Alaska: land tour package before or after cruise best?

[San Diego Ellie]

I have been looking at the great bargain prices for late August Alaska cruisetours. I am wondering if those who have done Princess Alaska cruisetours can help me decide whether it is best to do the land portion before or after the cruise. Also would appreciate advice as to which tour to do. Thanks for any help.

Ellie

[carmensmom]

We did an Alaska cruise/tour last year, doing the land portion first and then the cruise. We found this worked best for us, they keep you busy on the land tour, there is just so much to see in Alaska. After a very busy 6 days on land we were then able to relax and unwind on the cruise.:D

[Genessa]

Ellie,

 

it's really your personal preference and what fits into your budget and schedule.

 

we chose to do the land tour first because we knew the land portion would be more taxing than the cruise portion and we wanted to feel like we had been on "vacation" not just traveling.

 

We did a 7 night tour, and added on a day pre-tour to let us adjust to the time change and an entire day of cross country flying.

 

One of the unexpected gains we received was stopping at the university museum in Fairbanks where those of us who hadn't done extensive reading on Alaska got an overview of Alaskan terrain and life.

 

 

I know some people pick to do the cruise first because they are building "up" to the magnificent scenery.

 

It would not have been a make it or break it choice for us. We preferred doing the land first, but it that didn't work out, we would have gone cruise first.

[mii]

I have been looking at the great bargain prices for late August Alaska cruisetours. I am wondering if those who have done Princess Alaska cruisetours can help me decide whether it is best to do the land portion before or after the cruise. Also would appreciate advice as to which tour to do. Thanks for any help.

Ellie

 

Hi there. You will get lots of information if you go over to the Ports of Call board and then scroll to alaska. There are some very good posters who have been to alaska many time and might help you. Also some of the posters actually live in alaska and they are great for a lot of help.

 

Marilyn

[cacy6893076]

If it does not make that much difference to you personallly price out both, you will many times find the northbound (cruise first then tour )to be a bit less expensive, just because most prefer the other direction.

[5fathom]

A lot depends on your age ! We are in our late 60's and last September went from Fairbanks to Whittier to board Sapphire Princess. The Denali Express is a magnificent trip. By the time we reached Denali after the near 4 hour rail from Fairbanks it was late afternoon. We had a nice stay at the lodge and an early morning tour of Denali National Park (magnificent) and then another 3hour train ride to Mt Mckinley. The train arrives in Talkeetna and your have a 1 hr bus ride to the lodge. The most exhausting part of the trip was from Talkeetna to Ancorage. We did not arrive in Ancorage until late evening and we just had time to get a bite to eat, shower, and hit the bed. The next morning it was up early and on the bus for the trip to Whittier. MY suggestion would be to pick a tour that does two nights at Denali then rails direct to Whittier. This would be a long train ride but it's one or the other. Now if this sounds like I am complaining let me say if we could do this again we would in a moment. Alaska is magnificent but we sure enjoyed relaxing on the Sapphire enroute to Vancouver. Have a fantastic trip !

[Pia1913]

We've been to Alaska twice, but this time we're going all out with the 8 night tour from Fairbanks; 2 nights in each of the 4 lodges. (Sept. 6th; Coral )/ I feel we can race around doing land stuff first and then we can relax on the ship. (That'll be the day I relax :D).

[katisdale]

Last September we did the land tour first followed by the cruise. Our thinking was that we wanted to get the really long flight from the east coast to Alaska out of the way first. This did work well for us and after getting to Anchorage we slept well that night and were ready to enjoy the rest of our tour and cruise.

[Starlaker]

We did the land tour first and were very glad that we did. It was great to get on the ship and relax after four intensive days of travelling and sightseeing. You are going to love this trip whichever way you go. We lived in Fairbanks 20 years ago and it was fun for us to go back and see how much things had changed. We loved the entire trip.

[Pam in CA]

When we went to Alaska, we did the land tour first before the southbound cruise. It took a long day (and evening) to fly to Fairbanks and then had four days of traveling and sightseeing. By the time we got to the ship, we were pretty tired but then had 7 days to relax onboard. Flying home from Vancouver was MUCH better as it's a couple of thousand miles away from Fairbanks so no matter where you're flying to in the U.S., it's a much shorter trip home.

[cruzzers]

It is great to hear everyone's views here. We decided to do the cruise first and rest up for the hectic land tour. We are staying in Copper Princess 2 nights, then to Denali for 2 nights, and then Fairbanks 2 nights. We will hop back on the train and go on our own to McKinley for 1 or 2 more nights before we end our trip in Anchorage and fly home from there. I know we will be ready to sleep in our own bed by then but we will get to see alot.

[momstime]

We did an Alaska cruise/tour last year, doing the land portion first and then the cruise. We found this worked best for us, they keep you busy on the land tour, there is just so much to see in Alaska. After a very busy 6 days on land we were then able to relax and unwind on the cruise.:D

 

I agree. Last year we did the land portion first -- Fairbanks (2 nights), Denali (1 night), McKinley (1 night), Kenai (2 nights) then the s/b cruise on the Diamond. We each sent one bag on ahead to the ship and had one bag and a carry-on for the train. This worked well. We sent ahead all our formal/fancy wear and fancy shoes and half our casual wear. We did laundry on the ship (coin machines) but it really wasn't necessary if you bring plenty of undergarments and mix and match your layers.

 

We did all the moving around / traveling while we were still high on the excitement of going (longer flight at beginning too) and brought food in our bags (prepackaged/canned ham crackers etc.) so we didn't "have to" purchase meals unless we wanted to do something fun, and we could hold back eating so much because we knew we could eat all we wanted on the ship. We also combined each of our bags so if one was lost neither one of us would be losing half of our clothes.

 

We also packed everything in clear zip lock bags --this was good considering that at least one of our bags was searched (there was a note too). It also made for easier repacking in Fairbanks when we had to part with our second suitcases. We liked having all of our clothes at the end of the trip and a chance to relax in one room and settle in to enjoy the cruise.

 

We also stayed an extra night in Vancouver at the end (so we were not rushed) and booked a sight seeing excursion so we could disembark a little earlier. This worked well and we had a shorter flight home.

 

Either way, enjoy your trip!

[San Diego Ellie]

Thanks everyone for your helpful ideas. Cruzzers, that is one tour I was looking at. I liked the idea of two nights in each place, rather than so much moving around. Also, I think that was the one that included the better denali tour - the wilderness one. Everyone seems to agree that the history one is fairly worthless.

 

I will also take the advice to check throughly on the Alaska port of call section.

[Nancyquilts]

I don't remember which cruise line offers this, but the land tour I'd like to take includes Dawson City and a boat down the Yukon.

Whatever tour you take, there's a lot to see in Alaska - I'd take the longest tour you can afford (and then come back another year to see some more).