Alaskan Cruise

My wife wants to take an Alaskan Cruise - I don't. It looks like free food, expensive drinks and a lot extra charges. One website said the initial cost of the cruise is only about 25% of what you will end up spending.
I'd be interested to hear about other people's experiences.

Jeff

I took the Alaskan Cruise this past August. My fiancé and I had a Deluxe Suite and handicap room. We also had motorized chair to help us get around.

There weren't too many amenities that we had to pay extra for. I think we ended up getting 2 six packs of Coke and a few meals in the room. The Coke was extra but the meals didn't cost us.

Excursions were expensive but that's part of the trip. After booking two photo excursions I was told they were cancelled because of my wheelchair. Oh well there were other things to do.

All in all it was a great trip and well worth the money. I'm not a big drinker so that saved us. In town we went to a few restaurants for King Crab averaging about $50 each per person.

If I ever took another trip to Alaska I'd go in June or July. It got cold and was cloudy or rainy ever day.

Not what you want but our Alaskan cruise:

Yes, yes and yes!
I have gone on 2 just sorry I haven't gone on 3!
On the ship, you pay extra for the booze.
The off ship excursions cost extra, but you don't have to go!
I have taken the train up that old White Pass twice.
Still haven't found any gold.
I have seen my SIL throw up in a new hat while on a helo ride to a glacier.
Oh yes, listen to your wife.

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad - Skagway, Alaska – Alaska's most popular Shore Excursion

There are a lot of offerings for AK cruises. Look for package deals that include excursions, drinks and even airfare. Don't overlook starting or ending in Vancouver, BC. For shore excursions research providers in each port, other than those used by the cruise company. Also, do on line research for what to do ashore that doesn't require a guide. There are some cool things that you may want to spend the bucks on such as an airplane tour over a glacier or a floatplane fishing trip. With both big and little ships, different ports, and different lengths of cruise you should be able to find a cruise you can both enjoy and afford. Remember though, that you will have overcast, cool weather even in the summer months. Have fun.

If my wife and I thought we could afford a cruise I would do in a heartbeat. You only live once.

Do it while you can. Don't regret it later.

BearBio said:

Not what you want but our Alaskan cruise:

Click to expand...

Valdez? Homer?

We went on one, loved it.

I personally would like to go again, but on a smaller ship, and the one we went on was not a huge one.

Service was great, and you can spend as much extra money or not as you want. Plenty to do on ship, free to walk around the towns, and lots of beautiful views.

I'd give a limb to do the Inside Passage cruise and the railway excursion.

It can never happen now, but I would love it.

There is another way:

You go on the ships owned by the State of Alaska...The Alaska Marine Highway.

They are more genuine. They have decent cafeteria food, clean rooms, Forest Service Guides. The cost is less. You book in early January. We have done it twice.

Start from Bellingham, WA. ( They have an airport, or you can shuttle from SeaTac. )

Here is the idea... You want to see the route up thru the Canadian Gulfs, the Dodd Narrows, the 300 miles of Vancouver Island and its camps. The whales. Then crossing the Queen Charlotte Straight. Then the Inside Passage coming to Ketchikan, Wrangel, Petersburg, then Juneau. You can go up to Skagway. We always like going to Sitka.

The cruise ships dump you in these towns with a crowd to buy trinkets, then they travel mostly at night, so you miss Southeast Alaska. The Ferry goes any hour of its schedule. They must have 5 or more ships.

But it is how you do it that makes it fun: You ride to say, Ketchikan. Get off to a local B&B/Hotel. All on foot. Stay a day and enjoy the town. Catch another boat going North. Try and stay in Petersburg as it is a European-Settler -Based fishing village. ( Eat Halibut!)

Then North to Juneau. Great museum and glacier. Tram Ride, helicopter ride to glacier...it is 100 miles long.

Decide: north or west or both, but Sitka is a must. It has the now State run Sheldon Jackson Museum of the Tlinket Culture including many Totem Poles.

You can fly back to Seattle or take the boat. The best time to reserve is when they release the schedule in January. You book ship...book B&B, book ship, boat B&B. May thru August is best.

Much less focus on booze and casinos. You see a lot more. The big cruise boats can not get to Petersburg.

We also did this once on an old classic Holland America ship, and the best was when I purchased Nomad, a 40 foot trawler in Juneau and drove it home to Orcas Island, WA

(photo in my edit: )




Want a heart warming book about a family, eventually a widow lady raising her kids on their fishing boat near Petersburg? This is a good read to understand the Southeast culture. Take it along!

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Following-Alaskan-Marilyn-Jordan-George/dp/0967163919[/ame]

If you have the time and feel adventurous, drive up on the Alaska Highway (stop at Liard Hot Springs), tour around, then put the car on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry and cruise back. We didn't have a reservation, couldn't get a cabin aboard, and slept on the covered observation deck. Had a great time.

Alaska Marine Highway System - Official site of the
Alaska DOT&PF




Our bedroom.

Went off-season from Sept. to Nov. and were about the only tourists there. Found most Alaskans we met were a wonderfully eccentric lot, and often wanted to invite us for a meal of game meat and a few drinks. Felt like the old frontier days and they were the settlers.

My wife and I have been on four Alaskan cruises on the inside passage in the past 10 years. We are discussing taking a fifth this spring with my best friend and his wife.

I was absolutely against going the first time and fussed and pouted the whole trip to the ship. I ended eating crow because it turned out to be the best vacation I've ever had and I readily agreed to go on subsequent Alaskan cruises. I highly recommend it.

I have probably been on 10 different cruises including to Alaska. The total cost of a cruise can add up: air fare, drinks, specially dinning, shore excursions, souvenirs etc. When we went to Alaska 2008 we never did any of the ship shore excursions, you could walk into the towns from where the ship docked and with a guide book see most all the interesting areas.

I can honestly say that all the cruises I have been on were worth the price, traveling really broadens your out look on the world.

I'm signed up for two more this coming spring.

B. Mower

Our only trip to Alaska was about 15 years ago. We did not do a cruise. We flew into Anchorage and rented a van and drove around. We put 2500 miles on the van in 12 days and had no itinerary. The local motels we stayed in were reasonably priced. We spent 3 days in Homer and went Halibut fishing. We saw whales while fishing and sea otters outside our room on the Homer spit. We also went on a dinner cruise in Seward that was very affordable. It included a salmon dinner that was great and in a restaurant would have cost more than the cost of the cruise. We saw seals and walrus on that cruise. We saw moose, bear, mountain goats and other critters while driving around. The main expenses of the whole trip was the air fare and the rental on the van.

If you go on an Alaskan cruise/trip, try to get on the first or second one at the start of the season. I retired in April and we went on our Alaskan cruise in May. That early in the season, there are no leaves on the trees and bushes which is a big advantage. We saw more animals than you can imagine! The animals would move into the foliage to "get away" but after moving in the foliage about two or three feet, they would stop and look back. Since there were no leaves, they were still clearly visible so we got lots of bear, moose, deer, etc. picture of them standing in the cover of the "foliage."

We have taken 16 ocean cruises most of which 14 or more days. The Alaskan cruise was one of our favorites. We did Land and Sea. We mostly use Princess but did 2 Royal Caribbean & 1 Celeberty! (Princes was our Alaskan)

A couple of our other favorite cruises were two transitions of the Panama cana.l We did it east cost to west cost and a few years later west to east, and a cruise to Hawaii.

Spent 5 days on land in Alaska, riding the train and spending nights in a few different location. Then we got on the ship. Did the inland passage spent some time just sitting and watching the glacier calving off. You got to experience that in person. Its quite loud, like a 12 gauge going off.

We will be doing another Alaska in a couple more years!

First and foremost - GET A TRAVEL AGENT ! I know everybody wants to book trips online because they can, but a knowledgeable agent knows little tricks that can be very helpful. Our agent only charges $25 per person. For this fee we get the trip, airfare, transfers, etc. all taken care of for us. We just booked a cruise/land tour with Holland America to Alaska. We will start in Vancouver, spend 2 days there, tour Victoria Island, then board the ship for a 3 day inside the passage cruise to Skagway, then take the White Pass train to Fraser and Whitehorse, Yukon then on to Dawson city, take a paddlewheel trip on the Yukon river, then fly to Fairbanks spend a day there and then on to Denali National Park for 3 days, then the LONG, SLOW train ride down to Anchorage for a day then fly home. We've been to Alaska before but have never cruised the Inside Passage. I use to live in Alaska and we went there in 2008 so the wife could complete her 50th State and she fell in love with it and always wanted to go back so this will do it. We use Fox World Travel out of Wis. and have never had a problem with them. They take good care of you.

I've been on an Alaskan cruise and thought it was great. If you purchase alcoholic drinks it can be expensive. I just booked a Caribbean cruise with everything included. Ten days, balcony room, drinks, internet, gratuities and $600 in on board credit for $1500 per person. I've been on numerous cruises in the past and this is what I would consider to be a great deal. Now I'm looking to see if I can tack on another cruise either before or after this one so I can cruise back to back.

Kanewpadle said:

Valdez? Homer?

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Went outta Clam Gulch, south of Soldotna, North of Homer. Came back with over 100 pounds of boned fillets. Going back this summer with friends we met up there.

Our first trip we did Denali and then Kenai Fiords, self guided, and based out of Anchorage. Saw a dozen grizzlies, moose, caribou, a wolf, sea otters, orcas, and humpies. PM me for details (I've hijacked this thread enough!)

A work-buddy of mine took a position in Alaska as a grizzly biologist. She took the ferry, slept on the deck, lived in a Forest Service cabin while getting her PhD ($10 a night). She said the biggest expense (except for ferry) was hiring a fisherman to take her to her cabin ($50). If she hadn't of applied, I was runner-up for the job. Twenty years and she's still there!

I realize that taking a cruise is safer than driving but with all the bad press over the last couple of years I think I'll stay on dry land.I wouldn't want my first trip to be my last.