JJPacer Posted February 14, 2012 #1 Share Posted February 14, 2012 We are doing 8 days on our own land tour prior to our cruise. The cost for the land tour for 2 adults is $2K plus private tour costs. We bought an Alaska Tour Saver coupon book and are using serveral of the coupons to lower our costs. It took us quite some time to research and plan this trip. I'm posting this to possibly help others who might be doing the same. Here's our itinerary: 8/10 ARRIVE Anchorage 10 P.M. spend 1 night Confort Suites Creek Street free breakfast , airport & train shuttle Sat. 8/11 Take train to Denali. Leave 8:15 arrive Denali 3:45 PM McKinley Express 2 for 1 coupon RT Sat. 8/11/12 & Sun 8/12/12 Princess Wilderness Lodge 2 nights 2 for 1 coupon SUN. 8/12/12 Wonder Lake Bus 6:45AM Take Food & water Mon. 8/13- 8/14 DENALI BLUFFS LODGE 2 nights 2 for 1 coupon DOG kennels 9:15 Take courtesy bus. for 10 am, show White water rafting Canyon Run 1:30-5:00 2 for 1 coupon 8:30 PM Cabin Nite dinner theater 2 for 1 Tu 8/14 Eislen 7:30 bus 8 hrs. RT rtrn 3:30 stop @ Toklat if we want Wed. 8/15 Do any additional hiking in the AM take McKinley express from Denali L 12:55 PM to Anchorage arrives 8:00 PM RT paid for above Wed. 8/15 - 8/18 3 nights Hampton Inn incl. breakfast & train shuttle Th 8/16 Seward Train Leave 6:45 AM Arrive 11:05 AM 2 for 1 coupon Return to Anchorage Leave Seward 6:00 PM Arrive Anchorage 10:15 PM Fri. 8/17 Anchorage Visit Earthquake Museum 2 for 1 & other sites WHITTIER Sat. 8/18 L Anchorage Train 9:45 AM Arrive Whittier 12:05 PM Drop luggage at Princess cruise terminal Or leave with train in Anchorage Prince William Sound Glacier Boat Tour 12:15 AM -5:30 Incl. All you can eat prime rib and salmon buffet included. Cruise Begins!!!! Aug. 18 Board ship after the PWS tour Tues. 8/21 rent car Skagway drive to Emeral lake and back Use Murray’s Guide Take passports and water Wed. Aug. 22 Juneau Whale Watching & Wildlife Tour 2 for 1 PU 9AM at Dock Rtn 12PM ....Mount Roberts Tramway 2 for 1 and/or shop Aug. 25 arrive Vancouver Princess transfer from Vancouver to Seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmende63 Posted February 14, 2012 #2 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Where did you get the Alaska tour saver book? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Aurora Posted February 14, 2012 #3 Share Posted February 14, 2012 The website for the Alaska TourSaver is: http://www.toursaver.com. They can be bought on line. Also, in the past, Safeway grocery stores in Alaska have sold them at their customer service desks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugaltravel Posted February 14, 2012 #4 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Generally a nice itinerary. I would probably book the shuttle bus to Wonder Lake both days since you don't know which day will have the best weather. Also, since when you book the shuttle on the phone, you can get a third day for free, I would have set up my itinerary such that I could take the shuttle into the park the third day and planned the rafting the morning of 8/15. That would give me the flexibility to take the bus the best 2 of the 3 full days weather-wise. I would then plan my other activities like the sleddog demo at the last minute, depending on which days I took the shuttle. Easy to change this far in advance if of interest. Your idea of switching hotels in Denali half way through is a great cost saver. It means a bit more hassle with luggage, but worth the savings. Few people spend that much time in Denali, but I think it is well worth it for those who like scenery, wildlife and/or hiking. I am not a big fan of day trips to Seward but I assume you are taking the Kenai Fjords tour? You didn't mention that but it is by far the best touring option in Seward unless you plan on the Harding Icefield Hike, which you really don't have time for with a day trip. You might consider adding Mendenhall to your whale watching in Juneau. It is almost on the way there (or back). Does your cruise not stop in Ketchikan too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJPacer Posted February 14, 2012 Author #5 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thanks Frugaltravel. You bring up some good points, that we will consider. If the whale watching tour will drop us off at Mendenhall, then we'll do that. We've been to Mendenhall before. If they drop us at the pier, we won't have enough time at Mendenhall to do the hiking trails we want to do, and we feel we'd be too rushed for time. I forgot Ketchikan! Yes the cruise goes there. We were going to do a walking tour of the town, and watch the salmon. Do some shopping maybe some hiking...weather permitting. We've been to Ketchikan before also. We went back and forth about whether to go to Seward. We finally decided to go to see the scenery from the train. We don't know if we'll get back to AK to do a land tour, and decided it was best to go ahead and do it. If some of the shorter Kenai Fjord tours were still running when we're there, we'd do one of those. But they're not. Since we're doing PWS we decided not to do a long tour in Seward. We'll enjoy Exit Glacier, the town, do some hiking, etc. We just returned from a cruise to the Galapagos and saw sea lions, seals, penguins, etc very up close & personal. So we decided not to go to the Sea Life center. You make an excellent point about improving our chances of taking advantage of the weather by making ourselves available to do a tour bus all 3 days we're there. We may change our raft tour to the 15th. Thanks for the suggestion. There's always room for improvement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scapel Posted February 15, 2012 #6 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We are doing 8 days on our own land tour prior to our cruise. The cost for the land tour for 2 adults is $2K plus private tour costs. We bought an Alaska Tour Saver coupon book and are using serveral of the coupons to lower our costs. It took us quite some time to research and plan this trip. I'm posting this to possibly help others who might be doing the same. Here's our itinerary: 8/10 ARRIVE Anchorage 10 P.M. spend 1 night Confort Suites Creek Street free breakfast , airport & train shuttle Sat. 8/11 Take train to Denali. Leave 8:15 arrive Denali 3:45 PM McKinley Express 2 for 1 coupon RT Sat. 8/11/12 & Sun 8/12/12 Princess Wilderness Lodge 2 nights 2 for 1 coupon SUN. 8/12/12 Wonder Lake Bus 6:45AM Take Food & water Mon. 8/13- 8/14 DENALI BLUFFS LODGE 2 nights 2 for 1 coupon DOG kennels 9:15 Take courtesy bus. for 10 am, show White water rafting Canyon Run 1:30-5:00 2 for 1 coupon 8:30 PM Cabin Nite dinner theater 2 for 1 Tu 8/14 Eislen 7:30 bus 8 hrs. RT rtrn 3:30 stop @ Toklat if we want Wed. 8/15 Do any additional hiking in the AM take McKinley express from Denali L 12:55 PM to Anchorage arrives 8:00 PM RT paid for above Wed. 8/15 - 8/18 3 nights Hampton Inn incl. breakfast & train shuttle Th 8/16 Seward Train Leave 6:45 AM Arrive 11:05 AM 2 for 1 coupon Return to Anchorage Leave Seward 6:00 PM Arrive Anchorage 10:15 PM Fri. 8/17 Anchorage Visit Earthquake Museum 2 for 1 & other sites WHITTIER Sat. 8/18 L Anchorage Train 9:45 AM Arrive Whittier 12:05 PM Drop luggage at Princess cruise terminal Or leave with train in Anchorage Prince William Sound Glacier Boat Tour 12:15 AM -5:30 Incl. All you can eat prime rib and salmon buffet included. Cruise Begins!!!! Aug. 18 Board ship after the PWS tour Tues. 8/21 rent car Skagway drive to Emeral lake and back Use Murray’s Guide Take passports and water Wed. Aug. 22 Juneau Whale Watching & Wildlife Tour 2 for 1 PU 9AM at Dock Rtn 12PM ....Mount Roberts Tramway 2 for 1 and/or shop Aug. 25 arrive Vancouver Princess transfer from Vancouver to Seattle Where do you get all these 2 for 1 coupons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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