AKStafford

Yep. It is.

Take the shuttle bus into the Park: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

Why not just call them: (907) 789-8600 ?

I've got a friend working construction on the Dalton Highway. He was told to plan on working until late October. Of course they probably don't get the snow that Denali does...

The road is still open to Mile 43.

What do you mean by this? Anchorage is about a 2 1/2 drive from Seward. If you mean you are arriving at 9pm the night before your cruise, I would recommend the next morning doing the early morning Coastal Classic train from Anchorage to Seward and then doing a Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise before boarding your ship.

Any weather forecast for Alaska more than 36 hours out is just a guess. The key to Alaska weather: Hope for the best, be prepared for the worse and have fun no matter what!

I grew up in Hoonah, pre-cruise ship days. I've still got friends there. I remember one of them telling me he was enjoying his mid morning coffee in his skivvies in the recliner in the living room. He hears a noise. Peaks through the curtains. It's cruise ship tourists up on his porch, taking pictures of his carefully tended flowers. And then they picked a few. I think most residents of Hoonah are fine with the cruise ship folks not spending much time in town.

If you are on a one way cruise ending/beginning in Seward or Whittier; plan a couple of extra days for going to the Matanuska Glacier: https://glacier-tours.com/

You could use your day in Whittier to do the 26 Glacier Cruise or hike the Portage Pass Trail to the lake.

My preference would be to rent a car and drive yourself to Denali National Park. To get into the park beyond mile 15, you can use the transit bus: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

Rent a car and drive yourself. The first 15 miles of the Denali Park road are open to cars. It's beyond mile 15 that you have to be on the bus. And you may be there at the time when the park road is open to private vehicles to mile 30. More details are here: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shoulder-season.htm

Something like this: https://www.alaskandreamcruises.com/ ?

Valdez is a great team for walking around. Either take the shuttle into town, or do a Thompson Pass/Worthington Glacier trip or a Prince William Sound cruise.

I think Mint Mobile works off of T-Mobile towers and T-Mobile doesn't have a presence in Alaska. What about a pre-paid burner phone? AT&T & Verizon both have Alaska towers.

It's about 5 1/2 miles from the cruise ship dock to downtown: https://goo.gl/maps/xhgoBVZvHSTrn3XHA

In Hoonah/Icy Strait Point, I'd do a whale watching trip with Glacier Winds. For the after cruise part, are you renting a car? Do you have it reserved yet? At Denali National Park, use the shuttle bus to travel the portion of the road that is open: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm Coming back from Denali, do you have time for a Matanuska Glacier hike?

You'll have to drive an hour north of Anchorage, but there's this: https://www.alaskahelicoptertours.com/knik-glacier-landing

Here's our pictures from: 26 Glacier Cruise~ http://akstafford.blogspot.com/2021/08/glaciers-7-31-2021.html Spencer Glacier on the Alaska Railroad~ http://akstafford.blogspot.com/2017/08/spencer-glacier-via-alaska-railroad.html Grandview Turnaround on the Alaska Railroad~ http://akstafford.blogspot.com/2019/07/grandview-on-alaska-railroad.html Avis is the only rental car option from Whittier. I'd call them directly: https://www.avisalaska.com/locations/whittier/ (907) 440-2847

Talkeetna is not Denali.

Any weather forecast for Alaska more than 36 hours out is a random guess. And many times my Accuweather app is saying sunny and it's raining. Or it says raining and it's sunny. So here's the key to Alaska weather: hope for the best, plan for the best and have fun no matter what.

If not covered in clouds, you can see Denali from the South Denali Viewpoint at Mile 135 of the Parks Highway. It can even be seen from Anchorage...

Do any of the cruise line tours go to Homer?

Hertz and... I think it's Thrifty have rental car offices in Seward for the drop off.

You probably wouldn't make the 11:15 flight. You definitely aren't making a 10:46am flight.