Latest you'd go on a SE Alaska Cruise? Fave small boat option?
Aug 5th, 2008, 06:20 PM
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Latest you'd go on a SE Alaska Cruise? Fave small boat option?
Is late Sept or early October
just too late for this region?
Back to considering this as an option for my DH's sabbatical.
Not sure we can afford a smaller boat like the Nat'l Geographic SeaBird or SeaLion but if so,
anyone ever tried them?
Would you choose late May over a Sept cruise? (again, mid to late Sept at the earliest)
Another option is for us to try & do the ferry system, but seems like it might be tough planning!
Thanks for any feedback, as still just not sure what to do. Appreciate it!
just too late for this region?
Back to considering this as an option for my DH's sabbatical.
Not sure we can afford a smaller boat like the Nat'l Geographic SeaBird or SeaLion but if so,
anyone ever tried them?
Would you choose late May over a Sept cruise? (again, mid to late Sept at the earliest)
Another option is for us to try & do the ferry system, but seems like it might be tough planning!
Thanks for any feedback, as still just not sure what to do. Appreciate it!
Aug 8th, 2008, 07:51 AM
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The latest I now consider is the first week of Sept. After that is the worse potential weather of the season for Inside Passage.
Absolutely I would alway go in late May vs Sept. (and have done so many times) Significantly better weather and far more daylight.
Absolutely I would alway go in late May vs Sept. (and have done so many times) Significantly better weather and far more daylight.
Aug 8th, 2008, 03:04 PM
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Thanks so much! Appreciate it.
That helps to know.
Odd as we've generally had nice Fall weather close to there...
including a trip to AK in the past, that I guess wrapped up around Sept. 10, however.
But, perhaps it all deteriorates very rapidly! Thanks again.
That helps to know.
Odd as we've generally had nice Fall weather close to there...
including a trip to AK in the past, that I guess wrapped up around Sept. 10, however.
But, perhaps it all deteriorates very rapidly! Thanks again.
Aug 9th, 2008, 04:55 PM
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We did May, on a Cruise West Inside Passage trip.
Yes, it is expensive, but it is worth every cent. 100 people on the boat. It gets into small passages and bays where the big ships cannot even imagine. The captain has the flexibility to stop and circle if there is a pod of spouting whales, as long as he wants. You get to go out in zodiacs and get really near the shore for watching wildlife and calving glaciers.
On at least two occasions we had native guests on board between stops who told us about their culture, etc. Twice we had rangers who kayaked out to the ship and spent the day with us pointing out wildlife and natural features.
Many of the 'shore excursions' are included, including visits to Petersburg, for example, a small Norwegian colony where children danced for us.
You know all of your cruise mates and the atmosphere on the ship is casual and cordial. Meals are served at the same time, meaning each meal has a "window" of time when it is being served and everybody is there, giving you a chance to get to know them and have continuing conversations.
The food was excellent with lots of choices.
All of the cabins are "outside". The top two decks have sliding glass doors, making almost a balcony.
When we did this it was advertised as a "no-tipping" cruise, and it was. No "gratuities" added to your bill at the end. Of course, everybody gave their favorite crew or service persons something, but it was very refreshing not to have a mandatory amount added to our bill.
In planning the trip we looked at the ferry system and decided we weren't willing to do such detailed planning and were too old to "wing it" as we would when we were undergraduates.
We had one experience with a big ship cruise, in the Caribbean, and while it was fun to have all of the ship amenities we really felt that the places we visited took second place and the experience turned out to be a "visit to a ship".
You mentioned a sabbatical. We are retired academics and did this on our retirement income.
We are NOT sorry.
Add to the cost of passage on a big ship the shore excursions and the "gratuity", and then figure in the value of the extra amenities of the small ship experience.
I hope this gives you some perspective for a decision.
Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip.
As for time of year. We were fine in mid-May. We did a South Central visit to Alaksa in a motorhome in mid September one year and the weather was fine then as well. You might run into more rain in SE in October, but I will let a resident answer that.
(It always rains in Ketchikan, they tell me. It didn't when we were there.)
Yes, it is expensive, but it is worth every cent. 100 people on the boat. It gets into small passages and bays where the big ships cannot even imagine. The captain has the flexibility to stop and circle if there is a pod of spouting whales, as long as he wants. You get to go out in zodiacs and get really near the shore for watching wildlife and calving glaciers.
On at least two occasions we had native guests on board between stops who told us about their culture, etc. Twice we had rangers who kayaked out to the ship and spent the day with us pointing out wildlife and natural features.
Many of the 'shore excursions' are included, including visits to Petersburg, for example, a small Norwegian colony where children danced for us.
You know all of your cruise mates and the atmosphere on the ship is casual and cordial. Meals are served at the same time, meaning each meal has a "window" of time when it is being served and everybody is there, giving you a chance to get to know them and have continuing conversations.
The food was excellent with lots of choices.
All of the cabins are "outside". The top two decks have sliding glass doors, making almost a balcony.
When we did this it was advertised as a "no-tipping" cruise, and it was. No "gratuities" added to your bill at the end. Of course, everybody gave their favorite crew or service persons something, but it was very refreshing not to have a mandatory amount added to our bill.
In planning the trip we looked at the ferry system and decided we weren't willing to do such detailed planning and were too old to "wing it" as we would when we were undergraduates.
We had one experience with a big ship cruise, in the Caribbean, and while it was fun to have all of the ship amenities we really felt that the places we visited took second place and the experience turned out to be a "visit to a ship".
You mentioned a sabbatical. We are retired academics and did this on our retirement income.
We are NOT sorry.
Add to the cost of passage on a big ship the shore excursions and the "gratuity", and then figure in the value of the extra amenities of the small ship experience.
I hope this gives you some perspective for a decision.
Whatever you decide, have a wonderful trip.
As for time of year. We were fine in mid-May. We did a South Central visit to Alaksa in a motorhome in mid September one year and the weather was fine then as well. You might run into more rain in SE in October, but I will let a resident answer that.
(It always rains in Ketchikan, they tell me. It didn't when we were there.)
Aug 18th, 2008, 04:10 AM
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Wrenwood...hoping you'll see this note. Might post a thread to grab your attention just in case.
Just saw your reply.
Trying to decide ASAP about Linblad & going on the Seabird.
Could you share more or email me directly? [email protected]
Type of cabin you had...
location of it, and it seems you took the 8 day cruise. Our only choice would be the longer one that sails to Seattle at the end. I worry that it might miss out on some of the things you can do in the 8 days just focused 'up north'.
We need to decide exceedingly soon, and are stumped. Did you get to kayak much or do other worthwhile activities each day? Thanks so much!
Just saw your reply.
Trying to decide ASAP about Linblad & going on the Seabird.
Could you share more or email me directly? [email protected]
Type of cabin you had...
location of it, and it seems you took the 8 day cruise. Our only choice would be the longer one that sails to Seattle at the end. I worry that it might miss out on some of the things you can do in the 8 days just focused 'up north'.
We need to decide exceedingly soon, and are stumped. Did you get to kayak much or do other worthwhile activities each day? Thanks so much!
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Nov 11th, 2008, 07:42 AM
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JT RANDOLPH!!! Hi, I would love to hear more about your cruise. I was thinking of going with my husband in August, but now I am thinking differently. I looked at Norwegian Cruise Line from Seattle. They seem more informal, which is good because we sure are! But, your experience seems way more like us. Could you reply, or do you have a trip report? E-mail address? Thanks!
Nov 12th, 2008, 03:19 PM
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seeksocean,
I just happened to come here this afternoon and saw your message.
I don't think I did a trip report on our Cruise West experience of the Inside Passage, but somewhere I have written it up extensively.
Unfortunately, (well actually fortunately) we are leaving in two days for three weeks in Argentina, so I won't have time to search for it right now.
I don't like to put my email address on public forums. Do you belong to Trip Advisor? If not, go there and join and find me and click on my name and then you can send me a private message and I can private message you back. And we can exchange email addresses.
I am known there as "Puter", the destination person for Santa Cruz (CA).
If you do that, when I get back on December 6, I will see what I have.
I cannot say enough about the small ship experience. I don't think anyone will get me on one of the large ones again. We had only 100 people on our trip and we all got to be great friends. No fancy entertainment or "shows", just lots of up close sea life and rangers and locals who joined us for parts of the trip
I just happened to come here this afternoon and saw your message.
I don't think I did a trip report on our Cruise West experience of the Inside Passage, but somewhere I have written it up extensively.
Unfortunately, (well actually fortunately) we are leaving in two days for three weeks in Argentina, so I won't have time to search for it right now.
I don't like to put my email address on public forums. Do you belong to Trip Advisor? If not, go there and join and find me and click on my name and then you can send me a private message and I can private message you back. And we can exchange email addresses.
I am known there as "Puter", the destination person for Santa Cruz (CA).
If you do that, when I get back on December 6, I will see what I have.
I cannot say enough about the small ship experience. I don't think anyone will get me on one of the large ones again. We had only 100 people on our trip and we all got to be great friends. No fancy entertainment or "shows", just lots of up close sea life and rangers and locals who joined us for parts of the trip
