Seward to Anchorage- long day itinerary?

[Korlad]

I've read several of the posts about transportation options to Anchorage so I will look at those but I didn't see any that had my issue. To try to get my free flight using mileage, We have to fly out at about 1am. So, cruise arrives Seward 7am on Monday 9/7/15 and then flight is not until just after midnight. We have 17 hours. I am open to suggestions for the long day. If I can get a good rate on car rental, that one way would be best option (right now $265 including taxes). Otherwise, anyone have suggestions (remember we have luggage) rather than sitting at airport all evening?

Thanks!

Edited October 18, 2014 by Korlad
I put wrong date

[mapleleaves]

Many people will be catching a red eye flight out of Anc. It's a busy time at the airport.

You have several options. Your choice will depend on how you want to spend your day. You can spend the day in Seward and catch the evening train or bus to Anchorage. Or catch a morning transfer or bus to Anchorage then rent a car for the day.

Choices are:

- cruiseline transfer

- independent transfer

- Alaska Railroad ( 6pm-10pm). This would give you the day to spend in Seward ( Exit Glacier,SeaLife Center, Kenai cruise)

- Park Connection Bus has 3 or 4 trips to Anc daily. If you catch a morning bus you could be in Anc by 2pm. Rent a car for the day and backtrack along the turnagain arm to see the Wildlife conservation Center, Potters Marsh, Williwaw fish viewing platforms. Alyeska Resort, etc http://www.alaskacoach.com

- Seward Buslines also has a few departures daily http://www.sewardbuslines.net

- Hertz rental car is the most expensive because it's one-way but it also gives you the most flexibility. Car rates fluctuate so you need to check the rates constantly in case you catch a special.

[trenz]

I was considering a middle of the night flight myself after arriving on the train to Anchorage at night. During research came across Alaskatrain.com which recommends at least a four hour window between train arrival and flight

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

[Cheryl H]

I've read several of the posts about transportation options to Anchorage so I will look at those but I didn't see any that had my issue. To try to get my free flight using mileage, We have to fly out at about 1am. So, cruise arrives Seward 7am on Monday 9/7/15 and then flight is not until just after midnight. We have 17 hours. I am open to suggestions for the long day. If I can get a good rate on car rental, that one way would be best option (right now $265 including taxes). Otherwise, anyone have suggestions (remember we have luggage) rather than sitting at airport all evening?

Thanks!

 

We booked with an independent transfer company. We actually combined 2 tours to keep us busy and seeing sights all day. Our driver arrived in a nice large SUV and had a sign with our name on it. (Salmonberry Tours).

 

The first tour was a transfer package. It had stops at Exit Glacier where we walked back to the glacier. Next we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation place and saw all the animals. We stopped in Girdwood and rode up the ski lift at Alyeska Resort. And it included lunch at a soup/sandwich restaurant. Then when we got to Anchorage, we had added on the chocolate tour. It included a couple stops like Earthquake Park, and Hood Lake, and Chocolate Dwellers Lounge, and lastly a drop off at Alaska Wildberry Products for more chocolate and some shopping and dinner across the street (I forget the name of the restaurant). Wildberry stored our luggage for us while we shopped and had dinner. Our son fed a reindeer there. When we were all done, Wildberry called a cab for us to go to the airport. It was an easy day of being carted around by someone else who knew where they were going. We were exhausted from the cruise but had a great day seeing the sites.

 

To us, the sites we saw on the transfer tour were way better than the stops in Anchorage. If I had it to do over again, I'd just do the Seward and Girdwood sites and skip Earthquake Park and Hood Lake in Anchorage.

 

I'm not sure if I helped you at all or not.

[Budget Queen]

We booked with an independent transfer company. We actually combined 2 tours to keep us busy and seeing sights all day. Our driver arrived in a nice large SUV and had a sign with our name on it. (Salmonberry Tours).

 

The first tour was a transfer package. It had stops at Exit Glacier where we walked back to the glacier. Next we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation place and saw all the animals. We stopped in Girdwood and rode up the ski lift at Alyeska Resort. And it included lunch at a soup/sandwich restaurant. Then when we got to Anchorage, we had added on the chocolate tour. It included a couple stops like Earthquake Park, and Hood Lake, and Chocolate Dwellers Lounge, and lastly a drop off at Alaska Wildberry Products for more chocolate and some shopping and dinner across the street (I forget the name of the restaurant). Wildberry stored our luggage for us while we shopped and had dinner. Our son fed a reindeer there. When we were all done, Wildberry called a cab for us to go to the airport. It was an easy day of being carted around by someone else who knew where they were going. We were exhausted from the cruise but had a great day seeing the sites.

 

To us, the sites we saw on the transfer tour were way better than the stops in Anchorage. If I had it to do over again, I'd just do the Seward and Girdwood sites and skip Earthquake Park and Hood Lake in Anchorage.

 

I'm not sure if I helped you at all or not.

 

Post your costs for this tour.

[Budget Queen]

I've read several of the posts about transportation options to Anchorage so I will look at those but I didn't see any that had my issue. To try to get my free flight using mileage, We have to fly out at about 1am. So, cruise arrives Seward 7am on Monday 9/7/15 and then flight is not until just after midnight. We have 17 hours. I am open to suggestions for the long day. If I can get a good rate on car rental, that one way would be best option (right now $265 including taxes). Otherwise, anyone have suggestions (remember we have luggage) rather than sitting at airport all evening?

Thanks!

 

There are several options available to you. IF your flight is after 1am, then the Alaska RR could work, with the ability to tour Seward during the day. BUT, it is up to you to determine, where you want to spend your time, so I suggest you look at the details for the options posted and figure out what is of interest to you.

 

As for "good rate" on a Hertz car rental, that may be your best rate. Frankly, you only have one day in mainland Alaska, you may want to pick an option that allows you some touring/sightseeing?

[Cheryl H]

I'd be glad to post the price. I looked up her current pricing. It is a 7 hour tour for 249 per person. We tacked on another 2 hour chocolate tour of Anchorage so we had a whopping 9 hour tour. I don't remember how much extra the chocolate tour was and it is no longer offered on her website. Lunch was included in the tour, so were the fees for the wildlife conservation place, and the lift at Alyeska.

 

It was worth every penny to us. We had the driver driving us and we were free to snap all the photos and watch the scenery. We really enjoyed the stops too. And they were able to customize it for us in that we had our drop off be at the Wildberry Products instead of the airport or hotel.

 

For us, we were wanting a land package after our cruise, but couldn't afford to tack on a 3 or 4 day land tour. This way, we saw a day full of sites and then flew home on the redeye.

 

http://www.salmonberrytours.com/packages/Seward-tour-transfer/

 

She also has a Whittier transfer package too. We learned about them from another person here on cruise critic. We were very pleased.