Alaska

[JjC81]

We are looking at princess vs ncl cruise.  

 

We have similar itineraries (I think with subs). 

 

Question though- princess ends cruise in Whittier and Ncl ends in seward. What are we missing in this difference? Does princess cruise hubbard glacier? 

 

Land tours seem similar if we do subs and then add on aleyska excursion. 

 

Would love feedback on princess and if they cruise hubbard. Also insight to kids activities on ship (7 & 4) it will be august

[katisdale]

What does "subs" mean?

[JjC81]

10 minutes ago, katisdale said:

What does "subs" mean?

Substitutions 🙂

[frugaltravel]

Not sure what substitutions you are referring to.

 

Northbound NCL goes to both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay so that is a huge plus. Princess only goes to both on their southbound cruises. I prefer Seward than Whittier - lots of options in Seward.

 

I would do your land tour on your own.

[shukapaw]

@JcJ81,

 

My wife and I (Alaska residents) did a roundtrip from Alaska to Vancouver and back in 2017 with a Princess ship one direction and NCL the other. I can't seem to find the review I did on that experience but you can read an excerpt here.

 

As you mentioned, Princess will end in Whittier and NCL in Seward. There is a roughly 1-½ hour trip vs 4-½ trip to Anchorage respectively. 

 

Both Cruise lines are great and I sail them both but for Alaska, Princess is the clear winner. As for land packages, Princess wins hands down! They are by far the most heavily-invested cruise line in Alaska. They have their own lodges, rail cars, tour buses, etc. NCL leases their rail cars from the AKRR and utilizes 3rd party hotels, buses, etc. The one item I'd give NCL the win on is the drink package. If you purchase the adult beverage package, NCL always has it as a potential "freebie" when you book with them.

 

Hope this helps,

~Brian

 

[JjC81]

19 minutes ago, shukapaw said:

@JcJ81,

 

My wife and I (Alaska residents) did a roundtrip from Alaska to Vancouver and back in 2017 with a Princess ship one direction and NCL the other. I can't seem to find the review I did on that experience but you can read an excerpt here.

 

As you mentioned, Princess will end in Whittier and NCL in Seward. There is a roughly 1-½ hour trip vs 4-½ trip to Anchorage respectively. 

 

Both Cruise lines are great and I sail them both but for Alaska, Princess is the clear winner. As for land packages, Princess wins hands down! They are by far the most heavily-invested cruise line in Alaska. They have their own lodges, rail cars, tour buses, etc. NCL leases their rail cars from the AKRR and utilizes 3rd party hotels, buses, etc. The one item I'd give NCL the win on is the drink package. If you purchase the adult beverage package, NCL always has it as a potential "freebie" when you book with them.

 

Hope this helps,

~Brian

 

This helps greatly, thank you. We are leaning princess plus it was cheaper until we realized we would miss hubbard glacier so now looking into staying longer on our own to do that as a really pricey private excursion. 

 

Princess also misses seward which if we stay we might rent a car. Not sure how much work we can miss and price is adding up lol. 

 

Any insight as to if we return to anchorage after land tour. If we rent a car- could we do the kinai fjords one day and the seward highway, that T (no clie spelling) arm, and my aleyska tram next day? 

 

We are looking at getting a 3pm flight from.anchorage to a village, but not sure how much time we would need for the fjords and aleyska

[shukapaw]

A quick search revealed that some princess cruises do see Hubbard glacier. Although it is impressive, I’ve never heard of anybody visiting it on their own… As you mentioned, that would be a very expensive excursion.Have you considered a southbound cruise? Have you considered a southbound cruise?

 

For what it’s worth, car rentals in both Whittier and Seward are prohibitively expensive..... And you are going to be saddled with a one-way drop off charge to Anchorage. Generally speaking, you’d be better off taking the cruise line’s transportation to Anchorage and having a rental car awaiting you there. You will want to crunch the numbers to verify the house.

 

Alyeska tram is easily doable from Anchorage in a day.  Of course, it’s just a tram ride and an equally nice one is available to you in Juneau on Mount Roberts. Just something to think about.

 

Driving to and from Seward from Anchorage is not a big deal but you need to allow a good three hours each way. So, in short, you could do a round-trip and the Kenai fjords in a single day. you will want to crunch the numbers to verify the house.I suppose it all depends on how well adapted your family is to road trips.

 

The road  (and railroad) south from Anchorage to either Alyeska or Seward require that you travel along Turnagain arm..... it’s unavoidable! Both the roadway and tracks are built right along the edge of it.

 

I’m not one to tell people how to do their vacation. However if I were going to do a land portion in Alaska either before or after a cruise I would do it on my own and not through the cruise line. This way you decide what you want to see and are not at their mercy.

 

~Brian 

[JjC81]

6 minutes ago, shukapaw said:

A quick search revealed that some princess cruises do see Hubbard glacier. Although it is impressive, I’ve never heard of anybody visiting it on their own… As you mentioned, that would be a very expensive excursion.Have you considered a southbound cruise? Have you considered a southbound cruise?

 

For what it’s worth, car rentals in both Whittier and Seward are prohibitively expensive..... And you are going to be saddled with a one-way drop off charge to Anchorage. Generally speaking, you’d be better off taking the cruise line’s transportation to Anchorage and having a rental car awaiting you there. You will want to crunch the numbers to verify the house.

 

Alyeska tram is easily doable from Anchorage in a day.  Of course, it’s just a tram ride and an equally nice one is available to you in Juneau on Mount Roberts. Just something to think about.

 

Driving to and from Seward from Anchorage is not a big deal but you need to allow a good three hours each way. So, in short, you could do a round-trip and the Kenai fjords in a single day. you will want to crunch the numbers to verify the house.I suppose it all depends on how well adapted your family is to road trips.

 

The road  (and railroad) south from Anchorage to either Alyeska or Seward require that you travel along Turnagain arm..... it’s unavoidable! Both the roadway and tracks are built right along the edge of it.

 

I’m not one to tell people how to do their vacation. However if I were going to do a land portion in Alaska either before or after a cruise I would do it on my own and not through the cruise line. This way you decide what you want to see and are not at their mercy.

 

~Brian 

Brian-

 

Do you see the same things if you drive by car to denali vs rail or is rail more scenic? My husband def wants to do a rail tour, but if we do it solo we would have to do RT I'm guessing? 

 

We briefly considered SB cruise but people said go north 

 

There is a small remote village that will do hubbard, but it's going to cost us, but might be worth it lol

 

I'm just not sure how to figure everything out like where to stay, transportation, etc. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by JjC81

[Fairfield Nana]

It has now been etched in my memory that it is impossible to really appreciate Alaska in one trip!  I'd suggest you re-think trying to do a drive from Seward to anchorage and back--while quite scenic, it is a lot of driving on a potentially very busy highway, with limited places to stop and explore. Even Anchorage is pretty but easily surpassed with many more places to see and do neat stuff. I'd suggest you'd get MUCH more value and see some totally breathtaking scenery by taking a 4-5 hour cruise from Seward to the Kenai Fjords. One of the most awesome tours we've ever taken! You will probably be quite worn out after this sensory-overloading experience.

[frugaltravel]

I have done Hubbard Glacier from a cruise ship twice and on my own from Yakutat once. Definitely not worth flying from Anchorage just for that. Take Princess SB cruise or forget it. You can get close to glaciers on a Prince William Sound glacier cruise.

 

The rail and road parallel each other for the most part from Anchorage to Denali. If you want to do am independent land tour (more flexible, can stop where abd when you want, probably cheaper) then do the train as a day trip from Portage to Glacierview. It is the most scenic portion of the AKRR anyway.

 

When is your trip? If May then the land tour should be after the cruise. If September then the land tour should be first. Otherwise not a big deal either way.

Edited October 16, 2019 by frugaltravel

[JjC81]

16 minutes ago, Fairfield Nana said:

It has now been etched in my memory that it is impossible to really appreciate Alaska in one trip!  I'd suggest you re-think trying to do a drive from Seward to anchorage and back--while quite scenic, it is a lot of driving on a potentially very busy highway, with limited places to stop and explore. Even Anchorage is pretty but easily surpassed with many more places to see and do neat stuff. I'd suggest you'd get MUCH more value and see some totally breathtaking scenery by taking a 4-5 hour cruise from Seward to the Kenai Fjords. One of the most awesome tours we've ever taken! You will probably be quite worn out after this sensory-overloading experience.

 

If we do princess it does not go to seward so we need to get there from.anchorage. the plan is to drive to do fjords. I guess we could stay in seward then return to anchorage. 

 

The land part will def be intense but hopefully relaxing too. We do road trips a lot. We often do a a 3 hrs each way in a day to go somewhere. Would be nice to do land first for many reasons but it's not going to work

[JjC81]

13 minutes ago, frugaltravel said:

I have done Hubbard Glacier from a cruise ship twice and on my own from Yakutat once. Definitely not worth flying from Anchorage just for that. Take Princess SB cruise or forget it. You can get close to glaciers on a Prince William Sound glacier cruise.

 

The rail and road parallel each other for the most part from Anchorage to Denali. If you want to do am independent land tour (more flexible, can stop where abd when you want, probably cheaper) then do the train as a day trip from Portage to Glacierview. It is the most scenic portion of the AKRR anyway.

 

When is your trip? If May then the land tour should be after the cruise. If September then the land tour should be first. Otherwise not a big deal either way.

We are in August.  Right now its 8/8 -8/19 departure for NB followed by land.

 

We were going to do tour then stay in.anchorage with rental car for 2 nights to see fjords and aleyska. We are thinking of then going to yakutat to explore and do Hubbard, then fly home from there, via seattle. Adds a bit of expense. Is there anything special about hubbard we wont see at glacier NP? He wants to see the ice falling. The nice thing about the village is its rural alaska, away from tours. 

 

I'm going to look into that rail. Im not sure husband is gonna budge on non tour. Neither of us like being on someone else's agenda but he also wants to be narrated to, etc, plus comfort of having things booked. But we shall see. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by JjC81

[frugaltravel]

If you do a Princess cruisrtour be sure you have 2 nights at Denali Princess and that you have the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Otherwise you miss out on a lot.

 

You can see glaciers calving on Kenai Fjords trip or Prince William Sound trip. Also at Glacier Bay.

[JjC81]

Just now, frugaltravel said:

If you do a Princess cruisrtour be sure you have 2 nights at Denali Princess and that you have the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Otherwise you miss out on a lot.

 

You can see glaciers calving on Kenai Fjords trip or Prince William Sound trip. Also at Glacier Bay.

 

We do. And we had TA upgrade to tundra wilderness. Not sure how kids will do but that's why we are bringing tablets 🙂 but they love looking for stuff.  But it is long. 

 

It looks like we are denali 2 nights, mckinley 1 night, and anchorage 1 night but that might be where we extend. 

[Fairfield Nana]

I think no matter what you do in Alaska, even take a wrong turn someplace, you will be treated to some truly spectacular scenery! Have a wonderful time!!

[geoherb]

I took round-trip cruises from Vancouver this past summer. My favorite day was the boat excursion (26 glacier tour) I took on the turnaround day in Whittier. The northbound cruise went to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. The southbound one went to Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. I ended up with five days of spectacular glacier viewing in a row. I'm hoping to do it all again next year.

[JjC81]

If we do these cities on our own can you help me make the best way to do it? 

 

Fairbanks, aleyska, whittier (or somewhere we can get tour to college fjords), seward, and end in anchorage? I think these are areas we miss by cruising princess. We would like to do the kinai fjords and also turnagain arm. 

 

Fairbanks is maybe. If we dont do fairbanks it would be above starting and ending in anchorage

 

Denali we will see on land tour. These would be days on our own. 🙂

Edited October 17, 2019 by JjC81