Denali or bust???

[Rnmomof03]

Planning a surprise Alaskan cruise for hubs 50th in May  Friends really regret not doing Denali while they were on Sept cruise last year.  They did spend a couple days in Vancouver on the tail end and loved that.  Would you recommend going through cruise line for sea/land combo or just try and do a cruise from Vanc (maybe come in a day or 2 early), cruise, then maybe train up from Seward to Denali on our own?  Thinking I like Holland. 

[Coral]

You really need to hit Denali after June 1st for good access. Can you do that with your time frame (cruise in May and land after)?

[Gardyloo]

Welcome!

 

May is too early for Denali, and this year in particular, since there's some doubt that the interior road in Denali NP will even open at all, due to erosion issues.  See this thread - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2725228-chance-of-denali-park-road-closure-for-2020-season/

 

[Cruise Suzy]

We did the land portion on our own by car before our late May southbound cruise. Less expensive and we could stop wherever we wanted for as long as our schedule allowed. Didn't stop at the places on the tour that weren't of much interest to us. Spent time at several places not on the ship's land tour. If you use the train you won't have as much freedom. Compare costs, time and what's included on the ship's tour to what you can do via train - and maybe consider driving.

[Rnmomof03]

Thanks for that info!