Alaska cruise and land
 

We are going on a cruise on August 22 from Vancouver to Seward Alaska for 7 days and then on land for 3 days. We are seniors but are active and able to do lots. Our ship will stop in Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, and Skagway. Any ideas as to what to do at each of these places while in port? The ship is docked for the day. After the cruise ends at Seward we plan to catch the train and go onto Denali National Park. We will be staying the night in the park and spending the next day doing some tours inside the park. What do you suggest we do while in the park? We will then go onto Anchorage and stay the night and then fly home to Michigan. Any suggestions you have for us would be appreciated. This is our first trip to Alaska and our first cruise. Thank you.

Your timing isn't going to work. The train from Anchorage to Denali leaves at 8:15 AM, long, long before your train from Seward would get to Anchorage. That means the entire first day is unavailable for travel to Denali. If you take the train the next morning, it will get you to Denali at 4 PM, too late to see anything inside the park. Then the next day you'd have to return to Anchorage in time to catch your flight. It makes the whole Denali trip pointless; you need a full day to do anything inside the park (which is basically riding a bus into the park on the park road, hoping for good views or wildlife spotting, followed by a return to the park headquarters/accommodations area.)

With that short a time, I think you should stay put in Seward and take a Kenai Fjords cruise, then travel to Anchorage for the rest of the trip. If you still want to see Denali, take a flightseeing trip from Anchorage - three hours instead of three days, and, frankly, about as impressive a three hours as you're ever likely to experience. The flights are expensive but you've boxed yourselves by the schedule, and anyway accommodations and transport costs to/from Denali aren't exactly cheap either.

Go to www.cruisecritic.com and look at the "destination" message board for Alaska. More information than you can imagine.

In Juneau we went whale watching. We were fortunate to see the whales "bubble net" feeding multiple times- amazing experience!! Check out "bubble net feeding" on YouTube.

In Skagway we did the train trip which I enjoyed as well

We booked all our excursions through the cruise line.

Gardyloo:
We dock in Seward at 5am and plan to take a bus to Anchorage which takes 3 hours. Then we will spend the night in Anchorage leaving the next morning on the train or a bus to Denali National Park. Then spend the night in the park at the Grand Lodge. The next morning do one of the tours in the park and in the late afternoon take the bus back to Anchorage and spend the night in Anchorage and leave the next afternoon for home. Sorry if I didn't make it plain.

sunbum
How far ahead did you book your excursions through the cruise line?

kapstreak- sorry, don't remember how far in advance we book excursions

Okay, so you have four days and three nights - better. Still, I trust you appreciate that you'll be in a bus coming back from Denali, as the train leaves in the early afternoon. You won't be able to see too much of the park, but a little is better than none.

"We dock in Seward at 5am and plan to take a bus to Anchorage which takes 3 hours. Then we will spend the night in Anchorage leaving the next morning on the train or a bus to Denali National Park. Then spend the night in the park at the Grand Lodge. The next morning do one of the tours in the park and in the late afternoon take the bus back to Anchorage and spend the night in Anchorage and leave the next afternoon for home."

This is a lot of time spent just traveling to spend a half-day in Denali. IMO a waste for having come so far. AK has so much more to offer without having to spend it all driving/training.

I'd rent a car in Seward (Avis -yes & there will be a one-way drop fee) and spend the time on the Kenai and in the Girdwood/Portage/Whittier area. Perhaps a ful day in ANC at the end.

Regarding excursions. These are ones we have done: totem pole carving demonstration in Ketchikan, Mendenhall Glacier and Whale watching in Juneau, river float trip and train ride in Skagway. Be sure to take some time to just walk around the towns also.

We went to Denali on our first trip and other than horseback riding at midnight, I was sort of disappointed. It was a very long day to get there. Our train broke down so we did not arrive until after 10 pm. We went horseback riding for a couple hours. Slept for three hours and woke at 4 am for our bus tour into Denali. Saw a few bears but really not much else. We loved driving around the outskirts of Anchorage, it is beautiful. We took the Kenai Fjords trip and really enjoyed it.

michele_d - our quick trip to Denali also left us sleep deprived and not so much wildlife (go to Yellowstone for wildlife close ups). This time we are spending a couple of days in downtown Anchorage; we will likely see more moose there in the Lowes parking lot. :-D

Spend a couple of days in Seward (if possible) and do the Kenai Fjords National Park tour by boat (day trip) as it is well worth it, even after the cruise. Go to www.dreamhorsemedia.com/travel/seward if you want to see pictures.

I have detailed options for day trips in Juneau and Ketchikan. Juneau has so many great day trips and I have detailed a great one here: www.dreamhorsemedia.com/travel/juneau

Ketchikan is a wonderful interesting town and I have provided pictures and written about what to do in Ketchikan here: www.dreamhorsemedia.com/travel/ketchikan

I would suggest taking binoculars to Denali, as we saw two wolves confronting a bear from a distance and the binoculars were invaluable.

Make sure you pack drinks and a picnic lunch to take on the day trip through Denali National Park if you are going on the green shuttle buses (which are great). Go to at least Eielson Visitor Centre.

There are so many options for flightseeing trips all over Alaska and you can do one in one of the Ports or Denali.

Have a fantastic trip. The cruise is just magic and Denali is stunning too.

Definitely agree about the binoculars. The wildlife is usually pretty far away. The buses stop when they see animals to allow the visitors time to watch them and photograph them.