HannahHunter

Good catch! I think most people think it is my name and probably that I should be more cautious about posting it. But Horse Soldiers it is. :)

Thanks to everyone for their input! Sounds like Coral is the way to go.

The reason I was thinking doing the land portion first is that I was planning it to be very active and thought it might be good to do that first and then have the 3 non-port days on the SB cruise to rest and relax.

Very good point though about the scenery getting better as you go north.

I will consider that. Thanks again!!

I am planning a cruisetour with land tour before cruise in Aug/Sept 2015.

I want to see the fall colors in Denali, so I think the cruisetour starting on 8/30 would be best (6 days on land then SB cruise) It is on Grand Princess. From reviews, it seems like Grand is the least favored of the 3 choices. There are some good reviews and some really feel it is not in good shape; it's the oldest of the 3. Coral seems to have best reviews and also the most recent refurb. The Coral cruisetour would depart 9/3. I am very interested in thermal suite which Grand does not have, as far as I can tell. On the other hand, Coral does not have the Crown Grill, which i wanted to try- I'm not sure how similar Bayou Steakhouse is, do they have food other than Cajun/Creole there? The Star seemed a good compromise but I think it just leaves either too late or too early (8/23 or 9/6) for peak color in Denali. I will be booking mini suite.

Any suggestions as to your preference of the 3 ships would be appreciated. I have cruised Princess 6 times in the past but it's been ten years since the last cruise. Thanks to all.