12 Day Denali by Rail Southbound Cruisetour

Is this your itinerary ? If so, the port times are very limiting.

https://www.ncl.com/cruises/12-day-denali-by-rail-explorer---southbound-cruisetour-SBDJENALIRAIL2JEWEL7SWDICYJNUSGYKTNVAN?cruiseTour=1&embarkationport=4294953373&autoPopulate=f&destinations=4294961386&cruiseHotel=1&numberOfGuests=4294953449&pageSize=10&duration=8053&cruise=1&sortBy=Featured&from=resultPage&state=undefined&sailmonths=4294942861&currentPage=1&cruiseHotelAir=1&itineraryCode=SBDJENALIRAIL2JEWEL7SWDICYJNUSGYKTNVAN

As for Fairbanks activities, what is included in the cruisetour? no point in us recommending things that are already included. What are your interests?

Look at the town web site for ideas: https://www.explorefairbanks.com/things-to-do/

Since you are just starting your research, I'd suggest borrowing some Alaska travel books from your library. There are books specific to Alaska cruises. Read past trip reports to see what worked for other travellers.

Have fun with your research and planning !

 

 

Hi All,

 

Just booked the Alaska 12 day Denali by Rail on the Norwegian Jewel for June 2019. We cruised the Inside Passage already and hubby was hooked and wanted to see more. Since we now have more time in our schedules we decided to try this land and cruise combination.

 

This was on our bucket list, is there any must sees while we are on land? We are in Fairbanks for two days to start our trip with sometime to explore on our own. I have just started doing research so we are not sure how much time we will have at other stops so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you

OK, just a point of view- but, if you are asking "must sees" what led you to select your cruise tour? What do you want to see and do in Fairbanks? And if it happens to be the reference Maple notes, it's in error, with my link. . Are you aware of the details of what you purchased? What is it you want out of your trip?

Please post your itinerary.

OK, just a point of view- but, if you are asking "must sees" what led you to select your cruise tour? What do you want to see and do in Fairbanks? And if it happens to be the reference Maple notes, it's in error, with my link. . Are you aware of the details of what you purchased? What is it you want out of your trip?

 

 

Please post your itinerary.

http://www.explorefairbanks.com

I never recommend the Arctic Circle day trip by ground, only the fly/road combos. IF you aren't going to be flying- which is superb, then you need a car.

Most of your time is in Fairbanks, at the expense of other areas, with your very short time. I though you may have had a reason for the Fairbanks priority. The bulk of time is in transit, and NCL's website description is vague and doesn't make sense.

www.explorefairbanks.com

 

I never recommend the Arctic Circle day trip by ground, only the fly/road combos. IF you aren't going to be flying- which is superb, then you need a car.

 

Most of your time is in Fairbanks, at the expense of other areas, with your very short time. I though you may have had a reason for the Fairbanks priority. The bulk of time is in transit, and NCL's website description is vague and doesn't make sense.

I agree w Budget Queen. If I had 4 days on land in AK, I would not spend half of them in Fairbanks and most of the rest of them traveling from place to place. Also, you have only 1/2 day in Juneau and 1/2 day in Ketchikan. Not a good itinerary in my opinion.

DON

 

 

Hi All,

 

Just booked the Alaska 12 day Denali by Rail on the Norwegian Jewel for June 2019. We cruised the Inside Passage already and hubby was hooked and wanted to see more. Since we now have more time in our schedules we decided to try this land and cruise combination.

 

This was on our bucket list, is there any must sees while we are on land? We are in Fairbanks for two days to start our trip with sometime to explore on our own. I have just started doing research so we are not sure how much time we will have at other stops so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you

We did a cruise tour that left from Fairbanks. Our first day, on our own, we rented a car and drove to North Pole for the novelty of saying we had been to the North Pole. That evening we drove to Creamers Field Nature Trail and walked a short trail before returning our car and arranging a ride back to our hotel. The next day our cruise tour began and we spent the morning on the Riverboat Discovery, which we really enjoyed. If that is not included in your cruise tour, it might be something you would want to do on your own; more information is found on their website and you don't have to be part of a cruise tour to purchase tickets. It is a three hour tour that is very interactive, includes snacks like blueberry donuts and smoked salmon tastings, and afterwards they offer a lunch that we also really enjoyed. The most memorable thing served at lunch was the salad. I loved the salad so much I downloaded their dressing recipe and make in all year long. :)

Happy Planning!

We selected this cruise tour based on our limited time for vacation. Maybe I should have said that we will be or want to be flying in to Fairbanks a day earlier which would be June 19, 2019 since our 4 day land portion will start the morning of June 21st so that leaves us almost 2 days on our own so wanted to make the most out of our time there since there is so much to see and do in Fairbanks. Included with our tour is the Gold Dredge, Fairbanks City tour and the Iditarod sled dog Kennel Visit. I was just asking a general question to those that have been to Fairbanks and that was, is there anything that we should make sure we see that we wont be seeing on our tour? To answer your other question, Yes, I should have been more clear but I am very aware of the details of our trip and what I purchased.

I loved the Discovery riverboat tour. If you can rent a car for the day i would drive north just a bit to North Pole, Alaska. Its a cute Christmas themed town and you can have your mail postmarked from North Pole. I also enjoyed pioneer park in Fairbanks with some cute shops and a plane museum.

Have dinner at the Pump House in Fairbanks. Blackened halibut and Risotto. Outstanding

We rented a car and went to Chena hot springs. A relaxing way to spend the day after a late flight. Pick up cheap towels at Walmart in Fairbanks and skip the $5 towel rental.

We rented a car and went to Chena hot springs. A relaxing way to spend the day after a late flight. Pick up cheap towels at Walmart in Fairbanks and skip the $5 towel rental.

Now that sounds like a great plan after a long flight from Pennsylvania! Thanks!

We have found this very helpful..

http://www.alaska.org/assets/content/related_items_pdfs/The-Ultimate-Alaska-Road-Map-Book.pdf