I have so many questions...

[debinnh]

Hi. My husband and I just decided to celebrate our 20th by going on a cruise to Alaska. We would like to do a land tour too, but I don't see how this can be done on many cruises since they start and end in Seattle or Vancouver? Are the one way cruises better than the round trip ones? Is it worth considering a 12-13 day round trip out of SF or a 7 day cruise after 5 to 7 days on land? Why do some people not like the land package offered by the cruise lines. I know they cost more, but isn't it worth not having to hassle with hotels, driving etc?

How do I pick?! When to go? Where to go? Best itinerary? Best ship for Alaska? If you have been and could choose your ideal AK trip, what would it be?

I'm planning on posting this on other boards too, so I get a variety of cruiselines/ cruisers responses.

Thanks in advance!

[jrask]

Your first selection will really be between a roundtrip or a 1-way trip. Obviously the only land tour that you could do on a roundtrip would be of Vancouver or Seattle - some for instance do a tour of the Canadian Rockies as an add-on. As to which one is better, the 1-way will cost you more but give you the opportunity to do an Alaskan landtour. If that is of interest (and it really should be), the 1-way is "better." For a land tour, you need 5 extra days bare minimum.

When deciding on a cruise, I recommend looking first and foremost at the itineraries. Grab (1) a travel guidebook and (2) a list of excursions from any one of the cruiseline's web sites [they are all basically the same] to get an understanding of the flavor of each port and what you want to do there. Most often, the different options are between Sitka (russian history and wildlife) and Skagway (gold rush national park + excursions into the Yukon). A big consideration is also glacier viewing, with the clear preference being a Glacier Bay + College Fjord combo. Next, factor in the amount of time in each port versus how much you want to do there [we wanted to do a lot in Juneau, so we took an itinerary that gave us an extra hour or two there]. If going 1-way, also look at the Alaskan start/stop point. It will either be Whittier or Seward. Seward has far more to do, but Whittier is a bit closer to Anchorage & Denali, so it all depends on how much time you have and what you want to see on the land tour. These factors are far more important than the ship and the line.

When to go? The season is May-September. Shoulder months are cheaper and have less desirable weather. Ultimately, there is a trade-off between warmth and likelihood of rain, so factor that in.

Land tour: We did 5 days on our own with the highlight being Denali. Planning and executing the trip on your own is really not a big deal. First, look over the cruise's land packages to get a gist of what you would want to do. Guidebooks and this board can help you pick hotels. Driving is really easy in Alaska and the 2 of us just took turns driving to alleviate the issue. Our land tour did not save us too much over the cruise package (because we were going to get a special deal through the cruise), but the quality of the trip was much better. The cruisetour spends a lot of time in transit (a byproduct of the train moving slower than your car and traveling with large groups of people), so you see less than going on your own. Going on your own, you don't feel like you're being herded around with people. You also can tailor the trip to your interests -- seeing the small things along the way and avoiding included excursions that aren't really your thing. We weren't very interested in the touristy stuff the cruisetour would have had us doing in Fairbanks and many cruistours include the Denali Natural History Tour, which doesn't go very deep into the park and has lesser chances of viewing wildlife. Going alone also gave us flexibility: we added time here and there, changed plans based on how we wanted to round out our trip (and let us steer clear of really bad smoke that those on the cruisetours headed straight into). Alaska for me was about exploring wilderness and the cruisetour was about structure imposed by a company.

[Budget Queen]

I posted elsewhere, basically- you need to determine how much time you have available to invest- ideally 14 days. For clairfication- if you want to tour interior Alaska you need a Vancouver/Whittier or Seward cruise. I am no fan of cruisetours- far too costly for what you get and ideally Alaska is not seen as well on fixed point to point group travel. Interests and opportunities are vast, head to your library and take out Alaska travel books, Fodor's Alaska and Frommer's Alaska are especially concise. A major recommendation of mine is to NOT underestimate time and distance. Be sure to have time at destinations and spare time for unpredictables. It is interesting- independent travelers rave about the experience and NONE ever report they wished they had taken a cruise tour. :) But some reports from the cruisetour travelers state they will go independent next time. :) Be informed- they more you know the better your choices will be for you. Happy Alaska travels. :)