I’ve been on 4 cruises but never an Alaskan cruise. Did you like it? Is it going to be cold lol. What cruise line is your favorite? Do you fly into Alaska? Where is the port you sail from?
We sailed from Vancouver because we live in British Columbia. We went in July and most of our cruise was pleasant with one drizzly day in Juneau. For the most part we lucked out with the weather. Our best day and sunniest was in Ketchikan which made it very charming. Pack a bit of everything for an Alaskan cruise. We sailed with Celebrity.
Ketchikan is just a neat little place! I could spend a few more days drinking there!
It's a little gem!
Vancouver or Seattle mostly. There are a few others though. It can be rainy. And a little chilly in evening. Deals are to be had if flexible!
Loved it. It wasn’t cold. We sailed with Holland American and loved everything about that line. We live near Seattle so took the train to/from Vancouver, spending a night in Vancouver pre-sail (we NEVER travel on embarkation day!) so we could sail the Inside Passage (which Seattle sailings don’t do).
Is that the cruise that you take a train to is it Denali national park?
No. Just short land excursions on our cruise.
Now you got my attention! What train? Sounds like fun!
I have been on 8 Alaskan cruises, including one with a cruise tour added on. The first thing you have to decide is what type of cruising experience do you want to have. They can be broken down into three categories for Alaska.
Mainstream Lines like Royal, NCL and Carnival will sometimes have the cheapest prices. They can have water slides and other whizbang attractions on their ships and will have the greatest number of kids.
Mainstream lines like HAL, Princess will be the second most affordable, however in today's pricing climate I would price out these too if you are on a budget. They generally don't have the water slides and other whizbang stuff on their ships, they tend to have a more mature crowd.
SIDEBAR: Always check the actually ship you are sailing on for what it has on it.
All of the mainstream cruise lines hit the standard tourist trap ports. There are a few variations but as far as ports go it really doesn't matter. Glacier Bay is this subs favorite and yes, it's great but there are other glaciers that are larger or cruises where you see more glaciers, but Glacier Bay is something everyone should try to do.
The second category is expedition lines like Lindblad and UnCruise. These are more expensive, think double the cost, but offer you the greatest access to wildlife. They use smaller ships that can cruise into the really small and unique fjords that the other ships cannot. Their focus is on getting to know Alaska and its wildlife. When they do Glacier Bay, they have full day permits (even multi-day permits on some cruises) and you get to do excursions there. The mainstream lines have only 1/2 day permits, and you just sail by a few glaciers.
Expedition ships are designed to visit and experience Alaska with activities like hiking, kayaking, riding in zodiacs, polar plunges, etc, that is done right off of the ship. You will see, learn and do 100X's more on these ships than the mainstream lines. They are also all inclusive except for tipping. So, alcohol, excursions, all you can eat Dungeness crab dinners, etc. are all included in the price. Most of these sail out of Juneau or Sitka not Seattle but that is actually a good thing. Sailing out of Seattle or Vancouver wastes two days coming and going, with expedition cruises you start day one in the middle of the action. I'll also add that they offer vegetarian options and this was our grandchildrens favorite cruise and they have done over 10 including Royal's Oasis class ships and NCL breakaway class.
Personally, I like the Sitka to Juneau route (or vice versa) the best. Just remember these will skip the tourist trap towns and may not even have a "port" stop along the way, but you will spend plenty of time exploring on land, by hiking or taking kayaks or on skiffs, so you never miss the ports.
The third category is Luxury lines like Regent and Seabourn. They are most expensive, will have very few kids and are a mix between expedition ships and mainstream lines. If you value being pampered and eating the best food then these may be the best for you. But this comes at an even higher price tag. They are generally all-inclusive, including airfare and pre and post hotel stays and airport transfers.
I have sailed on all three categories and on our last three cruises we stuck to expedition lines because we are active and really want to explore Alaska, see wildlife up close and personal and just love learning. Although they do cost more we feel they offer the highest value YMMV.
To get a better idea, look at these videos, the first two videos are of expedition lines, notice how much the videos focus on Alaska and wildlife because that is the primary focus when going on these lines.
VS these videos of mainstream lines which focus a lot on the ship rather than Alaska.
I hope this helps. Have a wonderful cruise.
Thank you so much. I realized when reading your response how little I actually know about Alaska and Alaskan cruises! This will help tremendously when making a decision.
Went on an Alaskan cruise from June 8th - 15th on the discovery princess. We chose princess because the itinerary took us to glacier bay. Only a few lines do that. During my research, I heard if you’re going to Alaska on a cruise, seeing glacier bay is a must. It was beautiful. You just go into the park on the cruise ship and rotate 360 degrees having amazing views of the glaciers and wildlife.
We flew into Seattle and did a round trip from there. Cold is subjective, im from Michigan and the weather to us was great. We dressed in layers and it worked perfectly. Do research on what to pack. It will pay off.
Ask if you have any particular questions. Alaska is all about the excursions too.
Thanks! Did your Alaskan cruise leave out of Seattle? I live in Tennessee
I just got back from a cruise last week. Celebrity Summit, Vancouver to Seward. It was seriously amazing! I did not want to go but wifey really wanted to go. It looks like I thought it would. What I didn’t appreciate until I saw it was the amazing vastness of unspoiled wilderness. It was truly breathtaking.
We’ve already booked a Europe trip for next year but may end up adding another Alaska trip as well.
We did an Alaskan cruise last June out of Vancouver (we live in NC) and had the time of our lives. Ours was the Inside Passage on Celebrity Eclipse. It was a great trip and our first cruise. We lucked up with great weather everyday. I took a little bit of everything clothing-wise (shorts and tees, jeans, long-sleeved tees, sweatpants and hooded sweatshirts) and wore everything I took.
We took an Alaskan cruise in early June of this year. Started in Seattle, then Sitka, Skagway, Juneau and Victoria.
The weather in Alaska can be unpredictable. It can be cold and rainy, especially in May/June. We lucked out and had very nice weather (around 60) and very little rain.
Where the trip can be super cold, is if you like to walk the upper outside decks, and the ship is in motion, it will be very cold and windy. I didn’t bring a heavy coat (I had a jacket and plenty of layer options) but I wouldn’t have minded it in those cases. That said, the inside of the ship could be so warm, I’d had worn shorts if I’d brought any.
We flew into Anchorage, Alaska. We stayed there three days. Then we rode a train to Seward to board our ship. Our cruise was with Royal Caribbean. It was one way to Vancouver, BC. It was the first week of July. We experienced seeing the midnight sun while in Anchorage. The only time we needed several layers of clothing was at Hubbard Glacier. I liked the one way cruise because the port stops were longer than the round trip cruises we considered.
I did two Alaska cruises out of Seattle on NCL, it’s good enough for a repeat. The weather can be sunny, cloudy, rainy, clear, warm or cold.
We did a southbound from Seward to Vancouver. There's no predicting the weather -- you just need to keep checking forecasts for all the ports you're visiting as you pack. For us, we had mostly warm (60s), sunny weather.
We sailed right at the solstice and I have to say I was pretty sick of daylight by the time we got home! If I had to go again, I'd go much later in the season and enjoy the trip with cooler, rainier weather and nighttime! But that's a total personal preference. I just didn't enjoy the feeling of your body never winding down, and no dimmer evenings to walk around on deck and relax. It felt very monotonous to be always in daylight.
It's frustrating that everyone says "pack layers," but that's really the way to do it. Better to have a tee shirt, a technical quarter-zip, two fleeces and a rain layer than a tee shirt and a puffer. I must say that packing was a bitch and we had an inordinate amount of luggage, because the cruiseline we sailed (Royal) doesn't allow you to do your own laundry, and their laundry services are pretty expensive and limited -- not to mention taking your clothes away for 1-2 days.
We flew to Alaska a week early, rented a car, and went to a few destinations on our own before taking the train from Anchorage to Seward and catching the ship there the following day.
It’s up to nature what the weather will be like. We went to Alaska out of Vancouver last month and we had sunny warm weather the whole trip except one day overcast. The week before those people had a couple days of rain. I would think there’s less rain if you go in the summer months. We went with HAL and it was really nice. The ship and food were great and highly recommend.
If you do a one way cruse to/from Alaska, the ports on the Alaska end will either be Seward or Whittier and you'll fly into/out of the Anchorage airport.
Loved it! Early September out of Vancouver. 90 degrees in VAN, hiking gear and puffer jackets for a couple of Alaska ports. Princess. Was fabulous.
Just did it from Vancouver on the Queen Elizabeth. It definitely lives up to the hype.
I was on that! It was glorious!
I did Princess for my Alaska cruise. It was pretty cold but I liked it. We left out of Seattle.
Just done a short Alaska cruise on Princess. It lived up to hype & expectations. Quite warm for early May; there was no full rain day & the only time we needed thermal layers was on the balcony when cruising Glacier Bay. Be prepared to spend; so many souvenir/jewelry shops & activities.
I going Alaska sometime soon. It's a bucket list trip for me, I know I'll only go once. One thing I found out is that Glacier Bay is a must. Of all the cruise lines-Princess, NCL and HAL are the only ones licensed to go into Glacier Bay. It must be a protected area. Just a thought I wanted to share with you. Another woman and I are looking at a trip for August/September 2025 if you are interested. We could share a cabin? We are also planning on renting a car and doing our own Denali road trip.
I just got back last week from the Cunard Queen Elizabeth cruise to Alaska from Vancouver, It was fantastic! (Minus me being sea sick a couple days but I’m sensitive to motion) It was warm and beautiful! The air was so fresh, it was such an experience!
I mean, Alaskan cruises are historically praised by people all over the world. It is a bucket list cruise for many, many people. It consistently wins awards for being one of the best possible destinatons for cruising. 9 times out of 10 when people meet new people and discuss cruising, Alaska comes up almost immediately. It is a world class cruise destination for a reason.
It can be cold, yes.
Princess is my favorite.
No I don't fly into Alaska, I usually do them out of Seatle or San Francisco.