Alaska logistics help

[Murphey]

We have done many Alaska trips as it's the only cruise that we can actually drive to. Done the RT's from Seattle and the B2B's from Vancouver. But, we've never done a cruise tour. We don't want flights involved. So, what's the best way to sail north, do the tour then sail back south?? Short of spending a week on our own.....what have other people done? Thank you.

[ggprincess2004]

We have done many Alaska trips as it's the only cruise that we can actually drive to. Done the RT's from Seattle and the B2B's from Vancouver. But, we've never done a cruise tour. We don't want flights involved. So, what's the best way to sail north, do the tour then sail back south?? Short of spending a week on our own.....what have other people done? Thank you.

 

That is the best solution - northbound, land tour, then the southbound. Enjoy.

[mya603]

Northbound, land tour, southbound would be the best bet if you don't want to fly. I did the land tour starting in Anchorage this year. I hope to do the land tour starting in Fairbanks in about two years.:)

[Murphey]

I understand this, but the land tours are not a week???

[Thrak]

I understand this, but the land tours are not a week???

 

My land tour next June is 6 days. There are longer ones...

[mya603]

I understand this, but the land tours are not a week???

 

Some are. Check with Princess. I bet they could accommodate you.

[Murphey]

Thanks....I would expect we would not be the only people who would like to do this!

[ChiefBoats]

Some are. We did a week tour in 2013. Started in Anchorage and a week later ended up in Whitter to board the ship.

________________________________

Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Emerald Princess 2015 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

[biker1972]

My solution for this type of cruise (cruise, land tour, cruise) is to book a North bound cruise tour from Vancouver with Princess that ends in Anchorage and follow it with a South bound Celebrity cruise that ends in Vancouver. My current bookings dovetail perfectly with a 6 day land tour stuck between 2 cruises. Air is booked round trip from Vancouver thus avoiding that long, uncomfortable flight from Fairbanks or Anchorage. The land tour ends in Anchorage with an overnight at the Captain Cook Hotel and the Celebrity cruise starts with a transfer from Anchorage to Seward the morning the Princess program ends. By carefully looking at the schedules of all of the Alaska cruises available, there are probably many such pairings. Being Elite with X, I started there but am not excited about their land options; liking Princess better. Thus my hybrid b2b.

[SargassoPirate]

We have done many Alaska trips as it's the only cruise that we can actually drive to. Done the RT's from Seattle and the B2B's from Vancouver. But, we've never done a cruise tour. We don't want flights involved. So, what's the best way to sail north, do the tour then sail back south?? Short of spending a week on our own.....what have other people done? Thank you.

 

This year we are doing a two week self-drive, essentially a big loop, self-drive tour from Anchorage to Anchorage. Then we board the Coral to sail south to Vancouver. We thought about sailing north from Vancouver, then the land-based self-drive, then sail back south to Vancouver, but the timing just didn't work out for us.

 

The big difference, and main point, for us is we didn't want the lock-step regimen of the cruise tour, so we decided to do it on our own. We'll be able to wander around as we want and the only thing scheduled is to be in Anchorage in time to catch the Princess transfer to the ship.

 

The more I cruise, the less I like organized shore excursions and just didn't feel up to a cruise tour.

[caribill]

I understand this, but the land tours are not a week???

 

Your southbound cruise will be on a different ship. Which one depends on when your land tour ends.

[Mommypig]

That is the best solution - northbound, land tour, then the southbound. Enjoy.

 

 

We leave today to fly to Seattle, will take a shuttle Saturday to Vancouver to catch the Grand northbound on Saturday on the Off the Beaten Path cruise/tour. Two weeks later, after the end of the tour portion we are sailing southbound on the Star back to Vancouver where we will spend a few days before shuttle back to Seattle to fly home.

[Murphey]

You have all given me excellent options. Maybe the self drive is the way to go. We really would like to spend a lot of time in the mountains/parks. So I'm thinking use the Princess transfer to Anchorage, pick up the car. Do our thing then use a Princess transfer from Anchorage back to some ship. In the meantime our "cruise clothes" can stay in the trunk. This is sounding good!!!

 

Thanks everyone! I don't know why I got it in my head that we had to do the and tour with Princess.

[tetleytea]

I did the transfer from Whittier to Anchorage independently, too. Saved maybe $20/per person over the Princess transfer. Not much difference between the two, other than the price. We might have even been able to get dropped off where we wanted, because we went independent. Princess might not do that (not sure...never did it).

[bigchid]

As I understand it, you can rent a car in Whittier, or at least arrange to pick it up there. You may want to check that out.

Know that car rentals in the summer up here are spendy!

Edited August 25, 2015 by bigchid

[tetleytea]

I don't know about Whittier, but I know you could rent in Seward, and the prices were ridiculously expensive--to the tune of $180 a day. Avis in Anchorage only wanted $65 a day--still way high, but...welcome to Alaska.

[bigchid]

I don't know about Whittier, but I know you could rent in Seward, and the prices were ridiculously expensive--to the tune of $180 a day. Avis in Anchorage only wanted $65 a day--still way high, but...welcome to Alaska.

With car rentals, you can kind of understand it because they need enough cars for the demand in the summer, and then little or no demand the rest of the year.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Definitely doable via a Northbound Cruisetour followed by a Southbound cruise. You may have to spend 1 or a few nights in Anchorage, but there's a lot to explore to keep you busy.

[bubbycruises]

Any recommendations for places to stay in Kenai and Denali if we plan our land tour on our own?

[TW6cruiser]

We just came back from a southbound princess connoisseur cruise tour which we loved. I think you can book the princess lodges on the lodges website without being on a tour. The Kenai Princess lodge was absolutely beautiful. The princess Denali lodge as well was nice and is close to the entrance to the park.

[Rubynic]

Any recommendations for places to stay in Kenai and Denali if we plan our land tour on our own?

 

We stayed in Soldotna when touring on the Kenai peninsula last year - Best Western Silver Salmon motel was reasonably priced & we got a voucher for the restaurant next door where we had a nice dinner.

 

If you want to experience our favourite thing in Alaska try flying out to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge from Soldotna - either for the day or as an overnight guest. While this is not a cheap option it was just so special. We saw so many bears - Moms & Cubs & the lodge is so friendly with excellent accommodations & food.

[saint_em]

We did a post-cruise tour on our own (though we did fly home).

 

We stayed in the following:

 

Talkeetna Roadhouse

McKinley Creekside Cabins (about 15 mins south of Denali NP, great restaurant on site, not a lot else nearby but a nice deck to enjoy a beer in the evening!)

Pioneer Ridge B&B (Wasilla)

Harborview Inn (Seward, you MUST do a Kenai Fjords boat trip!)

Summit Lake Lodge (nr Moose Pass on the Kenai Peninsula, again not an awful lot nearby but a nice on site restaurant and they have kayaks etc to use on the lake)

Susitna Place (Anchorage)

 

I'd recommend all of them, the Harborview Inn was probably the least good, but we really struggled to find anywhere in Seward that was even vaguely affordable and lots of B&Bs want two night stays.