Independent Pre-cruise tours

[msiowa]

Last summer I took a Baltic cruise and toured St. Petersburg with red October. It was great!

I'm planning an Alaskan cruise next summer (2005) and am wondering if there are independent tour companies that arrange pre-cruise tours in Alaska? If so, who do you recommend? If you've taken such a tour, I'd love to hear what you did and how much it cost.

Thanks!
Joanie

[sboh]

Haven't used them but came across this site while planning our Alaska trip for this summer:
[url="http://www.alaskatravel.com/"]http://www.alaskatravel.com/[/url]

[Host Caroline]

Alaskarv.com and Great Alaskan Holidays have RV's etc for rent that allow you to plan your time on your own. Also check out [url="http://www.alaskaone.com"]www.alaskaone.com[/url].
Cruise Critic is planning an "official" CC cruise southbound from Seward/Whittier to Vancouver in 2005 with an optional pre-cruise tour so folks can join just the cruise or do the tour and cruise. We will be finalizing dates/rates etc. by the end of April so hope you will consider joining us for the cruise!

Host Caroline
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[Budget Queen]

Alaska is easy to do independent if that is an option. Head to your library and take out the MILEPOST and Alaska travel books. Few roads- so just plan stops along the way at sites that interest you. I assume you are referring to interior Alaska??? If looking at shore excurisons in port- request each port's visitor guide and book tours of interest directly from the venders- if you don't want to use ship tours. For a slightly planned tour- [url="http://www.toursaver.com"]www.toursaver.com[/url] has some 2 for 1 coupons including the train and hotel at Denali Park- look for 2 overnights only- 1 isn't enough.

[Yukon]

I have a list of several companies who offer Alaska land excursions in combination with cruises with the major lines, at [url="http://www.explorenorth.com/tours-motorcoach.html"]http://www.explorenorth.com/tours-motorcoach.html[/url]

Murray

[Clay Clayton]

Misowa
I agree with Budget Queen....you can easily do an independent tour by yourself and that way plan it around your interests and how much time you have available. Last year my partner and I only could free up three days before our ship left Seward but we had a very enjoyable time by renting a car in Anchorage and using it to see Talketna, fly around Denali and then head south via Turnagain Arm towards Seward. Use this board to test ideas, potential itenniaries etc....lucky for us, BQ and others love to give advice and share their knowledge to make our trips more enjoyable.

Have a great trip!

Clay

[pam512]

Being the worrier that I am, I am a little nervous about booking independent tours. I will tell you why. A couple of years ago I was on the NCL Sky. In one port we had to wait for a shore excursion group to get back to leave port. These people were booked through the cruise line. The next port, we left some people behind because they took an independent tour, and the bus had mechanical problems. The ship did not wait for them. In Alaska it may not be too expensive to drive from one port to another, but in the Caribbean, it's not possible to drive from one island to another.

[Yukon]

>>In Alaska it may not be too expensive to drive from one port to another, but in the Caribbean, it's not possible to drive from one island to another.<<

There are no roads between most of the ports in Alaska either. Some day Juneau and Skagway may be linked, but that's way off in the future.

[pam512]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Yukon:
>>In Alaska it may not be too expensive to drive from one port to another, but in the Caribbean, it's not possible to drive from one island to another.<<

There are no roads between most of the ports in Alaska either. Some day Juneau and Skagway may be linked, but that's way off in the future.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I REALLY need to study the map a little more!

Thanks!