Holland Versus Princess For Land & Cruise Tours?

[argoisin]

I'm sure this question has been asked, but I wasn't able to get the search engine to work. I am interested in a land cruise tour combination and was wondering if people like Princess or Holland America best? I was also wondering if it is possible to do the cruise with a partner and the land portion solo? Any help or links to other threads is very much appreciated!:o

[wolfie11]

Im not a big Princess fan, not that I would use either for a land tour except for perhaps the Yukon tour that HAL does. You'll be charged a lot extra for the land tour if you go by yourself - probably not quite double.

[argoisin]

Yea, I was wondering if maybe I'd be better off just doing the land tour on my own. Any other comments?

[stired]

Yea, I was wondering if maybe I'd be better off just doing the land tour on my own. Any other comments?

 

I started out over a year ago looking at both HAL and Princess land/cruise tours and actually booked one thru Princess. However, after doing a lot of reading on these boards and through guide books, etc., decided that neither HAL nor Princess had a land tour that went just where I wanted to go for the amount of $ I wanted to spend. So I decided to do it myself. Let me tell you, the planning has been the most fun! Yes, it has been a little bit of work, but it has been very rewarding. I will get to see exactly what I want to see without getting up at 6:00 a.m. to be herded onto a bus.

 

If you're interested, take a look at our itinerary on this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=465925. We are 4 adults traveling together and I estimate that we will be saving approximately $2800 as a group over the cruisetour that I previously booked. You can certainly trim this itinerary down considerably, to whatever your time needs are.

 

These boards have been a wealth of info - if you have the time and the inclination, I highly recommend it!

[argoisin]

Wow! Thanks so much for the info and the itinerary! I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and this will help me have a starting off point. I love planning trips on my own as well and hate the 'herded' along feeling.

[agabbymama]

I'm not too happy with the 6:00 am wakeup either, but I did want to see the Yukon as well as Interior Alaska. We leave the cruise ship in Skagway, make our way up the Yukon RR to Whitehorse, Coach to Dawson City, Riverboat to Eagle, coach to Tok, coach to Fairbanks, dome railcar to Denali (6-8 hour Tundra Wilderness Tour) then dome railcar to Anchorage. I had too much trouble finding hotels that were affordable for two rooms (4 people), rental car (gas ???$$$), making sure to see what was in the area without wasting time (getting lost/turned around) as we did many times in Europe, and I only saved about $300 pp when the tally came in. While that money could be spent doing other things, I felt more at ease letting HAL do the arrangements and I'll just sit back on the train, coach, boat and enjoy the scenery. I have travelled both independent and on tours. I really feel that the tour company knows the area, what there is to see in the area and will ensure I see it, if it's worth seeing. But that's why there are so many choices, so everyone can do what they want to do. I feel for the 8 days on land, I will see as much of the Yukon and Interior Alaska as it's possible to do. You still have to cover the distance, whether you are in a bus or driving your own car, so to do it in 8 days, you are still going to have to get up early and get on the road, there won't be time to dally or do things at a leisurely pace. Have fun planning, then enjoy your cruise, cruisetour or land tour independently, Alaska is a beautiful pristine destination.:p

[Budget Queen]

This board has superb expert independent touring information, if of interest.

 

With a cruisetour- I do believe you still need to do a GREAT deal of "work" and understand fully what you are purchasing. A great many people do not, come to these boards at a later time then are in a conflict finding out facts they had no clue about. You do see posts to this here, but posters here have NO idea, how many emails I get, a day, with more questions about this.

 

 

So do your homework, for any interior touring- go for as long as you can afford.