Best Land (Danali Park) and Sea Cruise?

[BcIcemen]

Hi all. I have never cruised Celebrity and was wondering which is the best Alaska land and sea combination that they offer. Also where to fy in and out of? Thank you, looking forward to start my planning

[CHEZMARYLOU]

The only land and sea option they offer is on Millennium. Going north bound you would sail from Vancouver to Seward and then begin the land portion. If you go south bound you do the land portion first then sail from Seward to Vancouver. The cruise is 7 days and the length of the land tour varies by tour. If you decide to book with Celebrity make sure the tour includes, or you have the option to upgrade, the tundra wilderness tour in Denali. It is about 8 hours and the only way you will see the park and a better chance of seeing wild life. The natural history hour only goes to the ranger station.

 

Here's a link to some of the cruise tours:

 

http://www.celebritycruisetours.com/

 

The flights would typically be Vancouver and Anchorage, although you could fly to Seattle and take ground transportation to Vancouver.

 

We've done the Alaska cruise 3 times on Millennium and are starting to think about #4.

[ClaudiaB]

In my opinion, and many many over on the Alaska board forum here on CC, a cruise on either end followed by a do-it-yourself tour. You rent a car and drive and make your own arrangements, and stop when and where you want. You can get deeper into the park (Denali) and you don't have to rely on 40 or so of your friends loading back off and on at every stop they determine. You can't really get lost, mostly it's just one road.

[dabear]

We flew to Anchorage, rented a car & drove to Denali. stayed at hotel near the park & took the park's tour which was wonderful. Then drove back to Anchorage, took the train (wonderful) to Seward to catch the ship down to Vancouver. Great trip, easy driving with a few interesting stops.

[StillLooking4Adventure]

In my opinion, and many many over on the Alaska board forum here on CC, a cruise on either end followed by a do-it-yourself tour. You rent a car and drive and make your own arrangements, and stop when and where you want. You can get deeper into the park (Denali) and you don't have to rely on 40 or so of your friends loading back off and on at every stop they determine. You can't really get lost, mostly it's just one road.

 

I absolutely agree with this. I will add that a MUST SEE tour that you can not miss is the 6 hour boat trip in the Kenai Fjords National Park in Seward. This is equal to or sometimes better than the 8 hour bus trip in Denali National Park.

I have done this boat trip about 6 times and I have never failed to see, Humpbacks, Orca's, Calving Glaciers, Puffins and Sea Lions on every trip. The Denali bus trip is beautiful but much more hit and miss as to which animals you are going to see or how close. On the boat trip most everything is pretty close.

[ghstudio]

Hi all. I have never cruised Celebrity and was wondering which is the best Alaska land and sea combination that they offer. Also where to fy in and out of? Thank you, looking forward to start my planning

 

I would suggest starting your planning on the Princess web site or the Princess forum here. While we generally sail Celebrity, we have taken a couple of Princess cruises, the last being to see Norway (much much better itinerary than Celebrity) last year and we find the two cruise lines very comparable. Princess has been doing Alaska for many years and offers sailing into Glacier Bay on most of their cruises.

 

Do not gear your choice around seeing wildlife in Alaska...unless you want to see sled dogs. There is so much traffic in Denali that most of the wildlife is on the other millions of acres...not sitting next to the busy road you, and multiple other busses will be driving on.

[Northern Aurora]

Bclcemen: Please start your research by going to the Alaska Cruise Critic sub-forum (located under "Ports of Call"). At the top you will find three threads with trip reports organized by year (2015, 2016 and 2017). Reading them won't take much time and will help you determine what you want to do and see -- and looking at the photos will also help with that persistent issue of what to pack.

 

As someone who lives in Alaska I hope you do consider a land trip on your own instead of a cruise line organized tour. You really will do and see what you want to do and see, and avoid the "shopping opportunities." I don't want to sound sarcastic in any way, but we are part of the United States, speak English, drive on the same side of the road as the rest of the country, and you will find ATMs in the same types of locations as you find them in the rest of the country. Very easy to visit on a DIY trip.

 

If you go to Denali, I would suggest that you consider using the NPS shuttles. The Tundra Wilderness Tour goes into mile 62 of the park road, and the Natural History Tour only goes to Teklanika River (about mile 30). Instead take the shuttle into the Eielson Visitor Center, stay awhile at the EVC, and then have the bus dispatcher arrange for a return shuttle back to the Wilderness Access Center. I firmly believe that if you miss the EVC you have short-changed your park experience. And it is important to remember that Denali is a national park, and not a zoo. But since we live about a two hour drive north of the entrance we go down frequently in the summer, and only once have we not seen bears in addition to other wildlife. Traffic into Denali is restricted at mile 15 of the park road so no private vehicles are allowed past that point.

[Mr. Click]

Another vote for doing the land tour on your own. We did the northbound from Vancouver because the dates worked for us. Flew into Vancouver the day before, sailed up the coast of Alaska and when we got off in Seward we were met by 907 Tours for a day tour of the Kenai Peninsula and at the end of the day we were dropped at our Anchorage hotel. Next morning we picked up our rental car and head out to Denali. Because we were on our own we were able to stop and see things like Thunderbird Falls outside Anchorage and head into Talkeetna when we wanted to go, not when the buses and trains went. You can book the various Princess lodges without being in a tour or a Princess cruise.