Query re good package including cruise Vancouver to Anchorage and land content to Fairbanks or vice versa

[JeffNK]

Hello forum members.

 

My partner and I have been looking for a cruise on the Alaskan Coast (Vancouver/Inside Passage to Anchorage and perhaps land content to Denali and Fairbanks).  We received a package offer in email "Rail Sail" which includes a Rocky Mountaineer land component and the Holland America "Great Alaskan Explorer" 14 day cruise which looks good.  Then I decided I would like to have an add on or add in trip to Denali and Fairbanks.  To this end we had a look at some Princess cruises.  However I am keen on the ports/cruise itinerary of the Holland America cruise specifically  the port stop in Valdez.  But this stop does not appear in any Princess cruise which includes both Anchorage city and Fairbanks.

 

Do any forum members know of any cruises which cover most of these bases.  Doesn't have to be a round trip.  A one way trip eg Vancouver to Fairbanks or reverse would be fine.  I've looked extensively but haven't found anything which quite matches.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Jeff

Edited February 21, 2020 by JeffNK

[martincath]

Viking do several 10 day one-way cruises from early June through August that stop at Valdez - also Sitka (which is a superb stop) over and above the HAL cruise you mention, though no Haines or Homer. Anchorage you would have to visit yourself after the cruise (or before if you do Alaska first then sail southbound) - but everyone heads there for flights anyway even if there isn't a land component involved, it's extremely uncommon for Anchorage to be visited by a cruise vessel (only on RT cruises that I'm aware of, and very few of those even) with Seward or Whittier being the main terminus ports in AK these days.

 

I'm pretty sure HAL are the only mainstream line with those ports, nobody else offers the long loops all the way up to Anchorage area from Vancouver/Seattle any more except some fancy lines - but if you have the budget for Rocky Mountaineer, a fancy line may be well within your funds (especially when you compare the overall price per day, if you'd have to buy booze, upgrade restos, book a suite to be happy on HAL/Princess...)

 

 

 

[AKStafford]

Fairbanks is not a cruise port. It's about 300 miles from the ocean... If a "cruise" itinerary includes Fairbanks, then they are taking you there as part of a "cruisetour".

I personally would avoid the cruistour and book the land portion of the trip in Southcentral Alaska on your own.

[oaktreerb]

You are looking at two different adventures.  The Maasdam 14 day is a very good cruise.  Your tour was put together by a travel group to include the Rocky Mountaineer which is also highly regarded.  The itinerary doesn’t work well with a Denali/Fairbanks tour since the land portion for that will begin or end in Fairbanks or Anchorage.  How much time do you have?   You could fly from Vancouver to Anchorage or Fairbanks and begin a land tour and sail back to Vancouver.  

 

Why not tell a travel agent what you want to do and see of they can put together a custom itinerary for you.

[JeffNK]

Thanks for the responses.  I will check out all hints and repost when I am able.

 

(I know where Fairbanks is by the way.  I was the beneficiary of a late 50's/early 60's Australian primary school education.  I didn't mean to indicate that I expected to cruise to Fairbanks.)

 

Cheers, Jeff

[JeffNK]

Yes again thank you all.  Upon review I think the suggestion to concentrate on the cruise portion and do the Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks et al at a later time is the better one.  

 

I have been consulting with a travel agent re this albeit an online oriented one.  ecruising (Australia).  I gave up relying on a travel agent to do things I can do myself quite a few holidays ago.  (even if my daughter is a wholesale agent in a major company).

 

Viking perhaps outside the budget.  >$AU7000 for a 11 day cruise compared with approx $AU9600 for a 21 day trip including flights ex Australia and accommodation in Calgary, Banff, Kamloops, Vancouver, Rocky Mountaineer one dayer and a 14 day cruise.

 

My philosophy over the last 11 years of touring and road tripping in Europe, the UK and US has been to go to the most distant and less accessible places first needs to have a rest this time.  (eg I went to Shetland before I went to Edinburgh, I road tripped for over 10 days in Maine but am still to visit Bangor or Augusta.)

 

Jeff

Edited February 23, 2020 by JeffNK

[martincath]

12 hours ago, JeffNK said:

Viking perhaps outside the budget.  >$AU7000 for a 11 day cruise compared with approx $AU9600 for a 21 day trip including flights ex Australia and accommodation in Calgary, Banff, Kamloops, Vancouver, Rocky Mountaineer one dayer and a 14 day cruise.

Check exactly what you're getting through that travel agent Jeff - Rocky Mountaineer canceled all their 1 day trips years ago, now it's always at least a 2 day/1 night in a hotel somewhere journey (with per day pricing on the order of $AU800-1000 per day even for Silverleaf service). If budget is remotely a concern, VIA Rail sleeper trains are much cheaper than RM - and actually leave the Rockies so you can get back to civilization on the east side by rail rather than bus - and if you want all-daytime-travel for the views, several coach tour companies offer routes through the Rockies with many more stops than RM at a hefty discount (3 day coach trips can easily cost the same or less than the per-day rate on RM).

 

RM is only for folks who reeeeaalllly want to go by train, in the daytime, don't mind overnighting in modest hotels that are a lot less fancy than the train (Quesnel and Kamloops just don't have any fancy hotels), and paying a frankly huge premium for the trip. And their buses are nothing special, so the Jasper or Banff to Calgary part is the same as everyone else running buses the whole way. The train is very nice - but unless you need fancy meals, you'll actually get far more chances to stop and take photos on a bus tour or driving yourself by car (and you can drive along a road through the same valleys as the railway for most of the trip).

[JeffNK]

Thank you martincath, very informative.

 

[wendyr20000]

We are doing our 6 night land portion thru Alaska travel and tour
They had all kinds of options
We are starting in Fairbanks working our way down to Seward to get on ship
We have rail portions on each stop