Alaskan Cruise ideas.

[Abcdj]

The boss lady wants to look into a Alaskan cruise for next summer. I guess now is the time to book one.
Give us some direction on where to, when to, what to do and what not to do.
She has been on one cruise in her 20s. I have never been on one.

[bklem]

The boss lady wants to look into a Alaskan cruise for next summer. I guess now is the time to book one.
Give us some direction on where to, when to, what to do and what not to do.
She has been on one cruise in her 20s. I have never been on one.

Coach,
I'm not an expert about Alaska cruises but I play one on TV! First, we were booked on one last year (Royal Caribbean) but obviously it got cancelled. Had 28 (14 couples) going. We parlayed our trip to 2022 and are just now deciding on dates. My first word of advice is start your trip in Seward and head southbound. The return flight is much easier that way. Secondly, book in mid July and go up a few days early and catch a day or two of sockeye fishing on the Kenai in Soldotna. Third is a balcony is a must on an Alaskan cruise. Right now our tentative plan is July 22nd departure out of Seward on Radiance of the Seas. Whatever you decide, trust me, Alaska is a not miss deal. Nothing like it.

[RascalArms]

We did a Alaskan 11 day sea-land cruise combo for our 30th wedding anniversary through Princess cruise lines in June ‘18. Even the land portion was on Princess properties. It was a great experience.

We flew into Seattle and spent a couple of days doing some sightseeing there before heading up to Vancouver where we boarded the ship.

Like bklem stated I too highly recommend paying the extra funds for a balcony room. We’ve taken many cruises in the past and I wouldn’t say a balcony view was a deal breaker on most of them....but not Alaska! There’s just so many breathtaken views that you don’t want to miss, trust me.

We were on the Coral Princess with stops and excursions in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, College Fjord and Whittier before starting the land portion throughout Denali NP. The tour through Denali and the train ride from Whittier to Denali were spectacular. I’d do it all over the exact same way again. 2nd best vacation we’ve experienced…2 weeks in Italy still gets the #1 nod.

[RascalArms]

[Mike D]

Alaskan Cruise ideas.

We did a Alaskan 11 day sea-land cruise combo for our 30th wedding anniversary through Princess cruise lines in June ‘18. Even the land portion was on Princess properties. It was a great experience.

We flew into Seattle and spent a couple of days doing some sightseeing there before heading up to Vancouver where we boarded the ship.

Like bklem stated I too highly recommend paying the extra funds for a balcony room. We’ve taken many cruises in the past and I wouldn’t say a balcony view was a deal breaker on most of them....but not Alaska! There’s just so many breathtaken views that you don’t want to miss, trust me.

We were on the Coral Princess with stops and excursions in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, College Fjord and Whittier before starting the land portion throughout Denali NP. The tour through Denali and the train ride from Whittier to Denali were spectacular. I’d do it all over the exact same way again. 2nd best vacation we’ve experienced…2 weeks in Italy still gets the #1 nod.

Sounds just like our experience in reverse. We flew into Fairbanks. Be warned we went the last week in June; it’s hot. Not quite Texas hot but Fairbanks ain’t cold or even cool this time of year.

Fairbanks to Denali to ???, train to Whittier. Then 7 days on the water and end in Vancouver. We stayed an extra day in Vancouver so 12 days total for us.

If we ever go back, we will spend extra days on land. There’s inland things I regret not seeing/doing. Pay extra $$ to go farther into Denali NP instead of just the “free” 8 mile or so excursion that is likely included with your package.

I definitely highly recommend Princess cruises as well. They have their stuff down to a T. Everyone we met was friendly, we had zero bad experiences with anyone we interfaced with at Princess.


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[kerrbow]

Went in 2018 for our 50th anniv. Flew to Seattle, spent the night. Caught the Amtrak train and rode up the coast to Vancouver where we rented a Jeep and caught the ferry to Vancouver Island for a few days. Caught a Princess cruise up to Alaska. Rented a truck and went to Denali for 4 days then down to the Kenai Peninsula to Coopers Landing for 5 days, Next year when the Canada border is back open I am taking my popup truck camper and spending all summer.

[Bassdeer]

We did a 2018 from Vancouver, to Whittier, Alaska,(this was a one way cruise) then spent 3 days in Anchorage and Denali. We cruised on Holland American (Noordam)smaller ship which was nice. We went in July. Have a friend that lives in Juneau and we went fishing with him. Make sure you get a verandah(balcony)doesn't matter port or starboard (we did starboard side) Train ride in Skagway a must. We are planning another one with friends next year as well. Good set of binoculars.

[Hillwhacker]

If you book with Carnival, I have about 3k worth of gift cards that I’d make you a deal on…

[Boomboom]

I’ve done both Seattle to Seattle and Vancouver to Anchorage.

Liked the Vancouver to Anchorage much better. More cruising time, better ports to stop at and the day in Glacier Bay was amazing. We were on Royal Caribbean, end of June to July 4th.

Definitely get a room with a balcony.

[Abcdj]

Thanks for the info so far. Sounds like a grand time. Need to put together a TBH cruise group. I think I would enjoy a equal mix of ship, train and vehical combo.
Keep the ideas and experiences coming.

[Mary]

If you go to Juneau.....do the helicopter / dog sled. We really enjoyed that!

[jimmy]

Our 2020 cruise was canceled so we postponed till May of 2022 on Royal Caribbean. We are waiting to see exactly what the restrictions are now. The cruise lines are saying mandatory COVID vaccination so we may end up just doing a land tour.

[RascalArms]

Sounds just like our experience in reverse. We flew into Fairbanks. Be warned we went the last week in June; it’s hot. Not quite Texas hot but Fairbanks ain’t cold or even cool this time of year.

Fairbanks to Denali to ???, train to Whittier. Then 7 days on the water and end in Vancouver. We stayed an extra day in Vancouver so 12 days total for us.

If we ever go back, we will spend extra days on land. There’s inland things I regret not seeing/doing. Pay extra $$ to go farther into Denali NP instead of just the “free” 8 mile or so excursion that is likely included with your package.

I definitely highly recommend Princess cruises as well. They have their stuff down to a T. Everyone we met was friendly, we had zero bad experiences with anyone we interfaced with at Princess.

Agree with the Princess Cruiselines recommendation. They are very good at what they do with top notch accommodations on both the cruise and land portion. I think we would have liked to do your trip with the land portion first and cruise second Mike. Seems it would have been a little more “relaxing” to be able to enjoy the cruise the last week.
What ship were you guys on Mike?

[dclifton]

I’ve done both Seattle to Seattle and Vancouver to Anchorage.

Liked the Vancouver to Anchorage much better. More cruising time, better ports to stop at and the day in Glacier Bay was amazing. We were on Royal Caribbean, end of June to July 4th.

Definitely get a room with a balcony.

Yep we did seattle to seattle because we didnt really know any better. And we where in a group so thats what they deceided on.

I would never recommend that again. I would do a one way as you spend alot more time on land. I feel like all our group wanted to do was get off the boat and eat something else by the time we got done with that it was time to get back on the dang boat.....

Canada was great alot of pretty women in Victoria. And a beautiful town wish we had more time there. would like to go to Vancouver next.

[tdwinklr]

the only way I would do an Alaskan cruise is if I could get off somewhere for several days and either fish or shoot something large, preferably moose or caribou.