Post Cruise Advice

[floridacruisegirl]

Good morning! :)

 

In early July, my grandma, grandma's family friend, and I will be disembarking the Coral Princess on a Monday.

 

This is our first time to Alaska and perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime trip for my grandma and her friend. I would like to make this trip as special as possible for them. The only caveat is that I am trying to make the trip a relaxing one, especially for my grandma, as she tires easily. Also, we are limited with post-cruise time in Alaska, as my vacation days are limited this year.

 

I have flights on hold until tomorrow with the airline and would like to finalize our post-cruise plans by the time I purchase the air tickets tomorrow (the good thing about doing this is that the good price I found is guaranteed by the airline until tomorrow when the held reservation expires).

 

Here is our planned itinerary - please let me know if it is feasible:

 

Monday:

- Disembark Whittier

- Private transportation from Whittier to Seward

- Overnight Seward

 

Tuesday:

- Sightsee Seward (stroll through Seward and/or take a morning Kenai Fjords Boat Cruise)

- Catch the 6 p.m. Alaskan RR from Seward to Anchorage

- Arrive in Anchorage at 10:15 p.m.

- Catch a cab to the Anchorage airport for our 1:45 a.m. flight home

- (Alternatively, we can overnight in Anchorage on this night and fly home on a 9 a.m. flight out the following morning)

 

As you can see, we have a very limited time in Alaska post-cruise. I really wanted for us to go to Denali and then fly out of Fairbanks, but logistically, after much research, I decided that the ride to Denali itself would have been too long and exhausting for my grandma and her friend (in addition to the long 9 hour TWT also being too long once we would have arrived in Denali). Ideally, I would have more vacation time so that we can spend at least a week in Alaska post-cruise and then take things slowly and leisurely tour interior Alaska so that it's not done in such a way where we're limited on time and would have to rush to tour Denali and Fairbanks.

 

So, instead, I would like to tour Seward and then relax on the scenic rail from Seward to Anchorage.

 

A few questions:

 

- is the rail from Seward-Anchorage just as scenic as the one from Anchorage-Seward? I've heard that the rail from Anchorage-Seward is one of the best and it also offers an advantage being that the Anchorage-Seward segment begins in the morning (whereas the Seward-Anchorage route is in the evening).

 

- what's the best and most efficient way to get from the Anchorage rail depot to the Anchorage airport? If we arrive in Anchorage at 10:15 p.m., is the timing too tight to get to the airport and check in for our 1:45 a.m. flight?

 

- any suggestions for activities in Seward? I'll be traveling with my 84 year young grandma and 64 year young friend. According to the itinerary above, we'll be in Seward from Monday afternoon to Tuesday late afternoon when we board the rail to Anchorage.

 

- any suggestions on how I can improve my itinerary, given the limited time we will have? I'm 28, so I'm sure I'll be back to Alaska someday, but this trip is for my grandma and her friend and while they are fit to travel, we pick a new place to visit each year so they can see as many different places of the world as possible. :) It is only recently that they've begun traveling (too busy helping raise us grandchildren), so each year we try to pick somewhere special and somewhere new. When I was younger and still in college, I always told my grandma we'd travel one day. Now that I am an adult, earning money, these vacations for my grandma and I are now possible. I value the quality time we get to have on our annual vacations together. Actually, another grandma was also supposed to join us on this trip, but she has been having health problems and her doctor did not approve of this trip. I'm hoping she gets better soon so that we can all take a trip together next year.

 

Anyway, I apologize for the long winded post...I just wanted to get across that this trip is special, once in a lifetime, and I'd like to make the most of the limited time we'll have there post-cruise. Please let me know how you'd go about the two days post-cruise and if my itinerary above is feasible.

 

I really appreciate any feedback you can provide and THANK YOU in advance!! :)