Alaska: So Many Itineraries. Which to choose?

[cruzersky2]

I'm doing research for Alaska 2020. I want to do around 2 weeks land/cruise. I put that in the filter and got 66 PAGES of results. I can see some of the differences, but I'm more confused than ever on how to choose. Can anyone recommend their favs and help me out? I'm also looking at other lines and like the Princess land portion because of their resorts, and Celebrity because one of their land tours is by train.  THANKS 🙂

[BumperII]

You can cut the list in half just by doing the land portion first.  Bear in mind that for the land portion you are on tour, not on vacation and it can be demanding.  The cruise portion will give you time to relax and rest up.

 

[kwb101]

We took the 14-night land-sea in 2017 and loved it. We flew to Anchorage for one night, took a day-long train ride to Denali for three nights, a bus ride to Fairbanks for overnight, a plane ride to Dawson City in the Yukon for two nights, bus to Whitehorse for one night, then bus and train to Skagway for two nights, ending with four nights on Volendam to Vancouver.

To help you find something suitable, you may want to include Fairbanks or the Yukon towns in your filters. I should mention that HAL runs threes trips in both directions and with some minor variations, so there's plenty of choice. 

Good luck!

Edited February 17, 2019 by kwb101

[kwb101]

5 minutes ago, BumperII said:

You can cut the list in half just by doing the land portion first.  Bear in mind that for the land portion you are on tour, not on vacation and it can be demanding.  The cruise portion will give you time to relax and rest up.

 

I have mobility problems, but didn't find the land portion difficult. Our Journey Host (all the Yukon itineraries include one, ours was a gem) made sure we had an easy-to-get-to bus seat,  and ground floor rooms in the places without elevators. The only caution i would provide is that Canada does not have an ADA like the U.S., so handrails, ramps and the like weren't generally available in the Yukon, which made getting around a bit more difficult. Still, it's an adventure! 

[kwb101]

For what it's worth, the journey we took is designated Y3L (L means land portion first, cruise last). Ones that have the cruise first end with C. Enjoy your trip! 

[cat shepard]

Be sure the cruise includes Glacier Bay. 

 

And the more time you spend inside Denali, the better.

 

 

[kwb101]

5 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Be sure the cruise includes Glacier Bay. 

And the more time you spend inside Denali, the better.

Good points. The Yukon trips include half of a 7-day cruise, but only the land-first ones include the half that visits Glacier Bay.

Trips that include three nights in Denali will include a free day for you to explore. With two-night itineraries, you really only get one full day in the park, and that will be taken up with the (included) Tundra Wilderness Tour, which takes all day. You may have a little time free after the tour, but you'll be on your way the next morning. 

[OlsSalt]

Time of the year can matter a lot, even though Alaska weather is very changeable - even hourly.

Considerations: amount of day light, hibernation seasons, migration patterns,  rain fall levels, numbers of tourists, age of tourists - school vacations,  and black fly season. Opening tourism season, mid tourism season, late tourism season.

 

We did mid-summer and it was cold and rainy pretty much the whole time. Week later, they were in shorts and bathing suits.  Days very long midsummer - lovely views at dinner from the main dining room.

 

We did early season and some inlets were still iced up, but it was fairly nice weather, not too much wildlife but lots of eagles Early summer gets the black flies and late summer to early Fall gets more rain. 

 

Our last one was two weeks cruising only (Zaandam) in late May early June and we loved it. It was cold, but it was also green, lush,  full of flowers, and always plenty to see with snow capped peaks and calving glaciers to knock your socks off - we hiked, we kayaked,  we got used to rain coming and going and loved every minute.  The two week cruise-only gets you further up Alaska and away from the heavily impacted cruise ports. 

 

The best answer is hope you can come back - there are so many ways to see Alaska - no right way or wrong way. It just is and  Alaska will throw whatever it wants at you, when it wants to - Nature in its full magnificence. 

Edited February 18, 2019 by OlsSalt

[dundeene]

Holland also has a detailed brochure where you can see which trips include those elements you desire. The info is in a chart which shows which tours include overnights in Denali, Fairbanks, Anchorage etc.  It also lists which includes; Tundra Wilderness tour, Steamship, Gold dredge etc. Which portion is traveled by train, plane, or coach.

Edited February 18, 2019 by dundeene

[kwb101]

47 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Time of the year can matter a lot, even though Alaska weather is very changeable - even hourly.

Considerations: amount of day light, hibernation seasons, migration patterns,  rain fall levels, numbers of tourists, age of tourists - school vacations,  and black fly season. Opening tourism season, mid tourism season, late tourism season.

Very, very true: we were in Denali the first week of the season (last week of May), and heard that the road into the park had been closed by snow the day before we arrived. However, the day after we did our tour (and saw only clouds around the mountain) the weather cleared, and the tours that day got a beautiful view.

We had quite variable weather: lots of clouds, some rain and drizzle, a little snow, and a warm,clear day in Dawson (probably around 80). Packing for all this can be difficult. 

[terrydtx]

I agree it is very confusing when it comes to the land tour portion of an Alaska Cruise. We did our research last summer before we booked our Alaska cruise for this year. HAL's website is almost totally useless for doing research on the land portions as to how you travel on land and what is included at each stop. Our TA was so valuable in getting us on the right tour. There is no mention on the website for example  that Fairbanks includes a 3 hour paddle wheeler boat tour on the package.

 

We are traveling with our 10 year old grandson and HAL had by far the best deal for adding him to our cabin at $449, and we have loved HAL in the past. We also wanted at least 2 nights in Denali and the cruise train from Seward to Anchorage and then to Denali. We ended up booking a SS with the D5C land tour which met all of our criteria. We have one night in Anchorage, 2 in Denali and finish with 1 in Fairbanks. Looking back the only thing we might have considered different was doing the land first as flying home from Fairbanks has proven to be a bit of a challenge, if you do not want to fly a redeye that leaves at 1:30am.   We found decent airfare by using HAL's Flight Ease and saved over $300pp on what we could do on our own.

Edited February 18, 2019 by terrydtx

[BSinPNS]

We enjoyed the land first as you are broken into bus-sized groups.  Ended up spending time on the ship with that small group of new friends.  You might consider spending an extra night in either Anchorage or Fairbanks when you first arrive to acclimate.  As someone else said, the journey host is really a plus.  FYI, plan to time her/him at the end.  

[Kirsten T]

Having done it twice, I'd say my favs were Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway and if done in daylight, parts of the inside passage. Both trips were on Princess, once southbound Whittier-Vancouver and once in the opposite direction. On the northbound trip we tacked on a Denali land package but did it through Alaska Rail, not Princess. If you're the DIY type, check out the packages available at alaskarailroad.com - their travel planners were super to deal with, very patient and knowledgeable (at least they were 8 years ago.)

 

I know I'm in the minority on this, but I think the best scenery by far is on or near the coast. Denali and the train trip up had its moments and I'm glad we did it once. The second time we spent extra time on our own in the Kenai Peninsula and a few days in Vancouver which, IMO, I thought were both more spectacularly beautiful and interesting than Denali, which has a more austere beauty. I'd suggest really looking at the places first, to decide what you want to see and do, then start looking at how to get there. The cruise lines push Denali hard, but there's a lot more to Alaska, and a lot of ways to see it.  I'm hoping to get back to Kenai Fjords maybe next summer; Alaska's really expensive, but totally worth it. Whatever you do, you'll enjoy it!

[jonyboy]

22 hours ago, kwb101 said:

I have mobility problems, but didn't find the land portion difficult. Our Journey Host (all the Yukon itineraries include one, ours was a gem) made sure we had an easy-to-get-to bus seat,  and ground floor rooms in the places without elevators. The only caution i would provide is that Canada does not have an ADA like the U.S., so handrails, ramps and the like weren't generally available in the Yukon, which made getting around a bit more difficult. Still, it's an adventure! 

We did the 10 day on HAL, land first.  Flew to Anchorage, next day a train trip to Denali, two nights at Denali with the 8 hour bus tour.  All fabulous, would recommend it.   Then bus to Skagway to board the Westerdam, great bus trip, so much to see including another view of Denali.  Then you have a week to relax and recover.  As far as weather, we boarded the first of July and it was warm all week except for the day at the glacier.  Even that wasn't bad