cruisin0218

We slept in them and used them for transportation. The price for the motorhomes vary depending on the size of the motorhome, the number of days you are renting and which specials they are running. I would recommend comparing prices between Great American and ABC. We have used both of them and been pleased. Since there were 2 couples sharing each rv and we wanted more privacy than the smaller units would provide, we decided to rent the longer class c units that included a bed over the cab, a rear bedroom with a door that closes, a set of bunkbeds with curtains that pulled closed and a couch that made a bed. No one used the couch for sleeping so the center area of the motor home with the kitchen and bathroom could be used without disturbing others privacy. We priced the cost including gas for the motor homes, rental for the units, campground fees, and food (by choice we still ate at a restaurant for our main meal if the day, but had breakfast, sandwiches for a light meal and snacks in each rv). We then compared this cost to renting cars, gas for the cars, lodging, and meals and for us it was less expensive for the rvs. However the main difference was the convenience of having all our essentials with us, stopping along the way and staying as long as we liked per stop. We only made reservations for the 3 nights we reserved at Denali where we reserved spaces in Riley campground and reserved our shuttle bus tickets for our group to go as far as Eilsen on the park road. We had no trouble using milepost to locate campgrounds as we were on the road and began to think about where we wanted to stay for the other nights. I do recommend purchasing groceries and gas just north of Anchorage at Eagle River or in Wasilla because it is more expensive further north. We actually spent our first night in Wasilla in the Walmart parking lot (with permission from Walmart). This gave us a chance to stock up and get used to working the rvs.

We had 11 people & rented 3 motorhomes for the Anchorage /Denali roundtrip. Then we rented a 15 passenger van & pulled a luggage trailer for the Kenai section of our trip. We rented all of them through abc rentals in Anchorage and paid a drop off fee to drop the van & trailer in Seward. We really enjoyed traveling together.

I use a brown manilla envelope for each port and also one for my checkin to the ship. I can the place in the envelope information that I have printed out about the port (restaurants, shops, etc) and any confirmation numbers, phone numbers for tour operators, tickets and any necessary directions. The envelope fits easily into a backpack.

If you are not limited by time you can cruise northbound from Vancouver then stay in Alaska as long as you desire. Then cruise southbound to Vancouver. Thus you can have rt airfare, more cruising time and time for a land based experience in Alaska.

Another thing you may want to consider for those with limited mobility is the rental of a scooter. Each cruise line has a special needs department and they list vendors with whom they work and from whom you can make arrangements to rent a scooter which will be available in the room upon your arrival. The special needs department can also make arrangements for wheelchair assistance on the day you are boarding the ship and on the day you disembark. Just be sure to find out if the stateroom you reserve has adequate doorway opening to ride the scooter into the room. The special needs department can help you with this information. Most cruiselines require that scooters be stored in the room and do not allow parking in the hallway outside your room. They can be parked in areas of the dining room while you are eating.

These scooters can also be riden off the ship when you are in port which is wonderful because the ports in Alaska are very scooter friendly and would allow the less mobile folks to enjoy at least some of the ports if they desire.

We have cruised several times with a large group and really like having assigned seating for dinner because we all gather once a day and share our experiences. Of course everyone does not have to come every day and can eat in other venues at other times if they desire but we find that all of us look forward to sharing over dinner.

Since you are now considering a one way cruise on Princess, I would check out their itinery that includes both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, particularly since you noted that some of the group would stay mostly on the ship. This would give them the best chance to see the glaciers.

I would also look carefully at the flight availability. The flights home from Anchorage can sometimes be very long and often involve flying during the night especially if you live in the southeast. From where we live in North Carolina, our best flight times occur when we fly into Anchorage and out of Vancouver. We like to spend 1 night at least in both Vancouver and Anchorage. This way we arrive in Anchorage in early afternoon to evening and we are not rushed in Vancouver to get from the ship to catch our flight. From other areas of the country a northbound cruise may work best and many people prefer the northbound cruises.

When we go I also insist on having a minimum of 1 to 2 days between arriving in Anchorage and boarding the ship. This allows margin for error due to airline delays. Any additional time you can allow would let you see as much of Alaska as possible.

I don't know how you feel about driving a motorhome, but you could exturn in the rental car in anchorage and pick up a rental rv. I just noticed that your time is flexible. We have taken a motorhome twice from anchorage to denali and back and really enjoyed the flexability of needing no reservations ahead of time except the 3 nights we chose to reserve at Riley Campground at Denali and our shuttle tickets into denali. The rest of the time we just used the Milepost book and did whatever we were in the mood for, stopping along the way for scenic views and wildlife. We did stock up on groceries in Anchorage or Wasilla since they are much less expensive there.

Another thing you might want to consider is rental of a scooter for at least the cruise portion. There is a lot of walking aboard ship and in the ports of call. A scooter can be delivered to your cabin and can be used on the ship and in port. Wheelchair assistance is also available for boarding and disembarking the ship if arrangements are made ahead of time. You would need to check the special needs department with whichever cruise ship you choose to see which vendors provide rentals to the ship and also check with the vendor and cruise ship to determine the width of the scooter and the width of the opening in the doorway to see if a handicap accessible room would be needed to accomodate the scooter. Most cruise lines require the scooter to be kept inside the room and not in a hallway when not in use.

It is also possible to rent a scooter and have it delivered and returned to your home therefore having it available for use at the airport and during the land portion of your tour. The rental prices are in my opinion pretty reasonable particularly given the wonderful convience to use it as you find you need it and save his energy for enjoying the trip.

In order to take the park shuttle bus into the park you need to be sure that your Princess tour includes 2 nights at Denali so that you can take the shuttle on the full day you are at Denali. You do need to reserve ahead of time and my recommendation is to reserve to go at least to the Eilson stop.

We used this shuttle service http://www.denaliparksalmonbake.com/shuttle_schedule.html to go from the WAC (where you board the park shuttle) to glitter gulch (where hotels, shops and restaurants are located).

How many days would you have precruise?

One place that we enjoyed staying very much was at Red Fish Lodge in Sterling. We were traveling with a group of friends and the people that operate the place were very accomodating and could make arrangements for sightseeing tours or fishing tours in the area. It is located right on the Kenai river. We thought they were very reasonable. They made arrangements for us to tour the Seavy's Iditarod location in Sterling which we really enjoyed. Most people that do the tour with Seavys go to their location near Exit glacier. We loved the Sterling location because it is located at their home in Sterling. We all said that we would have enjoyed staying there more than the 2 nights that we spent.

I think your route planning looks good given the time frame that you have if your goal is to see as much of the countryside as you can and check out the area.

I can't be too helpful with regard to where to stay at each of your stops because when we did the land tours that we have done we flew into Anchorage and rented a motorhome in Anchorage so we did not need to reserve lodging except that we did reserve space at Riley campground in Denali for the nights that we planned to stay there. we also made an advance reservation for the shuttle bus in Denali. I purchased a book called Milepost and used that to determine what we wanted to stop and see and if there was a restaurant in the area where we were driving when we wanted to eat. We also had the motorhome stocked with food so we did not have to rely on eating out unless we wanted to.

Even if you decide to rent a car I think Milepost would be helpful for you.

Based upon my preferences if I were to choose between these 2 packages I would choose the 13 day Seattle to Seattle option. The reasons would be that you would get a taste of Fairbanks, you would not need to deal with customs at Vancouver airport, you flight cost would probably be less flying RT to and from Seattle.

With that said I am personally not a fan of the structured tours and in my opinion you could probably experience more of Alaska if you rent a car or rv and plan your own tour. However as tours go this one does look like a good choice with ample time to experience each area and I think the use of the train vs bus is better than on other tours.

Since you do have a significant amount of time in Denali I would encourage you to research the different types of buses you can take into the park and the other activities offered in the park. It looks like you only have 2 full days in the park and since the TWT is included you could perhaps do that one day then use to shuttle bus to go at least as far as Eilson the other day if desired. I don't think HAL will give you a refund on the TWT or I would recommend doing that and using the shuttle bus both days. There are also hiking trails in the park as well as a really neat visitor center and sled dog demo. Other activities are also available outside the park.

If you are flying from the south or the east coast you might also want to check on possible airline schedules and costs to help you decide. As far as the actual cruise experience I personally don't think a northbound cruise vs a southbound cruise really matters however the airline schedules can make a big difference to me. I believe the NCL cruise that includes both hubbard and glacier bay is a northbound cruise and the Princess cruise that includes both is a southbound cruise. Either way as stated in an earlier post you should be able to experience some of the area between whittier and anchorage since you would either be flying into Anchorage the day before your cruise or usually flying out of Anchorage at night. So either way you have enough time to at least experience some of the area. As you stated the neither N. Amsterdam or any other HAL cruise that I know of provides both the glacier areas you have mentioned. The other big difference to look for are the times you are in each port so you can make sure any excursion times you plan match your port time.

Sorry I thought it was Whittier. We have done Hertz Anc to Seward but I did have to call direct to the Anc office for a better rate. Some folks have done this for a day or 2 then switched cars when they arrived in Anc to get a better rate for the rest of the trip. The best rate for Hertz in Anc was the downtown K Street location vs the airport. Might be worth looking into if you haven't already done so. I don't want to pay an exorbitant rate but to me it's worth some extra for the time savings so I can see more while I'm there.

Have you considered renting cars through Avis in Whittier instead of the shuttle. That way you could stop at Girdwood enroute from Whittier to Anchorage and stop at the Wildlife Conservation Center if you desire. You could then change cars in Anchorage if it gives you a cheaper rate for the rest of the trip.

Does Coral have an enclosed pool or hot tub

Does either the island or coral have a covered pool area?

To determine southbound vs northbound I would look at flight options first. For example we live in NC and for us southbound is best because when we fly into Anchorage we arrive between 2pm and 7 pm depending upon the flight. We always fly in at least 1 day prior to cruise departure and add as many days to that as we can. We can fly out of Vancouver the day the cruise ship arrives in port, but we usually stay overnight 1 night in Vancouver to see some of the sights. If we were to reverse and go northbound we would fly into Vancouver 1 day prior to the cruise which is fine but the return flights that are within our budget don't leave until 10 or 11 pm and we would fly overnight (which we do not like). You may no mind the overnight flight or your flight options may be very different.

If you have 10 days and subtract 7 cruise days and 2 travel days then that leaves you with one day to use. I would recommend using it by renting a car and either driving from Anchorage up to the Palmer or Wasilla area or driving down to Girdwood or Seward and tour those areas. One way rentals can be done from Anc. To whittier through Avis or from Anc to Seward through Hertz. The one way rental will cost more than a round trip rental but the extra cost is worth it to me especially since you have limited time.

We have toured twice in Alaska via motorhome and we loved it for the reasons you have already stated. We found it very convenient to stock up on supplies at both the Walmart in Wasilla and at Myers in Eagle River. We asked permission and were allowed to park both places overnight. Both also sell gas and propane as well as groceries, clothing, rv supplies such as rv toilet paper, etc. It is best to stock up on these items in Anchorage, Wasilla or Eagle River because when you go farther inland prices are higher and there is not as much selection. The only reservations we made were for 3nights at Riley Creek Campground at Denali because these sites book up quickly. There is also another campground inside Denali park but our preference is Riley Creek because even though there are no electric and water hookups in the park. There are pay showers and laundry facilites in the little store at Riley Creek. There is also a dump station and water fill up area. There are also some private campgrounds just outside the park.

We ordered Milepost which is a book the covers all the areas of interest along the Alaska highways and lists campgrounds. You can either camp in campgrounds along the way or some of the scenic pull offs allow overnighting in motor homes. The Kenai is also motorhome friendly.

We have been cruising with our daughter since she was 9 years old and she is now 30 and expecting our first grandchild. We have been on HAL, RCCI, Celebrity, and Carnival with her. She has thouroughly enjoyed each one. Three of our cruises with her were to Alaska. I recommend that you focus on the port excursions that you and she would prefer. From that you can look at which ports you want to visit and how long you will need in each port. I was surprised to find that she actually preferred experiencing the elegance of HAL to the others, followed by RCCI. She didn't like Celebrity as much because the room size was small with all of us sharing a balcony room. We have been on Carnival but not in Alaska and she preferred RCCI to Carnival. I would not focus so much on which cruise line but on the itinerary because I think she will enjoy any of them and will find people her age on all of them.

An example of a back to back option using different cruiselines might be to cruise Holland America in one direction which would give you glacier bay and then use RCCI the other direction which would give you hubbard glacier and you said is your prefered cruiseline. You might even be able to spend a couple of nights in Seward between changing ships and that location has a lot of options that are handicapp friendly for touring.

If you are interested in mostly cruising without extensive land tours then you could consider a back to back cruise and that would significantly decrease your flight time and would provide 2 weeks in Alaska instead of 1 week. Since you might be in some of the ports on both your northbound and southbound cruises you could tour the ports in a more leisurely time frame.

The tours can be done to accomodate as suggested above consideration could also be given to car rental so you can tour at your own pace. I just wasn't sure if you were planning to cruise only or to include land touring and I wasn't sure how much time you would have available to spend in Alaska.

Charging for water now? I don't understand. If it were sparkling water in a bottle such as Perrier, that I understand. But almost by definition sparkling water wouldn't be in a carafe as that would cause the water to lose its fizz. Water glass refills during a meal come from a pitcher as I recall. What would be in a carafe that would justify charging extra for?

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If you ask they tell you that there is a charge that is added to your bill it is purified water similar to bottled water and is not the water they process on the ship. So we just tell them we prefer their regular water.