Alaska dream vacation June 2019

Old Oct 23rd, 2018, 04:33 PM
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Alaska dream vacation June 2019

Alaska is the dream vacation that me and my DH have wanted to go on forever! In June 2019 our dreams are coming true and we will be visiting Alaska for my 50th B’day. We are a group of 17 friends and family, ages 11 yrs to 55 yrs. We are moderate hikers, love scenery, the mountains, wildlife. We plan to be in Alaska from 6.24.2019 to 7.1.2019
Arriving into Seward on the NCL cruise on 6.24. will be cruising Hubbard Glacier & the Glacier Bay.Should we do the Kenai Fjords cruise the 11.30 time, on the 24th ? or should we skip this as we will be cruising for a few days…..we do not mind if the cruise is worth it.
Would like to visit Homer and need help in planning this.
Would like to visit Denali National Park, maybe drive to DNP and take the train back. In DNP, we saw the Denali Back Country adventure tour, which is the 14 hr bus tour and takes you 95 miles into the park….is this tour worth the 200 bucks they charge? We don’t want to stuck on the bus all day and feel we are missing out on the experience too!! Is it possible to go on a guided hike? Are there any shorter tours that take you inside the park?? Any advice here is very appreciated.
Chena Hot Springs….is it worth it to take a visit to the place? Or can we skip this?
What about Matanuska Glacier?
The Chugach Mountains?

We do not want to do a Glacier walk tour, but if we can get to a glacier that would be absolutely amazing!
We are booked from Anchorage to Barrow on Sunday the 30th of June at 7.30am. Returning on July 1st at 2.30pm. We will be returning back home the same day….our flight is at 8.50pm out of Anchorage.
I know this is a very vague itinerary, but any help we can get would be just awesome. Thank You!
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Old Oct 23rd, 2018, 06:25 PM
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Denali was well worth the day tour for our large group because of various abilities and age difference. .. our tour was loaded with wildlife making it a great experience. .. even better was a flight seeing tour that landed us on a glacial lake and allowed us to collect some glacial rocks and unforgettable photos... have fun..
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Old Oct 24th, 2018, 05:32 AM
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I'm going to copy your points and comment on them one by one.

We are a group of 17 friends and family, ages 11 yrs to 55 yrs.This is going to make for EXTREMELY complicated logistics. Have you already booked accommodation and vehicles? If not this is a top priority,

Should we do the Kenai Fjords cruise the 11:30 time on the 24th? or should we skip this as we will be cruisiing for a few days... we do not mind if the cruise is worth it. The Kenai Fjords cruises are nothing like the cruise you'll have just finished. They're all about wildlife - whales, birds etc. It looks like the 11:30 departure is for a 6-hour cruise; the longer cruises (7 - 9 hours) are generally better reviewed. Note that the Kenai Fjords cruises are partly on open ocean, and seasickness is common. Your call.

Would like to visit Homer and need help in planning this. There's only one rental car agency in Seward (Hertz) and a one-way rental (for example, Seward to Anchorage) is going to cost a fortune. In order to get to Homer, you're probably going to have to go into Anchorage first in order to obtain vehicles, then it's an all-day drive down to Homer. How many days would you have available for this? And with a big group around then, finding accommodation is going to be hugely complicated.

Would like to visit Denali National Park, maybe drive to DNP and take the train back. Not possible; there are no places to drop or pick up rental vehicles near the park. The drive is boring for the most part, the train more so, but slower.

In DNP, we saw the Denali Back Country adventure tour, which is the 14 hr bus tour and takes you 95 miles into the park….is this tour worth the 200 bucks they charge? We don’t want to stuck on the bus all day and feel we are missing out on the experience too!! Is it possible to go on a guided hike? Are there any shorter tours that take you inside the park?? Any advice here is very appreciated. Every trip to Denali National Park requires all day on a bus, either a tour bus or a modified school bus used for the park shuttle. From the park entrance to the Eielson visitor center (which is the minimum distance you'd want to go) the shuttle round trip takes 8 hours, plus any time spent at the visitor center, walking around, etc. If you don't want to sit on a bus all day, Denali is not for you. The longer tours, or ones that go farther into the park, simply add more hours to that minimum. Also note that in late June you will be eaten alive by mosquitoes around places like Wonder Lake.

Chena Hot Springs….is it worth it to take a visit to the place? Or can we skip this? Personally, I'd skip Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs, but that's just me.

What about Matanuska Glacier? What about it? If you don't want to do a glacier walk, then it's a long drive just to see a roadside glacier. You'll have already seen lots of glaciers on your cruise or in the Kenai Fjords.

The Chugach Mountains? The Chugach Mountains surround Anchorage. You can't miss them.


We are booked from Anchorage to Barrow on Sunday the 30th of June at 7.30am. Returning on July 1st at 2.30pm. We will be returning back home the same day....our flight is at 8.50pm out of Anchorage. Okay. Questions?

---


Summary of my feelings: You need to say how you're managing transportation and accommodation. Some of your questions make it sound like you haven't got this handled, which is very problematic with so big a group. Are you willing to split up into several vehicles holding, say, four persons each? Are you managing your own accommodation reservations or using a travel agent? Finding lodging for so big a group in places like Seward, Homer, around Denali Park, or in Barrow is going to be very very difficult and needs your attention right now.


If you don't want to ride on a bus all day, then I'd frankly consider dropping Denali and focusing instead on the Kenai Peninsula - Homer, Seward, maybe cross Kachemak Bay. If you want more glaciers consider a "26 glacier" cruise (calm water) out of Whittier, which can easily be done as a day trip from Anchorage. You might look at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood as a possible base for a couple of days.

But clarify your transportation and lodging plans and more help can be forthcoming.
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Old Oct 24th, 2018, 09:49 AM
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I would not stay in Barrow the night before your departure. Flight delays due to weather are common and it it a domino effect throughout the day. That was my experience.
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Old Oct 24th, 2018, 10:10 AM
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I can't even get my head around the transport and accommodations logistics for a group that size. I've only been to Alaska twice so not the expert Gardyloo is . . . I'd pay special attention to the issues he raises and questions he asks.

I certainly would not want to be up in Barrow the same afternoon I'm flying out of ANC.
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Old Oct 24th, 2018, 10:30 AM
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If you are taking a typical cruise from Vancouver before the land portion, you will probably stop at Juneau where you can take a city bus out to Mendenhal glacier, and get that out of the way.

I agree that it is late to be looking for lodging and transportation for such a large group.
We loved Denalii and would have been happy to spend even longer there, but you don't have much time to spend there and will eat up a lot of time getting from one place to the next.
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Old Oct 24th, 2018, 12:54 PM
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A quick question please....
Which one is better Valdez cave tours vs Homer?
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Old Oct 24th, 2018, 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by chinuminu
A quick question please....
Which one is better Valdez cave tours vs Homer?
Better for what? An ice cave tour vs. a whole region full of interesting towns, spectacular scenery, great fishing, quirky people...? Neither is better. Both are better.
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Old Oct 26th, 2018, 07:01 PM
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I have taken most of the suggestions into consideration here, made a ton of calls and all the reservations required, these are all tentative, so any tweaking I need to do I can in the next couple days. Here is the itinerary that I have planned.
6.17: Depart Philly for Vancouver Begin 7 day cruise6.
24: Arrive in Seward, pick up rental vans overnight Seward @ Trail Lake lodge…suggestion what to do?

6.25: Kenai Fjords cruise 10am to 5.30pm..... Drive to Anchorage, overnight @ Inlet tower & suites
6.26: fly into Fairbanks from Anchorage, pick up rental vans and drive to Denali park hotel
6.27: Tundra wilderness tour 8 hrs.
6.28: drive to Fairbanks, fly to Barrow, overnight in Barrow.
6.29: tour Barrow with Mike Shultz. Fly back to Anchorage overnight at Inlet tower & suites
6.30: Drive to Valdez and do the Valdez glacier day tour @ 2pm.
7.1: sightseeing Anchorage…….any suggestions?
7.2: fly back.

please note this is my 50th B'day celebration and I am the one who is planning and deciding on all excursions, tours, hotels etc.. Any help I can get I will greatly appreciate it.
Thanks a million in advance!
Bela
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Old Oct 27th, 2018, 08:49 AM
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Several comments.

One-way van/car rentals in Alaska are stunningly expensive. I wouldn't drive up to Fairbanks after Denali, I'd just drive back to Anchorage and do your arctic exploration from there. Plane schedules are more frequent and the prices are usually cheaper flying out of ANC than out of FAI (more demand.)

In my own view Barrow (now Utqiaġvik) is less rewarding than other arctic destinations. Below I've put together an imaginary alternative schedule for you to consider.

Anchorage to Valdez and back in two days is not comfortable at all. Drive times are very long and there's enough to see on the way that I'd just drop this idea altogether. If you're using the likes of Google Maps to estimate drive times, add at least 30% to 50% to their unrealistic estimates.

So here's the alternative schedule for you to research and consider.

6/26 - Drive from Anchorage to Denali
6/27 - Day at Denali Park
6/28 - Morning drive back to Anchorage, late afternoon flight to Kotzebue
6/29 - Tour Kotzebue, early evening flight to Nome
6/30 - Tour Nome area, evening flight to Anchorage
7/1 - Tour Anchorage area (possible Whittier 26 glacier cruise, Girdwood day or float plane flightseeing.)
7/2 - Fly home

Kotzebue is an Inupiat Eskimo community set on an arm of the Arctic Ocean and above the arctic circle, so you’ll get 24 hour sun like you would in Barrow. It’s smaller and more traditional than Barrow, and IMO more interesting. The Nullagvik Hotel, located across the street from the beach, is very comfortable and affordable. Nulla?vik Hotel :: Home

Visit the museum and Native heritage center in Kotzebue, get a feel of a traditional village, then fly (short flight) down to Nome, the historic gold rush town located on the Bering Sea. Nome has a VERY different feel from Kotzebue but is equally if not more interesting. You can watch the (daft) miners trying to suck gold off the bottom of the Bering Sea (watch “Bering Sea Gold” on the Discovery Channel) or arrange for a tour of some of the extensive road system radiating from Nome into the bush of the Seward Peninsula, where there are lots of beasts – muskoxen, reindeer and caribou, bears… This would be a terrific exposure to bush Alaska, something 90+% of visitors never experience.

Then fly back to Anchorage, tour around, and off you go. Note - if it was me, I'd spend an additional night in Nome, fly back to Anchorage at mid-day on the first. More time in the bush, less time in the city.

Just for your consideration. Note Alaska Airlines provides all the flights you’d need in this plan.

Last edited by Gardyloo; Oct 27th, 2018 at 08:52 AM.
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Old Oct 27th, 2018, 11:01 AM
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>>Anchorage to Valdez and back in two days is not comfortable at all. Drive times are very long and there's enough to see on the way that I'd just drop this idea altogether.
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Old Oct 27th, 2018, 11:24 AM
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[QUOTE=janisj;16815801]>>Anchorage to Valdez and back in two days is not comfortable at all. Drive times are very long and there's enough to see on the way that I'd just drop this idea altogether.
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Old Oct 29th, 2018, 06:47 AM
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You might want to look into the train from Seward to Anchorage-the route is so scenic.
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