Hello! We are hoping to take an Alaska Cruise in 2025 for our anniversary. If you've done it before, did you enjoy it? Why or why not? Is a 14 day trip worth it? Any recommendations on time of year and which cruise to take?
Thanks all!

Holland America excels at Alaska. Most cruise lines will do the route, but HAL has some of the most extensive itineraries with variety and longer duration. The 10-14 trips can be a combo route (up and down) but some are a single trip which takes you much further into the national parks

Amber thanks. I'll look into it

Jeannie yes I recommend the longer 1 way trip and fly back

Jeannie Holland America gets my vote every time. It's their 150th anniversary this year, so sales abound. Agreed about the balcony upgrade mentioned above. And if you are comfortable waiting for something last minute, Alaska was going for $350-400 for a week last May and June. I cruise a lot, and everyone I talk to says Alaska really blew their minds, an unexpected gem. Some say their favorite all time cruise ever. Enjoy!

We did celebrity and loved it. Did both June and September. Def cooler in fall but the colors are incredible. Hubbard glacier is a must. Better than the fjord glacier.

Tracey-B thanks for the info. Our anniversary is in June but I do like the thought of colours in fall.

Jeannie I agree and fall is cheaper too. We went in July 10 years ago and a going in September next time. Don’t worry about the cooler weather because it’s never an outdoor lay by the pool cruise anyway lol

We went with Holland America last year for our 1st ever cruise. Really highly recommended.
Older crowd - so civilized!
Do it!

Steve good to know. We aren't young anymore so like the older crowd scenario

Jeannie the customer service was the best I've ever experienced, & the food!!!!

Steve so I should loose weight now for 2025? Lol

We have always enjoyed Celebrity. We do not like Norwegian or Carnival.

Pat thanks for the heads up

As an active couple in our 50s at the time, our trip to Alaska was disappointing. If you aren’t outdoors enjoying nature on a regular basis, it’s probably worth it. We are outdoors all the time living in the East Kootenays. The countryside and seaside on the cruise are beautiful though! The excursions (very expensive) and many of the shops are owned by the cruise lines so you’re at their mercy. You can possibly find private operators but we found we often weren’t in a town long enough to guarantee a timely return to the ship. And if multiple ships dock at the same time you can’t even enjoy the “special”amenities. We decided to go back a few years later with our travel trailer and had a much more authentic Alaskan/Yukon experience. It was one of our trips of a lifetime! I hope this helps!

Charlene that is a good insight. Thank you

We did a 7 day and loved it. We regretted not doing the add on trip to Denali

Joan thanks for the info!

We did it for our wedding anniversary one August with Holland America, it was a Great time.
Doing it again next year in May for our 25th anniversary with Royal.
Both cruises are 7 days. Lots to see and do, we did gold panning in Juneau, canoe trip to a glacier in Skagway and halibut fishing in Ketchikan.
Next year we are going to walk around town and do our own thing. We are splurging on the room this time.
I would highly recommend a balcony room so you can see the beautiful scenery Alaska has to offer.
The whales were plentiful and put on a fantastic show, keep your camera close.
Go to cruisecritic.com and select your sailing date and ship, there you can talk to people who will be on your cruise and meet up with them if you want to. We did this 15 years ago and next year we are meeting some of the same people again on the Alaska cruise.
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Nadine thanks for the great info. Most appreciated

Nadine agreed. Cruise critic folks also arrange private excursions instead of booking through the cruise line.

Cathy another thing that is good to know.

First question - do you like to cruise? If so, you’ll probably love it.
It was my one and only cruise and it was the worst vacation of my life - I hated it.

Noranna I don't know if we do or not. We've never been before. Can you tell me why you didn't enjoy it?

Jeannie, I had never been on a cruise before either and I will never again. First, the ship was beautiful, our room was nice (we had a balcony), food was great.
The cruise itself was just B-O-R-I-N-G. We did lots on the ship (shows, gambling, charades, karaoke, shopping etc.), but I mostly just felt like I was killing time. I felt trapped - imagine being stuck in a hotel in Vegas and not being allowed to leave unless they let you. Longest 7 days of my life.
The scenery was beautiful, but not really anything I hadn’t seen before, except for the glaciers. The glaciers were AMAZING.
4 of us went and none of us will ever do a cruise again. We’ll stick to all inclusive.

Noranna I'm a multi time cruiser and love them HOWEVER you are right about the cruise to Alaska ... its a very laid back n kind of boring cruise. You might want to next consider one in the Caribbean or Mexico where every day you land in a new port (spend the day on land) and cruise,eat,sleep over night. A much better time to enjoy.

We did 7 days up and 7 days back on Princess at end of August, early September. Very low key cruise time. If you want rest n relax its good.

Norma, nope
never setting foot on a cruise ship again. It was the worst vacation ever - and I spent a week in Mexico where a good portion of it was spent in the bathroom.

I did Celebrity. Both ways. I while reccommend July or August. When in Port.. look for signs in the shops that post that they are locally owned. I hated that so many of the stores were crise line owned. Excursions were great. The people of Alaska were all fantastic. I would have preferred the 14 days... one way. Heads up.... I have never been as cold as the day we visited the glacier. (And I grew up near Winnipeg)
BEST cruise I have ever done. We went mid August.

Ilona thanks for the heads up about the shops

We went a really long time ago, with young children. Living in Vancouver at the time, I’d have to agree with the other person who found it “not out of the ordinary” for them, being outdoorsy and familiar with similar scenery. People from other parts of the world are wowed by it of course, because it is stunning. It’s definitely a more rugged experience than many cruises, small town ports, can be on the cool side depending when you go. We’ve cruised on most of cruise lines, in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, South America, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand and for me personally, Alaska wouldn’t be my first choice. But don’t let me dissuade you.

Cathy I like hearing all points of view as a cruise is something we have never done before.

Jeannie we’ve done several and really liked Alaska and are planning another fall 1 soon. Are next favourites was flying to Hawaii and taking the island hopping cruise because you see all the island and their various tourist attractions. We didn’t like any of the Caribbean ones because we don’t like laying around a pool all day

Sue I'm with you. I like exploring!

Cathy, I agree about it “not out of the ordinary”. The glaciers were amazing, but that’s about it.

I loved mine. I did it as a pilgrimage though and had guest lecturers for the trip and learned so much about how the faith came to Alaska and the culture. If you like walking straight uphill at every port go for it. The older people struggled with that. From sea level to where the action is is quite steep. Doable but steep.

Dianne thanks. That is very useful information

We haven't been to Alaska yet (going later this year) but have cruised with Holland America quite a bit in the last few years. I highly recommend them. They are celebrating 75 years sailing to Alaska this year as well as 150 years in operation.
There are many 'ways to cruise'. Decide for yourself what you like and your budget. We have been able to cruise more often and on longer trips than I ever thought I could because we take an inside room. You may decide to go for a room with a balcony for your special occasion. Also, we never buy the Have it All. At $100 per day, or more, for the two of us it adds up fast. There are happy hours onboard as well as wine packages that you can purchase. Can't use your drink package or balcony while ashore, so those days have limited time onboard to take advantage of them.
You will find that there is a completely different crowd onboard for longer trips. More experienced cruisers and a calmer environment around. Also, there will be way more kids onboard during summer holiday season.
Do not pay full price. Go on Vacationstogo.com and watch the prices for dates you are interested in. You can change the dates to Canadian $ by clicking on the Canadian flag in the top right corner. You can also click a button that shows the per night rate. We get cruises for about $100cdn per person per night usually.
Look at the different ships. Larger ships are usually newer and offer more amenities but some people like smaller ships. We paid more do go on the Koningsdam instead of the Volendam, on the exact same route, because we like the larger, newer ship amenities and entertainment options. Watch YouTube videos.
If you have other questions feel free to ask, happy to help.
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Rhonda great info! Thanks

Jeannie I have way more tips but ran out of time. Also figured that you only want to read so much.
Best way to figure out your cruise style is to try it out, decide what you like and are willing to pay for, what is good value for you. Then adjust for the next one!
Btw, ships to Alaska leave from Vancouver and Seattle. The route out of Seattle is supposed to be a bit rougher water but different ports, in case there is a particular place that you want to see not offered from Vancouver.
When budgeting factor in the cruise, port taxes and fees (about $350usd for a 7 day Alaska trip), gratuities ($15.50usd per person per day in a regular stateroom, more in a suite, that will be put on your onboard account, we also tip our room stewards a little extra and take a bunch of $1usd bills to tip servers, tour guides etc along the way).and excursions, some are pretty expensive but there's lots of ways to see places for less or free. Have a Great time!

Rhonda that is all things I had not thought about. Thanks!

Rhonda do you work for vacations to go ? Great info. Thanks

Sue No, but I use their website A Lot! It's soooo useful! Thanks for the vote of confidence though.
I think a lot of people book with them. They also have river cruise deals and package holidays.
Another helpful website is What's in Port. It gives you the basic information about places.

Rhonda perfect post, agree 100%

We went on a 21 day Alaskan cruise from San Francisco on up the coast. It was fantastic!

Sharlene Good to know thanks

My experience with a cruise fall/22 and a trip to Nashville just now. Nothing is the same as pre-Covid. Not enough people to do all the work as before. But if you don’t have anything to compare it to, it might be ok.

Holly good to know. I appreciate that

Definitely recommend. We went in July and the weather was amazing.

Brigitte we are still deciding when to go. Pay less or have better weather... lol

Jeannie I took my mom almost 10 years ago now but we only paid $1500 for 2 inside cabin. It was amazing.

Brigitte We are going end of July 2024, do you remember what the temperatures were? Thanks.

We went on our 25the wedding anniversary in 2019 with HAL. Like someone said in another comment -HAL isn’t the same this year (Panama canal cruise) ad it was in 2019. That being said - the Alaska cruise was amazing. We went out of Vancouver. Had a porthole window not a balcony but there were many places to sit on board and enjoy the view. We liked the Alaska cruise because you could always see something ie land no sea days. We also had some good advice from family and friends. We took the train excursion at Skagway - following the White Pass to the Yukon (Klondike). Loved that. Booked a whale watching tour and paid a LOT for it and didn’t see any whales. Boo. In Ketchikan, my sister had suggested to explore on our own which we did. Took city transit to Totem Bight park. Enjoyed that. We were going to bike there but found the roads in town too narrow for our liking. Biking right beside cars isn’t our forte.

Karla wonderful info! Thanks

I got married on it. Wonderful cruise. We went with Royal Caribbean. Food was to die for. I gained 7 lbs. i have done a few cruises and cheap out on the room but I also recommend a room with balcony. So much to see. Everyone always ended up in our room
for this reason and we then ordered food to room especially at the Hubbard glacier. My cruise went to Hubbard glacier. We went in May. Slightly cool but just fine. Apparently we missed the mosquitos and black flies
. We did a fly in ( from Juneau) to the Taku Lodge. Such an amazing day. Relaxing. They feed you and we saw lots of wildlife. Highly recommend this cruise.

Kim sounds like it was a great time

I did for the week for my first ever cruise. I absolutely freaking loved it and would do it again. The excursions I took were fantastic. I don't know that I could do longer then a week personally. It was great being back but I recommend everyone do it at least once. No matter what cruise you chose. I will always tell everyone to make sure you upgrade to the balcony suite. Not having to try and see sights with a thousand others made it better and I feel like I got to see more wildlife on my own balcony then being on the main levels.

Jessica good to know!

Jessica agree get balcony. That is where we saw the whales.

Jessica
agree with all of this!

HAL twice now and love AK First time we took advantage of the Denali train excursion end Aug - 10 day trip. Last time was in Sep for one week (big deals on stores as they were starting to close up for the season) and we found some great deals on our own rather than using the cruise excursion deck or pre-booking online...not sure we if just got lucky. First cruise we were able to go whale watching with the same company used by the cruise line by bartering right at their port kiosk (saved $100 USD) - being almost off season, they were not full - but we were lucky! Did a free town walking tour through US Parks Service in Skagway - I think the ship excursion tour was charging $45. Took a Ketchikan city bus (was a hoot) to the Totem Bight State Park (free admission when we went) and actually arrived before the cruise tour bus and the Park Ranger gave us so much tour information insight - then said she had to leave us at the cruise people were about to arrive. We are older but like to explore 'beyond all the same waterfront stores' and restaurants. But there are some tourist musts that were very walkable - such as Juneau Red Dog Saloon (gets very crowed quickly). We stopped into small local art galleries at various port stops and treated like royalty. We were very lucky cruising on the way back seeing mega pods of Orcas right off the ship. We did the whale watching on our first trip (humpbacks) so passed on our second voyage - glad we did with the amount of whales we saw so close to ship. We did not want to cruise during the summer. It is a trip I would highly recommend.

Edie that sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing

I did the inside strait...
Beautiful scenery...
Holland America Cruise Line...about 15 yrs ago...
Absolutely one of my forever favorite vacations...

Debra glad to hear it

We did a 7 day Alaska cruise in July for our 25th Anniversary with Norwegian Cruise lines! It was awesome! The only thing that could have been better was the weather, it was unusually cool!

Brenda good to hear.

We went in May. It was fabulous. We did the outbound and inbound trips on the cruise ship.

Do a cruise that takes you inland for a few days. We did a Princess one a few years ago and loved the 5 days inland with the 7 day cruise back to Vancouver. Wish we had more time inland.

Cathy thanks for the tip

I normally use AMA service to book my cruises, where else would you recommend or should I book it myself? Thanks in advance!

Cathy someone in the comments recommended vacationstogo.com I haven't looked into it yet.
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Jeannie thanks for the recommendation!

Joanne Rémillard Birce

We really enjoyed ours

We did it but it was not my cup of tea. We did it with Holland America. We decided against getting the drink package for $1000 each but individual drinks were $15.
I like warm weather vacations and this was cool weather and lots of rain so I guess that was probably a reason why I did not enjoy it. But if you do go take the chartered float plane to a all you can eat King Crab dinner, that was awesome.