Alaska Cruise

Help requested.... We are first time cruisers (3 couples all in our early 60’s) interested in planning an Alaskan cruise in late May 2019 and are overwhelmed with all the options. Would appreciate thoughts on best cruise lines/ ships. Overwhelmed with where to begin. Considering southbound cruise vs round trip from Seattle as it seems one gets to see more of Alaska. Would like to spend a few days “on land” before boarding ship for cruise. Plan on own or book cruisetour? Interested in getting to experience as much as possible, but on a budget. Any thoughts to get us on the right direction would be appreciated

There is a wealth of information in the Alaksa forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Princess and HAL are the main lines in Alaska. Both go to Glacier Bay on nearly all cruises. To me that is the greatest site in Alaska.

Help requested.... We are first time cruisers (3 couples all in our early 60’s) interested in planning an Alaskan cruise in late May 2019 and are overwhelmed with all the options. Would appreciate thoughts on best cruise lines/ ships. Overwhelmed with where to begin. Considering southbound cruise vs round trip from Seattle as it seems one gets to see more of Alaska. Would like to spend a few days “on land” before boarding ship for cruise. Plan on own or book cruisetour? Interested in getting to experience as much as possible, but on a budget. Any thoughts to get us on the right direction would be appreciated

We are in your age bracket and have been three times. I recommend spending as much time as you can in AK, especially Denali, and in the Kenai. If you can afford it I suggest either Silversea or Regent as a cruise line. Small ships and one way Seward to Vancouver. If you spend time on land the train is very scenic. I will monitor this thread if you have more questions or want detailed suggestions.

BTW people who haven't been further north love Glacier Bay, but there are some glacier tours out of Seward and Whittier that are much nicer and get you much closer than in Glacier Bay. In exchange for Glacier Bay you get Hubbard Glacier, but if you take the 21Glaciers tour out of Whitter as a day trip you see more.

If you can do two weeks, HAL's 14 day round trip itinerary out of Seattle gets you everything except Skagway and Glacier Bay (but two other glacier fjords instead).

Sounds like a Princess cruisetour to me! We've only done that once, but it was wonderful. Lots of options, and they take really good care of you on the land portion.

FYI, if you do a cruise at the end of May and do the land tour first, be aware that you probably won't be able to get that far into Denali National Park. The buses that go farther usually don't start until after June 1st.

I’m going to Alaska for the first time in August. 5 nights in land then 7 night southbound cruise. Island Princess. Goes to both Glacier and Hubbard Bays.

Looking forward to it.

Debbi

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FYI, if you do a cruise at the end of May and do the land tour first, be aware that you probably won't be able to get that far into Denali National Park. The buses that go farther usually don't start until after June 1st.

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