Planning on going to Alaska- Questions???

[gll]

we went on a Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Sea, big boat, smaller would be better, the Prince Williams sound one that Jennifer mentioned sounds great, except I get motion sickness if I turn my head to fast so I opted for a bigger ship, Silver Salmon creek is just unbelievable, with your 500 you'll be backing up, we were the last group for the season and allot of the big bears and cubs were gone but the ones there were catching salmon and quite a show, If going back I might try July/August, prepare for mosquitoes and rain. lots of day trips once you get there to see bears, but I wouldn't count on just finding some by driving around

Originally Posted by labmansid

Thanks for the tips, Gary, you must have posted while I was typing my other reply. I sometimes get distracted while typing (slowly ) and come back later to finish!!
Funny you should mention the motorhome, my "cheapskate" co-worker did that the last time they were there. They loved doing that. I have heard good things about the Silver Salmon creek, I may have to check that out. What type or what cruise line did you use? I was hoping the smaller boat cruises were not quite as touristy as you described, maybe a little more flexible, at least while enroute.
Thanks again.

[dcopeland]

According to one site for Glacier Bay National Park looks like the humpbacks peak in July/August so might be able to overlap the peak for them with the salmon run in August.. Looks like at least for Haines, AK the best bear viewing is from mid-June to October.. Again as I understand it the salmon run is July-Sept there so would make sense.. should be able to check out the fishing reports to see if the areas you'll be heading to have a salmon run and it's peak season.

Another something to think about.. is they have a ferry system that runs between a number of the towns.. For example, we took the ferry between Juneau and Haines in Nov for the bald eagle festival.. Might be another option instead of say the RV. Taking a rent car on the ferry instead.. though, would suggest planning contingencies just in case of bad weather, extreme tides and/or mechanical failure of the ferry just in case..

I will say though.. doing the cruise type route does have it's advantage of only having to unpack once.. :)


David