Advice on 2016 Alaska land/sea cruise.

[xyankee]

I'm looking at booking a land/sea cruise to Alaska in May 2016. I have decided to do one of the 12 day Denali Explorer tours. My choices are flying into Fairbanks and sailing on the Island Princess after the land tour or flying into Anchorage and sailing on the Star Princess after the land tour. Any recommandations on these 2 choices would be greatly appreciated.

[xyankee]

PS: The Fairbanks tour goes to Denali followed by Mt. McKinley while the Anchorage tour does Mt. McKinley followed by Denali. Again, is one any better than the other?

[Missing Linc]

Check out airfare and train/bus time.. I opted for the Anchorage option for our trip since we liked the idea of more train and less bus travel, also airfare was cheaper.

[Alaskanb]

Check to see that you have enough time in Denali. We chose a June 2016 land tour HB5 that gives us a full day in Denali and train from Denali to Whittier. We will do a few days pre-tour so we can do a Kenai Fjords day trip from Anchorage.

[caribill]

We started in Fairbanks.

 

A report on our land tour may be found at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

 

We enjoyed doing the land tour first.

[Alaskanb]

Also check how far you can get into Denali at that time of year

[Alaskanb]

We started in Fairbanks.

 

A report on our land tour may be found at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

 

We enjoyed doing the land tour first.

I found your review most helpful:)

[donaldsc]

PS: The Fairbanks tour goes to Denali followed by Mt. McKinley while the Anchorage tour does Mt. McKinley followed by Denali. Again, is one any better than the other?

 

This statement makes no sense. Mt. McKinley is the mountain within Denali National Park. Nobody actually goes TO Mt. McKinley except climbers. In fact, most of the visitors to Denali do not even get to see Mt. McKinley because of the weather.

 

DON

[I_r_a]

Hey Don,

 

>This statement makes no sense.

 

Princess has a McKinley Lodge and a Denali Lodge.

 

Ira

[Thrak]

This statement makes no sense. Mt. McKinley is the mountain within Denali National Park. Nobody actually goes TO Mt. McKinley except climbers. In fact, most of the visitors to Denali do not even get to see Mt. McKinley because of the weather.

 

DON

 

Two different Princess Lodges:

 

[mapleleaves]

if you want feedback on specific tours, you'll need to post links so we can see the details. ie how many nights at each location and travel by bus or train.

Or just type it out ....Day 1 Fairbanks, day 2 train to Denali 3 train to McKinley Lodge etc

 

The problem with May travel is that the park road in Denali doesn't open to Eielson Visitor Center until June 1, to Wonder Lake June 10. In May you can only go as far as Toklat which I believe is Mile 53.

Edited April 7, 2015 by mapleleaves

[Budget Queen]

Do you know all the details about what you are looking at? Are you interested in spending your short overall land time at the McKinley Princess? Do you have your activities all figured out? Are you in the areas for enough time, where your touring priorities are? Is there an interest in Fairbanks? Interest in Anchorage? All questions you need to answer yourself. :) Those would direct your selection. There is no "preferred" tour.

 

You have a significant restriction with doing a southbound tour in May. Denali Park- which is the biggest highlight of the land tours. Always, northbound cruises with Denali in June see more. But another issue- your included Denali tour? No mention? and what you want to do here? It's vital- http://www.nps.gov/dena

[mapleleaves]

as you look at the cruisetour details, ensure that you have 2 nights in Denali. Many of the shorter Princess cruisetour advertise 2 days/1 night at Denali but they are partial days which only allow enough time for the Natural History Tour (NHT). The NHT only goes to mile 17 of 100 miles of park road, so you miss out on scenery and wildlife.

 

You might also price this as a DIY trip to see if there are significant savings. DIY doesn't mean that you have to drive! You can replicate the Princess itinerary using the train and Princess Lodges. But DIY would allow you travel on your own schedule, spending an extra day in Fairbanks or Denali if you choose.

 

http://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel/Transit/Schedules/tabid/98/Default.aspx

 

http://www.princesslodges.com/

 

And if you want to combine bus and train.http://www.alaskacoach.com/

Edited April 8, 2015 by mapleleaves

[portiemom]

You are probably looking at the exact same two cruise tours that I was trying to decide between 3 years ago. Both are 12-day tours. The one that includes Fairbanks includes more stops, so you know you are going to get shortchanged somewhere. I believe you will not have much time in Fairbanks, right? Unless you plan to fly in a day or more early, you will only have your arrival night in Fairbanks. The next day you leave for Denali. If this is true, then I don't believe for me that going to Fairbanks is worth it.

 

Or maybe, it was that the stops were equal in number, but there is a choice between seeing Anchorage or seeing Fairbanks? We were more interested in Anchorage.

 

Also, we had difficulty arranging flights from the east coast into Fairbanks. Anchorage was easier and the itinerary suited our needs better.

[LizNeedsAVacation]

I haven't gone on mine yet (this coming August) but I asked pretty much the same question and got answers in favor of both.

We decided on the southbound for a few reasons.

1) the ports were slightly different. NB does Tracy Arm Fjords while SB did Hubbard Bay. MH was more interested in Hubbard.

2) the dates worked slightly better for SB

3) we felt ending with the ship would have us a little more well rested for returning to 2 crazy kids. Lol.

 

We ended up with 2 nights in Denali and 2 at my McKinley because we really felt 2 nights in Denali was a must for all we want to do and the land tour with 2 nights in Denali and only one in McKinley was booked.

 

I'd have preferred only 1 in McKinley because there isn't much in terms of excursions there that interests me. We are doing a flight tour but the second day is more of a "keep us occupied" excursion.

 

I'd recommend really looking at what you will do at every place before deciding on the land tour. (If you haven't already).

 

We were very glad to have the extra time in Denali as it lets us do the extra long shuttle (though perhaps that's not an option due to the time you are going anyway?)

Edited April 9, 2015 by LizNeedsAVacation

[xyankee]

Don, Denali has a Princess Lodge as does Mt. McKinley. Sorry I was not specific enough for you. I posted my question on the Princess board but it was moved to the Alaska board. To everyone else who understood my question, thank you for your input. You all were most helpful.

[ComputerTravelGuy]

I'm looking at booking a land/sea cruise to Alaska in May 2016. I have decided to do one of the 12 day Denali Explorer tours. My choices are flying into Fairbanks and sailing on the Island Princess after the land tour or flying into Anchorage and sailing on the Star Princess after the land tour. Any recommandations on these 2 choices would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

My DW and I did a one-way cruise from Vancouver to Whittier in the May timeframe and enjoyed it. I'd recommend NCL, HAL or Princess who go to Glacier Bay (a highlight) versus other cruise ships. We added one additional week for a land vacation that included a full 3-days in Denali Nat'l Park. We took the train from Whittier to Anchorage (beautiful). But we opted NOT to use the train between Anchorage and Denali so we could take our time seeing the sites and stay in a B&B near that park. Many rest stops, scenic views and a long stay in Talkeetna on that drive north to Denali.

 

While you cannot get into the full park in late May, most of the park is open, the mosquitoes haven't arrived quite yet and we had three clear days / views of Mt McKinley. When you take the train, you're limited to the cruise ship lodges versus staying at great B&Bs in the area and trying several fun restaurants. The drive is easy, well marked and you see wildlife along the drive. Have fun!

[rcclfanbp]

Hi All,

 

I recently started reading the Alaska threads to assist in planning my first Alaskan cruise. Regarding cruise ship lodges, are these available to the generally public or only i) cruise passengers with land/cruise packages, ii) any cruise passenger doing independent touring?

 

Thank you.

Brian

[Budget Queen]

Hi All,

 

I recently started reading the Alaska threads to assist in planning my first Alaskan cruise. Regarding cruise ship lodges, are these available to the generally public or only i) cruise passengers with land/cruise packages, ii) any cruise passenger doing independent touring?

 

Thank you.

Brian

 

The lodges are open to anyone. but are over run with buses coming and going with the cruise tour groups. They can also be some of the more costly options.

[rcclfanbp]

The lodges are open to anyone. but are over run with buses coming and going with the cruise tour groups. They can also be some of the more costly options.

 

Thank you Budget Queen. You seem to be one of CC's experts on Alaskan cruises.

[ComputerTravelGuy]

The lodges are open to anyone. but are over run with buses coming and going with the cruise tour groups. They can also be some of the more costly options.

 

 

Agree with Budget Queen. BTW, the nickname for the cluster of lodges and fast food places across the street is Glitter Gulch. :-(

[mapleleaves]

Hi All,

 

I recently started reading the Alaska threads to assist in planning my first Alaskan cruise. Regarding cruise ship lodges, are these available to the generally public or only i) cruise passengers with land/cruise packages, ii) any cruise passenger doing independent touring?Brian

 

If you have a car there are many lodging options available outside the glitter gulch strip ..... cabins, B&B, small hotels, even a hostel.

The Denali Chamber has a list :

http://www.a1cms.com/_dcc/accommodations/

 

If you don't have a car you'll need to look thru the list for those places that offer shuttle service. OR, choose a hotel that's convenient to the Denali Salmon Bake Shuttle, or choose a hotel at the south end of glitter gulch so that you can walk (about 30-40 minutes).

[rcclfanbp]

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge/insight. I have sooo much to learn about touring/cruising in Alaska.

 

P.S. - sorry about the misspelling in my earlier post (generally vs. general). I do not type very well. :p