Land Portion of cruise/land tour

[wblotner66]

Does anyone have recommendations on if one is better than the other in terms of accommodations or locations? Looking at Princess, Celebrity, HAL. Husband loves to fly fish. 

 

 

[AKStafford]

I drove tour bus for Holland America for two years here in Southcentral Alaska. Based  on that experience, I highly recommend you not do the pre-packaged "cruisetour" from the cruise lines. They do a great job at cruising, but no so much on their land tours. There's nothing offered on a cruisetour that you can't book independently, often for cheaper. 

Rental car prices are high this year, but I would still recommend renting a car and putting together your own great trip. 

[wblotner66]

27 minutes ago, AKStafford said:

I drove tour bus for Holland America for two years here in Southcentral Alaska. Based  on that experience, I highly recommend you not do the pre-packaged "cruisetour" from the cruise lines. They do a great job at cruising, but no so much on their land tours. There's nothing offered on a cruisetour that you can't book independently, often for cheaper. 

Rental car prices are high this year, but I would still recommend renting a car and putting together your own great trip. 

do you know of an agency who can help with that?

[AKStafford]

46 minutes ago, wblotner66 said:

do you know of an agency who can help with that?

No need for an agency. I would ask for help at the TripAdvisor Forum for Alaska travel: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28923-i349-Alaska.html  You'll want to list your interests, make up of your group (numbers, ages, physical limitations), dates of travel. And the more time you have, the better.

[don't-use-real-name]

Aside from whatever is decided -

 

IMHO - I would take the land tour BEFORE the cruise -

Reason after all the running around - visit this - visit that - tour here - tour there-

Getting on the ship after all that will be relaxing and you don't have to be

changing beds (lodging) everynight or so.

No unpacking and packing luggage away every move.

All your meals can be on the ship with beverages.

No worry about what to eat when to eat and where to eat and how to get there.

 

Taking the land tour AFTER is not all that bad -

Advantage not having to be back at a designated time to catch the ship (sailing away)

Can stay longer at areas of interest

Airline flights and connections easier not be tied to disembarking claim luggage

and all that hurried activity 

 

Just some of the factors

 

There is plenty of reading material here at CC and if using a TA more there

 

Check out the BLUE BANNER BAR above for reports of CC member tours - specific to

a region or port - also note there is more to cruising than NCL - check out the Princess

Holland-America - Carnival - and other cruise lines sailing in Alaska.

Interested in a specific cruise take a gander at the Roll Call for that sailings for what

others may have in mind about what to do.

You have come to one of the right places for information

 

Cruise Well ! 

 

 

 

 

[Gia2cats]

We took the land tour prior to the cruise and it was great. You are fairly busy on the land tour and when you get on the ship you can relax.

For some people, planning your own land tour would be ideal. However, someone has to drive and while the passengers are watching the scenery go by, the driver is watching the road. Everyone can relax when you let other people plan and navigate.

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

Since our OP has specifically mentioned the husband's interest in fly fishing I don't think that any of the cruise tours offered by any of the lines will offer much opportunities for such a specific activity.

[georgiacat]

We are on a Princess June cruisetour.  You are able to add additional days to stops along the way.  We used a travel agent to register for us, but I am sure there are other ways to do this.  We are flying into Fairbanks a day early to get our eastern clocks resettled and rest.  I have seen fly fishing trips advertised in the tours.

 

Check out the towns and stops that you will be visiting by using Google.  The ship tours are not the only game in town.  Read all that you can and decide where you wish to fly fish from.  No one can predict the weather, so don't count on that working perfectly.

 

good luck and enjoy!

[Discus16]

18 hours ago, wblotner66 said:

do you know of an agency who can help with that?

 

16 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Since our OP has specifically mentioned the husband's interest in fly fishing I don't think that any of the cruise tours offered by any of the lines will offer much opportunities for such a specific activity.

 

16 hours ago, Gia2cats said:

We took the land tour prior to the cruise and it was great. You are fairly busy on the land tour and when you get on the ship you can relax.

For some people, planning your own land tour would be ideal. However, someone has to drive and while the passengers are watching the scenery go by, the driver is watching the road. Everyone can relax when you let other people plan and 

 

[Discus16]

We will be doing our 2nd Cruisetour starting May 25 with Princes. There was fly fishing liste on the excursions. It's was nice that we didnt have to drive.  The Princess lodges are beautiful. Do your research and go with what works for you. Either way you will love Alaska