Alaska cruising

One thing I was curious about. We did the northbound alaska cruise 3 years ago. It was a great cruise but super expensive. We thought of doing a roundtrip Seattle as it would be less expensive. It looks to me though these cruises do not go into any glaciers which was really the highlight of our Alaska cruise. Is this correct?

Carnival Tropicale 10/15/98 Western Caribbean
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/22/99 Bahamas
Carnival Fascination 09/23/00 Southern caribbean
HAL Statendam 05/20/01 Alaska
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/08/01 Bahamas
Pacific Princess 09/29/02 Bermuda
Carnival Inspiration 12/14/03 Western caribbean
Carnival Miracle 04/09/04 Bahamas

Celebrity has several 12 day roundtrips on Infinity from San Francisco scheduled for 2005. The prices are pretty reasonable. Airfare to San Francisco should be decent. We're booked on the May 16 cruise. Really liked the idea of avoiding a oneway cruise with the expensive airfare. I don't recall if it will go into any glaciers. Check it out as an option.

You don't want to miss the glaciers. They are gorgeous and there is no sound like one of those glaciers calving. It is worth freezing your you know what off just for that.

If you miss that in the round trip cruises-save a little longer to take a northbound or southbound.

Carnival Tropicale 10/15/98 Western Caribbean
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/22/99 Bahamas
Carnival Fascination 09/23/00 Southern caribbean
HAL Statendam 05/20/01 Alaska
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/08/01 Bahamas
Pacific Princess 09/29/02 Bermuda
Carnival Inspiration 12/14/03 Western caribbean
Carnival Miracle 04/09/04 Bahamas

I am on the Mercury this August RT from Seattle, and we do the Hubbard Glacier one morning.

Yes that is what I noticed-most go to Hubbard Glacier but they don't stay a long time. We went to College Fjords and another glacier-we were in these glaciers for 2 days total. That was really the highlight of the Alaska cruise. It was beautiful and gorgeous-you saw sea lions and whales both there-but it was FREEZING-the only place it was really cold-it was pretty mild in the ports-light jackets were fine there-no heavy coats-but entirely different in the glaciers.

I still think when we go back though we may go to the roundtrip Seattle cruise. We did not go to Skagway on our cruise but Sitka instead. Sitka was nice-we especially enjoyed Sitka's rapter center but Skagway is where the gold rush started so I know it has a lot of great history.

Carnival Tropicale 10/15/98 Western Caribbean
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/22/99 Bahamas
Carnival Fascination 09/23/00 Southern caribbean
HAL Statendam 05/20/01 Alaska
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 11/08/01 Bahamas
Pacific Princess 09/29/02 Bermuda
Carnival Inspiration 12/14/03 Western caribbean
Carnival Miracle 04/09/04 Bahamas

momofmeg:

sitka is nice but skagway is better. i've done both cities and i would say that i would much rather do skagway than sitka. on my very first alaska cruise, sitka was the least favorite of our ports of call. In my opinion Skagway is a more charming city and has a lot more history. Additionally, Skagway is situated right near by Haines and most cruise ships offer excursions to Haines as well.

Also, you are right glaciers are the highlight of any Alaska cruise. if you are looking at a seattle itinerary that does not include glacier cruising, you should look into a roundtrip out of vancouver as well. if the flight into vancouver is really that much more expensive, then fly into seattle and purchase a transfer (either on your own or through the ship) into vancouver. the drive is only 2-3 hours. the reason why seattle departures may not include glacier cruising is because of the requirement due to the jones act of having to stop at a foreign port, which in your case i am assuming is Victoria.

jstducky!
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We went on the Star Princess last summer, round trip from Seattle. It sailed into Tracy Arm up to Sawyer Glacier. The glacier was spectacular. We spent about an hour there, with the ship slowing turning around.

In the accounts I've read of some of the early trips this summer, the ships have not made it all the way to the glacier in Tracy Arm.