Anyone done the trek from Anchorage to Seward?

[shoegal24]

Fiance and I booked our cruise for next July today rountrip from Vancouver via the Century. But I was just started looking into the millie southbound from Seward. It's the same price for a nicer ship.

 

But the flights are about $300 more (combined), and I'm wondering if it's worth it. As I take it, we would have to spend the night in Anchorage, and then take the 4 hour train ride to Seward at 7am. Is it a nice train ride?

 

Has anyone done the Southbound? Would you recommend it?

[judyfssw]

We have done it twice and I would do it again. The train ride is great and you can book it yourself online. There's someone in every car so if they see something of interest (like a bear eating on the side of the train tracks), they pass the information along and your guide tells their car where to look and for what. You'll see glaciers and they tell you interesting facts. It's a great beginning to the cruise. You'll arrive in Steward about 1:00 and then you can just walk over to the ship.

You have another option. Fly into Anchorage 2 days early, stay overnight there and then take the train and spend a night in Seward. It's an interesting town.

[Phxazzcruisers]

We took the Southbound cruise on RCL about 20 years ago. The train ride was great, Anchorage not so exciting. When we do it again we will fly into Anchorage a few days early and take a trip to Denali. We were told that was not to be missed

[pacheco18]

Simple and scenic train ride.

Tag your bags with your ship luggage tags and Celebrity handles the luggage from the time you board the train.

 

Nothing to do in Anchorage except eat delicious halibut.

[Lsimon]

The train ride is more like a sightseeing excursion than a transfer. There is just great scenery along the way.

[/url]

Anchorage proper doesn't have too much there - although we ate twice at an incredible seafood restaurant with fantastic sunset views that last for hours. Simon & Seaforts

A lot of people going on the trips out of the ports near Anchorage do other land tours pre/post cruise - many spend some time at Denali on a cruise tour or self directed tour or in the area near Seward.

 

We were not even sailing out of Seward (was Princess out of Whittier) and we took the train to Seward for the day and did some sightseeing there.

[Fblack]

I have done it twice and never again. I also have done two 7 day round trip cruises out of Vancouver.

 

Unless you want to spend a few days touring the area, I don't see any great reason to start in Anchorage. The cruises are a bit less and the airfare is more. And we often forget that Anchorage is really a long flight from much of the U.S.

 

Maybe do it once, but for me, I prefer to start in Vancouver or Seattle the next time I go.

[Lsimon]

I have done it twice and never again. I also have done two 7 day round trip cruises out of Vancouver.

 

Unless you want to spend a few days touring the area, I don't see any great reason to start in Anchorage. The cruises are a bit less and the airfare is more. And we often forget that Anchorage is really a long flight from much of the U.S.

 

Maybe do it once, but for me, I prefer to start in Vancouver or Seattle the next time I go.

 

This is very good advice if you're not interest in any pre/post cruise land tour at all.

[Mercruiser]

We cruised from Vancouver to Seward. I made a one-way car rental from Seward to Anchorage. The advantage of having a car is there is lots and lots to stop and see between Seward and Anchorage: Exit Glacier, Portage Glacier, Whittier, Aleyeska Resort. We then spent a night a hotel by the airport and flew out the next day. Of course, you could do this in reverse.

 

The Hertz rental desk in Seward is about 1000 ft away from the cruise ship dock.

[fngram]

We sailed southbound several years ago. We arrived in Anchorage four days early, rented a car and spent a delightful time staying in B&B's in the Palmer area very near Hatcher Pass. It's beautiful country and we were there for the Alaska State Fair which was a special treat. We took the train to Seward but I think we'll drive down on our next Alaska cruise.

[c-legs]

Did it X2.

Gorgeous scenery on the train, great staff, confortable amenities.

Southbound or Northbound, this 7 day cruise is just awesome.

Doing train from Anchorage puts you in Seward ~~ 1.00pm....you can walk over to the ship, checkin and leave again to tour this little area:very nice, and some 2-3- hours tours possible right off the dock to go into the bay and some glaciers.

Cheers

[nfox211]

We went Southbound last summer. We flew into Anchorage and spent the night. Took the train (wonderful!!!) to Seward and arrived early enough for a wildlife cruise of Kenai Fjords. :)

[demodawn]

Thanks for all the info but does anyone know a link to get the resy?

[Jill SC]

My previous cruise to Alaska was a 7 day inside passage from Vancouver to Seward. The last couple of days cruising through Prince William Sound into Seward were absolutely spectacular. I would recommend doing it at least once. We took the transfer (bus) from the ship to Anchorage and spent the afternoon there before flying out that night.