Alaskan Cruise questions

[campingwhit]

First off, he will have a fantastic time. DH and I went this past Sept. 8/30 thru 9/12 on RCCL Radiance,southbound. It was to be a trip of a lifetime, that we knew! This was far more than just a trip. We did the 5 night land tour(#12). Yes, you can do it on you own, and if you're up for it I would suggest it! Please make sure you have the time in Denali though, even though the Bus tour into the park was 7-8 hours(ours was 9.5 because of so much wildlife) I would do it all over again. Of all the places I have been this experience was the best! Here's a tip: bring snacks, we brought cheese and cracker paks and indiv. trail mix packs...they came in very handy. Ketchikan we did the misty Fjords float plane trip thru island wings! Worth the money...no doubt about it! We didnt do alot of excursions but what we did was worth the money and more! Juneau we did the whale watch thru the ship and had a great time, did not have problems with getting room to take pics. Denali park, we did a 4 wheeling tour and had a blast. Anchorage, we walked to a park not far from downtown and watched the sun go down...it took forever but it was pretty over the ocean! By the way. We only had 1/2 day of rain in the 13 days we were in Alaska, in Sept! The weather was 72-80 and sunny, so try not to get too hung up on the weather because you can never judge! Your Hubby will love it! No doubt. My Dh would go back there before he'd go back to Hawaii and I probably would too!. Bring a scarf and gloves and a hat for the day at the glacier!! The glacier viewing is amazing!

[Sicilian]

Pictures were great. Any advice on tours/excurions.

[ryanpatricksmom]

I'm booked for my second trip to Alaska next September.

My first trip, in August of 2003, we were on a 15 day voyage.

We flew into Anchorage and spent 2 nights. We didn't really do alot there, just basically enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and rested up from the long flight.

We took the train to Denali where we stayed two nights at the Princess lodge. The train ride was long but amazing. The clouds cleared just as we approached Mt. Mckinley, and we got alot of perfect photo ops. Unfortunately, our particular tour thru the park yielded very little in the way of wildlife. When we made our first rest stop our entire bus cheered....when we saw some sort of squirrel...the first living thing that we'd seen on the trip, LOL!

We took the train again to Seward, where we spent the night prior to our cruise. We did a boat tour of the Kenai Penninsula which was beautiful.

We sailed on the Carnival Spirit (this itinerary is no longer available) from Seward to Vancouver. We had stops in Sitka (another boat tour), Ketchikan (float plane to salmon hatchery and bear watch), Juneau (helicopter glacier landing), Glacier Bay, and Skagway (just walked around and shopped). I would highly recommend getting as up close and personal to a glacier as you can afford. I won't ever get on a float plane again. I will take the White Pass train when I visit Skagway the next time. Because we'd spent so many hours on trains on the first trip, we decided against it.

We spent the night in Vancouver prior to returning home, and thought it was beautiful.

So here's the good and the bad. The good. Alaska is the most beautiful place that I've ever seen. I am so looking forward to going back. This trip we will be sailing from Seattle and returning to Vancouver. I will never forget the experience of landing on a glacier...it was awesome! Ketchikan is an uber-cool town to walk around in. The stores have some amazing merchandise. Life is one perfect landscape everywhere that you turn!

The bad. You can travel all the way to Alaska and see not so much in terms of wildlife. Really. It happened to me. We saw the ass end of one moose, some whales....although I saw way more off the coast of Cape Cod, 2 grizzlies about 3 miles away, some sheep, a few eagles, and the famous squirrel.
To be fair we also saw some black bears, although they were at a salmon hatchery and so spoiled that they didn't even bother to eat the fish, only the roe.

Did it make my trip any less special? NO! But be aware that going to Denali doesn't mean that Yogi the Bear will be waving to you as you enter, nor will you be guaranteed multiple sightings of breaching whales in Jueau. It's best to adjust your expectations and be delighted for the encounters that you do experience. One thing for sure the scenery isn't going anywhere.

[Budget Queen]

Originally Posted by Sicilian

Pictures were great. Any advice on tours/excurions.

There are hundreds of excellent tours, you need to do your homework. Look over a shore excursion list and narrow down your interests. Determine your budget, then repost.