Alaska Cruise Tours Advice

[prim8keeper]

Hi everyone! I'm seeking advice for Alaska. My DH and I have decided to book an Alaska cruise for 2018 on a Millennium that goes from Vancouver to Seward. We plan to spend a few days exploring Alaska afterwards and the big question now is whether we should DIY this portion of our trip or just book with X for an extension. I can see the pluses and minuses for both and wold just like to hear what others have decided.

 

In the mean time I guess I'll go back to enjoying my cocktail aboard Reflection. This being the cruise I swore I would not book another cruise on. [emoji1]

 

 

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[cruzzzinma]

Recommend you consider doing the land tour first then cruising. We cruised on Millie from Va couverture to Seward and did a Celebrity post cruise tour. We were exhausted when we headed home. There was too much time in a bus for our five day tour.

[Lastdance]

Recommend you consider doing the land tour first then cruising. We cruised on Millie from Va couverture to Seward and did a Celebrity post cruise tour. We were exhausted when we headed home. There was too much time in a bus for our five day tour.

 

 

We did the land tour first and IMHO was a great idea, as we could rest up on the ship. However, I would always recommend that one do their own tour and not use Celebrity, unless it is a big family trip. Too much bussing and the same people were late all the time...the train was good though. I have to say that our guide was very strange and he kept trying to sell things that he made...:eek:

Edited February 1, 2017 by Lastdance

[Cruisy McGee]

We are taking our first cruise to Alaska this summer, but we did a land trip there with our kids about 10 years ago. We loved having the freedom to explore at our own pace and booked activities that were more personal and not offered by the cruise lines (I researched cruisetours back then, so the offerings have most certainly evolved since). I would not hesitate to do that again.

[welly world]

We did the Celebrity tours the 1st two times we went to Alaska. We are going again next year and will be renting a car and doing our own tour. You do learn a lot from the guides on the Celebrity tours.

[prim8keeper]

Great idea about going on the land portion first. We will definitely do that.

 

We are both in our 30's and I have planned lots of travel so maybe DIY is the way to go. Since we are on board now we are thinking we may just add on the land portion since it can easily be dropped later.

 

 

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[ROYALBOY]

We are heading on the Celebrity train tour from Fairbanks on May 27 and the Millie from Seward to Vancouver

 

 

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[Mr. Click]

We did the northbound last July and when we got to Seward I had a private guide waiting for us. We toured the Kenai Pensula, that included the wildlife preserve, Glacier Alley and lots and lots of beautiful scenery. At the end of the day we were dropped off at our hotel in Anchorage and the next morning we picked up our rental car and headed up to Denali. We did it on our own and loved it. No waiting for others to show up, no set times to be on the bus, able to stop to see what we wanted to see on the way up, able to make any bathroom stops we wanted. If we saw something that looked interesting like the Birch syrup factory outside of Talkeetna we would just pull in and explore. The driving was not bad at all and at the end of the trip we drove back to Anchorage, saw a bit more of the town and headed to the airport to drop and car and fly home. We were tired? of course but we would have been tired either way. We are not fans of big group tours so that was another reason we where happier with DIY.

[ClaudiaB]

DIY. If you go over to the Alaska forum board here you'll get all kinds of great information. Get the Mile Post guide which will tell you every thing you need to know about the roads. I ordered it for under $10. Great information.

 

I agree with everyone about doing it on your own.

[prim8keeper]

Thanks everyone! Looks like going on our own is the way to go.

 

 

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[Northern Aurora]

I am slow to read this thread, but as someone who lives in Alaska I hope that Prim8keeper does a DIY trip.

 

Anyone considering a cruise tour (on whatever line) really needs to thoroughly research what they are purchasing. I post on the CC Alaska form, and so many times we read posts from someone who has purchased a cruise tour, and seem to only start researching Alaska after the final payment date for that cruise tour. It is then when they (often slowly and painfully) come to understand that the packaged tour they have now paid for is not what they want to do or see. It is so sad to read these posts in which someone realizes that they made an assumption about that cruise tour which is simply incorrect.

[extiger]

We did a Celebrity cruisetour a couple of years ago. I selected the B tour which is on the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. There were about 35 on the tour and we enjoyed the train rides each day. The only day on the bus was from Anchorage to Seward.

 

You put your bags outside your room in the morning and they pick them up. Your tour bus takes you to the train station. While on the train your tour bus goes ahead to the next hotel and puts your bags in your room. The hotels were nice and quiet. We visited one of the Princess hotels at Denali and were surprised at the noise, the number of people and the activity level. You are on your own for all meals. The tour guide can arrange any excursions that may be of interest to you.

 

We normally are DIY for traveling but found this to be very pleasant. A nice mix on free time and scheduled stops at interesting places. we had a good tour guide.

 

Since we like DIY, we arranged on our own 2 nights at Glacier Bay National Park with an 8 hour or so boat tour of Glacier Bay. That was really spectacular!

[prim8keeper]

I am slow to read this thread, but as someone who lives in Alaska I hope that Prim8keeper does a DIY trip.

 

 

 

Anyone considering a cruise tour (on whatever line) really needs to thoroughly research what they are purchasing. I post on the CC Alaska form, and so many times we read posts from someone who has purchased a cruise tour, and seem to only start researching Alaska after the final payment date for that cruise tour. It is then when they (often slowly and painfully) come to understand that the packaged tour they have now paid for is not what they want to do or see. It is so sad to read these posts in which someone realizes that they made an assumption about that cruise tour which is simply incorrect.

 

 

I got all the X stuff so I can begin researching what X's land trip really entails. However, we will almost certainly go it our own. I'm sure I'll see you over on the Alaska boards.

 

 

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[prim8keeper]

We did a Celebrity cruisetour a couple of years ago. I selected the B tour which is on the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. There were about 35 on the tour and we enjoyed the train rides each day. The only day on the bus was from Anchorage to Seward.

 

You put your bags outside your room in the morning and they pick them up. Your tour bus takes you to the train station. While on the train your tour bus goes ahead to the next hotel and puts your bags in your room. The hotels were nice and quiet. We visited one of the Princess hotels at Denali and were surprised at the noise, the number of people and the activity level. You are on your own for all meals. The tour guide can arrange any excursions that may be of interest to you.

 

We normally are DIY for traveling but found this to be very pleasant. A nice mix on free time and scheduled stops at interesting places. we had a good tour guide.

 

Since we like DIY, we arranged on our own 2 nights at Glacier Bay National Park with an 8 hour or so boat tour of Glacier Bay. That was really spectacular!

 

 

The trip to Glacier Bay sounds amazing! Thanks for your thoughts on your X your as well.

 

 

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[Mr. Click]

If you do the northbound cruise check out 907 Tours to go from Seward to Anchorage. John and his wife are great people, very knowledgeable and took us to see lots of great sites between the port and Anchorage. It is not a cheap tour but it is all day and includes admission to the wildlife preserve and luxury transportation from Seward to Anchorage and drop off at your hotel.

[mellapl]

We did a Celebrity cruisetour a couple of years ago. I selected the B tour which is on the train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. There were about 35 on the tour and we enjoyed the train rides each day. The only day on the bus was from Anchorage to Seward.

 

You put your bags outside your room in the morning and they pick them up. Your tour bus takes you to the train station. While on the train your tour bus goes ahead to the next hotel and puts your bags in your room. The hotels were nice and quiet. We visited one of the Princess hotels at Denali and were surprised at the noise, the number of people and the activity level. You are on your own for all meals. The tour guide can arrange any excursions that may be of interest to you.

 

We normally are DIY for traveling but found this to be very pleasant. A nice mix on free time and scheduled stops at interesting places. we had a good tour guide.

 

Since we like DIY, we arranged on our own 2 nights at Glacier Bay National Park with an 8 hour or so boat tour of Glacier Bay. That was really spectacular!

 

We did the same tour and I was wondering what month you went and was your tour Guide Sammy King