Cruise 1 way, drive the other?

[DesertRat46]

We're looking at renting a motorhome to drive the Alaska Highway and then take a cruise back to Vancouver OR, take a cruise to Alaska and drive back to Vancouver. Any strong opinions on which direction for the driving part. Thinking late spring 2024.

[Northern Aurora]

There is a company in Anchorage which moves new RVs to Alaska periodically.  I don't know that it is every year.  But they pay a gas allowance and folks have a certain number of days to reach Anchorage after picking up the RV.  I have no idea which RV rental company it is, but this might be an option to research.

[roupa]

I would do the drive first then R&R on a cruise… with excursions to see even more!

 

So much to see north of the embarkation ports (Whittier/Anchorage or Seward).   Denali, Fairbanks, Kenai Peninsula are all worth a visit and the routes are easy to follow.  Check out the MILEPOST ALASKA for route info/sights.  It’s very informative!!

Kenai peninsula has the Sterling highway to Homer and the Seward Highway to Seward that you might travel at the end of your time on land as you head to your port.

Just triple check where a motor home rental can be picked up and dropped off!! That may help determine your route.

 

How lucky for you to take this trip.  Enjoy!!

( Not a cheap trip, so save your $$$ between now and then!  No Christmas gifts this year.  😉🤣)

[roupa]

Also, BELLSALASKA for mile by mile info.

[AKJonesy]

The RV company that @Northern Aurora mentioned is Cruise America.  I'm not sure why you would want to do the drive unless you have some reason to see the Alcan, etc.  Plus, I think one way rentals are pretty expensive.  It's going to be expensive anyway, but I think more so one way.  My advice having driven the ALCAN 4 x is that places are few and far between and a trip around Alaska might be more enjoyable IMHO then fly back out of Fairbanks or Anchorage.  But, if that is what you are set on then I'd start checking first on one way prices for the RV.  Those AK repositions would probably be the best bet but you have to keep your eye on them because they go quick. 

[Gardyloo]

And note that "late spring" means something altogether different in the BC, Yukon and Alaska interiors than it does in most other places.  

 

With construction, frost heaves and lots of bugs, it might not be the dream drive you'd hoped for.  

[Northern Aurora]

While on a cruise we encountered a couple who had contacted the Anchorage RV company and were considering driving one of the RVs from the factory or dealership to Anchorage.  They were very interested in us because they wanted to know how long a time period would be needed.  The RV company had a specific number of days to make the drive, which I can't remember now, but it seemed to us that there wasn't a whole lot of time to make some deviations off of the Alcan Hwy.  For example, this couple wanted to divert down to Skagway and up to Dawson City, YT.  We don't drive the Alcan (can't imagine wanting to do this, but we have a surprising number of RV caravans who end up in Fairbanks before going on their individual ways so apparently folks want to do this).  

 

We are the typical Alaskans  -- when folks ask us the distance between Fairbanks and Anchorage our response is about 50 minutes if there is no need to de-ice.  We tell them how long it takes to fly.

[dd57]

On one of our best trips to Alaska, we cruised northbound from Vancouver, picked up a rental RV in Anchorage, and then spent 2 weeks driving up to Denali (great RV parks in Talkeetna and in Denali National Park),  back down to Soldatna (took a flight to Kenai to go salmon fishing and bear watching), Homer, Seward (Kenai Fjord tour), and ending back in Anchorage to fly home.

[roupa]

dd57, that should be a bucket list trip for folks wanting to seeing Alaska!  Happy for your experience.  
But doing only a portion of it would not disappoint! 

We are driving (4days) Anchorage to Homer to Seward before our cruise in September. So looking forward to it, rain or shine!

(Previously drove Anchorage to Seward, with a KenaiFjords excursion then back to Anchorage for Denali tour and cruise to Vancouver.)

[Northern Aurora]

3 hours ago, dd57 said:

On one of our best trips to Alaska, we cruised northbound from Vancouver, picked up a rental RV in Anchorage, and then spent 2 weeks driving up to Denali (great RV parks in Talkeetna and in Denali National Park),  back down to Soldatna (took a flight to Kenai to go salmon fishing and bear watching), Homer, Seward (Kenai Fjord tour), and ending back in Anchorage to fly home.

 

 

I wonder if we have different interpretations of the OP's question?  Non-Alaskans can refer to the Alcan Hwy as the "Alaska Highway."  I interpreted the question as a question about driving the Alcan, not driving an RV within Alaska.

[dd57]

I understand what the OP was asking.  I was building off of AKJonsey's post questioning driving that far.  I was providing an alternate approach.

25 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

I wonder if we have different interpretations of the OP's question?  Non-Alaskans can refer to the Alcan Hwy as the "Alaska Highway."  I interpreted the question as a question about driving the Alcan, not driving an RV within Alaska.