Whos been on an Alaskan cruise?

[Sooner24]

Planning on going next summer and wondered who has been, what cruise line would you recommend, have many days and other things to do. Planning on leaving out of Seattle and spending two or three days there before the cruise.

[Frozen Sooner]

Never been on a cruise, but I can recommend some stuff to see while you're doing the cruise. I think Holland Cruise Lines gets spoken of fairly highly.

[1890MilesToNorman]

Never been there but the smartass answer is to book a trip on the Time Bandit fer the king crab season.

[SoonerStud615]

I went on Holland America to Alaska about 6 years ago I believe. The trip was phenomenal. We left out of Vancouver and traveled North up the coast. Everything we did was a blast. Mountain biking, ocean kayaking, hiking, and the best of all a helicopter ride that took us onto Mendenhall Glacier. Tons of Wildlife. We saw a family of Moose and a black bear cub in the wild during one of our bike rides.

It's a fantastic place. The only downside is that Holland America was not the best of cruise lines. I would look for Carnival or Royal Caribbean.

[Harry Beanbag]

I took this ship on a cruise to Alaska, went to Anchorage and Glacier Bay, helicoptered in a real tour guide and everything. I wouldn't really recommend the accomodations though. :)

http://knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/6/6d/USS_Arkansas_CGN41.jpg

[SoonerStormchaser]

No, but the Missus and I are still going to the interior for a few days next month.

[oklaclarinet]

I went on Norwegian, which is known for the free-style crusing thing, which the rest of my family really loves (I could take it or leave it). We too left out of Seattle and had stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Prince Rupert (BC). In Juneau I would recommend taking a tour that takes you up to Mendenhall Glacier, as it is very impressive to behold. Out of Skagway there are usually are variety of tours that take you on into Canada; we did one that went all the way up into Yukon, which was fun.

Most crusies will take you up close to a glacier on the water. I would have loved to have gone up to Glacier Bay; our cruise went into one of the arms just south of Juneau, which was still impressive.

Depending on how much time you have and cost concerns, you might look into a cruise that goes one-way from Seattle to Anchorage, as you get to see much more of Alaska and visit Anchorage. That's what I would love to do if I get to go on an Alaskan cruise again.

[StoopTroup]

I've heard that making the connection from the airport in Vancouver to the Cruise Lines is teh suc.

Everyone I know says to leave from Seattle-Tacoma.

[trwxxa]

The Mrs and I took a cruise on Princess back in 2000, Vancouver to Seward. We also spent a few days before hand in Vancouver and Victoria and then 4 days in the Alaska interior afterwards. Still ranks as one of the best vacations ever.

We took a wildlife tour in Juneau. We thought a whale was going to take out the boat. In Skagway, we took a tour to the Yukon.

[AlbqSooner]

If you plan on taking the trip to Mendenhall Glacier you need to do it soon.

Global Warming ya know.

[Kimberlyz4OU]

We did Royal Caribbean in May of 2007. Spent 2 extra days in Seattle - 7 day cruise - Juneau, Skagway, Prince Rupert. Seattle was teh AWESOME, loved it (yes, even the bums :-) 7 days = too long - Juneau was pretty cool, Skagway was eh (kinda tourist trappy) - Prince Rupert was LAME, LAME!! On a Scale from 1 -10, I would give it a 7; but my husband loved it. I just prefer warm, tropical beach weather not raincoat weather.....