DisneyN24 Posted July 21 #1 Share Posted July 21 We're in the early stages of planning our first Alaska cruise. Right now, we're thinking of a northbound cruise, renting a car and spending a week sightseeing, and then a southbound cruise back to Vancouver. We want to see Denali and Fairbanks during the sightseeing, but other than that, we don't have anything specific in mind. Has anyone done this? We would love to hear any tips, must-sees, or lessons learned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 21 #2 Share Posted July 21 Welcome to Cruise Critic! Sounds like a great idea. Make sure to read around the board and see about issues like rental car availability and prices, access issues to Denali, and for other good sites to see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 22 #3 Share Posted July 22 Not a bad idea, but be aware of the distances from either Seward or Whittier to Denali and Fairbanks. It is a long way and traffic can sometimes be horrible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKStafford Posted July 22 #4 Share Posted July 22 A great way to visit Alaska! Just out of curiosity, what's your goals in visiting Fairbanks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWA395 Posted July 22 #5 Share Posted July 22 There are multiple posts on DIY land portion either pre or post cruise. A quick search in the AK forum showed will get you alot of information. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=DIY&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare karatemom2 Posted July 23 #6 Share Posted July 23 This is a bucket list plan for us when we can take the time. I think it’s a brilliant idea! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety3 Posted July 24 #7 Share Posted July 24 On one of our northbound cruises, we shared a table in the buffet (it was a BUSY morning) with two "little old ladies" who were doing a straight B2B (cruise up, cruise back). Their strategy was to shop in each town on the way north, but every night at dinner they made sure to ask their table mates what excursions they did and what they thought of them. Our suggestion to them was..."great idea!" but if the weather is good in Juneau on the way north, by all means do the Mt Roberts Tramway (if that's your thing) as you may not have good weather on the way back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted July 24 #8 Share Posted July 24 The biggest problem folks have renting a car in Whittier or Seward is massive dropoff charges. You won't have this, so should be pretty easy. We just did B2B in both locations and took glacier watch cruises on turnaround day. Lots of hotels in Talkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWA395 Posted July 25 #9 Share Posted July 25 (edited) We elected to do a northbound cruise, 11 nights DIY land portion and a southbound cruise. Our itinerary changed many times but here is the final plan (we think). A fair amount of driving yes, with Valdez to Fairbanks being the biggest day. 8/15: Fly to YVR, Uber to Blue Horizon Hotel. Spend two nights in Vancouver, 8/17: Sapphire Princess NB 8/24: Debark in Whittier, ACT Bus to Anchorage and begin land portion. DIY Land portion Day 1: Pick up rental car in Anchorage and overnighting in Glacier View. Day 2: Glacier View to Valdez with a planned stop at Glennallen for flightseeing Wrangell-St. Elias National Park with Copper Valley Air, then on to Valdez overnight. Day 3: Overnight Valdez Day 4: Long day driving from Valdez to Fairbanks, overnight Fairbanks Day 5: Fairbanks Day 6: Fairbanks and drive to Healy/Denali, overnight Healy. Day 7: Denali, overnight Healy Day 8: Leisure drive from Healy/Denali to Palmer. Day 9: Drive Palmer to Seward, overnight Seward. Day 10: Overnight Seward Day 11: Seward to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage turn in rental car. Day 12: Anchorage to Whittier via Alaska railroad to embark Grand Princess southbound. After the 11 night road trip, I believe we will take advantage of the leisurely time on ship. Yes, a fair amount of driving but plenty planned and with the exception of the Valdez to Fairbanks leg. I would suggest that once you decide on your dates, book your rental car as early as possible. We booked our over a year in advance, Edited July 25 by NWA395 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 25 #10 Share Posted July 25 (edited) 59 minutes ago, NWA395 said: We elected to do a northbound cruise, 11 nights DIY land portion and a southbound cruise. Our itinerary changed many times but here is the final plan (we think). A fair amount of driving yes, with Valdez to Fairbanks being the biggest day. 8/15: Fly to YVR, Uber to Blue Horizon Hotel. Spend two nights in Vancouver, 8/17: Sapphire Princess NB 8/24: Debark in Whittier, ACT Bus to Anchorage and begin land portion. DIY Land portion Day 1: Pick up rental car in Anchorage and overnighting in Glacier View. Day 2: Glacier View to Valdez with a planned stop at Glennallen for flightseeing Wrangell-St. Elias National Park with Copper Valley Air, then on to Valdez overnight. Day 3: Overnight Valdez Day 4: Long day driving from Valdez to Fairbanks, overnight Fairbanks Day 5: Fairbanks Day 6: Fairbanks and drive to Healy/Denali, overnight Healy. Day 7: Denali, overnight Healy Day 8: Leisure drive from Healy/Denali to Palmer. Day 9: Drive Palmer to Seward, overnight Seward. Day 10: Overnight Seward Day 11: Seward to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage turn in rental car. Day 12: Anchorage to Whittier via Alaska railroad to embark Grand Princess southbound. After the 11 night road trip, I believe we will take advantage of the leisurely time on ship. Yes, a fair amount of driving but plenty planned and with the exception of the Valdez to Fairbanks leg. I would suggest that once you decide on your dates, book your rental car as early as possible. We booked our over a year in advance, Best wishes. That will be exhausting. Edited July 25 by zqvol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GORDONCHICK Posted July 28 #11 Share Posted July 28 We did a northbound and 9 days on our own. We took the cruiseline bus to Anchorage via a wildlife park and picked the car up there. We stayed in one of the Princess lodges for a few nights up around Denali. We went in the park for 2 days plus did a rafting trip. We didn't go to Fairbanks, as there was plenty to see and do even closer to Anchorage. We returned the car to the Anchorage airport and flew home from there. Good grief! I took more than a couple thousand photos! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisneyN24 Posted July 28 Author #12 Share Posted July 28 On 7/22/2024 at 12:30 PM, AKStafford said: A great way to visit Alaska! Just out of curiosity, what's your goals in visiting Fairbanks? No real goals at this point, but it seems like we should see it if we're traveling that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisneyN24 Posted July 28 Author #13 Share Posted July 28 On 7/22/2024 at 1:36 PM, NWA395 said: There are multiple posts on DIY land portion either pre or post cruise. A quick search in the AK forum showed will get you alot of information. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=DIY&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=33 Thank you for this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisneyN24 Posted July 28 Author #14 Share Posted July 28 On 7/25/2024 at 4:30 PM, NWA395 said: We elected to do a northbound cruise, 11 nights DIY land portion and a southbound cruise. Our itinerary changed many times but here is the final plan (we think). A fair amount of driving yes, with Valdez to Fairbanks being the biggest day. 8/15: Fly to YVR, Uber to Blue Horizon Hotel. Spend two nights in Vancouver, 8/17: Sapphire Princess NB 8/24: Debark in Whittier, ACT Bus to Anchorage and begin land portion. DIY Land portion Day 1: Pick up rental car in Anchorage and overnighting in Glacier View. Day 2: Glacier View to Valdez with a planned stop at Glennallen for flightseeing Wrangell-St. Elias National Park with Copper Valley Air, then on to Valdez overnight. Day 3: Overnight Valdez Day 4: Long day driving from Valdez to Fairbanks, overnight Fairbanks Day 5: Fairbanks Day 6: Fairbanks and drive to Healy/Denali, overnight Healy. Day 7: Denali, overnight Healy Day 8: Leisure drive from Healy/Denali to Palmer. Day 9: Drive Palmer to Seward, overnight Seward. Day 10: Overnight Seward Day 11: Seward to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage turn in rental car. Day 12: Anchorage to Whittier via Alaska railroad to embark Grand Princess southbound. After the 11 night road trip, I believe we will take advantage of the leisurely time on ship. Yes, a fair amount of driving but plenty planned and with the exception of the Valdez to Fairbanks leg. I would suggest that once you decide on your dates, book your rental car as early as possible. We booked our over a year in advance, Thank you for the information, and the tip on rental car availability. We're not sure if we're going in 2025 or 2026 but it sounds like we need to be deciding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisneyN24 Posted July 28 Author #15 Share Posted July 28 17 hours ago, GORDONCHICK said: We did a northbound and 9 days on our own. We took the cruiseline bus to Anchorage via a wildlife park and picked the car up there. We stayed in one of the Princess lodges for a few nights up around Denali. We went in the park for 2 days plus did a rafting trip. We didn't go to Fairbanks, as there was plenty to see and do even closer to Anchorage. We returned the car to the Anchorage airport and flew home from there. Good grief! I took more than a couple thousand photos! Beautiful pictures! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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