Alaska Cruise

[mahonia]

Any experience of an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver? Have heard Norwegian Cruise lines are OK  - what other cruise lines do you recommend? What shore trips do you get? Grateful for any info or tips.

[Clanad]

Be sure to take sweaters, a heavier jacket and rain gear.  You get stop offs at Juneau ( http://www.juneau.com/ ) and Ketchikan ( http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/ ) and probably Skagway ( http://www.skagway.com// ) and  Glacier Bay (  http://www.glacierbay.org/ )Be sure to buy an Ulu...( http://alaskagift.com/Alaska-Ulus.htm ) (You'll need to put it in your checked luggage for the flight home... eat Alder wood smoked salmon... take some  home... I would recommend the Inside Passage Tour from any good cruise line.  Enjoy and welcome!

[sddsddean]

Did one in June. Brilliant!!!! Scenery is absoluetly stunning. On the Inside Passage cruises (which most are) you are near a shore line nearly all the time. We went on Royal Carribean, but NCL and Princess also run out of Vancouver. There will be at least 4 liners in port the same time as you and when we went to Juneau they said in two days time they were going to have 7! (Thats about 14000 extra people). All the ports are geared up for the 3 month cruise 'window' and there are loads of jewellery and gift shops. We were very lucky with the weather. Apparently the trip before ours it had rained every day (usual for summer Alaska) but we only had about 2 hours on one day. It is very windy though, so a good windcheater or anorak is essential. We pre booked our excursions. In Juneau did a bike ride to the Mendenhall Glacier and ended up at the Alaska Beer brewery. In Skagway, we had a bus trip about 60 miles over the border into British Columbia more or less following the Gold Rush route. Came back on the White Pass and Yukon Railway (an absolute must). In Ketchikan went round the temperate rain forest (which wasn't as good as I hoped; wish I'd gone on one of the float plane trips, but they are a bit pricey). During the cruise saw loads of whales, killer whales and bald eagles. We also had a 3 night stay in Vancouver after the cruise; great city. Don't think about it; go next year!!!

[jno]

Ketchikan joke:

Tourist: 'How long has it been raining here?'
Kid: 'I don't know, I'm only seven.'

It rains all the time in Ketchikan, take a brolly. Juneau is small and pretty, only US state capital not reachable by road. Skagway, gateway to the Klondike gold field, is fascinating. The cruises themselves are great - the smaller the ship the closer it can get to glaciers etc. Alaskans make lots of anti-Texas jokes.

[thugulike]

I used P&O and had a good time.  Be careful not to go on too big a ship as the food will be cold by the time you get it. We flew to Seattle, had a day there then flew to Fairbanks and had several days ther and took the train down to Anchorage, staying in the Denali National Park on the way. Down the inside passage to Vancouver then home.  The sights are magnificent and there's no other way to see the glaciers, you have to be on a ship.  We took a sea plane trip from Juneau which we enjoyed but there isn't much to see in the towns on the inside passage so you should be able to see everything using a good guide book.  I would recommend P&O, everything was fine.   Hope you enjoy your trip.