First-time cruisers, indendepent, adventurous travelers, no kids

[bostontraveler27]

Helping to plan first cruise for summer 2016 to celebrate my partner's 40th birthday and achieve his lifelong dream of going to Alaska. We love traveling the world, exploring like locals and are more of Airbnb type folks. So this cruise thing is a bit overwhelming.

We are planning to do a land portion and then would like to do a 7-day trip. First we thought Southbound on Island Princess or Coral Princess. Then we started veering off into smaller ship style like Un-Cruise and Crystal Cruise. Un-Cruise seems great but quite pricey. Then came across Alaskan Dream Cruises.

We like to drink (but are not big partiers; playing cards and reading books makes us happy) and prefer to vacation with as few children as possible. We are having trouble making a decision and the longer we research, the harder this becomes. Would love advice for independent, adventurous travelers

[portiemom]

Welcome to CC!

 

I can empathize with you that planning a trip to Alaska is overwhelming at first. Keep reading here. There is a wealth of information on these boards.

 

Three years ago, I was also a first time cruiser planning a trip to Alaska. Ultimately, I chose Island Princess southbound doing the land portion first. What helped me limit my options actually was the schedule of flights we could take, given that we only had 2 weeks because of my husband's work schedule.

 

It is wonderful that you are already in the planning stage and that you know you want to do a land portion as well as a cruise.

 

Honestly with all the decisions you have to make, I would not be concerned with how many kids are on the ship, unless you plan to hang out at the pool a lot. That is the only place I ever took notice of them. For me, there is way too much to do. In Alaska, I simply did not have time for the pool.

[Alaskanb]

We are older independent adventurous travelers and began cruising as you are to simply get to parts of Alaska. We view the ship as a moving hotel and usually take independent excursions in ports of call. We found that even on one of the larger ships we could chose activities and spaces that made us happy and be away from folks if we wanted to. Our solution is to have a mini suite on Princess.

It will help considerably to read tour guides and Cruise Critic reviews. There are many options for do-it-yourself land tours including bed and breakfasts / cabins etc. Once you have done your research and prioritize what is important then it an itinerary will fall into place.

I found this website very useful http://www.alaska.org/

Edited November 5, 2015 by Alaskanb

[diane.in.ny]

Your plan to do tour first and then cruise is definitely the way to do it.

 

I've done Alaska twice, once cruise only and just this last May, with Princess, land first, then cruise on the Coral Princess.

 

If I was younger, I would do the land on my own, renting a car or an RV, and then picking up the cruise. This type of trip, though, requires a lot of planning as you'll want to map out your itinerary and accommodations.

 

Have you considered ExlorCruises? This company is owned by Dick West, and was originally Dick West Cruises, probably one of the first small ship cruisers in Alaska so very knowledgeable about the area. Again, small ship usually means higher price but there are advantages to where it can go.

 

That said, if you take one of the main stream lines, like Princess, I would suggest an itinerary that has more than one glacier cruising day. Seeing the glaciers in Alaska is amazing and one of the things that makes the trip so special.

[Budget Queen]

Most of the small cruises will not allow you to do any "land" tour by taking you to a mainland port. You would have to fly to Anchorage, then continue. Alaska Dream is operated by Allen Marine a long time vendor.

 

I definitely disagree with the above claim to do "land first". (especially with their timeframe- which did not get them past Toklat) Anyway- those "get it over", hectic, rushed, early starts and finishes, are all what I consider extremely poorly planned tours. Mine NEVER have that adjective, with my plans- even- with the pace I want. That is an advantage of independent touring- which is SIMPLE to figure out. :) I've done both directions multiple times, there are advantages to each and neither "better" than the other, just different planning.

 

With cruise tours- I strongly suggest- you do your homework, most people do not and make some very wrong assumptions, with underestimating distances a common one, and not knowing the details of Denali Park touring. Know ALL your details, so you know what you are looking at when comparing tours.

 

Time is your best friend in Alaska, go for as long as you can afford.

 

 

There are far fewer kids on board compared to the Caribbean. Fellow passengers, never concern me in Alaska. I have plenty of space for my priorities.

[ShipsandDipper]

I suggest you look closely at the small-ship, eco-cruising type lines. Our first trip to Alaska was on the Wilderness Discoverer (now run by Un-Cruise Adventures, I think) and that really was the best cruise (we've since had two others on larger ships). The ship was able to stop and observe wildlife (and we weren't so high up in the air), and we were able to use kayaks and get a few shore walks in. And we went to less-visited places (left out of Sitka and docked in Haines, rather than Skagway).

 

You do have to be able to entertain yourselves (no shows, only one dining time). And these types of cruises are expensive, no doubt about it. But if it worked for my schedule, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Second best time in Alaska was a multi-day kayaking trip out of Seward.

[azevedan]

If you're planning one trip, I recommend three weeks. One week to cruise (whether a big boat or a small); one week for Anchorage/Seward/etc.; one week for Denali. Stay in B&B's and plan your own hikes and water excursions. If you do a big boat, you'll have some time in the main ports to explore and do excursions; if you're on a small boat (we did the Pacific Catalyst (12 persons)), the entire trip is an excursion. Kayaking/wildlife viewing/exploring small out-of-the-way ports. We had previously done a big boat cruise on the inland passage, but there's no comparison to being out in nature and low to the water the entire time. That being said, there was still plenty to enjoy on the big boat.

Edited November 7, 2015 by azevedan

[thinfool]

For adventure-minded travelers to Alaska, no research effort should miss consideration of this site... http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/

[Halehuaka_i]

We are, like you, the DIY, AirBNB types. But an Alaska cruise was big on my bucket list, so DH went along. Due to time constraints, we had less than three weeks between specific dates. I wanted the DIY land portion first, and a southbound cruise to finish, so the southbound Radiance fit our schedule and budget.

We stayed two nights in Anchorage, five nights at Denali, one night back in Anchorage, seven nights on the south bound cruise, and two nights in Vancouver before flying home. I found great places to stay in Anchorage, Healy (next town north of Denali) and Vancouver.

We did all our own touring, including during the cruise. This forum has lots of suggestions on how to make it work. There weren't many kids on our cruise, or maybe I just didn't notice them. We found a great bar on the Radiance, Singapore Sling, where we had the room to ourselves for pre-dinner cocktails.

Really, if you are flexible and go with the flow, you can make every part of your Alaskan vacation memorable!

Lei

[HulieVA]

In June, 2016 we will take our 4th small boat cruise in SE Alaska. We did 2 with Cruise West and 1 with their successor Alaskan Dream. We will go back on Alaskan Dream. I just can't imagine being on a large ship for this place. The food is 5-star, and the viewing of everything is unbeatable. An all-around fantastic experience. We just had to do it again!