We have the cruise, questions about tour..

[SPacificbound]

We are on Radiance 8/22/14 South to North. We have been planning a land portion on our own that is amounting to two extra weeks after the cruise. As I have read some threads about RCCL cruise tours I am wondering if we would be better off talking a RCCL tour instead of doing it ourselves.

 

If we go it alone how difficult is it to find good accommodations?

 

 

[donaldsc]

We are on Radiance 8/22/14 South to North. We have been planning a land portion on our own that is amounting to two extra weeks after the cruise. As I have read some threads about RCCL cruise tours I am wondering if we would be better off talking a RCCL tour instead of doing it ourselves.

 

If we go it alone how difficult is it to find good accommodations?

 

 

 

It is never better to do a cruise company land tour over a DIY tour - especially if you have 2 weeks for your land tour. You will have to spend some effort deciding what you want to do but you will see what you want for as long as you want to stay at a place, not what makes RCCL the most money.

 

With regard to accommodations, use Trip Advisor to find places to stay and I recommend B&Bs over motels and hotels. In some cases, cabins are also good bets.

 

DON

[Budget Queen]

We are on Radiance 8/22/14 South to North. We have been planning a land portion on our own that is amounting to two extra weeks after the cruise. As I have read some threads about RCCL cruise tours I am wondering if we would be better off talking a RCCL tour instead of doing it ourselves.

 

If we go it alone how difficult is it to find good accommodations?

 

 

 

If you are planning on a 3 week trip, then do it yourself. There are not going to be any cruise tours that long. It is simple to arrange, you are already on this board, which has excellent accurate first hand advice. Vital- know your distances and don't underestimate time needed. Reserve the rental car now. It is simple to make any reservations you want. Read reviews on lodgings, loaded information available on tripadvisor.

[cruisin0218]

We Would Prefer To Tour On Our Own. Previously We Rented An Rv In Anchorage, Used The Milepost Book And Had A Great Time Because We Could Take Our Time And Tour At Our Own Pace. The Only Reservations We Had To Make Were For The Campground And Shuttle In Denali And Our Transportation From the Port To Anchorage To Pick Up The Rv.

 

It Is Very Easy To Drive. There Are Very Few Roads So You Don't Have To Worry About Getting Lost. There Are Many Turnouts Where You Can Stop And enjoy The Scenery And Many Campgrounds With Vacancies To Stop Overnight. We Had Food In The RV So We Could Stop AnD Eat Anytime. The Units Are Self Contained So You Also Carry Your Own Bathroom And Bed With You.

 

We Rented Through Great Alaskan Holidays And We Very Pleased. ABC RV Rentals Also HaS A Good Reputation And We Are Considering Renting Through Them For The Return Trip We Are Planning In July 2014. We Are Looking At Abc Because Their Rates Are So Good Right Now.

[mapleleaves]

people from all over the world manage to plan trips to Alaska using the web for research.

Go the the Alaska forum of tripadvisor and under Top Questions you'll find an informative thread on RESOURCES for planning a trip, as well as links to the 2012 and 2013 trip reports. The reports are quite detailed, with information on activities, lodging, excursions, etc so you will get some great ideas for an itinerary.

[SPacificbound]

I love the RV idea but DH is thumbs down.

 

Thanks for the comments. :)

[paylady]

I am also in the DIY camp, especially since you plan on two weeks in Alaska. I used info from this board as well as Tripadvisor and alaska dot org to make my choices.

 

If you don't want to incur additional fees for one way car rental, you can complete your Seward activities with a one night stay and take the Alaska RR Coastal Classic train to Anchorage around 6 pm the next day. The train is a nice Alaska experience, especially with Goldstar Service (dome car and outside viewing) and this stretch is the most scenic. In Anchorage, you can rent a car and back track if you wanted to visit the Kenai peninsula or Girdwood before heading north of Anchorage.

Edited January 6, 2014 by paylady

[olemissreb]

I'm also in the DIY camp. As someone suggested, check out the boards here on CC and over on Trip Advisor. That's what I did and it really was easy to book the things we wanted to do, when we wanted to do them. I booked everything very early for our June trip last year. I think I had everything booked by the end of January/early February. Make sure you don't plan every minute of every day. Build in some down time - your body will appreciate it! :)

[SPacificbound]

Thank you for your help! :)

 

I love rail travel so we will definitely check that out. :)

[mapleleaves]

If an RV is out, reserve the car NOW for the best deal you can find. If you don't have exact dates, pad a little by adding a day or 2 at each end.

[Lady Anna & Sir Troy]

I would look at the Toursaver book for some great deals for lodging and railway packages. You can practically plan a trip with the discounts. I liked this thread, only for a few days but you could expand easily. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1674295

 

L.A.S.T.

[katrina915]

If you are going to Denali, I would start looking at lodging now. I was surprised of lack of availability already for July. I booked all refundable hotels since I don't have my flight yet.

[SPacificbound]

If an RV is out, reserve the car NOW for the best deal you can find. If you don't have exact dates, pad a little by adding a day or 2 at each end.

 

We will be traveling by train from Seward to Anchorage, Takeetna, Denali, and back to Anchorage, staying 3 nights each stop except 2 nights at last Anchorage stop. Train and air are already booked and I'm working on lodging.

 

We will be booking various excursions, so far all I have done is two excursions in Seward.

 

Is there anywhere that we will need a car? Sorry, we are kind of clueless at this point. :eek:

 

We will arrive in Seward on 8/29 and fly out of Anchorage on 9/13. We plan to use shuttles, taxis, public transportation etc. in Anchorage.

[SPacificbound]

If you are going to Denali, I would start looking at lodging now. I was surprised of lack of availability already for July. I booked all refundable hotels since I don't have my flight yet.

 

Denali is the last one to find. :D

[donaldsc]

We will be traveling by train from Seward to Anchorage, Takeetna, Denali, and back to Anchorage, staying 3 nights each stop except 2 nights at last Anchorage stop. Train and air are already booked and I'm working on lodging.

 

We will be booking various excursions, so far all I have done is two excursions in Seward.

 

Is there anywhere that we will need a car? Sorry, we are kind of clueless at this point. :eek:

 

We will arrive in Seward on 8/29 and fly out of Anchorage on 9/13. We plan to use shuttles, taxis, public transportation etc. in Anchorage.

 

I think that you are making a major mistake taking trains, especially as you do have 2 weeks. I would rent a car for the 2 full weeks and drive. You have much more flexibility that way.

 

Let me give you 2 scenarios that will occur if you use the train.

 

1) You are going down the tracks at whatever speed the train travels at. You look out the window and see some really neat wildlife. However, your camera is on your lap and your wife is walking around the train doing something. By the time you get the camera up to tale a picture, the wildlife is 1/2 mile down the tracks. Your wife never got to see it at all.

 

2) You are having a great time at a location. You would like to stay longer at the spot even though this means less time at another place. However, the trains leaves in 30 minutes. You have booked the train tickets so you have to leave when you would prefer to stay.

 

I did the Anchorage to Denali train trip a few years back and I hated every minute of it. I will grant that the train was very nice and the dome cars gave you good visibility but I still hated the trip. I like to control my own flow when I travel. You can't do that with train travel.

 

The only time since then that I have been on a tourist train was when we took the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide. I wanted to see what the interior of Australia was like and I did not want to drive the 1882 miles from Darwin to Adelaide.

 

Do yourself a favor and drive.

 

DON

[SPacificbound]

I think that you are making a major mistake taking trains, especially as you do have 2 weeks. I would rent a car for the 2 full weeks and drive. You have much more flexibility that way.

 

Let me give you 2 scenarios that will occur if you use the train.

 

1) You are going down the tracks at whatever speed the train travels at. You look out the window and see some really neat wildlife. However, your camera is on your lap and your wife is walking around the train doing something. By the time you get the camera up to tale a picture, the wildlife is 1/2 mile down the tracks. Your wife never got to see it at all.

 

2) You are having a great time at a location. You would like to stay longer at the spot even though this means less time at another place. However, the trains leaves in 30 minutes. You have booked the train tickets so you have to leave when you would prefer to stay.

 

I did the Anchorage to Denali train trip a few years back and I hated every minute of it. I will grant that the train was very nice and the dome cars gave you good visibility but I still hated the trip. I like to control my own flow when I travel. You can't do that with train travel.

 

The only time since then that I have been on a tourist train was when we took the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide. I wanted to see what the interior of Australia was like and I did not want to drive the 1882 miles from Darwin to Adelaide.

 

Do yourself a favor and drive.

 

DON

 

Don you have definitely brought up some scenarios we need to think about. :)

 

We have some traveling in common :D.

 

Earlier this year we spent eight weeks in Australia and had considered rail, but decided to rent cars instead. One of our journeys was Adelaide to Coober Pedy, to Ayers Rock to Alice Springs by car. I was never so happy to be done with a car in my life. :eek:

[donaldsc]

Don you have definitely brought up some scenarios we need to think about. :)

 

We have some traveling in common :D.

 

Earlier this year we spent eight weeks in Australia and had considered rail, but decided to rent cars instead. One of our journeys was Adelaide to Coober Pedy, to Ayers Rock to Alice Springs by car. I was never so happy to be done with a car in my life. :eek:

 

Distances in Australia can be very long. Do a Google Map routing from Darwin to Adelaide. Of the 1850 miles of the 1882 miles are in four legs. Sort of like "turn left and drive 753 miles", followed by "take the 2nd exit on a roundabout and drive 570 miles". One good thing about the directions is that you can hardly get lost.

 

LOL!!

 

You will enjoy driving in Alaska.

 

DON

[MermaidWatcher]

I would say absolutely on your own for that much time. It will take a little work, but you will be able to tailor your time much better to your personal interests and pace.

I don't know your definition of adequate lodgings, but remember this is Alaska, and to my way of thinking, the experience of putting yourself in the local culture is a big part of the experience. There are lots of really neat, sometimes a bit wacky, by big chain hotel comparisons, B & B's throughout the state.

One of my most amusing pictures is from a stop on the drive to Prudhoe Bay. The facilities were an outhouse, albeit it a fancy 4 door model, with a sign inside the door that said "Imagine sitting here in 45 below". Point well taken:eek:

Remember the driving distances are often 4 to 6 hours point to point , but there are always lots of incredible scenic views, or side trips that you spot in some local publication, so allow some extra time for these spontaneous stops.

Edited January 12, 2014 by MermaidWatcher

[SPacificbound]

I have all the lodging booked, rail booked, car rental in Denali booked and our excursions in Seward. DH will book with Talkeetna Air Taxi for one of the days in Talkeetna. I wish I could but not able to, I'll find something else to do. :)

 

Now I had best get back to the Panama Canal cruise. :D

[goinmobile68]

We did the cruise tour, but if I was to do it again I would do it on our own. I'm too used to stopping where & when we please. There aren't enough roads to get too lost on!

[SPacificbound]

We did the cruise tour, but if I was to do it again I would do it on our own. I'm too used to stopping where & when we please. There aren't enough roads to get too lost on!

 

I looked at the cruise tours but then started really looking at the locations and I knew we would not be happy with the cruise tour. As you said, we are also too used to stopping when and where we please.

 

I hope you have another opportunity to do it the way you want to. :)