Alaska - Cruise Tour vs DIY

[Sim1979]

My gf gave me the "go" to lurk around for a cruise to Alaska next September (she would like to see northern lights).  We already did one cruise in Alaska 5 years ago (Vancouver to seattle) and it was awesome.

 

I know seeing the northern lights is no guarantee in September (or at anytime), but we thinks it's worth the gamble (and anyway, simply cruising to Alaska would still be fun).

 

I know the best spot seems to be Fairbanks, so i was looking at a northbound cruise with 2-3 nights to Fairbanks in the end.  There seems to be some cruise tours available and i have seen some post on this forum about this, but would like some more opinion... have any of you ever done a cruise tour, is it really worth it (vs DIY with a car rental)... seems like it add up 2000$pp for 4 extra nights (5 days), including transport and tours... but still, seems pretty steep.  What's the "average age" in those tour, do you get enough time to visit parks (or you are kinda rushed), do they force you to go shopping (like droping you out at shopping district or something)?

 

We're in our mid-forty and i usually plan our trip myself, but it can be a lot of work and sometimes we miss some nice stuff because i haven't read enough on the region... so a cruise tour could be good... but i don't know.

[mapleleaves]

I've done DIY in Alaska several times, with a rental RV or car.  Easy enough to do; there are very few hwys in Alaska so it's impossible to get lost.  I'm a solo female, just turned 70 and have no worries about doing DIY again.  The beauty of DIY is that you can stop where you like for points of interest, wildlife sightings, or just a great view.

If you want to learn about cruisetours, watch for trip reviews on the Alaska forum throughout this summer.  You'll read the good bad and ugly.  (suticases at the door by 7am kills it for me !)

I personally would'nt cruise Alaska in Sept.  There's a risk of getting caught in a Fall storm. In addition to nasty rain and winds, you wouldn't see the Lights due to fog and heavy clouds.

(I had to travel in late Aug due to work constraints and I always had my share of lousy weather.  Luckily getting to Anchorage is easy enough to do from Seattle so I can go multiple times.)

 

If the Lights are your primary interest, do a land only visit in mid Feb- mid March when Aurora viewing opportunites are high, plus there are other interesting winter events happening in Fairbanks.  ie the International Ice Carving Competition and dog races.  

That's my 2 cents !

 

Ice Carving:   2020 Multi-Block - icealaska.org

Winter events:   Winter Events | Explore Fairbanks, Alaska

general source:  Alaska Vacations & Travel Advice from Trusted Alaskans | ALASKA.ORG   or the Alaska Tourism DEpt at  Official Alaska Vacation Information | Travel Alaska

[julig22]

I did a mid-september cruisetour in 2019.  I'm also solo, so for me DIY is out of the question because I want to be watching the wildlife and scenery, not the road.  We had a small group with a big bus so plenty of room to spread out and reasonable flexibility. I have no issues with putting out my suitcase early since I'm not driving!

Saw northern lights in the field behind the hotel in Fairbanks, hit Denali on a day when you could see the mountain - so it's all the luck of the draw.  We were in Denali on the last day of the season that year, just before the road lottery.  

I liked the cruise tour for the same reason I choose to cruise - somebody else does most of the planning.  Great introduction to things I might want to explore again someday.  I'm currently booked for an Alaska cruise this September, thinking about changing to another cruise tour.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Sim1979 said:

What's the "average age" in those tour, do you get enough time to visit parks (or you are kinda rushed), do they force you to go shopping (like droping you out at shopping district or something)?

On our tour, I would guess 35-70 age group (I was 66 at the time)

Denali was the standard mid-park bus tour, last one of the season.  Just our group on board.  Some of the tours we took were private, others were not.

Not much "forced" shopping.  Not all meals are included so some shopping/meal stops.  The Fairbanks hotel had a shuttle to go into town if you wanted, plus a laundromat.

[Sailing12Away]

We were in Alaska last year at the end of August - beginning of September. We were able to see the northern lights from our aft balcony one night. I took a picture with my phone in nighttime mode just because the moon looked nice and was shocked to see the lights show up with the longer exposure. With the naked eye it looked like just a hazy cloud. This was around 12:30am. The next day a bunch of people were talking about it - later (earlier?) into the morning they were visible with the naked eye.

 

 

[julig22]

2 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

We were in Alaska last year at the end of August - beginning of September. We were able to see the northern lights from our aft balcony one night. I took a picture with my phone in nighttime mode just because the moon looked nice and was shocked to see the lights show up with the longer exposure. With the naked eye it looked like just a hazy cloud. This was around 12:30am. The next day a bunch of people were talking about it - later (earlier?) into the morning they were visible with the naked eye.

Yea, what you see vs what your camera sees is interesting.  Saw the hazy clouds but realized they weren't actually acting like clouds.  Took a picture and got the color.  Watched the show for an hour or so - lots of activity!

[Von & John]

DIY in AK is very easy!

Especially if it's what you generally do anyway...

If you DIY and are looking to head to Fairbanks - I recommend a slightly longer travel to Chena Hot Springs...  Approx 60 miles NE of Fairbanks...

The Hot Springs are wonderful & the Northern Lights viewing can be simply amazing!!

If you are interested in visiting Denali - you can definitely DIY...

If you prefer train travel - you can plan a visit to Talkeetna, Denali & Fairbanks from ANC...

Then you would just need to rent a car if you wanted to drive to Chena.

Let me know if you'd like further info...

 

A couple of links for you:

https://www.travelalaska.com/

https://alaskatravelgram.com/

 

Cheers  --  Von

[libtrek]

We’ve done both, several times. DIY was fabulous but we had over a week to tour and did group planning months ahead. If you don’t want hassle of planning, do the tour. DIY does need planning, best rental car rates must be done early. With gas prices and car shortages may be hard this year. Tours can be fun, but attitude goes a long way. One grumpy Gus can sour everything. Either way, have a great trip. Mary

[The Traveling Man]

On our first cruise to Alaska several years ago we did a DIY land extension to our cruise on the Sun.  We sailed from Vancouver to Seward, then took the NCL shorex train to Anchorage.  We booked a hotel on our own for a night or two in Anchorage before taking the train to Denali.  We were there the day after President Obama had signed the papers that officially changed the name from McKinley.  All day long during our tour of the park we saw park rangers changing out the name on the signs.  After two nights in a hotel near the park, we continued north on the train to Fairbanks, then took the red-eye flight home.  I'm not sure how the price compared to the tour package that NCL offers, but the freedom to pick and choose how we wanted to spend our time was worth it.

[Sim1979]

Wow a big thank you to everyone for replies... lot of reading and research coming up  🙂

 

I think i'll go DIY as we are not really into the rigid structure of a cruise tour (especially the 6 or 7am suitcase outside of room in the morning... we're on vacation after all  😉

 

But yes it would mean a lot of planning and keeping extra days for weather concern... but planning is also part of the fun.

 

Thanks again to all of you  🙂

[BklynBorn47]

In August-September 2019 we had the same decision to make as you have now.
We wanted more time in certain locations than ship tours provided.

So this is what we did 
Alaska by Car, Train and finally Cruise Ship. Rather than explain the details, it's
easier to follow on my website "Where in the World are Eileen & Joe"

http://www.brigs.us/2019-Aug-Alaska/index.htm

 

 

[Travelling2Some]

Two things to be aware of for this coming summer:  1.  The road through Denali is partially closed and not expected to reopen until 2024.  2.  Car rental prices are insane.   $1,600 per week plus taxes according to Autoslash.  We have been wanting to take a northbound cruise and then spend 3 weeks touring on our own We booked twice and cancelled twice since the pandemic started.  Putting it off until yet another year for these reasons.  If you don't care about Denali the car rental prices might be a reason to consider an organized tour or using the trains. The trains look very useful to me but I'm not a fan of organized tours.