Princess Alaska Pre Cruise Land Insight and Advice

[cusematt4]

Hi all,

 

We are planning a first time trip to Alaska for 4 people - 2 adult kids and 2 parents.

 

We're planning to start the cruise in Alaska and end in Vancouver.  There are over 50 Princess land tours to choose from, and of those around 20 3 and 4 night Princess land tours.

 

Does anyone have any experience with Princess land tours?  We are trying to narrow down the 3 and 4 night tours to a few that would allow us to see the most.  We have no preference on rail, bus or both.  We'd like to see some highlights in the 3 or 4 days and not be on our own / have a guided tour.

 

If anyone has any experience or advise for Princess 3 or 4 night land tours they'd recommend for first timer's to Alaska, we'd appreciate it.

 

Thank you.

[Cali Viajera]

We have done the Off the Beaten Path land tour with Princess. We began in Fairbanks, two nights in Denali, one at Mt McKinley lodge and last was at Kenai Princess. We appreciated seeing the interior of Alaska first, it is so vast and must be seen to understand what this state is about. The cruise after (Voyage of the Glaciers) was relaxing and enjoyed ending in Vancouver.

[cusematt4]

To followup for 3 night 4 day tours these seem to be the options.  Does anyone know what the differences are and what may be best for first timers to Alaska?

[dickinson]

I don't understand the colors.  Blue Anchorage? Yellow Fairbanks?  I would pick an itinerary that included Denali Lodge for two nights and upgrade from the Natural history tour to the Tundra Wilderness tour (goes further into the park).  With two nights you will have a full day .  If you only have one night you travel to get there, have a few hours, stay overnight, next morning have a little bit of time and then you leave.  Not as good and tiring.

[Cali Viajera]

On 7/23/2023 at 1:50 PM, dickinson said:

I don't understand the colors.  Blue Anchorage? Yellow Fairbanks?  I would pick an itinerary that included Denali Lodge for two nights and upgrade from the Natural history tour to the Tundra Wilderness tour (goes further into the park).  With two nights you will have a full day .  If you only have one night you travel to get there, have a few hours, stay overnight, next morning have a little bit of time and then you leave.  Not as good and tiring.

I agree. Two nights in Denali and upgraded Tundra tour. You really want that whole day in Denali.

[roadster08]

If your goal is to see a lot of stuff by looking out the window of trains and buses, pick tours that spend one night in each destination. If what you meant is you want to do the most stuff, then pick a tour that gives you the most time in one or two places. You could spend four days in Denali alone and not run out of interesting things to do. Fairbanks is fun for doing the gold panning , the river cruise on the paddle wheel boats, and there are opportunities to do fishing, hiking, ATV rides, etc .

 

Personally, I think spending long hours on buses and trains gets a little old for me.

[MudderBear]

Seems as though you can't do two nights in Denali unless you do one night first at McKinley Lodge, or one night first in Fairbanks.  Wish they had Ancorage to Denali for two nights and then to ship.  Instead, I'll have to (once again) do DB4.  Unless I'm missing something?

[Worldtraveler 4727]

On 7/23/2023 at 10:30 AM, cusematt4 said:

Hi all,

 

We are planning a first time trip to Alaska for 4 people - 2 adult kids and 2 parents.

 

We're planning to start the cruise in Alaska and end in Vancouver.  There are over 50 Princess land tours to choose from, and of those around 20 3 and 4 night Princess land tours.

 

Does anyone have any experience with Princess land tours?  We are trying to narrow down the 3 and 4 night tours to a few that would allow us to see the most.  We have no preference on rail, bus or both.  We'd like to see some highlights in the 3 or 4 days and not be on our own / have a guided tour.

 

If anyone has any experience or advise for Princess 3 or 4 night land tours they'd recommend for first timer's to Alaska, we'd appreciate it.

 

Thank you.

 

Here is the link to the day-by-day blog I wrote on our land tour and cruise to Alaska. Lots of people found it helpful. 

Perhaps it will help you make some decisions.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2560841-trip-review-connoisseur-land-amp-sea-rb8-june-19-july-4-2018/

[Torfamm]

I think traveling by train is MUCH more comfortable than traveling by bus. The ability to get up and walk around, outside viewing platforms, glass domed cars, drink service, dining cars and bathrooms are all factors for me. 
 

I also agree with the advice to spend enough time in Denali for the Tundra Tour. Starting in Fairbanks with 2 nights in Denali and ending in Anchorage would make the most sense to me if you are sailing from Whittier after your tour and want to make the most of the 4 nights you have available. (My pick would be the yellow 94C in that case)
 

The tours in your screenshot are a mix of round trips from Anchorage and one-way trips with different starting and ending points. Deciding where you want to begin and end the tour will help narrow your choices. Have you picked a cruise? Do you have dates in mind? Plugging that information and dates into the search tool will show availability. The difference between blue and yellow tours is the inclusion of an overnight stay at the beginning or end of the tour.

The blue box will that says Open Tour Search can be hard to spot on the page

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

[ninka26]

Hi all,

I was considering one of the Cruise/Tour options through Princess but thought they were too rushed.

Are these different? If yes, where can I find a listing?

Thanks

Went back and found the link provided above!

Edited July 27, 2023 by ninka26
More info

[Worldtraveler 4727]

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?resType=T

There are 170 options here. Look for "Connoisseur Escorted" in the title.

Not rushed trips at all!