Alaska - Need Guidance!

[KeywestK]

We are in the very early planning stage of researching a cruise and land tour to Alaska.  We want to do the Denali portion first, then the cruise.  We are long-time Royal Caribbean cruisers, but are not ruling out other cruise lines.   We prefer the train over a bus to the interior, and want to know what others have experienced.   

[CruiserBruce]

Have you read around the board? There are MANY trip reports here...lots of info.

[KeywestK]

Haven't read trip reports yet.  Was looking for specific topic threads.

[AKStafford]

1 hour ago, KeywestK said:

 We prefer the train over a bus to the interior, and want to know what others have experienced.   

Are you looking to book a pre-packaged tour and be herded around by the cruiseline or are you open to putting together your own great trip using a rental car?

[KeywestK]

8 minutes ago, AKStafford said:

Are you looking to book a pre-packaged tour and be herded around by the cruiseline or are you open to putting together your own great trip using a rental car?

While your description sounds less than appealing, I was looking to pre-book cruise/tour package through a cruise line. 

[AKStafford]

15 minutes ago, KeywestK said:

While your description sounds less than appealing, I was looking to pre-book cruise/tour package through a cruise line. 

Some people enjoy booking a tour through the cruiseline, other's prefer to do their own thing. Pick whatever works best for you. Just know there's nothing that you'll book through the cruiseline that can't be booked independently.

[mapleleaves]

As AKStafford pointed out, there are a few hundred trip reports posted above that will provide a wealth of information.  The first line of the report usually indicates the cruise ship, travel date and if there was a cruisetour or DIY land travel.  

 

IF you decide to take a cruisetour, be very mindful of the details.  Some of the short cruisetours spend all their time travelling leaving you little time to enjoy a destination when you arrive.  And if you visit Denali, you need at least 2 nites. ....  the bus ride THRU the park is about 8 hrs.   The short cruisetours, esp if they use the train, will arrive in Denali at 4pm and leave at noon the next day.   This gives you no time AT the park. So make sure you have at least 2 nites if you want to enjoy the scenery and wildlife at Denali.

 

The train from Anc to Denali is 8:15am to 4pm.   Easy to book the train yourself.  Then book one of the big lodges that will provide a ride from the depot to the hotel , such  as Princess , Denali Bluffs,  Grand Denali.

Or take the train TO denali,  but use the Park Connection Bus for the return.

 

TRAIN    https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train/schedules

BUS       https://www.alaskacoach.com/

 

The Alaska Railroad offers train/hotel packages. There'a  a fee for that one-stop shopping so you may want to price the pkg vs booking yourself. https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/packages/summer-packages 

 

The bus company also offers pkg deals via train or bus or both.

https://alaskatravel.com/

 

But definitely do your homework.  Figure out what you want to see and do, and make sure your itinerary allows time for those priorities.

 

Have fun with your research and planning !

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by mapleleaves
typos

[KeywestK]

Thank you, Mapleleaves, and everyone else for your responses. We need to figure out what will best work for us.  All of this information is appreciated. 

Edited March 21, 2019 by KeywestK

[SuperCrewBear]

3 hours ago, KeywestK said:

Thank you, Mapleleaves, and everyone else for your responses. We need to figure out what will best work for us.  All of this information is appreciated. 

Don't completely rule out renting a car and doing it yourself.  It's *MUCH* simpler than you might think.  Navigating around Alaska is fairly simple as there are only a few highways - you're not likely to get lost.  You'll have the ability to stop whenever you like and enjoy the scenery or whatever else catches your eye.  A possible big mistake is to underestimate travel time - distances in Alaska are longer than you think plus factoring in the urge to stop for pics and other attractions.  Or the odd wreck/construction that can back things up some - summer tourist season is also road construction season in Alaska.  I think doubling the time is a safe bet.  I take my Garmin NAV with me and have it preloaded with my intended destinations - I use it mostly to keep track of the time and distance and not so much on how to get somewhere.  If you're somehow affiliated with one of the car rental companies you can sometimes get a substantially cheaper rate - I use my company's contract rate which is about half the regular rack rate and includes the extra insurances plus multiple drivers.

 

Good luck!