Best cruise itinerary for viewing glaciers...

[kkinch]

Our preferred cruise line options are either Princess or Celebrity. At this point we are open to any itinerary. Is there a 'must-do' option below? Thank you.

Princess: One Way - Glacier Bay, College Fjord
Celebrity: One Way - Hubbard Glacier, Icy Strait Point

Princess: R/T Vancouver - Hubbard Glacier
Celebrity: R/T Vancouver - Hubbard Glacier

Princess: R/T Seattle - Tracy Arm
Celebrity: R/T Seattle - Hubbard Glacier

[Kaylas Mom]

I would definately go with one of the one-way choices. You'll see a lot more. We prefer northbound as the scenary gets more "wow" as you go. Others prefer southbound to relax after a land tour. Either is perfect -- it is Alaska afterall! Hve a great cruise.

[42trvl]

If you are planning to spend time in Alaska before or after your cruise, then some of the things on the different itineraries can be done on your own. For example, we did a very nice day cruise on Prince William Sound that went to college fjords. After a week in Alaska, we had seen lots of glaciers of different sizes, so found seeing Hubbard Glacier from our cruise ship more interesting in that it was one huge glacier with lots of calving going on. So, while many prefer going to Glacier Bay, we found it kind of neat to see one glacier so large since we had already seen so many others. Icy Straight Point was also a nice stop, in that it was quite different than the other more developed port towns.

I know that you asked about north or southbound on a different thread, and I guess we all have our prefernces. We definitely preferred southbound, especially being "independent" tourers and liked ending up in a "nice" big city like Vancouver after two weeks on the road before heading back to the East Coast. Knowing as much as we learned about Alaska during our pre-cruise week there, I felt that we also appreciated some of the stops our cruise made a little more also.

[jennb]

I've done the r/t Vancouver to Hubbard with Celebrity and the North bound one way with Princess to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Both trips were great. We definitely saw more glaciers with Princess. I found Hubbard to be more spectacular - its huge. Any way, you can't go wrong with either.

You may want to consider the cost of airfare in making your decision. Its less expensive for a roundtrip out of the same airport than open-jaw flights from Anchorage/Vancouver.

[born2cruize]

I know that you only mention Princess or Celebrity, but if this is for next year Norwegian will be offering 10 and 11 days out of Seattle. I think this cruise offers a one-way feel while being a round trip.

We are booked for next year and we won't need to worry about airfare.

borntocruise@mac.com

[zachnlucy]

born2cruize: I can't find the cruises you speak of through bestpricecruises. did you have to book directly thru norwegian?

[pa6860]

We just returned from the Northbound Princess and saw Glacier Bay on one day, followed by College Fjord the next.

Simply put, Glacier Bay made us hungry for more. One day simply wasn't enough for us. Being able to follow up the next day with another glacier was great! We had two opportunities to see numerous types of glaciers (I believe we saw 2 in G.B. and 4 (smaller ones) in C.F. All spectacular.

If seeing glaciers is high on your list, you may want to consider a one way trip. Then again, I've never been to Hubbard which may be worth all the money...

[born2cruize]

zachnlucy: Your right for some reason best price cruises isn't carrying this cruise. I initially found it through the Norwegian site but did not reserve it through them. With the boards policy on TA I don't know if I can mention it but there are online TA's offering the cruise and at much cheaper rates than the NCL site.

borntocruise@mac.com

[mak49]

Just got back from Alaska, where we visited Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Both were great for viewing glaciers.....but our favorite was the 6 hour tour of Kenai Fjord. You take a much smaller boat and the glacier there was calfing like crazy. It was awesome, and we got so close. The entire Kenai tour was a highlight of our trip. If you can fit it in, it is worth it. Enjoy!

[kkorman]

Originally Posted by mak49

Just got back from Alaska, where we visited Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Both were great for viewing glaciers.....but our favorite was the 6 hour tour of Kenai Fjord. You take a much smaller boat and the glacier there was calfing like crazy. It was awesome, and we got so close. The entire Kenai tour was a highlight of our trip. If you can fit it in, it is worth it. Enjoy!

Were you in Whittier or Seward for your Kenai tour? and which company did you go through?

[42trvl]

The Kenai Fjords tour is out of Seward. We used "Kenai Fjords Tours" - it's part of the Alaska Heritage Tours co. I believe. We did the 6 hour tour on a perfect weather day and it was beautiful. They had a very nice and clean boat and good crew.

The cruise out of Whittier goes out onto Prince William Sound, usually into the College fjords. We also did this one, again on a very nice day and it was a good trip. However, we used Phillips 26 Glacier cruise and were not that happy with the boat or the service - I would not recommend using them. There are other companies that go out of Whittier, including the one I mentioned above.

If you have time and the weather's nice, then both are highly recommended. We almost didn't do the Kenai Fjords, because we thought "too much boat rides," esp. before a cruise, but we would have missed out on a lot had we skipped it. However, if the weather's bad, those waters (out of Seward) can get pretty choppy, and don't know about being cooped up inside a boat like that for 6 hours with rough seas and not a lot to see.

[kkorman]

Thanks. I was looking into something like this, but wanted to do something other than College Fjord as I will have been in there 3 times this summer. I am also looking into a day kayaking trip. I have almost 24 hours in port, so I'll have to do some checking. I guess quickly being that I leave Saturday.

[kkinch]

If we needed to do a R/T...is there a better option? Is Tracy Arm a good option? Thanks.

[kkorman]

Tracy's Arm and Hubbard Glacier are both nice. I like Glacier Bay better, but there are not many options RT with GB on the itinerary.

Another option for Tracy's Arm is a tour in Juneau. I am doing this next week. You get much closer to the glaciers than in the big boats.

[Coral]

I vote for Princess one way with Glacier Bay and College Fiords!

[franzi56]

We just returned from a 7 day round trip cruise from Seattle with Norwegian. Have already booked a return trip next year with Princess. There is no comparison between Norwegian and Princess. Princess simply is a better line.
Food, and service on Norwegian was just so-so. We throughly enjoyed
Glacier Bay.

Our trip next year on Princess is a one way south-bound ending in Vancouver with a six day land tour prior to the cruise.