Lynda, what is your final itinerary? Are you having any fun planning your trip?

Pat2003: I'm having lots of fun researching and planning my trip but don't have a clue as to the final itinerary. At this point, I am so confused.

I have a feeling that we are going to have to end up flying. The point that my husband and I might enjoy being on the l-o-o-ng road for many weeks but not our son was well taken.

I just have to figure out the best place to fly into and out of and still do the cruise up the inside passage. I have priced the small boat tours and they seem to be exorbitant when you consider we still would like to have money left to do shore excursions and a trip through the interior, so I guess it will have to be a cruise line with large ships. I am in the process now of trying to decide which line will give us the best tour as far as places to see and allow for time to do extra things.

I really appreciate the advice from everyone here.

Lynda

I know that we want to

In looking at a cruise, you should check out the Alaska board at cruisecritic.com - lots of discussions about ships, stops, excursions, etc.

Would you and your husband consider driving to Seattle then flying to Anchorage? Many flights from there and maybe taking a cruise should be a part of your next trip to Alaska. Or consider taking a ferry instead of cruise. So many options. Good luck and don't get too frustrated. You still have plenty of time. Meanwhile, have fun planning. One day you'll realize everything is going to work out because of you dedication and persistence

ttt for George

We drove to Alaska from the East Coast many years ago and I now know where bread comes from. I'd driven across the US many times but always wanted to drive across Canada. We went hundreds and hundreds of miles and saw only cropfields. Then we hit Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory which were truly awe-inspiring and every bit as lovely as Alaska.

That's my plug for our Canadian friends out there who may be happy that their southern neighbors are in a big hurry to get to Alaska and bypass them completely.

We drove all around Alaska at that point and returned the same way. I don't know if there is any Alaskan city or town that I wouldn't want to go to (except that it rained a lot at first, there were mosquitos galore and it started snowing on August 19th which chased me out of there).

We took the approach of getting up in the morning and seeing where we wanted to go that day. We had a small RV and so hotels were not a problem.

I think I would be too intimidated to make a big itinerary and try to keep up with it with the distances involved. A month would certainly be a good amount of time to spend.

I'll try to dig out an itinerary.

ttt