We had thought to take the AMH at least one-way or perhaps RT.

But we have taken note of BudgetQueen's recommendation to take a one-way 7-day cruise as a way to see a lot in one package.

Then, I suppose, one could rent an RV in Seward and go to Denali and, from there, put together there own "shore excursions?"

Would a family of three then take the AMH back to Bellingham or just fly home to the West Coast?

Also, can anyone help us narrow down our choices of cruises? We most certainly don't want dressy dinners and such.

The ferry only goes as far as Haines except for twice-a-month connecting service across the Gulf of Alaska (big water) from Juneau to Seward. Thus if you want to visit southcentral or interior Alaska you have to make your way from Haines to Anchorage. When you add up all the various costs (transport, cabin, food, etc.) and consider that often the ferry stops in towns in the middle of the night, or for such a short time that sightseeing on land is curtailed, the cruise starts looking more and more attractive. Flying to Anchorage, renting a vehicle, driving around, then cruising back from Seward (or vice-versa) is the method most often used for people who want both to tour and cruise. Open-jaw airfares (to Anchorage, back from Vancouver or v.v.) are easy to arrange. Note all the one-ways start or end at Vancouver in order to comply with US law (only round-trips out of Seattle).

As far as which cruise lines offer the most casual atmosphere, probably Norwegian with its "freestyle" theme is the winner. While nobody will put a gun to your head and have you put on a tux, some lines (e.g. Celebrity, HAL) tend to market themselves as more attire-conscious than others. But you can put on a new Pendleton shirt, string tie, pressed jeans and clean boots and tell them you're wearing the "Alaska Tuxedo" and maybe they'll let you in for the baked Alaska (there's an oxymoron) on the last formal night.

Actually, I think Gardyloo is overlooking one possibility. We returned from Alaska via the ferry, but you don't have to think of taking it straight through. We took it in stages, giving us an opportunity to spend a couple nights in Skagway, a couple of nights in Juneau, and a couple of nights in Ketchikan. Or you can stay a night or two in Sitka as well. This way you can accomplish even more than on a cruise. And of course it's possible to take it both ways, getting off at different cities each way. We were traveling with our car however for a really extended trip. You can also rent a car at Haines and then drive from there to Anchorage, Denali, etc. or as suggested, arrange the trip across on the ferry to Seward and drop your car off in Haines. Lots of possibilities to think about.

Actually I'm not aware of any rental agencies in Haines that would let you do this. I think Avis used to have an agent in Haines for local rentals but it's no longer listed on Avis' website; the only other car rental agent in Haines only allows local travel. Generally speaking, most of the big agencies don't encourage one-ways in Alaska, and most won't let their cars outside the US for insurance reasons. It's worth calling around, for sure, though.

I like the ferry, don't get me wrong. Certainly the get on-get off plan for the ferries is doable. It's all a matter of what's important to visitors. I don't think, however, that they're any great bargain, once you do the math.

The AMH used to have a split personality of sorts - one year they'd try to be the love boat, the next year the city bus. Since the real love boats are undercutting them on price, I gather they're focusing more on basic transportation, meaning people from outside with backpacks and/or cars, or folks wanting to get home to various towns in SE, Kodiak, the chain, or similar.

Many thanks, everyone.

I guess I assumed the Haines-Seward ferry service was more frequent.

Maybe I should shop for a one-way to Seward on some modest cruise line? Aren't there any that are on another rung below Princess-Celebrity-Norwegian and the like?

I thought I was pretty good at web searching but those are the ones that pop up.

For clairfication- NCL doesn't do any one way cruises. But with alt buffet dining- you never have to step foot in the dining rooms- BUT having one pair of dress black pants and a few nice tops go a long way and certainly are appropriate on any cruiseline now. So look at Princess, HAL, Celebrity, RCI, Carnival (the passengers are similar to the other lines- NO party ships yet in Alaska!!!). Priorities for me however is College fjord on a one way which leaves out some Celebrity and RCI. As for RV rentals- plenty out of Anchorage- I rented from Great Alaskan Holidays with no complaints. Consider the regular run of the Alaska RR leaving at 6 pm, this fits in nicely with a Kenai fjords boat trip 11:30-5:30, you drop off your bags, via cab at the depot and just walk to the boat, same on return, with a possible stop at the subway if you want a sandwich on the train. Princess goes to Whittier not Seward- so look at all options and choose what is your priorites. I think the cruiselines are an excellent value- lodging, accomdations, meals and transportation. Yes lacking in some areas and not a lot of time in areas- but a lot packed into 7 days. Correct- Avis left Haines.

I'm just starting to think about planning a trip to Alaska for the summer of 2004. I thought a good place to begin was by readings a few threads on this board. That gives rise to this question addressed to Gardyloo (or anyone else who wishes to respond): What is the US law you refer to regarding one-way flights?

The U.S. Passenger Services Act of 1886 (!) and the Jones Act restricts foreign-flagged ships (i.e. pretty much all cruise ships) from transporting goods and passengers "between U.S. ports", so you can't have a cruise ship take you from Seattle to Seward. This is why so many ships leave from Vancouver. The Seattle ships take you up to Alaska and back, so aren't thought of as going between ports. Go figure.

The complications arise because the PSA requires stops in foreign ports on ships built outside the US that carry traffic between US ports. For round-trip voyages, like Seattle to Seattle, the stop can be in any foreign port; the cruise lines use Victoria BC for this. In the case of one-way voyages between US ports (Seattle to Seward, for example) the stop would have to be in a "distant" foreign port, of which by law there are none in Canada or Mexico. So what does that mean, Russia? Thus all the one-ways either originate or terminate in Canada, regardless of where they've stopped en route. Along the same lines, trips from LA or San Diego to Hawaii and back can do whistle-stops in Ensenada, Mexico, while one-ways to or from Hawaii have to start or end in Mexico or Canada. Norwegian, which does round-trips through the islands from Honolulu now has to detour all the way to the Republic of Kiribati in the South Pacific for a port call. The problem goes away if the ship is built and registered in the US, but then the lines would have to observe US labor laws and that would be a financial disaster for most. A provision in the 2003 federal budget allowed slight variance from this rule for Hawaii, and Norwegian is acquiring two US-flagged ships, and will be staffing them in such a way that they can do intra-Hawaii sailings without having to detour thousands of miles to satisfy the PSA.

If the Alaska cruise trade were year-round they'd probably consider doing the same thing, but it's not, Vancouver is an attractive and accessible port (and would lobby like hell against any liberalization of US law) so I expect the status quo will stay that way for the time being.

lots of good advise on above posts. i had a great time talking to local alaskans and tourists on the ferries. the amh system sort of encourages you to get off the boat, spend some time and get on the next ferry the next day or so. the schedule is very reliable. you will experience a rural culture when you get off in towns like wrangle and haines. no cruise ship amenaties.
good luck.

Thanks, ALF and Gardyloo, for explaining the U.S. Passenger Services Act. It's kind of fascinating to see how an very old law, still in effect, is applied to situations in today's world.