They reckon july and august are the best times but we went on the last cruise of the season(mid september) and it was fantastic, cold and wet, but hey its alaska and we didnt expect it to be hot (it was around 9 or 10 degrees). I wasnt busy in ports(unlike the summer when up to 7 ships can be in at one time-it would be hell), all the shops had sales on, it was just the best holiday/cruise i have ever been on. We spent 5 days in Vancouver before the cruise and the weather there was around 15-17 degrees. I would def. go back to Vancouver, its a great place.

Hope that helps

Donna

Thanks for that Donna

Which cruise line/ship did you book with?

Hi,
Im also interested in alaska so would appreciate any info re cruise lines etc. Also i believe that there is a fly cruise from seattle but cant seem to find any info. I d love to hear about costs etc
annj

I always fancied a Whale-watching trip, are you doing anything like that?

Has anyone been and when is the best time to see Whales?

TonyW

hi
one of the best sights ive seen is of a whale swimming a short distnace from a ship. honestly it was awesome. we were on a trip from perth (oz) to rottnest island when it was spotted. What a beautiful sight!
annj

Hi Annj,

Nice one.....I`m envious now!

I worked on the QE2 for a while and only ever saw tiny blobs in the distance. Have seen the Dolphins/Porpoise, flying fish and more bloomin` Sharks than I could shake a stick at!

Sharks make you a bit nervous when they circle the ship at anchor..makes you use the Hotel swimming pools when you go ashore!!

Seen Killer Whales in Seaworld Florida, but although impressive cannot be as good as seeing the big boys in the wild.

Tony

Mickrory- sorry its took so long to reply, we went with celebrity cruises on the Summit, great ship, fantastic service, entertainment out of this world, everyone(passengers and staff) were so nice and Alaska was awesome.

I prefer longer cruises, and most alaska ones tend to be for just a week, so we opted for a repositioning cruise, started in Vancouver sailed for a week in Alaska then sailed for a week down the coast and got of in San Diego, we had an aft balcony room (twice the size of all the other balconys) for the same price as an oceanview for a week in August on the same ship, it was well worth it.

We booked over a year in advance to get the early booking discount and the bigger balcony on the back of the ship. If you or anyone else needs anymore info let me know.

Donna

Annj- Princess cruises do roundtrip seattle alaksa 7 night cruises from may til september on the Sapphire and Diamond princess they also do roundrip 10 night deartures from San fransisco on smaller ships ( cant remember which ones). Hope this helps.

I would suggest looking for a cruise only deal (preferably from Seattle) then arrange your own flights to Seattle, much cheaper than any package from UK. Either NCL or HAL as Princess do not allow bookings from UK with a US TA. Cruises are much cheaper in US than UK, we have used cruisequick in past & found them very good. Seattle is a marvellous city to spend some time in or hire a car there & do the Oregon coast, just magic! Eric

I Would second that(US booking) but watch the price of flights erytime I have looked the fliight prices(late booking) have been high bringing the 9night total back up to £1k(1n US 7n Cruise 1n flight)

Seatle is great city as is Vancouver, I have seen a couple of repo's that come from Far east which may be of interest. For a longer trip early/late alaska season look at miami-panama-west coast-alaska or other way looks a good idea fora 3weeker

as both ericy & windjammer said, book the cruise on its own and book the flights seperately. Ive done just that, im going on the NCL ship Norwegian Sun in may and have booked my flights from Edinburgh to Calgary and out of Vancouver, a 4x4 hire car with the car ins, hotels in Calgary, Banff, Jasper, Kamloops and Vancouver, and an upgraded cabin with a balcony on the ship. The price i am paying in total for it, is almost the same as what NCL were charging for just the 7night cruise with flights from EDI and an outside cabin (no balc), i do work for a travel agent so i do get a discount on it, but trust me its not that much more than what you would get from any travel agent, so you really can save money.

Even if you dont want to do the Rockies, there are plenty of companies offering flights to Vancouver now try http://www.globespan.com http://www.flyzoom.com http://www.canadian-affair.com im not so sure about using seattle as a departure point as fares to SEA tend to be more expensive cause there is less competition only BA offer direct flights.

hi
thanx all for your info. i will definitely bear it in mind when i sort something out.it wont be for a while as i wont be ready financially till end of next year i hope but all suggestions are welcome.ta
ann

There was a previous query about an Alaskan cruise here:

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=171444&highlight=princess#171444

luci

I did a tour of the Rockies followed by a week's cruise up the Inside Passage in Alaska commencing at the end of May 2001. There is a review on this webpage, including brief details of what the weather was like at that time, and also what sort of excursions you can go on. I sailed on Holland and America Zaandam which is a lovely ship.

http://www.funforall.co.uk/rockies-alaska/

We're going on an Alaskan cruise in July would be grateful for any advice, i.e. what is the weather like; what sort of clothes will we need. We've never been on a cruise before so any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Heather and welcome to the Cruise forum!

I have merged your post with a previous topic regarding an Alaska cruise and you may find some information in the previous posts.

Hopefully our members will be able to further assist shortly.

luci

Hi has anyone cruised in Alaska? we are cruising on the Coral Princess in september this year and wondered what kind of weather to expect. We have no udea what to pack in clothes. Also what is it like on this ship. Thanks pam.

Can't help you with this particular ship as we sailed with Celebrity Cruise Line. What I can say is that you will have a fantastic time. We took books with us to read but didn't even open them as we were too busy watching the wildlife. We even watched whales while exercising in the gym! Weather wise is a bit difficult. Best thing to do is keep checking on the web. We went in June 2004 and it was one of the hottest Junes they had had for years.

I'm looking at cruises to Alaska and would like to know

Is there much difference cruising from Vancouver to Vancouver or
Seattle to Seattle ?

I have heard that is can be quite rough on returning to Seattle,
much rougher than the Vancouver trip....is this correct ?