Trying to Decide on Which Alaska Cruise/Tour

My wife and I are considering taking an Alaska cruise tour on HAL. They offer several options and we are not sure which one to pick. We like option D5 as it isn't too long and allows us to take the cruise first and then to the land portion.

We are considering the cruise/tour to see Alaska and take a few pictures. We are not looking to scale a glacier, fish for salmon or do anything super adventurous. Taking the cruise and the train is pretty much up our speed. We are city dwellers and not great outdoors people.

We are open to other cruise tours if anyone has any pointers. My TA doesn't handle cruise tours and pretty much left me on my own for this vacation.

I don't know the details of the cruise tours but I'm fairly sure that any one of them can be done cruise first/land second, if that's what you want to do.

What you should consider is what is it that you are wanting to see. Do you want to go to the Yukon, or just Denali? How much time do you have available. Of course, budget would also be a consideration.

When I did my cruisetour, in 2006, we did the cruise first and land second. We got off in Skagway, took the White Pass train to Fraser and then transferred to a motor coach. We then went to Whitehorse for a night, Dawson City for two nights, took the river boat to Eagle, Alaska, motor coach to Tok for a night, and then to Fairbanks for a night (or two). Then we took the train to Denali and had two nights there before training it to Anchorage. I understand that they now have flights from Dawson to Fairbanks.

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise tour. I loved Dawson City. However, there are some things I would do differently now that I've had the benefit of Cruise Critic and of being in Alaska three more times.

I would do the land tour first and cruise second. With a shorter cruisetour, like we did, we missed Glacier Bay on that first tour because we got off at Skagway to start the tour. IMO, Glacier Bay is not to be missed. You don't have to be great outdoorsy people to appreciate it.

Even if taking a longer cruise tour, with a full 7 day cruise, I would still do the land portion first simply because it can be exhausting. Then you can rest up a bit on the cruise.

Of course, all this depends on when you're planning to go. If going early in the season, you may have to do the cruise first and land second because Denali may not be fully open.

Check out the Alaska ports forum for more information, too. Of course, many will tell you to DIY but if you want to go with an organized tour through HAL, go for it. You have to choose what will work best for you and your DW.

Good luck as you research!

D5 sounds good to me. It gives you two days in Denali and the TWT into the park. You didn't say when you are traveling so be sure the park road will be open if you go early june. I would call this a good "starter trip". If you like it you will come back. HAL does a really good job on their Cruisetours. I have taken several and it all started with a basic cruise, Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks.

D5 sounds good to me. It gives you two days in Denali and the TWT into the park. You didn't say when you are traveling so be sure the park road will be open if you go early june. I would call this a good "starter trip". If you like it you will come back. HAL does a really good job on their Cruisetours. I have taken several and it all started with a basic cruise, Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks.

Thanks a good starter trip is what we are looking for. I think we are looking at the first week of Jun and are doing the cruise part first. We may do the D6 tour instead as flights out from Fairbanks are not that good.

I've noticed the prices for Alaska cruise/tours vary greatly between Jun and Aug much more than other parts of the world to include the Mediterranean.

Come join us on the Oosterdam next summer July 22 trip Fairbanks to Vancouver! We are all booked! Let me know if you decide to book then. Looking forward to it! We have a great itinerary I think. Check it out on Holland cruise.

Just returned from the Y1CA. Cruised first, and then landtour. We came home a bit fatigued, but the extra days in each

City was invaluable . Extra days in Denali are required without question. DH and DBIL did a flightseeing of Mt. McKinley, and joined the 30% club. My bucket list is shorter, and I encourage anyone who has the option to travel to AK. Do try to have an itinerary with at least two days in each city.

Marilyn

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Thanks a good starter trip is what we are looking for. I think we are looking at the first week of Jun and are doing the cruise part first. We may do the D6 tour instead as flights out from Fairbanks are not that good.

 

I've noticed the prices for Alaska cruise/tours vary greatly between Jun and Aug much more than other parts of the world to include the Mediterranean.

How are prices flying into Fairbanks? The flights are long depending on your location. The drawback to the D6 is the "Direct to Denali" which is going to be a long bus ride from Seward to Denali in one day. They do stop every 2 hours but this tour is not nearly as good as D5. it looks like D5 has the train from Anchorage to Seward which is said to be one of the most scenic train rides in Alaska.

It also includes the Riverboat tour in Fairbanks which is very nice.

You have time to research yet. Watch prices and promos on the HAL website and read reviews on cruise critic. The first time we went we flew to Anchorage, train to Denali, train to Fairbanks, and they flew us back to Anchorage and bussed us to Seward to get on the ship. I know flying in and out of Fairbanks is not the most economical use of time or money but it does give you a better knowledge of Alaska.

The cruise tour is great. I would take one in June, with the tour first. Alaska is fresh then, I have done this several times and after talking to people, know this is the best. You move from several hotels as you travel south, then board the ship for a relaxing cruise down the Alaska coast. Packing and unpacking is done.

Another option is to fly to anchorage or Fairbanks, rent a car, do your own land trip for as long as you wish and drop the car off at the port you depart from. We did that and had a blast!

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I am with a couple of others here -- do the land portion first and then the cruise. The days can be long on the land portion. Doing it first gives you the chance to rest up on the ship before flying home.

Haven't looked at the various tours but I would choose one where after the land portion you get on the ship in Seward and off in Vancouver - a full 7 day cruise.

My first trip to Alaska I did a 7 day cruise only Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. I knew I wanted to see Glacier Bay and Sitka. It was a great cruise, until the last couple of days. Once you leave Ketchikan, you know you are cruising toward the end of your trip and it becomes a little sad.

For our second trip to Alaska (and the Yukon), I chose Northbound from Vancouver. Only 3 days on the ship (we have some that suffer seasickness) then 8 days on land. Tracy Arm wasn't as awesome as Glacier Bay. We debarked in Skagway and went up the White Pass Railroad to Fraser BC. Coach on to Whitehorse, Dawson City, Eagle, Chicken, Tok, Fairbanks, Denali and ended in Anchorage. Each day was more awesome than the last. The scenery just kept getting better and better, and there was no feeling of sadness that the trip was ending. By the end of the 11th day, you are ready to come home to your own bed.

I had booked a third 14 day round trip from Seattle this year, but my husband had a stroke so had to cancel. I chose HAL for all 3 cruises. I did check out Princess, but they didn't include much of the Yukon, and the price was double what HAL was.

Lot's on this board advocate "do it yourself" for Alaska, but I don't like driving myself in unknown places. I have, but it's not as enjoyable to me. I love a coach tour, and have taken many all over the World. Tell me when, where and what time to be there, and I'll let the driver/guide worry about getting me from point A to point B, fight the traffic/road conditions, and I'll sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Only you can decide what is best for you. Head to your library and check out a couple of Alaska travel guides (Frommer's, Fodor's, etc). Decide what you want to see and do. Then make sure you know what you are booking, and that it does what you want to do.

Have fun planning, then taking your cruise, Alaska is an awesome destination.

We just returned from the D7 tour on the Statendam. We flew to Fairbanks a day early since we did not get into Fairbanks until 11:00pm so we had the next day to relax. Stayed at the Westmark in Fairbanks, very nice. We then bussed to Denali for the day, 4 hours due to road construction, at the McKinley Chalet and Lodge. This is where we wish we would have done the D5 tour as you then have two days in Denali. We had a great tour but another day would have allowed us to take the Wilderness Tour which is 10 hours long. We then boarded the train for an 8 hour trip to Anchorage, very beautiful scenery but also very long. Spent the evening at the Captain Cook in Anchorage before boarding the train for the 5 hour trip to Seward. This leg offered much better scenery which included many glaciers. Upon disembarking the train we walked about 100 yards to the cruise terminal and our ship. We are very glad we did the Land Portion first as the cruise allowed us to relax before going home. In fact we spent another day in Vancouver before flying home. Another nice point was that any baggage you do not need until the ship can be tagged and it went straight to the ship and you did not have to handle it until you get to your stateroom to unpack. All you needed was a bag for the Land Portion which was very handy.

D5 sounds good to me. It gives you two days in Denali and the TWT into the park. You didn't say when you are traveling so be sure the park road will be open if you go early june. I would call this a good "starter trip". If you like it you will come back. HAL does a really good job on their Cruisetours. I have taken several and it all started with a basic cruise, Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks.

We did something similar and LOVED it! Definitely don't miss Denali - the longer of the 2 tours back into the park was one of the highlights of our trip! The Riverboat Discovery was a great way to see areas outside Fairbanks with a minimum exertion.

Cruise tours are great because HAL does all the moving of the luggage. We'd set it outside our door by the appointed time and it would "magically appear" in our next room.

D5

■■ Two nights Denali with Tundra Wilderness Tour

■■ Riverboat Discovery

■■ McKinley Explorer domed rail; Anchorage/Seward cruisetrain

■■ 7-day Glacier Discovery cruise

We are in the process of booking a group for July 6, 2015 on the Oosterdam. We are doing the D3L tour from Fairbanks. We are flying in two nights early and staying two nights in Fairbanks with the tour. Then it's a bus to Denali with two nights and the Tundra Wilderness tour. We take the train from Denali to Anchorage where we will spend one night. A bus takes us from Anchorage to Seward where we have one night before the cruise. The cruise is the 7 night Glacier cruise ending in Vancouver. We are spending 3 nights in Vancouver but the last night we are moving to an airport hotel since our flights out the next day are very early.

We have six nights on the tour

Five nights on our own before and after

Seven nights on the cruise.

We thought this was a good compromise. Some of us have been to Alaska before and for other this will be their first trip.

Some already have their air booked and I have hotels in Vancouver for the post cruise portion. I was really surprised that so many hotels are already completely booked for next July. We got almost the last rooms at our hotel. We booked four and there is one left. It's not too early.

Good luck! It took me a long time to finally decide on something.

kicia, having just taken the Alaskan RR from Anchorage to Seward I would suggest rethinking bus vs. RR, the train trip went places a bus cannot go and scenery was amazing. People could not sit down because there were so many places for pictures plus the narration was great and the train would slow down at critical spots. Well worth it!

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I am with a couple of others here -- do the land portion first and then the cruise. The days can be long on the land portion. Doing it first gives you the chance to rest up on the ship before flying home.

 

Haven't looked at the various tours but I would choose one where after the land portion you get on the ship in Seward and off in Vancouver - a full 7 day cruise.

I totally agree with KK. That would be my suggestion too, take the land part first and then enjoy a nice relaxing cruise afterwards. Just something to consider.

You can get a lot of good information on the Alaska board. Doing the land tour first is best since it can be a bit exhausting with all the transfers, packing and unpacking, and changing hotels. We loved the land tour, but were really happy to get on the ship and unpack. The longer tours are nice, but if you do the ones that only have a 3 or 4 day cruise portion, you miss a lot.

Our cruise tour was actually on Princess which had an on your own option--included hotels and transfers but no tours. We booked our own shuttle--the one to Eilson--which has some advantages over the Tundra Wilderness tour included in most cruise tours. You can get on and off if you wish to spend time somewhere along the way and it goes deeper into the park, all the way to the Visitor's Center at Eilson which has a great view of Denali unless it is cloudy like it was the day we were there. It is also about 1/3 the price of the TWT. You definitely need to stay at least 2 nights in Denali to be able to see anything. I also recommend the sled dog demo if you like dogs. The most scenic train ride is supposedly from Talkeetna to Denali if you have to choose.

Go to Glacier Bay if you can. We also did Hubbard Glacier which made the glaciers in Glacier Bay look tiny, but ships cannot always get close due to ice and weather conditions. With all the options available, choosing one is daunting.

I appreciate all of the responses. We are leaning towards the D5 but may still do the cruise first. We get in way too late to fly into Fairbanks. I'm sure we would miss all of the events the first day.

Spend an extra day in Fairbanks to rest!

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Spend an extra day in Fairbanks to rest!

 

 

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Easier said than done though as my TA thinks HAL will charge an extra $400 for the hotel. My TA thinks we would be better off taking the D6 instead of the D5 and to do the cruise portion first. This allows us to fly home easy. My TA also mentioned the land portion is pretty relaxed and a great way to end a vacation. We still haven't decided on what we will do.

We booked everything on or trip with our HAL PCC and the rates were no way that bad. I just checked the Westmark Fairbanks in June 2015 and the rate was $169. Your choice but as most have said the Land Portion first is very active and having the cruise last allows for rest. Unless you are tied to your TA I would call HAL and talk to them. We have taken over 30 cruises with HAL and our PCC is great. I could not beat their Air rates on my own. Good luck.

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We booked everything on or trip with our HAL PCC and the rates were no way that bad. I just checked the Westmark Fairbanks in June 2015 and the rate was $169. Your choice but as most have said the Land Portion first is very active and having the cruise last allows for rest. Unless you are tied to your TA I would call HAL and talk to them. We have taken over 30 cruises with HAL and our PCC is great. I could not beat their Air rates on my own. Good luck.

 

 

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We may book with HAL after all.

We may book with HAL after all.

Call HAL. They can tell you what an extra night will cost and they will add it to your Cruisetour. They should also be able to give you a quote for the flights. You can ask for a Personal Cruise Consultant to help you and answer questions.

I could give the name of ours if you wish. She set up our entire trip.

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I could give the name of ours if you wish. She set up our entire trip.

 

 

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I just spoke with someone from at HAL and they recommend we take the R1L which is a 14 day cruise tour leaving and returning from Seattle. They said you fly to Seattle and then spend the night and fly to Fairbanks the next day. The only bad part of the tour is you spend three nights in the national park instead of two. I'm thinking we will not have anything to do the extra day there. The person at HAL did say most people prefer to do the land portion first.