Land/cruise vacation

[Kimbels]

Planning our 1st Alaska trip and need some advice on land/cruise vacation. We are pretty sold on Princess but not sure if we should do the land portion on our own or book that through Princess. Also, is it best to do land portion before or after cruise? If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

[shadowmeboy]

DIY is going to take more planning, but may be cheaper. going with the ship can make it easier to plan and pay.

 

before or after is going to be a personal preference. some people like going land first, so they can enjoy the ship. Others want the land second. I personally would do the land first, then cruise.

[mapleleaves]

It's easy enough to do DIY land in Alaska ... the hwys are only 2 lanes and there are few of them so pretty straightforward. If you don't want to drive, you can use the Alaska Railroad or Park Connection Bus. The trick is determing where you want to go, what you want to see, with whatever amount of time you have. Once you have an itinerary, then you can lock in lodging.

 

If you plan right, it shouldn't matter whether you cruise first or last. Just don't plan a hectic land trip or cruise excursions! Pace yourself.

 

There are quite a few trip reports in STICKYS near the top of the page that include DIY land travel. They will give you ideas on where to go, travel times, lodging, etc. Such as these 2 reports:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2253237

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2231881

 

Also look down the page a little for a thread called ALASKA DIY LAND TRIP -- help. There are numerous resources posted there to assist with planning.

 

If you decide on a cruisetour, look carefully at the details. Alaska is BIG and some of the cruisetours spend most of your time in transit with little time at the destination. Hard to determine this from a glance at the itinerary.

 

Have fun with the research !

Edited March 20, 2016 by mapleleaves

[AKStafford]

Another vote for putting the trip together yourself. A rental car will give you so many options!