Cruise/Land Tour in Alaska?

[Got2goaway]

Our family is planning a vacation to Alaska for June 2008. We would like to see as much as possible as this will be our first time to Alaska. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best line for a two week Cruise/Land Tour? Any personal experiences? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[caligirl_41]

I did a Princess cruise/tour last year. We started out in Fairbanks for a day. Did the paddle boat, then a bus to Denali. Overnight in Denali with a History tour of Denali. If you go to Denali try and get the Wilderness Tour into Denali. History tour is to short. Then onto Mt. McKinley for overnight. WOW. The mountain was out for both days for us. I took a flight up to Denali with a landing. Fantastic, awesome. Alaska has such vast wilderness. Then onto train ride to our crusie ship, Coral Princess. Princess does a wonderful cruise/tour. I never felt rush, nor did I have to wait for any thing. Princess in my opion has class. I am now planning on a return trip for 2008 with my own land tour into the Kenai area, with cruise following. And yes I will use Princess again. This is my opion only.

[agabbymama]

I liked HAL. They have a variety of cruisetours. And from the prices I found, they offered the best itineraries. I chose the Yukon Wilderness Cruisetour #1 because I wanted to see the Yukon. From old movies and history, it always seemed to me that the Yukon was part of Alaska, and even though it is actually part of Canada, I really wanted to see it, as well as Interior Alaska. Did the Inside Passage in '99, so the ports weren't that great an issue for me.

 

We sail from Vancouver to Tracey Arm to Juneau to Skagway. Only 3 days on the ship, then we go overland for 8 days on the Yukon Whitepass RR, to Whitehorse (overnight) coach to Dawson City (2 nights) riverboat to Eagle, coach to Chicken on to Tok (overnight) coach to Fairbanks (overnight) domed railcar to Denai (overnight) and domed railcar to Anchorage (overnight).

 

There are longer tours, but I liked the 11 days. Then I priced out Princess and they only had one cruisetour going to Dawson City (7 day cruise + 9 days land, I think, but because of the 5 extra days and more days on ship, the cost was $4400 pp) compared to $2770 for HAL (including airfare & transfers).

 

HAL or Princess would be my first choice. I think they are superior for Alaska. They have been doing it the longest, they get priority berthing, perks, they have their own hotels, railcars, tour companies, etc.

 

Budget Queen and others will suggest doing the cruise, then independent land. I checked it out, but decided I didn't want the hassle, so went with the cruisetour. I'll let HAL do all the hassles and I'll just sit back and relax and enjoy the Alaskan scenery rolling by.

 

I've suggested before, make a graph chart with what you want to see and do, budget, cabin, tours, ports, etc. down one side. Across the top put the cruiselines/ships As you research the websites for the different cruises, if they do what you want, put an "X" in the box. You should end up with one with more "X"s than the others. That will be your cruise! Good luck, have fun planning and taking your cruise. Alaska is awesome and beautiful. You will love it no matter what you choose.:p

[Budget Queen]

A very important factor in a cruisetour selection is to do your homework and UNDERSTAND fully what you are looking at. This is a very common problem that unfortunately many people find out facts too late that they had no clue about.

 

Cruisetour descriptions are vague in my opinion. Route everything out yourself with transit times and be certain you have enough time at the destinations. Also know where those destinations are- as an example the McKinley Princess is 150 miles from the Denali Princess and NO access into the national park. Be clear on the differences of Denali Park tours. Go for as long as you can afford, shorter cruisetours have way too much time in transit.

[Sunshine Gal]

Our family is planning a vacation to Alaska for June 2008. We would like to see as much as possible as this will be our first time to Alaska. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best line for a two week Cruise/Land Tour? Any personal experiences? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi Go2goaway,

 

I would agree 100% with Agabbymama about selecting Princess or HAL.

Unless you cruise a lot or don't care if you get to see your entire itinerary, I could not recommend Celebrity because of the recurring propulsion problems on their M-class ships, that have affected so many of their cruises over the years.

[elceecarr]

Hey Got2goaway! For what it's worth, we did a cruise last year with Princess and then arranged for our own land tour. Unfortunately, after all the planning and prepayment, it was a wash out - literally. Roads were washed out and we were unable to complete our land tour. In advance of our travels, we used Alaska Tours & Travel and put together our 'own' selection of what we wanted to see and do. While we didn't get to do what we originally planned, Alaska Tours & Travel was able to refund the unused portion of our trip and worked with us to change our focal direction at the last minute. Instead of Denali and Mt. McKinley, we ended up renting a car and staying on the Kenai Peninsula in Soldotna and Seward. Since it was last minute, we ended up having to make our own arrangements for tours - doing fun things such as rafting, bear viewing, dogsledding, and the Kenai Fjords tour (among a few of the tours we stuffed into our time). It was very simple to arrange and easy enough to get around. Contact the various visitor's centers in and around Alaska and I think you'll find that you can create a vacation doing almost anything you and your family wants to do. In any case, have fun! :)

[Chat Noir]

Our family is planning a vacation to Alaska for June 2008.

 

I think a key consideration for cruisetour is FAMILY. Are family members young children or elderly parents? I wouldn't consider a cruisetour with children for fear they'd be too confined. We rented an RV post-cruise last year, my teenagers really enjoyed it... easy access to the fridge, lots of leg room for stretching, onboard restroom and bed!:)

[40yearcruiser]

I did a Princess cruise/tour last year. We started out in Fairbanks for a day. Did the paddle boat, then a bus to Denali. Overnight in Denali with a History tour of Denali. If you go to Denali try and get the Wilderness Tour into Denali. History tour is to short. Then onto Mt. McKinley for overnight. WOW. The mountain was out for both days for us. I took a flight up to Denali with a landing. Fantastic, awesome. Alaska has such vast wilderness. Then onto train ride to our crusie ship, Coral Princess. Princess does a wonderful cruise/tour. I never felt rush, nor did I have to wait for any thing. Princess in my opion has class. I am now planning on a return trip for 2008 with my own land tour into the Kenai area, with cruise following. And yes I will use Princess again. This is my opion only.

 

This sounds like the itinerary we are booked for in June on the Sapphire Princess, only in the reverse. We are looking forward to it!!!! Since there are 13 in our family group, we decided to do the Princess tour rather than trying to make all the land plans ourselves. Many posts have said that the History tour is not a good choice so we're planning to do the shuttlebus to Toklat on the afternoon we arrive in Denali. Any hints for other great things to do? We've been thinking about going horseback riding from the Mt. McKinley lodge.

By the way, we were on the Coral Princess in October when it repositioned from LA to Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal. Great trip!

[Got2goaway]

Thank you very much for the information so far! It's wonderful.:)

 

sym1966 - You mentioned a question about age group. We are a very diversified group as far as age is concerned. The ages range from our parents, who are in their early sixties to our children where the youngest will be seven when we take this trip. Our children are accustomed to long drives and are relatively fine with it, provided that there is lots to see and a great destination at the end.

 

I just feel a bit overwhelmed with how much there is to see. Having never been to Alaska, we are hard pressed on how to decide what should warrant the "Definitely Must Do" list? We know that we cannot do everything in one trip, but how did you decide what is best?

 

What are the going rates for meals while on the land portion of the tours? Are there many food establishments / selections to choose from?

[SoCalGal]

Got2goaway,

 

We are taking our third cruise to Alaska this coming May but our first 'cruisetour'. We really enjoyed our prior cruises-14 night San Diego-Alaska...but then we love cruising. My husband wanted to go northwest into the interior this year, so we'll see how this 13 night cruisetour will work out. It's a 7 night N/B and 6 night land package to Fairbanks on Celebrity Summit. While it is true the X ships have had pod problems they are still our favorite ships. These cruises are quite expensive especially if you want to do lots of floatplanes, helicopters and salmon fishing, etc. I have already booked several shore excusions for the two of us and have spent about $1,000.00 just on that. We figure by the time all is said and done the trip will cost us $8,500-$9,000.00. But to us it is money well spent as we love Alaska so much. Our last cruise was with my 85 & 86 year old parents...they loved it too! It's a trip of a lifetime....have a great time!

[Budget Queen]

sym1966 - You mentioned a question about age group. We are a very diversified group as far as age is concerned. The ages range from our parents, who are in their early sixties to our children where the youngest will be seven when we take this trip. Our children are accustomed to long drives and are relatively fine with it, provided that there is lots to see and a great destination at the end.

 

QUOTE]

 

 

 

Very very few kids go on cruisetours. Yours may be the only ones. It isn't just the long drives you need to be concerned with, it's the lack of freedom to stop and go as you wish. And frankly, kids rarely are interested in scenery- so don't know what your "lots to see" reference is, but the transits can be long with a lot of trees. :) Wildlife isn't like the brochures, many times they will be way out with 10 power binoculars barely viewing them.

 

I suggest if you do go this touring, go with the longest you can afford. Have a break with Talkeenta included perhaps- but Princess uses "McKinley Princess" which is a 50 mile bus transfer each way- so plan your time well in Talkeetna. Figure by rail, 8 hours Anchorage-Denali Park, 10 if you pick up the train in Whittier. 6 by bus Anchorage-Denali Park. Seward is a gem for touring, few include them. But it's a top varied wildlife and glacier boat tour area to Kenai Fjords. Exit Glacier is excellent for all ages, and the Sealife Center well worth the time.

 

So continue with your homework, make lists. Be certain everyone is on the same page with the group travel. The more you know about the specifics of Alaska travel the better a trip will come together for your group.