Help an Alaskan newbie

[dbrown84]

so, I've been hearing people rave about Alaskan cruises.  I've decided to look into doing one.  I'm down to two cruises next Aug/Sept.  The itineraries are the same, except one is in Juneau from 7AM to 7PM, and the other is 7AM to 1:30PM, then cruises Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier.  I'm not sure what Endicott is at this point, but I thought I would ask the kind folks here at CC for opinions on staying a full day in port in Juneau vs cruising Endicott Arm.  Looking forward to the comments.

 

For context, I usually cruise warm weather Caribbean/beach cruises. So this will be a new experience for me.  Looking to do something different.

[Northern Aurora]

Endicott Arm is a relatively narrow fjord with Dawes Glacier at the end.  The issue for you is to consider how important seeing a large tidewater glacier is for your Alaskan experience and whether there are other glaciers on the itineraries you are considering.

[dbrown84]

Just now, Northern Aurora said:

Endicott Arm is a relatively narrow fjord with Dawes Glacier at the end.  The issue for you is to consider how important seeing a large tidewater glacier is for your Alaskan experience and whether there are other glaciers on the itineraries you are considering.

thanks.  I don't know if there are anymore glaciers.  the stops are Sitka, Juneau, Icy Straight Point, Ketchican, and Victoria.  I really don't know what I want out of the experience yet.  Good thing I have about a year to educate myself

[Northern Aurora]

Juneau has the Mendenhall Glacier which is reached by road.  It is administered by the US Forest Service which had some issues last summer regarding the number of visitor passes issued to shuttle bus companies.  Mendenhall has retreated (shrunk) so much it is a remnant of its former self.

 

 

ISP is a port developed by the cruise industry; the community of Hoonah is about 1.5 miles away by road. But all of these communities have some sort of visitor guides which can be found by using google.  In some Alaska small communities the visitor bureau and Chamber of Commerce are the same entity.

 

 

[karatemom2]

Does the itinerary that goes to Juneau 7 am to 7 pm have a scenic cruising day or Glacier Bay? If it does not, I would choose the itinerary with Endicott so you have at least some opportunity to experience cruising through a fjord and view a tidewater glacier. Your time, though limited, in Juneau would still also allow you to visit Mendenhall glacier as well - it is not as impressive as it once was but still offers a beautiful area for hiking and also Nugget Falls which is an impressive site. 

Edited September 27, 2023 by karatemom2

[dbrown84]

3 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

Does the itinerary that goes to Juneau 7 am to 7 pm have a scenic cruising day or Glacier Bay? If it does not, I would choose the itinerary with Endicott so you have at least some opportunity to experience cruising through a fjord and view a tidewater glacier. Your time, though limited, in Juneau would still also allow you to visit Mendenhall glacier as well - it is not as impressive as it once was but still offers a beautiful area for hiking and also Nugget Falls which is an impressive site. 

no, no other scenic cruising day.  I saw an amazing youtube video last night of cruising the Endicott.  They took a smaller boat thru the fjord and glacier and got dropped off back at the ship while it was anchored.  I had to lookup the word fjord yesterday.  It was my something new learned 🙂

[karatemom2]

57 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

no, no other scenic cruising day.  I saw an amazing youtube video last night of cruising the Endicott.  They took a smaller boat thru the fjord and glacier and got dropped off back at the ship while it was anchored.  I had to lookup the word fjord yesterday.  It was my something new learned 🙂

 

Yes, that's an amazing excursion. Have done it twice in Tracy Arm Fjord. If you have the chance to do that on the half day Juneau itinerary you are considering, it would be well worth it. The ship goes there as well, but the small boats get much more up close and personal and the ship is somewhat limited often on how far it can in due to the ice levels. So if you do book that itinerary, I would encourage you to sign up for that excursion and do it early. There are limited spaces and it fills up quickly!

[laudergayle]

I second what @karatemom2 says about the excursion to get closer to the Dawes glacier.  We chose that excursion in May last year…but it was canceled due to ice.  Never did get to even see the glacier.  Late summer should be perfect.  Enjoy!

[Northern Aurora]

We have done the small vessel excursion in Endicott Arm to the face of Dawes Glacier.  We tendered off the cruise ship early in the morning and were ahead of the ship as the cruise ship and small vessel made their way to Dawes.  The small vessel was able to get very close to Dawes -- so close that when the massive calving produced displacement waves our little vessel rocked and rolled.  Our small vessel took an alternate route to Juneau going up Ford's Terror (he was a person -- just goggle) along a very narrow fjord to visit some waterfalls and other lovely scenery.  We re-joined the cruise ship just as they were finishing docking in Juneau.

 

If folks are interested in this type of excursion they do indeed totally book very early.

[Gardyloo]

While you're looking, do consider trips that depart and return to Vancouver BC instead of Seattle.  Most of the cruises from Seattle travel north on open ocean west of Vancouver Island, where conditions can be rougher and where there are no views.  Most departing from Vancouver travel on protected "inside passage" waters east of Vancouver Island - smoother and more scenic.  Worth checking out.

[dbrown84]

5 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

While you're looking, do consider trips that depart and return to Vancouver BC instead of Seattle.  Most of the cruises from Seattle travel north on open ocean west of Vancouver Island, where conditions can be rougher and where there are no views.  Most departing from Vancouver travel on protected "inside passage" waters east of Vancouver Island - smoother and more scenic.  Worth checking out.

Thanks.  I'll be traveling on a comped voyage, and have to travel from within the availability of the comp offer.  That being said, I do see leaving from Seward as an option.  I'll look into that to see which ships sail from there.  I do prefer the larger ships, so I probably wouldn't be interested if the ship isn't at least a breakaway class ship

[dbrown84]

5 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

While you're looking, do consider trips that depart and return to Vancouver BC instead of Seattle.  Most of the cruises from Seattle travel north on open ocean west of Vancouver Island, where conditions can be rougher and where there are no views.  Most departing from Vancouver travel on protected "inside passage" waters east of Vancouver Island - smoother and more scenic.  Worth checking out.

awww, thanks for the advice.  But it looks like the Jewel sails from there, so I'm gonna pass

[dbrown84]

It just occurred to me that I neglected to say that I'm cruising on NCL.  I'm so used to posting in the NCL forum that I just took it for granted when I started this thread

[laudergayle]

47 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

It just occurred to me that I neglected to say that I'm cruising on NCL.  I'm so used to posting in the NCL forum that I just took it for granted when I started this thread

Lol…I just assumed you were sailing NCL.  We did Bliss last year and we were not impressed with the port times, especially Ketchikan and Victoria. We were not impressed with Alaska based on this itinerary.  In May we are going to do the jewel Vancouver to Seward and then the train to Anchorage.  Based on reviews we believe this is a better agenda to experience Alaska.  Out of curiosity, what is your objection to the smaller ships?

[dbrown84]

43 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Lol…I just assumed you were sailing NCL.  We did Bliss last year and we were not impressed with the port times, especially Ketchikan and Victoria. We were not impressed with Alaska based on this itinerary.  In May we are going to do the jewel Vancouver to Seward and then the train to Anchorage.  Based on reviews we believe this is a better agenda to experience Alaska.  Out of curiosity, what is your objection to the smaller ships?

It's really more of a preference of the bigger ships, which offer more amenities and more people, frankly.  The more I think about it, a lot of the outdoor amenities (water slides, spice H20, go cart, etc) would probably not be enjoyable on such a colder weather cruise.  I guess it's the old "Caribbean cruiser" thinking in me :)   

[laudergayle]

Lol…but they do heat the pools on an Alaskan cruise. Not hot tub temp…but swimable if you can stand the arctic blast upon exiting.

 

on a side note…on another thread you had told me to check with CAS as our $100 per cruise might offer a discount of perhaps 10%.  We’ll I did call…the CSR was kind and didn’t laugh.  Between me and DH we had a measly $15 play.  Little did I know that our room card needed to stay in the machine.  makes sense.  I was loading $$$ then cashing out and getting my card back so I didn’t forget my card in the machine.  Do I need to keep my card in the machine even if I am funding it through a voucher?

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, laudergayle said:

Lol…but they do heat the pools on an Alaskan cruise. Not hot tub temp…but swimable if you can stand the arctic blast upon exiting.

 

on a side note…on another thread you had told me to check with CAS as our $100 per cruise might offer a discount of perhaps 10%.  We’ll I did call…the CSR was kind and didn’t laugh.  Between me and DH we had a measly $15 play.  Little did I know that our room card needed to stay in the machine.  makes sense.  I was loading $$$ then cashing out and getting my card back so I didn’t forget my card in the machine.  Do I need to keep my card in the machine even if I am funding it through a voucher?

yes, so they can track your total play.  You should keep the card it the whole time you're playing.  they used to give out a separate player's card, so even if you forgot it in a machine it was no big deal.  Now that it's using your room key only, you're right in that you don't want to chance forgetting it.  I'm not a slots player, so not much of a concern for me.  When you play tables, you give them your card and they check you into the system and give you the card right back.

[laudergayle]

54 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

so even if you forgot it in a machine it was no big deal

Haha…that’s exactly why I started pulling my card.  I embarrassed myself having to go to GS to review our account and get a new card…lol.  Thanks for your help.

 

[edinburgher]

On 9/28/2023 at 10:44 PM, laudergayle said:

Lol…I just assumed you were sailing NCL.  We did Bliss last year and we were not impressed with the port times, especially Ketchikan and Victoria. We were not impressed with Alaska based on this itinerary.

I have no personal experience of NCL as we prefer smaller ships, but I am pretty sure I read threads at different times this year from pax stating that NCL have shorter times in ports than other lines, also that they have less favourable docking positions and sometimes have to tender.

 

Both Princess and HAL have much experience cruising Alaska as they have been doing it for many decades, and (someone correct me if I am wrong) they have more permits to sail Glacier Bay than NCL.My understanding is that they are the market leaders and also operate many of the domed rail cars.  And Princess own lodges in Denali.

 

dbrown84, Alaska cruising is less about the ship and more about the scenery, wildlife and a very different cruising experience.  You could also expect to spend more time out on deck and if you have an interest in photography so much the better.   To get the most from your trip, choosing the right itinerary is important., so once you researched some more, you may decide that Alaska cruising isn't really for you after all, but these are my personal thoughts and others may totally disagree.

 

We did a HAL 2 week north/south out of Vancouver first, thinking it would be a "one off" but returned 2 or 3 years later when a new HAL itinerary opened up out of Seattle. As it covered many of the places and scenic cruising spots our first one had not, and as we thought HAL did the first one so well, we booked and didn't regret doing so as the more we saw of Alaska, the more we wanted to see.

 

 

[dbrown84]

On 9/30/2023 at 8:30 AM, edinburgher said:

I have no personal experience of NCL as we prefer smaller ships, but I am pretty sure I read threads at different times this year from pax stating that NCL have shorter times in ports than other lines, also that they have less favourable docking positions and sometimes have to tender.

 

Both Princess and HAL have much experience cruising Alaska as they have been doing it for many decades, and (someone correct me if I am wrong) they have more permits to sail Glacier Bay than NCL.My understanding is that they are the market leaders and also operate many of the domed rail cars.  And Princess own lodges in Denali.

 

dbrown84, Alaska cruising is less about the ship and more about the scenery, wildlife and a very different cruising experience.  You could also expect to spend more time out on deck and if you have an interest in photography so much the better.   To get the most from your trip, choosing the right itinerary is important., so once you researched some more, you may decide that Alaska cruising isn't really for you after all, but these are my personal thoughts and others may totally disagree.

 

We did a HAL 2 week north/south out of Vancouver first, thinking it would be a "one off" but returned 2 or 3 years later when a new HAL itinerary opened up out of Seattle. As it covered many of the places and scenic cruising spots our first one had not, and as we thought HAL did the first one so well, we booked and didn't regret doing so as the more we saw of Alaska, the more we wanted to see.

 

 

thanks for your opinion, but that's for you.  I've already done enough research to know that Alaska cruising is for me.  Otherwise, I wouldn't be here on this forum.  and I know myself, so the ship is more important to me since everything else is equal (once again, for me)

[roupa]

No need for a mega theme park type ship in Alaska! Yes, there will be a pool/solarium/hot tubs, casinos, and entertainment. 

Consider doing some sort of land tour in Alaska before or after a one way cruise ( Vancouver to Seward or reverse). You’ll be glad to see even more of Alaska !!!

[edinburgher]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:55 PM, dbrown84 said:

hanks for your opinion, but that's for you.  I've already done enough research to know that Alaska cruising is for me.  Otherwise, I wouldn't be here on this forum.  and I know myself, so the ship is more important to me since everything else is equal (once again, for me)

Yes, my opinion, however was concerned that it would be too much of a difference from your usual preferences of warm sunny weather and fun onboard activities which reflected that weather as Alaska is so different and the emphasis is usually more on the itinerary than the ship. Was also a little concerned that you were looking at NCL as they don't have the best reviews for their Alaska routes and port times, and only later did it register with me that it is a  "comped" trip and probably won't give you the flexibility of looking at other lines.

 

You will either love it or hate it, but it is an opportunity for you to experience something different.