Post-Alaska cruise ideas July, 2018

Old Jul 24th, 2017, 05:23 PM
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jcn
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Post-Alaska cruise ideas July, 2018

We'll be going on a cruise to Alaska with Princess Cruises next July; from Vancouver to Whittier. It's our very first cruise and our 25th Anniverary so we want to make the most of it.
We'd like to spend about 3 more nights on land before we leave Anchorage.

Question: Do you recommend continuing with a Cruisetour and take the railroad to stay at the Princess lodges at Denali and McKinley, then return to Anchorage for the flight home OR
Should we rent a car, drive to Seward and ???
The more I research, the more questions I have. Suggestions would be wonderful!
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 02:00 AM
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I vote for rent a car and drive to Seward or Homer or Talkeetna, just get out on your own. Check the dates for 2018 Forest Fair in Alyeska. It's around 4th of July time: craft fair, food, music, and no cruise passengers (or very few).
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 02:21 AM
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It depends on your travel style. I would do the trip on my own as dfrostnh suggests, and maybe drive right up to Denali area for a couple of days (maybe lodging near the entrance or in Healy) then go north and fly out or Fairbanks.

My brother, however likes to have someone else plan the trip, transportation, lodging, side trips, handle luggage, etc. so he would opt for the cruise company land package.
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 05:08 AM
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Here's how the logistics are going to work. You'll disembark in Whittier in the early morning and there will be buses or chartered train cars to take you to Anchorage if you've booked a transfer through the cruise line.

While there's one car rental agency in Whittier (Avis) the cost for a one-way rental ending in Anchorage is going to be very high. I'd do a comparison of the cost - car for three or four days one way from Whittier to Anchorage vs. bus/train to Anchorage then car for three or four days (round-trip car rental) vs. renting a car for one day Whittier - Anchorage then a second rental for three days. I know this sounds like a pain, but once you see rental car costs you'll understand.

Three days isn't a lot of time, because distances are great. Denali is a borderline option in my mind. Visiting Denali basically requires three days - one to get there, one in the park, and one to return. It's around a five hour drive from Anchorage and close to 7 from Whittier depending on the timing of the one-way (reversible) tunnel between Whittier and the main highway. Visiting the interior of the park requires a long bus ride (no private cars allowed) on the park road; allow 8+ hours to get to and from the Eielson visitor center. So that fills another day, then you have to drive back to Anchorage. And make no mistake, while Denali is spectacular, something like half the visitors never see the mountain because of clouds.

So if you decided to spend those days elsewhere, perhaps with a higher guarantee of great scenery, wildlife etc., then you could spend them on the Kenai Peninsula instead, or perhaps couple some time on the Kenai with an Anchorage-based activity.

Here's what I'd suggest. Get into Anchorage from the cruise, rent a car at Anchorage airport and drive to Seward. Yes, you'll be retracing your steps from Whittier for the first hour or so, but you can't have too many drives along Turnagain Arm in my view, it's too beautiful to complain.

In Seward take a day to do a Kenai Fjords cruise. This will give you glaciers, lots of marine wildlife - whales, seals, etc., lots of birds, and maybe some land animals like bears near the water... along with incredible scenery.

Then return to Anchorage. Stop at Exit Glacier just outside Seward, and maybe stop in the old gold mining village of Hope, located on the south side of Turnagain Arm, a short detour off the main road.

Then on your last day, drop the car and do a flightseeing tour on a float plane from Lake Hood next to Anchorage airport, the biggest seaplane base in the world. If the weather's good, a flight to Denali will knock your eyeballs out; it's an incredible experience. Or if Denali is socked in (and the flightseeing operator will know this and tell you) there are alternative routes that will give you equally stunning scenery - over the Chugach Mountains and Knik Glacier, over Prince William Sound and the icefields surrounding it, maybe across Cook Inlet to volcano country, or even - expensive but oh so worth it - flightseeing to see brown bears.

This would be a "splurge" activity for sure. But in overall budget terms, I'd instantly select this over one or more of the canned "excursions" offered by the ship during the previous week. Compared to, for example, the train ride in Skagway, the flightseeing trip in Anchorage will generate way more "wows" per dollar in my view.

Look at Rust's - http://www.flyrusts.com/ - to see the options available.

In my view this plan would give you more variety, and more bang for your buck than just driving to Denali and back.
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 07:56 AM
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I vote for the car to the Kenai Peninsula. We took the fjord tour out of Seward and the 26-glacier tour out of Whittier--two great experiences.

HTtY
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 08:43 AM
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I can't any better info than Gardyloo's post -- but the one thing for sure I would not do is a pre-planned visit to Denali. The chance you wouldn't see anything would make that a very disappointing three days.

And the dire warnings re one way car rental costs are true . . .
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 09:05 AM
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a flight to Denali will knock your eyeballs out

Ouch!

HTtY
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 01:24 PM
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Yeah, I need to disconnect my auto-metaphor machine.
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Old Jul 25th, 2017, 02:19 PM
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Thank you so much for your suggestions! Gardyloo, I did a screenshot of your plan and will use that to plan our time!
It's so hard to decide what to choose in such a short time. I appreciate you all taking time to comment.
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Old Jul 27th, 2017, 02:37 PM
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It's so hard to decide what to choose in such a short time.

True. That is why I suggested you choose the Fjord (wildlife) cruise out of Seward and the 26-Glacier cruise out of Whittier. You won't be run ragged, and you won't be disappointed. On these cruises you will see more of Alaska's natural beauty than you would on a 7-day Alaska cruise out of Vancouver or Seattle.

HTtY
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Old Jul 27th, 2017, 06:23 PM
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Just got back from AK 7/26... we did all of the above... kenai fjords tour and flightseeing from Lake hood are great options... Denali requires a full 2 days, especially if you want the tour to stop and observe wildlife...

We also recommend www.alaskawildlife.org as a great stop...

Have fun...
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Old Jul 31st, 2017, 09:04 PM
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We are in Homer right now. Our cruise ended in Seward last Friday. We rented our car and drove directly to Homer. The guys had a fantastic fishing trip yesterday. We will head to Alyeska tomorrow and fly home Wednesday. I am very happy with our decision to stay in Homer. It is stunning here and we have stayed in a rental house for the last four days with two of our friends. It is our third trip to Alaska so very happy with our decision to venture down to the Homer area for this trip.
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