Starting to plan a possible Alaska Cruise. Need help

[hrmkr]

Hello everyone,

 

I am beginning to look at taking a possible cruise with my wife for our 25th anniversary next year. Probably in June or July. We are thinking about doing 4-5 days on land before cruising south. There are so many Cruisetours to choose from along with different ships. Several look close to the same along with which ship would be the best.

 

I would love to get some recommendations good/bad on what to look for.

 

I know we want to go to Denali.

 

Thank you in advance for your advice!

 

happy cruising

[hbgroadends]

From the research I've done, it seems like Princess and Holland America are going to be your best bets for Alaskan cruise tours. I've scheduled a 14 day cruise tour at the end of August this year with HAL (mainly because my sister doesn't like Princess and HAL had the best price). It has 3 days in Denali, which gives a lot of time there (the part I really liked).

 

There are many different variations of cruise tours depending on the amount of days you want to be onboard ship vs on land. Your embarkation ports will matter and whether or not you want to do the land portion first or the cruise portion first. Another thought is to do a cruise only and do the land portion yourself, if you want to do something self-guided.

 

Remember that June-August is the busiest time for Alaska, so it is going to be crowded. If that doesn't bother you, then you'll be fine. If crowds do bother you, then you might want to look at beginning September or end of May.

 

Happy hunting! I know both you and your wife will love Alaska! :)

[xlxo]

If you are going South to Vancouver.... don't forget extra days at this bonus port.

 

There's an annual fireworks competition typically on the last Saturdays and Wednesday of the month. This can make hotel prices higher.

[cruzrbachoua]

Have read you need to do at least 2 days in Denali to experience the Tundra tour. There is a great thread on here for a connoisseur tour that went Southbound, had loads of pics...just search for it

[GloriaF]

What does it mean for the cruise tour to be "on your own"? Does Princess still supply transportation and lodging?

[cruzrbachoua]

Whatdoes it mean for the cruise tour to be "on your own"? Does Princessstill supply transportation and lodging?

 

Depends I believe princess has one called Denali on your own. Which means theyprovide transport and lodging and the rest is up to you...or you can truly justbook a land tour on your own not using Princess.

 

 

oh and I found those threads..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858&highlight=Connoisseur+alaska+cruise+tour

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2386189&highlight=Connoisseur+alaska+cruise+tour

[mya603]

I did a cruisetour with Princess May of 2015. Land portion first. On your own means meals on your own. They take care of luggage and transportation. I did the tour starting out in Anchorage, drove to McKinley Lodge (talkeetna) for an afternoon and night, the drove to Denali Princess Lodge next morning and did a tour into Denali. Next morning got up and caught the train down to Whittier. Then cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. It was great! If you want to avoid the crowds, go in May or September. May when I was there was perfect weather. Sunny and in the 60's. You will love it whenever you go. :)

[nanabananna]

I did a cruisetour with Princess May of 2015. Land portion first. On your own means meals on your own. They take care of luggage and transportation.

 

Yes and No "Own Your Own" is in reference to Princess will not schedule any tours for you with the Cruisetour. You are able to make your own tour plans. They will have at each Princess Lodge a desk to help with Princess tours but it is up to you to pay when tour is reserved. However, you can make your tours yourself independently from online at home.

As for the food, you will pay for your meals yourself, but there again, you can eat at the lodge , several places at each lodge to choose from or if you wish you might find someplace away from the lodge to dine. Selection might be limited to that way though.

 

This May I am doing the EB4 Denali Explorer Cruisetour. Princess planned the tours but I did change Denali History Tour to Tundra Wilderness Tour (TNT) it was about $60.00 more per person, longer-- 8 hours vs 4 hours and more to see.

Since booking and paying for this tour, If I was doing again, I think I would go for a

Connoisseur package. It does cost more, but all meals are included and seem to be unlimited cost per meal. (FYI)

Have fun planning your trip and be sure to join your ships Roll Call by ship, and date.:D

Sandra

[Host Jazzbeau]

If you are willing to rent a car, you can tailor the land trip to your exact desires and avoid the cattle car aspects of even the best cruise tours. The Alaska board on Cruise Critic has lots of helpful advice that allowed us to do this, and it was great! We weren't interested in Fairbanks, so we flew to Anchorage, stayed 2 nights in Talkeetna and did flight seeing to Denali from there, stayed 2 nights in Healey and took the National Park Bus deep into the park, then drove back to Anchorage for the train ride to Whittier. Driving up the highway is easy [there is only one road, so you can't get lost ;)] and there are lots of pull-offs with different views of "the mountain." More details in the Coral Princess Alaska 6-2013 link in my signature.

[cr8tiv1]

My recommendations are more general:

 

Do the land tour first. Time to unwind and decompress. You will enjoy your cruise more if it is second.

 

You will end up in Vancouver. Plan on several days there before flying out. Less stress to get to the airport. Take advantage of the free "walking tours" (goggle name). Enjoy this beautiful city.

 

I did the Denali Princess Tour before my cruise. Have you given thought to the Kenai Peninsula Tour? On my bucket list. More Wilderness Adventures.

 

I believe your cruise will include Glacier Bay.

 

Most of the other Alaskan ports can be done on your own. Skagway has some pretty neat tours. A free walking tour by the National Park Rangers. I have done two independent tours also.

[hrmkr]

We are going to to the land portion first before the cruise. Just trying to figure out where to go and in what order

[mya603]

We are going to to the land portion first before the cruise. Just trying to figure out where to go and in what order

Where ever you go will be beautiful and you should have a great time. My Alaska trip was my first ever cruise/landtour. I enjoyed it immensely and am planning my next one already. Have a blast!

[kitkat343]

We went to Alaska in late May. May is the normally driest month, and we were very lucky with the weather and it was amazingly warm and comfortable. The one thing you should note is that the buses to Denali open with a rolling schedule starting around June 1st (they add longer routes the later the month goes). We booked a northbound cruise since otherwise we'd have been in Denali with no buses into the park. There are cruise tours to Denali in May before the buses start running, so please make sure you check the bus schedule prior to booking. If you want to do a southbound cruise, then you probably will need to go in June at the earliest. Northbound you can leave in late May and arrive in Anchorage in early June and be okay with the buses as long as you don't want to travel the whole park (this is what we did). If cost is an issue, we booked our land tour separately, saved a lot of money, and had a nice time. The only issue is that you need to handle your own luggage. There is info on how we did this in the review in my signature line, but it is 6 years old and you can easily find out how to do this currently in the Alaska forum.

[denatravels]

I went a slightly different route-- had more days, more inclusions, less $.

Three days pre-cruise Vancouver. Northbound princess cruise. Nine night Alaskan land tour through Globus (with the best escorted guide I've had!)

 

 

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[ksm77]

Take a land tour the includes Fairbanks. This was my favorite place on the land tour. Loved the riverboat and the goldmining tour. We upgraded the Denali tour to the Tundra wilderness tour it is so worth it. We saw so much wild life. It is a long tour but they give you a boxed lunch to eat on the bus. We took the train from Talkeetna to Anchorage this was the only low point of the tour for me. Not much to see mostly forest all the way. I would take the train from Anchorage to Whittier this was a beautiful trip. We were on the bus it was still nice but would have rather been on the train. Once you get to the ship so much to choose from. We have cruised to Alaska 3 times 1 land tour. Our next time were are planning to cruise up to Anchorage then back to Vancouver.

[Bourbon Believer]

Take a look at the Alaska Railroad's website. They do a fantastic job and offer land cruise packages as well using the railroad as primary transportation north to south. Planned my own trip last Spring and it was phenomenal. Worked thru my travel agent and online for where to stay in Fairbanks, Denali, Talkeetna and Anchorage. Train literally dropped us off right in front of the ship we boarded for the 7 day cruise to Vancouver. It was a life changing trip. Princess has beautiful lodges throughout Alaska that you can book individually or there are other properties like the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge that offer stunning views of Denali. Even with booking your own ride the Alaska Railroad takes care of ever

item including checking your luggage at the Fairbanks train station and having it delivered to your room where ever you might be staying.