Which Alaska itinerary is best

[New2cruise1483]

We are researching an Alaskan cruise for 2015 and are having trouble deciding on itinerary. Iim really looking at Glacier Bay mainly because the Pearl is doing that itinerary and I like all the amenities inboard. But the Jewel cruising Sawyer Glacier is quite a bit cheaper. It will be me, my BF and my dad who will be 75. Any input will be appreciated :)

[KeithJenner]

I wouldn't have wanted to miss Glacier Bay, and the majority opinion always seems to be that it is better than the Jewel itinerary.

[sdmike]

With the Pearl you are guaranteed to see glaciers in Glacier Bay. Sometimes the Jewel can't get deep enough into Tracy Arm Fjord to see Sawyer. To eliminate this risk we took an amazing excursion out of Juneau where we got much closer to Sawyer. The price? About the difference between the Pearl and Jewel itineraries ($200). If you want to see lots of glaciers from the comfort of your balcony, take Pearl. If you want to book an up close trip with the savings, take Jewel.

 

Here are some pics of our excursion on the Jewel trip. I'm sure you can find a lot of glacier bay pictures on here or using Google

 

 

 

 

 

You can see how close we got

 

 

As we headed out to meet the Jewel, this other smaller boat came up to S. Sawyer. Again, just for distance perspective for the excursion

 

[VideoTech]

Since you may only ever do one Alaska cruise, I think you have to see Glacier Bay. This stunning, peaceful, beautiful national park will amaze you. You can only see it in a very limited number of ways, and the easiest is on a cruise ship.

 

Bring warm clothing, binoculars, and a camera with a good telephoto lens if you enjoy photography. Get up early on Glacier Bay day and get outside on your balcony or on deck. Keep your eyes open for animals, watch as the scenery slowly changes from lower Glacier Bay to the mountains (and stunning glaciers, of course) of the upper end of the bay.

 

Aside from Glacier Bay, both ships stop at the same normal Alaska ports. You can do all the normal excursions from either ship.

 

The Jewel and the Pearl are the same class ship, and virtually identical, so there's no advantage of one over the other, except: For some reason, the Pearl seems to be so many people's favorite ship, and we're no exception. I don't know what it is about that ship, but everything seems just a notch above the rest of the fleet on the Pearl.

 

Go with the Pearl and Glacier Bay. You won't regret it.

Edited January 26, 2014 by VideoTech

[don't-use-real-name]

We are researching an Alaskan cruise for 2015 and are having trouble deciding on itinerary. Iim really looking at Glacier Bay mainly because the Pearl is doing that itinerary and I like all the amenities inboard. But the Jewel cruising Sawyer Glacier is quite a bit cheaper. It will be me, my BF and my dad who will be 75. Any input will be appreciated :)

 

Are you planning to JUST cruise or considering a LAND package tour pre-post cruise ?

 

Options abound - lots of variables !

Round trip out of same port ?

One-Way north or south ?

Land package tours with above ?

Only NCL or other cruise line ?

Air fare factor what is your location starting point ?

Have you considered a Back-to-Back cruise to broadened your opportunity to see more than one glacier ?

[maja651]

Which one is best? For us, we decided the northbound cruise on the Sun from Vancouver to Seward is the best. We figure we will never be back to Alaska, so we really want to be able to spend time in Denali national park, do the Fjords tour out of Seward, and generally just have more time in the Alaska. I think we would have preferred the Pearl or Jewel but the itinerary that the Sun offers won. :D. Plus, we got one of the coveted Aft minis on the Sun. :p

[New2cruise1483]

Are you planning to JUST cruise or considering a LAND package tour pre-post cruise ?

 

Options abound - lots of variables !

Round trip out of same port ?

One-Way north or south ?

Land package tours with above ?

Only NCL or other cruise line ?

Air fare factor what is your location starting point ?

Have you considered a Back-to-Back cruise to broadened your opportunity to see more than one glacier ?

 

We will be doing just the cruise, a round trip from Seattle (because that is the closest port to us) do to money and vacation time from work constraints. We are really considering NCL after the great time we had on the Dawn, but we are also looking at Princess

[garnet115]

I must agree with the others that Glacier Bay is the way to go. I did that itinerary on HAL a few years ago and Glacier Bay was one of the highlights. I remember telling my daughter that what she was witnessing was a once in a lifetime experience. That's how incredible it is.

[roger001]

You won't be disappointed with either. We've done both. Both ships are excellent, scenery great.

[cruizinator]

We are researching an Alaskan cruise for 2015 and are having trouble deciding on itinerary. Iim really looking at Glacier Bay mainly because the Pearl is doing that itinerary and I like all the amenities inboard. But the Jewel cruising Sawyer Glacier is quite a bit cheaper. It will be me, my BF and my dad who will be 75. Any input will be appreciated :)[/quote

 

I've been to Glacier Bay twice. Looking forward to a 3rd time. Just go....it's absolutely...gorgeous!