Washington to Alaska on Ferry

You have to change boats in Juneau to catch the one headed to Whittier. It, the Cross Gulf ferry doesn't run very often and is/ was summer only. It isn't very popular with tourists as it stays a long way off shore on the run. If a person wants to stay out of Canada, this is the only ferry routes that will accomplish this. The only other way would be to put your RV on a rail barge in Everett Washington and you fly up to Anchorage to pick it up.
On my web site I have our last trips cost from Prince Rupert to Skagway, under Alaska 2011 heading. This would give you a figure to probably triple the figure. I would guess you are looking at $1500 and up each direction of travel.
I have also done the Skagway to Bellingham run previously. Don't remember the cost and I am away from home, in South Dakota currently, so don't have access to those figures.

We are thinking of taking the Ferry for the return trip south. I called for information on the reservations two months ago for the trip up 98% booked up. I would have had to drive to Prince Rupert then gut off in Juneau Then get back on a different ship 6 hours later then proceed north . There was no break on the fee for a lousy schedule that really didn't do what we wanted in the time frame we needed.

jamesu wrote:
Reading about all the costs and what the accommodations are like, sure makes the cost of a cruise out of either Seattle or Vancouver look pretty darn good to me.

Won't find many mooses or bares on a cruise ship. No bugs either,for that matter. No bothersome driving, borders...can't take your guns tho. No flats or breakdowns..but if there IS a problem on the ship, it's a bugger getting off.

But the ferry...now that seems to be worth consideration. One way,anyway.



Gary Haupt

Reading about all the costs and what the accommodations are like, sure makes the cost of a cruise out of either Seattle or Vancouver look pretty darn good to me.

The ferry leaves from Bellingham, WA. You don't really need a room. Many folks slept in comfy chairs. Some brought sleeping bags & pillow and slept on the floor. Some brought tents and slept on deck. There's also a outside covered deck that has heating lamps. You won't be able to sleep in your RV.

Yeah...I in-putted all the requested info for that ferry qoute and that's what popped out, but it did seem low to me, too. However...it was as posted, so....


Gary Haupt

Sorry about the above post. Apparently you cant say c r a p!

All of the above info is correct, although I suspect the $209 fare Bham to Juneau may have left out some important info, seems too cheap.
Did not know you could get to Whittier either. Every route I researched showed Hains being the northern most port on the ferries out of WA or BC. Maybe some ship jumping could get you all the way to Whittier. 4-1/2 days for that sail is awesome. It's a 4-5 day drive anyway.
Just took the Ferry last month.
Truck w/ camper and a trailer, 42'long, Prince Rupert to Haines was $2k with a 4 berth cabin (cabin was $3-400 of the total). Same setup from Bham to Haines, closer to $4k.
Correct on no propane to power the fridge. I didn't know this and had a fridge full (we were moving to AK, so took as much food as we could stash). I ran off of the batteries for about 16hrs and then convinced the purser and engineer to let me plug in my AC power.
Also correct, no staying in the RV, in fact you cant go on the car deck while ship is underway.
All in all, our 36hr trip was a great experience through the inside passage. I would suspect the open water areas on the longer routes get a bit boring though.

Food is good and not terribly expensive. $40+ for dinner for 4.
If you get a cabin I'd suggest packing as big of a cooler as you can, drinks and snacks, sandwiches, etc.
We had adequate time to walk and "water" the dogs at each port and our trip, ports were less than 12hrs apart. Note, they're not really set up well for pets. I was going to leave the dogs in the back of our utility trailer but failed to purchase enough "length" to get the ramp door down, got a car jammed up to theback of the trailer, so had to crate them. I dug out our crates out of a full trailer (we had a pile of******the movers didnt take, with us) because the ferry only had random crates for use and they wouldnt fit my dogs.

We put dry ice, from an ice house in Bellingham, in the freezer. It worked fine.
I bought two folding, wheeled coolers, for the fridge stuff, there are ice machines.

A lady had some grass cuttings in a plastic bag, a sniff at pee time, got Marley going. It was tough for the dogs on the steel deck. They give you a spray bottle and some paper towels. You can get off at various villages, Sitka and Juneau were our stops, and catch the daily Ferry. Take a tent and air mattress to save the cabin cost. There are also limited cooking facilities, besides the cafeteria, which was good.


We found it to be an excellent trip, fuel savings, just about cover the cost, with no wear and tear on the rig.

From Alaska Marine Highway System

Bellingham WA to Whittier AK is a 4 1/2 day sailing with stops along at Ketchikan, Juneau, Yakutat then arriving Whittier. Time in port at each stop is 3-4.5 hours.

Adult people cost about $550 per person.
Children older than six cost $273 per person.
Seniors (65 or older) cost $470 per person.
Pets are $25 each and must remain on the car deck.

Recreation Vehicle up to 21' in length costs about $1,900.
Over 21' is $105/foot in addition to the $1,900 for 21'.

Cabins cost up to $840.

Passengers are not permitted to stay in their vehicle. Some people set up tents on the decks above and sleep in those, or some sleep in the chair loungers on the decks.

Visits to the vehicle decks are scheduled and escorted by crew members. Usually only 20-30 minutes a few times a day, enough to feed the pet, pee the pet and grab some stuff from your vehicle. You can also walk your pet off-ship at the scheduled stops.