Our 2024 Alaska Adventure--including planning!

[SirTomster]

Love what I see and I thought I was a planner.  I am not in your league!  Here is my tentative plan.  We will arrive 2 days before the cruise so not as many nights pre-cruise as you, but I want to pass on what are my tentative plans.

 

Will be on Holland America leaving from Whittier in June

 

Friday - Fly from Salt Lake to Anchorage.  Should arrive noonish.

Friday - Pick up Rental Car

Friday - Drive to Girdwood and do the Tram and likely Lunch

Friday - Drive to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Friday - Drive to Seward, explore and stay the night

Saturday - Do a tour of the Kenai Fjords.  Still deciding on the company.  6 to 8 hour tour.

Saturday - Stay a second night in Seward.  Rates are cheaper than Vancouver.

Sunday - Drive back to Anchorage and drop car off at airport.

Sunday - Take Train or Bus to Whittier and get on Ship

Sunday - Sunday Cruise from Whittier to Vancouver

Fly home.  -  Still deciding on if from Vancouver which is more expensive or get from Vancouver to Seattle and fly home there which is cheaper but will take more time.   

 

The reason I put this here is to get ideas but also to mention the Kenai Fjords cruise. I am seeing so many cool reports about it and it seems to be highly recommended.  When I see people saying it was the best part of the cruise and it was before the cruise, I take notice.

 

 

[cmmaxwell03]

19 minutes ago, SirTomster said:

Love what I see and I thought I was a planner.  I am not in your league!  Here is my tentative plan.  We will arrive 2 days before the cruise so not as many nights pre-cruise as you, but I want to pass on what are my tentative plans.

 

Will be on Holland America leaving from Whittier in June

 

Friday - Fly from Salt Lake to Anchorage.  Should arrive noonish.

Friday - Pick up Rental Car

Friday - Drive to Girdwood and do the Tram and likely Lunch

Friday - Drive to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Friday - Drive to Seward, explore and stay the night

Saturday - Do a tour of the Kenai Fjords.  Still deciding on the company.  6 to 8 hour tour.

Saturday - Stay a second night in Seward.  Rates are cheaper than Vancouver.

Sunday - Drive back to Anchorage and drop car off at airport.

Sunday - Take Train or Bus to Whittier and get on Ship

Sunday - Sunday Cruise from Whittier to Vancouver

Fly home.  -  Still deciding on if from Vancouver which is more expensive or get from Vancouver to Seattle and fly home there which is cheaper but will take more time.   

 

The reason I put this here is to get ideas but also to mention the Kenai Fjords cruise. I am seeing so many cool reports about it and it seems to be highly recommended.  When I see people saying it was the best part of the cruise and it was before the cruise, I take notice.

 

 

 

Love your plan!!  I have read that Major Marine (I think that's the name) in Seward is pretty good for tours.  We are thinking of doing their Resurrection Bay boat tour. 

 

Also - I recommend the train from Anchorage to Whittier 🙂

[no1racefan1]

15 hours ago, SirTomster said:

Love what I see and I thought I was a planner.  I am not in your league!  Here is my tentative plan.  We will arrive 2 days before the cruise so not as many nights pre-cruise as you, but I want to pass on what are my tentative plans.

 

Will be on Holland America leaving from Whittier in June

 

Friday - Fly from Salt Lake to Anchorage.  Should arrive noonish.

Friday - Pick up Rental Car

Friday - Drive to Girdwood and do the Tram and likely Lunch

Friday - Drive to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Friday - Drive to Seward, explore and stay the night

Saturday - Do a tour of the Kenai Fjords.  Still deciding on the company.  6 to 8 hour tour.

Saturday - Stay a second night in Seward.  Rates are cheaper than Vancouver.

Sunday - Drive back to Anchorage and drop car off at airport.

Sunday - Take Train or Bus to Whittier and get on Ship

Sunday - Sunday Cruise from Whittier to Vancouver

Fly home.  -  Still deciding on if from Vancouver which is more expensive or get from Vancouver to Seattle and fly home there which is cheaper but will take more time.   

 

The reason I put this here is to get ideas but also to mention the Kenai Fjords cruise. I am seeing so many cool reports about it and it seems to be highly recommended.  When I see people saying it was the best part of the cruise and it was before the cruise, I take notice.

 

 

It sounds great! I am planning to book with Major Marine tours for our Seward cruise. They have several different options that explore Kenai Fjords. I'm leaning towards Orca Quest because it's only available during the short season we will be there, and it's 4 hours which means more in line with our budget ;-). But yes, I have heard the 6 and 8 hour tours are pretty magical!

 

Also, I think I've researched just about every option available for lodging in Seward. I'm leaning towards booking at Harbor 360 hotel because it's owned by Major Marine, so you get a discount by booking the hotel and cruise together. I haven't 100% decided yet, but this could be an option for you!

[no1racefan1]

15 hours ago, cmmaxwell03 said:

 

Love your plan!!  I have read that Major Marine (I think that's the name) in Seward is pretty good for tours.  We are thinking of doing their Resurrection Bay boat tour. 

 

Also - I recommend the train from Anchorage to Whittier 🙂

We are planning on train to Whittier just so we can get that 'train' experience. Also, I've read that you can check your luggage directly to the ship from Alaskan Railroad (I think I've read you can do this even if not booking the transfer through the cruise line).

[cmmaxwell03]

21 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

lso, I've read that you can check your luggage directly to the ship from Alaskan Railroad (I think I've read you can do this even if not booking the transfer through the cruise line).

 

Finger crossed!  That would make it so much easier for everyone.

[cmmaxwell03]

My turn to share our plans...I think we are close to finished with the planning (I think, haha)

 

We are doing an 11 day cruise with Viking and spending a 1.5 days in Anchorage pre-cruise.

I'll only call out meals if they are something unique/special

 

Tuesday Sept 5th (Seattle/Anchorage)

Fly from Seattle to Anchorage (used points for flight)

Hotel: Marriott (used points for hotel)

D : Glacier Brewing or 49th State Brewing

 

Wednesday (Anchorage)

B: Snow Bird Cafe

Helicopter/Dog Sled Excursion

D : Crow's Nest (anniversary dinner so we are gettin' fancy, haha)

 

Thursday (Anchorage/Seward)

Train from Anchorage to Seward

B: on train (reindeer sausage)

L: TBD - might find something in Seward or lunch onboard ship

 

Friday (Seward)

Resurrection Bay Wildlife Cruise Excursion

L: provided by excursion

 

Saturday (Valdez)

Tentative plans/day on our own

Old Valdez Museum

Valdez Museum

L: Nat Shack food truck (Tacos? Yes, please!)

Valdez Brewing Company

 

Sunday/Monday

Scenic Sailing

 

Tuesday (Haines)

American Bald Eagle Foundation Excursion

Spa appts in afternoon (hopefully)

 

Wednesday (Juneau)

Taku Lodge Feast and Seaplane Excursion

L: provided by excursion

*If we have time: Gold Belt Tram and/or Alaskan Brewery

 

Thursday (Sitka)

RIB Excursion & Fin Island Lodge

L: provided by excursion

 

Friday (Ketchican)

Bering Sea Fisherman Excursion (woohoo!!!!)

 

Saturday 

Scenic Sailing

 

Sunday (Vancouver/Seattle)

Disembark (bummer!)

Fly from Vancouver to Seattle 

 

*We have 2 "specialty reservations" that we are able to make ahead of time but they do not provide all of the menus for each day until we arrive....so I'm not 100% sure when and where we want our dinners. 

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by cmmaxwell03

[dd57]

We are on the previous cruise in that direction in August.  Our precruise extension is at the Marriott;  Viking has switched from the Sheraton for our cruise and maybe for yours too.  If they are there, you might be able to ask the Viking reps in the lobby any questions you have about embarkarion.  You also might run into some of your fellow passengers.

 

This is our 2nd time doing this cruise with Viking.  The Valdez  museums are small but interesting.  As I recall, there are 3 museums that you get entry tickets to.

[cruiselvr04]

We are doing a Cruisetour with Royal this month.  6 days land and 7 night cruise, 1 day pre in Fairbanks on our own and 2 nights post in Victoria on our own. We had booked Viking originally but switched. With Viking we had booked a 10 night cruise plus 6 nights land.  In hind sight I wish we’d stuck with Viking. Our 16 nights are very close to the same price in the end with all the additional costs.  We probably only saved the cost of airfare. Viking would have been a better experience I’m sure.  
 

Alaska certainly has taken hours of planning.  For us the plan is one and done so we’ve tried to fit a lot in. In addition to the cruise tour we are renting a car in Fairbanks to drive to Chena hot springs and are doing a sunset whale watch and Butchart gardens in Victoria.  
 

We leave in 2 weeks so now I’ll start some packing and need to pull all our paperwork together.  

[cmmaxwell03]

13 hours ago, dd57 said:

We are on the previous cruise in that direction in August.  Our precruise extension is at the Marriott;  Viking has switched from the Sheraton for our cruise and maybe for yours too.  If they are there, you might be able to ask the Viking reps in the lobby any questions you have about embarkarion.  You also might run into some of your fellow passengers.

 

This is our 2nd time doing this cruise with Viking.  The Valdez  museums are small but interesting.  As I recall, there are 3 museums that you get entry tickets to.

 

Unfortunately, all pre-cruise extensions were sold out so we are doing Anchorage on our own and meeting the ship in Seward.  I have an abundance of Marriott points, so we selected the Marriott.  I will keep an eye out for Viking reps in the lobby. Thank you!

[SueMo]

On 5/30/2023 at 6:50 PM, no1racefan1 said:

Only 348 days until we're on our way to Alaska!! 😅

 

I've been continuing to check Airbnb for places in Seward and Talkeetna. I saw a place in Talkeetna that looks perfect, but it wasn't available to book yet. I contacted the hosts and they said it wouldn't be available to book for next May until November. So, I booked my second choice just to make sure I have something secured, and then I will check again in November. Something to know about me....I tend to plan and replan and book and rebook things as I figure out better arrangements....I'm addicted to planning! This is why I always book things that are cancellable and refundable.

 

 

 

I highly recommend the Denali Overlook Inn in Talkeetna and Bear Lake Lodging right outside of Seward.  Breakfasts are included in each and they both have amazing settings.

[no1racefan1]

In true over-planner fashion, I have changed our itinerary 😅

All the feedback on TripAdvisor says to get out of Anchorage as much as possible, so I took their advice and switched up our overnight accommodations for the 2nd night. I moved up our Palmer Airbnb, and this gives us an extra night in Seward! I haven't worked out Seward accommodations. I'm interested in staying at Resurrection Lodge on the Bay, but it's not available for 2024 yet... so we'll see! (Edited to add: I looked into Bear Lake Lodging as mentioned by @SueMo and it looks awesome--but it has a 3-night minimum for our dates 😞 )

 

New itinerary for land portion:

Monday, 5/13

6:07pm arrive Anchorage (BOOKED)

6:30pm Pick up car @ Budget (BOOKED)

Stay @ Hyatt Place (BOOKED)

 

Tuesday, 5/14

Rent bikes from Pablo’s Bike Rentals

Bike Tony Knowles Trail

Buy groceries

Drive to Palmer

Stay @ Airbnb in Palmer (BOOKED)

 

Wednesday, 5/15

Drive to Glacier View

Matanuska Glacier guided hike

L-on the road

Drive to Seward

Stay @ Resurrection Lodge?

 

Thursday, 5/16

Kenai Fjords boat tour

L-on tour?

Stay @ Resurrection Lodge?

 

Friday, 5/17

Morning kayak tour?

L-on the road

Stop at Exit Glacier

Drive back to Anchorage

7:30pm Drop off car @ airport (BOOKED)

Laundry @ hotel?

Stay @ Hyatt House (BOOKED)

 

Saturday, 5/18 Embark Whittier 8pm

9:45am-12:05pm Alaska Railroad

L-picnic w/ leftovers

Portage Pass Trail hike?

Board Sapphire Princess

 

Oh, I was also able to book return flights today using United miles!! Which means all flights are booked! Total paid for flights: $127.12

I might end up paying extra down the road to upgrade seats (everything is in economy), but I'm going to wait and see how often they change our flights first...

Edited July 1, 2023 by no1racefan1

[disneyochem]

I have taken Kenai Fjords wildlife tours with both Major Marine and Kenai Fjords.  Of the two, my recommendation is to take the longest cruise available (more time on the water = more wildlife sightings opportunities) from Major Marine.  I feel that their on board experience is better—better food, better service, better narration.  
 

For kayaking in Seward, we’ve used Sunny Cove Kayaking a few times.  Good experiences, great guides—saw lots of wildlife.  Last year, we were surrounded by puffins; two years ago, we were next to whales (out of Fox Island).

[no1racefan1]

1 hour ago, disneyochem said:

I have taken Kenai Fjords wildlife tours with both Major Marine and Kenai Fjords.  Of the two, my recommendation is to take the longest cruise available (more time on the water = more wildlife sightings opportunities) from Major Marine.  I feel that their on board experience is better—better food, better service, better narration.  
 

For kayaking in Seward, we’ve used Sunny Cove Kayaking a few times.  Good experiences, great guides—saw lots of wildlife.  Last year, we were surrounded by puffins; two years ago, we were next to whales (out of Fox Island).

Excellent, thank you!

[CPAatSea]

I just have to say I just found this thread and read through all five pages and it's SO helpful.

 

I thought I was an early planner but you've got me beat. We are doing the same Princess itinerary as you but we're doing it a few weeks after you. I booked the cruise in December and hadn't thought much about it, but now that I'm getting closer to booking time for airfare I started trying to decide how I want to do the land portion in Alaska before the cruise.

 

We knew we didn't want to do one of the cruise line land tours because they seem expensive for what you get and we also like to have some autonomy over how our days look. Prior to finding this thread my plan was to fly into Fairbanks and take the Denali Star all the way to Anchorage stopping in Denali for 2 nights and Talkeetna for a night along the way. This thread has me second guessing my entire plan and now I may be back to square one.

 

What I do know for sure is that we will probably fly in Monday or Tuesday for a cruise that leaves on Saturday. Talkeetna is a must for me because I want to do the flightseeing out of Talkeetna that includes the glacier landing. This thread also has me intrigued by the Matanuska Glacier hike and the Kenai Fjords day trip so I need to look into them a bit more. Maybe I'll fly into Anchorage instead of Fairbanks and I'll only go as far north as Talkeetna and just cut Denali out. I was really excited about the train ride from Denali to Talkeetna, but I think if I take the train from Anchorage to Whittier I'll get a lot of the same experience.

 

If anyone has any tips on anything I might be missing my ears are open. I'll come back to this thread in a few more days when I iron out exactly what I want to do. We still have about two weeks before we need to start booking airfare so plenty of time to change my mind 100x 😉

[no1racefan1]

I love, love, love that this thread has turned into a place where we can all share our planning and bounce ideas off each other!

 

I'm kind of in a holding pattern waiting for more things to be available to book for 2024, such as tours and some lodging. Pro tip: it seems like all the places I have contacted about 2024 availability open it up in September/October (after the 2023 season ends). So if there's something you're interested in that isn't showing availability yet, don't fret!

 

In the mean time, since I can't NOT be planning something for our trip 😅, I'm continually checkin on our flights to see if award rates have come down so I can cancel and rebook using fewer miles--and possibly be able to upgrade! I've also been checking our cruise fare on Princess in case we are able to re-fare. So far the fare has stayed the same--although they are offering $200 OBC right now for new bookings.

[CPAatSea]

10 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

I love, love, love that this thread has turned into a place where we can all share our planning and bounce ideas off each other!

 

I'm kind of in a holding pattern waiting for more things to be available to book for 2024, such as tours and some lodging. Pro tip: it seems like all the places I have contacted about 2024 availability open it up in September/October (after the 2023 season ends). So if there's something you're interested in that isn't showing availability yet, don't fret!

 

In the mean time, since I can't NOT be planning something for our trip 😅, I'm continually checkin on our flights to see if award rates have come down so I can cancel and rebook using fewer miles--and possibly be able to upgrade! I've also been checking our cruise fare on Princess in case we are able to re-fare. So far the fare has stayed the same--although they are offering $200 OBC right now for new bookings.

After reading this yesterday I watched YouTube videos all night. The Kenai Fjords are a must for me. I think we may try to do the six hour tour the Saturday morning we board our ship. It starts early enough we'd be done by 2p and still have plenty of time to board the ship.

 

I think I'm going to skip the Matanuska Glacier hike since we'll also land on a glacier doing the flightseeing. I think that will scratch enough of the itch that I don't really feel the need to do both.

 

I currently have us booked in Juneau for the helicopter on to Mendenhall glacier with dog sledding. I may try to find an opportunity to go dog sledding during the land portion of our tour. If we can go dog sledding and land on a glacier while flightseeing I will cancel that excursion and replace it with the seaplane flight to Taku Lodge. I watched videos last night and that looks awesome. The hard part is only having max 2 weeks for vacation and wanting to do all of the things.

[no1racefan1]

2 hours ago, CPAatSea said:

After reading this yesterday I watched YouTube videos all night. The Kenai Fjords are a must for me. I think we may try to do the six hour tour the Saturday morning we board our ship. It starts early enough we'd be done by 2p and still have plenty of time to board the ship.

 

I think I'm going to skip the Matanuska Glacier hike since we'll also land on a glacier doing the flightseeing. I think that will scratch enough of the itch that I don't really feel the need to do both.

 

I currently have us booked in Juneau for the helicopter on to Mendenhall glacier with dog sledding. I may try to find an opportunity to go dog sledding during the land portion of our tour. If we can go dog sledding and land on a glacier while flightseeing I will cancel that excursion and replace it with the seaplane flight to Taku Lodge. I watched videos last night and that looks awesome. The hard part is only having max 2 weeks for vacation and wanting to do all of the things.

I know!! I already have a list of things I wish we could do, that we'll have to go back for someday 😆

 

We did the helicopter to the dog sledding camp on the glacier in Juneau back on our very first cruise in 2006, and it's one of my top 5 travel memories!

 

If you're flightseeing out of Talkeetna, I know they offer glacier landings. I was looking into K2 Aviation when we were thinking about Talkeetna flightseeing. I've seen that they sometimes offer specials/discounts on their FB page, so make sure to follow that for tour operators you are interested in! Major Marine Tours does as well, if you use them for the Kenai Fjords. I've also heard they usually have a black friday sale. Plus, it's just fun to have all things Alaska in my social media feed, LOL.

[CPAatSea]

6 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

I know!! I already have a list of things I wish we could do, that we'll have to go back for someday 😆

 

We did the helicopter to the dog sledding camp on the glacier in Juneau back on our very first cruise in 2006, and it's one of my top 5 travel memories!

 

If you're flightseeing out of Talkeetna, I know they offer glacier landings. I was looking into K2 Aviation when we were thinking about Talkeetna flightseeing. I've seen that they sometimes offer specials/discounts on their FB page, so make sure to follow that for tour operators you are interested in! Major Marine Tours does as well, if you use them for the Kenai Fjords. I've also heard they usually have a black friday sale. Plus, it's just fun to have all things Alaska in my social media feed, LOL.

Great tips, thank you!

[cmmaxwell03]

3 hours ago, CPAatSea said:

After reading this yesterday I watched YouTube videos all night. The Kenai Fjords are a must for me. I think we may try to do the six hour tour the Saturday morning we board our ship. It starts early enough we'd be done by 2p and still have plenty of time to board the ship.

 

I think I'm going to skip the Matanuska Glacier hike since we'll also land on a glacier doing the flightseeing. I think that will scratch enough of the itch that I don't really feel the need to do both.

 

I currently have us booked in Juneau for the helicopter on to Mendenhall glacier with dog sledding. I may try to find an opportunity to go dog sledding during the land portion of our tour. If we can go dog sledding and land on a glacier while flightseeing I will cancel that excursion and replace it with the seaplane flight to Taku Lodge. I watched videos last night and that looks awesome. The hard part is only having max 2 weeks for vacation and wanting to do all of the things.

 

I found a helicopter/dog sled tour out of Anchorage with a company called Alaska Helicopter Tours.  I watched some videos/reviews on Youtube and thought it looked like fun.  We are also signed up for the Taku Lodge/Seaplane trip.  I have read that there is always a chance of the helicopter/seaplane tours being canceled if the weather is bad, which is why I wanted to choose 2 different 'flight' options in two locations.

 

Also - if you have not already booked the Taku Lodge excursion, I found the company that performs the excursion and booked with them directly.  Their price was $100pp less than through our cruise line.  In Juneau, they are located right at the dock.  The company is called Wings Airways.

[CPAatSea]

15 minutes ago, cmmaxwell03 said:

 

I found a helicopter/dog sled tour out of Anchorage with a company called Alaska Helicopter Tours.  I watched some videos/reviews on Youtube and thought it looked like fun.  We are also signed up for the Taku Lodge/Seaplane trip.  I have read that there is always a chance of the helicopter/seaplane tours being canceled if the weather is bad, which is why I wanted to choose 2 different 'flight' options in two locations.

 

Also - if you have not already booked the Taku Lodge excursion, I found the company that performs the excursion and booked with them directly.  Their price was $100pp less than through our cruise line.  In Juneau, they are located right at the dock.  The company is called Wings Airways.

Thank you! That's our strategy as well.. to book 2/3 'flight' excursions hoping at at least one of them doesn't get canceled due to weather.

 

I also read the weather conditions in Juneau are a little less predictable than Anchorage so better bet of your excursion in Juneau going ahead as planned.

[no1racefan1]

Princess cruisers, check your rates!

 

As I do every day, I logged on to princess.com to check prices. The new 'Score for 24' promotion has my cruise/cabin listed at significantly less than what I booked it for. I'm currently trying to see if they will re-fare me, or if I'll have to cancel and rebook. That would be a pain, but it's looking like it would save about $500, so probably worth the hassle!

[no1racefan1]

51 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

Princess cruisers, check your rates!

 

As I do every day, I logged on to princess.com to check prices. The new 'Score for 24' promotion has my cruise/cabin listed at significantly less than what I booked it for. I'm currently trying to see if they will re-fare me, or if I'll have to cancel and rebook. That would be a pain, but it's looking like it would save about $500, so probably worth the hassle!

Doing the happy dance!! I was able to re-fare my current booking using the princess.com Live Chat. I logged on and confirmed my shareholder OBC, excursions, and payments are all there AND we are now paying about $500 less!

 

Only weird thing is it says I owe $89.90 on my fully paid excursions, but then it says the cart is empty. I'm thinking what happened is the 'Score for 24' promo requires a $500 deposit, and we had only paid $480 so far. So it looks like the shareholder credit was applied towards the booking (because our new fare shows $100 less than what I was quoted/what the website shows) in order to meet the deposit, so then the amount of that OBC that had been used to pay for shore excursions is now applied elsewhere, so now we need to pay for that amount.

 

Net amount being billed is still the same, I just need to sort it out to make sure nothing gets messed up with our excursions. Either way, I am so stoked!!

 

Edited to add: I also immediately went to AARP and bought a 10% off GC to apply to the balance, just to make sure that $500 deposit issue was taken care of and didn't come back to haunt us later.

Edited July 6, 2023 by no1racefan1

[cmmaxwell03]

2 minutes ago, no1racefan1 said:

Doing the happy dance!! I was able to re-fare my current booking using the princess.com Live Chat. I logged on and confirmed my shareholder OBC, excursions, and payments are all there AND we are now paying about $500 less!

 

Only weird thing is it says I owe $89.90 on my fully paid excursions, but then it says the cart is empty. I'm thinking what happened is the 'Score for 24' promo requires a $500 deposit, and we had only paid $480 so far. So it looks like the shareholder credit was applied towards the booking (because our new fare shows $100 less than what I was quoted/what the website shows) in order to meet the deposit, so then the amount of that OBC that had been used to pay for shore excursions is now applied elsewhere, so now we need to pay for that amount.

 

Net amount being billed is still the same, I just need to sort it out to make sure nothing gets messed up with our excursions. Either way, I am so stoked!!

 

Edited to add: I also immediately went to AARP and bought a 10% off GC to apply to the balance, just to make sure that $500 deposit issue was taken care of and didn't come back to haunt us later.

SCORE!!  That's awesome.  

 

Also - thanks for letting us hijack your planning thread to share our plans. 🙂

[CPAatSea]

1 hour ago, no1racefan1 said:

Doing the happy dance!! I was able to re-fare my current booking using the princess.com Live Chat. I logged on and confirmed my shareholder OBC, excursions, and payments are all there AND we are now paying about $500 less!

 

Only weird thing is it says I owe $89.90 on my fully paid excursions, but then it says the cart is empty. I'm thinking what happened is the 'Score for 24' promo requires a $500 deposit, and we had only paid $480 so far. So it looks like the shareholder credit was applied towards the booking (because our new fare shows $100 less than what I was quoted/what the website shows) in order to meet the deposit, so then the amount of that OBC that had been used to pay for shore excursions is now applied elsewhere, so now we need to pay for that amount.

 

Net amount being billed is still the same, I just need to sort it out to make sure nothing gets messed up with our excursions. Either way, I am so stoked!!

 

Edited to add: I also immediately went to AARP and bought a 10% off GC to apply to the balance, just to make sure that $500 deposit issue was taken care of and didn't come back to haunt us later.

That's awesome!

[CPAatSea]

Alright I think we have a winner plan. I talked through it with my husband and he really wants to do Goldstar on the Denali Star line so we're still going to fly into Fairbanks. Here's our plan:

 

Sunday

Fly to Seattle and overnight in Seattle with time for quick sightseeing

 

Monday

Fly from Seattle to Fairbanks

Overnight in Fairbanks

 

Tuesday

Board Denali Star in the morning and travel from Fairbanks to Talkeetna

Overnight in Talkeetna

 

Wednesday

Morning Denali Grand Flightseeing Tour with Glacier Landing

Board Denali Star in evening and travel from Talkeetna to Anchorage

Pick up rental car

Overnight in Anchorage

 

Thursday

Leave Anchorage in the morning and drive to Palmer for Helicopter Glacier excursion with Dogsledding

Drive from Palmer to Seward

Overnight in Seward

 

Friday

7.5 hour Kenai Fjords excursion in the morning

Drive from Seward to Anchorage

Return Rental Car

Overnight in Anchorage

 

Saturday

Board Glacier Discovery train from Anchorage to Whittier

Embark on Cruise

 

This allows me to swap out our helicopter excursion in Juneau and book Wings Airways excursion to Taku Lodge instead. I'm also going to cancel the excursion I had booked for Scenic Cruising at Hubbard Glacier since I think the Kenai Fjords day will scratch that itch and provide equal opportunity with more time and for less cost.

 

There's a little bit of back tracking going to Palmer but I don't mind. This allows us to get some train experience but also provides us flexibility for some of our trip with the car. Any of you planning experts let me know if I'm missing anything but I think this is a pretty solid framework that accomplishes everything we're hoping to do.