Alaska Cruise - turns out it's on grandma's bucket list - new question in post 74

[sayhello]

i didn't realize the victoria stop is on the way back - i wasn't looking at the schedule when we were on the phone together..
she was basing what she decided on what's on the DCL website now, which i assume is already updated for the 2012 cruises (since the 2011 cruises are over aren't they?)

she compared the excursion times to the itinerary times listed for the cruises she's considering (one of the cruises in july 2012)..

someone mentioned that in 2013, DCL may return to vancouver as the starting point....is there an advantage/disadvantage to starting in seattle?

of course, one disadvantage i suppose is missing out on vancouver itself...though on the other hand, in that case you miss out on seattle...

Really the only advantage to Seattle (besides, as you say, seeing Seattle) is that the round trip airfare from the United States is generally much cheaper to Seattle than to Vancouver). And I believe you don't have to go through the same sort of customs that you would in & out of Vancouver. Although it sounds like you're not from the US, so those really wouldn't apply to you.

But the route from Seattle to Alaska is not as nice as the route from Vancouver (if you look at the map on DCL's website, they take the outside route rather than the route between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The outside route is not as scenic, and is much rougher.)

No-one but DCL knows for sure what will be happening with the Wonder & Alaska for 2013 yet. Anything you hear is just rumors & conjecture at this point.

Sayhello

 

[disneyholic family]

Really the only advantage to Seattle (besides, as you say, seeing Seattle) is that the round trip airfare from the United States is generally much cheaper to Seattle than to Vancouver). And I believe you don't have to go through the same sort of customs that you would in & out of Vancouver. Although it sounds like you're not from the US, so those really wouldn't apply to you.

But the route from Seattle to Alaska is not as nice as the route from Vancouver (if you look at the map on DCL's website, they take the outside route rather than the route between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The outside route is not as scenic, and is much rougher.)

No-one but DCL knows for sure what will be happening with the Wonder & Alaska for 2013 yet. Anything you hear is just rumors & conjecture at this point.

Sayhello

that's really interesting about the inside/outside route...
in fact, she read a trip report to me (over the phone) that said the reason she liked the DCl cruise so much better than the princess cruise to alaska she'd been on was because of that inside route...

hmmm....i'd better go look at the map..

 

[disneyholic family]

i just looked at the route on DCL's website and i see what you mean by the outside route....you're definitely out there in open water...

i wonder if there are any cruise lines that take the inside route...

off to check the internet...

 

[sayhello]

that's really interesting about the inside/outside route...
in fact, she read a trip report to me (over the phone) that said the reason she liked the DCl cruise so much better than the princess cruise to alaska she'd been on was because of that inside route...

hmmm....i'd better go look at the map..

That was when DCL left from Vancouver.

Sayhello

 

[NancyIL]

i just looked at the route on DCL's website and i see what you mean by the outside route....you're definitely out there in open water...

i wonder if there are any cruise lines that take the inside route...

off to check the internet...

Look for cruises that depart from Vancouver, although most of them are one-ways. HAL, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity have one-ways between Alaska (Seward or Whittier) and Vancouver. HAL also does roundtrips from Vancouver on the Zuiderdam and the Volendam in 2012.

 

[sayhello]

i just looked at the route on DCL's website and i see what you mean by the outside route....you're definitely out there in open water...

i wonder if there are any cruise lines that take the inside route...

off to check the internet...

So far, none of the routes that I've looked at round-trip from Seattle do. Here's one roundtrip from Vancouver with Holland America (and this one includes Glacier Bay). I'm not sure what the age-range of folks on this cruise would be. I know generally Holland America has an older demographic, but that may have changed.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-...ths=1&durationCode=&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=

There are a lot of one-way cruises that take the Inside route, on Princess, Holland America and Royal Caribbean.

Sayhello

 

[disneyholic family]

thanks - i was just looking at celebrity (probably too old a crowd for them) and RCCL...
they're both much much cheaper than the disney cruise..
they could get concierge for the price of a regular room on DCL...

is DCL really worth paying twice the price?

 

[sayhello]

thanks - i was just looking at celebrity (probably too old a crowd for them) and RCCL...
they're both much much cheaper than the disney cruise..
they could get concierge for the price of a regular room on DCL...

is DCL really worth paying twice the price?

That's a hard question; depends on your definition of "worth it". Personally, I don't think so. I did my Alaskan cruise on Princess, and totally loved it (I combined the cruise with a land tour for a cruisetour. FABULOUS!). I did DCL to the Med, and it was nice, but not twice as nice. The only advantage DCL had for me was the Adventures by Disney add-on. And there's no indication I've seen so far that they're repeating the Alaska add-on for 2012.

Sayhello

 

[NancyIL]

thanks - i was just looking at celebrity (probably too old a crowd for them) and RCCL...
they're both much much cheaper than the disney cruise..
they could get concierge for the price of a regular room on DCL...

is DCL really worth paying twice the price?

Alaska cruises attract a largely older demographic on all cruise lines - with the exception of DCL. Even Carnival isn't a party boat in Alaska! Pick your itinerary first, and ship second.

 

[disneyholic family]

That's a hard question; depends on your definition of "worth it". Personally, I don't think so. I did my Alaskan cruise on Princess, and totally loved it (I combined the cruise with a land tour for a cruisetour. FABULOUS!). I did DCL to the Med, and it was nice, but not twice as nice. The only advantage DCL had for me was the Adventures by Disney add-on. And there's no indication I've seen so far that they're repeating the Alaska add-on for 2012.

Sayhello

thanks so much for your responses, as it's really really helpful!!

what was your itinerary on the princess? are there any places you missed that you wished you could have seen?

Alaska cruises attract a largely older demographic on all cruise lines - with the exception of DCL. Even Carnival isn't a party boat in Alaska! Pick your itinerary first, and ship second.

that's an important point for her - she'll have to determine the importance of that...how important fun on the boat is vs alaska..
if you were picking your ideal alaska cruise itinerary, what would it be?

 

[disneyholic family]

she found one that sounds nice - a one way 7 night cruise on RCCL from Vancouver to Seward, Alaska. (sailing out of Vancouver via the inside passage)

the itinerary is:
Day 1 - Vancouver........................Depart at 4:30
Day 2 - Inside Passage (cruising)
Day 3 - Ketchikan.........................7:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Day 4 - Icy Straight Point..............9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Day 5 - Juneau............................7:00 AM to 8:30 PM
Day 6 - Skagway..........................7:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Day 7 - Hubbard Glacier (cruising)....7:00 AM to 11:00AM
Day 8 - Seward, Alaska..................Arrive 4:00 AM

 

[NancyIL]

that's an important point for her - she'll have to determine the importance of that...how important fun on the boat is vs alaska..
if you were picking your ideal alaska cruise itinerary, what would it be?

It depends on how much time she has! My most recent cruise was a 14-night roundtrip on HAL Amsterdam from Seattle: http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-...voyageCode=A221&webItineraryIdForAudit=ALS214 Unfortunately, in 2012 the ship will cruise to the west of Vancouver Island in both directions.

she found one that sounds nice - a one way 7 night cruise on RCCL from Vancouver to Seward, Alaska. (sailing out of Vancouver via the inside passage)

the itinerary is:
Day 1 - Vancouver........................Depart at 4:30
Day 2 - Inside Passage (cruising)
Day 3 - Ketchikan.........................7:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Day 4 - Icy Straight Point..............9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Day 5 - Juneau............................7:00 AM to 8:30 PM
Day 6 - Skagway..........................7:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Day 7 - Hubbard Glacier (cruising)....7:00 AM to 11:00AM
Day 8 - Seward, Alaska..................Arrive 4:00 AM

This is a very good itinerary - going to 4 ports and 1 glacier. Also check that ship's southbound itinerary to see which has the better port times. Radiance of the Seas just went through a major dry dock last May, and that's my favorite class of Royal Caribbean ship.

Princess's one-ways go to 3 ports and 2 glaciers, and their southbound cruises go to both Glacier Bay (RCI and Celebrity don't go there) and Hubbard Glacier. For that reason, that would be my top recommendation on any of Princess's ships: Diamond, Sapphire, Coral, or Island.

If she chooses a one-way, I strongly suggest she do a land trip to see more of the Alaskan interior before or after the cruise. I did two land trips with a rental car, and sayhello did a Princess cruisetour.

**I just checked Radiance of the Seas' southbound itinerary, and I prefer those port times over the northbound's:

Day 1 Seward, Alaska 8:00 PM
Day 2 Hubbard Glacier (Cruising) 2:00 PM 6:00 PM Cruising
Day 3 Juneau, Alaska 9:00 AM 9:00 PM Docked
Day 4 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM Docked
Day 5 Icy Strait Point, Alaska 7:00 AM 4:00 PM Tendered
Day 6 Ketchikan, Alaska 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked
Day 7 Inside Passage (Cruising) Cruising
Day 8 Vancouver, British Columbia 7:00 AM

For what it's worth, this is Princess's southbound itinerary that goes to Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier: http://www.princess.com/find/itiner...&definition_name=&bID=PCPB&itinPort=&tourIds=

Itinerary: Port Arrival Departure
1 Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska 8:30 PM
2 Hubbard Glacier, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 3:00 PM 8:00 PM
3 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 10:30 AM 8:30 PM
4 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM
5 Juneau, Alaska 6:30 AM 4:00 PM
6 Ketchikan, Alaska 10:00 AM 6:00 PM
7 At Sea
8 Vancouver, British Columbia 7:30 AM

 

[disneyholic family]

It depends on how much time she has! My most recent cruise was a 14-night roundtrip on HAL Amsterdam from Seattle: http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-...voyageCode=A221&webItineraryIdForAudit=ALS214 Unfortunately, in 2012 the ship will cruise to the west of Vancouver Island in both directions.


This is a very good itinerary - going to 4 ports and 1 glacier. Also check that ship's southbound itinerary to see which has the better port times. Radiance of the Seas just went through a major dry dock last May, and that's my favorite class of Royal Caribbean ship.

Princess's one-ways go to 3 ports and 2 glaciers, and their southbound cruises go to both Glacier Bay (RCI and Celebrity don't go there) and Hubbard Glacier. For that reason, that would be my top recommendation on any of Princess's ships: Diamond, Sapphire, Coral, or Island.

If she chooses a one-way, I strongly suggest she do a land trip to see more of the Alaskan interior before or after the cruise. I did two land trips with a rental car, and sayhello did a Princess cruisetour.

**I just checked Radiance of the Seas' southbound itinerary, and I prefer those port times over the northbound's:

Day 1 Seward, Alaska 8:00 PM
Day 2 Hubbard Glacier (Cruising) 2:00 PM 6:00 PM Cruising
Day 3 Juneau, Alaska 9:00 AM 9:00 PM Docked
Day 4 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM Docked
Day 5 Icy Strait Point, Alaska 7:00 AM 4:00 PM Tendered
Day 6 Ketchikan, Alaska 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked
Day 7 Inside Passage (Cruising) Cruising
Day 8 Vancouver, British Columbia 7:00 AM

For what it's worth, this is Princess's southbound itinerary that goes to Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier: http://www.princess.com/find/itiner...&definition_name=&bID=PCPB&itinPort=&tourIds=

Itinerary: Port Arrival Departure
1 Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska 8:30 PM
2 Hubbard Glacier, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 3:00 PM 8:00 PM
3 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 10:30 AM 8:30 PM
4 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM
5 Juneau, Alaska 6:30 AM 4:00 PM
6 Ketchikan, Alaska 10:00 AM 6:00 PM
7 At Sea
8 Vancouver, British Columbia 7:30 AM

wow! thanks for all that!!
i have a courtesy hold for her on the RCCL northbound cruise (24 hour no deposit hold) as i was able to find a starboard verandah room (there were only 3 left on the cruise)..

i looked on the southbound cruise, but they have no port side verandah rooms available....maybe if i call them they might have something?

i see what you mean about the better times..

and thinking about it, if they want to do a few days on land, it makes sense to do it before the cruise and then let the cruise be the big finish...

i've been copying and pasting all the answers from here and sending them to her, so i'll do the same with this one...

your last answer about picking the itinerary first made sense to her and convinced her to go with RCCL....plus she likes the fact that the ship has a covered swimming pool - useful for that chilly weather..

i'm off to check out princess

 

[NancyIL]

wow! thanks for all that!!
i have a courtesy hold for her on the RCCL northbound cruise (24 hour no deposit hold) as i was able to find a starboard verandah room (there were only 3 left on the cruise)..

i looked on the southbound cruise, but they have no port side verandah rooms available....maybe if i call them they might have something?

i see what you mean about the better times..

and thinking about it, if they want to do a few days on land, it makes sense to do it before the cruise and then let the cruise be the big finish...

i've been copying and pasting all the answers from here and sending them to her, so i'll do the same with this one...

your last answer about picking the itinerary first made sense to her and convinced her to go with RCCL....plus she likes the fact that the ship has a covered swimming pool - useful for that chilly weather..

i'm off to check out princess

I have never had a balcony cabin in 4 Alaska cruises, and I don't think it's that important whether you have a port or starboard side one. There is land on both sides of the ship for much of the journey, but you aren't that close to it until you get closer to Vancouver. I think the best viewing is from the front of the ship to see what's ahead of you (and you should be dressed very warmly for this!) or from a top deck to get a 360-degree view.

**I just wanted to add that I was "Alaskaed out" after my last cruise in August. But after reading this thread and posting about various itineraries, I'm now thinking ahead to a southbound cruise in 2013! If I do the last Radiance one in September, the cruise following that is a repo to Honolulu, followed by a repo to Sydney, Australia!

One more suggestion: if your daughter chooses Radiance of the Seas, I highly recommend going on a whale watch in Icy Strait Point. The town of Hoonah is very small, but it's a great area to see whales. I went with F.I.S.H.E.S.: http://www.visithoonah.com/fishes/ Juneau is another great port for whale watching, but there are a lot of other things to do in Juneau that you can't do in ISP.

I might as well recommend Chilkoot Charters in Skagway for great rail/bus excursions on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad: http://chilkootcharters.com/; http://www.wpyr.com/

 

[sayhello]

thanks so much for your responses, as it's really really helpful!!

what was your itinerary on the princess? are there any places you missed that you wished you could have seen?

My itinerary was a one-way Southbound cruise with Princess. Whittier to Vancouver. Very similar to what NancyIL posted, except we did College Fjord instead of Hubbard glacier. I haven't been to Hubbard, but I've heard it's excellent. Glacier Bay was one of the highlights of the cruise, and, in my opinion, a really good reason to choose Princess over the others.

Princess's one-ways go to 3 ports and 2 glaciers, and their southbound cruises go to both Glacier Bay (RCI and Celebrity don't go there) and Hubbard Glacier. For that reason, that would be my top recommendation on any of Princess's ships: Diamond, Sapphire, Coral, or Island.

If she chooses a one-way, I strongly suggest she do a land trip to see more of the Alaskan interior before or after the cruise. I did two land trips with a rental car, and sayhello did a Princess cruisetour.

For what it's worth, this is Princess's southbound itinerary that goes to Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier: http://www.princess.com/find/itiner...&definition_name=&bID=PCPB&itinPort=&tourIds=

Itinerary: Port Arrival Departure
1 Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska 8:30 PM
2 Hubbard Glacier, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 3:00 PM 8:00 PM
3 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (Scenic Cruising) 10:30 AM 8:30 PM
4 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM
5 Juneau, Alaska 6:30 AM 4:00 PM
6 Ketchikan, Alaska 10:00 AM 6:00 PM
7 At Sea
8 Vancouver, British Columbia 7:30 AM

I really LOVED the cruisetour! Princess has some really lovely lodges that are wonderfully maintained, in some great locations. They also have private railroad cars with domed windows for any portions on the Alaskan Railway. If she's doing a one-way, it would be criminal not to do some inland traveling first. My tour included Fairbanks, Denali National Park (2 locations) and the Kenai Penninsula (gorgeous!) If your daughter does the RCCI cruise that ends in Seward, that is on the Kenai Penninsula, and you can get a lot of great day cruises to see the Kenai Fjords, which I HIGHLY recommend!

I also recommend doing the land portion first, then the cruise. We spoke to lots of people at the lodges, in the process of doing it in the opposite direction, and they all wished someone had told them to do the land portion first. The land portion is wonderful, but it's a lot of early mornings and moving from lodge to lodge, and getting a lot of your own meals. It's really nice to then move into your cruise cabin, and be pampered for the rest of the trip.

wow! thanks for all that!!
i have a courtesy hold for her on the RCCL northbound cruise (24 hour no deposit hold) as i was able to find a starboard verandah room (there were only 3 left on the cruise)..

i looked on the southbound cruise, but they have no port side verandah rooms available....maybe if i call them they might have something?

i see what you mean about the better times..

and thinking about it, if they want to do a few days on land, it makes sense to do it before the cruise and then let the cruise be the big finish...

i've been copying and pasting all the answers from here and sending them to her, so i'll do the same with this one...

your last answer about picking the itinerary first made sense to her and convinced her to go with RCCL....plus she likes the fact that the ship has a covered swimming pool - useful for that chilly weather..

i'm off to check out princess

I sailed on the Coral Princess, and had a starboard cabin on a southbound cruise, and really didn't feel like I "missed out" on anything. Both sides of the ship have lovely scenery for most of the trip. When we did glacier bay, the captain spent half the time with one side of the ship facing the glacier, and then turned the ship around so the other side got a chance. I spent the first part up on deck, then the second half on my balcony. It was wonderful. I highly recommend a balcony for Alaska. There's so much to see at almost all times, and it was nice to be able to hang out there, get warm by bipping into my cabin, order hot coffee, etc.

Sayhello

 

[NancyIL]

I really LOVED the cruisetour! Princess has some really lovely lodges that are wonderfully maintained, in some great locations. They also have private railroad cars with domed windows for any portions on the Alaskan Railway. If she's doing a one-way, it would be criminal not to do some inland traveling first. My tour included Fairbanks, Denali National Park (2 locations) and the Kenai Penninsula (gorgeous!) If your daughter does the RCCI cruise that ends in Seward, that is on the Kenai Penninsula, and you can get a lot of great day cruises to see the Kenai Fjords, which I HIGHLY recommend!

I also recommend doing the land portion first, then the cruise. We spoke to lots of people at the lodges, in the process of doing it in the opposite direction, and they all wished someone had told them to do the land portion first. The land portion is wonderful, but it's a lot of early mornings and moving from lodge to lodge, and getting a lot of your own meals. It's really nice to then move into your cruise cabin, and be pampered for the rest of the trip.

I take issue with Princess's cruisetours, because far too many do the Natural History Tour at Denali. Also, the McKinley Princess Lodge is in the middle of nowhere...about 50 miles from Talkeetna. At least RCI's cruisetours stay at the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge in Talkeetna. However, I loved the Coral Princess!

Both of my independent land trips were after northbound cruises, and I didn't find them particularly tiring. That's because I had a rental car and could come and go on my schedule, rather than conform to the bus driver's schedule.

 

[sayhello]

I take issue with Princess's cruisetours, because far too many do the Natural History Tour at Denali. Also, the McKinley Princess Lodge is in the middle of nowhere...about 50 miles from Talkeetna. At least RCI's cruisetours stay at the Talkeetna Alaska Lodge in Talkeetna. However, I loved the Coral Princess!

Both of my independent land trips were after northbound cruises, and I didn't find them particularly tiring. That's because I had a rental car and could come and go on my schedule, rather than conform to the bus driver's schedule.

Personally, I really, really enjoyed the Natural History Tour. We saw tons of wildlife, and had some nice stops to get out & see the scenery. I understand why some people prefer the longer tour, but I was perfectly happy. We just got there way too late to do the longer tour. And it's true the McKinley Lodge is in the middle of nowhere, but the view of Mt. Denali from the Lodge is TOTALLY worth it!

Sayhello

 

[disneyholic family]

thanks to both of you so much for all the information!!!..

well, right after you mentioned the southbound cruise having better times, DD tried her luck with the southbound cruise again, and wonder of wonders, one lone midship port side balcony stateroom popped up!!!
i guess someone must have cancelled, as it was the only one and it hadn't been there the other times we checked..

so she just put down a deposit on that cruise - the southbound RCCL...
she also likes the times better and agrees with you that touring before the cruise is nice, as it will probably tire them out a bit, so they'll have the first glacier day of the cruise to rest up before the port days...

as the deposit is 100% refundable, she's still going to look into the princess cruises..

thanks so very very much for all your tips...she's busy researching what she wants to do on the pre-cruise portion....so i understand you both think she should look into visiting denali and takeetna....and also the kenai peninsula if possible..

 

[NancyIL]

Personally, I really, really enjoyed the Natural History Tour. We saw tons of wildlife, and had some nice stops to get out & see the scenery. I understand why some people prefer the longer tour, but I was perfectly happy. We just got there way too late to do the longer tour. And it's true the McKinley Lodge is in the middle of nowhere, but the view of Mt. Denali from the Lodge is TOTALLY worth it!

Sayhello

Just as some cruise itineraries are better than others - the same is true with cruisetours. I'm glad you enjoyed the NHT, but you don't know what you missed by not going further into the park. Your photos of Mt. Denali are lovely, but I'd rather stay an extra night at the Denali Princess and have time for the Tundra Wilderness Tour (or the longer shuttle buses) than have only 1 night there plus a night at the McKinley Princess. Princess does have a few cruisetours that I recommended to my in-laws, but they were longer ones that spent 2 nights each at Fairbanks, Denali, Copper River, and Kenai. The people on the shorter cruisetours are exhausted from 1 night each in 3 or 4 different places.

 

[NancyIL]

thanks to both of you so much for all the information..

well, right after you mentioned the southbound cruise having better times, DD tried her luck with the southbound cruise again, and wonder of wonders, one lone midship port side balcony stateroom popped up!!!
i guess someone must have cancelled, as it was the only one and it hadn't been there the other times we checked..

so she just put down a deposit on that cruise - the southbound RCCL...
she also likes the times better and agrees with you that touring before the cruise is nice, as it will probably tire them out a bit, so they'll have the first glacier day of the cruise to rest up before the port days...

as the deposit is 100% refundable, she's still going to look into the princess cruises..

thanks so very very much for all your tips...she's busy researching what she wants to do on the pre-cruise portion....so i understand you both think she should look into visiting denali and takeetna....and also the kenai peninsula if possible..

That's great! Whether your daughter decides to do a land trip through the cruise line or rent a car and tour independently - she'll have a great time. If she decides to go the rental car route, I STRONGLY suggest reserving the car ASAP. They tend to be very expensive in Alaska, although when I reserved my car a year in advance, I got a very good rate.

For a one-time trip, I'd spend 2 or 3 nights near Denali National Park and take the shuttle bus at least to the Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66 of the park road (http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/visiting-denali.htm). A night or two in Seward would be great, too. The most scenic section of the Alaska railroad is between Anchorage and Seward - even prettier than the view from the road.