Alaskan cruise and adding days before and after

[Frwinkley]

We are considering an Alaskan cruise, but would like to add additional days in both Seattle and Vancouver. We must fly in and out of Seattle (free flights) but prefer the itinerary offered by sailing from Vancouver round trip. We will not be renting a car in either place and are really only interested in exploring both cities.

Can anyone share their experience with me, including how many days in each city and the cruise line you used?

Thank you!

 

[kdonnel]

We spent 3 days 4 nights post cruise in Seattle a couple years ago after having sailed on Royal Caribbean. We did rent a car though and drove from Vancouver to Seattle. We really needed the car for our Seattle days as well since one day was up in Everett at the Boeing factory. Plus our days in Seattle involved a lot of driving. I guess you could cover the ground using Uber or Lyft but there was no way you could walk to the various places we toured.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I do not know what each of these cities have to offer. But, we sailed Alaska from Anchorage to Vancouver.
The Vancouver itineraries do usually saill the inside channel, and offer good itineraries.
But, I do recommend a one way cruise (we did Southbound on Princess)
You do want to make sure you sail Glacier Bay. And the one-way itineraries will cover so much more.

Which cruise itinerary are you booking?

 

[Frwinkley]

We are considering the following on Holland America: Vancouver, Cruise Inside Passage, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Cruise Inside Passage and Vancouver.

 

[Wishing on a star]

That is great to get both Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm!
I wanted to do the smaller boat excursion to Tracy Arm, but this wasn't possible on our itinerary.
Enjoy!

 

[Pooh2]

We did two nights in downtown Seattle, took Amtrak to Vancouver, 1 night in Vancouver, 7 nights on Disney Wonder, Amtrak back to Seattle, one more night in Seattle then home.

 

[BearFamily]

We did an extra day and night in Vancouver, Princess cruise one-way and a few extra days in Anchorage. We did not rent a car either.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

We’ve done a night before and after cruises in Seattle. I believe it was a Sheraton that we stayed at in 2010. It was right across the street from the pier. Very convenient!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

We cruised in August and ended in Vancouver. Just spent a couple of hours there then rented a car to drive to Seattle. Turned in the car once we got to our hotel in the airport area. Spent 3 nights. Two days in downtown Seattle. Took the Link light rail to get there, very easy. Then walked in the downtown area. We could have done everything we wanted downtown in one day. Chihuly was a must see for us.

We cruised Royal Caribbean one way from Seward to Vancouver on Radiance.

 

[Straitlover]

I know you say no car rental, buy I would consider a one way rental form Vancouver to Seattle. We did that and took a scenic route, very nice drive. We went through the town where they filmed Once Upon a Time, Whidbey island (wish we had time to stop there), Deception Pass, took a car ferry, etc. Here's a link that's in the opposite direction:

SeaTac Car rental to Vancouver via Google maps

 

[wgeo]

We did that this summer. Flew into Seattle, landed midafternoon - took the train downtown - super easy. Explored the town that night - found that fewer things were open after dinner then we would have preferred but did the Underground Seattle Tour and enjoyed it. Spent the entire next day exploring the city doing touristy things. The next morning we took the train to Vancouver, it was very easy although it leaves quite early. My parents took the bus so they could sleep in and while they're scenery was perhaps less exciting on the bus, their overall trip was almost an hour shorter as the train got held up when we got to Vancouver and we had to sit on it for an extended period of time.

In Vancouver we had the afternoon evening of that day and the entire next day before boarding the ship at lunch time on the 3rd day. Overall we LOVED Vancouver and wished we had more time to spend there. Seattle was fine, I'm glad we got to see what we did, but we wouldn't make a point of returning. I am already trying to figure out a way to get back to Vancouver.

Any specific questions let me know.

 

[Frwinkley]

This sounds perfect. Maybe we'd do less time in Seattle and more time in Vancouver. Was your cruise round trip from Vancouver? What cruise line? Highlights? We've only cruised 3 other times--it's not my favorite type of vacation, but seems to be the easiest way to see Alaska. We are less about the ship and sea days and more about the ports.

Thank you!

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We are considering the following on Holland America: Vancouver, Cruise Inside Passage, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Cruise Inside Passage and Vancouver.

We took that cruise (although we went to Sitka) and loved it. Holland America isn't the glizz-iest cruise line, but that's what we loved. It felt more like being on the kind of dignified ship that would take you across the Atlantic in the 40's (not that the ship itself wasn't up to date and clean - it was, just not super-fancy.) Every single member of the crew was helpful and kind. I know I may get flamed for this, but I felt like we were eating in an upscale school cafeteria on the Disney cruise we took. It was noisy and the service we got felt so hurried. The Holland America dining room was the exact opposite - quiet and oriented toward adults. The food was good too. If you can spring for a signature suite, you might want to think about it. The stateroom is a wonderful size, and it was great to be able to take a shower in the morning in a separate shower, and a bath in the evenings - in a whirlpool tub.

Unless you really love shopping, we didn't find that much to do in Ketchikan. We walked around for a little bit, but mostly we rented a cabana for day and it was great - just lounging in a double-lounge, eating the food the staff kept bringing, reading, playing ping pong and jumping in the pool. One of our favorite days. If you're going to go to one of the extra restaurants, you might consider Tamarind. The food and service were something special. The Pinnacle Grill was also nice.

Leaving from and returning to the port in Seattle was very impressive. That port has it together! Everything was easy and efficient. You can leave your bags at the port until 3 pm if you want to take some time to explore Seattle on the day you arrive. Or if you fly home that day, they will deliver your bags directly from your stateroom to the airport.

Hope you have a great time! We'd go back in a minute.

 

[Frwinkley]

Can you tell me what Holland ship you were on? There are 2 that sail round trip from Vancouver; one is significantly smaller than the other.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We were on the Eurodam. We left from Seattle. (And just FYI, Signature Suites 6106 and 6111 in category SZ were less expensive than any others, and were great!)

 

[barkley]

we did the identical itinerary on holland america about 15 years ago. while i wasn't big on the on-board experience it was a visually spectacular cruise. i would like to cruise alaska again but would either do royal caribbean for the on-board activities or celebrity (i did a 3 day out of seattle to victoria b.c. w/them-very luxurious). i would also like to do one where you fly up to alaska first and take a train trip down to ketchikan and work your way back to vancouver (you only get to see a fraction of the beauty on those days in port). we went into vancouver and spent a couple of days ahead of time but we rented a car. as far as seattle goes-there's tons of public transportation options but it can get confusing/exhausting dealing with them. if you decide to stay there i would either opt for lodging near the destinations you want to go to or a hotel that offers a free/low fee shuttle service.

my favorite stop was skagway. dinky little town but gorgeous surroundings. loved the helicopter tour in juneau to the glacier, enjoyed the lumberjack show in ketchikan. dh still speaks fondly of scuba diving in ketchikan (waters are warmer than in northern california b/c of the currents).

 

[bobbiwoz]

With a friend, I am doing a round trip from Seattle in August. We will spend two nights in Seattle before. Sadly we will not do Vancouver but our Victoria stop leaves around midnight, so we will have lots of time in what is my second favorite BC city.

These are our ports on Princess

explore excursions in ports you’ll visit:​ Seattle ❯ Ketchikan ❯ Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier (Scenic Cruising) ❯ Juneau ❯ Skagway ❯ Victoria ❯ Seattle ❯

Explore More​

 

[Frwinkley]

I hate that I'm missing Victoria (have never been, but have only heard fabulous things about it), but such a stop is only available to and from Seattle. I also want to see Vancouver, and could always do a few days in Vancouver separate from the cruise. I've read however, that sailing the inside passage from Vancouver allows you to see much more.