Thread: What is your favorite Alaska itinerary?

My family and I are considering a cruise to Alaska late this summer. It's one of the cruises that we've talked about doing but never planned. For some reason, picking Caribbean or Mediterranean ports comes easily to me but for Alaska, I have no idea where I want to go.

What is your favorite Alaska itinerary? What are your favorite stops to make and why? Which land tours/excursions do you love the most?

Hey Sonja! Long time no see (sea, too!)

Are you going to take the 2 kidlets or will it just be you and Earl? That might make a difference in which cruiseline you pick.

We have cruised Alaska 6 times and I think our most favorite port of call and whale watching tour was Icy Strait Point. Not sure which cruiselines go there--we were on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

What made it so special was the local fisherman who we (us and 2 other couples) booked for 1/2 a day. By the way, lots of them supplement their income by offering private excursions to wherever and whatever you want to do. You can go whale watching or fishing or???

What is so neat is that all the fishermen who are out with the tourists keep in touch with each other by radio and there is chatter back and forth when someone spots wildlife or pods of whales. We got in the middle of a pod and just sat there for about an hour while they cavorted and breached and "talked" to each other. Floyd (our guide) put a microphone down so we could eavesdrop! Unless you are planning a land tour as well, the Inside Passage is the way to go. You will get to see more ports.

We went to Hubbard Glacier(5th time there) and it was magnificent! We had never, in all our other cruises, seen it calving so much.

Here is the YouTube clip of the Hubbard last May.

YouTube Video

I live just 100 miles north of Skagway and have been on 9 Alaska cruises since 2005, so my choices may be far different than yours. My wife and I like to get off the beaten track (as far as that can be done on a cruise!), and the longer the cruise the better. So, the 11-night Spring respositioning on the Celebrity Infinity that visited Icy Strait Point and Sitka was fabulous, but the 14-night Fall repositioning on the Radiance of the Seas may have even been better. We're looking at a 12-night Oceania cruise that goes to Wrangell this year, as that and Kodiak are the only 2 ports we haven't seen yet.

I've set up a page at Alaska Cruise Ports: Top Excursions - YourAlaskaCruise.com that describes the most popular excursions in each port - that may help you to narrow the list down. We've been out with Floyd (the same fellow that Char was with) twice, and he does indeed run a great tour.

Murray

Murray, you have put together a very easy to read site with lots of good info. Thanks for sharing!

I agree with Char; your page is excellent, Murray. There's enough info for people to figure out what sounds good to them, and then they can use that to pick an itinerary as well as what excursions they want to do.

Sonja, I'm guessing you aren't taking the littlest guy, but Chip might like seeing the bears and whales. And if you get to Fairbanks, there's a chance to put in an early request for Xmas to Santa.

This is the web site for the best whale watching in Alaska!

F.I.S.H.E.S

The kids most likely won't be joining us, but it's a possibility. My brother has two boys the same ages as mine, so they could join us as well.

The purpose of this trip is to go up and spread our father's ashes. He just passed a couple weeks ago and dad loved fishing in Alaska. We thought a cruise to Alaska would be a nice way to go to Alaska together. Cruising provides something for everyone at all levels. Plus, Mom got cancer the same day as dad died and she is pretty weak from it. If she decides to join us, relaxing on the ship, enjoying the view would be perfect for her.

Murray, your site is incredibly informative. I could easily choose an itinerary just based on all the excursions we want to do. And with your experience, I have the comfort of knowing we will be very satisfied with our selections.

We have taken 11 Alaska cruises and have enjoyed all of the ports we have visited.
As Char mentioned Icy Strait Point is a very good one. It is not as commercialized and any of the rest of them that we have seen. We very much enjoyed the train in Skagway.

As for the glaciers, Hubbard and Glacier Bay are our favorites. Tracy Arm/Sawyer are nice but conditions often do not allow the ships to get very far into them.

Good luck with this very special trip, Sonja. I took my 87-year-old father on the 14-night that I did last September - it will be the last of many, many great adventures we've had together. He tried for months to get out of going, and had 100 excuses why it wouldn't work. For the last 5 days or so as we sailed towards San Francisco, though, he was telling everyone who would listen that it was the best experience of his life. I hope that yours will be as memorable.

Murray

Thank you Murray, I sure hope so. Mom has Parkinson's and is starting to show signs of Parkinson's onset Dementia. Now with her cancer, I fear that she may not be around much longer.