Alaskan Cruise

[EastWest Gal]

There are plenty of different kinds of ferries. Last year we had a couple of days in Vancouver and just waked and took the bus. Hiked all over Stanley Park. 23 years ago we went to Buchart Gardens. We took a pedestrian ferry and then rented a car on Vancouver Island. Took our 4 month old son and a stroller. Had a wonderful time but it was tiring with the baby. Than goodness for the car. I think we took the ferry from Port Angeles as it was a shorter trip.


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[KM]

If you are trying to stretch your dollar, pick one port and "do it up" with a great excursion. We did a sea/land trip and picked a couple of places we wanted to spend extra for the excursions. At the other ports, we "did it on our own". Juneau, Icy Strait, and Ketchikan were 3 of our ports also.

Juneau - we actually rented a car for the day, drove out to Mendenhall Glacier, went to the chapel in the woods, got some amazing pictures, drove over to Douglas, etc, etc. We also left ourselves time to walk around town later. Inexpensive way to spend the day and lots to see. You're not likely to get lost....the roads leading out of Juneau all just "end", but the sights outside the city are very pretty until they do.

Icy Strait Point - we were there in 2007. Maybe things have changed...but if they haven't, there really is little to see there. We walked into town and back, but I am using the word "town" loosely. A lot of people did a whale watch out of Icy Strait and said it was great. If I ever went back, I would skip town and do the whale watch. As we were leaving port the whales were everywhere, so I suspect the whale watch was great that day.

Ketchikan - this was where we opted for a pricey excursion and did a float plane to Misty Fjords. We booked privately and the trip included landing inside the park on one of the "ponds", so we could get out and walk around for awhile. The trip was amazing and we saw a lot of wildlife on the mountain tops.

One word of caution - if you do decide to book any type of plane trip - DO YOUR RESEARCH - and be sure your pilot is someone who has flown that area a lot. From what I understand, a lot of companies hire pilots to come up for the summer to fly excursions. These guys might be great pilots, but they don't know Alaska or its weather. Misty Fjords, in particular, can have fog roll in pretty quickly. You'll want a well-experienced pilot, if that happens. The woman we hired was very well-known in the area and has been flying there for years and years.

I think a few others have said this - but I would agree, if you can spend even a few extra days on mainland Alaska after your cruise - do so!!! And try to get up to Denali, if nothing else. If you DO get to Denali, do NOT do the Denali Natural History Tour. DO the Tundra Wilderness Tour. It will take you all day, but you go in much further and will see a lot more wildlife.

Enjoy!!

 

[CoolChange]

We take a cruise most every year. We never take the cruise line's excursions. I'll go online and book an excursion locally. Sometimes we'll rent a car, and sometimes we'll get a cabbie to take us around to interesting sites.

I suggest going onto TripAdvisor.com and seeing if they have a list of excursions for the ports you're visiting. You may can take a side trip cheaper, and I promise it'll be better than the excursion for the masses of people.

I like to do something similar for similar reasons: Sometimes cheaper, always better. But, sometimes GF likes the additional safety/security of no chance of the boat leaving without us. Me, I am confident in my ability to find my own way to the next port of call if needed. (I have never missed a sailing.)

 

[Alan]

I'm going on an Alaskan cruise this summer and have been reviewing my excursion options. Holy cow, they are expensive! I've only ever been on one other cruise to Mexico and it was paid for by my employer at the time.

Are these excursions worth it? Wondering if I'd be better off just wandering the towns and checking it out that way, but then get concerned that I'll be missing out on amazing stuff potentially.

Stopping in Ketchikan, Juneau and Icy Strait. Any advice?


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We are also going on our first Alaskan cruise this summer. We have 2 tours booked, scenic cruises at Glacier Bay and College fjord. As part of the cruise package we then take the train to Denali NP for 4 nights and have 2 tours booked there, a natural history tour and a river rafting trip.

On return to Anchorage we have a few days booked before flying back to Vancouver.

Reading this thread has me really looking forward to it. We've been packing today as we start driving in a few days, stopping at various places on the way before parking up in Vancouver. DD and her SO are flying up from LA to join us on the cruise and rail trip.

ETA
$4058 for the 2 of us, balcony room midships, including all the excursions etc. We had not booked a balcony room but received an email offer this week to upgrade for $159 each.

 

[braumeister]

For those venturing north to Denali, we greatly enjoyed a visit to the museum in Fairbanks.
UA Museum of the North

 

[ggbutcher]

One more thing to consider: if there's one cruise on which it is totally worth it to spring for a balcony room, it's an Inside Passage Alaskan cruise. Gorgeous views right out your big picture window, all day and most of the night.

 

[BellBarbara]

Yep. That's what happened on our trip. Great weather till we got to Skagway, then dense fog. Thus, about the only thing we saw on the rail trip up to the pass was the rail cars in front and behind us. Knowing what I know now, the next time I'll purchase tickets for the rail after seeing what the weather is like when I get there.
Because the dense fog continued for the remainder of the cruise, we did not have an opportunity to view a glacier from the ship while in Hubbard Bay. The fog was so bad, you couldn't see from the bow to the stern of the ship. The captain turned the ship around about halfway to the glacier because he couldn't see to navigate around the icebergs in the bay. It was the only real disappointment of the trip.

Ack! Yes I would be so unhappy if this happened.

 

[BellBarbara]

With the incentives Celebrity was offering, we got a balcony on the 11 day cruise for only $3300 total. Includes a drink package.

This cruise is unusual, it leaves Seattle, but docks in Vancouver. It then goes on to Australia (via Hawaii). Seems like lots of people on cruise critic are doing B2B (back to back) cruises - staying in the same cabin and moving on to Australia.

 

[BellBarbara]

Honestly, other than reserving the car, I really hate to "book" anything because of weather. I may just identify a couple things that we would like in each area and decide as the weather is fit.

 

[athena53]

Honestly, other than reserving the car, I really hate to "book" anything because of weather. I may just identify a couple things that we would like in each area and decide as the weather is fit.

That's the way DH and I are and it works out for us. Rainy days are spent in museums.

Cruise Critic has already been mentioned- go to the Ports of Call section. There's a Board for each city and you'll get tons of recommendations (and non-recommendations) for various excursion companies.

DH and I took a cruise line that's so different they call themselves UnCruise and it was a small ship that got into the places the big ships can't reach. I've done kayaking and snorkeling and hiking (including a cave called El Capitain). I just laughed as I walked through Juneau and Ketchikan (our start and end points) because the streets seemed to be full of people buying gaudy jewelry, high-end outdoor wear, gourmet popcorn or filling up the pubs. Plenty of businesses to accommodate them, too. The Ketchikan public library closed its branch near the port because cruise ship passengers mobbed the place so they could use the free Wi-Fi.

Alaska is amazing; definitely do research ahead of time so you can enjoy its fascinating history and natural beauty.

 

[Lsbcal]

What time period do people here recommend for an Alaskan cruise? I remember hearing about lots of mosquitoes, maybe in the Spring. Then there are all the pesky tourists.

I clipped this from the following link: https://weatherspark.com/averages/33017/Anchorage-Alaska-United-States

 

[MooreBonds]

That's not quite so easy in Alaska, which is why they are willing to wait for you.

Perhaps the other variable is the threat of lawsuits? Alaska, being a US State, could nvolve the US court systems. Even if it's a baseless lawsuit, 12 random people in a jury are sometimes truly random in their verdicts...

Other international ports, combined with the cruise line being flagged under another foreign country, would likely not involve a US court. And it's not always easy to get you from any international port to another with other means, even with buses (and would likely require flights - and you can't just hop on a plane in a foreign country at a moment's notice to get you to the next port the next day, as their flight schedules can be far less frequent than an American or Southwest).

I remember doing a cruise in Europe a number of years ago, where the cruise ship pulled up the plank on-time, and left a woman standing on the dock who was just a few minutes late. Luckily for her, 30 minutes later, after the ship was unable to leave port due to high winds preventing the ship from thrusting away from the dock, they lowered the plank for her and let her board.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

What time period do people here recommend for an Alaskan cruise? I remember hearing about lots of mosquitoes, maybe in the Spring. Then there are all the pesky tourists.

We went in early to mid-September. There was a dusting of snow in Denali Park (guides said it signaled the end of the tourist season). It was dry, so no mosquitoes -- but there was a wildfire near Fairbanks that made the air somewhat hazy. Also, we took a whitewater rafting trip that would have been more thrilling if the river was higher.

Still, it was sunny and bright in Juneau, and it wasn't raining in Ketchikan.

 

[BellBarbara]

We are taking the last cruise, Sept 11 it leaves. We do this mainly to have less kids. We love kids, but ours are all grown. We enjoy traveling while school is in session.

OK you have all convinced me not to pre-book anything. I am fine with this, it's my hub that gets a little antsy.

 

[karen1972]

We went early June, there is a huge price increase around June 15th and we just went the week prior.. if you go then its normally great, zero mosquitos, but we went one year when spring was really late so the salmon were not spawning yet (even though there was a salmon fishing contest ..poor guys). we still had a blast, just had some trails closed due to avalanche conditions, but everything else was running and we saw so much wildlife... though laughed because this poor lady rode the bus in Denali two days in a row, we asked why she came out the second day.. she said she was waiting for a bull moose..and I had to break it to her.. those were bull moose she was seeing .. just too early in spring so the antlers hadn't grown in fully yet.

 

[BellBarbara]

WE decided not to book any excursions but we reserved cars in Skagway and Juneau. If the weather is good, we'll book a tour instead of picking up the cars.

 

[athena53]

We've gone twice in early July and it was wonderful. We were prepared for rain and did have a few drizzly days but mostly sunny and warm enough that we didn't need jackets. ("Bring layers of clothing" is the standard advice.) Never encountered mosquitoes but we did get too close to a nest of bees or wasps on a bushwhacking hike. We didn't stick around to identify the species.

 

[samcat]

We did an Alaskan cruise two years ago. We had four free excursions which were fun but pretty much the cheapest ones offered. I regret not paying for an expensive whale watching tour. A gal showed me photos of the one she went on. She had a once in a lifetime experience seeing whales. If you do something on your own, make sure you are back before the boat leaves. They don't have to wait for you if you don't take one of their excursions.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We went the end of august. No mosquitoes but some rain. We took a whale watching tour and it was awesome.

 

[akidagain2018]

My recommendation is to 'swing for the fences'. If you can swing it, get a suite, eat in reservations required restaurants, and do an excursion in each port, including a flight tour. Also, do a week on land. Best trip, the way to really see something of Alaska and enjoy yourself. Odds are you won't do Alaska a second time, so may as well do it up, It's breathtaking country!

 

[braumeister]

Odds are you won't do Alaska a second time, so may as well do it up, It's breathtaking country!

Don't even think like that!

We did Alaska on a large (over 2,000 pax) ship cruise and had a good time.

A few years later we did it again on a small (48 pax) ship and had a fantastic, wonderful, fabulous time. We also spent a week in Denali as an add-on. Incredibly good experience.

Now, a few more years later, we're planning our third adventure there. This one won't be on a cruise, so we'll be much more on our own. Still so much to see and do in our largest state.

 

[Jerry1]

in our largest state.

 

[DrRoy]

We went in mid May 2007. No bugs, decent temperatures, and much less crowded than later in the season.

 

[akck]

Just finished a 7-night small ship cruise last week and it was great! We had sunny days for most of the trip and saw wildlife and scenery that photos can’t fully capture. One benefit of small ship cruises is that they can go or get closer to places where the larger ships can’t. Also, the service was much more personal, compared to larger ships where you might just be a number.

 

[athena53]

Was it UnCruise? I've taken their Alaskan cruise twice. I love them! (And, if it was, did you go snorkeling or take the Polar Plunge?)