Anyone ever been on a cruise to Alaska? How was it (pleas compare to other cruises if applicable)?
Yes, my wife and I went this last June to celebrate our 25th anniversary and enjoyed it much more than the cruise to the Bahamas that we took on our 10th anniversary.
We cruised on the Celebrity Mercury, and though it is smaller than some of the newest ships, it was really nicely decorated and the food was wonderful. My wife actually teared up at dinner one night because the food was so good. We also really enjoyed the nightclub entertainment. The big theater enterainment was just so-so. The onboard naturalist was way over the top, but he did make learning about Alaska and the wildlife interesting.
Of course an Alaskan cruise is not about beaches or pools. It is about scenery and wildlife. We saw porpoises and humpbacks from the ship. On shore excursions we saw orcas, more humpbacks, Dahl’s Sheep (somewhat like a bighorn sheep) and a black bear.
Our shore excursions were:
In Juneau, we took a photo safari on land & see where we saw the up close views of orcas and humpbacks and a glacier.
In Skagway, we took the U-Drive Jeep tour over white pass into the Yukon were we saw the bear and sheep and a lot of beautiful scenery
In Ketchikan, we went to a Totem Bite State Park where they have accumulated old authentic totem poles and a lodge house.
The demographics of the cruise were quite different than the Bahamian cruise. There were kids and teenagers and there were all ages from 40 to 80 but hardly any 20’s and 30’s.
One thing I forgot to mention above, spring for the cabin with a balcony. It is well worth it for the views.
(also, I do know how to spell sea, it was just a typo.)
My parents just got back from one. They enjoyed it, but I don’t believe they’ll do it again. The main reason is they are just beach/summer people. They have been on many cruises, all of the Jamaica/Bahamas type and I think in their mind a cruise should include swimsuits and pina colada in the ocean. So intellectually they knew what they were doing, it just wasn’t the same for them.
Having said that - it was absolutely beautiful from what I could see. They did enjoy it and I don’t mean to imply otherwise. And as much as they said they wouldn’t do it again, they haven’t stopped talking about the glacier and hearing the cracks and all the vibrant colors, etc…
Second the suggestion to get a room with a good view/balcony. It truly is spectacular.
Yes. What would you like to know?
What’s 20 hours of daylight like?
Unlikely in the portions of the state where cruises are common 
I’ve never taken a traditional cruise in Alaska, but I’m from southeastern Alaska (cruise territory).
Do you have specific questions?
I went maybe 15 years ago, but I highly recommend it. (We did go up to where you get 20 hours of daylight. It’s weird.) We went Holland America (and have taken them for several other cruises) and were very satisfied, even though it does deserve its reputation a little bit for being an old-people cruise line. They have lots of packages where you cruise for half the trip and then go overland, which is what we did - it was Vancouver to Fairbanks. Ship to train to bus through Anchorage and Denali. Very, very nice. I liked that the shore excursions were so flexible - you could go off on your own, you could do a helicopter ride, you could do the Indian village thing, whatever floats your boat. My mom and I did whitewater rafting and my dad hung out at the cabin in Denali the first night, and the second day we all went on the nature tour together. Saw bears and sheep and goats and caribou and every kind of wildlife but moose. Couldn’t see a moose for love nor money.
In other words, if you don’t have to have beaches in your vacation, you’d love an Alaska cruise.
I went on one and it seemed like there was a grand total of 5 people between the ages of 18-25. And one was my brother. So, i found being on board the ship rather boring and spent a lot of time in the casino. But I did enjoy the shore excursions, particularly the glacier trekking.
Try Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). It’s a younger demographic than HA and offers a wider range of excursions, some of which are quite strenuous.
The Alaskan cruise I went on was on a very small ship - about 70 passengers. The cruise company (Lindblad) is aiming for a much closer-to-nature experience than the big ships. Lots of stops at very isolated places the bigger ships wouldn’t and couldn’t stop at - plenty of opportunity for hiking, kayaking, bird watching, etc. They also had four naturalists aboard as well. Probably a more rustic experience than you’d get on Holland or Celebrity or such, and the cabins were tiny, but the service and food were great.
Of course with that small a ship there’s only a limited pool of people to meet, so if that’s one of your goals for the cruise, it would be the wrong way to go.
I get the sense that they’re more expensive than the big boys, but if that sounds up your alley, I’d heartily recommend it.
I’ve never been on any of the big cruises, either in Alaska or elsewhere, so I really can’t personally compare the experiences.
We took a Princess Cruise 6 years ago, in August. We were lucky that the weather was very good, and we got to see glaciers calving in College Fjord. We did the land package to Anchorage, then Denali, then Fairbanks (where there was about 20 hours of sunlight.) I think we enjoyed that part even more than the water part. My only regrets was that the clouds never parted enough to see Denali, and the Northern Lights didn’t come out (though we arranged to be woken if they did.)
We also took the QE2 to France (somewhat boring) and a southern Carribean cruise, stopping at Grenada, Martinique, and cruising up the Orinocco. We did a flight past Angel Falls (which we did see) and then to a camp in the jungle by a lake with seven waterfalls. Quite spectacular, but I preferred Alaska myself.
DH and I have taken two Alaskan cruises. On the first one (on Holland America) he and I were some of the youngest people there (late 30’s/early 40’s). On the second (Princess), there was more age variety.
We’ve also cruised the Mexican Riviera and New England in fall.
I’d rate Alaska FAR better than the Mexican Riviera, and marginally better than New England.
Agreed with springing for at least a window if not a balcony. The views are spectacular.
What is Alaskan weather like in the summer? How disorientating are the long days?
I haven’t been on a cruise, exactly, but a few years ago I took the state ferry up what would be more or less the same route (Bellingham-Ketchikan-Petersburg-Juneau-Skagway-Juneau again), and it’s absolutely beautiful. Little porpoises frolicking along the boat, trees full of bald eagles, great big glaciers, rocks with ancient petroglyphs, all kinds of cool stuff. The towns tend to have strips of tacky souvenir shops that are swarmed with people when the cruise ships are in, but if you can get away from the crowds long enough to do some hiking, they’re good places, and there are some interesting historical museums and stuff.
About the weather: Bring your raingear – it tends to be very wet. I don’t know what it’s like in high summer, but when I was there (May) there was still a bit of snow when you hiked up the mountains, and lots of mud everywhere, so I recommend a good set of boots too.
I grew up there, so it wasn’t at all disorienting for me. Some people have difficulties sleeping with the long days, but if you bring a face mask (if you have trouble sleeping when it’s light out), you should be fine.
In general, the weather in the southeastern part of the state (where the cruises tend to spend the bulk of their time) is likely to be betwee 55 and 70 degrees. It’ll probably rain at least a little - it’s a rain forest after all. It’s warmer and drier on the mainland portion (Anchorage and Fairbanks), but still unlikely to break 90.
I’ll second **Fretful Porpentine ** on recommending the ferries. The food isn’t quite as good, but tickets are less expensive and it’s a great deal more flexible. If you want to get off and play a round of golf, or see some petroglyphs, or take a charter fishing trip (all possible in my hometown), you can do it and take the next ferry to the next destination. 'Course you have to do your own planning and such
Part of the problem with cruises (if you’ll forgive my momentary soapboxing) is that they will only stop at towns who are willing to fork over 25 - 35% of their gross buisness sales on the day the ship is in town, absent extenuating circumstances (state capital, major tourist attraction, etc). Including businesses such as gas stations, grocery stores, hardware stores, and restaurants that only open for dinner (after the ship has departed). For this reason, they don’t stop at many communities. In fact, they typically only really stop at Ketchikan (the first port of call in the state), Juneau (the state capital) and Skagway (willing to pay the bribe).
Why, yes, there’s a lot of bitterness about this in Southeast Alaska. Most businesses simply can’t afford to loose that big a chunk of their revenue and still make ends meet since the economy in those areas tends to be fairly borderline anyway. Even for the stores that depend more heavily on tourist trade, that’s pushing the limits - and grocery stores, gas stations and hardware stores benefit very little on tour ship dollars.
Depends on where you go. Most cruises are just to Southeast Alaska, which is like the rest of the pacific NW in the summer…mild and sunny. The rain and snow happens in the winter.
In the interior it is usually warmer and drier in the summer, 70-80F is the norm.
The long days aren’t disorienting at all. Of course, I grew up in Fairbanks, so I might not be the best person to ask. To get 24 hours of sun you have to above the Arctic circle. Fairbanks is below the arctic circle so the sun sets in midsummer…but it doesn’t get dark. The sky stays light and then you have dawn again with no actual night. So if you want to see the northern lights you’d be better off coming in winter.
Been gone awhile have you? Southeast Alaska is wet, my friends. It’s temperate rainforest.
However, even in the rain, it’s spectacular. I would also recommend taking the ferry system. It’s much more flexible, if you have the time. While the cruise ships stop at many of the towns (as mentioned, with the inclusion of Haines and Sitka), you are generally herded to businesses that provide kickbacks to the cruise line. Many tourists equate touring with buying crappy souvenirs. By the time they’ve made their second stop, they’re full up with the junk and don’t even bother getting off the boat, which is a shame. If you have the time and money, I would recommend taking your car on the ferry, making your stops, and then getting off in Haines and driving back to where you came from.
Eh, maybe I was wrong about SE Alaska.
But that’s how it is down here in the Puget Sound area. We get very little rain in the summer, then 6 months straight of overcast and drizzle.
One more clarification. SE Alaska is really really far away from Fairbanks. If you drive from Fairbanks to Haines you’re already halfway to Seattle. So the climate is totally different in SE than the interior, like the difference between Washington and California. Or Washington and Montana. Anyway, it’s a long way away and a completely different ecology.