Many questions about HAL cruisetour - Land part

[potterymaker]

Hello Helpful Travelers,

 

We are about to book for Aug 17, 2011, HAL CruiseTour SOUTHBOUND GREAT LAND WILDERNESS CRUISETOUR #8 with the Zuiderdam as the 4 night cruise ship.

 

We were wondering what you might know about this type of Tour? We wanted to do a good amount of the incredible Alaska Land and this seems to have that. Do you know how happy people have been with this Land tour? I know the Cruise will be great........

 

On the land part, how much wilderness do you see? where you stay, how is the bus ride?

Do think the food package is needed? Is the food package for just the hotel we stay in or do you have choices?

 

Any info you can give us or point us in the right direction would be helpful. We have until tomorrow Monday, 4/25 to decide, as least that is what TA said.

 

Thanks so much, Potterymaker

[LaCat3]

I have not done this landtour but have done two others. I feel they are a great way to see a lot of Alaska and the Yukon in a relatively short period of time.

 

The "luxury motor coaches" are ok but you do spend MANY hours on them due to the hundreds of miles covered on some days.

 

The food plan can be a good deal because everything is so expensive. The food plan is always where you stay. You stay in the "boonies" so most hotels seem to be HAL operated if not owned. Sufficient but nothing special. If you are overnighting in a small place you will probably eat at the "food plan" restaurant anyway as there may not be anything else in the area. The food plan is easier but you may prefer to do things on your own and take the chance of spending a bit more for your meals. I've done it both ways and it's really a personal choice -I preferred the plan.

 

I'd go again in a minute! - Let us know what you decide!

[potterymaker]

Thanks so much for your helpful information. We are almost ready to commit.

 

Really excited about this adventure. Tina (potterymaker)

[Love Cruis'n]

You can also pose these questions to your TA.

[ScottishMaid]

For the food, do you eat cooked breakfast and a 3 course dinner? If not it will be cheaper to pay as you go even if you eat at each hotel restaurant and in the train dining car. I think all the hotels have coffee making in the room too, so some days we had that plus our own granola bars and fruit for breakfast. The included lunches often were big and we didn't want much more food with all the sitting in the coach. If you like walking (good after the hours of sitting) there are lots of restaurants within a half mile of the hotel at Denali. We had to walk around Fairbanks for a while to find one but remember the evenings are light. At Whitehorse we got up early and found a good coffee place. So not having the meal plan encouraged us to get out and see each town.

We saw more scenery than wildlife. Many people say to choose a 2 night stay at Denali that includes the big tour into the park (hours on a school bus but you see much more). Try looking at the National Park website.

[Valley Girl of VA]

We did the land tour ourselves and saved a lot of money and had great flexibility. At Denali, you are on a NPS school bus that costs a lot less but you travel the same routes that the cruise line tour buses do. Outside orf Denali we stayed at McKinly Creekside Cabins. Not many choices of places to stay or eat. There is a very good dinner theater outside of Denali that I would recommend. Anything you do on your own does need to have reservations, include the tour at Deanli with the NPS. Bring snacks with you.

[potterymaker]

Thank you all for all your help...............we did book the #8 Cruise. #2 does look better because of Denali and Dawson City, but as you probably imagine, because it is better, it was full except 2 times that we could not travel(and more expensive). We appreciate all the good advice. We will not get the land meal plan. TA did not suggest it either. There were only 3 dinners, 5 breakfasts and 1 lunch. She said, not worth the price. I appreciate all the good suggestions. I will formulate more questions about exciting places to visit. Sorry we are not staying longer in Denali. We needed to used frequent flyer miles this summer, or they would expire.

 

You all are a wonderful resource and I will indeed ask more questions as we proceed toward the middle of August and our exciting Alaska Trip.

 

With much appreciation. I need to get back to my: pottery making : - )

(potterymaker) Tina