Should you leave your RV home and cruise to Alaska?

[Oldedit]

Should you leave your RV home and cruise to Alaska?

We're taking 11 ferry boat rides on our one-month trip from Whittier, Alaska, to Port Angeles, WA. The ferry boats are small enough to go where big cruise ships can't, and they actually stop at numerous small towns.

Cruise ships spend most of their trips on the Pacific Ocean and make only a few stops.

One ferry boat passenger this week said that he took a cruse ship from San Francisco to Juneau that stopped at only four ports. And he estimated that he spent only 20 hours on land in Alaska. Cruises seem to be for party people, gamblers, foodies and shoppers who buy jewelry, art and expensive clothes, not sight seers.

 

[Jeff]

We have made one cruise from Seattle to Alaska with non-RVing friends and had a wonderful time.


Three years later we were parked at Pullen Creek RV Park in Skagway watching the cruise passengers scurrying back to the ships for departure while we sat with our feet up deciding where to have dinner. ;D


Just different experiences.

 

[Tom]

We've had a similar experience to Jeff's, taking our boat down the coast to Mexico and taking a cruise ship.

 

[Oldedit]

I chatted with several cruise ship passengers in Skagway. They were having a great time. We enjoyed the Jewell Gardens organic veggies and gardens, but the town was a disappointment because it is so commercial and looks like it's owned by a cruise ship line.

Pullen RV was OK. It is close to town, if you really want to go there. I heard talk that Skagway wants to shut down the RV parks and develop them. No wonder their owners aren't putting much money into them. I guess RVs aren't considered important as long as there are three to four cruise ships in town on many days.

 

[Selah]

We have done four cruises with National Geographic thru Linblad Expaditions. All have been on smaller ships, between 60 and 80 passengers. Not including the NG naturalists. These are not dress up and watch the paid entertainmnet cruises, these are jeans and boots and cameras. The last was to Alaska and we spent quite a bit of time either on land, in Zodiaks, or kayaks. Since then we bought an RV so our next trip to Alaska will be in the RV.
However, if you ever have an inkling to gn on a cruise I would highly recommend one of the NG cruises.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Take your RV on the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry system) and maybe get the best of both worlds. We went by RV and strictly highway and loved it, but you don't see as much coastal Alaska that way.  Or just park the RV at some seacoast town like Haines or Valdez or Homer and take a day cruise or two. I think there are multi-day cruises out of Anchorage too.

Bottom line is that you can choose the type of cruising you want to do - they aren't all party boats.