Avatar133 Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 Hi all. My family and I are looking to go on a 7 day cruise to Alaska. This would be our first time there. We wanted to go one-way in order to see more places, and we want Quantum class. But since we've only been on Oasis class, we aren't sure which ship would be good for Alaska. Any tips for itineraries, ships or excursions would be helpful! MNPunchy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 Quantum class are round trip from Seattle. The one way ships are Radiance class (typically) from Seward & Vancouver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 On the front page of Royal Caribbean Blog you will find a search box. Entering "Alaska" yields many blog posts and podcasts for this wonderful destination. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/search/node?keys=alaska Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 Same answers I give for any Alaska questions... Do whatever allows you to spend as much time on land (preferably pre-cruise) as possible. I've only been once but it was an epic 18-day trip with 10 days DIY on land before sailing southbound on Radiance and I wouldn't go back without a land portion. Nothing against the ports but I wouldn't want to miss Denali and a couple other stops. As for the ship... I am not a fan of anything below Voyager class and really prefer Oasis class. But in Alaska I couldn't care less about the ship. I'm there for Alaska. On my Caribbean cruises I sail for the ship. As mentioned above, only the smaller ships go one-way. General excursion ideas... 1. Seeing as much of Denali as you can if you can do a land portion. 2. Dog sledding up on a mountain glacier. 3. Kenai Fjords Tour in Seward. 4. Whale watching somewhere. 5. Hiking on a glacier. Happy planning! My wife spent a full year working with an outside company to plan our trip in 2018 but we were also treating it as a special, one-time trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFCruise Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 1 hour ago, twangster said: Quantum class are round trip from Seattle. The one way ships are Radiance class (typically) from Seward & Vancouver. There is a one way on Quantum on April-May from Vancouver to Seattle. I know because I'm going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 13 minutes ago, JFCruise said: There is a one way on Quantum on April-May from Vancouver to Seattle. I know because I'm going. True, but one way from Vancouver to Seattle is essentially a round trip itinerary. The 2 cities are about 100 miles apart. You don't see more of alaska on one of these cruises than you would see on round trip Seattle. I'm in agreement with @OCSC Mike. Go with Radiance one wat between Seward and Vancouver. its not as nice a ship but the itinerary more than makes up for it. Heymarco, Baked Alaska and OCSC Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 17 hours ago, JFCruise said: There is a one way on Quantum on April-May from Vancouver to Seattle. I know because I'm going. When Ovation first visited Alaska in 2019 the repositioning cruise from Vancouver to Seattle went to Hubbard Glacier. That's the only Hubbard visit by a Q class ship ever. Since then the Vancouver to Seattle repo cruises are no different compared to the Seattle round trip. The Northbound Hawaii cruise has to end in Vancouver to stay legal with respect to the PVSA federal law otherwise they would end it in Seattle. I'm fairly certain the OP was looking to see more of Alaska which you do on the Seward-Vancouver or Vancouver-Seward itineraries since you are not backtracking for half of the voyage. The Seattle Q class Alaska itineraries are still very enjoyable but you don't see as much of Alaska compared to the Vancouver-Seward/Seward-Vancouver itineraries. Baked Alaska and OCSC Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baltodave Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 In June 2023, we took Radiance one-way northbound from Vancouver to Seward. We followed that with a 4-day land-tour with "Alaska Tour & Travel" (which included a full day at Denali). We would have done a land-tour with RC but it would have meant rebooking everything at a much higher cost. We also booked our flights with Air2Sea. The cruise and tour were outstanding (and we lucked out with the weather). My only additional advice is to avoid Air Canada at all costs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 Check out our Alaska guide here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/alaska-cruises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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