Number of Alaska cruises taken?

[voljeep]

one - a 7 day on the Diamond Princess in 2007 - our first 'big' cruise and our first Princess cruise.

 

If we can work it out, we will go back and do the "conisaur" version of the land/cuise - 12-13 day total as I remember

[baronessk]

Geoherb...what do you like about going out of Seattle. I did my first Alaska cruise this year on X (with a friend that won the cruise) out of Vancouver. To be honest I was not that impressed and it's a long way from Florida. Not sure if it was X, Vancouver or Alaska, but it's just not my thing. But it's on my 86 y/o DM's bucket list and I'm eyeing the Ruby out of Seattle for her birthday next August. I think not dealing with international airports, customs, etc. will be easier for her, and I don't mind the extra "sea" day to get there and back as that's easier for her to. Thanks!

 

 

We've done three Alaskan cruises. Two were round-trip from Seattle. The other was preceded by five nights starting in Fairbanks on a cruise tour. We had a fourth cruise booked last year that unfortunately I had to cancel.

[xlxo]

I've done two.... for return trips.... try to do different ports and excursions.

• Hope your first visit included Glacier Bay. If not.... Glacier Bay should be a must do for a return trip.
  
• Second must include port.... Vancouver with a multi-day stay.
  

Also try a different month to see a different climate.

[paul929207]

Four cruises. two were a NB cruise, followed by a 7 day land tour and than a SB cruise.

[eclue]

Four - all from Seattle except one from Vancouver - Love Vancouver and spending a few days there but embarkation is hectic and much longer than Seattle where it is a breeze.

eclue

[LarryL]

We have done two, the last in May of this year. The next one will be a cruise tour. No regrets from the last two though. The scenery is spectacular, especially leaving Skagway.

[towhee]

We've done over 2 dozen cruises, some out of San Francisco, some out of Seattle, and some out of Vancouver. We've sailed on Princess, Crystal, Celebrity, and HAL. We've visited in May, June, July, and August.

There is no way you can see everything in one cruise or even two or three, so go as often as you can afford it. Glacier Bay is a must-see. I agree that the flight from Skagway over Glacier Bay is a good tour. The flight to Misty Fjord is good and so is the cruise tour through MF. By all means take a land tour at some time. Denali is special and spectacular when it is "out". My favorite port is Sitka, my DH's is Skagway.

Sailing in and out of Vancouver is special. The scenery between Vancouver Island and the mainland is spectacular. However, we weren't impressed with flying in and out of Vancouver airport (it's probably changed since we last did it. I hope so).

[TheCruisingAccountant]

Four + 1; May 2010, June 2014, Sept 2014, May 2015 and one more booked for July 2017.

 

We live in Vancouver, about ten minutes from the terminal. Ability to get a week off work at short notice to take advantage of very cheap last minute fares contributes to frequency.

 

That, and we love Alaska and the scenery, and anytime we can be on a ship, we go.

[azbirdmom]

Four. We've gone the last 3 years on the southbound from Whittier cruise, the last 2 included a precruise tour up to Denali. Our first was a roundtrip from Seattle. And we are cruising roundtrip from San Francisco next year which will make 4 years in a row to Alaska. We love Alaska and it will never get old for us.

[Alaska05]

We've done 6 cruises to Alaska. Our next one will include a week on land ( cruise up, spend a week sightseeing then cruise back to Vancouver).

 

We did this 2 years ago. The best 3 weeks we've ever spent.

[Papa Hooks]

NeverBeenThere: Check out Island Wings for your Misty Fjords plane trip.

 

Other must do's Take a flight tour out of Skagway across Glacier Bay NP to the Pacific, The Deadliest Catch tour in Ketchicikan is a must.

 

Been to AK three times one of which was cruise tour, book on a 4th in 18, can't wait.

 

framer

You have a recommendation for a flight tour from Skagway to see the glaciers?

[Ginnyfyr]

We just did our fourth Alaskan cruise this past September. Our first was on Celebrity in May 2013; the rest have been on Princess (Sept 2014, May 2016, Sept 2017). I can't say I have any regrets...if anything, I have a ton of 'thankful to have experienced that' moments rather than regrets. We're going to take a break for a couple of years but our next trip will very likely include a pre- or post-cruise land portion and will hopefully be in June/July/August - I'm very curious to see the weather difference at that time of year from spring & fall and would love to see some different wildlife if we can. Future goals!

[Katjoy]

I’ve taken 5 Alaskan Cruises out of Seattle all on Princess. I’ve done numerous wonderful excursions. Next time I will just enjoy walking around the fun shops in each port. We live 40 minutes from Seattle so cruising to Alaska is easy.

 

 

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[no1racefan1]

Only one but we want to do another one. It was our very first cruise and looking back, we didn't really know what we were doing.

 

No regrets per se, other than spending a ton of money on the ship because we got sucked in to a lot of extras. Won't happen any more :)

 

We went on the most amazing excursion in Juneau, a helicopter flight to a dog sled camp on top of a glacier. Once in a lifetime experience that was worth the expense.

 

We chose a line/ship/itinerary based on the recommendation of the only friend we knew who had taken a cruise before. No huge complaints but I'd do a lot more research into ship amenities and itinerary the next time we go.

[BarbinMich]

We've done 4 Alaskan cruises, starting with the old Celebrity Horizon back in Jun 1996, then HAL Statendam in May 2004, HAL Volenam in Sep 2005, and Star Princess in May 2014. The latter was 12 days RT from San Fran, the others were 7 days RT from Vancouver. Might have done more if we didn't live so far from the departure ports. There is so much to do in each port, that it won't be like the "same old thing" on your second cruise. Each cruise was a little different. The Horizon cruise ended with a 3-4 night post cruise trip, which started with flying to Fairbanks from Anchorage (very scenic) and then working our way back south on a HAL train, visiting Denali along the way. So we really started off with a bang, so to speak. :D We didn't visit Glacier Bay on that one, however; Celebrity was going to Hubbard Glacier instead. We spent time in Anchorage pre-Statendam cruise and post-cruise time in Vancouver and in SF. The Statendam stopped in Sitka (don't think Princess ever does even though it's a tender port) and we visited College Fjord on both the Horizon and the Statendam. I would think a Princess ship would visit it if going to or coming from Whittier. Once the Star P got to Alaska, it was the typical 7-day itinerary, but we did stop in Victoria on the way south. So there are lots of ways to cruise Alaska. BTW the snow cover on the mountains is spectacular in May. Glacier Bay was dismal in Sept.--virtually no snow cover and it was a very gray, low-ceiling day.

[RJAM3]

Alaska 14 cruises. 12 in the lasr 12 years out if Seattle. Booked for number 15. I belive Glasier Bay is a must.

The trip will never get old. :D

[Pierlesscruisers]

I've only done 2 myself but I've met a number who said they were going on their 10th and one man who was going on his 20th. This season (2017) I checked in a lady who was going on her 5th Alaska cruise this year, I don t know what ship(s) was on for the first 4 but that last one was on the Ruby. I suspect the others were also on Princess though as she had over 150 cruise points on her record. Nice, happy lady!

 

Tom

[cruisequeen4ever]

6- 4 Northbounds and 2 Southbounds

It’s cool to hear how many others have done. So many repeat Caribbean cruises, but I️ didn’t think many repeat Alaska cruises.

 

 

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[Wildblue]

Well, seeing as how 10 years ago I decided to live in Alaska full time, I'd have to say the answer to your original question is, "No trips to Alaska are too many". :)

[Mikeyto]

I've done 2 Alaskan Cruises. 1 SEA Rnd trip and 1 YVR Rnd trip

 

My only regret so far is I haven't gone more often.

[luvteaching]

We've done 13 Alaska cruises - 10 on HAL and 3 on Princess. 2018 takes us to 15 with one on HAL and one on PRincess. It's our version of a back-to-back.

 

Karen

[peety3]

We've done "five and a half":

2010 Northbound on the Coral

2012 Northbound on the Sapphire

2014 Seattle RT / Tracy Arm Fjord on the Grand

2015 "Alaska Sampler" 4-day Vancouver->Ketchikan->Seattle

2015 Seattle RT / Tracy Arm Fjord on the Ruby

2017 Seattle RT / Glacier Bay on the Ruby

 

As much as I might want to do a cruise tour, it just doesn't "work" for us these days. We're avid photographers and I'm rather serious about my photography hobby when we cruise to Alaska, and there's just no way for me to take the gear I want to have on the cruise and thin it down to what would be "legal" / comfortable during the cruisetour. We also enjoy the convenience of cruising out of Seattle, where it's a 40-minute drive to the terminal.

[CrabbyPatti]

We have been 6 times and would gladly go again. The first year was the problem..........our first cruise was so much fun it created a "Monster";p Now we have developed a bad habit! The second we took to see if was still enjoyable and it was. We followed up # 3 with Mom and # 4 with Dad and his wife. # 5 & 6 were the longer 8-10 day May cruises. We have varied the itinerary and have done different things.

Cruising to Alaska works well for us as we live in Washington and it is easy enough for us to drive to Seattle or Vancouver the day before. We have had limited time off from the jobs, but could squeeze the 10 days from home to port and back, so we have tended to repeat cruising to Alaska! When we retire we will branch out to other areas, but once I retire I will keep an eye for a "last minute deal" and will return to Alaska, only takes a few minutes to pack my bag!:D

[framer]

You have a recommendation for a flight tour from Skagway to see the glaciers?

 

It's more than that, you fly over GBNP across the mountain range to the Pacific. Jaw dropping gorgeous scenery. For extra the pilot offered a beach landing or a glacier landing which we declined. You do get to see a ship if there is one by a glacier.

 

 

 

 

I researched on line to find who is doing flight-seeing out of Skagway. I did not book ahead of time but when I got to Skagway and the weather was perfect and I never use the word perfect. I call about 7:30AM and they picked up, they fly a 4 seater and it already had a couple so I filled up the last seat. I don't know if you should book a flight like this in advance. The weather can be iffy in the area. Having numbers to call last minute work that time and I got a thrill to remember the rest of my life.

 

framer

[TFM70]

Two cruises to Alaska. Towed a camper to Alaska once 12000 miles 65 days.