Alaska CruiseTour vs. Do It Yourself

This is way early in the planning process, but I have to have something to do until we cruise next! I have decided for my "big trip" when I retire (not soon enough), I want to do a SB inside passage cruise with 5-9 days in the interior of Alaska. We will most likely do Princess, as I like them, and we are Platinum (not that it really matters that much). So I am seeking opinions on doing a Princess Connoisseur Tour vs. renting a car vs. Alaska Rail, or any other suggestions for seeing Denali and the Kenai Peninsula. I am only thinking of Southbound, because we just got off a northbound from Vancouver. But if opinion sways that is better to cruise and then tour, I would be open to doing northbound again.

I love Alaska!

The main thing to keep in mind distances are fairly long . Hotels are also very pricey in Alaska especially during the summer tourist season I would start looking a what hotels will cost in 2018 in your travel period.

its better to tour then cruise especially if your going to DIY it.

Cruisetour vs DIY is personal preference . What's your travel style ? Do you enjoy research and planning?

My land travel in Alaska has always been DIY, primarily tent camping or an RV rental. I'm 60's and female. A tour isn't my style. I can't imagine being stuck in a bus or train for several hours, or having my bags in the hallway by 6am every day, and not being able to go where i want to go, at my pace and on my schedule. Plus being cooped up with a bunch of seniors doesn't sound fun.

My big retirement trip will be an entire summer to Alaska .... driving an RV from Seattle to Alaska and back in 3+ months. So DIY is definitely my preference.

I would encourage you to read thru trip reports as part of your research . There are many cruisetour and DIY reports. Read them all to get a feel for the itineraries, the travel styles, etc. Also, do a search on the word 'connoisseur'. This will pull up past responses to this question as well as specific connoisseur trip reports.

The Alaska forum of tripadvisor is a better resource for DIY since they are geared to land travel. Lots of trip reports there.

This is a photo heavy Princess cruisetour by mimmy52 that will give you a good idea of how they look.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2243510

Another good photojournal is from MPVinBoynton. He has a cruise report in 2017, but look in his signature to find his cruisetour from 3 yrs ago.

5 days isn't a lot of time for getting around Alaska. You need 3 days just for Denali ... a day to get there from Anc, a day for the shuttle into the park, and another day to return. That's especially true if you take the train. It's very slow (8 hrs to Denali) and only 1 departure per day. Day 5 will be getting to Whittier so day 4 is your only additional day to explore.

I put together a huge list of sites to help with planning. It's probably on the 2nd or 3 pg of this forum; HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR PLANNING .... It has town web sites, books, visitor guides, chamber of commerce, State of Alaska, etc.

Have fun with your research and planning!!

p.s. And keep in mind that a cruisetour requires just as much research .... the devil is in the details. Look carefully at the itineraries to ensure they're going to places of interest to you, try to determine how much of your time is in transit, make sure you have enough time at each destination for planned activities.

I agree with everything mapleleaves said. :) We just did a DIY 6 day land trip with a SB cruise. It took a full year to plan, and it was wonderful. I personally loved all the reading and planning & the resources are here on CC and Trip Advisor, when you need them.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You're likely to do more that YOU want to do and at your own pace if you do it on your own versus a tour group.

Our first trip to Alaska we did the tour group because I simply didn't want to drive and just wanted to relax and focus on the scenery. The tour group allowed me to do that. On all of our subsequent trips we have always done it on our own because there are things I want to see that I can't if I'm being herded around on a tight schedule.

If you don't want to have to plan or think about anything, tour group it. Otherwise, I think on your own is the way to go.

To each their own though.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have officially done both now and say DIY, for sure. I went on a HAL cruise tour in June, and did a driving thing in September. I loved being able to do what I wanted, with just my car, when I wanted. I saw folks in spots on the tour and thought....wow, that was me in June. It was easy, and if I was elderly, as most on the tour were, it would be preferable, probably. But the driving was amazing. The views incredible, and really, the trip of a lifetime.

Hotel costs and food were what I would expect at home; nothing unusual. I expected more isolation driving the ALCAN than I experienced. I prepped food in the car for an apocalypse and never opened any of it. There was always a restaurant when we needed one.

Another vote for DIY. I drove tour bus for two years for those cruisetours and always felt bad for the people being herded like sheep. Having your own rental car allows you to see what you want to see when you want to see it. A motor coach with 40 people takes at least 15 minutes to unload and then another 15 minutes to load. So every stop you'll spend a half an hour just waiting in line to get on or off the bus.

There's no excursion or tour that you'll do on a cruisetour that you couldn't do on your own, often for cheaper.

I have done both also. The first was because we had never been to Alaska and did not know the area. The second was because my husband just wanted to do it. DIY is really the way to go. The first we really only saw Denali and it was a great trip, but that was about all even though we saw just a little of Fairbanks and then the train ride from Denali to Whittier which was nice. The second we saw Mantanuska Glacier, then Girdwood then Seward and Exit Glacier for two days then Homer for two days then Anchorage for two days. Absolutely a fantastic journey.

Also important, is to know the details of traveling Alaska, then you can determine what will work best for you. Make sure you are going where YOU want your activities to be, and especially avoid time at places that become holding tanks on tours, especially at the expense of other areas. I don't find Princess a good choice for the "Kenai". Simply Cooper Landing isn't a place I'd select to be without a car.

I'd also suggest not eliminating 50% of the cruises with only a southbound.