Princess Midnight Sun Express Rail Packages & Lodges

[Teresa0513]

I'm in the researching and information collecting of a Alaskan vacation for next summer. Is there anyone out there that has taken the Princess Tours? If so, can you tell your opinion of the package? Is it better to do a package or plan and do your own thing? Any information would be appreciated.

[Genessa]

I'm in the researching and information collecting of a Alaskan vacation for next summer. Is there anyone out there that has taken the Princess Tours? If so, can you tell your opinion of the package? Is it better to do a package or plan and do your own thing? Any information would be appreciated.

 

 

we took a package cruise tour in 2003 and there are pros and cons to taking one.

It is much cheaper, on a whole, to plan your own thing. You get to pick exactly where and when you want to go and how much time to spend doing it.

We had a list of all the places we wanted to see and were travelling in a group of six adults. There was a Princess tour that included every place we wanted to go, with time "built in" for relaxation. As there were six of us, after spending some time trying to find a "normal sized" vehicle that would fit all 6 and our luggage, just to get an idea of what car rental would cost and not finding anything suitable and realizing from researching lodging that the places we wanted to stay were all similar to the Princess lodges or were the Princess lodges and knowing that we all wanted to take the train, it made more sense for us to take a tour, rather than to go on our own.

[Budget Queen]

If of interest, an independent will offer way more than a cruisetour. Most important the ability to see and do what is of interest to YOU. My opinion only group, point to point travel is less than ideal for Alaska, extremely simple to go on your own. :) Plenty of information on this board from FIRST hand poster's. Interesting- NO negative reviews from those and consistant raves, especially no one claiming they wished they'd taken a cruise-tour. :)

[pfopma]

Check out the Princess Lodges website. There are some railtours that include the basics -- Princess domecar, lodging, and transfers fr/train to lodge. They are a lot more reasonable then the cruisetours and give you more freedom to plan your own activities at your destination. We booked Anchorage-Fairbanks tour for August that includes 2 nights at Denali Princess Lodge and the Wilderness Express domecar. We are spending one night in Anchorage and 2 nights in Fairbanks which we arranged on our own and will book our own activities that we prefer. I'm sure it would be less expensive and give you even more flexibility if you rented a car. We wanted to go by train. Alaska Railroad also has a lot of info on railtours.

 

Pat

[CSloan]

We did one in 2001- our first cruise. Since it was our first cruise and first time to Alaska, I'm glad we did the cruise tour. It started with a night in Anchorage, then the train to Denali. One night in Denali. Train to Fairbanks. Two nights in Fairbanks. Plane to Anchorage. Bus to Seward.

 

The domed train was a great experience! The only thing I wouldn't do again is choose the package that had 2 nights in Fairbanks. But the riverboat tour included with the package in Fairbanks was fun.

 

I think the cruisetour is a good idea for a first visit to Alaska. If you want to see pics of our experience in 2001, they're posted at www.websitebycathy.com. Just click on Alaska Land Tour and Cruise.

 

Cathy

[Budget Queen]

A good way if you want a train lodging combo is to use the http://www.toursaver.com 2 for one coupons, all the Princess lodges in the book and the Alaska RR has an Anchorage/Denali Park round trip. I do disagree however, that first timers should take a tour. It's extremely SIMPLE to go on your own, if it's your first time or 20 th. :)

[tiggy]

We did a Princess cruisetour last year for our honeymoon and loved it. For us, there were several advantages. First, the tour went where we wanted to go. Ours did 2 nights in Fairbanks, a night at Denali, a night at McKinley, and two nights in Kenai. We spent a day in Anchorage on our own before flying to Fairbanks. Second, no one had to drive. My husband and I do a bit of scenic driving and usually have a discussion about who has to drive. The tour gave us both a chance to sit back and enjoy the views. Third, we had a guide with us. There was always someone pointing out the wildlife, giving a history of the area, or just describing what we were seeing. That was a big plus for us. Finally, it was relaxing. No worries about moving luggage, getting lost, finding a gas station, all of those things. It was worth it to let someone else handle the details.

 

Now, I'm just finishing putting together my parents' trip to Alaska for this year. They're doing an independent tour that's going to most of the same places we did. At this point, their trip is actually MORE expensive than our cruisetour. (To calculate the cost of our tour, I'm looking at the price of our cruisetour minus the "pre-final payment" cost of our cruise.) They're using the toursaver coupon book which helps somewhat. They did look at a Princess cruisetour. However, they've been to Alaska and did many of the included activities.

 

If you've never been to Alaska, a cruisetour can be a good option. If the tour goes where you want to go and does what you want to do, look into it. It does have many advantages.

 

I will say this, planning our honeymoon was a heck of a lot easier than planning my parents' trip. My time is valuable to me.