for those of you have taken one, what did you think of an alaskan cruise? would you recommend taking one? thanks for your opinions!

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Originally posted by jek:
for those of you have taken one, what did you think of an alaskan cruise? would you recommend taking one? thanks for your opinions!

Hello jek: I would thoroughly recommend the Alaskan Cruise, I did this cruise at the end of May last year and loved every minute of it. It is pretty full on because the ship stops at a port nearly every day and there is lots to see and do at each port.

Excursions are offered at eash port, or you can just wander the towns. If there is a particular excursion you are interested in doing I would suggest you book it well before the tour through the cruise line as most popular excursions book out very quickly.

The scenery throughout Alaska especially in Glacier Bay is magnificent and has to be seen to be fully appreciated. You will also see lots of marine wildlife along the way.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

We did the Alaskan cruise several years ago. I am not a big fan of cruising, but we enjoyed it. We went for a veranda suite. After reaching Anchorage, we did the usual train to Denali and Fairbanks, but then we went on for a inland tour. That we really liked. We went by coach for awhile and then a boat up the Yukon River entering Canada and picked up another coach and went to Dawson and Whitehorse and then back to Skagway. I would like to do more of Alaska some day.

jek If you are a nature lover, then this is the cruise for you. The ports are small, easy to manage on your own. If you want to see glaciers up close then you can take an optional. You will see a lot of the native culture as well as several other cultures depending on the port that you go to. In Juneau, there is a tram very close to where the ships dock, that takes you well up the mountain. Lovely hiking trails, an introduction to native animals, and an excellent display of native crafts. They usually have natives working on their art as well. This is a very popular cruise and depending on if you leave from Seattle or Vancouver, will give you different ports of call. The salmon spawn in the summer and you can watch them as they make their way up he various rivers. I have done the cruise 3 times now and would go again.

We are hoping to do the cruise after our Eastern USA & Canada tour leaving (we hope) July 2008. We hear it is well worth it and these posts confirm all that we have heard.

Aussiebird: Are you planning on doing the Alaskan Cruise or inland Alaska, or both?

I'm seriously thinking of combining the inland Alaska and 7 day cruise for next Aug./Sept. Has anyone gone to Alaska in late Aug. to mid-Sept? How did you like it. I understand Spring can be a problem due to the black flies. Living on the East Coast we're only going to Alaska once so we like the combination of both tours. We did it in Greece last year and it was wonderful. A little concerned about the optional tours. I thought TT took care of making sure all its customers got the opts. they wanted. Our Greece td, George, said they just keep adding on buses till everyone goes!

Ashkitty: I did parts of inland Alaska and the Alaskan Cruise in May (Spring) last year, I didn't see any black flies or mosquito's.

I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and we had exceptional weather and Glacier Bay was fantastic but I wouldn't bother going back to inland Alaska again, but this is only my opinion. I know others who have done the trip and loved it. We added Alaska onto our Canadian Rockies tour. The Rockies were spectacular and a hard act to follow.

Ashkitty, my daughters and my mother went on an inside passage tour the last week of August last year. It rained nearly every day but the worst part was that you could not see the top of the mountains. Visibility was very bad.
I think it would be very nice to go to Anchorage or Whittier and then go inland. The weather might be better in May or June.

Ashkitty: I have been to Alaska in September and I recall the weather was getting a bit nippy in Anchorage by that time of year already. If you want to do any outdoor activities (I recommend the dog sledding) you will need to wear a warm jacket.

As Caitie says it gets nippy, love that expression Caitie.
At the Hubbard Glacier, I wore a goretex jacket with a polarfleece underneath, a hat and thin fleece gloves. Luckily it was not raining there. It was fairly warm and humid in Ketchican, Juneau etc as it was raining and a little hot with the goretex.
I did not see any mosquitoes or black flies in the coastal towns at the end of August.

Thank you all. I still haven't decided when we'll go, although the cold doesn't bother us. We went to Iceland in October and it was fantastic, but you do need to be properly dressed. I leave that up to LL Bean ( my designer of choice since I retired!). we'd rather like to miss the crowds, but some places you really have to go when everyone else does because it's the only time you can! Friends of ours went in June and said flies and mosquitoes were terrible, they couldn't bear to be on deck most of the time and that would really stink!!

Ashkitty,
If you go to Alaska by cruising and have your heart set on certain shore excursions, be sure to sign up on line early before you leave. Some sell out. We were not on a TT cruise, but a 19 day cruise tour and the one in charge of shore excursion told us that the dogsledding on the glacier always sold out before the cruise started. I signed up for the whale watching and glacier trip in Juneau on line and it also was sold out later.

On a 5-7 day Alaskan cruise tours, there are no cruise options listed. In order to budget I was wondering the approximate cost if all the options were taken. (very approximate) Thankyou.
David

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Originally posted by David 1:
On a 5-7 day Alaskan cruise tours, there are no cruise options listed. In order to budget I was wondering the approximate cost if all the options were taken. (very approximate) Thankyou.
David

David, if you go to the website of the cruise line you were planning to sail with you will find the Options listed there. They vary considerably. I have a list that I would be happy to print for you if you are not able to see it on the website.