Trip Help
May 30th, 2003, 05:04 PM
#2
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Neverending thoughts on the subject here tsaulter. Except for day cruises, I'd avoid the whole lot of them.
On the deck, the naturalist is speaking to you about the pristine shores, and disgusting impact of human activity....below deck, an engineer is opening a valve that force-feeds the fish I eat your waste!
If you've not been able to sense it, I'm not a cruise industry enthusiast. And, I can name several reasons why... including the one in the first paragraph, but certainly not limited to it.
On the deck, the naturalist is speaking to you about the pristine shores, and disgusting impact of human activity....below deck, an engineer is opening a valve that force-feeds the fish I eat your waste!
If you've not been able to sense it, I'm not a cruise industry enthusiast. And, I can name several reasons why... including the one in the first paragraph, but certainly not limited to it.
May 31st, 2003, 12:23 AM
#3
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These are 2 DIFFERENT trips. No comparism with a land tour of Alaska to an inside passage Alaska cruise. Determine what your priorites are and go from there, both worthwhile. You can easily combine the 2 with a 2 week block of time. Very very easy to go independent interior seeing twice as much for 1/2 the price of a cruise tour. A necessary reference is THE MILEPOST- try your library.
May 31st, 2003, 05:36 PM
#4
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We just got back from Alaska last week and did the whole trip by car. We put approx. 1400 miles on the rental car, and would definatly do it again. We flew into Anchorage and then the next morning drove to Copper Center where we stayed at the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. It is owned and operated by Princess Cruises and was beautiful. The next day, we drove from Copper Center to Valdez. The drive was breathtaking. Not much to do in Valdez, but the drive was worth it.
We then drove back to Anchorage and stayed another night at the Springhill Suites. The next day, we went to Homer. Charming place. We stayed at the Ocean Shores Motel. Pretty basic but very clean. The highlight, though, of staying there is the magnificent view out of your window, especially if you take the waterfront units. 3 glaciers right in front of you, and the eagles! They're everywhere. We went over to the Homer Spit and shopped at the quaint little shops and ate there also. We loved Homer.
Next day, it was on to Seward. Seward is a great place because there is so much to do there. We stayed at the Harborview Inn at their waterfront apartments that are down another street away from the hotel. Beautiful apartments. I would recommend them to anyone. In Seward, there are several cruises you can take including several different Kenai Fjords tours and smaller bay tours. We took the 2.5 hour tour with Renown Tours and were extremely pleased. We saw otters, mountain goats, waterfalls, and killer whales. We also went to the Sealife Center, which was money well spent.
On the way back to Anchorage, we took a short hike to Exit Glacier, oh, was this fabulous, and the hike is very easy.
Overall, we loved our trip to Alaska and would do it this way again. I'm not trying to dissuade you from a cruise; I'm sure that would be nice, too. This is just the way we preferred. Anyway you choose, have a wonderful trip.
We then drove back to Anchorage and stayed another night at the Springhill Suites. The next day, we went to Homer. Charming place. We stayed at the Ocean Shores Motel. Pretty basic but very clean. The highlight, though, of staying there is the magnificent view out of your window, especially if you take the waterfront units. 3 glaciers right in front of you, and the eagles! They're everywhere. We went over to the Homer Spit and shopped at the quaint little shops and ate there also. We loved Homer.
Next day, it was on to Seward. Seward is a great place because there is so much to do there. We stayed at the Harborview Inn at their waterfront apartments that are down another street away from the hotel. Beautiful apartments. I would recommend them to anyone. In Seward, there are several cruises you can take including several different Kenai Fjords tours and smaller bay tours. We took the 2.5 hour tour with Renown Tours and were extremely pleased. We saw otters, mountain goats, waterfalls, and killer whales. We also went to the Sealife Center, which was money well spent.
On the way back to Anchorage, we took a short hike to Exit Glacier, oh, was this fabulous, and the hike is very easy.
Overall, we loved our trip to Alaska and would do it this way again. I'm not trying to dissuade you from a cruise; I'm sure that would be nice, too. This is just the way we preferred. Anyway you choose, have a wonderful trip.
Jun 1st, 2003, 10:04 AM
#5
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I recently returned from a self-guided tour of Alaska. Being under 40, I had concerns about being one of the youngest people on a cruise, and I wanted to see more than the Alaska panhandle. We flew into Anchorage on Saturday, went down to Whittier (26 glaciers cruise) and Seward (Major Marine's Kenai Fjords cruise), and then headed up to Denali for a few days. For me, this was the ideal way to go. We were not trapped on a boat, and got to move about as we pleased on our own schedule. The drive from Anchorage to Seward is BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to go back to Alaska!
Jun 2nd, 2003, 02:51 PM
#7
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I just got back from 10 days of solo travel in Alaska. It was a blast. I put 1500 miles on a rental car and went from Anchorage to Seward to Homer to Talkeetna to Denali. I really enjoyed traveling at my own pace and being able to tweak my schedule as needed. Alaska is easily doable on your own and in fact, I think lends itself to that. The spirit of the land and the people is independent and a good Alaska guidebook and unlimited miles on a rental car will suit an adventurer very well.
