An Alaskan adventure we won't soon forget - cruise and land tour - June 25 - July 7

We have just completed an amazing land tour and cruise of Alaska on the Sun from Seward, Alaska to Vancouver, BC.

Introduction

My partner (DP) and I started cruising in 2010 and immediately fell in love with the idea of cruising. This was our ninth cruise and eight on NCL. We have both recently turned 40 and selected this cruise/adventure to celebrate the milestone birthday as well as our 9th anniversary. In all of our previous cruises, we have travelled by ourselves. However, in this cruise we were joined by my in-laws and two other couples who are family friends.

Here is a picture of us on our last cruise on the Jewel this past January.

I plan on doing a complete review of our cruise and land tour, but it will take a while for the entire review to be completed due to the amount of pictures and notes. In the meantime, feel free to ask questions. I will try to start the review tonight.

Here is an overview of our cruise and land tour

Thursday, June 25 – Travel from Baltimore to Anchorage

Friday, June 26 – Travel from Anchorage to Denali

Saturday, June 27 – Kantishna Experience - Denali National Park

Sunday, June 28 – Travel from Denali to Anchorage

Monday, June 29 – Anchorage to Seward – Board ship

Tuesday, June 30 – Cruising Hubbard Glacier (1 pm – 5 pm)

Wednesday, July 1 – Icy Strait Point, Alaska (9:00 am – 5:00 pm)

Thursday, July 2 – Juneau, Alaska (7:00 am – 1:15 pm)

Cruising past Sawyer Glacier – Afternoon

Friday, July 3 – Skagway, Alaska (7:00 am – 5:00 pm)

Saturday, July 4 – Ketchikan, Alaska (1:00 pm – 8:00 pm)

Sunday, July 5 – Relaxing day at sea

Monday, July 6 – Arrive in Vancouver – city tour

Tuesday, July 7 – Travel from Vancouver to Seattle and Baltimore

Can't wait to follow along... thinking about booking the cruise/land trip for my husband's 50th.

Happy Birthday and glad you had fun !!:)

Look forward to reading all about it. Glad you had a good time. We love Alaska

What were some of your favorite things on ship and in the land portion? I'm leaving for this trip tomorrow!

What were some of your favorite things on ship and in the land portion? I'm leaving for this trip tomorrow!

You are going to love this cruise.

We really enjoyed Denali. We did a private tour that took us 92 miles into the park. Not sure if your land tour includes the Kantishna Experience.

Juneau especially Mendenhall glacier was great.

Icy Strait Point is another great because it is a true Alaska experience.

Onboard, I would recommend that you spend your time on the observation lounge on deck 12.

Our least favorite port was Ketchikan - too commercial.

Enjoy your cruxe.

Happy Birthday and glad you had fun !!:)

Thanks. I see that you will be on the Sun soon. Enjoy! The crew is great.

Look forward to reading all about it. Glad you had a good time. We love Alaska

We now understand when people say that a single cruise to Alaska is never enough. We will definitely return.

Can't wait to follow along... thinking about booking the cruise/land trip for my husband's 50th.

Stay tuned. Planning for the cruise was as much fun as the actual trip. If you are going to do the land tour, I would highly recommend that you do it on your own as you have more flexibility and it is cheaper.

We were on the Jewel with you in January. We were in Haven penthouse. We really enjoyed that cruise. We have been to Alaska twice, once on the Pearl. I would totally go again. But this time would like to do a land tour, also. How was the Sun? She's a little different from the Pearl and Jewel, so I am curious how she compared to your Jewel cruise. Thanks!

Stay tuned. Planning for the cruise was as much fun as the actual trip. If you are going to do the land tour, I would highly recommend that you do it on your own as you have more flexibility and it is cheaper.

Thanks for the tip. I am a super researcher/planner/bargain hunter so that's good to know.

My very first cruise was to Alaska pre-husband, can't wait for him to experience it.

I can't wait to read about your adventure! DH and I did an Inside Passage on Pearl May 2010. We really want to do a land/sea next time! ;)

I can't wait to read your review! I'm on this same cruise at the end of August. Still looking for ideas for each port.

hurry, hurry, you don't need to sleep. I've been to Alaska the last two years and am sad I'm not going this year. Can't wait to hear more.

So let's continue with the review by talking about how much planning went into this cruise.

We started planning for this cruise in January 2014 when DP's parents mentioned that they wanted to go to Alaska after reviewing one of the NCL brochures that we had given them. They (the in-laws) discussed it with their friends and in February 2014 we all met to discuss what cruise and when we wanted to go. As the planner in the family, I put together a PowerPoint presentation with the different cruise options (roundtrip Seattle, Northbound or Southbound), and we decided on a southbound cruise from Seward to Vancouver. I really wanted to do this cruise because it would allow us to spend some time in Alaska before the cruise.

We booked three connecting balcony rooms and one inside room on deck 9. At the time of booking each room received some OBC. Later on we added more free perks (dinner at the Italian restaurant and a bottle of wine). A month before the cruise, the prices dropped and NCL gave us more OBC.

For months I researched everything I could about Alaska and the different options for us to visit Denali. At the time, we had three options: 1) NCL-sponsored land tour, 2) Private tour from Anchorage to Denali or 3) Do-it-yourself transportation and accommodation (tour required for Denali National Park). We decided against the NCL sponsored tour because it did not allow us to go deep into the park. The second option - private tour from Anchorage to Denali- was expensive and required us to spend an additional night in Anchorage. At the end we decided to plan our own adventure, rent a car, spend two nights in Denali and do the Kantishna experience in Denali National Park, which takes you 92 miles into the park.

A few days before our trip, I prepared "the book" containing all of the information about our trip. My DP makes fun of my book, but I think that it is a great idea to have all of the information you need in one binder.

Packing for this trip was also a challenge because the weather can be so unpredictable in Alaska. But we always pack a few thing to make us feel right at home.

With our bags packed, it was time for our vacation to begin. :)

We left Baltimore at 3:40 pm on Thursday, June 25th and had a nice flight to Charlotte. As usual we enjoyed some adult beverages to celebrate the beginning of our vacation.

Good-bye Maryland!

And hello Charlotte.

Love reading your review so far! I am a planner too and create folders for each trip. I print everything out and organize by day and activity. It's my security blanket plus it is just so fun to plan! Can't wait to read more!

............ My DP makes fun of my book, but I think that it is a great idea to have all of the information you need in one binder...........

 

We completely agree with your approach. It only takes one time for something to go amiss and you will see how handy that binder can be.

Thanks for the review.:cool:

Upon landing in Charlotte we were informed that our 6:00 pm flight to Seattle was delayed until 6:30 pm. We boarded the plane at 6:15 pm and were informed that the delay was going to be longer because due to the heat in Charlotte (98 degrees) they did not know how much fuel was going to be needed for the flight from Charlotte to Seattle. :(

Our flight did not leave Charlotte until 7:30 pm. We were originally scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 8:45 pm and had a connecting flight to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines at 10:25 pm. However, we did not land in Seattle until 10:00 pm and did not pick up our luggage until 10:25 pm. Yes - we missed the flight to Anchorage. We quickly ran to the Alaska Airlines desk and they agreed to put us on a later flight (12:15 am). We checked our luggage and quickly made it through the security checkpoint only to find out that the 11:15 pm flight to Anchorage was still at the gate. The gate agent was very nice and put us on the 11:15 pm flight but told us that our luggage would be on the 12:15 am flight.

Besides their kindness, there were two things worth nothing about Alaska Airlines. 1) They have re-usable luggage tag holders so that you can print your luggage tags at home.

The second thing that I liked about Alaska Airlines is that they have USB ports at every seat.

We finally arrived in Anchorage at 1:30 am (5:30 am EST) and decided to wait for our luggage, which finally arrived at 2:40 am. Tired and hungry we finally arrived at the hotel at 3:15 am (7:15 am EST).

We managed to get about 4 hours of sleep at the hotel before getting up to start our drive to Denali National Park.

Since our tour of Denali National Park was not scheduled until Saturday, our plan was to take our time on Friday driving up to Denali including a visit to Matanuska Glacier.

Feel free to ask questions and I will return tomorrow night with Day 2 of our adventure - Matanuska Glacier and a road trip to Denali National Park.

Great report. I'm taking the cruise-only part of your trip at the end of August. Looking forward to hearing more.

Greatly enjoying this review... we leave for the Northbound version of this cruise a week from Saturday, so I'm living vicariously through these pictures until then!

Erin

Great report. I'm taking the cruise-only part of your trip at the end of August. Looking forward to hearing more.

You will love this cruise. It is very relaxing and the ever-changing scenery is amazing.

Greatly enjoying this review... we leave for the Northbound version of this cruise a week from Saturday, so I'm living vicariously through these pictures until then!

 

Erin

Thanks. We would like to do the Northbound version next time. I think that one of the difference between the two is that in the Northbound version your anticipation increases as you go North. On the Southbound route you begin to enjoy the more cruise and relax as you go South.

Please come back and tell us about your adventure.

Here is a photo that I forgot to post from Day 1. We were about to land in Seattle when I spotted this mountain and a beautiful sunset. I think that it is Mount Rainier.