We visited Alaska the first week in August and had fantastic weather. Of course, that doesn't mean it happens that way every year.

We've taken the train from Vancouver to Seattle a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed. It's a 4 hour trip, approximately, and inexpensive. Watch for eagles mingling with seagulls along the shore. I believe it departs around 6pm, so you'll have time to see the city a bit.

Our first trip to Vancouver followed by Princess cruise was in mid-June for two weeks. Great weather in Vancouver for Week 1 and mixed weather for the cruise. Very rainy in Ketchikan and in Juneau but great for Skagway White Pass Rail trip and the rest of the cruise. Second trip in 2021 was land based and lasted again for two weeks, departing NY on 8/12 for family wedding in Homer around 8/21. Great weather for the beginning in Anchorage and Talkeetna, nasty day when we explored Denali on the shuttle and looked like a snow sky the next day when we took train back to Anchorage. Great weather for the following day to explore Anchorage and onto to Seward for our day - 4 hour Resurrection Bay cruise and Exit Glacier hike and Homer for wedding weekend. Really nasty rainy weather leaving Homer for Kenai and Girdwood, but nice the next day although foggy in the morning for Alyeska Tram so we waited and it cleared up for tram ride and Wildlife Conservation Center and drive back to Anchorage for dinner and red-eye flight.

So whenever you go, you need to be prepared for the outside weather on the ship because it will be cold on the deck in Glacier Bay and Hubbard. I wore several layers, a fleece jacket, a scarf, gloves and a hat. Sometimes you will be lucky and not need to be dressed in so many layers. When we were in College Fjord prior to disembarking in Whittier the next day, it was very pleasant and people were sitting out by the pool.

Thanks,

We will be sure to bring clothes for all weather. Leaning towards late June/early July.. No one can predict the weather that far out so we'll hope for the best but come prepared for the worst!

Thanks again,

W

HI.

I just read several recent unfavorable reviews of the McKinley Chalet Resort which may change everything. This is the resort that is included in the HAL signature Denali land/cruise tour.

I did read great reviews of the Tundrawilderness tour that is included but the room is very important to us.

There were a few good reviews but a lot of not so good reviews.

Anybody stay at the McKinley Chalet recently? Thoughts?

Thanks, W

Juneau = Whale Watching - Great experience!
​​​​​​https://www.harvandmarvs-juneau-whal...atching-tours/
We have gone with Harv and Marv twice. Don't worry...they will get you back to the ship on time.

Of the months you've selected I'd go with June.

I do not care much for overnighting in Anchorage, it really is seedy. It is not that hard to rent a car and drive down to Seward for a night, or even to fly into Fairbanks or Anchorage and do Denali on your own. Both drives are easy, although can have heavy traffic. Both have opportunities for wildlife and scenic viewing (you will like run into a "Moose Jam" if you drive the George Parks Road). For visiting Denali NP, you must use the official buses to go up to mile 43, there are no commercial tours inside (I don't know what Princess or the others do, maybe a tour excursion staff goes with you but they are not leading). Anyone can book the "Tundra Wilderness Tour" busses to get the expert narration. (We got lucky and had a TWT driver filling in for one of the regular bus drivers so we got the TWT narration). The TWT buses do pick up at some of the lodges as well as the Bus Depot. You reserve for the day and your time is assigned two days ahead. See the information on the Aramark website:

https://www.denaliparkvillage.com/to...lderness-tour/

I enjoyed renting a car my final day from the Anchorage airport (the cruises end in the ports south of Anchorage in the morning and many flights depart near midnight). I walked around Westchester Lagoon and the Fish Creek trail system. I had a backup plan for rain to go to one of the downtown museums. In early June there is also a good chance of seeing moose around the lakes near the airport (Spenard).

When I was in Ketchikan this year it was raining most of the day. We did Totem Bight by public bus which runs hourly, and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Asylum Bar. (Most first time visitors would probably tour Creek Street.)

For Juneau there are two shuttle bus companies which sell tickets near the docks. If the price is the same, it's probably worth using the cruise company since you only get 2 hours inside the park on the basic tours by school bus. It's enough time for the easy walk to the falls.

I really would not worry about being left behind if going out on your own, other than with NCL and their remote dock in Ward Cove north of Ketchikan. Usually the port days are long enough that there is no issue.

Some of the private companies such as Chilkoot have guarantees on not missing the ship. In Skagway you all will be on the same train with the cruise passengers although in different cars. Chilkoot has some good tours with van one way and train the other.

And for whales I think Resurrection Bay in Seward is worthy, with a good chance of seeing orca if you go early in June.

We saw a surprise late season humpback in the channel in Juneau, right near the visitor center. (I see a lot of whales in California so that is less of a priority for me). But we don't have tidewater glaciers....

BTW I met people on one of my HAL cruises who also did the land tour with them, and they felt the pace exhausting. So perhaps doing it on your own with an extra day is possible?

As you are doing research, I would recommend getting my hands on a copy of the Mile Post Guide. Also the State of Alaska Fish & Game has some excellent materials on wildlife viewing. Some are out of print but others are free by request or by download

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cf...ing.guidebooks

If you are an AAA member you can request a free road map as well as a Visitors Guide although most of the state Visitors Guides are now digital, rather than print. The Fodor's Guidebook we took with us also had a road map. We had another guide book from the library as well, possibly Lonely Planet but not sure. I also wrote away to request free info brochures from various state sources and tourist bureaus and picked up some helpful info there as well.

We had also planned to visit Totem Bight by public bus but it was raining too hard and we had seen and learned a lot about totems in Vancouver at the well-known Museum of Anthropology, we simply went for a walk on Creek Street where we visited a very nice art gallery and then headed back to the ship.

It can be hard to plan with rain, especially in places like this. We had a similar experience in Scotland once, when we had to spend the whole day in a museum because of heavy rain.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and recommendations.
Plan to book right after the holidays.
Train from Vancouver to Seattle sounds excellent,
Have decided to go with Holland's Denali signature tour as noted earlier.
Just now have to decide to start from Fairbanks or Anchorage as well as which shore excursions we will choose. We will lean towards guided hiking tours where applicable.
Any suggestions? I read that the train ride from Fairbanks to Denali is shorter but more scenic as opposed to Anchorage to Denali.
I looked at flights to both from Boston and neither lends a big advantage to choose one over the other.
Thanks again, W

Do I understand that you want to take a Holland America cruise tour with a land excursion package, and are trying to decide which one? And you don't want to drive?

Makes more sense to me to start in Fairbanks (your cruise tour starts at a downtown Fairbanks hotel). Then HAL handles all of your transfers and train. After the Denail part you are on the train transfer to Whittier.

Your cruise ends in Vancouver. Assuming you can get good flights from there.

The itineraries look better for the Fairbanks departure to me... I like the looks of Noordam mid June. I've sailed Noordam twice and it's a nice ship.

In Skagway the obvious excursion is the train/van combo. I previously recommended Chilkoot Charter rather than booking with HAL.

Juneau most/many people go to Mendenhall. Sometimes the Tram is worth doing, you don't need an excursion for that. I would wait and see how the weather is. If whale watching is a priority that is where the widest range of recommended extra excursions are from.

I have never taken a paid excursion in Ketchikan.

Thanks. Alot of info to review but all of your advice and comments are well worth the time.

I have put a hold and deposit on a cruise with Denali included for mid to late June.

We may now be visiting family first in Seattle as opposed to the end of the trip based on their availability. So since I have a fully refundable booking until March I'm starting to look at reversing things and leaving from Seattle. Would make things easier. Only problem is there are no good staterooms available for the 2 cruises that leave Seattle which is actually a bus to Vancouver. So we may just keep the original booking and fly to Alaska. We'll actually have a couple of extra days so we'll plan some area to visit like Seward.

Does anyone have an opinion on whether cruising north to south (Whittier to Vancouver) or south to north (Vancouver to Whittier) is better?

Thanks, W

I'm not sure the direction matters, rather which ports/sights you visit.Convenience re a Vancouver or Whittier start is a factor too.
That said, perhaps someone who has enjoyed the cruise in both directions might have some useful insights.
For our cruise, starting from Whittier worked with our preference to spend a couple of days pre cruise with a car, exploring as far north as Talkeetna.We flew from Vancouver into Anchorage and travelled by hire car from there.We had a last night in the beautiful Alyeska resort.
After returning the car to Anchorage airport, we used the excellent coach service to Whittier port. I wanted to do the Portage Pass short hike and that worked well (brilliant hike) with being able to drop our luggage off in the ship , have our lunch on board then stroll up to the hike start.We had access to the ship from late morning, from memory.
The Whittier area was an incredible place to start the cruise too as it is so spectacular.Not the same leaving from Vancouver (or arriving).Biased perhaps as neither of us liked the city that much.Sailing away in the evening sunset with endless snow covered mountains to admire in a pristine landscape (and two humpbacks frolicking) was an unforgettable beginning.
Visiting Hubbard Glacier/Yakutat Bay area (close to the world's highest coastal mountains, a jaw drop at 19,000 feet) plus Glacier Bay were non negotiable destinations too in terms of itinerary.
Weather played ball throughout our trip, we were incredibly lucky to see everything in superb conditions.Those mega coastal mountains (Mount St Elias et al), I'd ever really noticed being covered re photos in any of the cruise marketing images but they were an outstanding aspect of our 7 days in Alaska( as was seeing the Denali Range clear.)

I've done the cruises in both directions. I would say, look at the times in port and the itinerary first. And if you have the time, consider booking your own flight to start either in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Vancouver rather than Seattle.

My only issue is that now that HAL has also made the move to Whittier, you have to factor in the difficulty of getting to or from there from Anchorage. I think it's easier if HAL handles the transfers,which could include the train between Whittier and Denali.

When you cruise northbound, there is often a visit to College Fjord on the way to Whittier. You arrive late at night but don't disembark until the next morning. I learned a new phrase from a friend who goes to AK for work trips. A "sucker hole" is a patch of blue sky that makes you think the weather will clear, haha! By the time we reached Whittier it was raining. I had booked on the ACT transfer to the airport, since it was too early in the season for the train. When I reached Anchorage I had a day's car rental lined up at the airport. The weather turned out to be very good that day, the storm hadn't yet reached Anchorage and I left that night. If it was raining the backup plan was visiting a museum in Anchorage.

The timing of your responses could not have been better.

I left the deposit last night for the Whittier to Vancouver cruise. Plans changed with family so we are now visiting Seattle first and then will fly out of
Seattle; on a Monday. I still wanted this specific cruise because I had a good stateroom and there were no other decent rooms available for that time of year on any of the cruises.

With that said, the cruise doesn't leave until Thursday. It does include Denali and all the transfers, i.e., Anchorage airport to hotel in Anchorage, train to Denali, Bus coach to Whittier. I realize they are long transports (excerpt for the hotel transfer) but hoping we have good views of wildlife.

So now we have Monday and Tuesday before we check into the hotel in Anchorage on Wednesday so I was going to review all of the above comments and advice and plan something for those two days and nights. I'm now willing to rent a car for those 2 days and start planning. I read that the Seward highway is very nice so maybe a trip to Seward and then back to Anchorage or maybe what Scotlandmac did.

Thanks again, W

From my 2021 trip when we overnighted in Seward
Seward: Northern Nights BnB. Great location in downtown Seward, easy walk to the boat tours, SeaLife Center and restaurants. Cooked to order breakfast included (eggs/waffles/fruit). We were disappointed that a couple from another hotel finished off Sarah's homemade rhubarb bread so there was none the second morning, All day tea and coffee available, and the kitchen is open for guest use outside of breakfast hours. Definitely recommended. Dinner was at Seward Brewing Company. They were very busy..go early or go home! Hours were not updated on the website, so it's worth stopping by earlier than posted. The first night we enjoyed two salads with added proteins (the Green Queen salad in particular). There is a bar area which has some seats set aside for drinking only, other with food available. They take your name and then text when your spot opens, no reservations. The beers on offer change, and 3-ounce tasters are available. I had the Imperial Milk Stout as a dessert beer. There is a gelato and chocolate store another half block north on Fourth Avenue, recommended.

There is a boardwalk at Potter Marsh on the way between Anchorage and Seward. I also recommend Major Marine's Resurrection Bay short cruise.

Things we enjoyed driving between Seward and Anchorage this past August:

Alaska SeaLife Center
Exit Glacier, short hike
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Trail of Blue Ice at Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. Paved, flat trail with great views of surrounding mountains and glacier, if clear.
We spent a few nights at Alyeska Resort and enjoyed dinner at their Sakura Asian restaurant twice.
We kept an eye on bore tide times and got to see a good one near Girdwood, complete with surfers
Crow Creek Gold Mine
The Potter March boardwalk mentioned above by mlgb
49th State Brewing in Anchorage, like Seward Brewery also crowded, go early or prepare to wait. If it's really clear you can see Denali in the far distance from the dining room. It wasn't for us.

We missed a few other things that were on the list but you can't do it all.

Have some good rain gear! Good luck.

Ditto on the Sea Life Center.

Just a little more detail on our short but wonderful couple of days pre cruise...
We flew into Anchorage, picked up our hire car and drove up to Talkeetna, a fine drive in itself.What we saw of Anchorage didn't appeal plus I'd read enough info on the city to know it wasn't really for us.
We stayed in a lovely wooden cabin all on its own just a two minute drive from Talkeetna Lodge and just off the main highway.Lovely, characterful little house.
We then drove to Talkeetna itself and parked by the river for views of Denali but it was very misty.Seeing Denali was one of my big hopes for the whole trip.
Talkeetna was characterful and quirky, ,very quiet.
Next day we had a Moose and her calf cross the highway in front of us as we drove to Talkeetna Lodge where I reckoned we would have great views of the range.We did - truly amazing as the range was completely clear.Next visit, we might stay there, lovely place in a superb location for views.Busy wiht coach parties though.My one regret is not doing a flight-seeing trip and just pushing down my fear of small planes.

We drove through Anchorage on a sunny day, stopped to buy wine just outside the city amidst beautiful mountain scenery then headed on to the Wildlife Reserve - excellent stop especially the Grizzlies.Gorgeous scenery.Stopped often on the drive to admire the whole, superbly scenic area which is the highway to Whittier.

Stayed at Alyeska as I mentioned, loved it.Up the ski gondola, took a short walk, still a fair bit of snow up there.Really loved the area around Girdwood.
Then back to Anchorage to drop the car off (about a 40 min drive, no hardship as scenery was so good) and got the coach back down to Whittier.That journey too, beyond Girdwood and the Wildlife refuge just got better and better re landscapes.

We took an early coach to Whittier, checked in seamlessly to the ship, had a great buffet lunch on board then headed out to do the nearby Portage Pass walk.It was busy on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon so no bear worries!
The scenery around Whittier was outstanding.

Great summaries.

Once we confirm how man hy days we will have pre-Debnali/cruise we will make plans. I'm tossed between Talkeetna and Seward. Considering we may only have one or two days at most, may lean towards Talkeetna.

Currently working on shore excursions. Similarly, we have the fear of the small planes and will most likely miss what they offer. In Skagway we are booking the White Pass Railroad, I Juneau we are deciding between just Mendenhall Glacier or the combo whale watch/Mendenhall package. For Ketchikan we may choose just to walk around.

Thanks, W