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We are arriving in Anchorage on June 13th 2010 and have to book one night before our Cruise West short cruise starts on June 14th (my husbands 60th birthday I might add)
I'd like to book something nice for the night that possibly has a nice breakfast menu...we'll have to celebrate!
Then on the last day of cruise, we return to Anchorage (not sure what time) and fly out to San Francisco at....groan.... 1.45am the next morning. Should I book another night so we can rest and check out late evening or should we try and fill in the rest of the day and evening before heading for the airport?
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Overnight in Anchorage before cruise starts....where to stay?
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Where does your cruise begin at? Are you to meet in Anchorage or what?
Are you thinking of maybe sleeping a few hours before you head to the airport?
Probably they'll want to pick you up downtown for the beginning of the cruise, so maybe check with Cruise West for their recommendations on the first night. There are a lot of hotels down there and it's an interesting part of town.
For the last night, there is a strip of hotels/motels on Spenard Road near the airport, which is where we usually stay. If you decide to get a hotel for a few hours then that's the most convenient place to the airport, probably 5 minutes using the free hotel shuttles. Hotels include Holiday Inn Express, Marriott, Puffin Inn, Millenium and half a dozen others.
We've done the "midnight express" flight (once) and just went to the airport after arriving in Anchorage around 5 PM after a full day in Denali. It was brutal, especially if you have problems sleeping on the plane. Not sure that getting a few hours sleep before schelping to the airport at midnight would help a great deal, but probably wouldn't hurt. If I were getting into town around 2 PM or so I'd probably get a room, but much past 6 or 7 and I'd probably just head for the airport.
Cruise starts with bus from Anchorage...not sure of address or pickup areas....I will try and contact Cruise West for recommendations on hotels....good idea!
We probably won't sleeepbefore the flight out...perhaps I might take a short acting pill to get a few hours sleep in the air. Direct flight to SF takes 4h 45m. I can always get the Flight attendant to shake me awake and chuck me off the plane! We arrive in SF at 7.30am so I'd like to stay up for the day to look around.
Are you getting back to Anchorage via Train or Bus? We rode the train in, and got a plane about 1:00am. Now, we hadn't slept much because it is daylight there all the time. I don't sleep on a plane at all. It was awful. I guess getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep would be better than none. That really isn't the end of my story. We ended up getting kicked off the plane after we were seated. We had booked on Delta and they changed us to Continental. I had my boarding pass but didn't keep my receipt, things were mixed up. We ended up spending the night in the airport and then able to leave on Delta's first flight out the next morning. TSA even got involved and was questioning why Continental wouldn't let us fly.
I'm assuming you are cruising out of Whittier?? If so, you likely will be disembarked by 11am. I would rent a car and add to your Alaska touring, so much to see and do. Endless scenery and activities, if of interest.