Need Suggestions for Elderly Outdoorsman

[brendaisbored]

I'm an avid cruiser but have not been on an Alaskan cruise. I'm currently planning on taking my father who has been wanting to visit Alaska since I was a child, although he's never been on a cruise. Since this will likely be his only trip to Alaska, I want to make sure I get it right. Here's what I'm working with:

 

While money isn't tight, I'd like to keep the trip under $6,000.

I'd like to go either May or early June 2019.

A week is really all of the time we have, although I may be able to stretch another day or two if needed.

My dad is an outdoorsy type that normally lives in the woods. His main interest is to experience is the wildlife. He hunts and fishes regularly.

I'm thinking a balcony would be best because he tends to get cabin fever quickly. He's not a huge fan of crowds but is friendly and I think he'll love chatting with everyone.

He is fully mobile but does have heart problems so zip-lining or high intensity actives are off limits.

 

I'm currently leaning towards a RT Seattle itinerary on the Norwegian Bliss or Carnival Legend that sees Glacier Bay. I'm also considering a northbound trip on the Royal Princess. I think the Princess cruise going all the way to Anchorage may be the best to allow him to see more of the state but I've never sailed on Princess before (I have loyalty status on the other two though) so I'm not sure what to expect.

 

I'd love recommendations on any of those ships or others that might be a good fit for us as well as any suggestions on excursions or things I shouldn't miss for him.

[AKStafford]

A cruise is a great way to see Southeast Alaska. Another option is to fly into Anchorage and see Southcentral and Interior Alaska with a rental car. A couple of days at Denali National Park would be a great chance to see wildlife. He could do a guided fishing trip and you could still get on the water with a day cruise. Just a suggestion...

[Budget Queen]

With a wildlife priority I too would suggest a mainland visit. Denali and Kenai Fjords are superb. Could also get some fishing in with the ability to avoid high shipping costs and just take home with you as extra baggage.  😀😀

 

Although this is a Cruise board in your case, with a 1 time visit I’d think not the best choice?    

 

Otherwise. I only suggest a one way to/from Seward. So NCL, HAL, RCI, Celebrity. Etc. not Princess.   So to easily add a Kenai Fjords boat tour for the wildlife priority

[Gardyloo]

16 hours ago, brendaisbored said:

While money isn't tight, I'd like to keep the trip under $6,000.

I'd like to go either May or early June 2019.

A week is really all of the time we have, although I may be able to stretch another day or two if needed.

My dad is an outdoorsy type that normally lives in the woods. His main interest is to experience is the wildlife. He hunts and fishes regularly.

I'm thinking a balcony would be best because he tends to get cabin fever quickly. He's not a huge fan of crowds but is friendly and I think he'll love chatting with everyone.

He is fully mobile but does have heart problems so zip-lining or high intensity actives are off limits.

 

I'm currently leaning towards a RT Seattle itinerary on the Norwegian Bliss or Carnival Legend that sees Glacier Bay. I'm also considering a northbound trip on the Royal Princess. I think the Princess cruise going all the way to Anchorage may be the best to allow him to see more of the state but I've never sailed on Princess before (I have loyalty status on the other two though) so I'm not sure what to expect.

 

I'd love recommendations on any of those ships or others that might be a good fit for us as well as any suggestions on excursions or things I shouldn't miss for him.

Some considerations...

 

May is too early for Denali; the roads into the park's interior aren't fully available until June.  It's also not especially the best time for wildlife - also too early.  Plus the mountain is frequently obscured by clouds.

 

May and June are also too early for fishing in most areas.

 

The one-way cruises, like the round trips, are for seven nights.  If you only have a week, a one-way cruise wouldn't give you enough time to see much of southcentral/interior Alaska, whether before or after the cruise.

 

The ships sailing from Seattle travel to the west of Vancouver Island, on rougher water and with no scenery.  Cruises departing Vancouver BC travel to the east of Vancouver Island on sheltered Inside Passage waters.  All the one-way cruises depart from, or arrive in Vancouver due to US maritime law.

 

So my suggestion would be to look at some round-trip Vancouver sailings unless you can make more time available.  

[Hoyaheel]

21 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

All the one-way cruises depart from, or arrive in Vancouver due to US maritime law.

 

 

Except for the ones that use San Francisco (but then stop at Victoria or another Canadian port) or, say, Kobe Japan 😉 Too many itineraries in cruising to say "all" or "none" with a high degree of certainty....

[Gardyloo]

19 hours ago, Hoyaheel said:

 

Except for the ones that use San Francisco (but then stop at Victoria or another Canadian port) or, say, Kobe Japan 😉 Too many itineraries in cruising to say "all" or "none" with a high degree of certainty....

Okay, fair point.  How about "the vast majority?"  However I'm pretty sure that it's "all" if one is talking about 7-night itineraries.  

[Hoyaheel]

OK, I'll give you "majority", "7 day itineraries" (maybe - I haven't checked for the next couple seasons 😉 ) and even "most mass market" lines (though Princess had an 11 day out of SF in 2017 I think - I looked at it).

 

Hmm, looks like Princess has a 10 day RT San Francisco in 2019. And HAL has a 21 day RT San Francisco. Looking at AK itineraries is dangerous. It makes me crave!!

 

OP - I can't offer advice for a May/June cruise as I've only been on July and Sept cruises, and been to Juneau in March. But it does sound like you should at least consider a land option if you really want to see lots of scenery and animals.

 

On the other hand, I've never had a bad trip to Alaska, no matter the season or the weather or what animals I was able to see.....I think you & your dad would be able to have a great time, no matter what!

 

For excursions, whale watching might be fun? We were on Seabourn on our last AK cruise and had a great kodiak excursion - want to do that again! They offered kayaks too, but that just seems like too much work on vacation 🙂 [those who went had a blast though!]  We also loved walking in any of the forests we found, seeing Mendenhall glacier (we didn't go on our most recent cruise but have been in the past - did the shorter walks from Visitor Ctr to glacier and then saw bears under some of the walkways below the visitor's center....) As a history buff, loved the free walks from the National Park Service in Skagway.....

Edited December 23, 2018 by Hoyaheel

[Budget Queen]

On 12/22/2018 at 3:28 PM, Hoyaheel said:

 

Except for the ones that use San Francisco (but then stop at Victoria or another Canadian port) or, say, Kobe Japan 😉 Too many itineraries in cruising to say "all" or "none" with a high degree of certainty....

Most San Francisco cruises are round trip.    AND,   the one way repos,   do most often end/start in Vancouver,  they don't end in Victoria??    .

 

What is your example of one ways,  NOT porting in Vancouver?    

[Hoyaheel]

I was conflating one way and RTs. One way SF departure/arrivals seem to use Vancouver as the other end. I've seen Victoria ised as the foreign port when it's a RT SF.  And then there are the repositioning options :-)

 

I'm really just trying to say there are lots of options and I dislike seeing all/never language ;-)

[brendaisbored]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I decided to stick with a cruise to let us see more places in a set time limit but because of your feedback I've decided to go with a northern cruise ending in Seward. That way we spend more time in the ports plus tack on a day cruise from Seward to Kenai Fjords and then take the train to Anchorage to spend part of a day there before flying home.  It only adds a day to the trip and I was able to snag some cheap airfare (which was my original concern about booking the multi-city trip).

 

Thanks again, I can't wait! Now I just need to figure out the excursion to take 🙂

[oaktreerb]

6 hours ago, brendaisbored said:

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I decided to stick with a cruise to let us see more places in a set time limit but because of your feedback I've decided to go with a northern cruise ending in Seward. That way we spend more time in the ports plus tack on a day cruise from Seward to Kenai Fjords and then take the train to Anchorage to spend part of a day there before flying home.  It only adds a day to the trip and I was able to snag some cheap airfare (which was my original concern about booking the multi-city trip).

 

Thanks again, I can't wait! Now I just need to figure out the excursion to take 🙂

Good choice.