Itinerary Planning

[treinke]

Time to gather advice on our plans.

 

We are leaving on Island Princess June 20 from Vancouver.

 

Ketchikan - we don't know what we want to do here. Not big on the whale watching or totems. So would welcome suggestions.

 

Juneau - First plan is helicopter to dog sled on glacier. Backup plan is take bus to Mendenhall Glacier and do our own thing there.

 

Skagway - Train ride to Yukon. I'd welcome advice on which is the best. Mainly I really want to ride a train.

 

Whittier - rental car from Avis (already reserved) drive to Seward

 

Seward - two nights, going to do one boat tour with wildlife/glaciers. Would like to maybe do a little hiking too. Have lodging narrowed down to a few that have openings so I have that taken care of.

 

Then we have two nights that I'm not sure what to do. Basically we will be travelling from Seward up to Denali. But I don't want to get there until July 1 so need ideas between Seward and Denali. If our dog sled adventure gets cancelled in Juneau, we need to add it here.

 

Denali - 3 nights. Trying to decide between one of the longer bus tours or just do the park shuttle. Also want to do one flightseeing tour of McKinley. This could even be before these days at Denali if we stopped in Talkeetna before we got there. Still looking at lodging but have it narrowed down I think. We prefer cabin/B&B type lodging because it is cheaper and you get more of the remoteness of Alaska I think. Plus with a car we are able to really have choices.

 

Plane leaves at 11:30pm out of Anchorage on July 4. So will drop the car off there.

 

As you can see, we need help. These boards helped immensely when we went on our cruises in the Caribbean so I know that this is the best way to plan.

[rayliang]

personal suggestion:

 

Ketchikan - use Ketchikan Taxi tour to take you around the island. Dave is a great tour guide.

[huskerdan25]

Time to gather advice on our plans.

 

We are leaving on Island Princess June 20 from Vancouver.

 

Ketchikan - we don't know what we want to do here. Not big on the whale watching or totems. So would welcome suggestions.

 

Juneau - First plan is helicopter to dog sled on glacier. Backup plan is take bus to Mendenhall Glacier and do our own thing there.

 

Skagway - Train ride to Yukon. I'd welcome advice on which is the best. Mainly I really want to ride a train.

 

Whittier - rental car from Avis (already reserved) drive to Seward

 

Seward - two nights, going to do one boat tour with wildlife/glaciers. Would like to maybe do a little hiking too. Have lodging narrowed down to a few that have openings so I have that taken care of.

 

Then we have two nights that I'm not sure what to do. Basically we will be travelling from Seward up to Denali. But I don't want to get there until July 1 so need ideas between Seward and Denali. If our dog sled adventure gets cancelled in Juneau, we need to add it here.

 

Denali - 3 nights. Trying to decide between one of the longer bus tours or just do the park shuttle. Also want to do one flightseeing tour of McKinley. This could even be before these days at Denali if we stopped in Talkeetna before we got there. Still looking at lodging but have it narrowed down I think. We prefer cabin/B&B type lodging because it is cheaper and you get more of the remoteness of Alaska I think. Plus with a car we are able to really have choices.

 

Plane leaves at 11:30pm out of Anchorage on July 4. So will drop the car off there.

 

As you can see, we need help. These boardhttp://boards.cruisecritic.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=32323983s helped immensely when we went on our cruises in the Caribbean so I know that this is the best way to plan.

 

My wife and I took this similar cruise on the Coral two years ago this July and it was fantastic! I can give you some advice for the ports but I mainly want to focus on your request about Skagway.

 

I love trains and in my opinion the best (and definitely the longest) train ride is the Carcross Rail and Bus Excursion through Chilkoot Charters. I believe the cost is $239 per person. It is 9 hours total and goes along Lake Bennett all the way to Carcross. You stop along Lake Bennett for a mulligan stew lunch and about 1.5 hours rest before continuing to Carcross. At Carcross, you take a bus back to Skagway, stopping along the way to see Emerald Lake, the smallest desert in the world and other wonderful sights. This excursion was the highlight of our cruise and this may be just the ticket for you if you love trains. Go to http://www.chilkootcharters.com/ for more information.

 

Have a great trip! We are going back to Alaska in August on the Sea Princess and plan to do this excursion again in Skagway or rent a car and drive to the Yukon.

 

Dan

I love trains Carcross Rail & Bus Excursion

[CMcG]

We're going to do a little hiking in Ketchikan - probably Rainbird trail since we don't have much time in port. If you have more time Deer Mountain trail is another option. Both are close to town - you can take a very short taxi ride to trailhead or walk. And there are other options farther out that you would need to either arrange taxi or rent a car.

 

Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned.

[Northern Aurora]

Since you are interested in doing some hiking, consider visiting Exit Glacier while in Seward. You could also do some hiking in Girdwood by either hiking UP to the top of the tram station and taking the tram DOWN or vice versa.