Route of Inside Passage?

[Jim Avery]

We recently returned from an Alaska cruise r/t Vancouver on Pacific Princess. We spent a day Northbound and a day Southbound in Hecate Strait. Basically 2 days of the cruise were "at sea". In all honesty they did advertise those days as "at sea". Out in Hecate Strait most of the time you cannot even see land. I used to run ships in this part of the world back in the '80s and Inside Passage meant inside in British Columbia in Grenville Channel, etc. What is the difference? The BC inside is some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip. Hecate Strait? Nothing but water. What route do HAL ships take? That would really make a difference to us if we do another Alaska cruise. Thanks for any input.:D

[Copper10-8]

The HAL ships that use Vancouver, BC as (Alaska seasonal) home port depart the always nice city of Vancouver, sail underneath Lions Gate and into English Bay/Burrard Inlet, then NB Strait of Georgia, Seymour Narrows, Johnstone Strait, Queen Charlotte Strait, leaving Vancouver Island behind and into Hecate Strait for either Tracy Arm/Juneau or Ketchikan

 

Ships with Seattle as home port, come out of Puget Sound into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, into the Pacific, passing Vancouver Island on the west side and then eventually also into Hecate Strait.

 

Only once have I sailed the Inside Passage via the Grenville Channel, passing Bella Bella, and that was last Sep 13 due to heavy rain, mist, 12' swells and 60 MPH winds.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Copper10-8

[Jim Avery]

The HAL ships that use Vancouver, BC as (Alaska seasonal) home port depart the always nice city of Vancouver, sail underneath Lions Gate and into English Bay/Burrard Inlet, then NB Strait of Georgia, Seymour Narrows, Johnstone Strait, Queen Charlotte Strait, leaving Vancouver Island behind and into Hecate Strait for either Tracy Arm/Juneau or Ketchikan

 

Ships with Seattle as home port, come out of Puget Sound into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, into the Pacific, passing Vancouver Island on the west side and then eventually also into Hecate Strait.

 

Only once have I sailed the Inside Passage via the Grenville Channel, passing Bella Bella, and that was last Sep 13 due to heavy rain, mist, 12' swells and 60 MPH winds.

 

Thanks for the info. Someone had told me they thought HAL did the BC part of the Inside Passage but that must be old info. I understand why cruise ships don't do it in that there is more navigation involved, more tidal delays, and the need to hire Canadian Pilots but it is much more scenic than Hecate Strait. I had told my DW about all the lighthouses in Canada, all the up close viewing of wildlife, etc. that is in the BC part. The 2 days cruising Hecate Strait are, imho, a waste of time when they market the scenery so heavily. For sea days, we take Transatlantics. Thanks again for taking the time to give the info.:D

[Davitur]

The HAL ships that use Vancouver, BC as (Alaska seasonal) home port depart the always nice city of Vancouver, sail underneath Lions Gate and into English Bay/Burrard Inlet, then NB Strait of Georgia, Seymour Narrows, Johnstone Strait, Queen Charlotte Strait, leaving Vancouver Island behind and into Hecate Strait for either Tracy Arm/Juneau or Ketchikan

 

Copper, what time does Vancouver departing ships usually hit Seymour Narrows? Is it usually still daylight or is it after dark?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Laminator]

Copper...Same question here as above. I know they just moved our sail away on the Zuiderdam on Aug. 30th up one hour from 5pm to 4pm. I am hoping this will allow enough time to hit the Narrows while it is still daylight.

[Jim Avery]

Copper...Same question here as above. I know they just moved our sail away on the Zuiderdam on Aug. 30th up one hour from 5pm to 4pm. I am hoping this will allow enough time to hit the Narrows while it is still daylight.

 

In May we left Vancouver at 3pm. Seymour Narrows and most of Johnstone Strait were in the dark, unfortunately.

[Copper10-8]

Yeah, the Narrows are usually in the dark both north and south bound unfortunately. Alert Bay and the trumpeter (if he's still out there) is in the day time however ;)

[auntjoy036]

I need help along these lines from some long time Alaska cruisers. I took two Alaska inside passage roundtrips out of Vancouver in the late 1990s. My memory is that the first full day of inside passage sailing northbound out of Vancouver I could see land and it was beautiful. From recent reading on this board I thought the difference between sailing out of Seattle and Vancouver was Vancouver inside passage sailings get that beautiful land-in-sight view, Seattle sailings don't. But from this thread it sounds like the "inside passage" day is not the scenic, land-in-sight route it used to be. Can anyone comment or confirm?

 

PS: The proper names of the various straits don't help me much. I need toddler English like "you can see the trees all day."

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

[Copper10-8]

Copper...Same question here as above. I know they just moved our sail away on the Zuiderdam on Aug. 30th up one hour from 5pm to 4pm. I am hoping this will allow enough time to hit the Narrows while it is still daylight.

 

It takes about eight (8) hrs to reach Seymour Narrows from Vancouver so it's usually a 0100 hrs arrival there

[Copper10-8]

I need help along these lines from some long time Alaska cruisers. I took two Alaska inside passage roundtrips out of Vancouver in the late 1990s. My memory is that the first full day of inside passage sailing northbound out of Vancouver I could see land and it was beautiful. From recent reading on this board I thought the difference between sailing out of Seattle and Vancouver was Vancouver inside passage sailings get that beautiful land-in-sight view, Seattle sailings don't. But from this thread it sounds like the "inside passage" day is not the scenic, land-in-sight route it used to be. Can anyone comment or confirm?

 

PS: The proper names of the various straits don't help me much. I need toddler English like "you can see the trees all day."

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

 

Hey Vicki; check out the below map! When cruise ship depart Vancouver, they spend pretty much the entire next day sailing northbound between huge Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland. You "can see trees all day" pretty much on both sides ;) until the ship leave the top of Vancouver island behind (near Port Hardy). The ships then enter Hecate Strait (the body of water in between the Queen Charlotte islands and the Canadian mainland) and moves further away from that mainland, making it harder to see trees

 

If you look at the map again and look for the pinkish line that says "Ferry" close to the mainland, if the cruise ships would take that route, you would still see trees, but they don't! They stay in Hecate Strait until entering U.S./Alaskan

waters when the trees eventually will get closer again. Hope that kinda 'splains it ;)

 

[feathersandnananose]

Copper, darling -

 

You are SUCH a wonderful asset on this board. I usually just lurk but had to say "THANKS". The map and explanation made it all very clear to me.

 

Barb ("feathers").

[Davidson Duo]

We have sailed HAL to Alaska out of Vancouver 3 times. The route and how much land you can see is very often weather and tide driven. Every now and then, you luck out, but it's often up to Mother Nature.

 

We were very fortunate once to have a spectacular trip through the Seymour Narrows just at sunset while we sat in the MDR having dinner at our aft window seats (late fixed seating). It was our last night on board south bound, and I was never so glad to have remembered to bring my camera to dinner! There were 16 of us in our group, at two 8 tops right in the middle at the back windows, with everyone having a bird's eye view. Dinner took us well over two hours to eat as all of us, including our stewards, could barely drag our eyes from the amazing show before us. The tides dictate when you travel through, so you may be able to get a bit of an idea if you consult a tide chart for the dates you are traveling.

 

We also did Grenville Channel on our way up that same trip, but only because the seas were unusually calm. The captain told us it was very rare for them to be able to travel it. It was wonderful, and we felt like we could just spread out our arms and touch land with our fingertips.

 

We were very fortunate that trip to have amazing weather the whole trip with calm seas, clear blue skies, and warm days averaging in the mid 20's C (high 70's F). It was a truly memorable trip.

[auntjoy036]

Copper10-8, Thank you very much. That makes perfect sense. At risk getting this thread moved to the Alaska board, do ships sailing north from Seattle typically sail to the west of Vancouver island rather than between Vancouver island and the mainland?

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

[Laminator]

It takes about eight (8) hrs to reach Seymour Narrows from Vancouver so it's usually a 0100 hrs arrival there

 

I also give you many thanks. I am going to leave the "darling" out however.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Laminator

[Laminator]

Copper10-8, Thank you very much. That makes perfect sense. At risk getting this thread moved to the Alaska board, do ships sailing north from Seattle typically sail to the west of Vancouver island rather than between Vancouver island and the mainland?

 

Thanks.

 

Vicki

 

Copper answered in post 2.

[auntjoy036]

Copper10-8 and Laminator,

 

Please forgive my question about Seattle. I got a little lost in the details. Thanks for making it so clear. I am planning an Alaska cruise for Mom and me next summer. HAL is a frontrunner as a cruise line. Because of the beauty of the east side of Vancouver island sailing, I'm really leaning towards a Vancouver departure.

 

Thanks again for your patience with me.

 

Vicki

[Laminator]

No reason to ask for forgiveness. I constantly miss information in posts. This will be the 5th time we have done Alaska in the last 5 years. However it is our 1st inside passage cruise out of Vancouver.

 

We are really looking forward to it.

[pspercy]

Try and get Alaska info from Princess, it should include an excellent large folded map.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I need help along these lines from some long time Alaska cruisers. I took two Alaska inside passage roundtrips out of Vancouver in the late 1990s. My memory is that the first full day of inside passage sailing northbound out of Vancouver I could see land and it was beautiful. From recent reading on this board I thought the difference between sailing out of Seattle and Vancouver was Vancouver inside passage sailings get that beautiful land-in-sight view, Seattle sailings don't. But from this thread it sounds like the "inside passage" day is not the scenic, land-in-sight route it used to be...

 

I was thinking the same thing about my 2003 inside passage trip on Celebrity. We sailed mid-afternoon in September out of Vancouver, and I remember the first day or so the trees being so close to the ship in spots you could see them clearly. I'm wondering if some of the newer ships are too large to do this same route? I've spoken with some who say they've done the inside passage since then, and don't remember the nearness of the trees.

 

edit: I just reread Davidson Duo's post, and it sounds as though we may have been lucky enough to travel the Grenville Channel. I remember the water being quite calm that day. That trip was a repo, so after Alaska we sailed the "outside" route to San Francisco. Excellent cruise!

Edited July 13, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[Jim Avery]

On our recent Alaska cruise on Princess, I mentioned to a crewmember that when I ran ships in that part of the world, Hecate Strait was referred to as the Outside Passage or simply going outside. The crewmember immediately stated that "this Captain hates Alaska, he has to spend too much time on the bridge". Captains need to be on the bridge in periods of fog or at significant course changes. Lots of significant course changes in the "real" Inside Passage. That and the fact they save 2 days Canadian pilotage means mostly they do not transit the beautiful BC Inside Passage anymore. A shame. The passengers, imho, are being short changed.

[Laminator]

HAL's website has a blog written by Capt. Albert. The blog over the past few weeks speaks of sailing the waters between Vancouver and Alaska. I have found it to be very interesting. I am quite sure with your background it would be very interesting to you also.

 

You can find it here:

 

http://www.hollandamericablog.com/albert/

Edited July 13, 2014 by Laminator

[Jim Avery]

Thanks for the link. Great info.:D

[Copper10-8]

Copper, darling -

 

You are SUCH a wonderful asset on this board. I usually just lurk but had to say "THANKS". The map and explanation made it all very clear to me.

 

Barb ("feathers").

 

Thanks very much Miss Feathers! ;)

 

I also give you many thanks. I am going to leave the "darling" out however.

 

Much obliged, especially for the "darling" part omission! ;)

[Copper10-8]

You'll never know who you'll run into inside Grenville Channel - HMCS Saskatoon MM709, a Kingston-class coastal defence vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy, based out of CFB Esquimalt, BC (just west of Victoria, BC, Vancouver Island)

 

 

[pspercy]

The passengers, imho, are being short changed.

 

Too true, especially when you consider how prominently the Inside Passage is mentioned in the advertising.