10 day northbound excursion

[frogholler]

Hi Fellow Cruisers,

On July 26,2006, my hubby and I will be taking a 10 day northbound cruise on the Volendam. The first 3 days will be on the ship and then we will start our land tour in Skagway.Over the next 7 days, we will travel north to Fairbanks and end up in Anchorage to fly home.. What I would like to know is, will we need insect repellent? We would like to pack as lightly as possible. Will sneakers suffice or should we also have hiking boots? We have signed up for a river rafting trip and also will be gold panning. Has anyone been on this trip and perhaps could give us some pointers? This will be our second trip to Alaska. The first was a seven day round trip on the Oosterdam out of Seattle and we loved it in 2005.

[HALOnlyCruiser]

Hi Frogholler!

Your cruisetour is the very same we took on out first HAL (and Alaska) trip. It is lots of fun! You do not really need hiking boots if you have good, water resistant walking shoes or athletic shoes,

You definitely will need the insect repellant on the land portion of the tour. I just slathered it on every morning before I got dressed. Off! has a new type that's not ooky and smelly, as ours was. The mosquitos are able to be saddled and ridden. There are lots of t-shirts with a mosquito on the front that say "Alaska State Bird". They are ginormous! But the Off! (if it has DEET) worked really well. They were the worst at Denali.

We did not do rafting or gold panning. The "bus" part of the tour is not as bad as it sounds (two and a half days on the bus). They show videos, and the driver gives stories and commentary. You stop once in mid-morning, lunch. mid-afternoon, and at the lodging. Also, they (at that time) gave you snacks along the way. If you are going to Beaver Creek, there is a cute dinner show that used to be included. There is a "Gold Rush" or "Gay 90s" show at every overnight stop. It is easy to overdose on these! Pace yourself!

The museum at the University of Alaska/Fairbanks is well worth the visit (included, or it was) and the riverboat Discovery in Fairbanks (also included, or was) is a good trip.

In Anchorage, I don't know if they include a trip to the Native Heritage Center or not, but I really want to visit there. I've had several reports that its is time and money well spent.

Have a good trip, and tell us all about it when you get back!