alaska opinions

[dixiana]

what do you lose or gain on a cruise/land aug date vs june. I know aug is less expensive.

 

would you cruise up from van. and train back, cruise back, or fly back.

[Keith1010]

I would recommend posting this on the Alaska Ports Of Call Board.

 

If you want to spend time in Alaska before or after the cruise I would take a North or South Bound Cruise.

 

If you would just like to see Alaska by Cruise Ship then you could take a round trip cruise which primarily said R/T out of Seattle and Vancouver.

 

August is still a popular time to sail Alaska. Anytime you sail you can never be sure what the weather will be like. In June you will see more snow on the large mountains during your sailing compared to August.

 

Keith

[Scrapnana]

I would want to cruise both ways because cruising is my favorite way to travel.

[agabbymama]

what do you lose or gain on a cruise/land aug date vs june. I know aug is less expensive.

 

would you cruise up from van. and train back, cruise back, or fly back.

 

My first cruise to Alaska was a Southbound cruise. We flew to Anchorage, bus transfer to Seward then cruise South to Vancouver. Cruise only, was really nice and we loved the HAL Noordam (older smaller ship, not the new one).

 

For our second cruise, I wanted to include the Yukon, so chose a Northbound cruisetour again with HAL. We left the ship in Skagway and had 8 days on land up the White Pass RR to Fraser, Carcross, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Eagle Alaska, Chicken, Tok, Fairbanks, Denali and ending in Anchorage, we then flew back to Los Angeles.

 

Only you can decide if you want to do a round trip cruise. Round trip cruises don't usually go very far North into Alaska, mainly Southeast Alaska (Ketchikan, Skagway & Juneau). One ways from Vancouver could get you to Anchorage, Whittier or Seward, with the opportunity to do some land travel and see more of Alaska than just the ports (Denali, Fairbanks, etc). I don't think the train travels South to be able to utilize it. I think you are stuck either with a flight back or the round trip cruise.

 

Maybe go to your library and check out some travel guides (Frommer's, Fodor's, Rick Steves, etc.) and see what interests you most about Alaska, and go from there. I usually like to start a graph chart. Put the cruiselines/ships across the top, and what interests you (ports, times in ports, size of ship, cabin, cost, excursions, etc.) along the side. As you research, put an "X" in the conjoining box. As you near the end of your research, one should have more X's than the others.

 

Have fun planning your trip, then taking it! Alaska is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME anyway you see it!

[sail7seas]

August everything is still fully operating but if you wait later in the season, you may find some things shut down for the season.

 

[zacc]

August everything is still fully operating but if you wait later in the season, you may find some things shut down for the season.

 

 

We have cruised Alaska three times the second or third week of September and have never run into anything which had already closed for the season. However we have hit some incredible end of season sales!

[MCC retired]

Less Daylight in August than June .

[chipmaster]

Weather, light, crowds, there is a reason that prices peak and demand is high for certain peak weeks then at the beginning and end in the season.

 

That being said, I had some of my greatest weather on a Sept cruise, and also the worst I've every had, YMMV. Then of course our July cruise was spectacular...

[smiles2go]

We always have started our Alaskan cruises in Anchorage (Whittier), and sailed down to Vancouver. We prefer this Southbound route as we like to spend a few days prior to departure exploring a new part of Alaska. Also, look forward to spending our first days aboard unwinding/decompressing amidst the spectacular scenary before we start our port calls. Early June is still pretty cool with snow on the ground in northern route....low 40s to mid 50s....but being from southern California this is part of the adventure for us. I've heard that salmon don't really run until well into late June thru early August, but that said, we've seen salmon running in Seward in early June. Also, have heard that bear viewing is best in July/early August, but last year we saw 11 bears, one a momma with triplets, right along side the road on our drive from Skagway to Carcross in early June last year.