When you have finalized your "land tour" plans....

[Host Caroline]

why don't you post them here? It might help others who are planning and I know I'm just nosey enough to want to know what everyone else is doing...;) :)

This is NOT NOT however a thread for critiquing plans or giving advice as to what people would have enjoyed more or less had they done it differently.. if you've plunked down your money you are probably happy with what you picked....

 

*****

 

Here's our itinerary planned with a travel company that let's you customize so it's one stop shopping but you can do what you want to a certain extent... total cost for two is about $1,200 excluding gas and food.

June 4 - Arrive Anchorage early evening, pick up rental car (compact), spend the night at Eagle River Motel

June 5 - Sightsee along the Parks Highway, stop in Talkeetna for lunch and brief sightseeing. Spend the night at McKinley Princess Lodge - 1 night

June 6 - Early a.m. hiking then Tokosha Homestead Tour from McKinley Princess; drive to Drive to Denali River Cabins

June 6-8 - Denali River Cabins (6 mis. south of park entrance, includes breakfast)

June 7 - Denali 7:00 shuttle to Fish Creek (all day); dinner with friends at Denali Princess

June 8 - 10:00 a.m. Canyon Whitewater Rafting

Lunch at McKinley Creekside Cabin restaurant

Return car in Anchorage in evening

June 8 - Days Inn Anchorage - 1 night

June 9 - 10:00 train from Anchorage to Whittier, board Sapphire Princess!

[stired]

I just posted my final itinerary (subject to a few minor tweaks) on this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=465925

 

(155 days and counting :))

[cjnky]

I don't think I'll ever have a FINAL itenerary - because I want to make sure we can stay as long as we want, wherever we want. The only land reservations made will be Denali, and the rest will be played as we go.

 

Monday - go to Anchorage; pick up RV; stock RV; see Alaska Heritage Center and may or may not start north

Tuesday - Independence Mine, Eklutna, possibly helo in Talkeetna all depending on time without rushing

Weds & Thurs. - Savage River Campground in Denali with early shuttle to Fish Creek Thursday morning

Fri & Sat - Fairbanks - sternwheeler planned and MUST visit North Pole for grandkids!

Sunday & Monday - To Copper Center and on to Valdez

Tuesday - to (or towards) Palmer

Weds. - AK State Fair, or on to Kenai Peninsula

Thurs - Sun - Seward, and Homer

MON - Back to Anchorage and fly home :mad:

 

(The BAD part of this itenerary is that we'd be on the Kenai Peninsula Labor Day Weekend :eek: so Kenai Peninsula may get switched to start of trip)

[scmomofboys]

This will be our 3rd Alaskan cruise and 4th trip to Alaska. It is our favorite vacation destination. We are a family of 4, with boys aged 17 & 12.

 

Day 1

Fly into Anchorage 9pm; pick up 4WD from Hertz; Check in to Springhill Suites for 1 night

 

Days 2 to 5

Drive to Homer, stay 4 nights at Alaska Suites where we plan to fish, sightsee & visit Katmai NP

 

Days 6 & 7

Drive to Cooper Landing, stay 2 nights at Kenai Princess lodge. 1 day fishing on Kenai River; float trip for those who don’t want to fish

 

Days 8 & 9

Drive to Seward, stay 2 nights at Seward Holiday Inn. Visit Sea Life center, Exit Glacier, & take Kenai Fjords boat tour.

 

Days 10 & 11

Drive to Anchorage, Visit Portage Glacier en route. Stay two nights in Springhill Suites, Anchorage. Shop, sightsee, pick up last minute supplies for cruise.

 

Day 12

Return rental car to airport, board Princess transfer to Coral Princess.

[lthomas]

I think this is our final:

 

Day 1 arrive in Anchorage, rent a car at the airport and spend the first night at SpringHill Suites by Marriott

 

 

Day 2 - head to Homer staying at the Land's End Beachfront Condos.......fishing and sightseeing

 

Day 3 - Still in Homer

 

Day 4 - Head to Seward for two nights at the Falls Inn Bed and Breakfast

 

Day 5 - still enjoying Seward with Kenai Fjords trip, Sea Life Center, Seavey's, Exit Glacier etc

 

Day 6 - Head to Whittier and board the Sapphire Princess

 

7 nights of beautiful scenery and food!!!

 

Hope to go back one day for the Denali/Fairbanks area.

[NancyIL]

It's great to see what others have planned! As the trip planner, I have "tweaked" things so often that my husband asks if we're still on the same ship! (I changed that a few times, too.) :D

 

This is probably the final outline, but the details will be filled in later. We're on the northbound Coral Princess in early June.

 

Su - fly to Vancouver (Westin Bayshore)

M - ship departs Vancouver

T - sea day

W - Ketchikan: Misty Fjords flight and city walking tour

Th - Juneau: downtown walking tour and Alaska State Museum, pick-up rental car and drive to Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Gardens, etc.

F - Skagway: National Park Service Visitor Center and walking tour with Park Ranger, "The Days of '98" show, 1:00 bus/rail excursion to Fraser, BC

Sa - Glacier Bay

Su - College Fjord

M - ship arrives in Whittier and land trip begins!

 

Day 1 (M) - Alaskan Leopard shuttle/tour to Anchorage (8:45-12:45), Anchorage Museum of History & Art or Alaska Native Heritage Center (Anchorage 1 night)

 

Day 2 (T) - pick-up rental car, drive to Chitina (~ 5.5 hours without stops), 5:45 p.m. flight Chitina - McCarthy (Kennicott 2 nights)

 

Day 3 (W) - a.m. glacier hike (~ 5 hours), p.m. Kennicott mine tour (if we have any energy left)

 

Day 4 (Th) - 8:30 a.m. flight McCarthy - Chitina, scenic drive to Valdez (Valdez 1 night)

 

Day 5 (F) - 8:00-1:45 ferry Valdez to Whittier, drive ~ 4 hours to Homer (Homer 2 nights)

 

Day 6 (Sa) - Homer sights, 12:00-3:30 Gull Island lunch cruise or 5:00-10:00 Halibut Cove dinner cruise

 

Day 7 (Su) - Homer sights a.m., drive to Seward p.m. (~ 4 hours) (Seward 2 nights)

 

Day 8 (M) - Sea Life Center, 11:30-5:30 Renown Kenai Fjords cruise

 

Day 9 (T) - Exit Glacier, drive to Anchorage with stop in Girdwood, Alaska Wild Berry store (Anchorage 1 night)

 

Day 10 (W) - 8 a.m. flight from Anchorage, home in IL at 9:35 p.m. if we're lucky (3 planes)

[RSF Cruiser]

Great idea for a thread... our 2+ week land trip is just about finalized for July - and thanks to eveyone on this board who helped me decide what to do:

 

Day 1: fly to Juneau and stay at Goldbelt Hotel

 

Day 2: Juneau; Whale Watching with Captain Larry then go directly to Coastal for helicopter ride and dog sledding. Maybe go up Mt Roberts on the tram and do some hiking if we feel like it.

 

Day 3: Juneau; Tracey Arm with Adventure Bound and then rent a car from Rent -A- Reck. Drive around a bit.

 

Day 4: Juneau; finish up in Juneau with Mendenhall Glacier, Mt Roberts if we haven't done that yet, and drive around before we go to the airport and leave for Glacier Bay

 

Day 5: Glacier Bay; take the boat round around the bay

 

Day 6: Glacier Bay; hike, maybe kayak, go into town before we fly to Anchorage late afternoon and stay at Springhill Suites (we'll leave any excess luggage there while we go to Katmai)

 

Day 7: Travel to Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park, watch the bears

 

Day 8: Brooks Lodge; tour Land of 10,000 Smokes and watch the bears

 

Day 9: watch the bears and then fly back to Anchorage where we will rent a car and drive to Seward. We'll make many stops along the way and then stay at Hotel Edgewater.

 

Day 10: Seward; Hike the Harding Ice Field Trail near Exit Glacier, maybe Sealife Park

 

Day 11: Seward; Renoun tour of Kenai Fjords and then drive to Anchorage and stay again at Springhill Suites

 

Day 12: drive to Talkeetna and stay at Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Make stops along the way and hopefully do the Talkeetna Air Taxi glacier landing flight/tour.

 

Day 13: drive back to Anchorage (tour along the way what we didn't do on the way up) and stay at Springhill Suites.

 

Day 14: Flight to Barrow late afternoon where we'll stay at King Eider and do an independent tour in the evening and next day

 

Day 15: Finish seeing Barrow and Point Barrow

 

Day 16: hopefully we are energized from all we saw and did and will make the long trip back to San Diego, CA!

 

We previously did a cruise/land tour, so this time we're filling in with mainly things we didn't do the last trip.

[Host Caroline]

I Love the Kenai!! My new DH has never even been to Alaska!!!! :eek: So it will be out next "land tour"... Unfortunately he can only take two weeks at a time so we are limited until 2010.. but all of you have such wonderful plans.. If you have not been you will love Homer -- very artsy and IMHO just a wonderful place. We spent a night at Halibut Cove out in Kachemack Bay from there

[curiousl8y]

Here's ours. I've been working on it and researching it (largely on these boards, lol) since June of 2006. :D

 

Friday Aug 24th

 

5:15 am - Picked up by limousine for transport to Alaska Airlines terminal at LAX.

8:50 - Non-stop flight to Anchorage, AK.

12:30ish - Arrive in Anchorage, pick up rental car, drive Downtown and check in at the Extended Stay Deluxe.

Rest of the day, explore, sightsee, eat, shop, take mass quantities of pictures.

 

Saturday Aug 25

 

Get up, have breakfast, head out of town toward Talkeetna, stopping to take mass quantities of pictures.

11:30 a.m - check in with K2 Aviation for Mt McKinley Flightseeing Tour w/glacier landing. If the weather is not good, reschedule for Tuesday Aug 28 when we come back thru from Denali.

Head for Denali National Park, stopping to take mass qualtities of pictures..

Check in at Denali Cabins, have dinner, look around, take mass quantities of pictures.

 

Sunday Aug 26

 

Morning - visit Dog Sled Kennels and play with puppies!

11:30 am - Bus to Kantishna, 95 miles into Denali National Park.

7:00 pm - Dinner, spend the nite in Kantishna at Denali Lodges inside the park.

 

Monday Aug 27

 

Morning/Afternoon/Evening - Breakfast, guided walks, gold panning, maybe bicycling, enjoying being miles from nowhere. Shuttle service to Wonder Lake for pictures of The Mountain if she is out. Lunch, sit by the fireplace, look at the scenery, listen to the naturalist, take mass quantities of pictures. Dinner, another night in Kantishna.

 

Tuesday Aug 28

 

7:00 am - Breakfast

9:00 am - Fly out of the park back to the entrance with Kantishna Air, doing a quick fly-by of Mt McKinley, taking mass quantities of pictures.

11:00 am - Check out, pick up car and head back to Talkeetna.

Afternoon - Take Flightseeing Tour with K2 Aviation if rescheduled, taking mass mass mass quantities of pictures. If not, have lunch then keep going to Wasilla to see Sled Dog Kennels and play with puppies!

Evening - Check back in at hotel downtown, find dinner, hang out, do laundry and repack for cruise.

 

Wednesday Aug 29

 

Morning - Check out, take rental car back to airport, pick up transfer shuttle to Whittier to meet cruise ship.

Noonish - Explore Whittier, take pictures, do a little grocery shopping for the cruise.

2:00 - Board Carnival Spirit for Southbound cruise to Vancouver, balcony cabin on Empress deck, midship.

9:00 pm - Sail away, taking mass quantities of pictures.

 

Linda

[Silverwing]

We have visited both Canada and America many times, but this is our first time in Alaska. I have really enjoyed researching our trip for this summer - it's now all booked and we're getting excited!

 

1 July Fly from London, England to Vancouver Blue Hiorizon Inn

 

2 July Ferry to Nanaimo to stay with friends

 

3 July Nanaimo

 

4 July Nanaimo

 

5 July Ferry to Vancouver to stay with friends

 

6 July Vancouver

 

7 July Vancouver

 

8 July Sail on Ryndam (HAL) northbound in deluxe verandah suite

 

9 July Inside Passage

 

10 July Ketchican

 

11July Juneau

 

12 July Skagway (hire car booked for drive to Emerald Lake)

 

13 July Glacier Bay

 

14 July College Fjiord

 

15 July Seward Dairy Hill B&B Collect hire car

Exit Glacier / Sealife Centre

 

16 July Seward Northwestern Fjiord Boat trip (9 hours!)

(highly reccommended by BQ)

 

17 July Anchorage Alaskan Leopard B&B

 

18 July Anchorage

 

19 July Driving Parks Highway McKinley View Lodge

 

20 July In Denali NP North Face Lodge (near Wonder Lake)

 

21 July In Denali NP

 

22 July In Denali NP

 

23 July Healy Denali Lakeview Inn

 

24 July Fairbanks Comfort Inn

 

25 July Delta Junction Kelly's Alaska Country Inn

 

26 July Gakona (near Glennallen) Riverview B&B

 

27 July Wasilla Best Western Lake Lucille Inn

 

28 July Fly from Anchorage to Vancouver Best Western Abercorn Inn

 

29 July Fly from Vancouver to London

[fti]

Jul 2 arrive Anchorage, drive to Denali NP entrance, overnight

 

Jul 3 Camper bus to Wonder Lake, overnight Wonder Lake campground

 

Jul 4 hike/shuttle bus/discovery hike? inside Denali, overnight

Wonder Lake campground

 

Jul 5 (long day!) Camper bus to park entrance, stop in Talkeetna

(flightseeing), continue to Anchorage, overnight at Extended

Stay Deluxe

 

Jul 6 drive to Seward, Sealife Center? overnight HI Express (bought

Priority Club points to make this only $100/night)

 

July 7 Hike part of Harding Icefield trail (with ranger if they

will still do that in summer 2007), 3pm Kenai Fjords

boat cruise, overnight HI Express

 

Jul 8 morning in Seward drive back to Anchorage, possible stop in

Girdwood and/or Portage Glacier, overnight Days Inn Anchorage

(best rate guarantee = free night)

 

Jul 9 repack, reorganize, flight to Katmai NP, camp at Brooks

campground

 

Jul 10 bear watching, camp at Brooks Camp

 

Jul 11 bear watching and/or Valley of 10,000 Smokes tour, camp

at Brooks Camp

 

Jul 12 flight to Anchorage, continue 7 hours later to Minneapolis,

arrive Jul 13. Booked Extended Stay Deluxe for rest and

ability to repack during those 7 hours (only $37 + tax on hotwire.)

 

My entire land tour for 12 days will cost under $2000 for two people including to/from Katmai (frequent flyer ticket includes Anchorage-King Salmon). But we are camping several nights (in Denali by choice, in Katmai due to cost of the lodge) and have extremely inexpensive hotel costs otherwise. And my friend is not going on the Katmai portion so no flight cost for him King Salmon-Brooks and back.

 

RSF Cruiser - when will you be at Katmai? Maybe I will see you there!

 

John

[GradSchoolCruiser]

fti -How did you arrange transporation for your Katmai visit? Cost? Thanks!

 

GSC

[Embracedbylife]

Here's ours so far:

 

May 11th fly from JFK to Vancouver. Stay at Marriott Pinnacle.

May 12th Board the Princess Diamond!

May 13th At sea

May 14th Ketchikan. Deep sea fishing

May 15th Juneau. Dog Mushing on Glacier & Helicopter (this is my dream!) If it's cancelled we'll do the evening Whale Quest.

May 16th Skagway. Best of Skagway tour (train up and bus back)

May 17th Glacier Bay

May 18th College Fjord

May 19th Arrive in Whittier. Rent car from Avis. Go on boat tour to see Glaciers. Head to Seward and spend night at Holiday Inn

May 20th sleep in and then visit the Glacier and other sights. Then travel up to Anchorage and spend night at Holiday Inn Anchorage

May 21st Fly from Anchorage to Newark.

[Host Caroline]

We have visited both Canada and America many times, but this is our first time in Alaska. I have really enjoyed researching our trip for this summer - it's now all booked and we're getting excited!

 

 

Ahhh. to be retired and have time to do this.. what a fabulous trip you have in store!!!!!! Only three more years and we won't be limited to just 2 weeks at a time...:)

 

Everyone's sounds unique and interesting... no matter how long you are there or how much you get to see, I don't see how you will be disappointed.. it's a wonderful destination...

[fti]

fti -How did you arrange transporation for your Katmai visit? Cost? Thanks!GSC

 

I used Delta miles to get from Minnesota to King Salmon via Anchorage with a stop in Anchorage. Delta allows one free stop (i.e. Anchorage for me) and use of partner airlines like Alaska Air. So including Anchorage-King Salmon with Alaska Air round trip on the frequent flyer ticket saved me $300-$400 compared with buying that ticket separately or having to buy Anchorage-Brooks Lodge.

 

Then I went through Katmailand for the King Salmon-Brooks Lodge round trip. Last year's price was $164 round trip but I heard it went up to $172 this year. I paid a deposit of 50% of last year's price and they will get back to me later this spring with my final balance due.

 

The connections in King Salmon are great - obviously Katmailand knows Alaska Air's schedule so you have under 1 hour in King Salmon each way for the transfers.

[RSF Cruiser]

RSF Cruiser - when will you be at Katmai? Maybe I will see you there!

 

 

fti - too bad - we're going to be in Katmai July 19 and 20. I am really excited we're staying two nights - we should have great bear viewing time.

 

Would be fun to see other CC members on the trip...

[fti]

fti - too bad - we're going to be in Katmai July 19 and 20. I am really excited we're staying two nights - we should have great bear viewing time.

 

Would be fun to see other CC members on the trip...

 

It would have been ironic to be there the same time! I am really excited about the trip too. Two nights is a great length of time. I think the times before/after the day trippers get there will be prime viewing times.

 

In spite of going to AK this summer, I am very seriously considering going to Haines in November for the bald eagle festival. It sounds very interesting. I can use freq flyer miles to get as far as Juneau. We will see.

[Blue Darter]

This will be our 2nd Alaska trip…..we have the great fortune to have family (wife’s cousin and her husband) in Anchorage, great tour guides and a place to bed down for a couple of nights.

 

Aug 20 – Fly Orlando to Anchorage. Was able to book first class using Delta miles (woohoo!!). Stay with family.

Aug 21 – Pick-up rental car (Avis downtown), drive/sightsee to Denali NP. If early enough, do kennel tour, otherwise just drive to Savage River Check Station, Murie visitor center, etc. Stay at Touch of Wilderness B&B in Healy.

Aug 22 – 0645 Shuttle to Wonder Lake. Touch of Wilderness B&B.

Aug 23 – Early rise day! Drive to Savage River check point…maybe see Denali or more wildlife, then south to Talkeetna. 1100 Summit flight with Talkeetna Aero. Stay at Latitude River Cabin in downtown.

Aug 24 – Breakfast at the Roadhouse then back to Anchorage to spend a couple of days with family. No firm plans (other than doing some laundry and a meal at Humpy’s) for either day in Anchorage….figure we’d let the “locals” surprise us! Stay with family.

Aug 25 – More unplanned exploring! Stay with family.

Aug 26 – Drive/sightsee to Homer. Stay at Sea Lion Cove on the spit.

Aug 27 – Full day halibut fishing with Silver Fox Charters. Stay at Sea Lion Cove.

Aug 28 – Drive/sightsee to Anchorage, turn-in rental car. Stay with family.

Aug 29 – 0645 Coastal Classic train to Seward. Taxi/shuttle to Exit Glacier. Stay at Alaska Point of View Suites B&B.

Aug 30 – 1130 National Park Cruise with Renown Tours. Laundry again! Stay at Alaska Point of View Suites B&B.

Aug 31 – Sea Life Center….board Radiance of the Seas southbound to Vancouver.

 

Andy

[LarryF]

May 18 - Fly Orlando to Vancouver 1st class using Delta Points. Settle in and sight see.

May 19 - Morning sight seeing. Board Sapphire Princess for 7 day cruise to Anchorage.

May 20 - Cruising

May 21 - Ketchikan - Take Misty Fjords Flightseeing tour with Island Wings.

May 22 - Skagway - Pick up rental car from Avis. Drive to Klondike Hwy to Emerald Lake using Murry's Guide.

May 23 - Juneau - Whale watching tour with Harv and Marv's. Mendenhall Glacier.

May 24 - Cruise Glacier Bay

May 25 - Cruise College Fjords

May 26 - Dock in Whittier. Take 7:40 am private Limo with Alaska Transportation Group to Anchorage. Pick up Hertz Rental Car and take scenic drive to Seward. Stop at Portage Glacier, Exit Glacier. Sealife Center. Stay night at Holiday Inn Express using HI points.

May 27 - Renown Kenai Fjords Cruise using Toursaver coupon. Stay a Holiday Inn using points.

May 28 - Drive to Coopers Landing. Raft trip with Alaska Wildland Adventures. Stay at Kenai Princess Lodge.

May 29 - Scenic Drive to Chickaloon. Stay at Castle Mountain Lodge. Dinner at Sheep Mountain Lodge celebrating our 30th anniversary.

May 30 - Morning Ice Trek with MICA Guides at Matanuska Glacier. Scenic drive to Talkeetna. Stay at Talkeetna Chalet B&B. Possible Flight seeing and Glacier landing with Talkeetna Air Taxi.

May 31 - Drive to Denali Park. Possible Hiking and or Rafting. Stay at Denali Lakeview Inn.

June 1 - Shuttle to Fish Creek. Alaskan Cabin Night show and dinner. Stay at Denali Lakeview Inn.

June 2 - Drive back to Anchorage. Return Car. Fly back to Oralndo at 5pm.

[sea_u_onboard]

30 June (Sat) – Jump plane from DFW to ANC, arrive mid afternoon, shuttle to hotel (Clarion Suites – good deal – booked in Sept under military and got it for $95 a night), check in, walk around by hotel, eat dinner, CRASH.

1 July (Sun) – Purchase public bus passes ($4.00 each) and just wing it in Anchorage. We want to hit all the main attractions and the outdoor market. Nice dinner, CRASH.

2 July (Mon) – Pick up Avis Rental car at the downtown office (they said they would pick us up or we could walk a couple blocks to the office). Got the military deal on this also – so instead of paying the $100 drop off fee we just pay the mileage – cheaper. Start our drive to Seward – stopping along the Seward highway to enjoy the sites and eat a picnic lunch. Arrive early afternoon in Seward. Check in the Seward Military Resort and then check out Exit Glacier. Have a nice dinner, CRASH (seeing a trend here J)

3 July (Tue) – Hit the Sea Life Center and check out downtown, Kenai Fjords Dinner Cruise, Bonfire (pre- 4th of July) and check out the fireworks after midnight. Go back to the hotel – and………. CRASH.

4 July (Wed) – Check out some of the activities downtown then head for Whittier. Stop at Portage Glacier. Drop off rental car and board the Carnival Spirit. Stay up at least until Sail Away J

In Sitka we are just going to walk around and hit the museums and shop.

In Juneau we are doing the whale watching with Capt Larry, renting a car from Rent A Wreck, and seeing all the local sites including Mendenhall, Douglas Island and Mount Roberts.

In Skagway we are renting a car from Avis and driving to Emerald Lake – stopping along the way. Hope to hit some things downtown also.

In Ketchikan we have chartered a fishing boat for the day. That we take up most of our time.

11 July (Wed) – Arrive in Vancouver and head to the airport – leave around 1:30 for DFW.

[vozzie]

Thursday14/06/2006Fly BNE-SYD Fly SYD-HNL Fly HNL-YVR Friday15/06/2007Free in Vancouver Saturday16/06/2007Cruise DepartsSunday17/06/2007Inside PassageMonday18/06/2007KetchikanTuesday19/06/2007JuneauWednesday20/06/2007SkagwayThursday21/06/2007Glacier BayFriday22/06/2007College FijordsSaturday23/06/2007Arrive Whittier - Alaskan Lepord bus to Anchorage Sunday24/06/2007Free in Anchorage Monday25/06/2007Coach to Denaili River CabinsTuesday26/06/2007kantishna RoadhouseWednesday27/06/2007kantishna RoadhouseThursday28/06/2007Gold Class Dome Train to AnchorageFriday29/06/2007Free in Anchorage Saturday30/06/2007Free in AnchorageSunday1/07/2007Fly ANC-HNL Monday2/07/2007Free in Honolulu Tuesday3/07/2007Fly HNL-SYDWednesday4/07/2007Fly SYD-BNE

[iluvdisney]

A big “Thank You” to everyone who has posted ideas and information on these boards. Your thoughts and expertise have really been invaluable in planning this trip. After considering 4 or 5 different itineraries - I think this is it!

May 20 – BWI to Seattle then Quick Shuttle to Vancouver. Overnight in a large two bedroom suite at Times Square Suites.

May 21 – See Stanley Park and maybe the Capilano Suspension bridge before embarking on the Coral Princess.

May 22 – Day at Sea (rest up!)

May 23 – Ketchikan – Misty Fjords Flightseeing with Island Wings.

May 24 – Juneau – Whale watching with Captain Larry and then Mendenhall Glacier on our own.

May 25 – Skagway – Helicopter flight and Glacier Dogsledding with Temsco (keeping our fingers crossed!) and then Avis rental car for drive to Emerald Lake.

May 26 & 27 – cruising Glacier Bay and College Fjord.

May 28 – Disembark and take Alaskan Leopard Comedy Tour to Anchorage and then the Park Connection Motorcoach to Denali. Overnight at Denali Princess Lodge.

May 29 – Early morning Toklat shuttle into the park and then Goose Lake Husky Kennel tour in the late afternoon or evening. Another overnight at Denali Princess.

May 30 – Sleep in and then take the Alaska Railroad Gold Star train back to Anchorage. Overnight close by at the Comfort Inn Ship Creek.

May 31 – Rent minivan from downtown Avis and drive to Seward for the 3:00 Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise and dinner. Overnight at the Holiday Inn Express Seward.

June 1 - Alaska Sealife Center and possibly Glacier Dogsledding with Godwin (if our Skagway attempt was cancelled). Drive to Anchorage and sightsee as time permits before returning van to the airport for 12:45am flight to Seattle.

June 2 - Rest for a couple of hours at the Radisson Hotel Gateway in the morning before our afternoon flight back to BWI.

 

June 3 - Sleep all day!

[muse_clio]

 

Here's our itinerary planned with a travel company that let's you customize so it's one stop shopping but you can do what you want to a certain extent... total cost for two is about $1,200 excluding....

 

....

Spend the night at McKinley Princess Lodge - 1 night

June 6 - Early a.m. hiking then Tokosha Homestead Tour from McKinley Princess; drive to Drive to Denali River Cabins

 

 

June 9 - 10:00 train from Anchorage to Whittier, board Sapphire Princess!

 

 

Hi Caro!

Great thread. I'm learning tons. 2 questions for you. What's the travel company offering this one stop shopping? Two, how can you stay at the McKinley Princess? Our cruise will most likely be Princess, but I'm not sure yet.

thanks!

[Host Caroline]

Hi Caro!

Great thread. I'm learning tons. 2 questions for you. What's the travel company offering this one stop shopping? Two, how can you stay at the McKinley Princess? Our cruise will most likely be Princess, but I'm not sure yet.

thanks!

 

The "one stop" company is http://www.alaskatravel.com (Alaska Tour and Travel). The base tour we selected included McKinley Princess but you can also use that as option ... also you can book that lodge direct BUT it's difficult to get dates on some weeks since tour groups use up so much space. Setting is divine... IMHO of course only :rolleyes:

[sparklingstar]

This is my 4th trip to Alaska, and my fiance's 3rd trip to Alaska. We are traveling with 12 family members, and will be married on the beach while in Seward. We are spending a week in Seward and are then boarding the Sapphire Princess for a cruise. After the cruise the guests are headed home, and DH and I will spend some time north of Vancouver for a few days alone.

 

July 12: Arrive Anchorage

Hotel: Alaska Saltwater Lodge

Activities: Wedding details

 

July 13:

Activities: Wedding details

 

July 14:

Pick-up wedding guests in Anchorage

Lunch in Anchorage

Quick tour of Anchorage

Sightsee along Seward Highway on our way to Seward

 

 

July 15:

Deep sea fishing for halibut and salmon

 

July 16:

Kayaking with Liquid Adventures (Seward)

Exit Glacier

Sea Life Center

Possibly fishing from the beach in front of the lodge

 

July 17:

Small Group Whale Watching, Wildlife, Natural History, and Glacier Tour 8am-5pm with Saltwater Lodge

 

July 18:

WEDDING

 

July 19:

Fishing from the bank of the Kenai River

 

July 20:

Possibly more kayaking

Relax and enjoy our last day in Seward

 

July 21:

Board Sapphire Princess cruise ship in Whittier, Alaska

Possibly do a glacier cruise or kayaking out of Whittier

 

 

July 22:

Scenic cruising College Fjord (6am – 8:30am)

 

July 23:

Scenic cruising Glacier Bay (10:30am – 8:30pm)

 

July 24:

Skagway, Alaska (7am – 8:30pm)

Rental Car - following Yukon's Map

Possibly doing the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in the morning (I've wanted to do this each trip, and have yet to do, so I think it's about time!)

 

July 25:

Juneau, Alaska (6:30am – 4pm)

Whale watching with Captain Larry

Trying to fit kayaking in also - waiting to hear back from Capt Larry as to whether we have enough time or not

 

July 26:

Ketchikan, Alaska (10am – 6pm)

Was booked to go to Anan Creek with Island Wings - but they were unable to secure permits, so now we might go to Misty Fjords if we can't find another company with permits for Anan Creek this day

 

July 27:

Day at sea

 

July 28: Arrive in Vancouver, Canada (7:30am)

Wedding guests headed home

DH and I headed to a little B&B on the water north of Vancouver, where we'll spend 4 more days. I'm not going to make any plans for these days, except a massage or two! :) We'll head home on August 1st.