Can anyone give me information about their experience on an Alaskan cruise?

Question

My husband and I would love to plan a trip next year. If you have taken an Alaskan cruise I would love to hear about experience and which cruise line. Also, I would love to go dog sledding. Is this worth while in Alaska? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

yes, i just came back from an alaskan cruise today. I took the Dawn princess. It goes up to juneau, victoria, skagway, and ketckikan, One tip, it is very very cold. It was so cold, that i ended up buying a jacket from alaska. Dog sledding would be ok, but it rains a lot. They say, 200 days a year. So take your chances. the dawn princess is good. A cruise from alaska is beutiful, you need a window. You might pass through tracy arm, a scenic cruise. Everyone woke upat 5:00 to watch the glaciers. But, if you are a young couple, it might get a little. borring. There are a lot of senors there. The trip to alska, going north, is very rough. If you get seasick, remembr to bring something. Comming back down going south is much better. the dawn princess is a very good cruise line, and departs from san francisco. it is very cold, odviously,, but it also rains. If you are going during the summer, the sun is up for a long time. It rises at 6 and sets at 10. Really, very beutiful place. Lots of seafood for dinner, omly problem is that going north will have some rough seas. whatever you choose to do, have fun!

Answer 2

Only would like to confirm what Tinkertoy said.

We did a 7 day land and 7 day cruise on Dawn Princess,

Nothing to complain about.

If you can a balcony cabin is great.

Answer 3

We did a cruise /tour with Princess cruises. We flew into Fairbanks where Princess had us stay in a really nice hotel. We had the afternoon to roam around. The next day after breakfast, we were taken to the train. We took a very scenic train trip to Denali park. Princess owns it own lodge there.. is was so cool sitting at the bar late at night, but it was still light outside. We looked at our watches and realized it was almost 2am. We thought it was about 11, bu you can't tell because it is always light outside during the summer. The next day we did the Husky homestead tour where we met Jeff King, the 4 time ididerod winner.. That was a really cool tour. The next day, we did a wilderness tour where we saw all kinds of animals. On day 4, we took another train to the port. Alaska is so big that this was an 8 hour train ride and in that 8 hours never saw any town, just a village. We then got on the ship for 7 days of sailing and more tours. The white pass railroad was our favorite tour(yep another train, but we are train buffs). This was by far my favorite cruise and I have been on 8 of them, all with Princess. I can't say enough about what a wonderful experience this was for us. Next year we plan to do a round trip to Alaska from San Francisco. So that kind of tells you how much we loved Alaska.

Answer 4

I have cruised to Alaska over 20 times & Loved it. I have sailed with

Holland America - first class all the way - also most expensive

Norwegian - Love the layout of the ship & crew

Princess - best line for cruisetours - best way to really see Alaska

From the moment you walk on to the ship you are treated like part of a rather large & happy family. Whatever you want or need they do their best to provide it to you. The Amazing Scenery, Wildlife, The people you meet from all over the world on the ship and the local people are very friendly.

As for excursions there are many to choose from and mostly depends on what you like. I have been on several & the people on the ships with me have done the rest. Never heard a bad word about any of the excursions. Now keep in mind everyone has different tastes & is hard to please everyone.

I always book early(asap) & book an inside cabin as it is not only the least expensive but, I only spend maybe 6 hours aday there. A balcony cabin is nice & bigger however you only get to see one sided view & if a whale is on the other side of the ship you would never see it.

All cruise lines either start in Seattle, Vancouver, or Anchorage for a 7 day cruise.

Cruisetours start either in Vancouver or Fairbanks.

They all stop pretty much at the same ports of call.

Either call 1-800-Princess or go Princess.com and request an Escape 2009 DVD (free) and it will show you some of the scenery & allow you to tour their ships.

Many say it rains alot there but with almost 300 days there it only rained once for acouple of hours.

Can not say enough Great things about Alaska.

Leaving in 2 weeks for another 14 days there.

Enjoy.

Answer 5

Alaska is simply amazing.  The views are breathtaking.  Make sure that you get to experience some of the glaciers while you are there.  I had some friends do the dog sledding and they said we definitely missed out.  Take an extra memory card for your camera or make sure the one you have has sufficient memory, because the whales are awesome, as are the 100s of orca that swim along side the ships.  The towns are neat and I would have to say the experience is well worth it.  If you would like any assistance or more information my email is [e-mail]

Answer 6

Our Alaska cruise was GREAT !!!!

I have been to Alaska twice, once on business for 2 weeks with some weekend sightseeing and a cruise on a small ship, and then on 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. They typically afford 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.

There are 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 land 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.  But the cruise lines do have their cruises for next Alaska season listed already.

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.

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.

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/

I did not do the dog sled tour but I would love to do it.