BlondeBookworm

Hello! My husband and I are researching our first trip to Alaska and want to do a land/sea trip. I've read these forums and others, and have found that Holland America and Princess are two of the most recommended (we've only cruise with Royal Caribbean in the past). I am trying to find an itinerary that goes to Sitka but no luck yet.

So far, these are the two options I found that are land-first, leave from Anchorage, and are more than 10 days. The biggest differences are time of year, price, and days in Denali. Is one program/company/ship/excursion options better? Any other advice, trip ideas to consider, etc?

1) Princess ($6115) - Mid May 2023. Starts in Anchorage, then two days at Mt. Mckinley Lodge, two days at Denali Wilderness Lodge, then to Whittier to board the cruise. Ports include cruising around Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, stopping at Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan before docking in Vancouver. Ship will either be the Sapphire or Grand Princess.

2) Holland America ($7366) - Mid September 2023. Basically the same itinerary except HA lodging and 3 days in Denali as opposed to four.

Hi all! 

Thanks for your feedback so far. To answer a few questions that came up, here are the answers (I didn't know how to edit the original post):

1. For our timeline, we were thinking either 10-14 days, whether that is on our own or on a cruise. 

2. We've been to Russia so the Russian architecture and things don't interest us as much.

3. We would love to hike and sightsee in nature more than museums. Open to exciting adventure ideas, too!

4. Glaciers are definitely on my list but I'm open to which ones are the 'best' or recommended to see from people who have been there.

4. My husband loves local food so I'm sure a chunk of the budget will go towards interesting food places. 

My husband and I (early 30s, no kids) are looking to plan an Alaskan trip for the first time. We like to explore and have rented cars and cruised before so trying to figure out what would be the best way to get the most out of an Alaskan trip. Based on reading tons of posts here, I've learned:

1. You can't see everything in one trip unless you can stay for a few weeks
2. Prioritize what you want to see
3. Be aware of how much time is spent in each port when planning
4. Alaska will be amazing and I am excited

I share these things as a precursor to my question - do you suggest a land tour (on your own or book with guides), a sea trip (cruise with either RC, Holland America, or Viking), or one of the cruisetours that do land and sea? We've been working on a budget and have cruised in the past, but I worry that RC ships are too big to see some cool things, but I've never been on smaller ships. I've also seen some people in this board discuss the benefits of doing strictly a land tour and renting a vehicle, which we are open to. 

Any feedback/advice you have for us would be appreciated!