Roll call Alaska 2017

keywestwego wrote:
Never been there and planning a trip in 2018. If I Ferry, can I stay in my RV while on the Ferry or is it manditory to stay in a onboard cabin?

Not having "Ferry'd" I am unsure how it operates.

Thanks all.

One is not allowed to stay in their RV (the RV/Car deck is closed except for brief periods every so often).

.... you don't "have" to get a cabin: you can sleep in deck chairs or put up a tent on certain parts of the deck.

A practice avidly followed by the younger set. Me, I'm old enough that I enjoyed the cabin on the last trip.

Never been there and planning a trip in 2018. If I Ferry, can I stay in my RV while on the Ferry or is it manditory to stay in a onboard cabin?

Not having "Ferry'd" I am unsure how it operates.

Thanks all.

marc515 wrote:
Any of you guys take your dogs on the ferry?
M

Your pet stays in your vehicle! When in port and sometimes while under way they let you take the pet out on car deck.

Any of you guys take your dogs on the ferry?
M

One way to hold ferry costs down a little is to drive to Prince Rupert, then take the ferry to Haines. Fewer cabin nights are needed and it will give you the opportunity to see south-central BC (especially the Okanagan Valley!) on the way to Alaska. You can still get to Dawson City, Whitehorse, Skagway, Jasper, and Banff on the way back home.

jmckelvy wrote:
We've been thinking of taking the ferry system (multiple intermediate stops) either going up or coming back.

Any recommendations on ferry up or ferry back and why you prefer a particular direction?

As noted, I've not taken the entire Inside Passage as a single trip, but have done the legs over several years. Thoughts I'd offer:

- It is likely that most RV'rs will travel in "summer or late summer" and not true "Fall"
- Having done a few legs in the fall (i.e. mid-September onwards), the weather can get downright ugly;
- Not only can that ugly weather make the ride on the water less enjoyable, but (while I happen to like stormy vistas), the ugly weather can obscure the scenery signficantly.

Going North in the early summer, the ferry trip is not immune to bad weather, but much less likely than at the end of summer or Fall.


....so maybe take the ferry up and drive back. This also minimizes some of the disruption from RV sites and related services starting to close down.

We are also planning a 2017 trip, leaving middle of May from Arizona, both retired so no hurry.
Traveling this summer with our new 20 ft. Creekside we learned 200 miles a day is a good number and no more than 3 days in one spot.....or we get ansy....
I've flown to Anchorage once, went fishing in Seward, then cruised the inside passage twice....loved it and super excited about driving and camping.

We are planning for summer 2017, Researching for best time. Coming from Upstate NY we have a 4000 mi trip to the border.Have friends that just got back. It sure sounds beautiful.

jmckelvy wrote:
We've been thinking of taking the ferry system (multiple intermediate stops) either going up or coming back.

Any recommendations on ferry up or ferry back and why you prefer a particular direction?

I much prefer northbound, for 2 reasons:
- the scenery gets better and better as you go north - or at least more "Alaskan"
- if you start early, the advance of warm weather comes with you.

We've been thinking of taking the ferry system (multiple intermediate stops) either going up or coming back.

Any recommendations on ferry up or ferry back and why you prefer a particular direction?