Questions about Alaska Embarkation and Debarkation in Two Different Places

Greetings!

I'm hoping you can share your experiences with the ease of travel for an itinerary that embarks in Vancouver, BC and disembarks in Seward, Alaska. What were the challenges, if any with embarking/disembarking in different locations? How far is the airport from the port in Seward? Is it better to start and finish at the same port? Ports of call along the way appear to be about the same regardless of which port you embark. The cruise I'm looking at is priced a little bit cheaper than those starting/finishing in Vancouver or Seattle.

I would appreciate any thoughts and insights!

Thank you so much,

Christina

I can't speak for an Alaskan cruise; however, last year we did a Rome to Barcelona cruise. We had no issues with two different ports. Enjoy!

We did this cruise last summer. We arrived the day before in Vancouver and stayed at the Pan Pacific hotel which is located in the same building as embarkation. The hotel will pick up your bags from your room (with Celebrity luggage tags attached) and the next time you see them will be in your cabin. We woke up embarkation morning and could see the ship below us. It is a more expensive option but we felt it was worth it. Disembarking in Seward presented problems. We needed to fly to the east coast and the only way to do that was from Anchorage. We ended up taking the scenic train to Anchorage that left late afternoon on the day we got off the ship, stayed in Anchorage two nights then flew home. It was a great cruise!

We have cruised out of Seattle and Vancouver a number of times. Leaving out of Vancouver you will have to go through Canadian custom, then United States customs before you get to Celebrity check in.

It is my understanding that if your cruise ends in Seward you will have to take a train or car from Seward to Anchorage airport. It is about 126 miles from Seward. It is about 2 1/2 hours by car and 4 hours or more by train. As we live in the greater Seattle area we have done round trip Alaska cruises out of Seattle and out of Vancouver we have cruised to Hawaii.

Christina,

Disembarking/embarking from two different ports is really quite awesome. It gives you an additional port to experience, in my opinion.

Logistically. The one tip that I would offer you is on the subject of air flights, assuming that you would have to fly to and from both ports (your embarkation and your disembarkation). It's not a "problem," per se, to have this situation, but you will potentially save money if you book your air as a Multi-City booking.... leaving and arriving at the same airport. As long as you do that, with the same airline, then you will have the price of a round trip ticket, rather than two one-way tickets. From your screen name, I'm assuming that might be ATL? So, just book ATL to Vancouver and then ANK to ATL, and you'll be (theoretically) saving money by handling the flights that way. Now, of course, someone with more knowledge may chime in and say something else, but I'm just speaking to you from my personal experience. Just something to consider.

Also, I don't know if you're able to add onto any of the cruising time by doing a post- or pre-cruise stay in Vancouver. Just to add to your planning pleasure, Victoria is an absolutely wonderful city to visit. It's extremely easy to get from Victoria to Vancouver, so that would be an option to look into for your travel.

Getting from Seward to ANK, as a previous poster mentioned, is a bit of a drive. Best recommendation for that is to book on a shared-ride vehicle (if you want to save money and see some sights along the way) or go to your Roll Call and see if anyone would like to share a more straight-shot transportation to the airport. In my mind, disembarkation day is also part of your vacation and should be treated with a little bit of respect. I may be in a minority (and I realize that there are lots of people who are anxious to get back to their daily routine as work may be calling them loudly) but I feel like if you do a bit of planning around disembarkation then you can avoid that let-down feeling of getting off the ship... at least for a wee bit longer.

Strongly recommend taking the train from Seward to Anchorage. You will have the option to either end your train journey at Anchorage Airport or at the main train station in Anchorage. We booked our train tickets directly through Celebrity. We did this following a Transpacific cruise and did the Airport option as we were staying on for several days in Anchorage and we were able to step off the train, get our luggage and go right to the rental car counter. The train ride goes through some truly amazing areas!

On an Alaskan cruise we did the bus (through Celebrity) to get from Seward to Anchorage. It is also a nice trip, but the train is really better!

Don't expect much of a terminal in Seward, it's pretty primitive. The train, through essentially comes right up to the terminal door. If you book either the train or bus through Celebrity, at least in our case, our luggage was put outside our cabin door the night before and we didn't see them again until we got to the airport.

As for flights - check both one way fares and multi-city fares as another poster noted. Check both www.choiceair.com along with sites like Kayak, etc. I have had better luck recently booking one way fares.

Vancouver and Anchorage are both beautiful cities to explore - so if you can, add on some extra time.

An Alaskan cruise is really amazing - so much to see! Enjoy!

Joe

We just did a cruise on Holland America boarding in Vancouver and ending in Seward and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Disembarking in Seward we were met by the shuttle for Major Marine Tours who took our bags right to the Alaska Railroad and checked our bags onto the train for us. We did a six hour tour of the Kenai Fjords that was fantastic after which we walked across the street and boarded the train that left at 6pm. We reserved gold star class which included our dinner and drinks. We were seated in the upper level of the car that had wraparound windows and an outdoor viewing platform. The scenery to Anchorage was quite stunning and nobody was forced to be the designated driver. In Anchorage we stayed overnight at the Captain Cook hotel and flew home the next day. Everything was very easy to organize on our own and the companies in Seward work within each other's schedules so there was never an issue of being left behind. Also recommend spending a couple of days in Vancouver as it's a fantastic city.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We've done Alaska 3 times from Vancouver (1) and Seward (2). The last time S to V we flew to Anchorage, spend 2 nights just to get used to the time change. Took the Gold Car Train to Seward, were met by Seavey's Idida Ride sled Dog Tours for a tour of Exit Glacier and a Sled dog kennel visit and ride. Our luggage was taken right from the train to the hotel. The 2nd day we did an 8 hour Major Marine Tour. Our train trip was at breakfast time. I agree with Mr Boston, the companies work with each other. We had an hours delay leaving Anchorage to Seward but Seavey's waited for the train so we still made the tour.

Our other 2 trips included time in Fairbanks, Denali and Talkeetna through Celebrity. IMO one of the reasons for doing Seward to Vancouver, or visa versa, is so that you have an opportunity to see the interior of Alaska. We're already talking about a 4th trip.

Christina,

Disembarking/embarking from two different ports is really quite awesome. It gives you an additional port to experience, in my opinion.

 

Logistically. The one tip that I would offer you is on the subject of air flights, assuming that you would have to fly to and from both ports (your embarkation and your disembarkation). It's not a "problem," per se, to have this situation, but you will potentially save money if you book your air as a Multi-City booking.... leaving and arriving at the same airport. As long as you do that, with the same airline, then you will have the price of a round trip ticket, rather than two one-way tickets. From your screen name, I'm assuming that might be ATL? So, just book ATL to Vancouver and then ANK to ATL, and you'll be (theoretically) saving money by handling the flights that way. Now, of course, someone with more knowledge may chime in and say something else, but I'm just speaking to you from my personal experience. Just something to consider.

 

Also, I don't know if you're able to add onto any of the cruising time by doing a post- or pre-cruise stay in Vancouver. Just to add to your planning pleasure, Victoria is an absolutely wonderful city to visit. It's extremely easy to get from Victoria to Vancouver, so that would be an option to look into for your travel.

 

Getting from Seward to ANK, as a previous poster mentioned, is a bit of a drive. Best recommendation for that is to book on a shared-ride vehicle (if you want to save money and see some sights along the way) or go to your Roll Call and see if anyone would like to share a more straight-shot transportation to the airport. In my mind, disembarkation day is also part of your vacation and should be treated with a little bit of respect. I may be in a minority (and I realize that there are lots of people who are anxious to get back to their daily routine as work may be calling them loudly) but I feel like if you do a bit of planning around disembarkation then you can avoid that let-down feeling of getting off the ship... at least for a wee bit longer.

At the same time, we have lately found that we often save more by booking two one way tickets rather than a round trip, multi-city (we even do this on flights in and out of the same city). Why does this work better? We evaluate the price of each leg separately - when one drops to a price we feel comfortable we book it. Then we wait until the other gets to a price we feel is fair. This has been working well for us the past few years. We have saved lots of $$ doing it this way (and believe me, DH has evaluated it six ways from Sunday to ensure this is the case). The only downside is that if you need to cancel or rebook for some reason, you are hit with double the fees. But the amount we have already saved would more than cover the cost should that come to pass.

It is definitely something worth looking into. I will confess as well that now that we are retired we have more flexibility with our dates, which can make a big difference. We are not opposed to extending our vacation at either end a day or two if the cost of airfare is significantly less. Granted, that may mean that overall our cost is not necessarily less, but we get more vacation for the money we are paying even when hotels and car rentals are figured in.

Instead of booking a northbound cruise why not a southbound especially if you have obligations when you return home.

There are two reasons...well more than two but these were important to us.

A southbound from Seward takes you into Hubbard Glacier in the later part of the day. This means that the morning fog has dissipated and the viewing is much better.

The other biggie is the travel distance between Anchorage and Vancouver. Believe it or not it is over 1,300 miles which also means you are that much closer to home.

A flight into Anchorage will almost certainly require an overnight but it's a wonderful city and the ride south via train, bus or hired van is beautiful.

Vancouver deserves an extended stay with a hop on hop off bus in front of the cruise terminal - so easy.

When you pick your cruise do come back here or to the Cruise Air forum (under Discussion boards) before you book your air. There are a few tricks that would help you plan timing for flights, connections and TSA requirements.

We did the northbound two years ago. Flew into Vancouver a day early just to be safe and have a chance to rest up after a long day of travel from the east coast. After a great cruise we got off in Seward and were met by 907 tours who took us on a day long tour of the Kenai Pensulia and ended our day at a hotel in Anchorage. It is not the cheapest transfer to Anchorage but it was a great tour and a great day. From Anchorage we picked up a rental car and headed out to Denali on our own. It was a great way to do it.

Wow! Thank you everybody. I really appreciate all the insightful comments and suggestions. I have wondered about the advantages/disadvantages of northbound vs. southbound as well as departure ports. I didn't know about the double customs situation, so again, thank you for pointing that out. As we live in ATL, as one poster guessed, there is only 1 direct flight per day from ANK. With a 4 hour train ride, we wouldn't make the flight in time and would have to extend our vacation an extra night...shucks!! I didn't know about the multi-city flight option either. Again, thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences. I have more to think about for sure.

Christina

We did the southbound a few years ago and then spent time before and after our cruise in the ports (the week in Vancouver was fabulous). This time to Alaska, we are completing a round trip from SF :), having a stop-off in Las Vegas on the way - can’t wait ;p.

When I think about it, on many of our cruises we have disembarked at a different port than the one we have embarked at: Hong Kong to Singapore, Sydney to Auckland, Barcelona to Venice, Seward to Vancouver and they’re the ones just off the top of my head :cool:. It’s a great way to extend the vacation ;).

Wow! Thank you everybody. I really appreciate all the insightful comments and suggestions. I have wondered about the advantages/disadvantages of northbound vs. southbound as well as departure ports. I didn't know about the double customs situation, so again, thank you for pointing that out. As we live in ATL, as one poster guessed, there is only 1 direct flight per day from ANK. With a 4 hour train ride, we wouldn't make the flight in time and would have to extend our vacation an extra night...shucks!! I didn't know about the multi-city flight option either. Again, thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences. I have more to think about for sure.

 

Christina

I just returned from Seward to VC last week. We took the bus from Anchorage to Seward offered by the park service. We left at 7:00 am and arrived in Seward around 9:30 am. Scenery was beautiful even from the bus. Check out the return schedules to Anchorage. It could meet your timeline.

Sent from my iPad using Forums