Celebrity Summit Cruisetour?

[MisterBill99]

We've never been to Alaska (but have been on 4 Caribbean cruises on Royal Caribbean). We (family of 4) are looking at booking a Cruisetour on Celebrity's Summit next August. They have a $400 shipboard credit on select tours, which for us would either be tour 2 on the northbound cruise, or tour 18 on the southbound. Tour 2 has the advantage of 2 nights in Denali, and my kids really want to see the wildlife. Tour 18 doesn't go to Denali at all. There are other tours which might be more suitable but they do not have the credit (or there are 2 others that are longer and more expensive). Given how expensive it is (certainly relative to the deals I've gotten the last two times on Grandeur and Explorer, since we are in the NYC area), this will likely be the only time we go to Alaska for the foreseeable future so it would be nice not to miss something obvious that we can see (as two people pointed out Denali was when I mentioned tour 18 did not go there). I figure the advantage of going north is we can spend a day in Vancouver beforehand but then not have to deal with our luggage after the flight since in their it will be taken to the tour and then the airport afterwards. Downside is we end up in Fairbanks as opposed to Anchorage, where the southbound tour would start.

 

Thanks for any advice. Oh, and are there any sites with menus for the Summit or comparable 7 night Celebrity Alaska cruises? I'd like to see what they offer since I've heard so much about their food.

[Budget Queen]

My opinion only, cruisetours aren't for families. This is the absolute most costly way to go and offers the least freedom. Depending on how old your kids are, going independent is the way to go. The schedule is so fixed and you spend an amount of time "waiting", loading etc, that would be better spent doing your own thing. http://www.toursaver.com can offer significant savings there are also other coupon books to consider.

 

With your wildlife priority, you will get farther - meaning more wildlife opportunity via the shuttle buses into Denali Park, you are paying triple the costs on the tour bus- and you NEED to look at cruisetours that ONLY include the Tundra Wilderness tour. You also are missing out completely on Kenai Fjords with your ship sailing Seward- it's a MUST DO and cruisetours, seldom include it. Here is a photo sample of the areas if you care to look. http://community.webshots.com/user/budgetqueen

 

I am only making the suggestion of considering independent- it is extremely simple to arrange and allows much more of Alaska to consider. With a family of 4, it's easy to rent a RV or car and go on your own with your touring priority. Perhaps get to your library and take out all the Alaska Travel books, Frommer's Alaska and Fodor's Alaska are especially good. Plenty of information on this board for accurate trip planning. You never see anyone coming back ever complaining and certainly no one wishing they'd gone on a cruisetour. :)

 

If you have considered independent and it's not for you- with this being your only trip- I suggest you look carefully at the itineraries and get what you want. Do your homework and understand fully what you are purchasing- a lot of people do not. Factor in all time in transit, it can be significant and allow for enough time at destinations of interest for you.

 

Plan for a great trip. :) Alaska is paradise!!!

[MisterBill99]

Thanks for the advice. You are right, the cruisetour is probably much more expensive than we could do it ourselves, even with the $400 per cabin credit that we'd get.

 

BTW the cruisetour we were looking at did include the Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali.

[Cabb]

We did a Summit cruise tour, and I wouldn't recommend it. There's too much time sitting around waiting for the bus, and we were at a hotel miles from the park (or anything else) at Denali. Worst of all, they kept us sitting at the Denali hotel until noon so they could sell more excursions. The "afternoon" in Anchorage was really an after 6 PM arrival, and almost everything was closed. Also, most of the people on the tour were older retired couples. Your kids would be bored stiff.

 

The Tundra Wilderness tour and the train to Seward were great, saw lots of animals, but that was in May when they're down hunting food at lower elevations.

[cjnky]

I was definitely planning a cruisetour until I found this board - and I'm sooooooo glad I found this place first!!! I can't say I'm saving any money :eek: but I'm sure seeing more of AK "our way" Thanks to BQ and others!!