pbair90

Any luck finding a company that offers and ATV Excursion?

I'm afraid not. I may just book it through the ship :)

We rented a Ford Explorer Platinum through Hertz to and from Anchorage for 8 days in June for $867 (reservation, without deposit, made in late february). We were splitting it with another couple, but it was money well spent. Depending how long you have in the area, I would think you'd be able to justify to and from Anchorage. It's a 4 or 4.5 hour drive, but very scenic.

I agree with all of these posts. The excursions that consistently cancel because of rain/viability issues are the flights. Most everything else goes rain or shine (and in August/September it's often rain!) Our first trip it rained nearly every day, but we still had an amazing time.

We have done cruises to Alaska twice (once Princess, once Carnival), and this summer we did a land tour on our own without the cruise. All that to say, we have not done a land/sea combo... However, I strongly recommend renting a car and touring land on your own. We spent 3 days with anchorage as our home base, spending a day in Seward, and a couple days enjoying the town and nearby sites including Ship Creek, Flattop mountain, Alyeska, Portage Glacier (not impressive), animal conservation center, Beluga Point and other gorgeous roadside vistas, and then did a very very reasonably priced flight tour over Knik Glacier with Sound Aviation (trip highlight!) There is LOTS to do in the Anchorage area when you have the flexibility that a rental car offers. If hiking or animal sightings are your thing, Denali is not to be missed. We enjoyed spending 3 days in the park area, with a stop in Talkeetna on the way up there. The drive between Anchorage and Denali (and probably the train as well) is absolutely beautiful and a pleasant way to spend your time.

No matter what - you'll have an amazing time!

Carnival offers an ATV Adventure & Beach excursion out of Nassau (it looks like it goes to Clifton Heritage National Park) for $124.99pp. The reviews are great, and I'm tempted, but I'm wondering if there is a recommended third party group on shore that might be less. $125 seems pricey, as it doesn't include a meal. Have any of you guys taken this tour, or can you recommend a competitive offering?

I believe I've read that the pools on NOS are saltwater. Is the flowrider as well?

oops - - my link for the guide was blocked on the previous post. try murrays guide dot com

We've actually done both, and personally, I preferred the car. We went with friends and split the rental, and utilized Murray's Guide (http://*****************) to navigate and understand better what we were looking at. We felt like we had a lot more flexibility to get out and walk, and spend extra time looking at some of the waterfalls, lakes, and wildlife.

The train is amazing, but as mentioned, not cheap, and not flexible. There were plenty of breathtaking views, and it was relaxing. We had a difficult time hearing the narration, so actually didn't get as much info from it as we did on our previous trip using Murrays Guide.

Both are fantastic ways to explore beyond the coastline. Enjoy!

Great review so far! We are looking forward to NOS next month. Thanks for sharing your experiences!!!!

Thank you so much for sharing these!!

Hey April-in-NC - -so excited to read your review. We're going on the same cruise in March, and are also flying from Columbus to Hobby (Go Bucks!!!!!!):D

Thanks for taking the time to put this together!

We are looking forward to our cruise on the Navigator in March. Our family of 4 will all be staying in the same room. We've done this before, and know that space is tight. Previously we had been in the equivalent of a category G room that's 150sq ft with the pullman beds. Currently I'm booked in category F. I saw that it was ~175 sq ft and had the sofa bed. The thought of not dealing with pullmans, and the extra square footage certainly appealed to me, but now I'm second guessing myself. Because the sofabed is actually taking up floor space, will this room actually feel smaller than the 150sf with the pullmans? Has anyone had experience with this?