Which Alaska Cruise is Right for You?

If you've been thinking about a road trip across the country or across town to take an Alaska cruise, the simplest plan would probably be to sail roundtrip from Seattle or Vancouver for a 7-night Inside Passage voyage.

There are also regular 10 night cruises from San Francisco throughout the season as well as a handful of 12 night roundtrip cruises from Los Angeles, which basically add sea days getting to Alaska.

That way, you park your car at a hotel, possibly one with free shuttle and parking if you spend one night in that hotel, and then take your cruise.

Roundtrip cruises from United States ports include Victoria Island or some other Canadian port of call to meet the requirement for cruises that begin and end in the USA to visit a foreign port.

On all of these cruises, you have one glacier cruising experience.

In addition to that, you visit three ports in Southeast Alaska (that sounds odd, but that's what the panhandle is called) including Juneau and two other ports, which are often Ketchikan and the gold rush town Skagway. Alternative choices include the wilderness port of Icy Straight Point or the Russian influenced Sitka.



Cruises roundtrip from Vancouver do not require a foreign port and so do not usually call on Victoria Island.

North or South bound cruises go between Vancouver and either Seward or Whittier, which are near Anchorage. The air generally doesn't cost much more than roundtrip air to Vancouver, and roundtrip air to Vancouver usually costs a little more than roundtrip air to Seattle.

If you go on a one way cruise instead of a roundtrip cruise, you see much more of Alaska's coast, including two glacier cruising experiences (versus one on a roundtrip cruise).

A cruisetour usually adds 3 or 4 days that take you to one or two hotels in Denali and then either the capitol city of Anchorage or deeper into Alaska to the frontier town of Fairbanks.

Denali is one of the top attractions in Alaska.  Because Denali is 8 hours inland, without the tour, a cruise cannot take you there as a shore excursion.



Including its preserve, Denali National Park covers about 6 million acres and has the tallest mountain in North America.

Many variations of cruisetours are available to allow people to return again and again without getting bored. Tours can stretch to add up to 8 nights on land.

Some on Holland America include either 3 or 4 night cruises with a week or more on land exploring other parts of the Yukon.

Cruisetours are awesome, but obviously they tend to cost more than cruise only vacations, so many people take just the Alaska cruise for their first trip to Alaska.

There are all kinds of excursions at cruise ports that take you dog sledding on glaciers, out in the wilderness to see wild animals, salmon fishing, whale watching, aboard gold rush era trains to pan for gold, out on wilderness hikes, ziplining and about any activity you would like to try in Alaska, so it isn't necessary to take a cruise tour to see more than just the shore.



Which Alaska cruise is right for you?

Remember, there are many other subtleties in choosing an Alaska cruise, including which type of on board experience will suit you best.

Do you really need a balcony room?  What amenities will be included?  Which cruise line best suits your personality?  What are the differences between specific ships?

Asking for the help of a professional cruise counselor is the most logical approach to booking your Alaska cruise.

"Better service leads to better trips!"