Quick Telecast
Expect News First

Best Alaska cruises to book for an epic summer trip

0 38


Hopping an Alaska cruise from San Francisco can easily be the start of a dream vacation. Instead of the beaches and tropics found by Caribbean cruises, your days at sea here are filled with glacier-studded vistas and remote stretches of wilderness.

A majority of San Francisco’s Alaskan cruises take place aboard ships designed to hold thousands of people. If you’re willing to be flexible about where you begin your adventure, choices for exploring the 49th state increase exponentially — opening opportunities for one-of-a-kind cultural experiences and visits to destinations that are stunning but far from tourism havens.

The Port of San Francisco welcomes more than 100 cruise ships every year but, depending on the Alaskan cruise itinerary you choose, there can be trade-offs when you compare it with other departure points. Travelers may gain more time on the ground in Alaska and have fewer sea days (the ones spent completely in transit, when a cruise ship doesn’t stop in a port — when embarking on a ship that departs from a port that’s farther north.) The number of cruising options also jump exponentially when more possible departure cities get throw into the mix — but it also means you’ll likely have to add airfare into your trip.

It pays to compare sailings and their costs, and prioritize what you want out of your vacation. If you’re thinking about taking an Alaska cruise this summer, keep reading for the best cruises available from San Francisco and other West Coast ports, broken down into the cruise lines that offer them.

Cruise ship Crown Princess is seen leaving Seattle for an Alaskan voyage.

jamesbenet/Getty Images

Princess Cruises from San Francisco to Alaska

With a pair of ships that sail from San Francisco to Alaska well into September, Princess Cruises offers more than two dozen Alaska sailings for the 2023 summer season. The Crown Princess can accommodate more than 3,000 guests, while the Royal Princess — which was christened by Catherine, Princess of Wales in 2013 — carries about 3,500 guests. Alaska cruises from Princess run either 10 or 11 days and nearly a dozen of the sailings include visits to Glacier Bay National Park. Princess Cruises claims to take more guests to Glacier Bay than any other cruise line.

Carnival Cruises from San Francisco to Alaska

The other cruise line that heads to Alaska directly from San Francisco is Carnival. The company’s Carnival Miracle, which boasts about 1,000 staterooms, hits Alaskan ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Skagway during its voyages, all of which range from 10 to 11 days in length. The company sails round trip from San Francisco to Alaska all summer long in 2023, with the final trips leaving in early September.

Holland America Line's MS Noordam cruise ship sails into Skagway, Alaska, at dawn.

Holland America Line’s MS Noordam cruise ship sails into Skagway, Alaska, at dawn.

urbanglimpses/Getty Images

Holland America Line leaves from Seattle and Vancouver

Holland America Line has been taking travelers to Alaska for more than 75 years and remains a great option, provided you don’t mind leaving the Bay Area first. Itineraries depart from Seattle and Vancouver and the company sails weekly to Alaska from May to September. Seattle offers the easiest flight options for Bay Area travelers, whereas Vancouver sailings can offer cheaper fares that might sway prospective cruisers to tackle more flights and airport layovers.

Round-trip seven-day cruises from Holland America leave Seattle on weekends aboard Eurodam and Westerdam, which each hold around 2,000 guests. A whopping four ships offer weeklong sailings round trip from Vancouver, or from Vancouver to Whittier, Alaska, which is a little less than 60 miles southeast of Anchorage. The ships range in size, accommodating anywhere from roughly 1,400 to 2,600 guests.

Alaskan Dream Cruises offers authenticity and smaller-ship adventures

For those who like the idea of unpacking once and waking up somewhere new every day, but aren’t so keen on crowds that typically come with the convenience, this small-ship cruise line may be the ticket. Alaskan Dream Cruises is Alaska’s only Indigenous-owned cruise company. The Allen family, already successful entrepreneurs because of their boat-building and marine-tour firms, launched the cruise company in 2011. Its aim is to provide immersive, culturally focused vacations in Southeast Alaska.

All the line’s sailings begin in that region of the state, mostly in larger port cities like Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka, but ships spend their days visiting Indigenous villages and smaller, relatively unknown spots like Wrangell, Metlakatla, and Petersburg, as well as remote bays and glacial fjords. Along with sharing their expertise on geography and ecology, the expedition leaders used by Alaskan Dream Cruises weave cultural connections into guests’ time in Alaska.

Alaskan Dream Cruises operates a fleet of five ships, ranging in size from the 76-passenger Chichagof Dream to the charming Kruzof Explorer, a former crabbing boat that sails with just a dozen guests. All excursions — think expedition skiff tours, kayaking and hiking — are included in the cruise fare.

Travelers on the MV Sea Bird ship, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, visit Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.

Travelers on the MV Sea Bird ship, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, visit Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.

Ed Reschke/Getty Images

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic is great for wildlife watchers

If your Alaska wish list is loaded with wildlife experiences, sailing aboard a ship with a flexible itinerary is the key to success. Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic operates a handful of small ships in Alaska, staffed with veteran naturalists possessing a multitude of advanced degrees and decades of hands-on experience. In other words, the crew are markedly skilled at spotting wildlife like whales, otters and bears.

For a taste of what you’d experience on a sailing, daily expedition reports provide a snapshot of what current guests are experiencing. Read a few and you’ll quickly realize the itineraries offered by Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic are active and immersive. All excursions, ranging from kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding to zodiac cruises, are included in the cruise fare. Waterproof knee-high rubber boots — which can be rented with advance notice — are a must-have for Alaskan adventures, as some of zodiac landings require walks into the water to get ashore.

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic has a handful of small ships in Alaska for the 2023 summer season. The line’s largest ship, National Geographic Resolution, carries 138 guests; sister ships, National Geographic Sea Lion and National Geographic Sea Bird, are the line’s smallest ships and carry just 62 guests each.

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at [email protected].


Hopping an Alaska cruise from San Francisco can easily be the start of a dream vacation. Instead of the beaches and tropics found by Caribbean cruises, your days at sea here are filled with glacier-studded vistas and remote stretches of wilderness.

A majority of San Francisco’s Alaskan cruises take place aboard ships designed to hold thousands of people. If you’re willing to be flexible about where you begin your adventure, choices for exploring the 49th state increase exponentially — opening opportunities for one-of-a-kind cultural experiences and visits to destinations that are stunning but far from tourism havens.

The Port of San Francisco welcomes more than 100 cruise ships every year but, depending on the Alaskan cruise itinerary you choose, there can be trade-offs when you compare it with other departure points. Travelers may gain more time on the ground in Alaska and have fewer sea days (the ones spent completely in transit, when a cruise ship doesn’t stop in a port — when embarking on a ship that departs from a port that’s farther north.) The number of cruising options also jump exponentially when more possible departure cities get throw into the mix — but it also means you’ll likely have to add airfare into your trip.

It pays to compare sailings and their costs, and prioritize what you want out of your vacation. If you’re thinking about taking an Alaska cruise this summer, keep reading for the best cruises available from San Francisco and other West Coast ports, broken down into the cruise lines that offer them.

Cruise ship Crown Princess is seen leaving Seattle for an Alaskan voyage.

Cruise ship Crown Princess is seen leaving Seattle for an Alaskan voyage.

jamesbenet/Getty Images

Princess Cruises from San Francisco to Alaska

With a pair of ships that sail from San Francisco to Alaska well into September, Princess Cruises offers more than two dozen Alaska sailings for the 2023 summer season. The Crown Princess can accommodate more than 3,000 guests, while the Royal Princess — which was christened by Catherine, Princess of Wales in 2013 — carries about 3,500 guests. Alaska cruises from Princess run either 10 or 11 days and nearly a dozen of the sailings include visits to Glacier Bay National Park. Princess Cruises claims to take more guests to Glacier Bay than any other cruise line.

Carnival Cruises from San Francisco to Alaska

The other cruise line that heads to Alaska directly from San Francisco is Carnival. The company’s Carnival Miracle, which boasts about 1,000 staterooms, hits Alaskan ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Skagway during its voyages, all of which range from 10 to 11 days in length. The company sails round trip from San Francisco to Alaska all summer long in 2023, with the final trips leaving in early September.

Holland America Line's MS Noordam cruise ship sails into Skagway, Alaska, at dawn.

Holland America Line’s MS Noordam cruise ship sails into Skagway, Alaska, at dawn.

urbanglimpses/Getty Images

Holland America Line leaves from Seattle and Vancouver

Holland America Line has been taking travelers to Alaska for more than 75 years and remains a great option, provided you don’t mind leaving the Bay Area first. Itineraries depart from Seattle and Vancouver and the company sails weekly to Alaska from May to September. Seattle offers the easiest flight options for Bay Area travelers, whereas Vancouver sailings can offer cheaper fares that might sway prospective cruisers to tackle more flights and airport layovers.

Round-trip seven-day cruises from Holland America leave Seattle on weekends aboard Eurodam and Westerdam, which each hold around 2,000 guests. A whopping four ships offer weeklong sailings round trip from Vancouver, or from Vancouver to Whittier, Alaska, which is a little less than 60 miles southeast of Anchorage. The ships range in size, accommodating anywhere from roughly 1,400 to 2,600 guests.

Alaskan Dream Cruises offers authenticity and smaller-ship adventures

For those who like the idea of unpacking once and waking up somewhere new every day, but aren’t so keen on crowds that typically come with the convenience, this small-ship cruise line may be the ticket. Alaskan Dream Cruises is Alaska’s only Indigenous-owned cruise company. The Allen family, already successful entrepreneurs because of their boat-building and marine-tour firms, launched the cruise company in 2011. Its aim is to provide immersive, culturally focused vacations in Southeast Alaska.

All the line’s sailings begin in that region of the state, mostly in larger port cities like Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka, but ships spend their days visiting Indigenous villages and smaller, relatively unknown spots like Wrangell, Metlakatla, and Petersburg, as well as remote bays and glacial fjords. Along with sharing their expertise on geography and ecology, the expedition leaders used by Alaskan Dream Cruises weave cultural connections into guests’ time in Alaska.

Alaskan Dream Cruises operates a fleet of five ships, ranging in size from the 76-passenger Chichagof Dream to the charming Kruzof Explorer, a former crabbing boat that sails with just a dozen guests. All excursions — think expedition skiff tours, kayaking and hiking — are included in the cruise fare.

Travelers on the MV Sea Bird ship, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, visit Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.

Travelers on the MV Sea Bird ship, operated by Lindblad Expeditions, visit Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska.

Ed Reschke/Getty Images

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic is great for wildlife watchers

If your Alaska wish list is loaded with wildlife experiences, sailing aboard a ship with a flexible itinerary is the key to success. Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic operates a handful of small ships in Alaska, staffed with veteran naturalists possessing a multitude of advanced degrees and decades of hands-on experience. In other words, the crew are markedly skilled at spotting wildlife like whales, otters and bears.

For a taste of what you’d experience on a sailing, daily expedition reports provide a snapshot of what current guests are experiencing. Read a few and you’ll quickly realize the itineraries offered by Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic are active and immersive. All excursions, ranging from kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding to zodiac cruises, are included in the cruise fare. Waterproof knee-high rubber boots — which can be rented with advance notice — are a must-have for Alaskan adventures, as some of zodiac landings require walks into the water to get ashore.

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic has a handful of small ships in Alaska for the 2023 summer season. The line’s largest ship, National Geographic Resolution, carries 138 guests; sister ships, National Geographic Sea Lion and National Geographic Sea Bird, are the line’s smallest ships and carry just 62 guests each.

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at [email protected].

FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Quick Telecast is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a comment
Ads Blocker Image Powered by Code Help Pro

Ads Blocker Detected!!!

We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. Please support us by disabling these ads blocker.

buy kamagra buy kamagra online