For our vacation this year my wife and I thinking of taking one of those Alaska cruisetours. We got as far as going to a travel agent last year (so I have a bunch of 2009 brochures from various cruiselines) when we had to back out because of family issues. (That and the fact that we didn’t get around to thinking about the trip until it was essentially too late to do it.)
I’m interested in in any and all opinions on the zillion or so options available in taking these cruisetours.
A bit of background: my wife and I are both around 60 years old, but we go to the gym regularly and are in good shape for a couple of geezers. IE, things like walking tours over rough terrain are not a problem for us physically. I like cruises in moderation (being on a 6000-passenger boat is fine, as long as we’re docking somewhere regularly and getting off of the boat to see the sights). We both think the best vacation we ever had was when we went to Hawaii about three years ago (we took one of those cruise boats that maneuvered to a new port every night, let us off each morning to go off on an excursion or two, then picked us up in the evening to feed us and head off to a new port overnight). Neither one of us has ever been to Alaska.
(I should probably mention that the alternative of just taking off on our own and bumming around Alaska for two weeks doesn’t particularly appeal to us. We’re adventurous, but not that adventurous. We like taking off on our own for a day or so, but realistically prefer that someone else take care of the basics.)
The brochures seem to indicate that the basic cruisetour is seven days on a boat (say, Vancouver to Seward) watching whales and icebergs followed by or preceded by three to six days inland seeing sights by train or bus to Denali/Fairbanks. At least one of the cruiselines has alternate packages featuring a three-day cruise (Vancouver to Juneau?) and a longer land-tour portion.
A friend and his wife who are in their 70’s took an Alaska cruise last year and said they loved it. I don’t know the name of the tour company but I can ask if you like. They embarked from Seattle.
I saw the slides of their trip and it looked awesome. It sounds just like you described – whales, Denali, icebergs.
We did an inside passage cruise (Vancouver to Seward) and really enjoyed it. We had previously done some Alaska sightseeing, including a trip to Portage glacier, a ride on the Alaska Railroad, and a boat tour of the Cook Inlet. Between that and the stiff prices for cruise ship excursions, we decided to just walk around each of the ports. We’d go to the visitor center and get a town map and list of sights, then check out the ones that appealed to us. It was fun getting a feel for the towns, and all that walking helped stave off “cruise ship belly.”
You may well want to take some excursions, as the scenery is truly splendid and it’s not something you see elsewhere.
I did this. Took the ferries around from port to port, stayed in hotels at night I wasn’t travelling by ferry. I ended up at most of the same places the cruises went (I ended up at a couple of less cruiseboat friendly cities - their harbors were shallow), but could leave sooner or stay longer if I wanted. There were many retired couples doing the same thing, not just teenage backpackers. I would highly recommend calling a travel agent* have them take care of the basics and doing that.
As far as the cruises, they all seemed to be interchangeable as far as where they stopped and the on shore activities. The on boat activities might be different, but Ketchikan is Ketchikan is Ketchikan and they’d all arrive at the same time, all leave at the same time, and all seemed to use the same on shore tour guides to go to the same places.
Have fun!
*normally, I’m not a travel agent sort of person, I’ve never been anywhere else where a travel agent could have done more for me than I could easily do for myself. But it was surprisingly hard to get information about some of the coastal towns until I was there.
I would second amarinth’s suggestion of using the ferries. Once upon a time, they were heavily booked in advance, especially if you want to take a car. Or, look for one of the lines that uses smaller ships for cruises.
We did exactly this, using Princess. It was pretty good - in fact the interior part, after we got off the boat, was better, not that the boat was bad. We left from Vancouver, and in fact took a ferry to Victoria the day before we left, not staying there, but seeing the gardens and having tea at the hotel. The big plus in doing this was that you don’t have to shlep your luggage around. The minus is that you are a bit limited in options, but it is a good way of seeing a lot of stuff. If we go back again we will definitely do it on our own.
Big, big piece of advice - plan to arrive a day early. We flew from Oakland to Vancouver - not even all that far - and our plane was delayed so much that if we had been planning to get on a cruise that evening we would have missed the sailing. Vancouver is a great place to visit also.
Make sure to get a room with a balcony. If you take the inside passage you will always be in sight of land. Watching the world go by on a balcony is great.
A cruise is a great way to see Alaska. We went two summers ago, but only did the cruise not the land cruisetour. I found the prices of the cruisetour to be kind of high, but the convenience factor might make it worth it for you.
We got inside cabins. Our reasoning is that when we are looking at scenery we like to pop back and forth to both sides of the ship to see what’s going on. Can’t do that on a balcony room. Also, the inside cabins are super cheap! Also, also, the sun sets crazy late in Alaska summers, so NOT having a window was kind of a plus for sleeping purposes. We put the money that could have gone towards a balcony to excursions instead, which I liked very much more.
For the land part of Alaska, we were quite content with hanging out in Anchorage for a day and Seward for a couple of days on our own. We took the train which is a fun experience in and of itself, and very easy to book on your own. Most cruisetours go north of Anchorage to Denali, which while attractive, wasn’t a huge priority for us. A friend said that the busses and the waiting aren’t really worth it. I don’t really know if that is true. We were tempted to do it because, it’s Alaska! and how often are we going to be there. Happily, we were lucky and saw bears in Misty Fjords so we don’t feel we missed out on too much.
We sailed Holland America. I understand that Holland America and Princess are the top cruisetour cruise lines. Holland America skews older. (We’re in our 30’s but the boat full of grey and white hair didn’t bother us. We’re kind of old on the inside anyway). We like the food on Holland America so we stick with that.
My mom and I went, about 9 years ago (man, it doesn’t seem that long!) We did the Princess land tour + cruise. We chose the land tour first and the cruise after - it turned out the be the best choice for a couple of reasons: One, the land tour is tiring, there is a lot of bus riding because we went all the way to Prudhoe Bay, which was 100% worth it. So it was nice to relax on the cruise ship, get a massage and mani/pedi on the first day! Two, the same people who are on the land tour with you, where you’ve all shared a bus and the same experiences for a week, are on the cruise ship with you too! So the friends you’ve already made are on the ship to share experiences with and you can visit each other’s rooms and party together in the evenings and such. One couple actually had a 2-bedroom suite on the ship and they invited everyone from the land tour for get-togethers. It was so much fun!
We went all the way - had a balcony cabin of our own, and did an extra excursion every day while on the ship. Yes, the ship does the main travelling at night, arrives at port in the morning, and then releases the tourists for the day onto land, where you can just wander about town or choose extra $$ tours. All the tours we did were really worth the extra dough, but probably added a good $2500 to the trip.
The cruise excursion I remember best I did without my mom because she didn’t want to take too many small plane trips (she hates planes, but did one to the fjords that was soooo totally worth her terror!). We were at the Juneau port, and the trip was a floatplane flight to Taku Lodge. I’ll never forget it. I was the only person not doubled-up that day, and I got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat for the flight in and out from the lodge. It was an amazing day! It was the “Flight and Feast” tour, and 2 black bears made an appearance after lunch, to lick the salmon drippings out of the giant grill pit.
Whatever you choose to do for your trip to Alaska, you will NOT regret a moment!
We went in the middle of August, that’s the only thing I might have changed. The sun was setting around 10-11pm, and the salmon run was pretty much over. I would have liked to see the salmon running and still alive, where at the time we went in August the salmon left to see were lethargic and dying. That was the only downside, though, and since it’s the course of nature it’s not like it was unexpected.
My wife and I went on such a cruise about four years ago. We were with our three children, their spouses and what were then 4 grandchildren. We had an outside cabin. From Seattle, we went up the inside passage to places like Juneau, Ketchikan, and a couple other places on the coast, from which we disembarked to take bus tours, one train trip, or just wander around. Then we went to Glacier Bay, which was the highlight of the trip. Amazingly, it was completely blocked by glaciers 200 years ago, but open early in the millennium (not only did the Inuit claim so, but the remains of their settlements have been found). On the way back, we make at least one more stop in Alaska and then stopped in Victoria (at least one foreign port of call was required for legal reasons; a foreign carrier (Holland-America, IIRC) cannot cruise only between US ports. A baby was born to a passenger in a Victoria hospital, incidentally. Then back to Seattle. We enjoyed it thoroughly, but the family made it super.
Part of what I love cruising is the whole “mobile hotel” aspect of it. The Cruisetours sounded like a PITA to me compared to a regular cruise because now you are going places and doing things off the boat for days straight, so you are back to humping luggage around, packing, unpacking, moving, etc.
This is exactly what I hope to avoid by going on a cruise. I wanna get on the boat, let it drive me around for little day trips to wherever, then go home. Pack and unpack once.
You do have to pack and unpack, but no humping. You put your bags out in the morning, and they magically appear at your next destination. Really makes you feel rich.
Did the Princess thing up to Denali and then down the coast to Vancouver with stops in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway. The Alaskan Railroad is incredible.
The 7 day Holland America cruise was great. The only excursion which was a disappointment was the semisubmersible. It sounds way cool, but the only sights were kelp and starfish.
I’ve never done the cruise, but lived in Alaska for many years. I just wanted to add that you’ll have a great time as long as you don’t have your heart set on seeing Denali (the mountain itself). It generates its own climate and is cloud-shrouded more often than not. Still, the trip will be worth it. Definitely get off the boat and do some hiking and exploring on your own. Cruise lines are in cahoots with a lot of local businesses in those towns and will try to steer you to partner restaurants, etc. I would avoid most of those and find your own.
We didn’t see it - and they were very clear that seeing it was rare. We also didn’t see the Northern Lights, though I thought it was cool that you could have the desk of the hotel in Fairbanks call you in the middle of the night if they showed up.
We did have beautiful weather in August, and got to see a glacier calve right in front of us, so I’m not complaining.