The Best Alaska Cruises and Alaska Cruise Tours:
How to Plan For Your Cruise to Alaska
Getting Your Best Alaska Cruise Deals
Each year TravelStore's cruise experts arrange cruises to Alaska and Alaska cruise tours for thousands of travelers who come away with breathtaking experiences. We never tire of Alaska, and some of us have visited several times. Contact our cruise experts to arrange your best Alaska cruise deals and take advantage of our exclusive offers.
Unforgetable Alaska Cruise Vacations
An Alaskan cruise vacation is the stuff of legend: history steeped in explorers, a pioneer spirit that still prevails, and a rich native culture. Few things beat the experience of a luxury cruise to Alaska: gliding up to spectacular Glacier Bay and witnessing a calving, seeing the thrashing of hundreds of salmon heading upstream, sighting eagles and breaching whales, walking historic streets of frontier towns, and learning a bit about native American culture.
On an Alaska cruise tour you'll go further inland to see other wildlife and witness the immense snow-capped Mt. McKinley ("Denali"). These are the spectacles of an Alaska cruise vacation that will fill your senses and immerse you in life-changing adventures.
Why Take an Alaska Cruise?
- The coastal scenery is stunning. Most of southeastern Alaska is protected when cruising the Inside Passage, making for a calm, relaxing and enjoyable journey.
- An Alaskan cruise is an easy way to enjoy a comfortable vacation while experiencing fantastic scenery and historic ports of call. Seeing whales and eagles is common.
- On a cruise to Alaska you get close to Alaska's immense glaciers, often witnessing a calving where large blocks of ice break off in thunderous sound and crash in the icy waters below.
- Alaska’s towns were built on the waterways and coastlines, and some, such as Juneau, are only accessible by boat or air.
- The dock is often located near the center of town, so walking to the heart of things is relatively easy and enjoyable, and walking out of town for a nature hike is easy.
What's the Best Alaska Cruise?
Alaskan cruises range from mainstream, premium and luxury vacation tours. Within these categories are everything from small cruise boats and private yachts available for charter, to the largest ships offering an incredible range of onboard amenities, dining options, entertainment, casinos, and other diversions. Each option has its pros and cons, and the best choices are those that satisfy the type of vacation you are looking for! Our travel experts can arrange the best Alaska vacation packages for you.
What's the Best Alaska Cruise Itinerary?
A typical cruise to Alaska features a 7-day itinerary, either an Inside Passage cruise, roundtrip from Vancouver or Seattle, or a Gulf of Alaska cruise that operates between Vancouver/Seattle and Whittier/Anchorage, either northbound or southbound. Both itineraries usually include three ports of call, plus cruising in one or two scenic areas like Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, Tracy Arm or Misty Fjords.
< Alaskan Quick Tip: Fly to Seattle >
For savers, air taxes to fly to/from Seattle are less expensive than to/from Vancouver. Don't just pick a cruise based on departure city, but given comparable choices, cruising from Seattle will cost a bit less for airfare than from Vancouver.
An Inside Passage cruise is a calm voyage with land on either side of the ship, with some combination of Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka, Juneau, and Victoria. The Gulf of Alaska cruise travels further north, outside of the Inside Passage, and includes open-ocean. A typical itinerary includes some of the same ports as the Inside Passage, plus scenic College Fjord, and Whittier, the embarkation/disembarkation point, with a transfer to/from Anchorage included (for flight connections). The Gulf of Alaska cruise is the right choice if you are planning to further explore some of Alaska's interior on an Alaska Cruise Tour.
< Alaskan Quick Tip >
Most of us lack a true appreciation for Alaska's size. In selecting between the northbound and southbound Gulf of Alaska cruises, consider your preference when to take the longer flight: at the start of your vacation or at the end. From anywhere in the U.S., the flight to/from Anchorage is much farther than to/from Vancouver or Seattle.
When is the Best Time to Cruise to Alaska?
The Alaska travel season is May through September. The peak of the season, when weather is considered best (and prices higher), is from late-June thru August. May and September can be cooler and wetter, but that's by no means always the case.
< Alaskan Vacation Quick Tip >
For those looking for the best pricing for Alaska cruises or Alaska Cruise Tours, May and September departures will provide the best deals.
What's the Best Stateroom?
Because spectacular scenery is in evidence during the longer daylight hours, a balcony stateroom is highly recommended on Alaska cruises, allowing you to enjoy the views and fresh, crisp air from the comfort and privacy of your stateroom. Being able to sit on your veranda, perhaps in the cruise line's warm terrycloth bathrobe, to enjoy breakfast and spectacular scenery, or view eagles or whales, is hard to beat.
< Quick Tip for Alaskan Cruises >
The added value of balconies on Alaska luxury cruises is well recognized and it's important to book your balcony stateroom early -- at least four to six months in advance. These sell out first!
Short of a balcony stateroom, go for an ocean-view stateroom. While you won't savor the pleasures of a balcony, you'll still have a large picture-sized window view of the stunning scenery.
What are Alaska Cruise Tours?
While an Alaska cruise is a wonderful journey in its own right, most visitors come to see far more than what's viewable from a cruise ship. Near the top of most visitors' must-see list are Glacier Bay and
Denali National Park/Mt. McKinley. While you can visit Glacier Bay on most Alaska cruises, to visit Denali you need to go inland on a cruise tour. You can
add as few as three days to your cruise to include a Denali tour extension.
Beyond Denali, other highlights can include Kluane National Park, Tombstone Park, The Yukon, The Arctic, the Kenai Peninsula and more. There are many Alaska cruise tour options available! Only a journey into Alaska's interior provides deeper insights into this amazing destination, and provides the wildlife and panoramas many visitors crave. Our vacation planners can assist with your selection and making arrangements.
An Alaska cruise is also a good match with
Rocky Mountaineer vacations, the luxury train that offers a few itineraries through British Columbia and Alberta, or its sister train, Whistler Mountaineer, that provides a wonderful quick visit to the resort town of Whistler.
What's the Best Time For Viewing Wildlife?
We've been to Alaska at different times of the year, and have always spotted wildlife. However, it's important to have realistic expectations. There are no guarantees to see moose or bear, for example. Spring and fall offer cooler weather, and it's more likely moose come out than on warmer peak summer days, when they bed down under trees out of sight.
Are You Ready to Arrange Your Alaska Cruise?
TravelStore's
cruise experts look forward to arranging the best value for your next cruise to Alaska, or help you sort through the right Alaska CruiseTours. Call us at
1-888-779-7447.
For more, visit our Alaska vacation packages
resources site.
