Which way better on Alaska/Denali cruise/tour?

[gooselace]

I'm sure there is some CCs who has been on the Alaska cruises that included Denali, both starting in Fairbank and starting in Vancouver. Which did you prefer? How much difference is there? We have been on a cruise many years ago on another line that went from Vancouver up the inland passage to Glacier Bay and back, so are not as concerned about that portion of the trip..

[Estella]

Do your land portion first. You will be going daily from place to place and will have a schedule to keep. You will enjoy the land portion, but will welcome the time you have on the ship to rest and enjoy the cruise as you will not have to keep packing and moving. You will come home rested.

[caltnl]

We enjoyed our trip on the Stantendam north from Vancouver. We really enjoyed Glacier Bay and College Fiord . Left the ship in Seward on bus to Anchorage to spend the night.

 

We made our land arrangement separately from HAL. Rode the Alaska Railroad to Denali to spend two nights. Took the bus ride into the park in the middle day. Saw lots of animals and what only 20% of the visitors get to see. Mt. McKinley. Quite a sight.

 

Train back to Anchorage to spend another night and pick up a rental car for our trip down the Kenai Penn. We spent two nights at Brigitte’s B&B The scenery is out of this world. We looked at the Volcano that is spitting right now from 75 miles away and drove on the Homer spit 5miles out into the sound.

 

Altogether a trip of a life time.

[Budget Queen]

For the land portion, do your homework and understand fully what you are purchasing. Go for as long as you can afford, the shorter tours have more time of the total in transit. HAL offers mostly the Tundra Wilderness tour, don't consider the Natural History tour in Denali Park.

 

Going on your own, will allow you to add one of my top picks, a Kenai fjords boat tour, a definate highlight since you are already in Seward. Unfortunately many of the cruise tours just pass through this gem. If independent touring is a consideration, it is extremely simple to arrange, http://www.toursaver.com can offer some great savings. :)

[gooselace]

For the land portion, do your homework and understand fully what you are purchasing. Go for as long as you can afford, the shorter tours have more time of the total in transit. HAL offers mostly the Tundra Wilderness tour, don't consider the Natural History tour in Denali Park.

 

Going on your own, will allow you to add one of my top picks, a Kenai fjords boat tour, a definate highlight since you are already in Seward. Unfortunately many of the cruise tours just pass through this gem. If independent touring is a consideration, it is extremely simple to arrange, www.toursaver.com can offer some great savings. :)

 

Already I'm confused about HAL's offerings. #1-6 Cruisetours are called "Great Land Klondike" and #7-10 are "Great Land Wilderness" but both include the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour and I see very little differeence between them. I've only just started studying options.

 

Probably somebody here knows.:)

[Budget Queen]

Already I'm confused about HAL's offerings. #1-6 Cruisetours are called "Great Land Klondike" and #7-10 are "Great Land Wilderness" but both include the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour and I see very little differeence between them. I've only just started studying options.

 

Probably somebody here knows.:)

 

 

There are significant differences, the Klondike tours, only include "half " a cruise, since you get off/on the ship in Skagway, missing your glacier viewing or a port. Long days on buses. Whitehorse isn't worth more than a stop. Research areas and do your homework, determine what is of interest for you?? I think the one way Vancouver/Seward are superior as they pack plenty of great touring in 7 days, then do at least another 7 days on land, with 2 at Denali Park. As I have already mentioned Seward is a gem for activities, if you care to consider independent. Very easy to do via Alaska RR as well. http://www.toursaver.com is a big money saver with this years 2 for 1 RR coupons. If you care to take a look at some Kenai Fjords photos- http://community.webshots.com/user/budgetqueen

[Jules1]

We did the land portion of our Alaska trip on our own - flew into Fairbanks, spent a night there, rented a car & drove to Denali for two nights. We then spent 3 nights in Seward before boarding the ship. We absolutely loved Seward - it's a delightful town.

 

In answer to your question, we always prefer to do the land portion before the cruise if possible. The cruise is the perfect way to end the vacation and it just seems more relaxing that way to us.

[ocngypz]

Land first, then cruise.

 

Since this is a trip most people do not repeat, book the longest trip you can afford.

 

I always recommend two nights in Denali.

[RuthC]

Another member of the choir. If you're doing a HAL tour then do the land portion first; you'll need the cruise portion to rest up. On my second trip to Alaska it was pointed out to me "you're not on vacation; you're on tour!" There's a huge difference.

 

Also, if you decide to do the land last, be aware of where it ends up. It will be a much longer flight back from Fairbanks or Anchorage than Vancouver.

[gooselace]

Land first, then cruise.

 

Since this is a trip most people do not repeat, book the longest trip you can afford.

 

I always recommend two nights in Denali.

 

Thanks, I was inclined toward land portion first, because we'd already cruised to Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and Skagway, including the White Pass Railroad, and Glacier Bay. Would just plan a land tour, but I'm trying to get DH back into cruising so I can get him to go with me to the Norwegian Fiords in 07.

 

He won't cruise the Caribbean, will only go to coastal Mexico for fishing, but has fond memories of our Alaskan cruise (on Princess) 30 years ago. Figured he would enjoy Denali, especially the helicopter trip and the wilderness tour.

 

:confused: My confusion comes from having a brochure that shows trips that start in Fairbanks, use the McKinley Explorer train to Denali for 2/3 days and then cruise from Anchorage/Seward to Vancouver versus HAL website "cruisetours" (Wilderness and Klondike) that start in Anchorage and spend 7 days inland before picking up ship near Skagway and cruise Inside Passage for the last 4 or 5 days to Vancouver.

 

The 12 or 13 day cruises operate in both directions. Not sure about the "cruisetours".

 

Anyway, I'm now trying to sort out which would be better, given my goal. Of course, I'll be limited to what's available between May and August, as I'm booked with a friend on a Sept. Baltic cruise.

[Budget Queen]

 

:confused: My confusion comes from having a brochure that shows trips that start in Fairbanks, use the McKinley Explorer train to Denali for 2/3 days and then cruise from Anchorage/Seward to Vancouver versus HAL website "cruisetours" (Wilderness and Klondike) that start in Anchorage and spend 7 days inland before picking up ship near Skagway and cruise Inside Passage for the last 4 or 5 days to Vancouver.

 

The 12 or 13 day cruises operate in both directions. Not sure about the "cruisetours".

 

Anyway, I'm now trying to sort out which would be better, given my goal. Of course, I'll be limited to what's available between May and August, as I'm booked with a friend on a Sept. Baltic cruise.

 

 

 

There are some confusion issues with the terms. :) The crusietours, always refers to packaged land/cruise touring from the cruisetours. Not tours in ports, tours as part of cruisetours etc. :) Get yourself an Alaska map, it will show you the differences better. As already mentioned, I do not recommend the partial cruises either 3 or 4 day with the land portion starting/ending in Skaway. You miss an excellent glacier viewing or port, plus wonderful scenic sailing. These have a great deal of time on a bus and not the opportunity to see a lot of the areas they advertise- Kluane, Tombstone etc. Flying to Dawson City is definately my preference. :)

[Lurker1]

We did the cruise first, 7 days, then a 6-day inland tour through HAL. (Actually did two nights in Vancouver before the cruise). Like others, I'd recommend doing inland first, so you can rest on the cruise.

 

Another factor is flying out of Fairbanks to return home. There was one flight that got us back to the East Coast on the same day we left Fairbanks, and as we all know, airline schedules are subject to weather conditions.

[packercruising]

Absolutely do the land first!

 

And if you really want to make the trip memorable book into Alyeska Resort. It is a 5 star hotel that really is.

 

Also we booked an extra night in Vancouver after the cruise just to not be so rushed.

[user8]

On our first trip to Alaska we started in Fairbanks and took the train from there to Anchorage with a stop-over in Denali and then on to the Statendam down to Vancouver. On our second trip, we started in Vancouver and sailed to Anchorage. Then we took the train to Denali and then on to Fairbanks.

 

In all truthfulness, I enjoyed it both ways but if I had to make a choice, I would probably do the land portion first so that I could rest up and relax on the ship. But, if you are anything like me, you will enjoy it in either order so let the schedule or something else dictate. Just go and enjoy yourself.

[calteacher]

We have cruised both directions. Have also done the HA land tour and have done the Denali/Anchorage tour on our own. While doing the land tour first does allow you to relax on the cruise and arrive at home rested (if you haven't done all the rigorous port tours), IMO the cruise south has you viewing the most spectacular scenery first, and the scenery intensity decreases as you go south. For that reason, we've recommended to friends that they cruise northbound--that way the scenery seems to get more fantastic with every day even though you will end up the the land tour last. However, it seems that most vacations we take, we end up going home to "rest".

[pennstatefan]

Are there any longer pre cruise tours from Anchorage to Denali on HAL, with the special domed cars and then 2 nights in the Park? I've heard the one-day Nature Explorer Tour is only a very surface tour that's not in-depth enough.

 

Has anyone used the Gray Line Tours in Alaska?

 

I'd like 2 full days in Denali.

 

What would return be from Denali to Seward to board the ship?

 

Thanks.