Fly or Cruise to Alaska

[botbien]

Hello,

 

My family of 4 love cruising. I am planning a 10-day trip to Alaska in the summer 2020 and have a few questions.

 

1. Is it better to fly to Alaska and explore from there or it’s a better to take a cruise?  Which option offers better experience?

2.  If flying directly to Alaska, should we stay in Anchorage and rent a car to travel to other places from there?

 

Your advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

[strickerj]

Well, this is a cruise forum, so...

 

But seriously, I’ve never been on a cruise to Alaska (first one coming up in May) but I have flown there before. The answer depends what you want to see - the panhandle towns (Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Skagway, etc.) aren’t accessible by road from the rest of the state, so you’ll miss those if you just fly to Anchorage. If you cruise to Alaska, you’ll miss Denali National Park, unless you add on a land tour or rent a car on your own. I’m planning to do both.

 

Oh, and the area around Denali is usually cloudy, so you might want to plan a few extra days there if you want a better chance of seeing it.

[Canuker]

Not sure I understand your question.

[martincath]

Your point 2 above OP, suggests to me that you are asking if you can base yourself in Anchorage and take day-trips by car? If so, then no, that's just a horrible idea as you'll see even less of Alaska then you would on a cruise! If you are truly unaware of the distances involved in touring AK (no shame in ignorance) you need to undertake some serious research before you make any decisions. Reading trip reports from folks who've done a cruise tour should help you grasp the time and distance involved between popular towns and sightseeing areas, but simply firing up Google Maps and plugging in some of the places you have heard of should give you an idea of the scale of AK pretty quick.

 

As to land vs cruise - with 10 days you can do both, adding on a short visit to the start or end of a cruise. That's probably the safest bet, as you know you like cruising already, you'll get to see several hard-to-reach-without-a-plane-or-ship coastal ports (probably three on most 7-day cruises, plus your terminus in Whittier or Seward), and also get to visit a couple of inland areas. If you love the land portion more, you'll know next visit to focus on that!

 

 

 

[SuperCrewBear]

On 12/26/2019 at 1:45 AM, botbien said:

Hello,

 

My family of 4 love cruising. I am planning a 10-day trip to Alaska in the summer 2020 and have a few questions.

 

1. Is it better to fly to Alaska and explore from there or it’s a better to take a cruise?  Which option offers better experience?

2.  If flying directly to Alaska, should we stay in Anchorage and rent a car to travel to other places from there?

 

Your advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

 

I've cruised and flown to Alaska.  I've taken two cruises (a 10-day and a 7-day - the 10-day was much better...) and flown to Alaska for multiple road trips around the state.  Now that I've done the two cruises, I will probably stick with flying there and doing the road trips.  If you've never been to Alaska you should do at least one cruise so you can see the parts of the state that aren't accessable by roads.  My favorite port is Sitka though it's not on most cruise itineraries.  If you fly to Alaska just use Anchorage as your starting point.  Our first road trip was about two weeks long and we drove about 2,000 miles.  We did spend a total of 3 nights in Anchorage (the beginning and the middle just passing through) so we could see some of the nearby sites.  I had considered flying into Fairbanks then turning the car in at Anchorage but the transfer fee is too expensive.  It worked out well for us and we've done variations several more times.  And we still haven't seen all we want too.  Good luck!

[oaktreerb]

On 12/25/2019 at 11:45 PM, botbien said:

Hello,

 

My family of 4 love cruising. I am planning a 10-day trip to Alaska in the summer 2020 and have a few questions.

 

 

 

Since your family loves cruising and you only have 10 days, I suggest you fly into Anchorage and rent a car from a downtown location to travel down Turnagain Arm to visit sights along the way.  In Seward you have lots of options for glacier and wildlife cruises and the Sealife Center.  Choose a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay and the usual stops on the cruise south to Vancouver.

You could also cruise south from Whittier.  There are bus and train options if you don’t want to rent a car.  

[botbien]

Thank you Strickerj, , Matincath, SuperCrewBear, Oaktreerb for your advice and suggestions.  It's greatly appreciated.

 

I usually book our cruise 12-month out.  This time, we came short in the planning due to conflicting family schedules.  However, with the help of all of you and the information shared by all other fellow cruisers in this forum, we decided and already booked the 7-Night Vogage of the Glaciers with Glacier Bay Southbound in June with 2 extra nights pre-cruise in Anchorage and 2 extra nights post-cruise in Vancouver.

 

I am looking at flights and hotels for our post and pre-cruise right now.  Excursion research and booking will be next.  I have a lot more to research, but your feedback is always appreciated.

 

Again, thank you very much for all your help.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2019 by botbien
Spell check

[Budget Queen]

A combo cruise and mainland Alaska. Is an excellent option.   But if at all possible-  add at least 2 more days.   You really can’t do much with just 3.  

 

I suggest you first figure out what you want from your trip.   Read trip reports.  Then make your plans depending on your list.    

 

Absolutely-   Do not consider basing out of Anchorage.   Alaska requires being on the move.  😀

[thegoaliegirl]

I will second what others have said. Do not base yourself in Anchorage. I had 5 days to work with- we spent 3 nights in Seward and 2 in Anchorage. We spent almost no time in Anchorage. We spent half a day the first day there and then went back down the Turnagain Arm all the next day.

 

Are you cruising out of Whittier or Seward? There is so much to do in Seward. I love Vancouver but can you cut a day from Vancouver and add an extra day to Alaska?

[donaldsc]

On 12/25/2019 at 11:45 PM, botbien said:

Hello,

 

My family of 4 love cruising. I am planning a 10-day trip to Alaska in the summer 2020 and have a few questions.

 

1. Is it better to fly to Alaska and explore from there or it’s a better to take a cruise?  Which option offers better experience?

2.  If flying directly to Alaska, should we stay in Anchorage and rent a car to travel to other places from there?

 

Your advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

 

This is a cruise site so most of your answers will be pro cruise.  I have done it both ways - cruises or DIY land trips.  With only 10 days, you will have to select your area so you do not spend all of your time driving but I would a land DIY trip over a cruise any day.  You will not see so many places but you will see the places that you stop at much better.

 

Re question 2, you are basically asking if you should make Anchorage your base of operations or drive to several places.  Anchorage is just a city.  The best parts of AK are outside of Anchorage.

 

DON