Coldfoot, Prudhoe Bay, or Nome, Kotzebue

[TylerRose]

Currently booked for Cruise tour next year including Anchorage, Seward, Fairbanks, And overnight Denali lasting 11 days. DH now able to take 2 weeks!

Debating upgrading to HAL Cruise tour 22 including Coldfoot, Prudhoe bay, (North Pole, Arctic circle, Gates of Arctic National Park)

OR

Nome & Kotzebue...

 

Need advice from those who've done it. HAL is checking access for mobilty impaired tourists. DH is very into photography, teens fascinated by visiting Eskimo villiage. But I have read little about these areas.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Budget Queen]

I answered you on the HAL board- basically- the Haul Rd. is a haul and you mention kids with you?? They will be bored. Determine WHY you want to go there- Coldfoot is basically an ugly "truck stop". :) If you want to see the Arctic ocean- Barrow is superior in my opinion and this tour add on needs more time than 7 days total- unless I am misunderstanding you and you mean 2 weeks for just the land tour??? Then OK, but 7 with Fairbanks, Seward and Denali Park- no. I would expand on these areas- you see very little of Anchorage, Fairbanks on cruisetours, add the days there perhaps to see more?

[greatam]

Like Budget Queen says, how long is your trip? Cruise tours cost WAY too much money for what you get. Why don't you do this stuff yourself? Book your cruise and let all of us help you make a real vacation out of it, instead of being herded from place to place. Two weeks, with 7 of it cruise, means you will be cramming a whole lot in, in a very short time. Alaska is BIG country, even larger than Texas. And you know how long it takes to SEE Texas.

 

It is 2 days to Prudhoe from Fairbanks via road. And you are not SUPPOSED to take rental cars on the "haul" road. 4 hours from Fairbanks via plane (non scheduled bush plane-Alaska Air is way too expensive). Coldfoot is the "most Northern truck stop" in the US. Since I own a logistics/trucking company, it was intersting to me. But probably not to a lot of people. I will admit, the Ranger presentation was VERY good, although it only lasted 20 minutes.

 

Your kids, unless they are very adventurous, will NOT enjoy the accomodations in Prudhoe or Coldfoot. NO TV (ya, they have one, but the reception is non-existant), NO video games (except a very old one at Coldfoot-it looked like PacMan or some similar vintage). No luxury for the price-$120.00 and up per couple per night . What is available for accomodation in Coldfoot or Prudhoe is the old construction camp. Single beds, very plain, makes Motel 6 look luxurious. If you are really thinking about extending your "cruise tour", you will be VERY disappointed. And will spend a FORTUNE, for what you get. We have seen the people get off the Princess bus in Prudhoe twice. They looked shell shocked both times. There really is not much there, except caribou and industrial stuff. If you are really interested in the oil fields and all the industrial stuff, it is fantastic. If not, I think it would be VERY boring.

 

The trip to the Arctic ocean, unless you arrange something on your own, is very short. Maybe 20 minutes. Security is extremely tight in Prudhoe, so you must go with the BP guide or make advance arrangments to have someone else from BP take you around. Not easy-took 17 phone calls and pulled a lot of strings to get to see more than just the guided tour.

 

Please really think about your plans. Cruise tours are expensive. And on HAL, you will be dealing with a lot of people my age (50+) and much older. Mobility impaired could be the least of your problems. There is so much to see in Alaska. Just don't rush it.

[boten]

If you have enough time - one week "inland" is NOT enough, as BQ and Greatam said - go for Barrow. I don't know how "mobility impaired" anyone on your party is, but I am too. I had my concerns about Barrow but it proved to be doable, and easily so, at least for me. Your kids will see an Eskimo village, they might be disappointed, but they'll realize how they live, and frankly, how many opportunities one can have standing on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and seeing midnight sun?

 

I also agree to the idea of doing it on your own. Very easy to do, and you'll see much more at far lower costs.

[TylerRose]

I am listening. Thank you for the sincere advice. In spite of all the planning support offered on this board... it is still easier to hide in my cacoon and plan a comercial cruise tour for all parties and coasts involved than go out on a limb and risk any future complaints from my planning. My whining is now over and tail between my legs... You have my full attention!

 

The Barrow web site is beautiful and the best I have visited as of late!

 

Boten, thanks for your honesty. Regretfully, my MIL disabilty is inconsistant. Some days we can walk and do steps, while others she is too tippy and short of breath to make it easily from her bedroom to the kitchen. But realistically, I suppose I should look at altitude on land most where she is concerned.

 

Greatam, You are 100% correct, bored irritable kids is not my goal... if they complain non stop, they ruin it for all of us. And while my son is equally happy behind a camera lens and a game controller... he definately requires an option for ME to relax! And my dd... as it is she is annoyed to be removed from her social life, so to speak.

 

Budget Queen, again your honesty is most appreciated. Living in East Texas, surrounded by remnants of the oil boom, ugly and nothing more than pipelines is not our goal. DH can't leave his practice more than 2 weeks, and doesn't have the heart to be completely out of pocket to his patients. You would be amazed where his cell phone has wrang and he has called in presriptions, or offered reassurance.

His ideal trip would probably involve as much flying and photography as possable, but leaves the rest of us neglected.

 

Okay... our pre cruise tour time will all be planned through CC advice.

So please keep it coming!

[808lady]

I lived for a number of years in Nome. As a matter of fact, I am a proud graduate of Nome-Beltz High School more years ago than I care to remember. I used to work summers at the hotel there. I would definitely suggest you add on the Nome/Kotzebue portion. Nome is a cool old historic town, right on the ocean. You will learn about the gold rush, and depending on the time of year you are there you might get to see the midnight sun, pick berries on the tundra, gold pan on the beach, etc. Kotzebue is very different from Nome, although there are obvious similarities. When I lived there (for about three long months!) one thing that I was struck by was how into their culture many of the people were. I believe you will get to see Eskimo dancing and such to learn more about the culture.

 

Of course all opinions are subjective, but just for comparison, even though I lived in Nome for 7 years I have actually arranged to go back twice to visit. I lived in Fairbanks for 10 years and never had the slightest inclination to drive the haul road up to Prudhoe. None. Wouldn't do it if you paid me.

 

Also, posters on here tend to be very adamant about booking your own tours. I have done both ways. If you decide to go through the cruise ship, I want you to just feel that you are treating yourself to the experience of taking a tour that you didn't spend hours putting together on your own. There is nothing wrong with doing that if you like to. I love to research every little thing, and I like to "fly by the seat of my pants", and some days would rather find a cute coffee shop than see the world-renowned sights in some city. On the other hand, Alaska in the summer can be very difficult as far as finding accommodations. And, at least when I lived in Nome, many of the things offered for the tourists were not available to people outside the tour at any cost. I actually took the full-blown tour once because my friend was one of the drivers. I thought it was quite good. I had taken a college class on the history of Nome and the Seward Peninsula, but I learned new things on the tour.

 

Enjoy Alaska, whichever way you decide to go! And don't worry about seeing everything. First, you can't. And second, they won't close it. You can always come back. I have had people tell me they were glad they came to Alaska for the first time later in their lives, because travelling anywhere else would pale by comparison. I hope you and your family feel that way, too.

[TylerRose]

Dear 808Lady,

 

Thank you so much for all your kind, descriptive, and guiding words.

We have all fallen in LOVE WITH ALASKA! And although we keep trying a different cruise destination, for summer cruising with a multigenerational family from a HOT & HUMID summer climate, taking vavcation at the same time each year, there is simply no place else we've found that we'd rather visit.

 

We know some day we will travel without teens, wheelchairs, and the requirment of 3 side by side cabins the same two weeks every summer.

But for now... we will explore what we can, and plan for what at present we desire but can't.

 

Thanks again!

[TylerRose]

adding on 3-4 days precruise...

 

still seeking recomendations