Any advice for first timers for Alaska itinerary? Best Staterooms types? Excursions?

[jourknee2master]

Any advice for first timers for Alaska itinerary? Best Staterooms types? Excursions?

We are planning a DCL cruise to Alaska for my mothers 60th birthday in 2024 and are looking to start planning now as to be prepared for when fall 2024 for itineraries are announced.

Any advice on room type preference, itinerary, excursions or any other things I may have missed would be most welcome!

 

[happycamper47]

You definitely want a cabin with a balcony unless you want to spend the entire day up on deck 9 or out on deck 4, too much beautiful scenery to see that you would miss otherwise.

You didn't mention what month, but the train out of Skagway, Mendenhall Glacier and Whale watching out of Juneau are two of our favorites. The Helicopter tour to a glacier out of Ketchican was also a great experience if you like flying. We've gone in May, June and July and all were great, but the weather can vary significantly.

 

[Kittyblue]

If I could go back the one thing I would do differently is get a room with a balcony. The scenery is gorgeous the whole trip, and I especially wished I could enjoy the glacial arm from my room. It wasn't as fun spending so much time bundled up on a crowded deck.

My absolute favorite excursion was the summer dog sled experience. Puppies! I think that was Skagway. Skagway is a fun little town. I did the glacier and garden excursion in Juneau. I enjoyed the glacier but I thought the garden was a letdown. My oldest went ziplining and axe throwing there with her dad and loved it.

 

[SnowWhite2]

I never get a verandah but I did on the Alaska cruise and very glad I did. Our kids were in an inside room across the hall. They came into our room whenever they wanted to see the scenery. We could pop inside when we started to get cold and then look out through the slider.

 

[Anna131517]

If you’re considering a one-way itinerary then think about whether you want a land or sea view from your balancing and choose your room accordingly. Have you considered whether you want to add a land tour to your cruise to see inland Alaska? If you do want to do a land tour then you’ll have to decide whether you’d prefer that before or after you do the sea cruise. Pre-COVID I would have said always do land first but now I do the opposite.

 

[HiStitch626]

If you’re considering a one-way itinerary then think about whether you want a land or sea view from your balancing and choose your room accordingly. Have you considered whether you want to add a land tour to your cruise to see inland Alaska? If you do want to do a land tour then you’ll have to decide whether you’d prefer that before or after you do the sea cruise. Pre-COVID I would have said always do land first but now I do the opposite.

Disney only does round-trip cruises in Alaska.

 

[Ohmymonty]

I normally don't splurge for a verandah but on the Alaska cruise I really regretted it. I did end up camping outside of cove Cafe with the floor to ceiling windows and so I made do. I think if I did it again and I had the money, I would at least have a verandah...maybe even concierge so I could have sat on the second story of cove Cafe.

I did two bike tours and they were beautiful... but I'm not a very confident biker, so if you're like me, maybe only do one or you'll be whining about your backside all week.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We just sailed Alaska, on a HAL ship… Based on the review of @Timon I decided to rent a vehicle to drive to the Yukon from Skagway. We ended up renting an electric vehicle from Klondike Electric Rentals - best decision ever, the excursion itself and the vehicle. We got to see so much, including the Yukon Suspension Bridge and sled dogs at Tutshi Sled Dog Tours. It was super nice to drive ourselves rather than take a big bus or even the train (which, we have done too, and it is beautiful). So that’s my excursion suggestion!

 

[nancipants]

I will be contrary; we did not get a verandah for Alaska and I didn’t regret it. My husband rented a huge, expensive lens for his DSLR and set up his tripod all around decks 4, 9, 10, and the secret deck on the aft (not sure if it’s still there). I loved sitting on the lounge chair on deck 4 all bundled up. When we went back to the room, we could see scenery fine outside our porthole. I feel like on that day there’s so much to do I didn’t want to be cooped up in my room.

 

[brent02139]

I would also say that balcony is not a must have, we(oceanview) have small kids and it was special for them to get up in the morning, pull the curtains back, and have a great view out the port hole. The port hole was sufficient, the only view that I missed was the view on other side of the ship. Most of the time during the day (or early morning), we were not in our room. We were on the deck, we were on glacier cruise, we were moving around and not stuck in a room

Dawes Glacier, I would recommend getting the glacier excursion if possible. We preferred the 12noon, as we got to see the inlet more and see some wild life along the way.

Skagway, we did DIY Jeep Tour. We liked getting our own vehicle instead of being on the train for hours. But if we were to do it again, I would have just gotten a normal rental car, DIY Jeep Tour is not the same, seems like AVIS took over and gave us a lame 30min audio mp3 and a binder.

Juneau, we love the helicopter excursion. We got off the helicopter and was on the ice almost for 2hrs. And the scenery from helicopter was awesome and gave a perspective totally different from cruise ship or pictures. A must-do.

Ketchikan, it rained a lot. Lumberjack show was fun and also we were glad to have a roof over our heads. Again, the rain, it seems like it's common there to rain all the time. If we had known, we would not have book our excursion ahead of time (we ended up not going to Wildlife excursion).

 

[KashasMom]

I LOVED sitting out on the verandah with my coffee before everyone woke up. Even saw whales once.

Not sure what the ports are but this is what we've done on 3 cruises:

In Ketchikan we've done seaplanes with Island Wings 3x (twice to - successfully - see bears at Anan Creek and Traitor's Cove - and once Misty Fjord Sightseeing). Awesome company and excursions.

In Juneau we went whale-watching twice and did a Pilot's Choice double glacier landing with Temsco Helicopters. Very cool to walk on the glaciers. We've also gone up the Tramway which provides great views over the town and beyond. We stopped at Red Dog Saloon for lunch.

In Skagway we did the dog-sledding/glacier excursion with Temsco Helicopters and twice we rented a car and using Murray's Guide to the South Klondike Highway drove to Emerald Lake. (Google for the guide which lists things to see/do by mile marker. Some of the places we stopped at along the way - Tutshi to see the Sled Dogs(puppies), Yukon Suspension Bridge, and the Welcome to Alaska highway sign.) Be sure to bring a passport for when you cross into Canada.

In Sitka we walked around on our own and went to the Raptor Center, Sitka National Historical Park/Totem Park, St. Michael's Orthodox Cathedral, and had a reindeer hot dog.

We were one of the first ships when we went to Icy Strait Point and there wasn't much going on so other than taking a bus around the town, we didn't do much.

In Victoria we did a hop on hop off bus with a stop at Craigdarroch Castle and a stop to explore downtown, walking as far as Fan Tan Alley. Then we walked to the wharf and had some fish and chips at Barb's while we watched the sea planes landing amongst the float homes.

We always had an amazing time and had time to walk through the town (Ketchikan has totem poles and Creek Street, Juneau has the tram for great views, etc.) - and there's plenty of shopping although most stores in each port and from port to port are very similar.

We booked everything on our own - nothing through the cruise line. Whatever you do, you'll have a blast!

 

[scrapperkimmydee]

Any advice for first timers for Alaska itinerary? Best Staterooms types? Excursions?

We are planning a DCL cruise to Alaska for my mothers 60th birthday in 2024 and are looking to start planning now as to be prepared for when fall 2024 for itineraries are announced.

Any advice on room type preference, itinerary, excursions or any other things I may have missed would be most welcome!

We did the Ghosts and good time girls walking tour, and we had a really fun time, and let Ed some interesting things. Then we had lunch at the Indian restaurant we saw on the tour. If you want a low key day, this is a great one.