Cruise with cruise line land tour, or DIY land tour?

[Priszm]

Hello.  Looking at doing Alaska again in 2024. My partner and I just the cruise previously (cost constraints at the time) and regretted not having the land portion.  So in 2024 we will definitely have a land portion included. 

 

Wondering if anyone has done a DIY land tour and your thoughts? If anyone has done both the cruise line land tour and a DIY and your thoughts.  Thank you! 

 

**Edited to add regarding land tour, we would be looking to do whatever would hopefully allow us to see the most wildlife. So would be OK with renting a car to just travel places for DIY. 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Priszm

[SightCRR]

Start reading and planning to do Katami. Has to be diy and it may still have opening at Brooks Camp for 2024 but wont have for long. Fly or boat in. One day trips available later. Won't find it on cruise tour unless you take extra days. 

 Brown Bear Cam - Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park | Explore.org

sightcrr

[Northern Aurora]

As someone who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, which is either the starting or ending point for some of the cruise line land tours, I suggest you plan a DIY land trip.  Those cruise line sponsored trips look so herded.  And they tend to be "one size fits all," which essentially means they don't it very well.  There will be folks posting that they loved the convenience of the cruise line sponsored land tour, but any one with specific interests will not enjoy all of the "shopping opportunities" built in to the cruise line tours (which receive a commission from the gift stores).  And there are no attractions on a cruise line organized tour which can't be done on a DIY tour.

 

Since our OP has specifically mentioned an interest in viewing wild life I suggest they do a DIY tour.  @SightCRR has made an excellent recommendation regarding Katmai National Park and Preserve.  Denali National Park is another consideration but be aware of the issues with the Pretty Rocks area into the only park road which has currently limited access to about mile 42.  The OP has mentioned a trip in 2024 so hopefully the road will be fully opened at that point but the bridging project over the problem area will take some time.  And who knows what the road conditions past mile 42 will be since there has been no maintenance since the closure in August 2021.

[tetleytea]

i have only DIY'ed and have never cruisetoured.  I figured I was just the DIY type.  You just don't really learn the area when a tour guide is leading you around.   My strategy is to sail up into Whittier, back from Seward (or vice-versa), take non-back-to-back sailings with probably two different cruise lines.  The days get much longer north of Anchorage, so what I do is stagger a hard day next to an easy day.  In other words I might schedule 15 hours' worth of stuff one day, but if I do that then I'm not going to schedule 15 hours' worth the following day.  It may sound like a stamina-fest on your vacation, but we're trying to have the most fun in our limited vacation time, too.

[donaldsc]

I have been to AK many times and I have never taken a cruise line tour.  I look at the itineraries of the land tours and I feel sorry for the people who take them.  After all they do speak English in AK.  That said it basically depends upon how much hand holding you need and how much effort you are willing to do to set up your trip.  A perceived advantage of the cruise tour is that Princess knows best (they really know what is best for their bottom line) and all I want to appear at the place and time that Princess wants me to be.  Or else you can do a DIY w/o any planning and go into the figure-it-out-as-you-do-it mode.  That said Princess does lots of cruisetours so some people must like them.

 

In my opinion if my only choices were to do a escorted tour or staying home I would pick staying home.  

 

Another thing about doing a cruisetour is that you are stuck on a bus with 40 of your new best friends for the entire length of the tour which to me is a fate worse than death - both the fact that you are stuck on a bus and are in a group of 40 people.  I hate bus tours.  I did a Road Scholar trip to Cuba once since an escorted trip was my only option at the time.  Eating dinner with the same group every night was excruciating.  The first time I wanted to go out to dinner alone with my wife a couple of the group heard us talking about it and unwantedly invited themselves to go with us.  In the end we had to sneak out when we wanted dinner alone.

 

I guess you now know what I think.  

 

DON

[Cbtours]

53 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

I have been to AK many times and I have never taken a cruise line tour.  I look at the itineraries of the land tours and I feel sorry for the people who take them.  After all they do speak English in AK.  That said it basically depends upon how much hand holding you need and how much effort you are willing to do to set up your trip.  A perceived advantage of the cruise tour is that Princess knows best (they really know what is best for their bottom line) and all I want to appear at the place and time that Princess wants me to be.  Or else you can do a DIY w/o any planning and go into the figure-it-out-as-you-do-it mode.  That said Princess does lots of cruisetours so some people must like them.

 

In my opinion if my only choices were to do a escorted tour or staying home I would pick staying home.  

 

Another thing about doing a cruisetour is that you are stuck on a bus with 40 of your new best friends for the entire length of the tour which to me is a fate worse than death - both the fact that you are stuck on a bus and are in a group of 40 people.  I hate bus tours.  I did a Road Scholar trip to Cuba once since an escorted trip was my only option at the time.  Eating dinner with the same group every night was excruciating.  The first time I wanted to go out to dinner alone with my wife a couple of the group heard us talking about it and unwantedly invited themselves to go with us.  In the end we had to sneak out when we wanted dinner alone.

 

I guess you now know what I think.  

 

DON

That’s great for all you adventurous types.🥰

for me, the thought of finding my way round on the other side of the world is a terrible thought, and to watch the ship sailing off into the sunset cos I got left behind is terrifying lol.

 

I'm just so excited to be planning a bucket list trip to “see Alaska”, even if it’s on a cruise tour. However We would never go on a full bus tour for weeks anywhere even Australia as couldn’t stand the pack and unpack rush but we can do for a couple of days. So we will add a land tour to our cruise.

Have started the research re which way to go, inside passage! North south etc. we plan on sticking with Princess. 
I will love every minute 😂😂🥰

 

 

[lynncarol]

If you are worried about the ship leaving you behind in a port, why not tack the DIY portion on the end of your cruise? My husband and I, plus his cousin and spouse added a week at the end of our one-way cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage (well, actually Whittier but transportation was available to Anchorage). We rented a car in Anchorage and spent a fabulous week on our own, including 3 days in Denali with incredible weather and full view of the mountain. We were all in our late sixties/early seventies at the time, so we weren't 'spring chickens' then either.

[Priszm]

16 minutes ago, lynncarol said:

If you are worried about the ship leaving you behind in a port, why not tack the DIY portion on the end of your cruise? My husband and I, plus his cousin and spouse added a week at the end of our one-way cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage (well, actually Whittier but transportation was available to Anchorage). We rented a car in Anchorage and spent a fabulous week on our own, including 3 days in Denali with incredible weather and full view of the mountain. We were all in our late sixties/early seventies at the time, so we weren't 'spring chickens' then either.

I'm starting to lean towards DIY. I have a friend who wants to do the cruise with us and if we DIY, it may end up cheaper for her (no extra costs for being single).

[SightCRR]

8 hours ago, Priszm said:

 DIY, it may end up cheaper for her (no extra costs for being single).

? Staying in the same cruise ship room and same hotel room? I hope you realize that everything in AK is expensive and especially quality tours.  I think that cruise tour is likely to be close to same price but the diy is much more what you want to do and when you want to do it with small or no groups. 

sightcrr

[lynncarol]

If you do decide to DIY it in Alaska, make your room reservations well in advance.  Rental car rates (at least when we traveled) were much less expensive if pick-up in downtown Anchorage than at airport or at smaller towns.  

[SightCRR]

For your planning make sure to check youtube. Here is a good one about the Seward area. 

The BEST three days at Kenai Fjords National Park! (Exit Glacier, Harding Icefield, + BOAT tour!) - YouTube

and another series to check out. 

Alaska 8 Day Road Trip: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Glaciers, Wildlife & Denali over 1,000 Miles - YouTube

sightcrr

[SueMo]

We did a 10 day DIY tour of Alaska in September of 2022.  A website I found useful in setting up an itinerary was https://www.valisemag.com/10-days-alaska-itinerary-guide/.   Also, book a rental car a year in advance, if possible.  I found https://www.rentalcounter.com to be cheaper than going through individual rental car sites such as Hertz, Avis, or Enterprise.  Use tripadvisor to look for places to stay.  We booked a lot of B&B's since breakfast was included.  We had a great time!

[Northern Aurora]

Alaska, like other areas of the US, is experiencing a severe labor shortage which has impacted the hospitality industry.  So book those accommodations early.

 

We also have had a shortage of car rentals, so book those vehicles early too.

[Tippyton]

See my review of a DIY from 2018.

 

[Torfamm]

On 8/21/2022 at 9:59 AM, donaldsc said:

I have been to AK many times and I have never taken a cruise line tour.  I look at the itineraries of the land tours and I feel sorry for the people who take them.  After all they do speak English in AK.  That said it basically depends upon how much hand holding you need and how much effort you are willing to do to set up your trip.  A perceived advantage of the cruise tour is that Princess knows best (they really know what is best for their bottom line) and all I want to appear at the place and time that Princess wants me to be.  Or else you can do a DIY w/o any planning and go into the figure-it-out-as-you-do-it mode.  That said Princess does lots of cruisetours so some people must like them.

 

In my opinion if my only choices were to do a escorted tour or staying home I would pick staying home.  

 

Another thing about doing a cruisetour is that you are stuck on a bus with 40 of your new best friends for the entire length of the tour which to me is a fate worse than death - both the fact that you are stuck on a bus and are in a group of 40 people.  I hate bus tours.  I did a Road Scholar trip to Cuba once since an escorted trip was my only option at the time.  Eating dinner with the same group every night was excruciating.  The first time I wanted to go out to dinner alone with my wife a couple of the group heard us talking about it and unwantedly invited themselves to go with us.  In the end we had to sneak out when we wanted dinner alone.

 

I guess you now know what I think.  

 

DON

I would agree that what you describe sounds awful. The land tour I did with Princess Lodges was nothing like that. Lodging was pre-booked, as well as reserved seats for train travel from place to place in cars with large glass domes that allowed both of us to enjoy the scenery.  We never had any idea if the other train passengers or hotel guests were on our tour, a different tour, or were traveling independently. The only coaches involved were transfers from train stations to hotels. We simply were given a packet at each destination with our room key and itinerary details for that destination.
 

There were no included meals, excursions, or shopping stops. It was probably the best of both worlds. We did what we wanted, ate where and when we wanted, but had a planned itinerary. I did find it convenient to skip the check-in process at each location though.

Those rail tours can be booked independently of a cruise too. It was much different than what you experienced 

 

 

 

 

[tetleytea]

On 8/21/2022 at 2:00 PM, Cbtours said:

That’s great for all you adventurous types.🥰

for me, the thought of finding my way round on the other side of the world is a terrible thought, and to watch the ship sailing off into the sunset cos I got left behind is terrifying lol.

 

I think that's it:   people are terrified.  I see that in people not wanting to book rental cars at port stops and go DIY, too.    I will give this much:   there is an element of stress to going DIY, that gets lifted when you are tour guided.  When you are in a tour group, you just go with it.  Do we have enough time left?  Not your problem.

 

The thing is, that whole time you were stressing, you were also learning.  Learning where things are, learning how things tick in that place.  If I'm abroad where the language is different and things are a bit TOO different (particularly, the traffic.  ohmigosh the traffic...), i realize I need a tour group, since there is simply too much to take in at once.

 

But Alaska simply does not fit that category:  there is usually only one road to take, wherever you go.  Anchorage to Seward or Denali?  One road.  Skagway to Carcross?  One road.  Juneau or Ketchikan car rental?  One road.   Within Anchorage:  okay, not so much.  You have to navigate there.  But you also get cell phone reception there.

[donaldsc]

4 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I would agree that what you describe sounds awful. The land tour I did with Princess Lodges was nothing like that. Lodging was pre-booked, as well as reserved seats for train travel from place to place in cars with large glass domes that allowed both of us to enjoy the scenery.  We never had any idea if the other train passengers or hotel guests were on our tour, a different tour, or were traveling independently. The only coaches involved were transfers from train stations to hotels. We simply were given a packet at each destination with our room key and itinerary details for that destination.
 

There were no included meals, excursions, or shopping stops. It was probably the best of both worlds. We did what we wanted, ate where and when we wanted, but had a planned itinerary. I did find it convenient to skip the check-in process at each location though.

Those rail tours can be booked independently of a cruise too. It was much different than what you experienced 

 

 

 

 

 

I will admit that I did exaggerate just a bit.  OK - maybe more than a bit.  However part of it was true.  I do not like any bus tours because I want to be in control of where we go, when we stop to look at stuff and when we don't stop.  Taking photos through the window of a bus always results in bad photos and the interesting stuff always seems to be on the other side of the bus.  It also seems that every bus tour or bus trip I have ever taken has one couple on it who come back late..  Also I prefer to stay in B&Bs instead of large lodges.  

 

I have taken 2 guided tours in my travels  One was the tour in Cuba and the story I told of having to sneak out to have a dinner w just my wife was true.  The other was a Greek tour where the guide that we had for the entire week was so bad and so boring (he sounded like the stereotype pedantic university lecturer) that the tour company gave us a $1000 each refund on our tour cost.

 

The only tour train trip I have taken anywhere was the train from Anchorage to Denali.  The scenery was certainly very pretty except that the train would not stop when I wanted to look at something for a longer time.  The mother bear and her cubs was really neat but it impossible to get photographs of them as we wizzed by them at 30 MPH.

 

I should finally add that I do love AK and have been there maybe 10 or 15 times.  We take our grandkids on a trip to AK w/o their parents when they turn 10.  We have toured by ships ranging in size from Princess sized to ships that hold just 50 passengers.  We just came back from a cruise on a ship that held 180 passengers.  We have done a 2 1/2 month driving trip from Las Vegas to AK and back.  We had booked a trip on a Hurtigrutin ship that was going to take us all the way to Nome which was an unfortunate victim of Covid.  We have cruised if you want to call it that on Alaska Marine Highway ferries which were wonderful.  I have done 3 photo trips to AK including one in Fairbanks in February to do aurora photography.  The aurora were great and the photos were wonderful but I have never been so cold in my life.  Think nighttime lows of -30.

 

I guess the term "different strokes etc" applies.

 

DON

[Cbtours]

4 hours ago, tetleytea said:

 

I think that's it:   people are terrified.  I see that in people not wanting to book rental cars at port stops and go DIY, too.    I will give this much:   there is an element of stress to going DIY, that gets lifted when you are tour guided.  When you are in a tour group, you just go with it.  Do we have enough time left?  Not your problem.

 

The thing is, that whole time you were stressing, you were also learning.  Learning where things are, learning how things tick in that place.  If I'm abroad where the language is different and things are a bit TOO different (particularly, the traffic.  ohmigosh the traffic...), i realize I need a tour group, since there is simply too much to take in at once.

 

But Alaska simply does not fit that category:  there is usually only one road to take, wherever you go.  Anchorage to Seward or Denali?  One road.  Skagway to Carcross?  One road.  Juneau or Ketchikan car rental?  One road.   Within Anchorage:  okay, not so much.  You have to navigate there.  But you also get cell phone reception there.

Thanks for your honest reply. I’ll be very happy with the stressless version 🥰

[Cbtours]

4 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

I will admit that I did exaggerate just a bit.  OK - maybe more than a bit.  However part of it was true.  I do not like any bus tours because I want to be in control of where we go, when we stop to look at stuff and when we don't stop.  Taking photos through the window of a bus always results in bad photos and the interesting stuff always seems to be on the other side of the bus.  It also seems that every bus tour or bus trip I have ever taken has one couple on it who come back late..  Also I prefer to stay in B&Bs instead of large lodges.  

 

I have taken 2 guided tours in my travels  One was the tour in Cuba and the story I told of having to sneak out to have a dinner w just my wife was true.  The other was a Greek tour where the guide that we had for the entire week was so bad and so boring (he sounded like the stereotype pedantic university lecturer) that the tour company gave us a $1000 each refund on our tour cost.

 

The only tour train trip I have taken anywhere was the train from Anchorage to Denali.  The scenery was certainly very pretty except that the train would not stop when I wanted to look at something for a longer time.  The mother bear and her cubs was really neat but it impossible to get photographs of them as we wizzed by them at 30 MPH.

 

I should finally add that I do love AK and have been there maybe 10 or 15 times.  We take our grandkids on a trip to AK w/o their parents when they turn 10.  We have toured by ships ranging in size from Princess sized to ships that hold just 50 passengers.  We just came back from a cruise on a ship that held 180 passengers.  We have done a 2 1/2 month driving trip from Las Vegas to AK and back.  We had booked a trip on a Hurtigrutin ship that was going to take us all the way to Nome which was an unfortunate victim of Covid.  We have cruised if you want to call it that on Alaska Marine Highway ferries which were wonderful.  I have done 3 photo trips to AK including one in Fairbanks in February to do aurora photography.  The aurora were great and the photos were wonderful but I have never been so cold in my life.  Think nighttime lows of -30.

 

I guess the term "different strokes etc" applies.

 

DON

Wow what a travel resume. It sounds awesome. And agree different strokes applies very much,

[Cbtours]

8 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I would agree that what you describe sounds awful. The land tour I did with Princess Lodges was nothing like that. Lodging was pre-booked, as well as reserved seats for train travel from place to place in cars with large glass domes that allowed both of us to enjoy the scenery.  We never had any idea if the other train passengers or hotel guests were on our tour, a different tour, or were traveling independently. The only coaches involved were transfers from train stations to hotels. We simply were given a packet at each destination with our room key and itinerary details for that destination.
 

There were no included meals, excursions, or shopping stops. It was probably the best of both worlds. We did what we wanted, ate where and when we wanted, but had a planned itinerary. I did find it convenient to skip the check-in process at each location though.

Those rail tours can be booked independently of a cruise too. It was much different than what you experienced 

 

 

 

 

I’m really interested in your experience re the land tour portion yiu did. Do you mind telling me but more?

 

eg I see on the princess site that there are cruise tours “on your own”, or Denali explorer” or “connoisseur “ fully escorted. Which one did you do etc? Or do they all operate as you describe? (Which I’d be more than happy with). 
mim trying to work out if any direction is best, some land tours are 6 days so two in each place. 
Are the princess lodges comfortable?

Any info and pics would be great.

TIA

 

[Torfamm]

6 hours ago, Cbtours said:

I’m really interested in your experience re the land tour portion yiu did. Do you mind telling me but more?

 

eg I see on the princess site that there are cruise tours “on your own”, or Denali explorer” or “connoisseur “ fully escorted. Which one did you do etc? Or do they all operate as you describe? (Which I’d be more than happy with). 
mim trying to work out if any direction is best, some land tours are 6 days so two in each place. 
Are the princess lodges comfortable?

Any info and pics would be great.

TIA

 

We booked our land tour with Princess lodges separately from our cruise. It was a 6 night Southbound Explorer starting in Fairbanks and ending in Anchorage. We stayed an extra night on our own in Anchorage for some sightseeing there then booked a private transfer with tour to get from there to board a cruise in Whittier.  I don’t know how the cruise tours work beyond what is on the website

 

It was the 3TS tour but there are other options. They haven’t released information for upcoming seasons yet but you can ask to be added to a mailing list.  We removed an included activity and the transfers to the airport so I know that it is possible.
 

If you are interested, each lodge does offer excursions just as Princess does in cruise ports and you can see them on Princess.com under excursions for Alaskan destinations. You of course can also plan your own. 
 

We really enjoyed it. Having train tickets and hotels booked as well as just leaving bags outside our door to meet us I. The room at our next lodge was great as it left us free to do as we wanted before we had to get on a train on days we moved from one place to another. Being greeted  on arrival and just handed you room key without having to check in was also a timesaver.

 

Hope those details help! 

https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/rail-tours/

 

https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/explorer-tours/?tourType=explorer

https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/haines-alaska-excursions/

 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Torfamm

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, Torfamm said:

We booked our land tour with Princess lodges separately from our cruise. It was a 6 night Southbound Explorer starting in Fairbanks and ending in Anchorage. We stayed an extra night on our own in Anchorage for some sightseeing there then booked a private transfer with tour to get from their to board a cruise in Whittier. 

 

It was the 3TS tour but there are other options. They haven’t released information for upcoming seasons yet but you can ask to be added to a mailing list.  We removed an included activity and the transfers to the airport so I know that it is possible.
 

If you are interested, each lodge does offer excursions just as Princess does in cruise ports and you can see them on Princess.com under excursions for Alaskan destinations. You of course can also plan your own. 
 

We really enjoyed it. Having train tickets and hotels booked as well as just leaving bags outside our door to meet us I. The room at our next lodge was great as it left us free to do as we wanted before we had to get on a train on days we moved from one place to another. Being greeted  on arrival and just handed you room key without having to check in was also a timesaver.

 

Hope those details help! 

https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/rail-tours/

 

https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/explorer-tours/?tourType=explorer

https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/haines-alaska-excursions/

 

 

Will check it all through. thanks do much

[GTJ]

Unless this is the first time traveled anywhere for pleasure, then you already know if you like planning, or if you like to have planned for you. If you are the former, then go right ahead and plan away. Even if traveling by public transportation, rather than by private vehicle, most places of interest are accessible (DIYers can check the Canada and Alaska Timetables for precise details). And as noted earlier, if there are special interests, then by planning yourself you yourself can best work in that interest. But if you are the latter, and prefer being led around, then by all means do a cruise line sponsored tour. Everything taken care of for you, no thinking required.

 

A few additional notes. First, the cruise trains, operating from Whittier and Seward, are available only through the cruise lines themselves. There are regular trains along all the same routes, that you can book independently (albeit with different timings). But if you're a rail enthusiast, and desire to travel on the cruise trains specifically, then even a DIYer may have to book such a train "tour" with the cruise line. Second, there is a distinct difference between the bus "tour" that the cruise lines sponsor versus the bus "lines" that DIYers might plan to use. The "tour" bus is communal, with much hand holding, and gratuities expected. The "line" bus is individual, minimal hand holding, and no gratuities expected. Thus, even persons who dislike the herding aspect of tour bus travel will probably do just fine on a line bus.

 

My preference is DIY, in large part because I like planning and being able to do exactly what I want to do. I cannot drive, and so when I was last in Alaska I used railroads, line buses, ferries, and airplanes to travel within the state, with success and never having the sensation of being herded around in a pre-planned and homogeneous tour.