Any tips to which Crusie Lines to look for to do the Inside passage in JUly 2016.
HAve done Scandinavia but my first visit to CAnada

Thanks, Eschew.

I'm assuming we would need to rent a car to get to the Angel Rocks / Chena River Hot Spring hike you recommended or use a taxi.

We will be in Ketchikan on our second last day of our cruise in early July. I know you highly recommend the seaplane experience to Misty Fjord. Is there any advantage to getting that tour set up with a private company prior to our departure or should we wait until we dock in Ketchikan?

Also, where is the best place to see some bears on our trip?

Itinerary:
June 28-Jul 2 Fairbanks, Denali (Princess Wilderness Lodge),(McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge)
Jul 2--catch cruise in Whittier
Jul 3--Hubbard Glacier
Jul 4--Glacier Bay
Jul 5--Skagway
Jul 6--Juneau
Jul 7--Ketchikan

Ketchikan Misty Fjord question...

I just went on Princess website and some of the excursions are posted. They have three seaplane options:
1--2 hr flight cost $270
2--3.75 hr total catamaran first, then flight cost $410
3--3.5 hr total flight + crab feast cost $360

Any input as to the best option?? I'm leaning toward option 1 or 2.

The seapline flights depends on weather conditions. Chances are high that weather is bad in Ketchikan, so either the flights are cancelled or you will not see much. So, I would not book in advance but wait and see how the sky looks in Ketchikan.

I am not sure if a catamaran ride is that exciting. Also, you will have crab on the cruise ship. And the very best crab you can get at Tracy's in Juneau. I have the impression that they added some activities in order to justify a higher price.

If some company offers flights with landing, however, go for it. This would mean an added experience.

Misty Fjords flights are pretty expensive. I don't know if they are worth it. However, we found a heli flight onto a glacier with dogsledding most rewarding. $449, but worth every penny.

Bears:

You will almost for sure see bears in Denali. During one day, we had no less than 8 grizzly bear sightings, some of them very close.

We had a very close bear encounter in Dyea tidal flats near Skagway (with our rental car). But you cannot count on this.

Near Juneau, you have a good chance to see a bear at Mendenhall Glacier, right at the parking lot (from a wooden platform, with a ranger around, so perfectly safe).

I LOVE this post. I've learned so many valuable tips and resources. For the last week I have been on all the cruise lines pricing out trips and reading reviews. I'm leaning heavily toward Princess CL. I want to take my whole family (7 in all)to Alaska from Seattle including Glacier Bay. Right now it averages out $2500 each with air fare, hotels excursions, taxes etc. It's a lot of money for me since I'm footing the bill. I wonder if I should hold off and try and hope there will be sales as it gets closer? I'm afraid everything will be sold out. We want to go in July or beginning of August latest. My husband says wait another year till we have more money saved :-(

We are also traveling as a family of 7.
We are going July 5-12 on Carnival Cruise line (Legend)
Ports of Call are:
Seattle, Day at sea, Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Victoria BC, and back to Seattle.

We live in California and are cruising out of Seattle.

We chose 2 Balcony rooms
$1297 per person including all fees, taxes, and insurance.

We booked a roundtrip flight with Spirit @ $122.11 per person


We are now at $1419 per person.
To save money, we opted to not get a hotel but instead fly into Seattle very early the morning of departure.

I too am on a budget and this will be the most expensive trip we have ever gone on as a family. I am hoping to spend no more than $700 each on excursions.

I think its doable. Maybe one expensive/larger excursion and one cheaper/smaller one.

With the bonus of balcony rooms, I am hoping that everyone feels like they really were able to take in the beauty....

We plan on purchasing one excursion from the cruise and something else in town.

bookmarking

Flying on the morning of a cruise to save the cost of a hotel is a risk I would never take. Why not just stay somewhere cheap? Use Priceline or Hotwire, etc.

I flew the evening before into Anchorage, and even that was risky because of a big windstorm around Seattle which cancelled many flights. Plus fact that Obama was coming in a few days so there were few seats open if we had been cancelled.

@Ldana
I had looked into the Carnival Legend but I wanted to go to Glacier bay and they didn't have anything out of Seattle. My daughter did your cruise last year and liked it a lot. We are also doing interior rooms so I needed 4 of them. That increased our price a bit instead of being able to bunk up more in a room. My SIL and DIL are going so my kids don't want to share with their siblings :-). I was trying to wait it out to see if they would have some better deals coming up, but am nervous that the plane fare will keep going up and it will equal out savings wise anyway.

If you have to save money, don't do it on the cabins - better do it on excursion.

Balcony cabins are really a bonus. First, you will see lots of whales from your balcony. Second, the view and the sounds of the glaciers in Glacier Bay are unforgettable.

We actually booked not a single ship excursion, saved $$$$$ and saw, at certain places, much more. Five persons in a rental car did the trick. Even with two persons, you will save a fortune, especially comparted to the ridiculously overpriced train ride from Skagway to Carcross.

For more details, read here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-land-tour.cfm

We are four adults making our first visit to Alaska

Itinerary:
June 28-Jul 2 Fairbanks, Denali (Princess Wilderness Lodge),(McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge)
Jul 2--catch Princess cruise in Whittier
Jul 3--Hubbard Glacier
Jul 4--Glacier Bay
Jul 5--Skagway
Jul 6--Juneau
Jul 7--Ketchikan
Jul 8--at sea
Jul 9-12--Vancouver

Any input on doing the Gold Dredge No 8 tour in Fairbanks? One person in our party is dying to pan for gold and I think this is probably the best spot to do this on our itinerary. In booking on the ship, the cost is $56/pp vs on our own at $40/pp...of course, we'd need transportation to catch the tour which is 25 minutes outside of Fairbanks. Are there taxis or drivers available from most hotels to hire??

I'd have to say the gold dredge visit was not the most exciting thing I've ever done and of course, you will be encouraged to make your gold into jewellery at more expense. It was included in our ship's tour - we seemed to be there for ages with not much to do.

book marking

Found this thread completely by accident ..
This is a great thread ..
Thank you for building the bones Eschew.
I have my excel spreadsheet open, split with this thread to make adjustments as I read along. Handy.

Husband and I on our first trip ever to Alaska. I have spent the better part of two months researching and booking what I’m hoping will be a great tour. He loves trains & a cruise seemed like a good idea .. so I set out on the first fun half researching and booking …

Having started as a budget comparison thread .. I am very interested to know if anyone is taking the (May-June 2016) 13 day Denali land and cruise tour through HAL and the cost versus my independent booking of 6 days land + 7 days sea.
Sailing early June from Seward 7 day Southbound on HAL’s Ms Noordam.

I’d not be disappointed if I’ve paid more to customize my tour, just general interest.
I like my own pace and stay at my own fervently researched locations in Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage and Seward and try for the most part not to be at the receiving end of the cruise line cattle prod.

Last week of May boarding first week of June, I’m hoping for decent weather. Input appreciated but I understand unpredictable weather is the norm.

Rented a car (through Costco) in Fairbanks for a day adventure to Angel Rocks & Chena springs.
Chena Hot Springs shuttle or tour averages $150pp – I understand it’ll be roughly $90 to visit on our own .. this includes an apple martini in the ice house, the free Geo tour and time in the hot springs with towel & locker rental.
An hour in a cab both ways would be big $$'s I'd think.
Saving $180 right off the bat and bonus use of a car for 24 hours. Drop off at airport & free shuttle back to the cabin.

I’ve booked us onto the cruise standard Fairbanks PaddleBoat tour .. I figure it a nice low key, informative way to spend the day after our epic flight from Toronto.

Booked a Cottage on Chena River in Fairbanks for a very good rate by Alaskan standards because I phoned rather than book online. Free shuttle to the Alaska Rail Depot.

We are booked for three Adventure class Rail trips over the course of our "land tour" – to Denali, then Anchorage and on to Seward. I understand, there is a free use glass top rail car, I’m hoping late May/early June it will not be packed. Any input here would be appreciated – should I be upgrading to the Gold section.

Denali Cabin offers discounted train cost when booking through the website – small savings but all adds up. Cabin offers free shuttle to and from park / train station.

Booked the Cruise Standard “Wilderness Bus Tour” into Denali (8 hour). I also booked tours at Denali River Raft Adventure & Dinner at salmon bake etc .. these would not be part of the HAL package I’m sure..

Waterfront room in Seward at the docks.
Exit Glacier tour booked next morning then boarding Ms Noordam immediately after for some R&R.

I’ve sailed HAL before, my direct online booking included discounted excursion costs.
I checked all excursions offered and compared costs with companies directly – in most cases HAL was a better cost because of this discount but at regular cost HAL was comparable to booking direct with the provider. I think HAL has better researched their tour offering (most had great TA reviews) and the providers are keeping in step with costs offered through the cruise lines.

Glacier Bay – I don’t think we actually get off the boat here? Purely for viewing pleasure..

We stop in Haines not Skagway, too bad there were some good suggestion in this thread in Skagway. I’ve booked excursions in Haines (Eagle Float) for the morning and looking for afternoon suggestions.

Juneau – we’ve booked independently an AM Flow Walk tour that starts at the docks and ends at the saloon. I will take your advice on the transit to Mendenhall for the rest of the day – thank you.

Ketchikan – Zodiak tour booked through HAL, same cost as booking independently. We have time to spare here so shopping + creek street per your suggestion. I’ve seen many whales up close and float plane or Heli – not my thing. I live on a lake I can fish anytime and ziplining I prefer in much warmer climates. I’m sure we can spend a day here without extreme boredom taking over.

Inside passage then Vancouver – luggage in storage at Canada Place - rent a bike and do the seawall to Stanley park – we have 9 hours to use up before the airport home.

Total cost for 2 people.
Based on what I understand to be the complete HAL land excursion + cruise - I could be wrong here, do cruise lines offer more? Food maybe or other points of interest.

Without extra excursions:
Cruise Ocean View Room $2075 US / Fairbanks cottage (2 nights) $338 / shuttle aka car rental $40 / paddle boat $125.90 / Train 3 legs + 2 nights in denali cabin $1384.00 / Bus tour Denali $240.50 / night in Anchorage $248 / night in Seward $339 = $4,790.40 USD or $6710 CDN at today’s ridiculous exchange.

Is this comparable to the 13 day Denali Land and Cruise tour? Anyone?

akyraty

Suggest you post your questions on the US forum if you want answers.

Going to Alaska July 2017 on Norgewian Pearl a group of 7, 5 adults and 2children (8 and 10). As the ship excursions are quite pricey - I was wondering when we are in port will there be vendors selling trips to a musher camp with dog sled rides or do I need to book this through the ship

I started this thread back in June 2013, almost 3 years later, there are still comments and questions being posted. Wow!

akyraty, looks like you have it all under control.

Last week of May boarding first week of June, I’m hoping for decent weather. This has been an unusually warm winter on the best coast so you may get luck with some "hot" weather. With that said, still dress warm and in layer and prepare for scatter showers. It could get chilly with the ship sailing up the fjords into the wind.

Glacier Bay – it is scenic cruising. The Park Rangers will board the ship. Make sure you stop by their "book store" and talk to them. They would be on the open area of the pool deck. The ship may opt to have a naturalist on board so tune in to the talks.

Haines is really small. There are a few museums there so you don't need to book excursion for that. Sheldon Museum and cultural center, Bald Eagle foundation museum and Alaska Indian Arts.

Juneau – The Mt. Roberts tram is worth a visit. You get bus ticket to Mendenall at the tram station, and there is where the bus depart from. Package deal (tram/bus) is a good value.

Ketchikan – While at creek street, took the "elevator" up to the Cape Fox lodge. Small exhibit there and totem pole outside, all free to visit. Great view at the lodge. Also, best shopping stop by the cruise terminals.

wme: I don't recommend dog sled rides as an excursion because I know what they do to the dogs. Sorry ... there are lots of things to do aside from that.

I have spent my morning reading and processing all this great information. My husband and I are planning on doing an Alaskan cruise August 2016 but he wanted to WAIT to book our cruise in hopes of better deals! Lol. I'm not going to lie, I am extremely stressed that we have waited too long. We have never done a cruise before so this is all such an overwhelming RESEARCH experience. We are hoping to do a 7 day tour out of Seattle and are on a tight budget. When we first talked about doing an Alaskan cruise (it's on both of our bucket lists) we had not realized the cost was considerably higher than some other tropical ones. I really want to get the most BANG for our BUCK but stay frugal as well. I am really worried that we will end up spending way more money than what we can afford. Any great tips would be fantastic - although, there has been such great words of wisdom already. Thank you for sharing your experiences and advice.

- Cam

So, in Haines - you can pick up a ticket for a very inexpensive visit to 3 museums.

Go first to the Sheldon museum to buy the tickets (yes, we giggled, being Big Bang fans). It has some really nice displays for local history and native culture. Then cross the street for the Hammer museum - a hoot, and for me, pretty interesting glimpse of the modern evolution of hand tools. Last, walk over a few blocks to the American Bald Eagle Foundation and get a dose of birds of prey.

The first 2 are close to the docks, and there are some shops. We did enjoy visiting with some of the small shop owners (Haines is not so glitzy as some cruise ship stops). If you start there early, before the wave of other travelers, you would do well. Just soak it all up.

You will still have time to do a formal activity the second half of the day, if you like.

Cam, Alaskan excursions could be expensive, but you can still have your Alaskan experience without spending big bucks. Plan your time, be at he right place early and take in all the free attractions. Plenty of time that the free attractions are better than the tourist traps.

Feel free to ask questions once you are ready and know when and where. Check in on various cruise line web sites and look for specials. I just got email from Celebrity advertising a $699 per person 7 day Alaskan cruise, which is not a bad deal. However, they don't cruise through Glacier Bay.

Early August can be expensive. You may get good rates last week of August and first week of September. We did ours for less than $10000 per person 3 years ago. I would say $1200 is a more reasonable amount for 2016. You want to be frugal but not being so cheap that you missed all the potential enjoyments just to save a few bucks.

Good luck on your research!