? Why no inside passage on Alaska cruises?

[NancyIL]

The new map does show the route going to the east of Vancouver Island both directions - which is how most ships travel from Vancouver. That's a GOOD thing! It won't make me change from my 14-night roundtrip on HAL Amsterdam, but it's definitely an improvement over the previous info!

 

[smeecanada]

The new map has the Wonder sailing the inside passage!

Great. They fixed it. It's the only reasonable way to go out of and into Vancouver. The other way just didn't make sense. The CM's just don't know their geography of the West Coast very well. Vancouver Island is a large island - it takes 8+ hours to drive from one end to the other.

 

[fcrouch]

We rented a car in Skagway (booked ahead of time as there aren't many to rent) and drove into the Yukon territory - so we got into Canada - and saw a "desert" area and the most emerald green lake I'd ever seen. Same majestic views as from the train - the road is on the other side of the "valley" from the train tracks - we came back and still had time for lunch and a beer and walking around skagway. We did the same in Ketchikan. I do recommend a wildlife watching tour in Juneau as we saw a great deal in a short period of time. If you want to see a glacier - then for sure go to the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. You can do both the wildlife tour and the glacier in a day. I also enjoyed seeing the small Russian Orthodox church in Juneau.

 

[adorelc]

So does this mean the seas will not be as rough? I get seasick very easily so I was debating if I need to get a patch again. Thanks for the help!

 

[Empress Room]

So does this mean the seas will not be as rough? I get seasick very easily so I was debating if I need to get a patch again. Thanks for the help!

No matter which route is taken, and which cruise line, there is a portion of the Alaska cruises that crosses the Pacific Ocean, which is the most turbulent part of the cruise.

We have been on 13 DCL cruises and 1 HAL inside passage Alaska. The captain on HAL warned us about the crossing over the ocean, it is clearly the roughest waters and most motion we experienced on any cruise and clearly much more than what we encountered on DCL's Caribbean, Bahamanian and even Mexican Riveria routes in the past.

Having said that, it is only for something less than a day and the scenery and experience of Alaska is well worth the slight discomfort.

 

[NancyIL]

No matter which route is taken, and which cruise line, there is a portion of the Alaska cruises that crosses the Pacific Ocean, which is the most turbulent part of the cruise.

We have been on 13 DCL cruises and 1 HAL inside passage Alaska. The captain on HAL warned us about the crossing over the ocean, it is clearly the roughest waters and most motion we experienced on any cruise and clearly much more than what we encountered on DCL's Caribbean, Bahamanian and even Mexican Riveria routes in the past.

Having said that, it is only for something less than a day and the scenery and experience of Alaska is well worth the slight discomfort.

One-way cruises that cross the Gulf of Alaska can certainly be rough, as can roundtrips that sail west of Vancouver Island. However, if the Wonder follows the route on the map, it will stay in protected waters most of the time. That doesn't mean there can't be some rough seas, but there is very little ocean open sailing on this itinerary.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We just got back from HAL Statendam to Alaska. I have to start this as saying we have cruised with DCL eight times and was quite concerned that we would be let down with another cruiseline. It turned out quite the opposite. We loved HAL and had zero complaints. HAL knows how to turn out a great Alaskan experience. We flew into Fairbanks and stayed at the Regency, took a train to Denali, stayed in a HAL chalet and from there the train to Anchorage staying in a Hilton over night where we were bussed to Seward. We picked up the ship there. We hit College Fjord, Glacier Bay, Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan and the last day going through the inside passage to Vancouver. We never had to touch our luggage including disembarking from the ship. The luggage was waiting for us at home. We also included transfers and insurance. We stayed in an oceanview stateroom that had unbelievable storage. We saw so much of Alaska by doing the land/cruise tour. All that I mentioned was for 1200.00 per person. I wonder if DCL can match or beat that price and that would be with out the land portion since DCL isn't doing a cruise tour. I am very glad that we didn't do DCL so that we could get up to Denali. Unbelievable cruise.

We did hit some rough seas a few times last week but it never affected us. We are firm believers in Meclizine. Actually the worst swells we ever encountered was on the 2005 DCL PC cruise where we hit Hurricane Hilary.

 

[NancyIL]

We just got back from HAL Statendam to Alaska. I have to start this as saying we have cruised with DCL eight times and was quite concerned that we would be let down with another cruiseline. It turned out quite the opposite. We loved HAL and had zero complaints. HAL knows how to turn out a great Alaskan experience. We flew into Fairbanks and stayed at the Regency, took a train to Denali, stayed in a HAL chalet and from there the train to Anchorage staying in a Hilton over night where we were bussed to Seward. We picked up the ship there. We hit College Fjord, Glacier Bay, Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan and the last day going through the inside passage to Vancouver. We never had to touch our luggage including disembarking from the ship. The luggage was waiting for us at home. We also included transfers and insurance. We stayed in an oceanview stateroom that had unbelievable storage. We saw so much of Alaska by doing the land/cruise tour. All that I mentioned was for 1200.00 per person. I wonder if DCL can match or beat that price and that would be with out the land portion since DCL isn't doing a cruise tour. I am very glad that we didn't do DCL so that we could get up to Denali. Unbelievable cruise.

We did hit some rough seas a few times last week but it never affected us. We are firm believers in Meclizine. Actually the worst swells we ever encountered was on the 2005 DCL PC cruise where we hit Hurricane Hilary.

Welcome back! I'm so glad you enjoyed HAL and loved Alaska!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Welcome back! I'm so glad you enjoyed HAL and loved Alaska!

Thanks! I'm sure you will enjoy your trip just as much!

 

[NancyIL]

Thanks! I'm sure you will enjoy your trip just as much!

You had me briefly looking at HAL cruisetours for next year! However, I'll stick with my 14-night roundtrip cruise itinerary.

 

[dkmjgal]

For those that have sailed on Princess and on DCL, are they comparable in activities for kids? My boys are 9 and 11, so I was going to choose the Disney Alaska cruise mainly for the kid-friendliness (and Disney magic, of course ).
Actually, we were planning on going on HAL until Disney announced that they were going to Alaska and then we got our heart set on Disney. If it were just a group of adults, we'd probably stick with HAL because of the price difference. But with the kiddos along, I'd like to find a fun option that has the breathtaking Alaska views plus lots of fun for families on the ship.
Thoughts?

p.s. this will be my kids' first cruise and my second cruise, my 1st and only cruise was when I was a teen 20+ years ago - so we're pretty much complete newbies to cruising.

I have only cruised with DCL..just came off of our 4th cruise and I can say that the children's programs are absolutely amazing. One of the reasons we pay the extra money for Disney is because of the kids programming. On our 1st cruise our DD was almost 7 and our DS was 3 1/2. Our kids are now 14 1/2and 11 1/2 and the programming has only gotten better. The clubs are open all day...from about 9 or 10 in the morning until about midnight..the teen club is open even later. The counselors are incredible and the actual activities offered are endless. Like I said..I haven't cruised any other cruise lines but for now we will be staying with Disney for our cruises.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Nancy, our land part was 5 days (we added a day in Fairbanks) and the cruise was 7 days. We loved both parts of the trip. I'm not going to try and sway you as 14 days on a cruise is always heaven. What ports are you stopping at?

 

[mmmears]

The new map does show the route going to the east of Vancouver Island both directions - which is how most ships travel from Vancouver. That's a GOOD thing! It won't make me change from my 14-night roundtrip on HAL Amsterdam, but it's definitely an improvement over the previous info!

Thanks for posting this info! I am so much happier looking at the new map!!! Now we just have to hope that it stays this way...

 

[NancyIL]

Nancy, our land part was 5 days (we added a day in Fairbanks) and the cruise was 7 days. We loved both parts of the trip. I'm not going to try and sway you as 14 days on a cruise is always heaven. What ports are you stopping at?

This will be my 4th Alaska cruise, and it goes to Ketchikan, Juneau, Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Sitka, Anchorage, Homer, Kodiak, Hubbard Glacier, Tracy Arm Fjord (the 2010 cruises ended up going to Glacier Bay instead), and Victoria (BC). I have been to all except Icy Strait Point and Kodiak.

My two one-way cruises were followed by independent land trips in a rental car, and I enjoyed the land portions as much as the cruises. I have considered flying to Anchorage post-cruise (from Seattle) to return to Denali, and to visit Fairbanks for the first time. I reserved a hotel for 2 nights in Anchorage and a one week rental car just in case!

 

[ClubDis]

For those who have been on Alaska cruises before, do you think the Navigator's Veranda would be good or bad choice? I was thinking because it's more enclosed it might help sheild us from the cold and also from nearby smokers. What do you think?

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Honestly, we didn't go with a verandah and had an oceanview because it was a last minute trip for us last month and the ship was booked. We didn't feel like we missed out on anything. We felt the best view was from the front and not from the sides of the ship. If you cruise verandah I don't think it would make THAT much of a difference between the two. The smoking issue is a whole different story and don't get me started, LOL.

 

[Mrs. Gumdrop]

Bump

 

[jhugge]

Jumping in a little late on this thread.

Took my family to Alaska for 2 weeks earlier this summer.

We flew into Anchorage and rented a 30 ft RV for the first week we were there camping in Seward and Denali before boarding the Coral Princess and cruising to Vancouver.

Our ship did visit Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay National Park as well as Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

While I have no doubt that Disney will do a fantastic job with their Alaska trips, I cannot imagine missing Hubbard/Glacier Bay. We love our Disney cruises and will continue cruising Disney, but Alaska is truly a once in a lifetime destination. Different in so many ways from most cruise destinations. To me, Disney's itinerary falls flat. Our Princess cruise didnt have the 24 hour kid entertainment that we get on Disney, but my 7 and 9 year old still loved it.

Finally, if you can do it, the RV portion of the trip was spectacular and my kids loved it. I had never driven an RV before and was a little freaked out about it, but got the hang of it quickly.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM.

 

[NancyIL]

Jumping in a little late on this thread.

Took my family to Alaska for 2 weeks earlier this summer.

We flew into Anchorage and rented a 30 ft RV for the first week we were there camping in Seward and Denali before boarding the Coral Princess and cruising to Vancouver.

Our ship did visit Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay National Park as well as Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

While I have no doubt that Disney will do a fantastic job with their Alaska trips, I cannot imagine missing Hubbard/Glacier Bay. We love our Disney cruises and will continue cruising Disney, but Alaska is truly a once in a lifetime destination. Different in so many ways from most cruise destinations. To me, Disney's itinerary falls flat. Our Princess cruise didnt have the 24 hour kid entertainment that we get on Disney, but my 7 and 9 year old still loved it.

Finally, if you can do it, the RV portion of the trip was spectacular and my kids loved it. I had never driven an RV before and was a little freaked out about it, but got the hang of it quickly.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM.

That's wonderful that you did the land trip with an RV! My first Alaska cruise was on the Coral Princess, and I am so glad Princess's southbound cruises now go to both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay.

I hope you wil repeat your comments on this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2568655