I would love to go to Alaska, but I'm a bit put off by the cruise itself. I am not interested in big ships overlowing ports of call. I would prefer something smaller a bit low key. Also, are there other ways to see Alaska wihtout going on these cruises? Can someone suggest what type of cruise to take and/or if I go there, am I stuck going on a cruise or are there other options? thank you

we have been on four cruises and have come to love them. when it comes to alaska though we plan to use one of the low key educational tours that are available. all the info you need is on the internet. the small cruises and a good tour are going to cost more than what you would pay for a week on a larger ship. be prepared.

Have a look at the Alaska State ferry, which travels the same route as the cruise ships, but is smaller, way less fancy, and a lot cheaper. You can take a "cross gulf" sailing to get to Southcentral Alaska (Anchorage etc.), or you can explore Kodiak or the Aleutians if you're very adventurous.

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/index.html

Yes, Susan there are other ways to see Alaska wihtout going on a cruise. Many people visit Alaska by flying to Anchorage, renting a car or RV there and include Denali, Homer, Seward in their itinerary.
You don't have to go on a cruise. Do the thext search on this forum and you will find some wonderful ideas on Alaskan itinerary. Then get Frommers and Fodors books. I always start with Frommers because it has a section on the best things to see, best hotels, best wildlife viewing, etc. These ideas give me a great flavour what's out there and compare with my own interests.
There are so many places to visit in Alaska without putting your foot on a ship. And you can always take a day cruise from Seward. It is a fantastic way to travel

We just returned from a fly-in, RV rental trip and loved it. We paid $1700 for ten days. I decided to do it at the last minute so I bet you could find better deals with more time. Make reservations as early as possible.

They meet you at the airport, show you the Rv and how to use it and you take off. We like the freedome of going wherever and whenever we want. No trouble finding places to park the RV and it is not necessary to find a place to hook up. You just have to fill up with water every day or so. There are tons of RV's everywhere you go and Alaska is prepared for it.

We too don't think we would care anything about a the big cruise experience. I don't want to have to pay for all the activities we wouldn't do. If we went on a cruise we would just like to see the scenery along the Alaskan coast and do excursions.

Anyone have specific cruise line names that would fit the bill?

There are two choices for low-key smaller ship experiences. Cruise West has the very small vessels. Some are just day cruising, staying in hotels at night. They are small so can get up close to the land and get into areas the others can't. Another choice for low-key is World Explorer. They do a 2 wk inside passage cruise hitting all the major and minor areas. They are very informal and concentrate on the destination with speakers, naturalists, etc. Alaska is indeed a fabulous destination, but expensive. World Explorer will probably be less than Cruise West. But both are nice.

You don't need to cruise! This board helped me plan my July 2002, two-week trip to Alaska and I'd like to return the favor. We flew to Anchorage and picked up a car (I recommend a big one, like an SUV; lotsa gravel roads and you need power to pass those RVs). We stayed at Oscar Gill B&B, highly recommended, walking distance to downtown. Ate at Humpy's, Glacier Brewhouse, Simon and Seaforts and Café Paris; all great. Did the Museum of History and Art. Two days is the most you'll need. From there we drove down to Seward, stopping at Alyeska Ski Resort to take the tram ride to the top of a mountain and the Portage Glacier Visitor Center. Stayed at the Oceanfront B&B, which had one of the most perfect locations of any place I have ever stayed: right on the beach of Resurrection Bay. The breakfast is skimpy, but everything else about the place was amazing. Did the six-hour Kenai Fjord tour, from 3 to 9 p.m. with salmon dinner served on board. Saw lots o wildlife, but the calving glacier was the highlight of the entire two-week trip. The Sea Life Center was a must see. Eat at Rays. Two nights there was good, though I could've stayed at that B&B painting watercolors for a month. Our next stop was to Homer with a stay at Fernwood Estates B&B, which was situated on the side of a mountain overlooking the town. The view was amazing from the great room and the deck, food was delicious and the owner was really nice, but she had three kids who had the run of the place and it got a tad noisy. Homer is a funky town with artists and hippies and good for a two-night stay (we stayed three, just to rest). The museum is worthwhile, the Winn Nature Center gives walks so you can finally identify all those wild flowers you've been seeing. You can take an expensive flightseeing tour to watch bears catch salmon, or you can go to the visitor center and watch the live bear cam. If we had the money, ($800 for two), I would've gone to see them in person. Eat at Land's End, Café Cups, Captain Patties and The Homestead. We headed back toward Anchorage with a stop at Cooper Landing (sneeze and you'll miss it). Stay at Red Salmon Lodge for the well-appointed rooms and a chance to have dinner with 80-year-old Ethel, the manager. Check out the interesting cemetery on the way to the Princess Lodge. Above Anchorage, see another interesting cemetery in Eklutna. Our next stop was Wasilla; a truly ugly town that has been overtaken by sprawl, except for our B&B; Pioneer Ridge (formerly Yukon Don's). More amazing views, great food, nice rooms and hostess and her kids stay away from the guest areas. Go to the Iditarod Trail Headquarter for a $5 dogsled ride. Eat at the Lake Lucille Inn and watch the floatplanes come and go. Go to Palmer and the Musk Ox Farm. Next stop was Talkeetna and the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, where, if you are lucky, you will see the entire Alaska Range (featuring Mt. McKinley) from the deck. We took a flightseeing tour on the one clear day we had. K2 and Talkeetna Air Taxi are both recommended. The town below is cute, it was supposed to be the model for Cicily in "Northern Exposure." From there we headed back to Anchorage and home. We decided we didn't have enough time to do Denali Park and the idea of sitting on a bus for 6-14 hours wasn't appealing. Twas a great trip.

LJB's right on target.
I would NEVER take a cruise to Alaska.
You miss way too much.
There's so much to see inland, it's so easy to get around, and you have the freedom of making your own itinerary.
Plus, you can see the water attractions by taking day cruises, like the ones out of Seward.
We loved our land/day cruise trip!

LJB,

Thanks for your posting. This is almost the exact trip we plan on taking the 1st 2 weeks in Sept. I can't wait!

Susan,

We are taking a Cruise West "Days aboard nights ashore" cruise through the Inner passage in Sept. This is a 5 night cruise where you cruise by day and stay at different hotels ashore at night from Juneau to Ketchikan. Check out there website.

We took several Cruise West trips for two weeks in June 2000 and loved them. We started with the "days on the yacht, nights in motels" portion and throughly enjoyed their "up close and personal" approach, getting us close to wildlife and sights with the flexibility to linger as appropriate. Fewer than 50 guests were on board. It was great having a naturalist on board. In Petersburg, a small fishing village with Norwegian roots, a resident who was a former state biologist was on board all day to add his insights. (One night we had a Norwegian buffet and learned some folk dances, then went outside to watch bald eagles scavenge on the beach.) In Misty Fjords we picked up two park rangers who talked about their work. We also did a 3-night cruise of Prince William Sound, waking up to glaciers and taking the time to anchor and watch them calve for hours. (Fewer than 35 passengers were aboard.) The night before we visited Valdez, there was a presentation about the oil spill. We also spent time in Achorage, took a bus to Talkeetna, a train to Denali (2 nights there) and a bus to Fairbanks so we saw some of the interior of this magnificent state. While it was more expensive than the mega-ships, we liked that we got to experience more "real life" than one would with the big ships that simply dock for a few hours. See cruisewest.com for details.

I just returned from Alaska traveling on the Alaska Marine Hyway. Lots of fun, inexpensive, everything except the swimming pool and gift shops.

Marine HyWay:
How far in advance did you make reservations? I think it sounds like a wonderful way to travel.

We took a 1 week cruise through Glacier Bay tours end of May. Left from Juneau, took a week to get to Sitka, then flew to Anchorage, rented a Motor Home through Great Alaska Holidays. would do it again in a minute. Had 80 passengers on board ship, everything was very personal. Had a great time! Have fun!

No need to cruise; This board helped me plan my July 2002, two-week trip to Alaska and I'd like to return the favor. We flew to Anchorage and picked up a car (I recommend a big one, like an SUV; lotsa gravel roads and you need power to pass those RVs). We stayed at Oscar Gill B&B, highly recommended, walking distance to downtown. Ate at Humpy's, Glacier Brewhouse, Simon and Seaforts and Café Paris; all great. Did the Museum of History and Art. Two days is the most you'll need. From there we drove down to Seward, stopping at Alyeska Ski Resort to take the tram ride to the top of a mountain and the Portage Glacier Visitor Center. Stayed at the Oceanfront B&B, which had one of the most perfect locations of any place I have ever stayed: right on the beach of Resurrection Bay. The breakfast is skimpy, but everything else about the place was amazing. Did the six-hour Kenai Fjord tour, from 3 to 9 p.m. with salmon dinner served on board. Saw lots o wildlife, but the calving glacier was the highlight of the entire two-week trip. The Sea Life Center was a must see. Eat at Rays. Two nights there was good, though I could've stayed at that B&B painting watercolors for a month. Our next stop was to Homer with a stay at Fernwood Estates B&B, which was situated on the side of a mountain overlooking the town. The view was amazing from the great room and the deck, food was delicious and the owner was really nice, but she had three kids who had the run of the place and it got a tad noisy. Homer is a funky town with artists and hippies and good for a two-night stay (we stayed three, just to rest). The museum is worthwhile, the Winn Nature Center gives walks so you can finally identify all those wild flowers you've been seeing. You can take an expensive flightseeing tour to watch bears catch salmon, or you can go to the visitor center and watch the live bear cam. If we had the money, ($800 for two), I would've gone to see them in person. Eat at Land's End, Café Cups, Captain Patties and The Homestead. We headed back toward Anchorage with a stop at Cooper Landing (sneeze and you'll miss it). Stay at Red Salmon Lodge for the well-appointed rooms and a chance to have dinner with 80-year-old Ethel, the manager. Check out the interesting cemetery on the way to the Princess Lodge. Above Anchorage, see another interesting cemetery in Eklutna. Our next stop was Wasilla; a truly ugly town that has been overtaken by sprawl, except for our B&B; Pioneer Ridge (formerly Yukon Don's). More amazing views, great food, nice rooms and hostess and her kids stay away from the guest areas. Go to the Iditarod Trail Headquarter for a $5 dogsled ride. Eat at the Lake Lucille Inn and watch the floatplanes come and go. Go to Palmer and the Musk Ox Farm. Next stop was Talkeetna and the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, where, if you are lucky, you will see the entire Alaska Range (featuring Mt. McKinley) from the deck. We took a flightseeing tour on the one clear day we had. K2 and Talkeetna Air Taxi are both recommended. The town below is cute, it was supposed to be the model for Cicily in "Northern Exposure." From there we headed back to Anchorage and home. We decided we didn't have enough time to do Denali Park and the idea of sitting on a bus for 6-14 hours wasn't appealing. We had a great trip.