1st Alaska cruise. Need advice

[donaldsc]

On 7/25/2024 at 7:21 PM, markeb said:

I just came back to ask how much of the trip you'd settled on. Sounds like you have.

 

FWIW, you don't need a cruise tour in Alaska. You can do pretty much anything yourself. Just takes a bit more work, but gives you more freedom. We did an on-our-own trip to Denali in May, for instance, and had an extra half day on the way back to Anchorage in a rental car and did the out and back 15 mile drive to Savage River.

 

That's when we saw this guy...

 

 

Wouldn't have seen him on a tour. He wasn't there the day before when we were on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Just something to keep in mind.

 

 

You don't even have to leave a city to see one of those guys.  We stayed in a B&B in Anchorage and one of them was grazing in the back yard for several hours.  I have even see a moose walking down one of the streets in I think Ketchikan.

 

DON

[markeb]

11 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

You don't even have to leave a city to see one of those guys.  We stayed in a B&B in Anchorage and one of them was grazing in the back yard for several hours.  I have even see a moose walking down one of the streets in I think Ketchikan.

 

DON

 

I do remember someone calling moose Alaska's squirrels: They're everywhere.

 

They certainly weren't everywhere when we were there, and not all of them were an easy photo. That guy would have been a good iPhone shot; that isn't an iPhone though!

 

I was in Anchorage years ago and the hotel had a warning posted about a bull moose that had been frequenting the parking lot. This was August, so he was also probably in rut as well. Never actually saw him.

[maggiev]

A consideration - Princess only offers the shorter Natural History Tour in Denali.  Holland offers the longer Tundra Wilderness Tour.  Some will say there isn’t much difference, however you will go further into the park & if this is your only trip it is worth considering.

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, maggiev said:

A consideration - Princess only offers the shorter Natural History Tour in Denali.  Holland offers the longer Tundra Wilderness Tour.  Some will say there isn’t much difference, however you will go further into the park & if this is your only trip it is worth considering.

Princess allows you to upgrade. They used to be included on some but it has been awhile since I have looked at them.

Edited July 31 by Coral

[wolfie11]

Viking has a permit for Glacier Bay and Virgin will be sailing to Alaska in 2026.

[Oakman58]

Holland and Princess offer the most cruises into Glacier Bay National Park.  Both lines also have the most experience cruising Alaska.  I prefer Holland but her choice of Princess is just as good. I hope the cruise she chose visits both Hubbard and GBNP.  And it was definitely the right choice to do the land portion first.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

14 hours ago, maggiev said:

A consideration - Princess only offers the shorter Natural History Tour in Denali.  Holland offers the longer Tundra Wilderness Tour.  Some will say there isn’t much difference, however you will go further into the park & if this is your only trip it is worth considering.

We already booked with Princess. 
 

13 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

Viking has a permit for Glacier Bay and Virgin will be sailing to Alaska in 2026.

 

We’ve already booked with Princess. 
 

2 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

Holland and Princess offer the most cruises into Glacier Bay National Park.  Both lines also have the most experience cruising Alaska.  I prefer Holland but her choice of Princess is just as good. I hope the cruise she chose visits both Hubbard and GBNP.  And it was definitely the right choice to do the land portion first.

 

This is our cruise itinerary. 
 

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We already booked with Princess. 
 

 

We’ve already booked with Princess. 
 

 

This is our cruise itinerary. 
 

Take the early train to Whittier from Anchorage and do the 26 Glaciers tour before boarding. Those will be the best glaciers you will see on the whole trip. Puts Glacier Bay to shame.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

16 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Take the early train to Whittier from Anchorage and do the 26 Glaciers tour before boarding. Those will be the best glaciers you will see on the whole trip. Puts Glacier Bay to shame.

We have a land tour prior to the cruise.  Will that be included in our land tour?

[zqvol]

4 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We have a land tour prior to the cruise.  Will that be included in our land tour?

I doubt it, and that is a shame. 

[carolina_yankee]

6 hours ago, zqvol said:

Take the early train to Whittier from Anchorage and do the 26 Glaciers tour before boarding. Those will be the best glaciers you will see on the whole trip. Puts Glacier Bay to shame.

I am toying with doing that (Holland America embarkation). We are doing land on our own and might do it the day before, but then it’s a back/forth kind of thing. If we do it day of, when/where are we processed for boarding and what about our luggage? Is luggage checked in Anchorage at the train station and automatically boarded? Or would we have to schlep it and store it while taking the 26 glacier cruise? Do we just board the ship as if returning from an excursion or have to be processed? And when would that close? We would come down on the Glacier Explorer train. 

[Coral]

49 minutes ago, zqvol said:

I doubt it, and that is a shame. 

It depends on the land tour. My friend was on a Princess tour and it was included. This was years ago.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We’re doing the Princess 13 day Connoisseur escorted tour TB6. If it’s not included perhaps it is an optional excursion. 

[Travel-and-See]

I've cruised Alaska with Celebrity twice and had a great experience both times.  Once from Seattle round trip and the other was southbound from Seward to Vancouver. I preferred the Seward to Vancouver trip because we had an extra stop and more time at each stop. It felt less rushed. 

 

I've also explored Alaska on my own using the Alaska Railroad. If you want to fly into Fairbanks you can take the Alaska Railroad down to Anchorage (stopping at either Denali or Talkeetna for a couple of nights if you would like) and then take the railroad from Anchorage to Seward to begin your cruise.  Lots of fun!  You can also book similar tours with the cruise lines but I just did it myself.