Any UK cruisers who have done Alaska ??

[Cash123]

We are trying to sort out an Alaskan cruise/Tour for next July and am having problems trying to sort out arrangments with flights and tours. We want to do the land tour first with possibly 2 nights in Denali which would mean either flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks, doing the land tour then the cruise and then flying back to the UK from Vancouver.

 

For those from the UK that have done this how did you arrange the flights, what airline/routes did you choose and how did you sort out the transfers from Denali to Whittier.

 

I am also finding this to be a very expensive holiday as balcony cabins are coming in at £1400 each with flights around £1000 and then of course you need to add the land tour and any excursions, not to mention the time it will take to get to Anchorgage, any help would be appreciated.

[lauralou2]

This is not exactly an answer to your question but it may be of some help. We did an Alaska cruise in 2002 which we tacked on to our own self-arranged Rockies tour. We booked the cruise and flights directly with Princess who allowed us to amend the flight details so that we flew to Calgary with Air Canada where we picked up a rental car. We then toured the Rockies for several days before arriving in Vancouver, stayed in a B&B for a couple of nights and then on the eve of the cruise, checked in to the hotel which was part of the cruise package. a After the cruise we disembarked in Seward and spent one night in Anchorage before flying to Seattle with Air Alaska and then home with BA. And a grand time was had by all!:)

[okydoky]

We are trying to sort out an Alaskan cruise/Tour for next July and am having problems trying to sort out arrangments with flights and tours. We want to do the land tour first with possibly 2 nights in Denali which would mean either flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks, doing the land tour then the cruise and then flying back to the UK from Vancouver.

 

For those from the UK that have done this how did you arrange the flights, what airline/routes did you choose and how did you sort out the transfers from Denali to Whittier.

 

I am also finding this to be a very expensive holiday as balcony cabins are coming in at £1400 each with flights around £1000 and then of course you need to add the land tour and any excursions, not to mention the time it will take to get to Anchorgage, any help would be appreciated.

hi, we did alaska a couple of years ago with princess.We flew to Calgary and were bused to Banff we spent 2nights there then travelled to Jasper for 1night then on to Sun Peaks for another night, after we were taken straight to Vancouver to board our ship and did the inside passage KETCHICAN,JUNEAU and SKAGWAY to disembark at WHITTIER for transit to ANCHORAGE.This was a splendid tour and doing the land tour first enabled us to meet another 50 people who were on the ship with us so you had something to talk about if you wanted to.If you do this cruise you are better off on the starboard side of the ship...d&k

[Rex008]

Our first cruise was Alaska, with Princess, in 2001. Flights booked as part of cruise, we flew into Vancouver, with 2 nights there, cruised inside passage then the glaciers and finished in Anchorage. Interior tour (Princess again) on their glass topped train, with Denali and Fairbanks. Flew back from Fairbanks via Seattle.

 

Doesn't help you much really! Yes, it was flippin expensive, but it's the best holiday we've done, full stop. Absolutely amazing sights. I'm sure we could have done it cheaper by arranging own flights & tours, but doing it as a package made it very easy.

 

Helicopter flight from Juneau on to a glacier - landed, then champagne chilled in a glacial pool was the absolute highlight. Just wow :).

 

Oh, and the plane from Fairbanks to Seattle had literally 7 passengers on a 737 (it continued on to the UK full). I've never experienced a take-off like it - I think I know how a jet fighter feels now!

[mypleasure]

Have been to Alaska twice and both times we sailed from Seattle and did not do any land tour. Having said that I made all of our arrangements myself.

I booked flights to Seattle with BA, can't remember how much but it was less than £500 per person. BA fly twice daily to Seattle from Heathrow. I booked our hotels online and booked the cruise direct with the cruiseline, NCL, paying in US dollars. I found it all very easy to do and about half the price of booking everything through an agent or the cruiseline.

 

It is very easy to get from Seattle to Vancouver by road, rail or ferry. It is about 3 hours drive. Alaska Airlines fly to Vancouver and Alaska cities from SEATAC too.

[suejok]

Have just returned from round trip cruise from Seattle. Amazing cruise and would do it again tomorrow if I could. Think BA now only do one flight to Seattle daily. That is the only non-stop flight. I was checking prices from December and they just kept increasing. Eventually paid £776 return so prices have increased.

[Elizanessie]

A friendly reminder :D

 

Naming of Travel Agents is against CC guidelines and posts which contain TA names will be removed.

 

Thank you for your understanding.

[Dorset Cruiser]

WE did Alaska last year with Golden Princess from Seattle (return). We spent a week driving through from Calgary to Vancouver, then a week on Vancouver Island with relatives and then took the ferry over to Seattle from Victoria to join up with Golden Princess. The first week driving through to Vancouver was the best week of the three - we were more impressed with the scenery during that week than we were with the Alaskan scenery - we actually thought that the towns we visited in Alaska were spoilt with all the tourist shops; all a bit tacky IOHO.

[worldtraveller99]

We are also planning a future one-way Vancouver - Alaska cruise. Please may I ask - how did you choose your cruise ship and did you see any you preferred when you got there?

 

I am so confused by all the pretty identical itineraries! And their brochures all look wonderful, then the Cruise Critic reviews all say things like - the ship was a little bit old / smelly - and I do not know which ship to go for!

 

Thank you for your advice.

[baddow]

We are going to Alaska with Princess next May. We are doing the landtour first- Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage- and then 7 day cruise to Vancover. We booked it all through Princess and they book all the flights etc.

A balcony is quite expensive but really a must on an Alaskan cruise. Nothing quite like getting up early, getting a coffee and sitting on your balcony and watching as you sail into one of the ports.

:)

[formbysquirrel]

We did this in July 2009 with Princess on the Diamond from Vancouver to Whittier followed by a land tour. We chose Princess because the ship went into College Fjord as well as Glacier Bay which are 2 good sites for Glacier watching and their land tour arrangements seemed to have good coverage. We did our own flights because we wanted to have 3 nights in Vancouver and an extra one in Anchorage at the end of the trip and Princess were not very accommodating about this. The cruise element was 7 nights and the land tour 5.

 

The land tour is great, the lodges were excellent, but the food on land was abysmal, apart from breakfast! We covered the 3 Princess lodges of Mc Kinley, Denali and Copper River, and Princess were excellent at people moving and this was very efficient. The land tour gives you a very different view of Alaska than you will get just from the coastal strip.

 

Our flights were BA Heathrow to Vancouver, AC Anchorage to Vancouver, BA Vancouver to Heathrow.

Hope this helps.

[cornish1]

We went to Alaska in 2006. We flew from Heathrow to Calgary and did a land tour from Calgary to Kamloops. Staying at the Fairmont Chateau Hotel Lake Louise was wonderful. From Kamloops we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train to Vancouver,where we had an overnight stay before joining Sapphire Princess for our cruise. We disembarked in Whittier, then spent a night in Anchorage before flying home via Seattle..Our tour was a Princess package arranged by our travel agent. The while trip was organised so well. I'm not sure if Princess has the same itinarary now. We were so glad to have booked a balcony. The scenery is awesome. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful time

[Albert Ross]

You need to read the fabulous blog/review by Norberts Niece. She describes it all in great detail. And southbound is better than northbound apparently...

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1246542

 

I plan to do Alaska next year and I will do everything she did... even down to the same cabin number if I can get it!

[audal29]

We are cruising to Alaska from Seattle in August this year with Sapphire Princess,love Princess, definitely need a balcony, nothing like early morning coffee on your balcony, We are flying to Chicago from the UK with American Airlines taking the Amtrak for 2 days to Seattle.2 nights Seattle On our return we fly Seattle-Houston-Heathrow. American airlines again. If making own arrangements recommend flying in a day or two early in case of flight delays.

[robinbird62]

we are doing Alaska in August this year - flying BA to Seattle then land cruise and pick up Diamond Princess cruising to Vancouver. I am worried about the packing and baggage allowance - already posted on Princess board - lots of advice on there - just got to be organised I think as they take away our 'cruise bags' and we keep the land cruise stuff only. Any other advice welcome!!!:):)

[Beopthtuh]

we did alaska in 2002 added a pre rockie cruise on and was the best cruise tour we could have hoped for seen every kind of wildlife immaginable.

flew in to calgary on air canada then bused toured to banff,jasper, lake louise,

sun peaks . then we sailed from vancouver,

princess organised everything well worth the money.

[NorbertsNiece]

You need to read the fabulous blog/review by Norberts Niece. She describes it all in great detail. And southbound is better than northbound apparently...

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1246542

 

I plan to do Alaska next year and I will do everything she did... even down to the same cabin number if I can get it!

 

Oh my blush. Thank you so much. Haven't been around for a while...can't bear being on the boards with no cruise in the offing but I've a few pans on the fire right now just have to take the plunge and book (got badly bitten by RCCL no deposit return earlier this year when I had to cancel 4 rooms...sigh...)

 

Back to the topic..... loved the Alaska itinerary I plumped for. Fares are now way dearer this year.... flew into Seattle for a couple of nights then up to Fairbanks to meet the organised tour. Back home from Vancouver. Would I have done anything different? Yes. Would have spent more time in Vancouver. Booked flights independently as I used Air Miles to offset the upgrade.