What would we do different after AK cruise & Land Tour?

[JJPacer]

We planned our own itinerary to suit ourselves. It may not suit your interests. Hindsight is 20/20 and I will also tell you what we would have done differently.

 

We bought the Alaska Tour Saver book for $50.00 on Amazon. It saved us a lot of money with its 2 for 1 coupons. If you buy 3 shuttle bus tickets in Denali to the same destination, you pay for 2 tickets and get the 3rd free. We did that also.

 

Fri. 8/10 ARRIVE Anchorage arrive 10 P.M. spend 1 night

Confort Suites Creek Street free breakfast , airport & train shuttle

Sat. 8/11 Take train to Denali. Leave 8:15 arrive Denali 3:45 PM McKinley Express.

ARRIVE DENALI Sat. 8/11/12 & Sun 8/12/12

Princess Wilderness Lodge 2 nights 2 for 1 coupon

SUN. 8/12/12 Wonder Lake Bus 6:45 AM 11 hours. We went all the way to Wonder Lake. Saw a lot of wildlife & saw Mt. McKinley briefly when the clouds parted.

8:30 PM Cabin Nite dinner theater McKinley Lodge 2 for 1 Coupon Would not do this again.

Mon. 8/13 DENALI BLUFFS LODGE 2 nights 2 for 1 coupon Their shuttle picked us & our luggage up at the Princess Lodge and drove us to Denali Bluffs. I would not stay here again. There were other hotels we could have stayed at with a 2 for 1 coupon. We chose the wrong hotel. Very run down.

Mon. We did not take the shuttle bus into the park this day. We went to the dog sled Demo, hiked on trails, hiked to Horseshoe Lake, visited the Visitors Center, shopped, etc.

 

Tu 8/14 Shuttle Bus Wonder Lake 7:15 AM. This was a brilliant sunny day, without a cloud in the sky. Saw Mt. McKinly and went as far as the Eielson Center. Hiked in that area, and got off at Toklot River to hike.

Wed. 8/15 Canyon Run Rafting 7:30-11:00 2 for 1 coupon had plenty of time to do the river raft ride and meet the train. The hotel sent our luggage to the train station while we were rafting.

Train leaves for Anchorage at 12:25 to Anchorage arrives 8:00 PM

ARRIVE ANCHORAGE Wed. 8/15 8:00 PM

Wed. 8/15 - 8/18 3 nights

Hampton Inn incl. breakfast & shuttle. The shuttle was very accommodating and dropped you off and picked you up almost anywhere.

 

Th 8/16 Seward Train Day trip. L 6:45 AM A 11:05 AM 2 for 1 coupon for the train. It didn't rain, but was very dreary day. We decided not to do any Kenai Wildlife tours. We visited the Aquarium, had lunch, shopped, walked along Resurrection Bay, and the wharf. Return to Anchorage L Seward 6:00 PM A Anchorage 10:15 PM Ate dinner on the train. There is scenery between Anchorage & Seward that you can only see on the train. You cannot see it if you drive. We thought it was worth seeing. You see Bartlett Glacier.

Fri. 8/17 Anchorage Visit Earthquake Museum 2 for 1 coupon , look around Anchorage. Visit Ula factory

ARRIVE WHITTIER

Sat. 8/18 L Anchorage 9:45 AM A Whittier 12:05 PM Put Princess tags on luggage when boarding the train and luggage was in our cabin when we boarded the ship. Did Prince William Sound Glacier Tour 12:15 AM -5:30 20% Discnt

Walk across the street from the train station in Whittier , and get on Major Marine boat. After tour the Princess Terminal is very close and walked to it. Saw Surprise Glacier and College Fjord.

 

Cruise Begins!!!! Aug. 18 Board ship after the PWS tour

Tues. 8/21 Skagway rent car drive to Emeral lake and along Klondike Highway. Use Murray’s Guide 8:00 AM – 5 PM Take passports and water

Wed. Aug. 22 Jeanue Whale Watching & Wildlife Tour 2 for 1 coupon. Mount Roberts Tramway 2 for 1 coupon Saw Many whales!

Thurs. Aug. 23 Ketchikan Do walking Tour. Visit Married Man Creek, take shuttle to Eagle Creek and totem Village, shop Creek Street, Eagle preservation, fish hatchery, possibly hike. A lady on our ship didn't feel well & gave us tickets to a "Rainforest Walk" Princess Excursion. It was nice. Saw black bears & cubs and lots of salmon and sea gulls.

 

What would we do different in hindsight?

We had a great time and great weather.

1.. We should have been kinder to ourselves and planned less early AM calls,

2. Skipped cabin nite dinner. There were 2 slop buckets on the table to scrape your plate and you had to reuse the same plate. Plus, everyone had to pass their plate, so all 12 people squeezed on benches around a picnic table touched your plate. YUCK!

3. We should have driven to Denali, & skipped the train. There's no need, (IMHO), to pay more for the Mt. McKinley dome railcar. There was a 2 for 1 coupon for the regular train that would have been just as good and less expensive than the McKinley Express. We would have gotten to Denali faster by driving.

Overall, we did pretty well planning it ourselves.

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[djr4mu]

Very nice review. I enjoyed your format, made it very easy to read

[Keith1010]

Thanks for writing and sharing your review.

 

Glad you had a good time.

 

Keith

[frugaltravel]

What company did you use in Juneau for the whale watching with the 2-for-1 coupon?

 

All I have heard is that Denali Princess Lodge doesn't run their shuttle too early to the park. Did you walk from the lodge to the WAC for your shuttle bus? How about from the Denali Bluffs? Did their shuttle start earlier?

 

Is the reason you only got a 20% discount with Major Marine because Toursaver had no 2-for-1 coupon for that? I know Northern Lights book has 2-for-1 for the Major Marine Blackstone Bay tour.

 

Interesting how you didn't like the Denali Bluffs. I thought it was adequate, though not luxurious, especially when using 2-for-1.

 

Interesting too how you would drive vs. take the train to Denali. Several regulars, including myself, recommend that for several reasons but some people insist on taking the train.

[JJPacer]

We used Alaska Whale Watching Tour in Juneau.

 

Princess Lodge offers a service to take you into the park early, if your tour begins before their shuttles begin running. You arrange it at the front desk, and it is $10.00 pp. A Princess employee drives a van with early passengers into the park.

 

We did not buy the Northern Lights book. We only bought the Alaska Tour Saver book. Major Marine had some Kenia Tour coupons, but we chose not to do any tours at Seward. There is a coupon for Glacier Quest Cruise out of Whittier, but we wanted to go to Surpise Glacier and College Fjord. The Glacier Quest Cruise went to Blackstone Bay Glacier. We booked the Whittier Major Marine Tour just a couple of days before we left for our trip. They were offering the 20% discount then, but not offering it earlier when we looked at it in March or April.

 

Denali Bluffs was adequate. We were there when it was mid to upper 70's. The AC didn't work, and the room was hot. We could have chosen other hotels in Denali with a 2 for 1 coupon, and will do so the next time we go.

 

We did the train this first time. But would not do it again. We will drive for future visits. We didn't enjoy the train as much as we thought we would. Now we know that.

 

Our itinerary was planned to suit our interests. It's not meant to please everybody. It was the first land trip we planned in Alaska. I wanted to share what we did and what we would do different as I have read time & time again how confused people are about how to plan an Alaska trip. We are well traveled. There are always things we would have done differently after a trip. You live & learn. Just because we would have changed a few things, does not mean we didn't have a wonderful time. We did enjoy this trip very much.