Best Alaskan Itinerary ???

[JerseyGirl1959]

So many choices .... Please help and discuss your experiences.... Really wanting to plan a 20-40 person cruise to Alaska but have never been. Which itinerary would you choose?

 

Ideally we would love to start at one port (Vancouver or Seattle) and arrive at another (same). OR we're willing for suggestions, a little leary of flying in and out of AK - but If you have positive experiences, we're willing to know that too!

 

Thanks so much.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We went on a RT out of Seattle. We weren't interested in cruise tours (we didn't think our 7-yr-old would like it) so this itinerary fit us. Some others want the round trip to save on air travel.

 

Others prefer the one-way, that you have better scenery or because one wants to add a cruisetour.

[JerseyGirl1959]

Thanks. Still trying to decide 1 airport or two. Have recently been to the Pac NW and could have done diff. arrival/departures, except for car. since that will not be an issue on this trip, I'm curious what past cruisers think. Thanks

[JerseyGirl1959]

Sorry to reporst - I may have asked at the wrong forum?

 

Best Alaskan Itinerary ???

So many choices .... Please help and discuss your experiences.... Really wanting to plan a 20-40 person cruise to Alaska but have never been. Which itinerary would you choose?

 

Ideally we would love to start at one port (Vancouver or Seattle) and arrive at another (same). OR we're willing for suggestions, a little leary of flying in and out of AK - but If you have positive experiences, we're willing to know that too!

 

Thanks so much.

[jinxgirl]

I went with two friends in summer/2002 on the Star Princess. We wanted to do the Alaska railway to see parts of the "mainland", including Denali Park and Mount McKinley, so we opted for a one-way cruisetour as opposed to a round trip (we also felt this would maximize our time in Alaska - not having to sail both ways along the coast of BC).

 

The next decision was whether to do a one-way northbound or one-way southbound trip. We opted to fly all the way to Fairbanks and do the land tour first, then the cruise. There were two reasons for this....(1) being Canadians, we liked the idea of disembarking the ship in Vancouver and having a short flight home, and (2) we thought it would be easier on our wallets to do the land tour first (paying cash for meals, etc), and then getting on the ship where everything is "free", instead of the other way around.

 

My favorite port along the way was Ketchikan....a picturesque little town, easy to walk around and you will see plenty on foot if you don't feel like paying for a tour. Absolutely LOVED the day we spent cruising Glacier Bay.....glorious scenery! And hands down my favorite paid excursion was four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King's "Husky Homestead" tour in Denali....where we got to cuddle the puppies and hear stories of life in Alaska and on the Iditarod trail. The Alaska Railway trip was great fun too - almost a tour in itself, as each rail car had a guide giving running commentary and answering questions.

 

As far as flying to Alaska - we had no problems at all, except the minor inconvenience of flying from Vancouver to Seattle THEN Seattle to Fairbanks. It was actually quite pretty, flying over the water and the mountains.

 

Hope this helps!

Cathy :)

[chipmaster]

IMHO the best schedules are the one ways out or back to Vancovuer. Flying open jaw to Alaska is a bit more expensive but I think well worth it if you get the scenic cruising stops.

 

Almost all the cruises stop in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway but the real highlight is the scenic cruising ( inside passage and Glacier bay ). You find fewere round trips from Seattle or Vancouver that do that but they exist.

 

Given a choice pick a cruise that does Glacier bay over Tracy Arm, yes Tracy arm is nice but Glacier is the highlight!

 

HAL and Princess have the most sailings and unless you have a real aversion to their style would look there first!

 

Happy planning

 

So many choices .... Please help and discuss your experiences.... Really wanting to plan a 20-40 person cruise to Alaska but have never been. Which itinerary would you choose?

 

Ideally we would love to start at one port (Vancouver or Seattle) and arrive at another (same). OR we're willing for suggestions, a little leary of flying in and out of AK - but If you have positive experiences, we're willing to know that too!

 

Thanks so much.

[Essiesmom]

So many choices .... Please help and discuss your experiences.... Really wanting to plan a 20-40 person cruise to Alaska but have never been. Which itinerary would you choose?

 

Ideally we would love to start at one port (Vancouver or Seattle) and arrive at another (same). OR we're willing for suggestions, a little leary of flying in and out of AK - but If you have positive experiences, we're willing to know that too!

 

Thanks so much.

 

The June I did Diamond Princess back to back, Whittier (Anchorage) to Vancouver and back. Coming from the east coast, air was brutal. You have a forced overnight in Anchorage, and my midnight arrival actually arrived at 0230, not into the hotel until 0330. Didn't get much value from that hotel room! Departures back to the east coast are late evening. If I had it to plan again, I would do a B2B but out of Vancouver, not Anchorage. Whatever you decide, choose an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay. EM

[alcpa1]

If you are seeking a week's cruise to Alaska the best way to optimize your cruise is to choose a one way itinerary.

There is no reason to hesitate flying into Anchorage. The Ted Stevens airport is a modern facility, as is the city itself. From Anchorage you depart from either Whittier or Seward.

Anchorage is 1300 miles from Vancouver, so just think about your return trip home. It will be hours shorter back to New York and after such a jam packed week of touring those hours can make a difference.

If all in your group are from New York you should plan on flying into your embarkation city at least one day prior to sailing. Those of us who have a few dozen cruises under our belts almost always recommend flying in a day early for any cruise.

The one way itineraries will feature glacial sailings and hamlets like Skagway, Juneau (the state capitol and great whale watching) Ketchikan, perhaps Icy Straits (Hoonah - a very real fishing village), or Sitka (Russian heritage.)

If there are any members of your group who want to add a land portion in Alaska then you will automatically defer to a one way itinerary. It can either begin or end on Alaska.

The weeks turn around will miss some of the above towns while you spend more time at sea going and coming.

If you are contemplating a 2011 Alaska cruise I would suggest you find a local cruise travel agent who can work with all of the members of your group. This is preferable to trying to do this by yourself unless you are very cruise and group savvy. Sometimes the two do not mix well. It really is time to get serious. There are fewer ships sailing in Alaskan waters than in the past and prime cabins are diminishing even now.

Avoid booking cruise air, you can select it when you book but cancel up until final payment (usually.) The fares MAY be lower but the cruise air departments can come up with some horrible itineraries that they have prebooked. The consumer has zilck control once the tickets are issued. You can read the Sticky on the Cruise Air boards to better understand this "issue."

Good luck and I hope you can work everything out. Alaska is wonderful.

[Essiesmom]

Your other post was just halfway down the page:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278282

[Assateague Island Princes]

Best itinerary - if you have 14 days - is HAL's 14 day roundtrip Seattle - includes usual ports of Ketchikan, Sitka, Icy Straight Point (in 2011),Juneau, and Victoria, BC, along with Anchorage, Kodiak, Homer and two glacier sailing days - Hubbard and Glacier Bay. It was a spectacular cruise (this year May 31st) and would do it again in a heartbeat!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done various Alaskan cruises -- best was Vancouver to Seward -- and then Seward back to Vancouver - total of 14 days. Sailing out of Vancouver -- inside passage -- the best.

 

Most cruise lines that sail out of Seattle take the Pacific route.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Cruises out of Vancouver do the inside passage which is very pretty.

[5326jan]

We flew into Anchorage and it was great! It's a smallish airport, but active. We were met there by Princess transportation and that was the last time we touched our luggage other than opening and closing it! If you have the time, take a land tour that includes Denali National Park. The interior of Alaska is so different from the Inside Passage. As long as you are there, you might as well enjoy the spectrum of sights! Beautiful!!!! Most of the wildlife we saw was in Denali, however we were introduced to Alaskan wildlife at the airport in Anchorage when a big bull moose was munching on the willows as we came out of the parking lot!:eek: It was FABULOUS!! The driver even turned around so that the other side of the bus could get pictures!

 

Our entire tour took us from Anc to Denali, then a train ride to Whittier where we caught the ship, through the inside passage including a full day in Glacier Bay (with a ranger on board to narrate), Skagway-my personal favorite "old Alaska" town (DYEA Dave Tours-highly recommend if you have a sense of humor), Juneau- whales, eagles, bear, Ketchikan-lumber town, totem poles. Read up on Alaska before you go.. it will make what you see more meaningful. We ended up in Vancouver where we took an extra couple of days to see this wonderful city. Be sure to get to Granville Island if you go there.

 

We took the Coral Princess. It is a smaller ship and can get a little closer and into some smaller ports than the big ships. Coral holds about 1900 passengers and was very nice. No matter what you do, you'll enjoy Alaska and want to go back!:D

 

There is plenty of literature available that will tell the tales of the goldrush, iditarod, Soapy Smith, etc. I read several quick mystery fictions by Sue Henry, which included a lot of history and geography. She has a series, including one that takes place on a ship in the inside passage (Death takes Passage). Nothing heavy, but quick easy reads. If you want to get more in depth try Michener's Alaska!

[Happy ks]

I think it depends on what you want out of a cruise. When we did our Alaska cruise, we had a number of our group who had never been on a cruise and so we chose a nice ship, leaving from Vancouver rather than Seattle. It was 7 night round trip, the cruise was fine and everyone loved it.

 

To me, a 7 night cruise is a very small taste of Alaska, short port times and crowded port towns, very touristy. The one way cruise would be a better choice, with the opportunity to add on more land days, both pre and post cruise.

 

If we were to go back, we'd want a more of an adventure, closer to the shore and wildlife. We would probably choose a line like Cruise West. A much smaller vessel with a more close up view of Alaska. We would love to add on extra land days as well.

[5326jan]

The June I did Diamond Princess back to back, Whittier (Anchorage) to Vancouver and back. Coming from the east coast, air was brutal. You have a forced overnight in Anchorage, and my midnight arrival actually arrived at 0230, not into the hotel until 0330. Didn't get much value from that hotel room! Departures back to the east coast are late evening. If I had it to plan again, I would do a B2B but out of Vancouver, not Anchorage. Whatever you decide, choose an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay. EM

 

We flew from small town on the east coast and had a full day of travel, but got into Anc at 3:30 in the afternoon. We still had half a day to tour around and get in a nice dinner. We did fly in a day ahead of our tour date, rented a car and drove down to Seward for the day. It was a nice little side trip, but next time, I might fly to Fairbanks, just to see a part that we missed. I'd also spend 2 days in Denali instead of 1 and I'd skip Princess Mt McKinley Mountain Resort.

 

The other thing to consider is that the inside passage is like floating on a lake. I have read that there are some pretty rough seas if you come from Seattle. Just a thought if you are worried about sea sickness. :o Others may disagree, I'm just commenting on what I learned from this board.

[rimau]

We did a cruise where we started on a cruise tour. We really enjoyed that because we made good friends on the bus and had a good time getting together on the ship.