Hi.

Looking for advice on how to best visit Alaska including overnight in Denali.

We are in our mid 60's and early 70 and have never been to Alaska. We love to hike but these days it's more easy to moderate. Love wildlife but also cautious about taking risks, e.g., don't want to chance coming too close.

We will be traveling from Boston and want to make a 4 day stopover in Seattle to visit family. We may do that either going to or leaving Alaska.

Our goal would be to do a sea and land cruise where we could cruise in a smaller ship as opposed to the large cruise ships and spend a few nights in Denali Park. It may make more sense to fly directly to Alaska in order to take the smaller cruise line and then fly to Seattle to visit family.

There are many cruise lines so hoping you could share your expertise in terms of which small cruise lines you would recommend that include transportation and accommodation into Denali. In terms of how many days, ideally we would have approx. 10 days which would allow 4 days in Seattle. In other words, 14 days in total.

There are no specific locations within Alaska that I can mention that are must see's at this time. I'm hoping the forum will guide me in the right direction.

In terms of when, we would like to go this coming May or June but that also depends on the forum advice.

Please let me know if you need more information.

Thanks, W

Is there a reason you are only asking about a cruise? I've been to Alaska twice and both times rented a car to give us freedom to go where we wanted and see what we wanted without being with a large group. We took no big hikes, just many short walks (as well as a grizzly bear trip and the Kenai Fjords boat trip). Even with a small cuise ship (I've cruised with National Geographic Expeditions in other locations) you are in a potentially sizeable group. Personally, I'd fly to Fairbanks, rent a car, drive to Denali and south to the Kenai Peninsula and turn the car in and fly out of Anchorage. The roads are easy to drive and not much traffic compared to where you live. We did not go to Valdez/Prince William Sound so I can't personally vouch for them but I have multiple friends who have loved that area and I'm sorry we missed it.

If you have more time and want to see the panhandle too, you can take the ferry or fly to Juneau or Sitka or Ketchikan. Glacier Bay can be reached by flight from Juneau to Gustavus. Note, the ports in the southeast are much more crowded with cruise passengers. I found the cultural and historical aspects of the southeast quite interesting but found the scenery and touring more appealing on the mainland down to Homer.

Alaska is beautiful and I think you will have a better expericence if not part of a cruise. Of course, some people don't want to drive and I can understand that.

Perhaps a cruise isn,t necessary. The boat trips out of Seward to see wildlife and glaciers are a great experience. We drove and I agree with other poster that driving is great way. Scenery from Anchorage to Seward is spectacular and I understand it,s just as good via train.

i think if you say whether you will rent a car or not will help others with advice.

Some logistical considerations, and potentially some grounds for re-planning some aspects of the trip.

First, Denali. May is too early and some years the first part of June is too. There's still a lot of snow about and many of the animals are just showing up. HOWEVER, by far the biggest concern is that the main park road, the only one and only accessible by buses authorized by the Park Service, is closed around the halfway point due to landslides that require the road to be rebuilt and partially relocated. The finished road is not expected to reopen before 2026, and possibly after that. Because of the closure, two of the most important sites within the park, the Eielson Visitor Center, and Wonder Lake (at the end of the road) are and will remain inaccessible.

The first 43 miles of the road are open (to the buses) but there are mixed opinions as to the quality and quantity of wildlife viewing; some have reported that it "seems" (your interpretation welcome) that the animals have retreated further into the park to avoid the human interaction. Anybody's guess, I suppose.

The tour companies and hotel operators have NOT reduced their promotion of Denali despite these issues. They have too much invested in hotels and facilities near the park entrance to walk away from the dollars. But you can imagine that some, if not many, of the visitors who might be unaware of the road closure, feel a little ripped off when faced with not as many options for activities or sightseeing as they expected.

Fortunately, Alaska has many, many gloriously beautiful and fascinating places to visit, so with some research you ought to be able to figure out an alternative to Denali if that's your decision.

Regarding small boat cruises, there are a number that typically depart and arrive in SE Alaska ports, usually Juneau, Sitka or Ketchikan. These tend to be very nature-oriented and also tend to be quite pricey on a per-person basis. You might want to consult the Cruise Critic website for details on these.

Or, you could pass on the cruise and do a land-based trip that includes time in some of the destinations in SE Alaska that are visited on the cruises. I'd especially have a look at Sitka and Haines, the latter as a possible start/end point for the "Golden Circle" road trip that includes part of the Yukon Territory as well as historic Skagway. If you travel later in the summer (say July-August) this can include eagles, lots of bears, moose and other wildlife, as well as some of the best scenery in Alaska. Worth some googling.

HI. This is all very interesting feedback.

In terms of a car rental, that is not something we wanted to do on our first trip to Alaska. We wanted to just explore the tip of the iceberg this time around and thought a land and sea tour would be great. I don't disagree with anybody in terms of truly enjoying the nature of Alaska by car as opposed by boat.

We don't like the big cruise ships and still want to consider a much smaller line even if the price is high. We have saved for this trip and feel comfortable going as intended. However, with the said, the response from Gardyloo has me concerned regarding the closures and now I'm thinking of putting this trip off a year. France and England are on our radar so maybe we will do this first and Alaska next year. It's just that we will be traveling to Seattle this spring/early summer so thought that would be a great time to visit Alaska as well.

I greatly appreciate this information.

The "Golden Circle" road trip has my interest and I will need to do some further information.

Thanks, Warren

What is the best time to visit Alaska?

I have read and heard different things.

I have read that June is the best month because the mosquitos are notorious in July and August.

I'm open for sometime in June or September.

Yes, wildlife, scenery, and enjoying the local culture are on the top of the list for wanting to go to Alaska. Pleas note that I love ocean wildlife just as much as land wildlife hence part of the reason of taking a small cruise as well as a land excursion. The mention of the small cruises out of either Juneau, Sitka, or Ketchikan has my interest and I will be researching.

Thanks, Warren.

If you visit early July you could go to Kenai's 4th of July and the Girdwood Forest Fair. The fair was the closest we got to a bear. One was attracted by food smells, I heard people shouting and bushes move but didn't actually see the bear. The fair is music, crafts and food. Check timing but I think this is about the time Salmon start running in the Russian River so you can watch some combat fishing. Moose are prevalent on the Kenai penninsula sometimes browsing lawns in suburban neighborhoods. Suggest reading the local newspapers to see what is going on. I enjoyed a neighborhood garden tour in Anchorage, a quilt festival near Kenai, etc.

How much bugs bother you may depend of whether you are used to them or not. I've stood near people slapping at mosquitoes and not been bothered. One late August visit we helped put salmon in a freezer. We were outdoors in Knik near Wasilla. I don't remember mosquitoes but was worried the fish smell would attract bears.

it is also fun to visit farmers markets. I found homemade jams to bring home.

We took the Alaska Marine ferry from Bellingham to Skagway and only saw one orca. The day trip out of Seward to see glaciers was better for seeing sealife. We watched pods of orcas and was close enough to a humpback to smell whale breath.

As for timing, there are advantages to both June and September. In June you have more daylight hours and more baby animals, but some areas may still be closed due to snow/mud. In September we saw moose in rut, fantastic color in the tundra in Denali, no mosquitos, but less wildlife in the ocean as some whales had headed south.

One of the easiest "cruises" is taking the train or the transfer bus between Anchorage and Seward and doing one of the tours by Major Marine or the other company there.

One alternative to driving into Denali Park is the train to Denali, and a jeep tour along the Denali Hwy,.

We did a land tour in early June and had no issues with snow and lots of baby animals including moose twins and the pale "grizzlies" in Denali Park. But that was when the road was still open so I don't know about the "retreating into the park" thing. You can never predict the view situation. It can be nice one day and overcast the next. Or even can change mid-day.

Have also done May cruises between Vancouver and Anchorage and the scenery is amazing that time of year with the extra snow on top of glaciers. But we had a bad weather day in Glacier NP.

Just got back from an early October cruise and had this weather in Juneau at Mendenhall which is unheard of. Plus there was actually a view from the Mt. Roberts Tram.

Great info.

I am somewhat concerned about the closure in Denali. Denali, whether I should or shouldn't is something I have wanted to visit on my first trip to Alaska. .I have been reading about the entire road in Denali and it sounds like there are many great sights past mile 43 where the closure is. So, my question is should I wait until we can go further or just go this coming summer. Based on my reading, the current tour (offered by the cruise line) is a 5 1/2 hour tour. I read that if the road was fully open it could take quite a bit longer. Not sure we want to be touring on a bus for that long anyway so maybe mile 43 is good enough to appreciate Denali in terms of scenery and wildlife and yes a sight of Denali itself.

In terms of hiking, we are not planning on backpacking or camping. I am thinking 2 or 3 nights in Denali so that we could allow one day for the bus tour and another full day for mild hiking.

For cruises, I have been reading alot...reserving books from the library, Fodors and Lonely Planet. The small ships as mentioned sound good except I prefer a balcony and apparently most of them if not all of them don't have cabins with balconies. So if we step up to a larger vessel to provide the balconies we give up on some on the things that the smaller lines are capable of. What we absolutely don't want is to have to dress up formally for dinners. For some reason the smaller larger crusie lines (if you know what I mean) have several formal requirements. One line that looked like it could work was Viking but they still had some formal dress requirements at times.

As far as when to go we were as mentioned thinking June originally (probably more towards the end) but based on '
responses maybe August would be better for us (Sept may be too late for us) although that could interfere with other plans.

I really appreciate all of the advice. Our goal is to get a good taste of Alaska over 10 nights and once comfortable then explore more so on our own via rental car and lodging. Would love to hear if anybody has stayed at Holland or other cruise line lodging at the entrance of Denali as well as their bus tours of the park.

I know that is alot and thanks again for all your input.

W

Tagging along for info.

Alaska is huge and you cannot expect to do it all, so you will need to make choices. The first time we went was in mid-late June 2012, a northbound cruise from Vancouver, We chose this because my husband had a business conference in Vancouver. Cruise the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay, College Fjord. Disembark in Whittier. Cruise transport to Anchorage. Very scenic ride, but sadly could not extend this trip after having spent a week in Vancouver. Loved the whole experience but of course cruise ships were much smaller then as compared to what current cruise ships are and not as busy as it is now. Second trip in August 2021, post-pandemic and all vaxed, did a land trip on our own around a family wedding in Homer. Arrived by air to Anchorage, did bus/train combination to Talkeetna and Denali as in 2021, train only went northbound on certain days and southbound on other days so Park Connection bus to Talkeetna with convenient departure from Anchorage Museum, and stayed at Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge with amazing views of the mountain. Train next day to Denali, about 2 weeks prior to landslide, closing the road from mile 43 to mile 66, Eliason Visitor Center (not reopened for visitors in 2021). Took the East Fork Shuttle which is all you. need to do. Day became increasingly nasty. You need good set of binoculars to see wildlife in the distance apart from Caribou which are huge. Train back to Anchorage the next day. Picked up rental car the next morning for remainder of trip on the Kenai seeing Seward including 4 hour Resurrection Bay cruise, Seavey Iditaride, Sea Life Center, Exit Glacier, on to Homer for weekend wedding- 3 nights, drive to Girdwood after stopping in Kenail for more family visiting, Girdwood Tram, Wildlife Conservation Center, drive back to Anchorage for more time to explore Anchorage- Earthquake Park and city view. Dinner and return car for late flight home

FYI, our Alaska cruise was on Princess and we did not have a room with balcony, choosing instead to spend our time outdoors, after dressing very warmly. Ship had wonderful programs about Alaska, a naturalist on board to point out wildlife, park rangers came onboard and offered a presentation. Outstanding fish served and so fresh as we saw it being loaded onboard on our stop in Juneau. Also it is a rainforest so having a rainy wet balcony is not all that useful. Went to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, took the White Pass Railway in Skagway, walked around in Ketchikan as too rainy to do much of anything else and we had seen and learned about totems while in Vancouver.

I was very against (for years) doing a big ship cruise.Both my husband and myself shuddered a bit at the sheer scale.I’ d previously visited the Arctic with Aurora Expeditions on an ex Russian research ship so there were only 50 passengers.Loved it.
However, so much of Denali being closed changed our plans a lot.Covid wiped out a fully planned 10 day road trip but 2024 finally saw us visit Alaska…however, we’d come round to seeing it via a Princess cruise which turned out to be an absolute joy.Yes, busy at the buffets for breakfast , lunch and dinner but we spent all of our time out on deck beyond meals and had superb wildlife sightings.
The decks themselves were not busy at all, despite the ship being almost full in mid June.I honestly don’t know where everyone went though did notice a lot of people simply parked themselves in the restaurant lounges by the window.We’re very used to cold weather, have plenty of good gear for that , so being outside wasn’t an issue.That said, we hit two weeks of glorious weather in Alaska so were very lucky.

Seeing Denali was a must for me( if it was clear!) so we had two days of (easy) driving from Anchorage to Talkeetna and back.Saw a moose and calf, lots of bald eagles.Lot of bird life which our Birding App
picked up the songs of.Saw a bear from the bus going to the Mendenhall Glacier.

Did a wonderful short hike with plenty of other people around - Portage Pass above Whittier.

For more on our trip, I posted it here…the first link is to overall impressions with some Denali photos(it was clear!)

https://annestravelsandhikes.com/202...lus-vancouver/

I would return to Talkeetna and spend two days at the lovely Talkeetna Lodge which, as said, has superb views of the range.Gorgeous location.

Our cruise was outstanding..scenery was off the charts especially gorgeous down Prince William Sound and Glacier Bay and the Hubbard Glacier.To see the world’s highest coastal mountains( 19,000 feet coming out of the low lying tundra) was just incredible.

We also saw around 70 humpbacks as well as a pod of killer whales very close to the ship.That was outwith what we saw on a day boat excursion.

Alaska is magnificent and as the old saying goes, don’t put off till tomorrow etc.I was putting off Alaska because of Denali NP road closure but really, if somewhere is SO good, I want to revisit so I imagine we’ll be back for more when the Park reopens fully.That said, 8 hours in a bus has never really appealed!

As Scotlandmac mentions, there are "mainstream" cruise lines which have smaller ships and visit Alaska. Smaller being in the range of under 2000 passengers.

In addition to Princess, Holland America also has a long history in Alaska and visits Glacier Bay. Glacier Bay cruising is regulated as it's a National Park (only two ships at a time). Some cruise lines do not visit Glacier Bay which is a priority for me.

Important to look at the ship itinerary and times in port. Going in peak months (July August) usually means mega ships in port at the same time as your smaller ship.

Ketchikan in particular can be a nightmare during cruise season.

Why I prefer early or late.

Excellent feedback!

Yes, the more I think about it I agree that we shouldn't wait. Who knows when the complete road will be ready and who knows what else may happen along the way.

I similarly was thinking that 8 hours + in a bus may be a little too long even though I know they stop often.

I have looked into Holland, Princess, Viking, and Oceana for cruises, All appear wonderful. I am leaning towards Holland for our first trip to Alaska. It is more in line with our style. I want to minimize the formal attire as much as possible and the Holland trip from Anchorage to Vancouver works out perfect for us since we can then drive or take a train from Vancouver to Seattle to visit family.

Has anyone taken the train from Vancouver to Seattle? We are leaning that way but of course it depends what time the ship docks in Vancouver and how fast we disembark which I know could take hours.

So, we are thinking late June / early July, going with Holland on their 10 or 11 day Signature Denali trip with the only difference being 2 or 3 nights in Denali. Leaning towards the 2 nights so that we could have an extra day in Anchorage prior to the train ride to Denali. I think the tundra wilderness 5 1/2 tour up to mile 42 which is included with HAL will be fine for our first trip. Again, agree with all that to really explore we should do more on our own and someday we will.

Destinations and passages include:
Anchorage
Denali
Anchorage
Whittier
Hubbard Glacier
Glacier Bay
Skagway
Juneau
Ketchikan
Inside Passage
End in Vancouver.

Also would love input on any particular excursions at each of the ports of call although we are not into flight seeing. I know, we will be giving up a lot but that just won't work for us. Walking, hiking, boat excursions, and train works.

Thanks, W

Thanks again.

Sounds like a good choice as Holland is known for doing a good job with their onboard programming. My parents were big Holland cruisers back in the day. Long day ago (2009) we did a Panama Canal Holland cruise.
So many people fly in and out of Seattle and train to Vancouver as perhaps better airfares. If you have the extra time, it is worth it to spend a day or two in Vancouver as so much to see and do there.
I am not a big fan of the cruise-sponsored excursions but you can check various options. In Juneau, you do want to get to Mendenhall Glacier. Some people also go whale watching and you can also take tram up Mt Roberts. In Skagway, we did the White Pass Railroad one-way and a van the other, with a non-cruise ship provider but cannot recall the name. The van stopped for photo op at the Welcome to the Yukon sign.

Chilkoot Charter in Skagway is a good independent.

We did a super humpback whale watching trip from Hoonah but I had read that if this isn't a call in port, Juneau is next best.However, given we saw so many whales throughout the trip I imagine you will see them up close on trips from other ports.

The Nugget Falls walk at the Mendenhall Glacier was really enjoyable.More impressive than the glacier, I thought.Saw a Golden Eagle here too.There was a walk to see salmon in season but you'd need more time to do both walks.We booked our own trip ...in the ports there are so many operators advertising SO many trips.

Juneau also has an attractive shoreline walk from the centre to the terrific humpback sculpture..beautiful spot.

Whittier...the Portage Pass walk pre cruise is superb.Allow 2- 3 hrs all in if walking from the ship.

Anchorage didn't look very appealing as we drove through.

Ketchikan...pleasant visit through the old buildings on stilts and walked a loop up to and back from. the Totem Centre ( the older totems were impressive and look much better somehow than the newer ones which are everywhere) and Library(beautiful library!).Thought this port was a bit limited re interesting walks.Though we did watch a salmon being chased and caught by a seal under the buildings!

Thanks for the tips.

Our goal is to see as much wildlife both in land and sea as possible,

The only reason we are considering booking all excursions through Holland is because I read that if you book through Holland and something goes wrong with the timing then the ship will not sail without you whereas you are on your own if you book independently.

I realize that it is somewhat of a ploy to have you book through them but it is a good insurance policy from our perspective even if we pay a little more.

Now it comes down to when to go which depends on several things. First consideration is when does it work out with visiting family in Seattle at the end of the trip.. Although I don't think that will be an issue anywhere from June to September. I'm leaning towards the train from Vancouver because I was just told it is more scenic than the drive. Besides I won't have to deal with a car rental.

Curious on thoughts on when best to travel June, July, August or September. I prefer to go when we have the best chance for good weather and naturally to see wildlife.

Thanks again.

W