Alaska Cruise

[Mtnman1830]

Any suggestions?

I will be taking my 10 year old. I have been looking at Norwegian.

Which is a better destination... Glacier Bay or Sawyer Glacier?

Any other info would be helpful.

[DiscGo]

I happen to know a little bit about cruising in Alaska. If your ship is just going to have a scenic day of cruising by one of these glaciers then I would choose Sawyer. You would go by Tracy Arm to get to Sawyer and Tracy Arm is your best bet to see calving glaciers (which is AMAZING).


As far as the cruise lines go, I bet you'd be happy with most any of them, but I would advise you against Carnival. Each cruise line has a stereotypical passenger, I would describe them as the following:

Carnival- Jerry Springer Ships
Princess - Old People
Holland America- Older People (but very nice)
Celebrity - Rich People (also very nice)
Royal Caribbean & Norwegian - Middle Aged (and laid back)


I have cruised on each of these cruise lines and I can tell you that even on Carnival you'll have a hard time not having fun. The Alaskan Scenic cruises are beautiful and pretty much every where you go is the most people place you will ever see (except Skagway :) )


Anyway, especially as you get closer and know what itinerary you will have, and when you are going let me know. I know a fair amount about each port of call in Alaska, must see and do things, history, etc.

[Mtnman1830]

the port cities visited are Seattle, Jeanau, Skagway, and Ketichan <sp>

[DiscGo]

[The first paragraph is the origin of my travel philosophies, and nothing pertinent to your vacation. I only share it, to explain my recommendations]

My theory on vacationing is that excursions are worth it. I come from a poor family and when growing up, we seldom did anything that cost money because we did not have much money and being poor led to my parents being very cheap. My brother honeymooned in Hawaii and as the climax of his trip he went on a helicopter ride. Coming from our family, his spending that kind of money was revolutionary back then and he told me that in 20 years he won't remember the cost but he would remember how awesome the ride was. So I understand that going on an Alaskan cruise is expensive enough, but if you can swing it, I would do the following "Expensive " recommended tours but I will also list a free alternative as well:

WARNING: One thing I forget to mention that sucks about Norwegian is that they give you less time in port usually than the other cruise lines. Often they only give you 4 hours, which is enough to do a trip and get right back on the bus and doesn't leave you time to do much else.

Seattle-
Expensive: Most people don't really have time to do a tour in the first port because of embarking and disembarkation but if you have time the (Bill Speidel) "Seattle Underground Tour"

Free- Seattle is a beautiful town. Probably my favorite "big city" in the country. Walking around and of course checking out PIke's market are a great way to take in Seattle.

Juneau-
I have spent a lot of time in Juneau. I love it deeply and what I would recommend depends on the exact time of the year (at the very least month) you will be there.

Expensive:
If you go towards the end of the cruise season (August or later) I would recommend going on a "Glacier & Wildlife Tour" where you see the Mendenhall Glacier (Alaska's most popular glacier) and go whale watching. If you go between April & July you are guaranteed to see a whale but you will only see a whale tail and if you go in August or later, you are much more likely to see whales jumping out of the water (breaching) and bubble net feeding.

Very Expensive: If you have come into some money and can afford it, I would suggest the Taku Lodge. You get there by float plane, you will see multiple glaciers, eat some salmon, and go to a pretty remote area which is very nice. This tour is consistently rated one of the best Cruise Ship Excursions in the world.

Free: There are free tours of the Federal Building & the Russian Orthodox Church. You can check those out and then geocache over to the Governor's mansion (there is a cache like 10 feet from it) and there is also a nearby park called "Cope Park" with a beautiful stream going through it and you can take a very light hike.
Skagway-

Expensive: I would recommend White Pass Train up to the summit which is a great train ride through part of the white pass (the other trail people took to the Gold Rush in the Yukon) and then come back down by bus. You'll learn most everything there is to know about the Skagway area and there are a lot of beautiful vista on that trip.

Free- There are 4 different free museums in Skagway. They are all really small (1 of them says "Museum" on the street and when you exit the museum you end up in the person's store) but do a lot to cover the history of Skagway. It is a short walk to the cemetery (if you go to the museums you should know enough about Frank Reid and Soapy Smith to care about who is buried there, and there is a beautiful waterfall just up from the cemetery)

Ketchikan-

Expensive- The Lumberjack Show and the Saxman Totem Village are the "must see attractions" of Ketchikan. Lumberjack show is kind of fun and interesting and the totem village is a great gathering of Totem Poles.

Free- Ketchikan's main street is called "Creek Street". It is beautiful. It is a bunch of boardwalks over a small river. (It used to be the "Red Light District" of Ketchikan and if you go up in July or later you will see Salmon spawning in the stream. Creek Street's slogan is "Where Men & Salmon go to spawn"). Walking around Creek Street is very enjoyable and if you like black licorice there is a place called "Ketchicandies" where they have great black licorice.

[Mtnman1830]

I have thought seriously about doing Mendenhal Glacier in Juneau,
a Musher's Camp in Skagway, Saxman and Lumberjack show in Ketchikan.

total, including air fare will be around 3g....

Just hope I will have enought time go get a cache in Can and AK....

[Deathcricket]

Good info Disc! Most impressive.