So it's a long ways off but planning an Alaska cruise for our 10-year anniversary. For those of you who have gone, or even if not if you just have some insight, which of the two 7-night Alaska cruise itineraries do you suggest? The cruise that stops at Icy Straight Point gives another location, but Juneau and Tracy Arm port stops are on the same day, thus giving less time to visit those two. On the other cruise, there is no stop at Icy Straight Point, but you get a full day at both Juneau and Tracy Arm. Is Icy Straight Point worth squeezing Juneau and Tracy Arm into one day (or just visiting one of them...I can't tell if these are truly two different port stops or one port stop and you get the opportunity to visit one or both), or is it better to skip Icy Straight and have full days at the other two ports? Thanks for any advice/opinions!
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Alaska cruise itinerary question
- Thread starter love disney
- Start date
ChuckElias
Well-Known Member
ZapperZ
Well-Known Member
I'll start off by giving you the link to the my cruise trip report that we did this past Sept.:
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/2018-the-wonder-of-alaskan-cruise.947236/
We stopped at Icy Strait Point, and from chatting with other guests on the ship, and those who had done this previously, this is a worthwhile stop for whale watching. The guests that did whale watching excursions came back with stories that many of us were envying. And if you or any member of your group is into thrill ride, the outrageous zip line that they have here (which until recently, was the longest zip line in the world) should be worth the stop.
Spending a whole day at Juneau is something I'd like to do. We only had half a day, but we still manged to see the Mendenhall Glacier and rode the tram up Mt. Roberts. Tracy Arm isn't really a stop, but rather a fjord that you go to to view a glacier. The captain has the option, depending on conditions, to go to Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm. We ended up at Endicott Arm and got to view the spectacular Dawes Glacier, and had the place all to ourselves.
My opinion here is that, either itinerary won't disappoint you. It is such a spectacular cruise that there's no way you will be able to do everything you want. So just pick some and plan on going back!
BTW, when ARE you planning to go on this cruise? A bunch of us are thinking of doing another Alaskan Crusie in 2020.
Zz.
ChuckElias
Well-Known Member
This is very true. I will just add that my recollection is that it took us several hours of traveling through the fjord to get to the glacier. So while it's not a port of call, I do think it took up most of our day to get to it.
ChuckElias
Well-Known Member
P.S. -- Here's a link to some pictures of Tracy Arm from my trip in 2011.
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/some-pictures-from-our-alaska-trip.774612/page-2
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/some-pictures-from-our-alaska-trip.774612/page-2
Thanks @ZapperZ and @ChuckElias ! I had already looked at both of your trips reports and both were well worth the reads. Our 10-year anniversary isn't until 2021 so this cruise is a long ways off (fortunately we have another 4-night Bahama cruise planned for next year...and I keep telling my wife if we squeeze one more in before 2021 we will be gold level Castaway Club for Alaska. haha!). Whale watching is definitely one of the things that we want to do. Guess I will just look over all the shore excursions at each port and see if Icy Straight looks more appealing than a full day at Juneau. Oh yeah, we also plan on booking the 2021 cruise on our cruise next September to get the discount...I am correct in my understanding that you can do that 2 years out, right?
ChuckElias
Well-Known Member
Yup, you have 2 years to use the placeholder reservation.
Nemo14
Well-Known Member
We did a RC cruise to Alaska last year and did the whale watching at Icy Point. I highly recommend that - we saw several humpbacks, then our captain spotted a pod of Orcas a ways off, so we took us there to see them. Absolutely amazing!.
Aalso, FWIW, I don't know if DCL does this, but we did a land/sea cruise, and actually enjoyed the land part more than the sea. Denali Park was awesome.
Aalso, FWIW, I don't know if DCL does this, but we did a land/sea cruise, and actually enjoyed the land part more than the sea. Denali Park was awesome.