can be opened

- More seating

- Closer to elevators

Cons of "bowling alley balcony"

- Located only on the port side of the ship

- Recessed area of the ship

- They hold a max of 2 people each, so if by some chance, my mom refuses to go, we will have to scramble for a "good" cabin for three 2-3 months after our initial booking.

- Noisier than aft balcony cabins

- Lifeboats below

Thoughts?

Hi!

I read your section on balconies (thanks for that, BTW!), and still can't make up my mind on which cabins for June 2015. I'm planning to surprise my mom with an Alaskan cruise for her birthday, so I will need to get 2 rooms for four of us: Me, hubby, my mom, and my 8-year-old. I'm torn between 2 aft balconies or 2 "bowling alley" balconies on the Carnival Miracle. Which would be our best bet?

 

Pros of aft balconies:

- Better view (correct?)

- Quieter hallway

- Partial covering on deck 4

- No lifeboats below

 

Cons of aft balconies:

- The dividers between the balconies do not open.

- The Carnival Miracle layout has only 2-person and 3-person cabins adjacent. I would be booking my mom and daughter in one cabin and me and hubby in another to avoid the "singles' penalty."

- More expensive: about $400 per person more!

- Farther from the elevators. (My mom has mobility issues and can't walk long distances.)

 

Pros of "bowling alley balcony"

- HUGE balcony!

- One is handicap accessible (so my mom doesn't have to deal with a heavy balcony door)

- Less expensive than an aft balcony

- Divider between the 2 balconies can be opened

- More seating

- Closer to elevators

 

Cons of "bowling alley balcony"

- Located only on the port side of the ship

- Recessed area of the ship

- They hold a max of 2 people each, so if by some chance, my mom refuses to go, we will have to scramble for a "good" cabin for three 2-3 months after our initial booking.

- Noisier than aft balcony cabins

- Lifeboats below

 

Thoughts?

Have never been to Alaska but question the better view from an aft. We had our first, and last, aft last year in the Caribbean. You can see your wake but we really missed the side view, especially arriving in port. Felt frustrated with the very limited view. Also, second the comment on long walks. Just our opinion.

What is the weather normally like in Alaska during late August? Even though it will be late summer, will the weather be relatively cold compared to, say, Vancouver?

Reason I ask is I'm embarking on a 5 week trip, visiting, Alaska (land tour and cruise), then Calgary and the Rockies, New York, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Victoria, and Vancouver. I know New York and Toronto will be quite warm, but not 100% sure about Alaska. I might need to bring clothes for all 4 seasons!!!!!

Good luck with booking!

Thank you! All booked!

Got the itinerary and cabin we wanted... 457 days to go (well actually less until we leave for the holiday)! :D Radiance Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. I managed to hold it and then mum called RCI to confirm and pay the deposit - the guy was apparently very impressed at how organised we were!

Just a few things we are looking at to get an idea of excursions;

Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching

Skagway - White Pass Scenic Railway and / or Klondike Highway Summit

Icy Strait Point - Whale Watching

Ketchikan - Misty Fjords

In these ports, based on the above, do you feel that there is anything major that we might be missing out on? We will have time to explore the ports as we are lucky with incredibly long port days :)

Thanks

Have never been to Alaska but question the better view from an aft. We had our first, and last, aft last year in the Caribbean. You can see your wake but we really missed the side view, especially arriving in port. Felt frustrated with the very limited view. Also, second the comment on long walks. Just our opinion.

Thank you for the insight! I will consider both points when I book next month. :)

What is the weather normally like in Alaska during late August? Even though it will be late summer, will the weather be relatively cold compared to, say, Vancouver?

 

Reason I ask is I'm embarking on a 5 week trip, visiting, Alaska (land tour and cruise), then Calgary and the Rockies, New York, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Victoria, and Vancouver. I know New York and Toronto will be quite warm, but not 100% sure about Alaska. I might need to bring clothes for all 4 seasons!!!!!

You will probably have to bring clothes for multiple seasons. I am not very familiar with the temperature patterns so you might want to be checking local forecasts closer to time for Alaska.

I do agree that New York and Toronto will probably be warm.

Thank you! All booked!

 

Got the itinerary and cabin we wanted... 457 days to go (well actually less until we leave for the holiday)! :D Radiance Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. I managed to hold it and then mum called RCI to confirm and pay the deposit - the guy was apparently very impressed at how organised we were!

 

Just a few things we are looking at to get an idea of excursions;

 

Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching

Skagway - White Pass Scenic Railway and / or Klondike Highway Summit

Icy Strait Point - Whale Watching

Ketchikan - Misty Fjords

 

In these ports, based on the above, do you feel that there is anything major that we might be missing out on? We will have time to explore the ports as we are lucky with incredibly long port days :)

 

Thanks

If you have extra time you might want to consider doing the Mt. Robert's Tramway in Juneau. I really enjoyed it. On my site if you click on the Juneau page you can view a video clip I uploaded to Youtube of the tram ride.

Also for Ketchikan you might want to check out the Creek Street area.