Alaska... Cruise? Travel Help...

[Riot]

Hey folks,

I am trying to plan a trip for this summer and I've always wanted to explore Alaska... From the Northern Lights, to the Great Outdoors, to Doc's Machine... I hear Alaska is cool.
I don't really know anything about it, nor do I personally know anyone who lives there. I know there are cruises to take out of Washington State, I believe.

I guess I am just looking for any recommendations you may have... It would probably be a couple of dudebros going just to see the sights and be touristy.

I was looking at the last week of July, that way I could hit SLC on my way back to the beast coast to catch the UFC fights on July 30th.

Soo, Who has a basic direction to point me in?

[freedom]

i would also like some info on Alaskan cruises, i've been wanting to look at property to buy.

[SETHZILLA!]

Alaskan cruises are nice. Mellow waves, inland passageways are beautiful, each shore stop has excursions to do and see the area around there.

Pro-tip: On the day when you go up to see the glacier in the cruise ship - get your swim trunks on. We were able to sit in the spa with a few other couples and drink cocktails while watching the glacier. Everyone else was topside with big coats freezing their butts off.

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[Cdn_Cuda]

Went on a cruise a long time ago, but we did a helicopter tour of the glacier and it was amazing. The pilots were great and no one of the helicopter was freaking out. So they flew down close to ice crevices. You’d fly over a peak and the ground would drop 1,000s of feet straight down. Wasn’t cheap, but considering I still remember it well, worth it!

We also took a train ride to the Yukon which was neat and did gold panning. I was eight I think.

On a bitter note, I have still never seen the northern lights. Have worked up in the Yukon for a few weeks even but no like. One day!

[Riot]

Ive been looking at cost since I posted this... Yeah, I'm all sorts of too broke for that. I hear Vegas is lovely that time of year. Lol

[DocsMachine]

Yep, the Alaska Cruises are fabulously expensive- and, while you see "Alaska", you really just see the tourist traps IN Alaska.

I mean, yeah, you'll see wildlife and whatnot, and some amazing scenery, but then again, this was taken from a neighbor's deck a few doors down, this was taken less than 300 yards from where I sit, and this is part of the highway to Anchorage.

You can see more of Alaska, cheaper, but it takes more work, as it won't be 'canned' and spoon fed to you.

Doc.

[Riot]

This is seeming more liek the way. Cruise is out, im too broke for that shit... Lol

[FrankW]

I went on an Alaskan cruise 10+ years go, with a bus tour through Denali. Very expensive and not very efficient in terms of seeing sights in my opinion (in terms of time and money). It was fun experiencing the cruise and just hanging-out/eating, but a few of the ports were pointless and only exist because of the cruise.

My favorite part of the trip was a helicopter glacier tour, where you got to hike around on some ice and do some ice climbing. That was with a tour company out of Juneau. If the cruise wasn't a priority, I would suggest finding a city with some tours and activities you want to do and build a trip out from there.

For the northern lights, I would think that's more of a winter thing.. when it's dark.

[Riot]

Alaska is on my list, but maybe I’ll just fly in and do it that way. I don’t really require a cruise or flight or anything. I really know nothing about it.. just seems like a cool place to visit.

[JeepDVLZ45]

Soo, Who has a basic direction to point me in?

NorthWest

[Riot]

Well played.

[Carp]

NorthWest

[BrickHaus]

My wife and I did the 11 day land and sea trip 7 years ago for our honeymoon. We left vancouver ran the inner passage, stopped in Skagway, Ketchikan, and juno. Then we ported in Whittier, and took a bus to Denali.


Let me start by saying, we are not cruise people. Im an adventuring type, and being trapped on a boat kills your ability to adventure. By the 7th day I wanted off the boat. The cruise was overall cool, and an expierence. You should try once. I will add many avid cruisers said that cruise was the "best they have ever been on". So I think Alaskan cruises in general are high tier cruises.

The fjords you stop in are cool to see, and are only accessible by boat. They are also caving away by the day, so Id say do a cruise at least once.

Spend the money on a balcony room. By day 3 you will have seen the ship end to end, and if you are sick of day drinking, you will be able to enjoy watching critters float past from your balcony.

Get the unlimited drink package. Its expensive, but it equates to 3 drinks a day to come out even. my boat had excellent bloody marys so Id have one with breakfast. One with lunch, then a few beers just to get my moneys worth.

Stop one was Ketchikan. I opted for salmon fishing for the excursion. We were a week ahead of the run, and didn't catch a thing. It rained the whole time, but i enjoyed the scenery none the less.

Stop 2 was in Juno. Wife opted for whale watching. This was by far the coolest excursion of the trip. It was pretty amazing to see humpbacks breach.

Third stop was skagway. We did the white pass train ride for that. Its an old timey train with oil furnaces in each car. It runs up the white pass to the canadian border, turns around, and comes back down the mountain. You learn about how many people died along the development of the white pass, as well as how many horses they killed in the process. That honestly left me hating humans a bit more as the stories went on but its qwesome to climb the altitudes you do, and see the temps get below freezing at the peak.


Then we hightailed to Whittier and got on a bus. The bus took us a few hours to the southside of mt denali. We had the best fish and chips Ive ever had at a bar. That night we got subway for lunch the next day. That was some of the worst subway Ive ever eaten ( i assume altitude and lack of bread rising played a factor.) . The next day they took us to denali lodge on the north side of the mountian. We ate our subwqy on the bus. That was super cool, we just dank heavy by the fire at the lodge and talked with strangers. but Ill fully admit I tied one on that night on an empty stomach, and felt sick the next day. It doesnt help the barkeep let me have q grocery bag of popcorn to go when she closed the bar.

The next day we didnt have any structured excursions, but a shuttle bus was running to the town of Talkeetna. We went. We had the best cinnamon roll Ive ever had ( side note that restaurant is closed and google says the owner stole the covid ppe money then closed shop. ) we also got some mile high pizza pie in town. That was good, but my sour stomach was forcing me to just choke some sponge down.


Our last night was in Anchorage. We went to q local bar and got halibut and chips. It was amazing. Im sure the fact that it wasn't cruise food helped.


All in all, my biggest recommendation is stay in vancouver a few days before the cruise. Its a beautiful city, and walking around buying stuff was a blast.


But the guys are right in saying if you want a real alaskan expierence you need to go in land.

[freedom]

But the guys are right in saying if you want a real alaskan expierence you need to go in land.

any recommendations or websites to look at? i'm in agreement that the cruise is "canned" but without any other access, where should i look?