Need help planning Alaskan cruise!

[l4dk]

We just booked for Alaska out of Vancouver next summer and need all the help we can get with the planning. We live in Miami, Fl. any tips on the best options on where should we fly to and how soon we should book the air? What is a good average on the airfare from Florida?
Since our cruise will depart on a Monday we are thinking about getting there Friday to be able to do sightseen in Vancouver the weekend. First time in Vancouver for our family. Also, I will love to get hotel area tips and recommendations. Any Hilton chain recommendations??? Since we are HiltonHonors members it may be the best option for us.
What are the favorite excursions and how in advance we should book them?

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[anricat]

We're also going to Alaska next summer. We're so excited! We are in Texas and I booked my airfare through WestJet literally the second day the pricing was available and totally scored getting tickets for $330 per person. We're flying in Saturday, staying to sight see in Vancouver Sunday and then on the return, we're flying home Tuesday, again, sight seeing on Monday. I would have liked to have flown home right after the cruise, but there were no options at the right time. We have a 6:40 AM flight Tuesday (UGH).

I can't answer your question about Hilton, I'm sure there is one downtown. We're staying at the Blue Horizon.

As for excursions, I can't answer that either, as I'm still in research mode, but there are some good trip reports in that forum that are worth reading from this summer. Also, I would recommend adding "favorites" on the DCL site. That's what I've started doing. I've got it narrowed down to, oh, 20 or so.

 

[staffieri]

Here my thoughts from our Alaska Cruise.

In Vancouver: Do the Big Park it is lovely, Go to
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park it was so much fun. Really beautiful, my kids loved it. Do not book Gourse Mountain a head of time. You only want to do this if its good weather.
On the Cruise: You do not need ad many dress up clothes as other cruise. I think this has to do a lot with the weather. People were way more casual. Also, pack some short sleeve shirts. Its hot on the boat. You want layers. DO the pool the first day and be prepared to do it again the last day. These days have the warmest weather.
Tours: Book outside Disney. The dog sled is crazy expensive. But we in Skagway we booked through Alaska Excursions the Dog Sled Adventure. It cost $80 a person. It was so great and did a lot more then expected. A short tour through town, A beautiful view stop to see eagles. Then you see salmon and board I Off road vehicle that takes you to the Musher camp where they train the dogs. It was so interesting. And they have puppies!!! you hold and play with them. You get cookies and hot chocolate. And they you go on a ride with the dogs. NOt through snow but through the mountains. So fast, so fun. Great tour.
Juneau: DO THE WHALES!!! cold but amazing.
Skajway: we did a skyplane with bears. $$$$$ but it was a once in a life time experience.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts...

• Vancouver is bigger than all the Alaskan ports combined. Multi-day stay is essential to enjoy the bonus port.
• Check out the Hampton Inn & Suites downtown. It's part of the Hilton chain...
  http://www.hamptoninnvancouver.com/
• another vote for Capilano as a must see attraction. Also do check out multi-cultural opportunities like Dim Sum and gelato!
• @ld4k... have you shortlisted which sailing you are on? We can identify seasonal opportunities like fireworks and pride festivities..

 

[TBLaube]

We are going on the June 13th cruise and am following this. We are planning to explore Vancouver for a couple of days prior as well. Thanks for the information!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I used M and M tours for Skagway and was very happy with them.
Since I am in the early planning stages for another Alaskan cruise, I've been looking at some other tour companies. I like this one because they will give you 100% refund if you miss your tour due to your ship arriving late/changing course. They also guarantee that you will be returned to your ship on time and will pay for your hotel/transportation to next port if you do miss the ship. They say that has never happened. http://alaska-shoreexcursions.com/

 

[bcwife76]

I used M and M tours for Skagway and was very happy with them.
Since I am in the early planning stages for another Alaskan cruise, I've been looking at some other tour companies. I like this one because they will give you 100% refund if you miss your tour due to your ship arriving late/changing course. They also guarantee that you will be returned to your ship on time and will pay for your hotel/transportation to next port if you do miss the ship. They say that has never happened. http://alaska-shoreexcursions.com/

Cool, thanks for the tip!

 

[MunFam]

We loved Vancouver. In fact, it might be my favorite city ever (and I work in the travel industry!) We decided to stay in a VRBO condo in Yaletown and it was a great decision for us. I liked being able to grocery shop and cook meals in the evenings. Food was crazy expensive there (the USD was weaker when we were there though).

Some highlights for us...
-Shopping on a Saturday morning at Granville Island Public Market. We loved it way more than Pike Place Market in Seattle. We had breakfast and lunch there. Terra Bread still stands out in my mind all these years later. We bought breads and meats and cheeses and fruits for lunches. Fresh coffee. Mmmmm. We walked around Granville Island and let our kiddo play at the park for a bit. We took the water taxi over and back.

-We used the public metro/light rail to get everywhere. It was super easy to navigate and clean. The people were friendly and it was safe.

-I wish we had time to kayak, but we did not.

-Gastown steamclock is a "must see", but the surrounding area, in my opinion was a dirty, mega tourist trap filled with trashy (made in China) tourist shops and aggressive homeless people--I work in a downtown city with one of the highest populations of homelessness in the nation and I have NEVER been aggressively confronted for money before nor have I ever been uncomfortable...I was here and when we were confronted aggressively by one man and finally did give some money to just make him go away, we were told it was not enough. He had one hand in his pocket, his other hand had his money cup at my husbands chest. We got out of there so fast! I would say you can avoid this area.

-We walked the seawall from Gastown to Stanley Park and it was so nice. We watched the sea planes land and take off in the harbour.

-Stanley Park is beautiful. You can take a carriage ride through the park. We opted not to as we do not like animal operated activities, but it is an option. There are totem poles and fountains and the bridge as well as the tea house. We had dinner there at sunset and it was phenomenal.

-We rented a car and went to Whistler. The Sea to Sky highway was so great.

We decided not to go to Capliano (sp) or Grouse Mountain.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I also suggest booking excursions outside of Disney. We booked all of our excursions ourselves and we did the train and dog sledding. The tour operators are more than experienced at getting you back in time as this is their livelihood. We spent a lot, but we also saved a lot by booking excursions on our own.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Forgot to mention that I reviewed the excursions DCL offered and then googled the same experience and booked directly. It was really easy and in most cases we paid in advance, which was better for us than having all those excursions hit our on-board account while on the ship.

 

[DLgeeks]

We are going on the June 13th cruise and am following this. We are planning to explore Vancouver for a couple of days prior as well. Thanks for the information!

We're also going to be on the June 13 cruise next year - so much to figure out! So far I know we're going to be staying at the Pan in Vancouver the Saturday and Sunday before (got a great deal on Hotwire), but I still have to figure out flights. It's surprising how limited the direct flights are right now considering we'll be flying out of SFO which is only about a 2 1/2 hr flight.

Anyone have tips for good excursions with the small fry? We'll have a rambunctious not-quite 3 yo (and 3 7yo) with us so we're a bit limited in the options!

 

[xlxo]

3yr old may limit you with how much energy they have. Perhaps a stroller can be handy. Does the 7year old have issues crossing a suspenion bridge 80 meters off the ground? may want to skip Capilano

Some suggestions... mix and match with your flight times, weather, number of pre/post cruise days...

June travellers get daylight until 9:45pm!

• Day 1
  • assuming your arrive in the morning... drop luggage at hotel
  • make your way to cruise terminal to catch shuttle to Grouse Mountain
  • returning from Grouse, request a drop off at Capilano Suspension Bridge
  • have a late dinner?
  • head over to Fly Over Canada prior to 8:30pm for the last show.
  • catch a cab over to La Casa for 218 flavor gelato. Open until 11pm
• Day 2
  • Hop on Rides featuring Stanley Park and Granville Island
  • evening stroll through gastown or a trip to Storybrooke?
  • embrace the local foods like Dim Sum, sushi and West Coast dining
• Day 3
  • Daytrip to Whistler and various highlights along the Sea 2 Sky highway
• Day 4
  • Daytrip to Victoria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky8bouLbbB8

 

[jburge12000]

We're also going to be on the June 13 cruise next year - so much to figure out! So far I know we're going to be staying at the Pan in Vancouver the Saturday and Sunday before (got a great deal on Hotwire), but I still have to figure out flights. It's surprising how limited the direct flights are right now considering we'll be flying out of SFO which is only about a 2 1/2 hr flight.

Anyone have tips for good excursions with the small fry? We'll have a rambunctious not-quite 3 yo (and 3 7yo) with us so we're a bit limited in the options!

We did Alaska last summer. We flew out of Oakland on Southwest to Seattle and then took the Amtrak to Vancouver the next morning. Flights were a lot cheaper and we had great time in Seattle the day before. Train gets you into Vancouver around lunch so we had time to do the Capilano Bridge that afternoon.

 

[DLgeeks]

We did Alaska last summer. We flew out of Oakland on Southwest to Seattle and then took the Amtrak to Vancouver the next morning. Flights were a lot cheaper and we had great time in Seattle the day before. Train gets you into Vancouver around lunch so we had time to do the Capilano Bridge that afternoon

I had considered the train as we will be going down to Seattle for a couple of days to visit family afterwards, but honestly the idea of a 3-4 hr train ride with the little guy who hates sitting still is way more stressful than the 45 min plane ride down to Seattle. For the flight up it would be a bit cheaper, but it would add a ton of travel time in.

This time around my plan is to just spend the extra money and take the easiest, most direct route possible whenever we can. Traveling with kids in general is stressful enough without adding to it!

In Vancouver I'm hoping to hit Granville Island, Stanley Park and the Aquarium, we might make it out to Grouse mountain and the bridge but honestly that may have to wait for a future trip when the kids are older and would appreciate it.

For the most part I imagine we'll just eat, shop and check out the city. The one thing I have learned travelling with kids is to figure out what all of the options are upfront and then just kind of go with the flow since they can be so unpredictable (mood and energy-wise).

Does anyone have kid-friendly excursion recommendations? I'm thinking we're going to do one of the dog sled camps (because puppies!) and maybe one of the gold panning activities but I'm not sure beyond that. I know for us this time around whale watching and the train are out (see earlier "sitting still" challenges!) but I'm sure there are other fun things to do in port!

 

[sdjen]

My 9 year and I did an Alaskan cruise this summer and loved it. I will tell you what we did if it helps.

We flew into Vancouver late Friday night. We stayed at the Hyatt on burrard. Great hotel with lots of kid friendly eating options very close by. Taxi to the port was Less than $10. It's also right next to a subway station which is handy.

Saturday we took the bus to Stanley park and explored. We did a horse drawn carriage tour that lasted an hour which was a great way to see the highlights of the park. We then did the aquarium which was fun. We prebooked tickets which saves a ton of time. We chose a behind the scenes tour to see and feed the sea otters which was really fun.

Sunday we took the public transport (train) to close to the airport and met some friends with a rental car. We drove to steveston which is a cute seaside village where Once Upon a Time is filmed.

In Alaska we booked all our own excursions privately. In Skagway we did two excursions with the same company. First was ziplining which was amazing and super fun. Not sure what the minimu age was but we did see some kids about 5 participating. There were a couple lines where my dd had to go with the guide because she didn't weigh enough. After that, back to base camp where we got to play with sled dog puppies, do dogsledding on a dirt track and hear from an actual musher who dogsleds (learned about the iditorad race). Highly recommend both.

Juneau we booked a private whale watching excursion - rum runner charters. . Boat holds up to 6 and was a fun experience. This might be an option for you with little ones as you can have your own space. My dd watched for whales but also played on her iPad. They provide snacks and drinks. We also ate at Tracy's crab shack (awesome!) and did the Mt Roberts tramway - amazing views!

Ketchikan we did the lumberjack show right by the dock. This is cheesy but we enjoyed it. Then we did my favorite excursion of the trip. A helicopter tour though Ketchikan helicopters. Only room for 2 and the pilot but this was amazing and well worth the $$.

This trip was our 4th DCL cruise and we loved it. Hope you have a fabulous time! If you want any specifics just ask!

 

[Lcluney]

Who did you book ziplining with because all of the tours on DCL require you to be 8 or older and we have a 6 year old