Southbound Fairbanks Denali Express Norwegian Jewel11 Day

[JTBCruiser]

Wasn't sure to post here or on the Alaska forum page.  Looking at doing this PreCruise Starting in Fairbanks, embarking in Seward and sailing to Vancouver.  Anyone do this before?  NCL is offering free flight for 2nd person which looks to be a very good deal flying out of St Louis to Anchorage then Vancouver to St Louis.  Looking for feedback on the quality of them booking flights.  I know the Royal Air to Sea program is nothing short of horrible.  Appreciate any feedback both pro and con.  Thanks in advance.

[ImADaneFan]

Which cruise are you looking at adding this land portion to?  The reason I’m asking is we are going inland before our August 14, 2023 cruise.  We are planning all of the inland portion on our own, because we wanted to spend more time in Fairbanks, Denali & Seward than the NCL land portion allows.

I have heard too many horror stories to allow NCL to book my flights.  NCL doesn’t give you the option to select your flights. We were able to get a great price for 1st class flights on Alaska airlines from Indy to Anchorage, Vancouver to Indy for $1200pp. It’s a long flight to Anchorage and would recommend 1st class for the extra room if you can justify the expense.

If you don’t mind doing the planning I would recommend doing it yourself.

Linda

[bonvoyagie]

We are doing the 14 day Authentic Alaska cruisetour in late June hopefully we will see enough of the interior that we can DIY if we want to do it again on our own. Our tour starts in Fairbanks and we spent day one touring there, ending up at Denali for two nights, We then take the train to Talketna and bus to Anchorage for the night then on to Homer for two nights ending up at Seward to board the Jewel for the cruise. 

[ImADaneFan]

3 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

We are doing the 14 day Authentic Alaska cruisetour in late June hopefully we will see enough of the interior that we can DIY if we want to do it again on our own. Our tour starts in Fairbanks and we spent day one touring there, ending up at Denali for two nights, We then take the train to Talketna and bus to Anchorage for the night then on to Homer for two nights ending up at Seward to board the Jewel for the cruise. 

That sounds great!  Do you get to take the Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali?  The last time we went inland, the train was one of the best parts. I am disappointed that the road in Denali is still restricted this year due to repairs because of a rock slide at mile 43.  I was really hoping to go all the way to Kantishia again. We won’t be able to get to the visitors center either.😔. The views of Mt. McKinley were breathtaking from there.

I’ve not been to Homer, but I’ve heard the halibut fishing there is amazing.

If you have any time, the Alaska Sealife Center, in Seward is worth visiting.

Linda

[bonvoyagie]

2 minutes ago, ImADaneFan said:

That sounds great!  Do you get to take the Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali?  The last time we went inland, the train was one of the best parts. I am disappointed that the road in Denali is still restricted this year due to repairs because of a rock slide at mile 43.  I was really hoping to go all the way to Kantishia again. We won’t be able to get to the visitors center either.😔. The views of Mt. McKinley were breathtaking from there.

I’ve not been to Homer, but I’ve heard the halibut fishing there is amazing.

If you have any time, the Alaska Sealife Center, in Seward is worth visiting.

Linda

Well we bus from Fairbanks to Denali then train from Denali. The sealige center is one of the stops on the tour. We also visit a musher camp and have optional tours we can purchase as we go, including flight seeing at Denali.

 

 

[ImADaneFan]

6 minutes ago, bonvoyagie said:

Well we bus from Fairbanks to Denali then train from Denali. The sealige center is one of the stops on the tour. We also visit a musher camp and have optional tours we can purchase as we go, including flight seeing at Denali.

 

 

That sounds like you have some great excursions to chose from.  I hope you have a great time!

Linda