Alaska Bound

We are contemplating taking a cruise on the American Cruise Line boat either from Seattle to Juno June 10 next summer or from Juno to Seattle on Aug 19.

Any reason to chose one over the other?

We will tie it into their Puget Sound 8 day trip,

Comments or suggestions?

August sounds like a good month to be in a cooler climate. Not the information you're looking for; just my opinion.

Ted

American Cruise Lnes has a nice trip within the northern part of SE Alaska that starts in Juneau and returns to Juneau. Perhaps the best small ship cruise is Alaska Dream Cruise owned by Allen Marine.

When the ships travel through BC they do not stop because there is so much more in SE Alaska to see and do. Therefor, you may wish to consider a cruise within SE Alaska.

I would pick June over August. There tends to be less rain in SE AK then.

FF. Take a look at this link,
http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/wilderness-explorer-1

On our trip to SE Alaska, in our boat this year, we shared anchorages and saw their boat Wilderness Explorer, in several locations not frequented by the big cruise ships. I would prefer this to the other, but to each their own. Whichever you choose, you will see some great country. Dan

Rebel112r said:

FF. Take a look at this link,
Wilderness Explorer, Alaska Small Ship, 76 Guests

On our trip to SE Alaska, in our boat this year, we shared anchorages and saw their boat Wilderness Explorer, in several locations not frequented by the big cruise ships. I would prefer this to the other, but to each their own. Whichever you choose, you will see some great country. Dan

Click to expand...

That's my idea of a cruise ship. Not one with 3,000 quests! I like it!

This is really interesting. Adventure Smith Explorations appears to just be a booking agent. I think the boats are actually operated by un-cruise here in Seattle, and you can book directly with them.

June is the month of the longest day/shortest night if that matters.

FF said:

We are contemplating taking a cruise on the American Cruise Line boat either from Seattle to Juno June 10 next summer or from Juno to Seattle on Aug 19.

Any reason to chose one over the other?

We will tie it into their Puget Sound 8 day trip,

Comments or suggestions?

Click to expand...

I believe Fred is asking which direction (N or S) of a one way trip between Juno and Seattle would be better?

If so, I would go from Seattle to Juno AFTER spending 8 days in and around Puget Sound. My suspicion is that Puget (while quite nice) would be anticlimactic following an Inside Passage trip. Conversely I think Puget makes a great primer for what's to come.

Juno would be an excellent place to extend the trip inland and June is a darn fine month for a road trip.

Old deckhand said:

When the ships travel through BC they do not stop because there is so much more in SE Alaska to see and do.

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Snicker - Chortle - Guffaw

All of Alaska has 6,640 miles of coastline...BC has 15,985!

Alaska has the longest general coastline of any state. The Alaskan coastline extends for 6,640 miles, a distance greater than that of all the other states' coastlines combined. Including islands, Alaska has 33,904 miles of shoreline. The estimated tidal shoreline, including islands, inlets sounds and bays, is 47,300 miles. Alaska is one of the most beautiful states with incredible landscapes and a variety of wildlife.

I understand all these BC miles just are not marketable for the cruise lines. Perhaps there are reasons that the free market enterprise likes SE Alaska.

The aerial distance from Victoria on the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Stewart, British Columbia on the Alaska border at the head of the Portland Canal is 965 kilometres (600 mi) in length. However, because of its many deep inlets and complicated island shorelines—and 40,000 islands of varying sizes, including Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii —the total length of the British Columbia Coast is over 25,725 kilometres (15,985 mi), making up about 10% of the Canadian coastline at 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi).[1]

Comparing apples to apples, looks like AK is bigger

I think the original comparison made was SE Alaska to BC and that BC had nothing to offer, which made me laugh. You guys can keep the cruise ships lining up for their turns at scenic hot spots or tour boats buzzing around looking for money shots. Most boats I've seen in an anchorage around here (north coast) was 4 in Barnard Harbour

Oh, yeah? Folsom lake has about 75 miles of shoreline! So there...

According to NOAA, Southeast Alaska coastline is a little over 19,000 miles. The 6640 miles for Alaska from a prior post does not include bays, islands and inlets. The 15,000 miles for BC coast line from the same prior post does include bays island and inlets. When compared apples to apples, BC coastline is significantly less.

Giggitoni said:

Oh, yeah? Folsom lake has about 75 miles of shoreline! So there...

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Oh yeah, oh yeah? Well Pinecrest Lake has about 4 miles of shoreline.

Sorry Fred, you may never get any real answers to your OP as this thread seems to have been comprehensively hijacked

Oh oh

Its OK ,

I got some great ideas and the Off the Deep End often ends with "Mine is Bigger than Yours", type arguments.

Marine Motorists seem to be Type A folks , and highly opinionated.

And always correct, but not always PC.!

Thanks folks!

Weather is much better in June than August (Fogust) down here mostly raingust up there

twistedtree said:

I would pick June over August. There tends to be less rain in SE AK then.

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We were in Ketchikan 2nd week of June this year.
It was sunny.
This is rare.

ketchikan gets 140" of rain each year.

That's about 11 FEET of rain.