Rage Shifty Posted October 23, 2024 Report Posted October 23, 2024 Wife and I are planning our first Alaska cruise in 2026. Any advice on best itineraries? Don't miss locations? Departure ports? Thanks in advance. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote
OCSC Mike Posted October 23, 2024 Report Posted October 23, 2024 General advice... take a one-way cruise and spend as much time on land before/after the cruise as your schedule/budget allows. I prefer before and would put Denali at the top of the list of land visits. Cactus527, Rage Shifty, Ryan79 and 8 others 10 1 Quote
Ryan79 Posted October 23, 2024 Report Posted October 23, 2024 If your budget can afford it, taking a helicopter ride to a glacier and then taking a hike on the glacier is bucket list worthy. Just don’t do things that you can do anywhere. Alaska is unique…take advantage of it. OCSC Mike, Cactus527, PhillyLady and 2 others 5 Quote
Matt Posted October 23, 2024 Report Posted October 23, 2024 Just updated this article for the 2025 sailings, but it offers a good overview of how to pick: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/11/13/how-choose-the-right-alaska-cruise-itinerary I really think an American looking to take their first Alaska cruise should fly to Seattle and pick up a ship from there. There is not a bad Alaska itinerary. Cactus527 and Rage Shifty 2 Quote
Rage Shifty Posted October 23, 2024 Author Report Posted October 23, 2024 1 hour ago, Matt said: Just updated this article for the 2025 sailings, but it offers a good overview of how to pick: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/11/13/how-choose-the-right-alaska-cruise-itinerary I really think an American looking to take their first Alaska cruise should fly to Seattle and pick up a ship from there. There is not a bad Alaska itinerary. Thanks Matt! Quote
Traveling Mike Posted October 24, 2024 Report Posted October 24, 2024 two things to know: There are two main cruises, Inside passage and one way cruise to or from Anchorage area. Know what one you are booking because they are very different and the cost for flights and land transportation is different. All of the ports you will stop in Alaska are walkable. After the first time I do not book excursions. We walk the town and find things to explore and enjoy. Ryan79 1 Quote
PhillyLady Posted October 25, 2024 Report Posted October 25, 2024 How is your health and fitness level? Alaska can be a dream for adventure travelers. I second the helicopter ride to a glacier and then taking a walk on pristine blue ice with crampon boots. This was one of our most memorable shore excursion experiences ever (amazing views!), and we go to cold weather places all the time (husband is a skier). We also did zip lining over the trees, husband went rock-climbing, and I took a canoe to search for wildlife (no bears, but moose and eagles), even though it was rainy. Don't bother with a husky ride in the mud--wait until you go to Canada and do it professionally in the snow! I have no preference with itinerary, as most of the towns features lots of bars and shops which are found everywhere. Hopefully you will spend some time on the water seeing icebergs and floating ice in the sea--very awe-inspiring. Have fun planning! Rage Shifty 1 Quote
FOB Posted October 26, 2024 Report Posted October 26, 2024 Do some due diligence on weather we did the last cruise on Ovation this year as part of a B2B2B to Sydney left Seattle on 27th September and only got to Juneau. Skagway and Sitka were stopped due to weather (avoiding 45 foot waves and 100mph winds) and even Ketchikan which was the replacement for Sitka had to be missed. One of those things and we will come back from Scotland and do it again however there is significant annoyance from many of our fellow passengers who are talking about a class action to get compensation (yes I know that missing ports is a danger of cruising but they seem to have missed that memo ) Quote
LandstromCruise Posted October 26, 2024 Report Posted October 26, 2024 1 hour ago, FOB said: however there is significant annoyance from many of our fellow passengers who are talking about a class action to get compensation (yes I know that missing ports is a danger of cruising but they seem to have missed that memo ) A class action . People are always looking to sue for something. Those same people would look to sue if the cruise line went into that high waves and bad weather and said they got sick because of it. Yeah sue to company for trying to keep you safe. Some people just crack me up Quote
FOB Posted October 26, 2024 Report Posted October 26, 2024 1 hour ago, LandstromCruise said: A class action . People are always looking to sue for something. Those same people would look to sue if the cruise line went into that high waves and bad weather and said they got sick because of it. Yeah sue to company for trying to keep you safe. Some people just crack me up They had been complaining earlier about seasickness in 9ft swell. But hey, let’s try to get money here Quote
smokeybandit Posted October 26, 2024 Report Posted October 26, 2024 9 minutes ago, FOB said: They had been complaining earlier about seasickness in 9ft swell 9 foot swell doesn't even get the barf bags brought out. They save that for 12+ or so. Quote
Pattycruise Posted October 28, 2024 Report Posted October 28, 2024 If doing the inside passage definitely pack binoculars. Well binoculars for any part of Alaska are good to have! BD1157 1 Quote
smokeybandit Posted October 28, 2024 Report Posted October 28, 2024 Binocs are in my cruise go bag by default, no matter the itinerary. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.