Advice for Anchorage Tour

[tonghua]

Will be taking the Gulf of Alaska Cruise on the Radiance of the Sea, North bound, sailing 27 May. After the cruise, will have one full day free at Anchorage before flying home.

 

Thinking of taking a tour at Anchorage. Three interesting choices but we could only take one:

 

1. Mount McKinley Glacier & Volcano Airplane Tour from Anchorage, 2.5 hours.

 

2. Grayline’s 2006 Glaciers - Phillip's 26 Glacier Cruise from Whittier to Prince William Sound, on the new Klondike Express and the high-speed catamaran. 11 hrs.

http://graylinealaska.com/sightseeingtours.cfm/mode/detail/product_id/1562/currmonth/09-01-2006

 

 

3. Grayline’s 2006 Glaciers - Prince William Sound Wilderness Explorer Cruise, coach and cruise, 12 hrs.

http://graylinealaska.com/sightseeingtours.cfm/mode/detail/product_id/1605

 

Would appreciate your comments/experience on the tours, especially comparing the 2 cruises.

 

This is most likely to be our only time visiting Anchorage.

 

Many thanks for your comments.

 

tonghua

[NancyIL]

None of your choices has you actually seeing Anchorage! Your ship arrives in Seward, and is several hours away from Anchorage. You might consider a cruise of Kenai Fjords National Park while still in Seward:

 

http://www.alaskaheritagetours.com/543.cfm

 

If you go on the 11:30 cruise, you could take the 6:00 p.m. train to Anchorage, arriving about 10:15 p.m.

 

The two Prince William Sound cruises leave from Whittier, which is between Seward and Anchorage. It seems like a waste of time to go all the way to Anchorage to get on a bus to backtrack to Whittier.

 

Phillips 26 Glaciers: http://www.26glaciers.com

 

Wilderness Explorer Glacier Cruise: http://www.princewilliamsound.com/579.cfm

 

I imagine flightseeing to Mt. McKinley would be the most breathtaking option, and also the most expensive. IF your flight takes place (my understanding is lots of flights get cancelled due to weather), you'd still have time to see some of the city of Anchorage.

[NancyIL]

I just noticed the times the 2 glacier cruises leave from Anchorage - and there is NO WAY you can get to Anchorage from Seward by 9:15 a.m. when the later of the two tour buses leaves to go on the 26 glacier cruise. I would either go on a Kenai Fjords cruise out of Seward as I suggested above, or the Mt. McKinley flightseeing.

[NancyIL]

If you really want to take one of the Prince William Sound cruises, you could make alternate arrangements to get from Seward to Whittier right after you get off Radiance. I have seen a recommendation for PJS Taxi: http://www.pjstaxi.com/ You could probably make arrangements with the cruise company to travel to Anchorage by coach or train after the PWS cruise.

[greatam]

Will be taking the Gulf of Alaska Cruise on the Radiance of the Sea, North bound, sailing 27 May. After the cruise, will have one full day free at Anchorage before flying home.

 

This is most likely to be our only time visiting Anchorage.

 

Many thanks for your comments.

 

tonghua

 

Do you have an overnight in Anchorage? Or just the time from the ship TO Anchorage and then onto the plane later that evening? The ANC airport is usually a MESS. Plan on 1+ hours through security AND if it is a cruise departure day, plan on 2. TSA is NOT fast and half the tourists just can't seem to get it together with shoes off, jackets off, no jewelry, put the cell phones away, NO ULU knives in carryons, WAAAY too much luggage for carryons, etc., etc., etc.

 

I go through the priority security line with AA and have STILL had to wait in line for over 45 minutes. Sorry for the rant, but it just INFURIATES me. And I want you to be prepared for how bad the ANC airport CAN be.

 

Back to your problem. If you are on one of the late night flights (after 10PM), you really only have about 8+ hours to do something.

 

My first choice would be flightseeing. But Denali/Mt.McKinley is only visible about 1/2 the time. So make sure you plan an alternate if flight conditions are not good.

 

If you don't stay in Seward and take the Kenai Fjords cruise, as NancyIL suggests, then a trip to Portage Glacier would probably make sense. But you are going to have to work out the logisitcs. IF you leave Seward, you will pass by Portage Glacier on your way to Anchorage, then turn right around and go back towards Seward to go to Portage Glacier. Quite a waste of valuable sightseeing time.

 

If you are going to overnight in Anchorage after your cruise, anything you propose is OK. However, you are still in the same logistics dilemma as I posted above. If you don't stay in Seward and enjoy the day, look into renting a one way car from Seward to Anchorage. Then you can stop at Portage Glacier, the Big Game farm, Aleyeska and drive around Anchorage. Would be worth it to me not to spend half my sightseeing time going back and forth.

[tonghua]

I forgot to add that there is no problem with logistics.

 

 

We are from Singapore. After the cruise on June 3rd, the cruise line will transfer us to the Downtown Anchorage Hospitality Center; We expect to arrive Anchorage in early afternoon. We will be staying at Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel for two nights. Our flight back to Singapore is to depart at 4:30 am, June 5. So have one full day (June 4) at Anchorage.

 

 

We would like to take a “nice/memorable” tour while at Anchorage. It is most unlikely that we will ever be back to Anchorage again.

 

Just would like to get comments on which is the “best” tour to take. Other suggestion welcomed.

 

Thanks

 

tonghua

[NancyIL]

You can sightsee in Anchorage the afternoon/evening your cruise ends as well as the next day. Since the Mt. McKinley excursion lasts only 2.5 hours, could it be done that afternoon/early evening, with the full day available for one of the PWS cruises? That way, if the flight is cancelled due to weather, you still have the PWS cruise to look forward to the next day.