Proposed land tour itinerary - comments please

[calmac]

I would appreciate comments on our proposed land tour itinerary. We will be flying into Seattle from the UK on 29th July and will spend our first night at a hotel near the airport. Our cruise leaves from Seattle on Sunday 9th August so we want to return to Seattle the day before.

 

We are a family of 3 - DH, me and DS (13). Our main interests are wildlife and scenery.

 

Any suggestions on where to visit on Saturday 1st?

 

Any comments on our proposed accommodation?

 

Thanks very much for your input.

 

Thursday 30th July

Fly to Anchorage

Possible flight time – 12:00 Alaska Airlines

Hire Car

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Friday 31st July

Day in/around Anchorage

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Saturday 1st August

Day trip to ???

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Sunday 2nd August

Drive to Talkeetna (112 miles)

Stop at Wasilla (Iditarod)

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 1

Overnight in Talkeetna – Denali Fireside?

 

Monday 3rd August

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 2 (if option 1 a no-go)

Drive to Denali (125 miles)

White water rafting at Denali / dog sled demo / drive into park

Overnight in Healy – Denali Lakeview Inn?

 

Tuesday 4th August

Shuttle bus to Eielson and explore Denali National Park

Overnight in Healy – Denali Lakeview Inn?

 

Wednesday 5th August

Return via Talkeetna (125 miles)

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 3 (if options 1 & 2 are no-gos)

Drive to Matanuska Glacier (Talkeetna to Palmer 70 miles)

(Palmer to Glacier 60 miles, 1.5 hours)

Night hike on Matanuska Glacier ??

Overnight near Matanuska Glacier – Sheep Mountain Lodge?

 

Thursday 6th August

Ice climb on Matanuska Glacier ??

Drive to Anchorage (Palmer to Anchorge 42 miles)

(Glacier to Anchorage 102 miles, 2 – 2.5 hours)

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Friday 7th August

Day trip to Girdwood / Mt Alyeska (south)???

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Saturday 8th August

Return hire car

Fly to Seattle

Possible flight time – 11:30 Alaska Airlines

Overnight in Seattle

[Yukon]

A question first - why are you not cruising south from Seward or Whittier (Anchorage) rather than flying back to Seattle and doing a round trip cruise?

[calmac]

It does seem odd, I know but we booked our cruise - NCL Pearl r/t out of Seattle then booked our flights r/t to Seattle using miles. Only then did we think of a land tour. Maybe we should consider a southbound cruise - I'll have a look to see what's available that fits in with our schedule. Thanks for the prompt!

[Yukon]

Have a look, because there are some wonderful one-way itineraries that would give you a better overall experience.

[calmac]

Having discussed our cruise with the family the consensus is - stick with NCL Pearl r/t out of Seattle. The plus side for us is that we're using "miles" for the UK-Seattle flights.

[Budget Queen]

I too would not recommend this itinerary. The Pearl routing, at best, is SO SO. You would get FAR more out of a one way cruise.

 

You are completely missing Seward- with a "wildlife" priority, it's a top area choice. I would also not be spending all that time in Anchorage, or at Matanuska Glacier- it's definately NOT a 2 day visit.

 

Just my opinion, but with your time, you could have significantly better options than what you have planned.

[calmac]

We are still going to go with the r/t cruise out of Seattle but have revised our travel plans. Does this seem a better itinerary?

 

If we include a trip to Seward - is a side trip to Matanuska Glacier sensible or is Exit Glacier a suitable alternative? On our last trip to Alaska we went for a short glacier trek in Juneau with North Star and loved it so would like to do a similar trek this time round. Which Kenai Fjords cruises do you recommend?

 

Thanks, again.

 

Thursday 30th July

Fly to Anchorage

Possible flight time – 12:00 Alaska Airlines

Hire Car

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Friday 31st July

Day in/around Anchorage (and time to adjust to the time difference of 9 hours)

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Saturday 1st August

Drive to Talkeetna (112 miles)

Stop at Wasilla (Iditarod)

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 1

Overnight in Talkeetna – Denali Fireside?

 

Sunday 2nd August

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 2 (if option 1 a no-go)

Drive to Denali (125 miles)

White water rafting at Denali / dog sled demo / drive into park

Overnight in Healy – Denali Lakeview Inn?

 

Monday 3rd August

Shuttle bus to Eielson and explore Denali National Park

Overnight in Healy – Denali Lakeview Inn?

 

Tuesday 4th August

Return via Talkeetna (125 miles)

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 3 (if options 1 & 2 are no-gos)

Drive to Matanuska Glacier (Talkeetna to Palmer 70 miles)

(Palmer to Glacier 60 miles, 1.5 hours)

Night hike on Matanuska Glacier ??

Overnight near Matanuska Glacier – Sheep Mountain Lodge?

 

Wednesday 5th August

Drive to Seward (Palmer to Seward 168 miles)

Overnight in Seward - B&B?

 

Thursday 6th August

Kenai Fjords Cruise - who with?

Overnight in Seward - B&B?

 

Friday 7th August

Seward to Anchorage (126 miles)

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Saturday 8th August

Return hire car

Fly to Seattle

Possible flight time – 11:30 Alaska Airlines

Overnight in Seattle

[cbowler]

Can I suggest maybe a Prince William Sound day cruise on your way from Palmer to Seward? There are several different companies that offer a couple of different routes and timeframes that might work with your schedule. With a RT cruise out of Seattle, you're missing College Fjord and this would be a nice way to see it. I like your revised itinerary much better!

[sdfamily]

If you're using miles for the UK- Seattle flights, why not

- fly into Seattle

- stay overnight in Seattle or fly to Anchorage

- do your land trip in Alaska

- take one-way cruise to Vancouver

- you can easily get to Seattle from Vancouver (train, rental car)

 

The flight from Seattle to Anchorage is actually pretty long and you get a lot more out of a one-way cruise that you would in the round trip.

 

If you are set on the Pearl from Seattle, I would just tour Washington and Oregon via car before the cruise instead of flying to/from Alaska and then cruising to/from Alaska.

 

P.S. If you're using 'miles' to get to Seattle, be sure to ask if you can fly on Alaska Airlines to Anchorage. Alaska Airlines/British Air/American Air are partners but you generally have to ask specifically if you can use your AA or BA miles to fly on Alaska.

[Budget Queen]

We are still going to go with the r/t cruise out of Seattle but have revised our travel plans. Does this seem a better itinerary?

 

If we include a trip to Seward - is a side trip to Matanuska Glacier sensible or is Exit Glacier a suitable alternative? On our last trip to Alaska we went for a short glacier trek in Juneau with North Star and loved it so would like to do a similar trek this time round. Which Kenai Fjords cruises do you recommend?

 

Thanks, again.

 

Thursday 30th July

Fly to Anchorage

Possible flight time – 12:00 Alaska Airlines

Hire Car

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Friday 31st July

Day in/around Anchorage (and time to adjust to the time difference of 9 hours)

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Saturday 1st August

Drive to Talkeetna (112 miles)

Stop at Wasilla (Iditarod)

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 1

Overnight in Talkeetna – Denali Fireside?

 

Sunday 2nd August

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 2 (if option 1 a no-go)

Drive to Denali (125 miles)

White water rafting at Denali / dog sled demo / drive into park

Overnight in Healy – Denali Lakeview Inn?

 

Monday 3rd August

Shuttle bus to Eielson and explore Denali National Park

Overnight in Healy – Denali Lakeview Inn?

 

Tuesday 4th August

Return via Talkeetna (125 miles)

Flightseeing to Mount McKinley – option 3 (if options 1 & 2 are no-gos)

Drive to Matanuska Glacier (Talkeetna to Palmer 70 miles)

(Palmer to Glacier 60 miles, 1.5 hours)

Night hike on Matanuska Glacier ??

Overnight near Matanuska Glacier – Sheep Mountain Lodge?

 

Wednesday 5th August

Drive to Seward (Palmer to Seward 168 miles)

Overnight in Seward - B&B?

 

Thursday 6th August

Kenai Fjords Cruise - who with?

Overnight in Seward - B&B?

 

Friday 7th August

Seward to Anchorage (126 miles)

Overnight in Anchorage – Alaskan Leopard?

 

Saturday 8th August

Return hire car

Fly to Seattle

Possible flight time – 11:30 Alaska Airlines

Overnight in Seattle

 

This is a better itinerary. :) Not sure of your "night" Matanuska climb, but if going with MICA guides, 6pm will hardly be "night" in early August?? They also have shortened their trips by at least an hour since I went. :( If you want more treking, you can also do this in Seward.

 

The Prince William Sound boat tour suggestion is a top choice here, in my opinion.

 

Pick any Kenai fjords boat tour with at least 6 hours on the water, if you want more, choose Northwestern fjords. :)

 

If you haven't, consider purchasing a coupon book for discounts and base your tour selections, perhaps on those offers??

[dfitz]

After reading through this thread, you have me wondering if I picked the right itinerary. Heard Inside Passage is beautiful. We do need to work w/ a budget, and our time is tight, hard to get DH to take a week off of work! So thought a round-trip would be easiest/simplest and most cost effective w/ airfare. This is our first trip to Alaska, will this be a good sampling?

 

Started researching excursions, and sounds like there's enough to do in our ports ... we tend to like interactive, nature, wildlife excursions - recommendations?

 

Here's our itinerary, any thoughts or recommendations:

05-Sep Vancouver, British Columbia 5:00 PM

06-Sep Inside Passage (Cruising) Cruising

07-Sep Icy Strait Point, Alaska 10:00 AM 5:00 PM Tendered

08-Sep Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska 11:00 AM 5:00 PM Cruising

09-Sep Skagway, Alaska 7:00 AM 8:30 PM Docked

10-Sep Juneau, Alaska 7:00 AM 3:00 PM Docked

11-Sep Cruising Cruising

12-Sep Vancouver, British Columbia 7:00 AM

[Yukon]

dfitz, the huge downside to that itinerary (IMO) is that there may be no glacier cruising. While Tracy Arm is great, glaciers are my number 1 focus, and few ships get near the Sawyer Glaciers at Tracy Arm. For glaciers you want itineraries with Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay or College Fiord cruising.

[dfitz]

dfitz, the huge downside to that itinerary (IMO) is that there may be no glacier cruising. While Tracy Arm is great, glaciers are my number 1 focus, and few ships get near the Sawyer Glaciers at Tracy Arm. For glaciers you want itineraries with Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay or College Fiord cruising.

 

Thank you for the info. Hmmm, I thought I finally had it figured out ... I've been online looking at pics, and seems like a different time or itinerary might be better ... however, there's a reason we're going at that time (my 50th bday celebration - always wanted to see Alaska). Might need to look around a little ... or plan a future cruise for more glacier viewing.

 

It looks like there are some excursions that will take us to glaciers and areas to view glaciers ... wonder how that will suffice in lieu of shopping around, maybe starting over w/ my search??

 

I've seen you all over these boards, Yucon, seems like you know what you're talking about, so appreciate the feedback :)