Included with Cruise/Tour

[fdpevey]

After some pretty extensive review and discussion, we have decided to look for an 11-night cruise/tour (4 night tour, 7 night cruise) in late June/ early July 2014 that includes Denali on the tour and Glacier Bay on the cruise. My research has revealed multiple options among three cruise lines: Princess, Holland America, and Norwegian.

The only one of these cruise lines where I can find included activities during the cruise/tour is Norwegian (tour in Denali, Iditarod stop, tour of Fairbanks, riverboat, etc.). That just doesn’t seem right. On Princess’s website it basically says travel from point A to Point B, no indication of included tours – same for HAL.

For those of you with experience, is this right? Are most of the cruise/tours simply transportation, not activities?

[shrimpboat123]

You have to read the itinerary very carefully. If there are any included excursions, they will be stated as "included". The same will apply to any meals that are included. They will specifically be stated as "included".

 

Quite often they will say "Optional Excursions" or afternoon at "Your Leisure", which means you pay for the excursions that may be available.

 

I did a 19 day HAL CruiseTour this year and there were a few included excursions as well as some included meals (not many though).

[oaktreerb]

HAL will include the dome train to or from Denali as well as the bus. You don't have time with 4 days on land to see Fairbanks. HAL has two and three day packages at Denali and will include the Tundra Wilderness Tour into the park. All transportation is narrated and you will learn a lot about Alaska. It's nice to have an overnight in Anchorage to break up the trip. I don"t think I would enjoy the Direct to Denali.....too much travel for one day!

 

If you have two to three days you will have time for other experiences in Denali like flights, rafting, hiking, dog sled demos, etc.

 

Their website should also give you optional excursions for your tour once you decide which tour you would like to plan for.

[oaktreerb]

I just looked at the website. You have to select DETAILS for the Cruisetour and it will tell you what is included each day. You have to pay for your meals in the dining car on the train. You will receive free coffee and tea on the train. There will be a host to narrate and a bartender to serve drinks. The seats on HAL face forward and are very comfortable.

 

You will be centrally located at the entrance to the park. They just purchased the McKinley Chalets and I assume you will be staying there as they have been using this resort for years but now they will be customizing it for the HAL experience. They provide excellent shuttle service to the park itself.

[murphy4]

I am already booked for Princess in June 2014, I did book a cruise tour but NOT one that goes to Fairbanks. I booked the Princess DBX tour, after reading these boards and doing a lot of research I felt that was the tour that best fit what I wanted. My husband and I are also doing 3 days in Seward totally on our own, we rented a car.

 

you will get lots of opinions and views on these tours. Lots of people also say to just book the land portion on your own. I wanted to experience the "tour" for the land part and not be concerned about booking my own hotels.

 

good luck with your planning.

[Budget Queen]

After some pretty extensive review and discussion, we have decided to look for an 11-night cruise/tour (4 night tour, 7 night cruise) in late June/ early July 2014 that includes Denali on the tour and Glacier Bay on the cruise. My research has revealed multiple options among three cruise lines: Princess, Holland America, and Norwegian.

The only one of these cruise lines where I can find included activities during the cruise/tour is Norwegian (tour in Denali, Iditarod stop, tour of Fairbanks, riverboat, etc.). That just doesn’t seem right. On Princess’s website it basically says travel from point A to Point B, no indication of included tours – same for HAL.

For those of you with experience, is this right? Are most of the cruise/tours simply transportation, not activities?

 

I suggest you find out more before making any choices. You make NO mention of how you are getting INTO Denali Park- it is not enough to just state you are going there. There are different "tours" cruisetours include. You NEED to know the differences. And you need 2 nights at Denali. This is your highlight of the entire cruise tour- don't short change yourself.

 

As for the Iditarod "stop", is this Wasilla? In the past this museum was free, at most it would be a small cost, so not of significant value, but nice to be included. Fairbanks, does usually include the boat tour, but as already mentioned, it would be highly recommend to add at least another day, or more, to have more activities of Fairbanks. \\

 

Meals are also NOT included, which some people make the wrong assumptions they are. Included meal, if any are specifically noted- always. Otherwise budget 50% more than you would at home for meals.

[jnc411]

WE just did a land tour with Princess this Sept. , loved it , but we did our research prior to booking so we knew what to expect. Our hotel in anchorage was included, Our transportation from each location was included , the lodges where we stayed were included, the dome train was included, and a tour in Denali was included. The food is not included, any additional tours were not included, tips not included. But there is a tour on Princess I believe it is the Concierge tour that includes most of that stuff, but is more expensive to begin with . So do your research on any cruise line before you book.

Alaska is beautiful , you will love it.

Cori

[fdpevey]

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