Princess land tour to Prudhoe Bay?

[crest]

We are a young couple (23 years old) sailing with Sapphire Princess June 2nd.

 

We saw this landtour to Prudhoe Bay, far north in Alaska visiting Denali, fairbanks, etc...

 

Have you ever been to this upnorth area? Is it worth the visit? It costs around an extra grand per person, it's a lot of money and we want to be sure about it.

 

Thanks!

 

This is the itinerary:

 

[greatam]

We are a young couple (23 years old) sailing with Sapphire Princess June 2nd.

 

We saw this landtour to Prudhoe Bay, far north in Alaska visiting Denali, fairbanks, etc...

 

Have you ever been to this upnorth area? Is it worth the visit? It costs around an extra grand per person, it's a lot of money and we want to be sure about it.

 

Thanks!

 

This is the itinerary:

 

 

I have been to Prudhoe twice and ANWR once. I have seen the Princess tour busses show up. Most of the people looked shell shocked. Long bus ride over very bumpy roads. That said, I love industrial stuff and Prudhoe is very industrial.

 

You can do this trip yourself for less money. Northern Alaska Tours out of Fairbanks runs almost the identical trip, EXCEPT they use an 8 passenger van, NOT a 50 pax bus.

 

And if you really want to do an independent trip, you can book your own air to Prudhoe (either charter or Alaska Airlines), then go south with Northern Alaska or other tour operators.

[wolfie11]

As stated above, you would be better off doing this on your own. Rent a car in Anchorage, drive to Denali, then up to Fairbanks and take the fly/drive tour offered by Northern AK Tour Co. If arctic industrial sprawl doesn't appeal, you have the option of a Barrow tour with AK Airlines.

[wolfie11]

As stated above, you would be better off doing this on your own. Rent a car in Anchorage, drive to Denali, then up to Fairbanks and take the fly/drive tour offered by Northern AK Tour Co. If arctic industrial sprawl doesn't appeal, you have the option of a Barrow tour with AK Airlines.

[Momj47]

My DD, SIL and I did the land tour to Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse in June 2005 and we really enjoyed it. I would recommend it if you want to go as far north as you can. Princess did a wonderful job on the trip. We left Fairbanks on June 22, so we had a chance to go to the Midnight Sun Festival on June 21 in Fairbanks. Twenty-four hours of daylight is very disorienting!

 

Prudhoe Bay is an industrial area, above the Arctic Circle, in the middle of nowhere. It won't appeal to too many people. The people on our tour weren't put off by that, I think that was one of the attractions, and getting there was half the fun. And it was fun, and very informative - and I like that. And now, when I read about the North Slope, I know what they are talking about. I'll probably never get that far north again, it was a once in a lifetime trip, at least for me.

 

There were 42 on our tour. We had two buses, we were not crowded and definitely not shell shocked. The driver/guides were a wonderful source of information and made the trip very pleasant. They were funny, they lived in Alaska and knew the area, they could point out interesting natural places and tell us about family camping trips, and a lot of interesting anecdotes and news. They would stop at every interesting place and we had plenty of time to sight see on the ride up.

 

My DD was pregnant at the time and there were fires along the Dalton Highway, Princess got her some particulate filtering masks to wear when the smoke got bad. My SIL took a "dip" in the Arctic Ocean. The accommodations are spartan, but the hospitality is welcoming and warm, we really enjoyed it. The flight back from Deadhorse to Anchorage was great, especially flying around Mt. McKinley.

 

I think the Princess trip is well worth it, and we'd do it again.

 

Have a wonderful trip to Alaska.