The 2025 Overplanners Thread

[curry767]

Hi, my name is Dave and I’m an Overplanner!!

 

Heading back to Alaska for the first time 17 years in 2025 as a family of four from Sydney Australia and the kids will be 15 and 12. This will be my fourth visit to Alaska and I have always told people that Alaska is my favourite place in the world. I’m excited to show it to the kids for the first time, but I need to temper my expectations that things will have change since I was last there. Having said that if it’s only a quarter as good as my previous trips it will be awesome.

 

Our plan is to cruise north out of Vancouver and then spend a week in Alaska before cruising back to Vancouver. It’s a tough fit time wise when balancing school holidays so this dictated the cruises, which unfortunately are a bit similar.

 

Our three priorities are Wildlife, Scenery and Glaciers (before they are gone).

 

Happy to discuss our plans with fellow travellers visiting Alaska next year so that we can all benefit.

[curry767]

Northbound Cruise

 

Radiance of Seas ex Vancouver on the 27^th of June 2025.

 

I’m a big believer in booking non-cruise organised shore excursions to get off the beaten path and try and get away from the crowds in the small cruise ship ports. To get an idea of the crowds in each port I used two websites, cruisetimetables.com and claalaska.com – this painted the port picture for me and then I booked accordingly.

 

Juneau: Harv & Marv’s - Harv’s Original 6 Passenger Experience. They are taking 50% deposits to guarantee a trip on the date you want but no physical booking yet as they haven’t published their schedule

 

ISP: ZipRider in the morning to entertain the kids but have to book that through the cruise line. Planning an afternoon land tour with Gee Sta Hun Tours as Greg is a local guide and only takes 11 people in his van. I’m wavering on this one because I am not sure there will be a lot of wildlife to see but keen to get away from the crowds and be educated by a local. Not open for 2025 bookings yet.

 

Sitka: Whale Watching & Wildlife tour with Sitka Expeditions. Once again, a small tour that only takes 6 people. It’s only 2hrs long and I would have preferred something longer.

 

Skagway: Still a question mark on this one as we have a rental car booked for our return cruise and I’m struggling to come up with something that fits our wishes as we are only in town till 3pm. Will be our busiest port with up to 13,000 visitors in town off 4 cruise ships.

[curry767]

Land Portion

 

Disembark the ship on the 4^th of July and pickup a rental car from Alaskan Car Rental. This one is going to cost because there is a fee to get a 4WD down to Seward. I had looked at renting from Anchorage but by the time I factored transportation to and from Seward plus having to change my accommodation plans, I decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra for convenience

 

4^th Jul: Drive from Seward to Anchorage for a quick stop at Wild Scoops ice cream to keep the kids happy. On to lunch at The Butte Burger Stand near Palmer (if they are open on the 4^th) and then on to the Matanuska Glacier for a guided hike with MICA Guides. After the glacier hike we drive to Talkeetna for the night – big day!

 

5^th Jul: Tossing up whether to do a Grand Denali tour with Talkeetna Air Taxi in the morning. Grab some spinach bread in Talkeetna before driving north to Denali. Staying at the McKinley Creekside Cabins which is 15mins south of the park entrance so that we keep away from the masses in Glitter Gulch. Planning on doing the last Green Park Transit bus into the park at 630pm. Bus tickets go on sale on the 1^st of December. I asked myself a lot of questions about going to Denali with the road closed at mile 43, but having been all the out to the back of the park several times including staying at the Kantishna Roadhouse, I still believe there is plenty of wildlife spotting opportunities up until mile 43. More scenic viewing beyond mile 43 but the opportunity to see wildlife we don’t have in Australia won out.

 

6^th Jul:  Denali Raft Adventures – still deciding which tour to do.

 

7^th Jul: First Green Park Transit bus into the park at 6am. May or may not get off and hike some trails. Afternoon will be at the Denali Park Zipline

 

8^th Jul: Drive back to Anchorage with a possible back up day for the Grand Denali tour with Talkeetna Air Taxi. Short stop at the Anchorage Brewing company for some tasty ales before continuing on down to Kenai. No accommodation booked yet, but previously stated the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge in Cooper Landing which was in a beautiful location.

 

9^th Jul: Will be doing a water tour this day from Seward, and I’ve got my eye on Seward Ocean Excursions as they do a 6hr cruise with no more than 6 people on the boat. Yes they don’t get all the way out to the Northwestern Fjord but they still go close to glaciers in Aialik Bay. I have previously done the 8.5hr Northwestern Fjord tour with Kenai Fjords Tour and loved it

 

10^th Jul: Lazy day with some opportunities to see some wildlife around Cooper Landing. Skilak Lake Rd has proved great for this in the past

 

11^th Jul: Drive back to Seward for our cruise. Drop off the rental car and our bags at the cruise ship terminal. Do the Alaska SeaLife Center and grab some taco’s at Lone Chicharron Taqueria before boarding our cruise.

[curry767]

Southbound Cruise

 

Celebrity Sumit ex Seward on the 11^th of July 2025

 

Juneau: No plans yet, still deciding but need to get my act together

 

Skagway: Renting a car with Klondike Electric Cars and hoping to get as far as the Robinson Roadhouse but let’s see what the day brings. I’ve done this before and it was awesome to have the freedom to get away from the crowds and do the day at our own pace.

 

ISP: Whale watching tour with Wooshkeetan Tours. Once again small boat with a more personal feel. 2025 bookings not available yet.

 

Ketchikan: Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory with Family Air Tours. Probably the best tour I have ever done in Alaska. Permits not available for 2025 yet, but Family Air Tours have me on their list and will email as soon the as permits become available. This will be like getting Taylor Swift concert tickets!! As a pilot, I am very fussy on who I fly with and Family Air meets my requirements.

[curry767]

 

So I would call that the high level over view. Keen to get into the weeds and discuss the finer details with those that wish to discuss their 2025 plans.

I am a person that loves to over plan in the lead up to the holiday but once on the holiday I will more flexible, knowing that I have lots of different plans available to me because I've done all the research and don't have to waste time on the holiday replanning. For example, with 3 weeks in Alaska, the weather we will impact us for sure - so having known options in advance makes it a less stressful holiday when things do go off the rails.

[curry767]

I put all my plans together in a Excel spreadsheet, not because I am doing any calculations but it's way for me to have multiple sheets as I work through different parts of the holiday. For example here is a sheet where I worked out how many people could be in each port. As I will be visiting 3 ports twice, it painted a picture of how to structure my plans.

 

Once I have locked an item in, e.g. tour or flight it goes into my Tripit account. Tripit works really well for me because it auto imports bookings from my email into travel plans and gives me a single place across multiple devices where I can see my holiday plans. Very hand for recovering booking reference numbers and the rea ltime monitoring of flights is well worth it. Definitely one of my go to travel apps.

[curry767]

Deep dive into Juneau.

 

I have two visits across the two different cruises. I'm currently watching the same cruises I have booked on MarineTraffic to see where the ships dock. No guarantees that it will be the same next year but it gives me an idea. I also use windy.com to see webcam's in the area and they have 24hr playback loops.

 

First visit is on the Radiance of the Sea and I'm looking at a 12,000 cruise guest day across 6 cruise ships (does National Geographic ships count?). We are the 5th cruise ship into town at 1pm, so I'm expecting the town will already be smashed. As a result, I wanted a tour with a low amount of people. I settled on the Harv & Marv, Harv’s Original 6 Passenger Experience. It was only $20pp more than the standard their standard whale watching tour, so for me that was worth it and it should just be the 4 of us plus 2 others. Harv & Marv have always been good to us, so I am keen to repay that with loyalty. No other plans for this day, especially considering I don't know what time cruise I will actually end up on as this won't be known until October when Harv & Marv finalise their tour times. The tour cost is $189pp + tax.

 

Southbound on the Summit it could be 9,600 cruise guest day across 5 ships, so not as busy as northbound but still busy. I haven't locked down a plan for this day yet. By this stage we will have already done glaciers, so don't think we need to brave the masses at the Mendenhall. I'm considering renting a car but to be honest, there doesn't look like a lot to do and we don't get into port until 1130am. Maybe we go whale watching again, not sure but I need to work something out here ASAP!
 

In no particular order, some things on my 'to consider' list:

• DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery (taxi or rental car)

• Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure (with rental car)

• Eagle Beach (with rental car)

• Forbidden Peak Brewery for beers and views (with rental car)
• There is a zipline course on Douglas Island at the Eaglecrest Ski Area through Kawanti Tours for $245 per adult and $185 per child. The reviews look promising but like most independent tours, bookings for 2025 aren't available yet.

 

Our ships don't sail until 10 and 9pm, so keen to eat late lunch/dinner off the boat somewhere, if the crowds permit:

• Tracy's King Crab Shack 2 (hopefully less busy than the other location)
• The Hangar on the Wharf (probably too busy but having been there before, it would flashback)
• Deckhand Dave's Fish Tacos
• Twisted Fish Company Alaskan Grill (probably too busy)
• Barnaby Brewing Company for a beer or two but may not be able to take the kids depending on their licence - see ya kids 😉
  
  That is about all I have for Juneau at this point in time, but please feel free to suggest other ideas.

 

[Coral]

Too bad you will miss Glacier Bay on both of your cruises.

[MississippiMom]

14 hours ago, curry767 said:

Southbound Cruise

 

Celebrity Sumit ex Seward on the 11^th of July 2025

 

Juneau: No plans yet, still deciding but need to get my act together

 

Skagway: Renting a car with Klondike Electric Cars and hoping to get as far as the Robinson Roadhouse but let’s see what the day brings. I’ve done this before and it was awesome to have the freedom to get away from the crowds and do the day at our own pace.

 

ISP: Whale watching tour with Wooshkeetan Tours. Once again small boat with a more personal feel. 2025 bookings not available yet.

 

Ketchikan: Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory with Family Air Tours. Probably the best tour I have ever done in Alaska. Permits not available for 2025 yet, but Family Air Tours have me on their list and will email as soon the as permits become available. This will be like getting Taylor Swift concert tickets!! As a pilot, I am very fussy on who I fly with and Family Air meets my requirements.

The “need to get my act together” comment explains where I am at right now.  We have a little more time than you, since we are cruising August 2025, but I would like to put excursion deposits down just as soon as that’s an option.

 

ISP is probably going to be our whale watching port, so I’m excited to go read a bit about the tour you have selected.

 

I will most definitely be following along on this thread.  Thanks for posting it!

[MississippiMom]

4 hours ago, curry767 said:

Deep dive into Juneau.

 

I have two visits across the two different cruises. I'm currently watching the same cruises I have booked on MarineTraffic to see where the ships dock. No guarantees that it will be the same next year but it gives me an idea. I also use windy.com to see webcam's in the area and they have 24hr playback loops.

 

First visit is on the Radiance of the Sea and I'm looking at a 12,000 cruise guest day across 6 cruise ships (does National Geographic ships count?). We are the 5th cruise ship into town at 1pm, so I'm expecting the town will already be smashed. As a result, I wanted a tour with a low amount of people. I settled on the Harv & Marv, Harv’s Original 6 Passenger Experience. It was only $20pp more than the standard their standard whale watching tour, so for me that was worth it and it should just be the 4 of us plus 2 others. Harv & Marv have always been good to us, so I am keen to repay that with loyalty. No other plans for this day, especially considering I don't know what time cruise I will actually end up on as this won't be known until October when Harv & Marv finalise their tour times. The tour cost is $189pp + tax.

 

Southbound on the Summit it could be 9,600 cruise guest day across 5 ships, so not as busy as northbound but still busy. I haven't locked down a plan for this day yet. By this stage we will have already done glaciers, so don't think we need to brave the masses at the Mendenhall. I'm considering renting a car but to be honest, there doesn't look like a lot to do and we don't get into port until 1130am. Maybe we go whale watching again, not sure but I need to work something out here ASAP!
 

In no particular order, some things on my 'to consider' list:

• DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery (taxi or rental car)

• Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure (with rental car)

• Eagle Beach (with rental car)

• Forbidden Peak Brewery for beers and views (with rental car)
• There is a zipline course on Douglas Island at the Eaglecrest Ski Area through Kawanti Tours for $245 per adult and $185 per child. The reviews look promising but like most independent tours, bookings for 2025 aren't available yet.

 

Our ships don't sail until 10 and 9pm, so keen to eat late lunch/dinner off the boat somewhere, if the crowds permit:

 

• Tracy's King Crab Shack 2 (hopefully less busy than the other location)
• The Hangar on the Wharf (probably too busy but having been there before, it would flashback)
• Deckhand Dave's Fish Tacos
• Twisted Fish Company Alaskan Grill (probably too busy)
• Barnaby Brewing Company for a beer or two but may not be able to take the kids depending on their licence - see ya kids 😉
  
  That is about all I have for Juneau at this point in time, but please feel free to suggest other ideas.

 

 

We are planning to rent a car in Juneau (long port day) just to have the freedom to go at our own pace.  We think we can get to Mendenhall Glacier before the bulk of the cruise tours, visit Douglas Island, and, maybe, eat away from the masses.  Plus, it doesn’t look like we can really get lost driving, and my husband will be able to tell people he drove in Alaska.

[ArmchairQB]

Our trip is in July, Vancouver to Vancouver round trip. (Flights out of Alaska crazy $$) We are stopping in Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan in that order.  It is our first cruise to Alaska.

 

We've been to Vancouver before (I've been there many times) and so I was looking at stopping in Seattle on the way in or the way out.  We can likely fly from Buffalo to Seattle for half the cost out of Toronto.  The train from Seattle to Vancouver is supposed to be nice (and not very costly).  I've been to Seattle before but my family has not and I'm not sure there is enough there to make it worth it. (I would go back to the Boeing museum in a heartbeat but no one else would be interested)

 

The plan so far for ports is to go to Mendenhall (maybe even just by city bus - talk me out of it) in Juneau; White Pass Railway in Skagway and the Bering Sea Crab Boat Tour in Ketchikan.

 

The Family Air Tours in Juneau do look interesting.  I would like to try fly fishing just for the looks I would get from my wife and 2 (20 something) daughters.  lol

[curry767]

9 hours ago, Coral said:

Too bad you will miss Glacier Bay on both of your cruises.

Yes, unfortunately that’s consequence of fitting two cruises into 3 weeks of school holidays. I’ve done it multiple times before, so personally I’m not missing out. I’m making up for it with hiking on Matanuska Glacier and small boat cruise to some of the tidewater glaciers near Seward plus of course Hubbard. Still deciding if I want to do a glacier landing out of Talkeetna. 

[curry767]

6 hours ago, MississippiMom said:

We are planning to rent a car in Juneau (long port day) just to have the freedom to go at our own pace.  We think we can get to Mendenhall Glacier before the bulk of the cruise tours, visit Douglas Island, and, maybe, eat away from the masses.  Plus, it doesn’t look like we can really get lost driving, and my husband will be able to tell people he drove in Alaska.

Yeah, I’m back and forth whether to rent a car in Juneau. The arrival at 1130 is probably putting me off and I won’t be going to Mendenhall that late in the day. 
 

Having dinner away from the masses does sound good. I was eyeing off Forbidden Peak Brewery for a beer and a possible feed, but I did read someone recommending The Island Pub over on Douglas Island. Both of those places should be well away from the masses. 

[curry767]

5 hours ago, ArmchairQB said:

Our trip is in July, Vancouver to Vancouver round trip. (Flights out of Alaska crazy $$) We are stopping in Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan in that order.  It is our first cruise to Alaska.

 

We've been to Vancouver before (I've been there many times) and so I was looking at stopping in Seattle on the way in or the way out.  We can likely fly from Buffalo to Seattle for half the cost out of Toronto.  The train from Seattle to Vancouver is supposed to be nice (and not very costly).  I've been to Seattle before but my family has not and I'm not sure there is enough there to make it worth it. (I would go back to the Boeing museum in a heartbeat but no one else would be interested)

 

The plan so far for ports is to go to Mendenhall (maybe even just by city bus - talk me out of it) in Juneau; White Pass Railway in Skagway and the Bering Sea Crab Boat Tour in Ketchikan.

 

The Family Air Tours in Juneau do look interesting.  I would like to try fly fishing just for the looks I would get from my wife and 2 (20 something) daughters.  lol

I love Seattle and totally agree with you on the Boeing museum. 
 

I’ve done the train before and yes it’s very scenic. Pretty basic service and by memory it wasn’t much to upgrade to business or first (can’t remember what they called it). 
 

Lots of great places to eat in Seattle, but if you want something unexpected, check out Serious Pie Downtown. Probably some of the best pizza I’ve had in the world, and include Italy in that statement. 
 

I would recommended Mendenhall if you haven’t seen it before. It’s one of the most accessible glaciers in the world. Just be prepared for crowds if your cruise ship isn’t one of the first one in on the day. 
 

I wish you luck on the fishing approval 😛

[pattyj 1204]

To my way of thinking you should probably take the gondola in Juneau. There is a nice hiking trail at the top. Also you might want to consider a salmon bake at some point on your tours.  We rented a car in Skagway and had a great time, stopping when and where we wanted to. On our next cruise Sept. 2025 I want to try the bus/train tour. We are going on the Summit--I like smaller ships, even though when we went the first time in 2002 I thought the ship was huge! LOL We've been on the Solstice and thought it was too big for us.  Have fun planning.  

[MississippiMom]

2 hours ago, pattyj 1204 said:

To my way of thinking you should probably take the gondola in Juneau. There is a nice hiking trail at the top. Also you might want to consider a salmon bake at some point on your tours.  We rented a car in Skagway and had a great time, stopping when and where we wanted to. On our next cruise Sept. 2025 I want to try the bus/train tour. We are going on the Summit--I like smaller ships, even though when we went the first time in 2002 I thought the ship was huge! LOL We've been on the Solstice and thought it was too big for us.  Have fun planning.  

We will be on the Summit in August 2025.  First time on Celebrity and first time to Alaska.   Excited to try and see something different.

 

This Mississippi girl does not know what a Salmon Bake really means.  Guess I’m about to Google that.  😜

[MamaFej]

3 hours ago, curry767 said:

Yes, unfortunately that’s consequence of fitting two cruises into 3 weeks of school holidays. I’ve done it multiple times before, so personally I’m not missing out. I’m making up for it with hiking on Matanuska Glacier and small boat cruise to some of the tidewater glaciers near Seward plus of course Hubbard. Still deciding if I want to do a glacier landing out of Talkeetna. 

I'm really glad you're getting the kids inland. Alaska is, by far, my favoritie US state to visit. I've been to all of them at least twice. Most, like Alaska, 5 or more times. I'm headed to Hawaii again tomorrow (unfortunately, for a sad reason this time).

 

I highly recommend the glacier landing from Talkeetna. It will most likely be on Ruth Glacier, and it's pretty fantastic. It will be an amazing memory for your kids!

 

By the way, I've been to all of your states, as well. You're right: the wildlife is most definitely different!

[curry767]

7 hours ago, pattyj 1204 said:

To my way of thinking you should probably take the gondola in Juneau. There is a nice hiking trail at the top. Also you might want to consider a salmon bake at some point on your tours.  We rented a car in Skagway and had a great time, stopping when and where we wanted to. On our next cruise Sept. 2025 I want to try the bus/train tour. We are going on the Summit--I like smaller ships, even though when we went the first time in 2002 I thought the ship was huge! LOL We've been on the Solstice and thought it was too big for us.  Have fun planning.  

I love the idea of hiking and I’m definitely down for that. The queues to get on the gondola are off putting, hence why it wasn’t on my radar.

Love me some salmon and have done some salmon bakes before. Probably not the kids scene and hopefully by the time we get back to Juneau on the way southbound we will have lots of salmon (well at least I will have).

For my second Juneau stay, I’m probably leaning towards the zip over on Douglas Island

[curry767]

Skagway Deep Dive

 

Another port we will be visiting twice.

 

First visit is on the Radiance of the Seas and that port will be our busiest of all ports visits with this day being a 13,000 cruise ship passenger day - ouch!! Unfortunately we are only in port from 7am to 3pm and all 4 cruise ships arrive at the same time. As a result I am not doing our preferred Skagway tour of renting a car. I’ve looked at the other tours and haven’t really found one that leaps out to me. Yes the train is very popular but because we will be renting a car on our second visit, I am tempted to skip the train. In no particular order, the other tours I have looked at are:

• Ocean Raft Alaska: This rates very well on Google, but I am not sure I am convinced. A high speed boat that doesn’t seem to concentrate on marine life (is there much around Skagway) but rather just the coast line may not be to our liking. Having said, I’m sure the kids would like the speed

• Chilkoot Trail Hike & Float: This one does seem interesting and also rates very well. As it’s 4.5hr tour I would need to get on the first tour at 8am. Not open for 2025 bookings yet.

• Grizzly Falls Ziplining Expedition: unfortunately their departure time is too late in the day for us to be back in time. I emailed asking if they offered earlier times and didn’t get a response.

 

Non tour things:

• Self hike to Yakutania Point and Smuggler’s Cove, but not very long.

• Pulled Creek StreamWalk if the salmon are running

 

Second visit is southbound on the Summit and we are into town for a much longer period. We’ve done the rental car thing before and loved the freedom to do our own day and escape the crowds, so we are doing this again. The secret to this one is to be off the ship early and get the to rental agency ASAP. Get on the road ahead of everyone and remember that you will see the same scenery on the way back (weather permitting). Lunch in Carcross, probably at The Bistro and then a visit to Caribou Crossing Trading Post to hopefully see some Huksy pups. Also spend some time at the Carcross Desert. Normal turn around point is Emerald Lake but this time I’m hoping to get a bit further up the road to Robinson Roadhouse to see the abandon buildings. We are renting an electric car from Klondike Electric Cars based on the awesome reviews online.

 

Eating/Drinking:

• Skagway Brewing Company: Gets lots of great reviews, but like everywhere else I am sure there will be a queue to get in.

• Skagway Fish Company: Looks great but I’m sure it will be absolutely rammed being so close to the port

• Salty Siren: Same as above

• Woadie’s South East Seafood: Long queues but apparently you can get a beer whilst waiting

• Peppers Street Fusion: Taco food truck, but will need to be a nice day as nowhere to sit

• Klondike Brewing Company: Beers sound good but no real food

• Glacial Coffeehouse

• Lucy’s Bakehouse: Hope to pick up some snacks before our drive

• Skagway Fudge Shop: Got to keep the kids happy!!

[curry767]

Watching the Radiance of the Seas on MarineTraffic today, I saw that the ship parked at the AJ Dock on the same northbound cruise I am doing next year. I haven't experienced this dock before and I can see that it's just a bit over a mile into town, but looks like the dock offers a shuttle bus. This will slow my day down and I will have to confirm with Harv & Marv whether they pickup at the AJ Dock. Not to say that things won't be different next year, but at least I will be prepared if we get this far away berth.

My southbound cruise on Celebrity Summit was also in Juneau today and it parked right next to town at the Cruise Pier.

Both ships can see in the photo below with the Radiance circled in red.

[Mary loves to travel]

7 hours ago, curry767 said:

Skagway Deep Dive

 

Another port we will be visiting twice.

 

First visit is on the Radiance of the Seas and that port will be our busiest of all ports visits with this day being a 13,000 cruise ship passenger day - ouch!! Unfortunately we are only in port from 7am to 3pm and all 4 cruise ships arrive at the same time. As a result I am not doing our preferred Skagway tour of renting a car. I’ve looked at the other tours and haven’t really found one that leaps out to me. Yes the train is very popular but because we will be renting a car on our second visit, I am tempted to skip the train. In no particular order, the other tours I have looked at are:

• Ocean Raft Alaska: This rates very well on Google, but I am not sure I am convinced. A high speed boat that doesn’t seem to concentrate on marine life (is there much around Skagway) but rather just the coast line may not be to our liking. Having said, I’m sure the kids would like the speed

• Chilkoot Trail Hike & Float: This one does seem interesting and also rates very well. As it’s 4.5hr tour I would need to get on the first tour at 8am. Not open for 2025 bookings yet.

• Grizzly Falls Ziplining Expedition: unfortunately their departure time is too late in the day for us to be back in time. I emailed asking if they offered earlier times and didn’t get a response.

 

Non tour things:

• Self hike to Yakutania Point and Smuggler’s Cove, but not very long.

• Pulled Creek StreamWalk if the salmon are running

 

Second visit is southbound on the Summit and we are into town for a much longer period. We’ve done the rental car thing before and loved the freedom to do our own day and escape the crowds, so we are doing this again. The secret to this one is to be off the ship early and get the to rental agency ASAP. Get on the road ahead of everyone and remember that you will see the same scenery on the way back (weather permitting). Lunch in Carcross, probably at The Bistro and then a visit to Caribou Crossing Trading Post to hopefully see some Huksy pups. Also spend some time at the Carcross Desert. Normal turn around point is Emerald Lake but this time I’m hoping to get a bit further up the road to Robinson Roadhouse to see the abandon buildings. We are renting an electric car from Klondike Electric Cars based on the awesome reviews online.

 

Eating/Drinking:

• Skagway Brewing Company: Gets lots of great reviews, but like everywhere else I am sure there will be a queue to get in.

• Skagway Fish Company: Looks great but I’m sure it will be absolutely rammed being so close to the port

• Salty Siren: Same as above

• Woadie’s South East Seafood: Long queues but apparently you can get a beer whilst waiting

• Peppers Street Fusion: Taco food truck, but will need to be a nice day as nowhere to sit

• Klondike Brewing Company: Beers sound good but no real food

• Glacial Coffeehouse

• Lucy’s Bakehouse: Hope to pick up some snacks before our drive

• Skagway Fudge Shop: Got to keep the kids happy!!

 

We did the Chilkoot Trail Hike & Float about 10 years ago & it was wonderful!

[Mary loves to travel]

I must also comment that I'm the same type of planner -- an excel workbook with itinerary, etc, and a tab for each port where I can collect info.

Once all booked, TripIt is my friend.   🙂

[Maimour]

10 hours ago, Mary loves to travel said:

I must also comment that I'm the same type of planner -- an excel workbook with itinerary, etc, and a tab for each port where I can collect info.

Once all booked, TripIt is my friend.   🙂

Saaaaaaame! My spreadsheet for our July 2025 AK cruise has been active since March! 😂

[Gardyloo]

I know this will probably be about as aerodynamic as a brick, but after reading this I had to throw it out there just to see if it had any chance of flying.  (Okay, enough with the strained metaphors.)

 

What if - just what if - you scrubbed a couple of the planned days from your land tour and substituted them with something completely off the beaten tourist path?  It would be a first for you as well as your family.

 

Alaska Airlines flies nonstop from Anchorage to Kotzebue, an Inupiat Eskimo community located on an inlet of the Arctic Ocean.  The flight takes around an hour and the return airfare is around $300 - $325, so considerably less than, say, most glacier flights or some other excursions you might be planning.

 

Kotzebue is above the arctic circle, and in early July the sun will be over the horizon for 24 hours per day.  There's a comfortable Native-owned hotel located across the street from the ocean, a fascinating cultural center where you and your kids can learn about the remarkable people who occupy this remarkable part of the world, and you could visit a local fish camp or just get a feel for the arctic.  You wouldn't need a car as there are no roads out of the town.

 

I don't know if this has any appeal, but I thought I'd mention it as a way to spend, say, 24 or 48 hours seeing a face of Alaska the vast majority of visitors never experience.  Maybe worth a ponder.  

[kchamp27]

Ahh - I love planners!!! I will have to check out TripIt - thanks for that info. 

We are doing a DIY land portion for 4 mid50's age adults next summer followed by a Southbound Princess Cruise adding my 24 YO daughter and her college roommate to that portion. The land portion is coming together and have been looking at excursions for the ports. I think the only one we are doing through the cruise line is the smaller ship excursion in Hubbard Glacier which is already booked.  So far here is a high level overview of the land portion. Love my spreadsheets for the details though! Do have McKinley Cabins and Sheep Mountain booked. The car rental price is insane but will keep shopping around as more options become available. Happy planning!

 

Sunday 7/27

Arrive Fairbanks, pick up rental

If time, dinner at Alaska Salmon Bake and dinner show at Pioneer Park

Regular chain hotel

 

Monday, 7/28

Running Reindeer in the morning

Drive to Denali, check in at McKinley Cabins

(Dinner show at Princess Lodge if unable to go on Sunday due to flight time)

 

Tuesday, 7/29

On/off bus system into Denali

Doggonit 7 pm tour

 

Wednesday, 7/30

Leave early and drive to Talkeenta

Maybe 12:00 or 2:30 Jet Boat River Cruise

Drive to Sheep Mountain

 

Thursday, 7/31

Mantanuska Glacier hike with MICA

ATV evening ride from Sheep Mountain

 

Friday, 8/1

Drive to Anchorage

Maybe go to Wildlife Conservation Center?

Laundry?, Drop off rental

Get chain hotel reservation

 

Saturday, 8/2

Train ride from Anchorage to Whittier to board ship