kentuckymover

The cruise is now booked 15-22 Flights have not been booked. I will be in Vancouver the week prior for meetings. So that is not an option but I do not have to fly back out of Vancouver. I assumed I would not.
i have been looking and right now
i have it narrowed down to the following:

homer
seward
anchorage
denali
fairbanks

we are thinking about catching the train?

gardyloo I am using your itinerary to rough sketch the plan. It almost se ms in the 7 days homer and or Fairbanks or both may not be doable. With Seward and Denali in the mix.

now hotels I guess you se m to recommend the Denali Princess?
is that where cabin nite theatre is? I read that is good for an evening.

i also read about a tour to see bear out of home I think that seemed cool but it looked alike a $750 cost.

Oh and restaurant suggestions?

Thoughts?

thank everyone so much for your help.

mlgb

Check on the options for bear viewing out of Haines first.. you may be able to DIY with a car rental from Avis..they have an office in Haines

Wildlife | Haines Alaska

emalloy

If you do Denali at the end of the trip, Fairbanks is closer for the return flight and the train goes there I think.

mlgb

I would recommend studying the Alaska Railroad Website , you may also want to call them directly

800.544.0552

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/

Gardyloo

The OP appears to be taking a HAL cruise that doesn't call at Haines.

Yes, the train continues from Denali Park to Fairbanks. However if they're driving, a one-way car rental (Anchorage > Fairbanks) will cost a fortune.

No, with 7 days I don't think you have enough time for either Homer or Fairbanks.

The train is okay for getting to and from Denali. It's slower than driving and for the most part not especially scenic, and with a big group I suspect it's also not cheaper than sharing the cost of a rental car or cars.

With your confirmed sailing dates you're going to have to do your own homework in locating someplace close to Denali Park. Get a map before you commit to accommodations in any areas besides the immediate vicinity of the park entrance and/or Healy; for example I've seen "Denali" lodging listings that are actually in Talkeetna, which would mean you're traveling for quite a long time just to get to the bus departure points inside the park, making for a very, very long day, or even making the interior of the park unreachable.

Happy planning!

mlgb

"The OP appears to be taking a HAL cruise that doesn't call at Haines."

They could do the same from Skagway,? However more importantly it's likely too early to have bear sighting luck.. You can read this tripadvisor thread for example for more discussion
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...an_Alaska.html
.

dfrostnh

If you note Gardyloo's suggested itinerary for visiting Denali, you spend two days traveling to and from and the scenery isn't all that great. I liked even our short visit to the visitors center in Portage. We did not go to the Wildlife Center and I'm sorry we missed it. Even local AK friends think it's a great place to visit. The tram up Alyeska is fun esp since there is probably snow at the top. Although Kenai/Soldotna area is very suburban, there are places were you have a good chance of seeing a moose. I think your visit might coincide with net fishing on the Kenai River. The Russian River or anyplace were salmon are running is a lot of fun to watch the fishermen. In an early August visit we could see all the salmon in the Bird River just an easy turn off from the Seward Highway. If you like history, Independence Mine north of Anchorage is very interesting. I think there is more to see and do south of Anchorage then north to Denali.

kentuckymover

Thank you all for your information. As far as lodging goes you guys mention the Alyeska Resort. Is that a great place for us to stay? Looks like they have availability. Would it be a good location for what we want to accomplish? Maybe then off the ship 2 nights at this resort then train or car rental to Denali for 2 more. I like the idea of net fishing would that be good for a group of 10 and would the little ones enjoy?
So it sounds like in our week timeframe we will concentrate on the Seward area and then venture to Denali we may have to leave the rest for next time.

Gardyloo

Alyeska is very nice and very convenient for things like the Wildlife Conservation Center and Portage/Whittier excursions, and there's lots to do in Girdwood itself. However it's a 45 min. drive from Anchorage (give or take) thus 45 min. longer to the likes of Denali Park, Independence Mine etc. - which are located north of Anchorage.

Pay attention to transportation logistics. A one-way rental car between Seward and anywhere else (Anchorage, Fairbanks) will cost a fortune, and there's only one car rental office in Seward (Hertz I think) last time I checked. They might be sold out, thus requiring you to get to Anchorage (train, bus) and renting a car there. You could backtrack to Girdwood easily enough.

mlgb

Yes I would probably assume that you will not be able to get a car rental at this late date during the height of cruise season. The Park Connection bus is here if you want to explore that...

Alaska Bus Lines | Park Connection Motorcoach

amberharis

The Wildlife Conservation Center is a very nice place to visit in Alyeska. It's very adventurous place to visit and enjoy the good times. I am still confusing 3 days is enough for this journey.

dfrostnh

sorry to mislead, net fishing is by special permit/license only. We enjoyed watching and chatting with a couple of fishermen. One was so exhausted he had to sit. His hands were cramped up from hauling in the net so many times. The other one gifted us with a salmon which we were able to cook that evening. The fishermen we talked to worked on the Slope so had two weeks off/two weeks on. They were subsistence fishing and loading up their freezers for the winter.

I missed seeing it mentioned that you had young ones in your group. They should like the Sea Life Center in Seward. What I liked about it was that it wasn't crowded. You can probably also see sea otters playing/feeding around the docks.

mlgb

I will be on Noordam this coming Sunday...

Reading The Forums is Dangerous!

kentuckymover

Ok so off the cruise in the early am on 22nd in Seward and then scheduled a Kenai boat tour. After the boat tour a train ride to Alyeska for 2 nights then a transfer to Anchorage to catch a train the following morning.
Where should we try to stay any recommendations?
Talkeetna or closer to the park? Or 1 night in Talkeetna and 1 night closer to the park?
At this point I am thinking a one way from Anchorage to Fairbanks.
Looking at flying out of Fairbanks the night of 27th.
Thoughts?

Gardyloo

Is this still for your party of 10 or more?

If it was me I'd take the train all the way to Anchorage on the 22nd, spend the night there, and get as many cars the next morning as your group needs, then drive back to Girdwood. You'd have nearly as much time to visit Girdwood/Portage/Whittier (see above) and you'd have far more flexibility than depending on local transportation around Girdwood for two days.

If you're set on the train to Denali/Fairbanks, then staying a night in Talkeetna with your timing basically means you can't visit the interior of Denali; the train timing won't give you enough of a full day to do this. You're still going to have the same problem mentioned above - if you don't have accommodations within a few miles of the Denali visitor center you're not going to have enough time to ride the shuttle bus into the park as far as you should - Eielson - and back without subjecting your group to very, very long and frankly rather uncomfortable days. If you can't secure accommodation close to Denali, then I'd say just skip the whole Denali thing, keep the cars and explore more of the area closer to Anchorage or the Kenai Peninsula. Otherwise you're looking at a very expensive, potentially very unsatisfying time of it.

The train is expensive, slow, not especially scenic, and the schedule isn't terribly efficient for people on tight schedules like yours. On the cost front, even a one-way car rental from Anchorage to Fairbanks, divided by say four people, is cheaper than four train tickets, and the cars will give you infinitely more freedom.

Here's what I'd do. Overnight locations listed.

July 22 - Anchorage
July 23 - Girdwood
July 24 - Anchorage
July 25 - Denali area
July 26 - Denali area
July 27 - Fly from Fairbanks

If you can't find accommodations at Denali, then it turns into this:

July 22 - Anchorage
July 23 - Girdwood
July 24 - Girdwood (after day trip/Glacier cruise in Whittier)
July 25 - Anchorage (possible flightseeing)
July 26 - Anchorage (after day trip to Hatcher Pass/Independence Mine)
July 27 - Fly from Anchorage

kentuckymover

Ok this has been great information and the trip just keeps evolving. I think this is really going to be something special. I have just gotten the go ahead to add a few more days to the trip.

so here is what is happening so far to give you guys an update.

off cruise ship 2 nights in Seward
then train ride to girdwood, the train arrives in girdwood late but we figured we would spend the majority of the next day in this area and then transfer to Anchorage for 2 nights. In Anchorage we would obtain a rental car. Unless you guys recommend an extra night in the girdwood area and take one away from Anchorage.
then our group will lose 2 people flying out of Anchorage on the 27th.
so we have some flexibility should the entire group spend those times in the Anchorage area or should we get 2 rental cars and head toward Denali or maybe at least Talkeetna from the beginning and the the 2 that have to leave drive back to Anchorage early?
i don’t know I am kind of at a standstill here. Any Suggestions are helpful. I really like the gold mine suggestion and I think our group will as well.

emalloy

If you do not have lodging for Denali, look closer to the park than Talkeetna, it takes too long to travel there to catch a shuttle into the park.

Much of the gold in Alaska is dredged from the rivers. There is a gold dredge in Skagway that you could visit while on the cruise, they do a tour.

kentuckymover

Do you feel as if we are covering most things?
so the way it breaks down
2 nights Seward
1 night girdwood
2 nights Anchorage
then maybe
2 nights Denali
1 night Fairbanks
fly out of Fairbanks ?

or should I add an extra night in girdwood or just leave it at 1
or should I cut 1 night off Anchorage and add to Denali
and then return back to Anchorage because of the rental car?
i was really thinking I might want to get a picture by the sign that says arctic circle...call me crazy but you guys could talk me out of it probably if need be.

Gardyloo

First, you can't take a rental car from any of the big companies far enough up the road to get to the arctic circle; their cars aren't allowed on the Dalton Hwy.

Your visit to Denali is all about accommodation. Staying in Talkeetna won't do, you need to be within close range of the park visitor center; anywhere else and you won't be able to visit the interior of the park in a satisfactory manner. Until you solve this problem, discussions of Denali are moot.

With the time available, I'd actually give strong consideration to heading south rather than north. Visit the Kenai Peninsula, in particular Homer, which will offer superb scenery, fishing if interested, opportunities for excursions on Kachemak Bay, or if people are interested in bears, there are bear viewing flights available from Homer that are cheaper than those from Anchorage. You won't have nearly as much difficulty with logistics and lodging than you will in Denali or Fairbanks, and there will plenty to do during the days.

kentuckymover

So you would be thinking 2 nights in Girdwood,
then 2 nights in Anchorage, then 2 nights in HOmer?