bob mohalley

Wife and I plan on going to alaska next year for first time.Need input on time of year, cruise one way or rt, land trips, which cruise lines.This is a 35th anniversary, so we'd like a really nice cruise ship.thanks for the help

TC

Bob, please do the research on this forum regarding Alaska, then get an idea what places you would interested in visiting and come up after that with some specific questions.
What are your interests? Fishing, hiking, scenary, wildlife? Would you rent a car or RV?
Do the search under Alaska first, then go to the book store and chose one or more guidebooks, then please ask questions here. You will find tons of terrific information on this board but get an idea what you would like to concentrate on.
Have fun planning

Sue

Also post this question on the cruise board. (Scroll down on the home page to see it.)

Connie

We just did an RV trip for our first Alaska trip. We wanted to be IN Alaska vs. just looking at it from a cruise ship.

We flew into Anchorage and the rental people met us at the airport with the RV.

As far as going with an RV, we enjoyed just being able to go whereever and whenever we wanted without being tied to reservations or tours. It was nice having our bed, bath and kitchen with us at all times.

As far as where to go, we (and many Fodor posters) like the Kenai Peninsula the best. The scenery is the best, there are many things to do and you get the mountains and the ocean all together.

We went up to Denali but the trip takes three days minimum to get up there, do the bus tour and drive back down. We are glad we did it but will not go back. We couldn't wait to get back to the Kenai.

The nice thing about a cruise is you can leave everything to them.

There is a lot of good info on the Alaska forum. It really helped plan our trip and I found it to be reliable.

janice

take a 1 way cruise with a pre or post land package. Princess and Holland America are the 2 mainstays in Alaska. June July and August are the prime months for these cruises. Enjoy.

ray

It could be cheaper to travel round trip on the ship. We found this out the hard way - by not doing it= on a cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti. It would have saved over a $1000.00 to have gone round trip. We enjoyed our Princess cruise to Alaska, make sure you take a boat tour of Auke Lake - it was the highlight of our trip.

steve

Took Sun Princess to Alaska leaving June 24. Weather OK - heard that weather a few days earlier was terrible! You can never be sure that any 7 day period will be good or bad. Temperatures were ok. Several people used the pool and there was some sunbathing.

Liked the cruise - stops at Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. Saw both Glacier Bay and College Fiord.

Then rented an RV for a week. It was fun, but I would rent an RV and take a trip around your home area to try it out before you rent one in Alaska.

I would not cruise round trip, but would look into cruise tour packages and would find out about the cruise ship airfares back.

F

We went last year and had an amazingly fantastic time. No cruise. We took day boats run by Alaskan Native companies, which had National Park naturalists/rangers on board. We spent 2 days at Glacier Bay (stayed in the Glacier Bay National Park Lodge and loved it). Went to Denali (wonderful). Went to Seward to see the Kenai Peninsula and Kenai Fjord. And we spent a couple of days in Anchorage and Juneau. This was a great trip. I only wish we'd had time to get to Kodiak Island and Homer. Oh well, next time...
I wish you a happy anniversary and a beautiful trip!

mohalley

thanks everyone for the input.I need to do more research, but am leaning towards a one-way and then rent a vehicle and see the land portion by ourselves.I do get seasick easily and that is weighing my decision.Any thoughts on how much you feel the sea on the ship==IVe never cruised because of this, and pills dont help ( I go fishing and still get sick).

Jason

Bob, I can certainly sympathize with the seasickness. I get sick VERY easily. When I took a Carribean cruise about 10 years ago, even though the water was relatively calm by normal person's standards, I got sick almost immediately. Pills don't work for me either. The only thing that does work is The Patch. I would highly recommend it if you're taking a cruise and you get seasick easily. Believe me, if it worked for me then that's saying something. I have heard that Alaskan cruises are supposed to be somewhat calmer because of the Inner Passage, but I wouldn't do it without the patch. Partly because of concerns about seasickness, I chose to rent a car and do a land tour, and it was fantastic. My parents recently went to Alaska and did the one-way cruise and enjoyed it. I don't recall the name of the cruise line. But bottom line, if you go on the cruise it will be lovely, but you should use the patch. I would recommend the one-way so that you can get out and explore some of Alaska as well. If you like to fish, this is the place!

John

There are a couple of open ocean segments on the Seward itineraries, but the cruise lines are mindful of passenger comfort and try to cover much of the distance at night. Still, you might ask your doc about other approaches (patches etc.) Otherwise the sailing is in protected waters that are generally quite smooth.

Yes, rent a car and tour the road system on your own. Also you might consider saving a little on the cruise by not taking the best cabin, and use the savings to go flightseeing or take a mini-trip to some part of Alaska not served by the road system, which is most of it. Fly to Kotzebue or Nome, maybe Barrow, or some other village where you can see something or rural Alaska - very, very different from the tourist routes on the highways.

Lisa

My husband and took our first cruise last August. We went to Alaska on Celebrity's new ship The Infinity. We'd never taken one before because, like you, I get seasick very easily. Since we caught the cruise in Vancouver, I was able to buy The Patch (Scopolamine, about $ 5.00 each, last 3 days) over-the counter and it was wonderful! I didn't get seasick at all and enjoyed the ship which was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!! We'll definetely cruise again, it's very romantic and perfect for a wedding anniversary. Enjoy your trip and let us know how did it go!

Topper

ttt