Alaska Cruisetours..Pre vs. Post your thoughts

[STEVE-O]

My wife and I are planning on booking a 2011 Alaska Cruisetour ( if the dates are ever released!) and are wondering what the pros and cons are of the PRE-cruise tour and the POST-cruise tour...

 

IF you've done one or both....can you provide your opinions??

 

Thanks for your assistance.........

 

Steve

[Puffinater]

We did a post cruise tour and 100% enjoyed it but if we were to do another it would be precruise. A couple factors are the cruisetour is very busy and you are always on the move doing something. We enjoyed the activity but felt it left little time to relax. By going precruise we will have the luxury of relaxing on the ship after the cruisetour. Another factor is you will get to meet folks who will be on the cruise with you. Doing post cruise folks you meet on the ship will probably not be on your cruisetour. Just a few of our thoughts.

[NorbertsNiece]

I hung out on the Alaska board here before deciding to do the precruise land tour for the reasons stated above. The thing that's really important about booking Alaska is to pick the right tour as they have several that meet up to join the cruise and then to research the towns thoroughly so that you make the very best informed choice. Alaska is going to be a once in a lifetime trip for me and if I'm becoming obsessive about planning the details at least I won't be in the dark about the options!

[April-in-NC]

Steve, have you visited the Alaska board yet? This topic is discussed frequently. :)

 

There are two schools of thought on this and it is really up to what you want.

 

Pre Cruise Tour

 

It seems like most people seem to prefer to fly to Alaska and do the SB cruise. They like to get the longer flight over first and then do the land tour while they are still "fresh" and then relax on the cruise ship.

 

From what I've read the drawbacks are that the SB cruises are a little more expensive and while they are on the cruise they feel like they are "leaving" Alaska and their vacation is ending.

 

Post Cruise Tour

 

There are also a lot of people who prefer to do their touring after the cruise. They save a little money on the cruise fare and get the excitement of "cruising to Alaksa" as part of the journey.

 

I'm debating this myself. If RCI ever gets their act together and releases their 2011 itineraries I should be able to make a decision. Right now I am leaning towards flying into Vancouver and doing a NB followed by 3-4 days in Seward and/or Denali National Park.

[negc]

Our previous cruise tour was with Princess and we did the land portion prior to the cruise and while on land met several post cruisers who stated that they wished that they had done the land portion first for many of the reasons stated above. They were also not looking forward to the considerably longer flight home from Fairbanks or Anchorage. For those reasons we have booked our June, 2010 RCI cruisetour with the land portion at the beginning of our vacation when we are fresh and ready to begin our Alaskan adventure. I'm not sure that there is one correct answer to your question as both pre and post cruise tours have their advantages and advocates. Choose whichever best fits your schedule and your budget and be prepared for a terrific trip.:)

[flashcat]

We did the precruise tour and totally enjoyed the tour and then relaxed on the cruise. I would do that again. We met a lovely couple and spent time with them on the cruise. That was in 2007 and we still communicate. The land tour was great and the tour guide was wonderful. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. We are going back to Alaska in September but only the cruise.

[luvscruising2007]

We did the land tour after our cruise and enjoyed it thoroughly. However, if

we were to go again we would take the land tour pre-cruise.

Also, when scheduling your land tour, there are two different excursions

that go to Denali. If you can book the longer land tour you are more likely to

be able to take the longer tour in Denali. I think it has to be a 4 day or more land tour for that.

I have to agree with the poster that said to visit the Alaska boards. They ]

are full of good information about the ports and the excursions, both private

and ship tours.

Whatever you do I know you will have a great time.

[akb5k]

We're doing the cruise part first and then our own (non-ship organized) land tour afterward. A few reasons: our lives are pretty hectic so we actually want the supposedly more "relaxing" part at the beginning of our trip; by doing the land part second it leaves another week for the weather to warm up a bit before we go hiking and rafting in Denali; and since we'll be flying home from Alaska, not Vancouver, we won't have to deal with the hassle of going through customs at the airport on the way home.

[klingoncruiser]

Definitely do the Land tour first. Then ride home in the lap of luxury. Consider a land tour that includes a train. Those are way fun.:D

[LisaH]

We have not done both but would only do it one way and that is with the land tour first. We did the Southbound Alaska Cruisetour on the Island Princess in 2007. We started in Anchorage and ended in Vancouver. The other advantage is getting the long airplane flight over with first.

 

When we book Alaska again and if we do a land tour, we will do the land tour first and then the cruise.

 

But either way you will have a great time, just depends on your personal preference.

[LisaH]

Definitely do the Land tour first. Then ride home in the lap of luxury. Consider a land tour that includes a train. Those are way fun.:D

 

We also loved the train...the 9 hours went very fast and for quite a while we had a spectacular view of Mt. McKinley.

[Mango Mike]

Steve, have you visited the Alaska board yet? This topic is discussed frequently. :)

 

There are two schools of thought on this and it is really up to what you want.

 

Pre Cruise Tour

 

It seems like most people seem to prefer to fly to Alaska and do the SB cruise. They like to get the longer flight over first and then do the land tour while they are still "fresh" and then relax on the cruise ship.

 

From what I've read the drawbacks are that the SB cruises are a little more expensive and while they are on the cruise they feel like they are "leaving" Alaska and their vacation is ending.

 

Post Cruise Tour

 

There are also a lot of people who prefer to do their touring after the cruise. They save a little money on the cruise fare and get the excitement of "cruising to Alaksa" as part of the journey.

 

I'm debating this myself. If RCI ever gets their act together and releases their 2011 itineraries I should be able to make a decision. Right now I am leaning towards flying into Vancouver and doing a NB followed by 3-4 days in Seward and/or Denali National Park.

 

This is the reason why we went the Pre Cruise route (so we thought).

 

We live in the midwest - the flight to Fairbanks was about 10 hours (including layover) and the flight home from Vancouver was supposed to be about 4 1/2 hours (if I remember right).

 

Key words "supposed to be". Due to a nasty storm in Denver (layover stop on our flight home), we were late landing, missed our connecting flight, no other flights that evening etc. etc. etc. to make a long story short, we didn't get home until 26 hours after we left Vancouver.

 

With the exception of the flight home, this was one of the most memorable and enjoyable cruises we've been on. Will definitely do it again (but will book our own flights next time).

[cruisenfever]

Also to add, if you do a 5 night pre/post tour, that added to your 7 day cruise will earn you an extra cruise credit.

 

If you are booking a JS, then you would earn 3 for your cruise.