srhonda61

Sherryf, I actually have considered Chilkoot Tours and will probably go with that, both the bus and the train combo.

My main concern right now is that I keep reading people's plans of a land tour before the cruise and Dinali National Park.

When I saw the prices of hotels in Anchorage, it scared me off. We booked one night in Anchorage and then the bus tour to Whittier the next day. That's the same day that the cruise starts.

We also plan to stay a week in Vancouver and go to Okanagan Valley, Whistler, Victoria, and Stanley Park at the end of our cruise, so I just couldn't absorb the added cost of more time in Alaska.

Now I feel like we'll be missing a lot. I did, however, plan a 7 day southbound cruise from Whittier to Vancouver at the end of June/beginning of July....I believe that was a good choice. But did I leave out too much, or will we see enough? I'm also planning on booking really nice excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan....whale watching and flightseeing....

I'd like some opinions on this plan. Should I feel badly that I'm skipping the land tour in Alaska? I already booked the flight to Anchorage. :confused:

I'll be on the Crown Princess, Southbound from Whittier to Vancouver and I'm trying to choose between the two excursions above. The first one involves traveling the Klondike Highway by motorcoach, over the White Pass Summit, into Canada's Yukon in addition to the White Pass Scenic Railway. It also includes lunch and shopping. This one is also 8 hrs in duration as opposed to 3.5 hours with just the railway.

I'm wondering if anybody has done either one or could recommend one over the other.

Any other recommendations would also be very welcome. We will be flying into Anchorage and have to make our way over to Whittier. We're thinking of coming in a few days early to explore that area a little. Any suggestions on what would be reasonable driving distance? The other ports which I still haven't planned yet are Juneau and Ketchikan. Although I've already started my research and am considering whale watching in Juneau and Flightseeing to Misty Fjords. Of course, price will be a consideration. I don't expect budget travel on this trip, but I would definitely be interested in good suggestions which may not be the typical higher priced choices. This will be our first time in Alaska and we'd like to treat it as though it's our last because we have no idea if we'll ever get back there.

Looking forward to as many suggestions as I can get. :)