MrsFredriksen

This past June we did the Major Marine glacier cruise at 12:45. It was really beautiful, and we had an excellent lunch on board which I'd recommend! We arranged through Major Marine for a bus transfer to Anchorage right after the boat tour. It was very easy, and I think it only cost us about $20 each. We were in Anchorage in about an hour and a half, and the bus dropped us right at the airport (we were picking up a rental car there for the rest of our land trip). The bus driver was willing to take us downtown or to a hotel as well, though. We hadn't found a lot of affordable options for getting to Anchorage from Whittier, so we were really happy this worked so smoothly and (relatively) cheaply! Hope this helps.

Anchorage Museum is another possible option. Fascinating exhibits on native Alaskans, and right now, an exhibit on plastic gyres, with both art and science aspects to it. They also have a cute cafe, gift shop, and info on history of Anchorage. Have a nice dinner at Glacier Brewhouse or Simon & Seafort, both downtown but not very far from the airport.

As others have said, read some of the trip reports on this board and see what appeals to you. Doing the research is fun. That said, I will offer what our family enjoyed most from our trip last month after our Vancouver-Whittier cruise:

-- Denali National Park. Took shuttle bus in to Eielson (8 hour trip but the time goes quickly!). Saw beautiful scenery, a grizzly bear, two red fox, several herds of caribou, Dall sheep, and more. Driver was very interesting and informative throughout the day. We spent two days at Denali (one into the park, one at visitor center and dogsled demo, etc.). The drive up to Denali is gorgeous, especially if it's clear and the mountain is out. Stopped a lot to take pictures of Denali, Mt. Susitna, and a mama/baby moose!

-- Flightseeing Mt. McKinley from Talkeetna. My husband's favorite activity of whole trip by far (mine was taking a helicopter onto a glacier in Juneau -- both absolutely amazing. Also pricey, but if you can swing it, amazing and worthwhile bucket list kind of experiences).

-- Full afternoon glacier cruise from Whittier (do on the day you embark/debark if that's your port). Smaller boat gets you so much closer to the glaciers, it is really cool. Our whole family loved this one. Also, drinks made with glacier ice are delicious!! And fun.

-- We spent a full day in Anchorage, and actually really enjoyed the Anchorage Museum for the afternoon. Part of it is in cooperation with the Smithsonian, so some really beautiful and interesting exhibits on native Alaskans, as well as the huge Alaska earthquake in 1964. We also went to a very fun minor league baseball game, which was perfect for our baseball-loving family (playing at 10 pm with no lights -- so fun!). We had a nice meal at the Glacier Brewhouse right downtown, and a very nice dinner our last night at Simon & Seafort's with a lovely view out over the water.

We made our car and hotel reservations about 11 months out (last summer, for trip this past June). We also reserved our excursions (flightseeing, whale watching etc) last , last summer and fall. It allowed us to get the best rates, get our first choice of lodging and vendors, and have a long time to look forward to our adventures!

We did not take the train up to Denali, and were very happy with our choice to drive (minivan with six people). On our drive up, we had the only clear day for Mt. McKinley in two weeks. We were glad we could stop, pull off and take as many gorgeous pictures as we wanted at several different points (as well as stop to hang out with a mama and baby moose on the side of the road for a little while). It also allowed us to stop in Talkeetna on the way up to do a flight around McKinley, which was my husband's favorite part of the trip; and to stay in cabins in Healy while up at McKinley, very nice and affordable, and get to and from the actual park on our schedule, not a shuttle/cruisetour bus. It wasn't difficult or stressful at all to plan on our own. The collective wisdom and tips from great people on this board were extremely helpful in figuring out what our group was most interested in doing, and planning around that. We had a wonderful time, saved money, and enjoyed not being at the mercy of the cruisetour or railroad schedule. All kinds of experiences can be wonderful in Alaska, of course -- but I wouldn't hesitate or be wary of planning it yourself, and you won't miss any views by driving -- you'll probably have better ones! Have fun deciding and planning.

My husband says you're right, Island and Coral Princess are not doing AK in 2015. :( We were there last month and really enjoyed those smaller (but older) ships. I'm sure the bigger ones going in 2015 will be great too!

Forgot to mention -- we did ship a couple of extra sweatshirts and dress clothes home from AK, but that was only because we went to a minor league baseball game in Anchorage and my son got to be the team's bat boy that night, so they gave him a baseball bat signed by the whole team! THAT didn't fit into a roller bag. So we made an unexpected stop by the UPS store and put a few clothes in the box with the bat. Well worth it, though -- a highlight of his trip! And without that, we still would have fit in the minivan fine. Also, having a hotel hang on to one of your suitcases for you sounds like a good idea too. But UPSing home a few cruise things you no longer need for land trip is an option.

Last month six of us did an inland trip in a minivan, rented from Anchorage airport Hertz. We all fit just fine, including luggage (and we were worried!). We did manage to keep our stuff to a roller bag (plus backpack and jackets) apiece by doing laundry once, after the cruise at the beginning of land trip. We rented a house/cabin via VRBO at our first stop, and it had a laundry room, so could do it at our convenience at night and early morning. Worked great. Highly recommend that option over a hotel if you can do it! (Though we would have done laundry at hotel and been fine with it too. This was just amazingly convenient and the house gave us tons of space & great views/location.)

We just returned from cruise and week+ inland, with children 7.5 and 11. We docked at Whittier, not Seward, so didn't make it down to Kenai peninsula at all, which was too bad. But just for some more ideas for OP to think about: we did a small glacier boat cruise the day we got off the cruise ship in Whittier. That was a great choice for us, so I'd recommend you continue to think about doing your KFjords boat trip the day you embark. We did go to Denali and our kids LOVED it. We traveled at a more leisurely pace due to some other personal things we wanted to do (meet up with old friends in Anchorage, etc). But you can easily do the Denali-Anchorage drive in a day. We did flightseeing from Talkeetna on our way to Denali, and it was a fantastic way to see Mt.McKinley. Once we got to Denali, we went to the free dogsled show at 4pm, which was great. Kids loved seeing them run and getting to pet them. We also picked up our tickets for the 6:30 am shuttle to Eileson the following day. We stayed up in Healy at Park's Edge cabins. Clean, comfortable, friendly staff and the drive was not bad even with this year's construction. Early morning the second day, but well worth it for all the animals we saw. Not too long a ride for my kids -- though the last hour back they did drowse a bit, but we'd already seen and done so much. I would think your 9 and 11 year old would think it's fantastic. The driver of the shuttle told us many interesting stories and facts throughout the day and the time just flew by. Good dinner and sleep that night, then back to Anchorage with plenty of time to spare the following day before our flight. We were really happy with our itinerary and I think the one Mapleleaves outlined for you is a great place to start!

We chose Princess for our grandparent/parents/kids group (ages 77 down to 7) this past June, Vancouver NB. We liked their itinerary (including Glacier Bay access) and their long experience in AK. Our kids (11 and 7) LOVED their kids' program and participated in a lot of activities there (including the "junior ranger" educational program on Glacier Bay day, but also a pastry chef class and lots of other fun, dancing, video games, crafts, karaoke, etc). They made friends from literally all over the world -- Australia, UK, Canada, all over US, and went swimming and other things with them outside of kids' program. If you go mid-June or later (when kids are out of school) I think you'll find lots of kids onboard Princess. Their childcare staff on the Island Princess was great.

We booked all of our excursions privately, but included things both our kids and the grandparents would enjoy (wildlife, some flying, whale watching). We spent another week+ after the cruise enjoying Alaska on our own. If you can, I highly recommend the 4-5 hour glacier tour on Major Marine the day you dock in Whittier and of course, Denali Natl. Park. We did the 8 hr bus trip to Eileson and the day flew by, my kids and parents did just fine and loved all the animals (grizzly bear!) and going to see the park's working dogsled team. I second Mapleleaves that doing some research (and involving everyone in choosing best shore excursions for your family's interests/abilities) is key. But we'd highly recommend the Island Princess as a great ship for multi-generational families.