Alaska land/cruise tour - help please

[pv girl]

Hoping to pick up some tips and facts from those who have done land/cruise trips. We are looking at Yukon/Denali Y3 or Y5. This year is different from prior years, as HAL is now using a 1hr flight between Dawson City and Fairbanks. It used to be by bus over a dirt highway through Tok and Beaver Creek.

1. Will this change ruin the trip by skipping good stuff? 2 days in Denali is okay as we have been there before.

 

2. Meal plan or not? HAL quoted $269pp for 4 breakfasts, 3 dinners, 1 lunch. Seems about $80pp too high. Since the tour is longer, does this mean other meals are included, or is this just where they have pre-arranged something and you are on your own for the rest, whether you have a meal plan or not? The tour description only talks about one included lunch between Whitehorse and Dawson.

 

3. Since you are only on the ship for 3 nights, Vancouver to Skagway, is the service level less as they know you are leaving so soon? We are looking at doing the cruise part first as prices are a lot less. We will end up in Anchorage and then take the train to Seward and do the 7 day southbound back to Vancouver as an additional trip.

 

4. OCD question - do they have bottled water on the bus or do you have to bring your own? Do the Westmark Hotels in Whitehorse, Dawson, Fairbanks have in-room coffee set-ups? I found that the Denali and Anchorage hotels have this - need my fix while I get ready in the mornings.

 

5. Average age of fellow travelers on these bus trips?

 

Any info you all can share would be most appreciated. We have never done a long bus tour before (only one day sightseeing trips)-or long car trips where we could stop when we wanted. So we are a little fearful of being able to adapt to bags at the door at 0600 etc. And about bags, can we leave the big bag with our cruise stuff on the bus and only take a small bag into the hotel? Will my laptop be safe in a carry-on on the bus if I get off at comfort stops, photo ops, etc. or do I need to drag it everywhere with me?

 

Thanks in advance.

[oaktreerb]

I have done the Yukon 2x and enjoyed both even though changes were occurring at that time, too. In Alaska things can change due to the weather, fires, etc. Nature has a mind of it's own and that is what changed our first to second tour but we enjoyed both. The breakup of ice on the Yukon, a fire on the road to Eagle, environmentalists complaining about the Yukon Queen all caused changes that we did not expect. We still had a great time. It's all part of the adventure.

 

First off, we have done the four day cruise which meant we did land first. The four day includes Glacier Bay as a glacier experience for those who have not seen glaciers. I loved the White Pass railroad down to Skagway and the overnight in Skagway and waking up to find our ship in port. The three day goes from Skagway up to Whitehorse. Your cabin is yours for three days and travelers going the other way will have it for four days. The service is still great and you will be "integrated" into the ship community as though you are on the regular 7 day cruise.

 

While we enjoyed Chicken, Tok, and Eagle, it was a long long day on the bus and I was surprised how flat the inland area that we passed through was. The bus always stops about every two hours at some interesting location so you can walk around and use the bathroom (which is most likely an outhouse). I'm waiting to see what the reports are concerning the flight in lieu of the two day bus trip. We were so tired of riding in the bus that I did not want to take any excursions that included a bus when we got to Dawson City. We just enjoyed the Jack London cabin, The joining of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, and their wonderful museum as well as wandering around the town. Since you won't be bus weary you may want to take the tour into the Tombstone Territory or Kluane park area.

I think I would rent a car so I could see new places.

 

We did not get the meal plan. If you eat a lot you may want it but it will limit you to where you receive your meals. With more free time in Dawson City you may want to eat elsewhere although we found the hotel restaurants where the plan was accepted to be very good and we just paid by credit card.

 

We had people from 7 to 90 on our bus. The 7 and 8 year old kept busy with their computer games and were so quiet we hardly knew they were there. If I were to average the ages out it would probably be early 50's, most still working I would think. It was a pretty good cross section of travelers. We never had to wait for anybody. The older gentleman got sick in Tok and the cruise leader wiped down all bus surfaces that we were likely to touch including hand rails, made sure we used the gel, and arrange through HAL for him along with his sister to meet us in Dawson City a couple of days later. Nobody else got sick but he had the meal plan and I think he always ordered the most expensive thing on the menu so he probably just overindulged and it caught up with him!

 

Another advantage of land tour first is that when you arrive at the ship you will already know some of the passengers and it adds to the warmth of the experience.

 

They did give us bottled water and as I recall there was a coffee and tea set up in the room. We spent very little time in those rooms.

 

We were able to send our extra bag directly to the ship. I think they traveled in a separate truck so keep your cruise clothes in a separate bag. We felt that our personal things that we carried with us were safe on the bus. If the bus was in a location it was locked if it was not monitored by the driver.

 

If you can do a report on your tour. I'm really curious about the flights and how long they are actually going to take from TSA to destination!

[pv girl]

You have supplied a wealth of info - really appreciate your taking the time to do this. We are not going until late in the season, so hopefully some folks on the early tours will write reports on how the new itinerary works out. I, too, am wondering how much time the flight will eat up - getting to the airport in Dawson, checking in, getting from airport in Fairbanks, etc.

 

It seems the most tiring part will be the last day - the long ride on the train from Denali to Anchorage, with a late arrival, and then having to be at the train station again the next am for 0645 trip to Seward. We can always take a nap in our cabin after boarding the ship for the southbound trip back to Vancouver. It just works out perfectly to combine the 2 cruises.

[Okie1946]

I have done the Yukon 2x and enjoyed both even though changes were occurring at that time, too. In Alaska things can change due to the weather, fires, etc. Nature has a mind of it's own and that is what changed our first to second tour but we enjoyed both. The breakup of ice on the Yukon, a fire on the road to Eagle, environmentalists complaining about the Yukon Queen all caused changes that we did not expect. We still had a great time. It's all part of the adventure.

 

First off, we have done the four day cruise which meant we did land first. The four day includes Glacier Bay as a glacier experience for those who have not seen glaciers. I loved the White Pass railroad down to Skagway and the overnight in Skagway and waking up to find our ship in port. The three day goes from Skagway up to Whitehorse. Your cabin is yours for three days and travelers going the other way will have it for four days. The service is still great and you will be "integrated" into the ship community as though you are on the regular 7 day cruise.

 

While we enjoyed Chicken, Tok, and Eagle, it was a long long day on the bus and I was surprised how flat the inland area that we passed through was. The bus always stops about every two hours at some interesting location so you can walk around and use the bathroom (which is most likely an outhouse). I'm waiting to see what the reports are concerning the flight in lieu of the two day bus trip. We were so tired of riding in the bus that I did not want to take any excursions that included a bus when we got to Dawson City. We just enjoyed the Jack London cabin, The joining of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, and their wonderful museum as well as wandering around the town. Since you won't be bus weary you may want to take the tour into the Tombstone Territory or Kluane park area.

I think I would rent a car so I could see new places.

 

We did not get the meal plan. If you eat a lot you may want it but it will limit you to where you receive your meals. With more free time in Dawson City you may want to eat elsewhere although we found the hotel restaurants where the plan was accepted to be very good and we just paid by credit card.

 

We had people from 7 to 90 on our bus. The 7 and 8 year old kept busy with their computer games and were so quiet we hardly knew they were there. If I were to average the ages out it would probably be early 50's, most still working I would think. It was a pretty good cross section of travelers. We never had to wait for anybody. The older gentleman got sick in Tok and the cruise leader wiped down all bus surfaces that we were likely to touch including hand rails, made sure we used the gel, and arrange through HAL for him along with his sister to meet us in Dawson City a couple of days later. Nobody else got sick but he had the meal plan and I think he always ordered the most expensive thing on the menu so he probably just overindulged and it caught up with him!

 

Another advantage of land tour first is that when you arrive at the ship you will already know some of the passengers and it adds to the warmth of the experience.

 

They did give us bottled water and as I recall there was a coffee and tea set up in the room. We spent very little time in those rooms.

 

We were able to send our extra bag directly to the ship. I think they traveled in a separate truck so keep your cruise clothes in a separate bag. We felt that our personal things that we carried with us were safe on the bus. If the bus was in a location it was locked if it was not monitored by the driver.

 

If you can do a report on your tour. I'm really curious about the flights and how long they are actually going to take from TSA to destination!

 

 

We are taking the R21 (Seattle Gold Rush) which has us staying in Denali for 2 nights then flying into Fairbanks etc. We will be joining the Volendam in Skagway on the 14th of June. This itinerary seems quite intensive compared to several of the other tours. We are schedule to be in Anchorage for 1 day, with the train trip to Denali spending 3 nights there, , busing into Fairbanks with 1 night there then flying into Dawson City. We spend 1 night in Dawson City, then take the bus to Whitehorse and bus from Whitehorse to Skagway. We arrive in Skagway on the 12th. That gives us about 1 1/2 to 2 days in Skagway before sailing.

 

The information above answered a lot of our questions, and it will make it much easier for us to pack for the trip. We got all of the information from HAL, but it seemed to overlook practical questions, like meal plans, extra bag handling and meals while on the road.

 

However, we are more snackers at lunch time, and we were wondering if we were allowed to carry snack crackers, energy bars and water with us on the bus?

 

Again - thanks for erasing some of our fears. It appears that we are going to be doing our land/sea cruise earlier than everyone else, so I will report back about the plane ride from Fairbanks to Dawson City as well as the rest of our tour when we return home. (approx June 20th)

 

Everyone else have a great trip.

 

Okie

Edited May 4, 2014 by Okie1946

[Shmoo here]

You have supplied a wealth of info - really appreciate your taking the time to do this. We are not going until late in the season, so hopefully some folks on the early tours will write reports on how the new itinerary works out. I, too, am wondering how much time the flight will eat up - getting to the airport in Dawson, checking in, getting from airport in Fairbanks, etc.

 

It seems the most tiring part will be the last day - the long ride on the train from Denali to Anchorage, with a late arrival, and then having to be at the train station again the next am for 0645 trip to Seward. We can always take a nap in our cabin after boarding the ship for the southbound trip back to Vancouver. It just works out perfectly to combine the 2 cruises.

 

We did the cruise/tour that took a bus from Dawson City to Fairbanks. We enjoyed the day. We were on the first trip in the spring, so still snow around.

 

The airport in Dawson City should take no time at all. It's basically just outside of town, on the other side of the hill. AFAIK, there's basically only one plane in and one plane out every day.

 

Not a great picture, but the airport is just to the left of the large asphated area on the left side of the picture (Dawson City to the right)

 

 

Don't know about the Fairbanks airport, but I wouldn't think it would take all that long to get through it. HAL is quite organized with getting their groups from place to place.

 

We took the train from Denali to Anchorage, overnighted in Anchorage, and the bus the next day to Seward. I didn't find it particularly tiring. I mean on the train you're basically just sitting and riding and taking pictures of the views.

[oaktreerb]

You have supplied a wealth of info - really appreciate your taking the time to do this. We are not going until late in the season, so hopefully some folks on the early tours will write reports on how the new itinerary works out. I, too, am wondering how much time the flight will eat up - getting to the airport in Dawson, checking in, getting from airport in Fairbanks, etc.

 

It seems the most tiring part will be the last day - the long ride on the train from Denali to Anchorage, with a late arrival, and then having to be at the train station again the next am for 0645 trip to Seward. We can always take a nap in our cabin after boarding the ship for the southbound trip back to Vancouver. It just works out perfectly to combine the 2 cruises.

 

I really like the idea of the Yukon tour and then cruising south back to Vancouver. Next time we do the Yukon we may do the same. The three day to Skagway seemed so short for me and only included Ketchikan but doing the 7 day on the back end is a great idea for people who love Alaska! I've heard that the scenery from the train on the way to Seward is fantastic.

[oaktreerb]

You can take snacks on the bus and purchase food along the way at several of the stops. As I recall they gave us bottled water each day.

 

You are going to have a wonderful time!

[pv girl]

oaktreerb-

 

yes, that train ride is fantastic - everyone is at the windows looking for wildlife and taking pictures - and there is some narration of location and history by the conductor. It is also cheaper to do this on your own than taking HAL transfer which is on a bus and gets to Seward much later in the day.

 

last trip, we just flew to anchorage, got in late and spent the night, took the train next am and spent one night in Seward before the cruise. Seward is a cute town and there is a lovely park for walking right on the bay. We went to the aquarium and it is really nice for such a small town. Also went to the fiord/glacier near town by bus. Stayed at the Edgewater, reasonable rates, free breakfast, view of the bay, free shuttle from station and to the ship.

[Shmoo here]

oaktreerb-

 

yes, that train ride is fantastic - everyone is at the windows looking for wildlife and taking pictures - and there is some narration of location and history by the conductor. It is also cheaper to do this on your own than taking HAL transfer which is on a bus and gets to Seward much later in the day.

 

last trip, we just flew to anchorage, got in late and spent the night, took the train next am and spent one night in Seward before the cruise. Seward is a cute town and there is a lovely park for walking right on the bay. We went to the aquarium and it is really nice for such a small town. Also went to the fiord/glacier near town by bus. Stayed at the Edgewater, reasonable rates, free breakfast, view of the bay, free shuttle from station and to the ship.

 

We took the bus from Anchorage to Seward. I'm not sure what you're calling "much later in the day", but we were there by 11:15. We had the Kenai Fjords tour and then were taken to the ship about 6:00 that evening.

[oaktreerb]

HAL has several busses from Anchorage to Seward. They have such a variety of experiences that each one is special. Several years ago we were late to Seward because the bus pulled in for an unexpected and complimentary visit to the Alaska Conservation Center. That year we were so late that we had to stand in quite a line to check in for the ship. Who knows, maybe there was a problem on the road and they were just helping us fill time we might have had sitting in traffic.

[northernphoenix]

We are cruising first ( the Statendam ), and then the triple Denali. We have most of our questions answered, as well; but we do wonder how we can transport a couple of bottles of wine ? Are we allowed to store these in our personal carryons, or must we store them in our suitcase.

Thanks,

Marilyn

 

 

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[Shmoo here]

We are cruising first ( the Statendam ), and then the triple Denali. We have most of our questions answered, as well; but we do wonder how we can transport a couple of bottles of wine ? Are we allowed to store these in our personal carryons, or must we store them in our suitcase.

Thanks,

Marilyn

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

To take them onboard the ship, they must be in your carryons. And I'd probably suggest the same for the land portion of the tour. The big, checked bags are not handled particularly gently when moving them from room to bus and back each time you change locations.