Alaska Land then Cruise - Who??

[cigloo]

Hi all,

 

We are a group of family/friends that would like to do the 5 or 7 day land tour of Alaska and then do the Southbound sailing. We have been looking around and trying to figure out who does it best. We liked Princess and Holland America - big difference in pricing. Would you use either or someone else?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer :)

[cardbucfan]

We did HAL (who we generally cruise with anyway) and LOVED it. Knowing what I know now, I would do the land part independently. We weren't sure how the driving would be for the distances but found that being on their schedule limited us in terms of what we could do and what time we had to be out and about. You are being smart by researching first then booking. We did it backwards! What we did like about the tour was they handled all our luggage for us (4 people, 2 weeks, = lots of luggage). handled all transportation so we didn't even have to think!

 

Our land part started in Fairbanks (it was interesting and I'm glad we saw it, but having done it, we won't go back there again); only 1 day in Denali and we filled every minute of it with our own excursions -wish we had 2 days; an overnight in Anchorage so we didn't see anything there, and the 6 hour Kenai Fjords cruise the day we boarded the ship in Seward. Kenai Fjords was spectacular and a highlight of our vacation!! The train from Fairbanks to Denali had great scenery and was a good length (4 hours). The train from Denali to Anchorage was LONG (8 hours)and the scenery wasn't that great (wildfires left it very hazy) and the food is not as wonderful as some folks on this board say.

 

The cruise was wonderful-amazing scenery, fun excursions and relaxing after the go-go-go of the land portion. I highly recommend it!

[DaveOKC]

We did a 7 plus 7 day southbound on HAL several years ago and had a great time. From what I could see, HAL and Princess seem to run the best land tours and I think they have been doing it the longest. They even have their own hotels and attractions. The train cars of these two were definately better than Royal Carb. or others.

Of the two, it appeared to me than Princess put their people up in slightly better hotels than HAL did (we seem to have be following some Princess tours around) and they appeared to be better organized on land.

As to the sea portion, I personally like HAL, but Princess is not that far behind.

TOugh choice - likely the tie breaker is the actual schedules and stops. Just stay with either HAL or Princess IMO.

 

DaveOKC

[negc]

We did Princess before but are doing RCI next year. We also believe that doing the southbound is a better option, but you will get opposing views on this issue and each side has good points in their arguments. When we did the Princess tour, RCI was not yet involved in Alaska to the extent that they are now and I thought I read that their rail cars were newer than those used by Princess or HAL. We were pleased with how Princess handled all the details but RCI is including an escort for the entire tour while I believe that Princess charges extra for an escorted tour. When we were in Alaska there was a very noticeable age difference between the Princess and HAL cruisers with the demographic skewing much older for HAL. Whether or not this is still the case, I can't say but on other itineraries we have felt that Princess and RCI were better suited to us with an overall advantage to RCI. All of the lines railcars are on the same train so you are all going to see the same scenery regardless of which you choose. I should also note that our Princess tour included the shorter Natural History Tour in Denali while our RCI tour includes the longer, and some say better, Tundra Wildlife Tour. Not sure that the extra hours on a school bus will prove to be advantageous, however.;)

[sillysailor 1955]

Just off the Diamond Princess last week. Did 4 day land/7 day cruise. Would highly recommend this trip. It was incredible. This was my first Princess Cruise (others include HAL and NCL). I was very impressed with the way Princess ran their operation as well as every aspect of the cruise.;)

[atv girl]

We did RCCL 5 day land Anchorage, Talkeetna, 2 nights in Denali, Fairbanks our guide was great, then a southbound sailing, great trip we`re glad we did the tour the 1st time, so we could both see things equally instead of 1 driving, but next time will prob do independent, just to have more time.

[kamac56]

We did the Princess Diamond two years ago and did the cruise land tour. I would in the future do a land cruise than the cruise.

 

We flew into Seattle from Minnesota and took the amtrack to Vancouver thanks to a few here on the board and their advice otherwise we would have taken the princess bus to Vancouver.

We boarded the princess and found it to be a very pretty ship.

We were by far one of the luckiest as we had E728 mini suite and got upgraded to a Vista suite. It was a very relaxing cruise.

We arrived at Wittier for the train ride and I would have to agree if we do this again we will do our own land tour arrangements as they said it was a long ride and got a bit repetitious. Got to Princess Denali and were extremely disappointed as the condition of our room, dirty, smelled and would not stay there again, but it does depend on what section of the hotel you stay in. Stayed there two nites and did the long Denali tour and yes it was on a bus not the most comfortable ride but by far the most animals we had seen. I should say also that we rented a car in skagway and drove to Emerald lake thanks to Murrays guide on here and saw numerous bears. Than one night at McKinley, I liked that hotel better and wished we had stayed two nights there and one night at the other. Really check out setting the land part of your trip on your own, I too was a bit nervous not having been there prior but would in a heart beat do it on my own. Good Luck!

[AmazingJourneys]

Hi all,

 

We are a group of family/friends that would like to do the 5 or 7 day land tour of Alaska and then do the Southbound sailing. We have been looking around and trying to figure out who does it best. We liked Princess and Holland America - big difference in pricing. Would you use either or someone else?

 

Thanks,

Jennifer :)

 

You can't go wrong with either line in Alaska. I took my honeymoon in 2000 (cruise only) with Princess and will be going back for my 10th Anniversary on a SB CT with Princess. Princess has more resorts than any of the other lines and the best lecturs. Also they tend to have younger clientele or atleasts a better mix due to the laid back sophistication. Food is good on both and entertainment on Princess is top notch.

 

I've been on 7 Princess cruises since 1999 and am biased to Princess, but either one will be fine in Alaska as they are both the most experienced in AK.

 

By the way, I'm booked on the Direct to the Wilderness (FB5) 2 nights in Fairbanks, 2 nights in Denali, 1 night in Mckinley and 7 night cruise on the Coral in 2010. Make sure you upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali, you won't regret it.

[carolmac]

Hi cigloo! Will have more info for you in 3 weeks when we return but our plans begin in Anchorage with car rental drive along Glenn, Richardson, Fairbanks loop (originally wanted to do Old Denali Highway shortcut but were finally dissuaded by numerous Trip Advisor posters) enroute to Denali and then back south to Seward for departure. It's 1300 miles in 6 days which seems reasonable enough until you consider one day is entirely within Denali NP and another half day is flightseeing and almost a full third day is Kenai Fjords Cruise! Had no trouble booking places independently by email or phone. There are cruise planning services that will do all that for you but I didn't find the right one quickly so did it myself.

I suggest reading all the forums here and on Trip Advisor and then check out the many resources like alaska.org so you can see what options are open to you, develop your interests and priorities, and then just get started! Good luck and sorry, we're on a different cruiseline so I'm of no help with your first question.

[zoethesailor]

I like Princess cruise tours.

I was very impressed on how organized they were. As soon as I gave my name to their representative I was handed an envelope with all the day's information on it, lodge room number and key, what time and where I needed to be for the tours or shuttle to the train, and train car assignment with table number.

DH and I stayed at the Princess Lodges in Fairbanks, Denali, McKinley, and Kenai. The rooms were nice, and the grounds were beautiful.

The only thing I would change would be the rail car table assignment. HAL has nice seats which were confortable, Princess has you sit at a table. HAL also had better food in the dinning area of the train. Otherwise, I would choose Princess.