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Cruise guests will receive a free Medallion device with a complimentary lanyard, which allows you to do things like open your cabin door, track onboard purchases, find family and friends, locate venues, and check daily activities. Princess has been sailing Alaska for over 50 years, and with six ships, five wilderness lodges, and its own domed rail car, this cruise line knows the region well. Ashton Palmer is a Seattle-based T+L A-List travel advisor who specializes in expedition cruises.
Land and Sea Combinations
These guided adventures give a deeper look at Alaska’s glacial valleys, river canyons and native culture, like by viewing native woodworking traditions. You can also go back in time and visit a former gold mining boomtown like Talkeetna or take a ride on the Wilderness Express, a train with glass-domed carriages that offer unobstructed views. A top candidate for this kind of family vacation is a seven-night cruise on Princess Cruises' Royal Princess sailing between Vancouver and Whittier, Alaska. The ship stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and either Skagway or Sitka, with scenic cruising in Glacier Bay and either College Fjord or Hubbard Glacier, depending on the itinerary. Seven-night Alaska cruises sail round-trip from the easily accessible port of Seattle and visit Sitka, Skagway and Juneau, Alaska; as well as Victoria, British Columbia. Families have great choices when sailing up north, including a ship full of Disney characters, one with laser tag and a go-kart race track and many with expansive play spaces for kids, waterslides and family-focused onboard activities.
Night Alaska Experience Cruise
Luxury cruises to Alaska on smaller ships can be a great option for those looking to pair remote wilderness with a bit of pampering. Your best high-end bets are Oceania, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Silversea and Windstar. An Alaska cruise costs anywhere from $500 to $8,000 or more during high season. Cheaper fares can be usually found on mainstream lines like Royal Caribbean and NCL, while Cunard, Disney and Seabourn will be more expensive. September offers the best possibility for cruisers to catch the Northern Lights in Alaska. They are generally visible across the state, so any itinerary will likely do, though you'll have the best show in less populated areas like Denali National Park.
Celebrity Summit
Another itinerary that focuses on lesser-visited ports is French line Ponant’s 13-day trip starting in Seward, a fishing port town two hours from Anchorage. As the boat pulls out of the harbor, guests are invited to bring their binoculars to the deck to check the landscape for whales, which come to the food-rich waterways each summer to bulk up for their winter calving season. The first full day on the water is spent sailing around Prince William Sound where islets and icebergs are abundant, followed by a day at Tsaa Fjord in the captivating (and appropriately named) Icy Bay for glaciers.
Some lines also offer Alaska cruisetours that venture into Canada's Yukon, including a few Holland America tours that combine half a cruise with a cruisetour that starts or ends in Skagway. On a cruisetour, you'll sail on a one-way Gulf of Alaska cruise, so your cruise starts or ends in Alaska. Depending on the tour itinerary you choose, you might visit Seward and the Kenai Peninsula, Alyeska, Talkeetna, Anchorage and Fairbanks — as well as spend one to three nights in Denali National Park. Gulf of Alaska sailings — especially those in late August and September — can encounter rough seas in the gulf portion of the voyage. Popular Inside Passage ports of call include Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Haines and Skagway.
The 9 Best Alaska Cruises For Every Traveler
Disney-themed restaurants and attentive wait staff take the stress out of family mealtimes. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays. Whether you want to try a luxury small ship cruise to Alaska, or you want the fun and features of a mid-size ship from the likes of Carnival, Royal Caribbean or NCL, there are some fantastic options available. Choose this ship if your priority is to relax, and you don’t need an extensive daily schedule while cruising between ports. Choose this ship if you’re a younger traveller or couple who wants plenty of bars and evening entertainment while on your cruise to Alaska.
So, to make sure you get the cruise you want, I decided to work out which are the best Alaska cruise ships. That's especially true of large ships, so consider a small ship for cruising to Alaska, like UnCruise or Silversea, if those glaciers are high on your must-see list. Conditions can sometimes prevent ships from reaching the glaciers, particularly in Tracy Arm Fjord. Almost all Gulf of Alaska cruises visit to Hubbard Glacier and spend some time scenic cruising in College Fjord. If you are cruising in Alaska during the Northern Lights season, note that the Gulf of Alaska is choppiest in September and not recommended for travelers who get seasick.
The 8 Best Alaska Cruises to Take in 2024 - AFAR - AFAR Media
The 8 Best Alaska Cruises to Take in 2024 - AFAR.
Posted: Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Cabins are thoughtfully designed for families, with plentiful bunkbeds and split bathrooms so two people can get ready for bed at once. Waiters assist with cutting up food for little cruisers or bringing pureed baby food, and the imaginative kids clubs keep little ones happily occupied when you're not exploring in port. Cruise lines offer enticing deals for the summer during “wave" season from January through March. What looks like an endless buffet of choice can lead to analysis paralysis for many first-time Alaska visitors—even if they’re veteran cruisers who have already figured out big questions like their preferred cruise line or favorite ship class.
Whittier is, however, a tiny community that is little more than a deep-water port, while Seward is a larger community and regional base for a more diverse collection of tours and activities. Any large group booking multiple cabins or needing more than a pair of spots on shore excursions should start thinking about booking Alaska cruises about a year in advance to secure the best availability for their group size. So too should travelers who have specific non-negotiables on things like stateroom category, ship, or itinerary. Both the National Geographic Quest and National Geographic Venture make the sailing.
Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list. I could also put UnCruise Adventures in this category but I’m going to add it to the one below as it does something no one else offers. Depending on where you live the embarkation port might determine which cruise line to Alaska is best. After all, every cruise line has their own specialty and caters to a certain kind of traveler. If you’re looking for the best cruise line for Alaska you may not realize just how many choices you have.
There’s nothing wrong with those itineraries, but they do tend to focus more on touristy downtowns and less on the great outdoors. Perhaps as interesting as the itinerary is the fact that the vessel, the 528-passenger MS Roald Amundsen, is battery hybrid-powered. In addition to being a model for cruising sustainably, the MS Roald Amundsen features an observation deck, science center, three Nordic-style restaurants, an infinity pool, and hot tubs. There is also a focus on respecting the cultural traditions of destinations through cooperative regenerative tourism that preserves a community's unique history, culture and values. The Alaskan cruises set sail on the Disney Wonder, which is known for its incredible dining and entertainment. On board, you can have dinner at Tiana’s Place—an eatery based on Disney’s Princess and the Frog followed by a performance of Frozen, A Musical Spectacular.
The price typically includes all on-board expenses such as food, room, and on-ship activities. It’s off to the races on shore, too, when you visit Alaska’s towns of Haines, Juneau, Sitka and Skagway. You could even retrace the steps of prospectors who looked for gold on the 33-mile Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush.
A trip to Alaska is at the top of many travelers’ bucket lists, and for good reason. Those craving a luxury Alaska cruise need not look further than Silversea, says Goldring. The line’s Door-to-Door All-Inclusive fares cover private airport transfers, economy flights, business-class upgrades or air credits, and shore excursions. Ovation of the Seas sails round-trip from Seattle on seven-night cruises, but the exact itinerary varies by week. The ship cruises Endicott Arm for scenic views of Dawes Glacier and typically visits three Alaska ports and Victoria.
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