Cruise to alaska, multiple questions

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TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

I have been to Alaska twice, and one of those cruises was our honeymoon. The cruise that we did was a Princess cruise-tour. In my opinion the best cruise for you would be a cruise-tour. The cruise tour allows you to see more of Alaska by land (bus and/or train) either before or after the cruise. So it will be more than 7 days. The cruise tour typically affords an opportunity to stay a night or two in/at Denali National Park, Anchorage, Talkeetna, or Fairbanks, Alaska.

There are four cruise lines that use the train to transport you from/to the cruise point to/from the park and Fairbanks. The train ride is magnificent and when you do the cruise tour you will have the best opportunity to see wildlife like bears, caribou, moose, fox, wolf, and a few others. These cruise-tours can be from 12 to 15 days or more while normal cruises are 7 days.

There are several ways to have a cruise to Alaska. You can cruise north from San Francisco, Seattle, or Vancouver Canada or cruise south from Anchorage (Whittier or Seward). Cruises typically cruise the "inside passage" which is a waterway much like a river where you can in most places see land on both sides of the ship. It provides a very smooth ride on that part of the cruise. Cruises typically go to Juneau (the capitol), and Ketchikan, Skagway, and stop at one or more glaciers like Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord. Some cruises do other port stops. So you need to pay attention to which itinerary (port stops) the cruises will have.

The 4 cruise lines which offer the cruise-tours and all would be good; Princess Cruise line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Holland America.

We did our cruise tour with Princess and it was very good. We did the cruise part first and then had a day and night in Anchorage, a great train ride from Anchorage to Denali National Park, and after a night at a lodge owned by Princess We took the train the next day to Fairbanks for a night there. My recommendation is to do the tour part first and do fly to the start point a day early so you don't get caught in a flight delay.

All four of the cruise lines that I have mentioned use the train for the land tour. But Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Celebrity have special domed train cars that provide great visibility. Not all tour segments are the same so you really have to pay attention to how the land tour is organized and whether it uses the train or buses.

The best time to go on an Alaska cruise is when you can get the best price. The Alaska cruise season is from May to Sept. So right now you are near the end of the Alaska cruise season and thus your options may be limited. But, some cruise lines do have specials and do consider them as they can save you hundreds over the exact same itinerary on a different date. You will do well to book your cruise now for next year because all of the cruise lines give the best prices for very early bookings.

The best prices will be in May and Sept but you will see the same things as other times. The weather is generally warmer in June, July and Aug, but it can also be pleasant in May and Sept. When we went a few years ago in May it was shirt sleeve weather (70's) in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Alaska cruises and tours are mostly scenic and cultural. The usual stops for the inside passage portion are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and College Fjords. The scenic parts are the animals, mountains, glaciers, fjords, and waterfalls. The cultural parts are the Alaska Native, gold rush, fishing industry, and historical sites. The cruises generally have more seniors and families. The ships generally have a solarium (covered pool and hot tub area) so you can enjoy the ship about the same as when you go to the Caribbean.

These are the luxury high priced cruise lines:
Regent Seven Seas:
http://www.rssc.com/

SILVER SEAS:
http://www.silversea.com/

These are the other cruise lines that most people go on:

HOLLAND AMERICA
http://www.hollandamerica.com/

CELEBRITY:
http://www.celebritycruises.com/home .

ROYAL CARIBBEAN:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.d.....

NORWEGIAN:
http://www.ncl.com/

PRINCESS:
http://www.princess.com/index.html

CARNIVAL:
http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/

Carnival is the budget cruise line and may have the lowest prices and probably more young cruisers.. But for your honeymoon you SHOULD want thing a little better. My recommendation would be Princess, Celebrity or Royal Caribbean, pretty much in that order. Yes most of the passengers will be older (about 35 to 65) but you will find that is the same on all Alaska cruises because Alaska is not a partying type cruise. Notwithstanding, the older passengers will still be just as much fun; they like to have a good time too!!

Time travler

10 days is much better. We went on a cruise/tour to Alaska with Princess cruises. I've been on 8 cruises and the one to Alaska was the best. We did 4 days of touring the land first all, set up by Princess. They even have there own lodges just for this. If you are prone to sea sickness, our travel agent suggested we cruise south bound rather then north bound, so that is what we did. You can do it either way, like cruise first then do the land tour, or the way we did. We truly loved cruising to Alaska.

Tim & Diane D

The best way to see Alaska is to do a cruise tour. We recomend that you fly to Alaska first and do the land part of the cruise tour and they you can relax on a cruise south bound back to Vancouver or Seattle.
We alsorecommend Princess or Carnival. Princess has the best land tour operations.
We would be happy to plan your cruse for you if you would look at our web site.
www.myvacationcenter.com
We are very experienced cruise only travel agent and we do not charge for our services.

Tom Cruise

for your first cruise I would advise 7 days and you probably want to use a cruise specialist to get you all the extras that come with a honeymoon cruise try http://www.cruiseasy.joystar.com to browse your options

bowditch-buccaneers

well, i just came back from the dawn princess, 10 days. If it is your first time to alaska, go for10 day. I mean it is only 3 more days. I don't know about younger people, but princess has a lot of seniors. even the entertainment, was singing 60's songs. Try going on holland America, i wish i went on holland america instead of princess. In alaska, you will see many beutiful sights. But, a fair warning, it rains a lot. 200 days a year. So take your chances. Not to boss you around or anyhing, but going on a cruise to the bahamas, or hawaii, or to mexico would be a better choise. it is more lively, and more fun. also, you will get to see more sunlight, and get to swim. Also, going up to alaska, going north, it is very rough waters. because the wind is blowing north. For 2 days, everyone felt like they were in a washing machine. Nobody could walk in a straight line. it was very rough seas. so if your seasick, it is not a great idea. But, whatever you choose to do, have fun!

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