Anyone do cruise first, then land tour?

[sunlover5]

Sorry I did try to search this, but I keep getting search engine disabled??

 

We are planning Alaska cruise/land tour first of June 2015. I have everything pretty well worked out but waiting on Princess to open their dates.

I have read many reviews on the land tour first and just curious to hear some thoughts on the cruise first, then the land tour.

Pros/Cons? Any suggestions??

Just curious why everyone seems to like the land tour first.

Thank you very much for any information!!

[zqvol]

Sorry I did try to search this, but I keep getting search engine disabled??

 

We are planning Alaska cruise/land tour first of June 2015. I have everything pretty well worked out but waiting on Princess to open their dates.

I have read many reviews on the land tour first and just curious to hear some thoughts on the cruise first, then the land tour.

Pros/Cons? Any suggestions??

Just curious why everyone seems to like the land tour first.

Thank you very much for any information!!

 

We have done the cruise first. This trip we are doing the land portion first. The only issue that we had with doing the cruise first was that we were rushed coming back, which could have been avoided by adding another day. Also flights back to the east coast leave Anchorage around midnight and IMO red eyes are not that much fun.

[lhbsurf]

I think the land portion is more tiring than the cruise (Our Land-Tour guide said to think of the Land Tour as our "Adventure" and the Cruise as the "Vacation"). So, you have time to "recover" from the Land Tour while you are cruising.

 

However, we had some friends who felt they wanted to end their trip with a bang - saving the best for last…which they considered Denali, so they did their Land last. It's really just personal preference.

 

I do agree with other poster about Anchorage Flights…due to Last Years issues with Millennium we didn't get to take our cruise…we had great flights scheduled from Vancouver…had to end up flying out of Anchorage instead…red-eyes to Houston with many layover hours…it was awful. I would avoid flying out of Anchorage if I could.

[SPacificbound]

We are doing land after the cruise, but doing our own tour for two weeks.

[sunlover5]

Maybe best to keep it the land first....to recover!! and to fly home from Vancouver...I did notice much better flights home from there.

Maybe flying into Anchorage won't be as bad as flying home from there.

Thanks for the thoughts!!

[JimS4210]

We're cruising first. Disembark in Whittier and then we're doing our own touring for a few days. We got a 9:50 PM flight out of Anchorage to Philadelphia with a 50 minute layover in Minneapolis. I like the later flight. It gives us a little more time in Alaska!

 

Jim

[DaveOKC]

Maybe best to keep it the land first....to recover!! and to fly home from Vancouver...I did notice much better flights home from there.

Maybe flying into Anchorage won't be as bad as flying home from there.

Thanks for the thoughts!!

 

Thats one thing we really liked about land first - the flight home was ALOT shorter. Going there we did not mind the long flight so much since we were so excited to get to AK.

 

DaveOKC

[MVPinBoynton]

Since we are doing a June 4 cruise, we wanted to do the land portion last so that the weather would be better while on land. I didn't want to do the land portion in May. Other than the late night flights out of Alaska, I don't think it would make any difference which is first. However the late flight from Fairbanks, will give us another day to explore Fairbanks on our own. It also probably helps that I am retired and live in south Florida, so we are always on vacation. :D

[Alberta Quilter]

We did the land tour last. It was my first cruise - 3 days from YVR to Skagway and then the 8 day land tour through Whitehorse, Dawson City, Tok, Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage. We were so spoiled on the cruise. It was a bit of a come down to the land tour, even though we were well taken care of. The hotels were fine but there were some very long days, riding in the coach. The land tour experience, as good as it was, was no comparison to the cruise experience. I admit I may be biased to my first cruise experience; it was wonderful!

 

I would recommend doing the land tour first, and then getting pampered on the cruise afterwards.

 

I just re-read your OP. We also did our cruise tour in June. It was lovely being up in Dawson City on the longest day of the year.

 

Just go with what works best for you. Know that there may be long days on the land tour. And, maybe, with many people wanting the land portion first, there will be fewer people on tours where the land portion is second!

Edited February 2, 2014 by Alberta Quilter

[sunlover5]

Thank you Alberta Quilter....talked about it today and DH really wants to do the land tour first for most of the reasons people have said. Relaxing on cruise afterwards is one of the reasons....and we can get a decent flight time home from Vancouver that we don't arrive in the wee hours of the night or early morning....:)

[vbmom87]

We did the cruise first and then an independent nine day land tour after. We had no complaints whatsoever. I don't buy into the shorter flight. We live in MI and the flight is one hour longer from Anchorage than from Vancouver. I don't find that a big deal. Others might, but for me an hour is not a deal breaker at all. If you are talking two hours, then maybe I can see the point. However, you still have the longer flight, only in the other direction. I tend to want to get my destination ASAP and am usually not in a hurry to get back home. ;) More than flight times, I would consider when you can get flights in each direction and which flights are better time wise.

 

Doing a DIY land tour, we found it more relaxing than the cruise. We did not jam pack our days, but took it easy and did not have any long days of driving. If you were on a cruise tour, it would be a different experience.

 

Just pick what seems to work best for you. I don't believe there is any best. Enjoy your cruise!!!

[DaveOKC]

We did the cruise first and then an independent nine day land tour after. We had no complaints whatsoever. I don't buy into the shorter flight. We live in MI and the flight is one hour longer from Anchorage than from Vancouver. I don't find that a big deal. Others might, but for me an hour is not a deal breaker at all. If you are talking two hours, then maybe I can see the point. However, you still have the longer flight, only in the other direction. I tend to want to get my destination ASAP and am usually not in a hurry to get back home. ;) More than flight times, I would consider when you can get flights in each direction and which flights are better time wise.

 

Doing a DIY land tour, we found it more relaxing than the cruise. We did not jam pack our days, but took it easy and did not have any long days of driving. If you were on a cruise tour, it would be a different experience.

 

Just pick what seems to work best for you. I don't believe there is any best. Enjoy your cruise!!!

 

Your situation is different than most however. Most people do a cruise tour which is alot more hectic. Second, MI (I assume you are going out of DTW) has better flights to AK than most other states (such as us here in OK).

 

DaveOKC

[Budget Queen]

Sorry I did try to search this, but I keep getting search engine disabled??

 

We are planning Alaska cruise/land tour first of June 2015. I have everything pretty well worked out but waiting on Princess to open their dates.

I have read many reviews on the land tour first and just curious to hear some thoughts on the cruise first, then the land tour.

Pros/Cons? Any suggestions??

Just curious why everyone seems to like the land tour first.

Thank you very much for any information!!

 

Being a frequent Alaska visitor, I disagree with the "cruise first" "recommendations". IF your land portion is so "hectic" you need "recovery", then you have a poorly planned tour. My touring is EVEN. I'm not "relaxiing" on any cruise ship. I'm spending, my short port times, doing, my priority tours of my interest. I have cruised both directions, many times, each is very enjoyable.

[Dawn1004]

We're doing our land based Alaskan tour after the cruise, I think if we had the choice we would have done cruise last, but it didn't turn out that way as we were locked into certain dates for various things throughout Canada and Alaska but we have a long long flight back to australia, so plenty of hours on the planes to rest!

 

Am really looking forward to the land based leg of our trip, something very different to us, we kind of know what to expect from the cruise leg (which is breath taking and exhilerating.

 

Enjoy your Alaska trip.

[Alberta Quilter]

Thank you Alberta Quilter....talked about it today and DH really wants to do the land tour first for most of the reasons people have said. Relaxing on cruise afterwards is one of the reasons....and we can get a decent flight time home from Vancouver that we don't arrive in the wee hours of the night or early morning....:)

 

If I were to do it again, I would also tour first, cruise second. My biggest disappointment from that first cruise, which I didn't even realize for the longest time afterward, was missing Glacier Bay on that first cruise because we got off in Skagway the day before. Of course, that's one of the reasons that I have gone two more times and am about to go on a fourth Alaska cruise!!!

 

But, now I know about CC, and I make sure to do all kinds of research on the cruise and ports before even booking the cruise. So, you're already ahead, of where I was, in your planning.

 

As I said before, Do what is right of you. Only you can decide that.

 

I hope you have a lovely tour and cruise in Alaska. Don't be surprised if Alaska calls you back for more visits!!

[Rocknie]

Sorry I did try to search this, but I keep getting search engine disabled??

 

We are planning Alaska cruise/land tour first of June 2015. I have everything pretty well worked out but waiting on Princess to open their dates.

I have read many reviews on the land tour first and just curious to hear some thoughts on the cruise first, then the land tour.

Pros/Cons? Any suggestions??

Just curious why everyone seems to like the land tour first.

Thank you very much for any information!!

 

DW and I are celebrating 40th anniversary with Alaskan Cruisetour this July. We both believe the biggest highlight of our cruisetour will be seeing College Fjord and Glacier Bay. So we choose to do the northbound cruise which means we see the Alaskan ports first and then Glacier Bay then College Fjord at the end of our cruise, rather then the beginning. That was our reasoning for cruise first, than land tour. Have a wonderful cruise and tour which ever direction you decide.