Alaska with Denali stay - Summer 2012

[Ready 4 the next 1]

We are starting to think about an Alaska cruise next Summer. My wife went about 30 years ago. This would be my first time in Alaska. We want to include a 2-3 day stay at Denali as part of this adventure.

 

DW went with a girlfriend last time and they booked the cruise and time at Denali seperately. In doing initial research it looks like Princess, RCL, and Holland all have combination cruise/tours to the area.

 

It would be great to get feedback from people who have done this trip on doing with all with a cruise line vs. booking Denali seperately, what cruise line you would recommend and why, and what "not to miss." Also, we are always bargain hunters and I am wondering when the best time has typically been to book these trips. Right now, it looks like we spend $5 to $6,000 to do this trip with a cruise line at current booking prices.

 

Normally we book a balcony our window state room. I am wondering if booking an inside room would be a good idea for the cruise due to the long portion of sunshine during the day in Alaska during the summer.

[Budget Queen]

A important factor in interior Alaska touring is time, go for as long as you can afford. With a cruisetour selection, be very very informed, most people are not. Do your homework and find out about Alaska, what activities are of interest and areas you want to see. Then look for a cruise and tour that fills this. There are only 6 inside passage Alaska ports, read up on each. Determine what is of the most interest. Then make your cruise selection based on ports, time in ports, route, glacier, price. Budget fully for costly excursions. All the cruiselines will offer you a great cruise, because of a lot of the adventure is outside the ship- those ports and glacier. :)

 

Touring Interior Alaska on a cruiseline cruisetour- I find extremely restrictive, seeing the least. Point to point Alaska travel is less desirable for some who may enjoy the freedom of timing themselves and the addition of unlimited areas and activities. IF you are open to going independent, then do so. It offers better use of time, since you decide where you want to go and for how long. You also have the benefit of using some purchased coupon books which can offer significant savings. It is simple to go independent, if of interest.

 

Head to your library and take out Alaska By Cruise Ship. Fodor's Alaska, Frommer's Alaska and any other Alaska travel books. Clearly, the more you know the better your decisions will be for your priority of touring Alaska.

[exflygirl]

In September 2005 we did a southbound cruisetour with Princess, and it is in our top 5 trips of all time.

 

We flew to Anchorage and then spent two days in Kenai (booked independently) before meeting up with the cruisetour back in Anchorage. We had two days in Denali and two days in Copper River before cruising. There were no discounts on this trip. The ship was full.

 

Some things to consider:

 

There's a lot of ground to cover

It could take a whole day to get from one city to the other. It was a half day train/van ride between Anchorage and Kenai. The train ride from Anchorage to Denali took all morning and most afternoon. The bus ride from Denali to Copper River was a full day.

 

Tour first then cruise second

As much as we enjoyed being on land with all that we did, we looked forward to our days at sea. On our way to the ship from Copper River, we passed those who had the reverse of our itinerary; and I felt bad for them. Granted, there's much to do on the ship; however, there's none of the packing/unpacking or having to meet certain timetables that's not really of your own making.

 

Splurge for the balcony

You never know what sea creatures are around.

 

Make sure you know how to work your camera

As the nights were getting cooler, we had an opportunity to view and photograph the Northern Lights. We emailed our photos to a couple from New Zealand since they were unable to capture the sight.

 

Happy planning!

[vbmom87]

Bargain hunters typically cruise early May or mid-September. However, these are not good times for Denali. If Denali is a priority, you will want to get there when the roads are open all the way into the park. Full access begins on June 8. By mid-September you could run into an early snowfall which would close the road far into Denali. Don't think it happens too often, but I have read of it happening. Early in the season you can sometimes have difficulty accessing some of the glacier areas due to icing. This year early cruisers were very disappointed that Hubbard Glacier was not calving much.

 

You could do a NB cruise near the end of May and then go to Denali after. Peak prices tend to be in July and early August.

 

Every month has its pluses and minuses. Do a litte research before you book.

[Ready 4 the next 1]

Thanks, all for your suggestions. Very helpful to know more about what could be missed in May and September, as the discounts in May had captured my interest. I will definately follow up on the Alaska cruise book recomendations and look into booking the land portion seperately.

 

Thanks again to all that responded. I can see I have a lot to learn before we finalize our cruise plans for Alaska.

[Budget Queen]

Thanks, all for your suggestions. Very helpful to know more about what could be missed in May and September, as the discounts in May had captured my interest. I will definately follow up on the Alaska cruise book recomendations and look into booking the land portion seperately.

 

Thanks again to all that responded. I can see I have a lot to learn before we finalize our cruise plans for Alaska.

 

It will benefit you greatly, having the knowledge to make your choices. And actually the last week of May is an excellent time to consider, going northbound, then having your additional week interior Alaska first week of June. I've done this timeframe myself the last two years. Both of these trips were with Seward, which is my preference. I overnighted in Seward, and took the Alaska RR to Anchorage. I also did go to Whittier each trip, for a PWS boat tour.

 

I used both purchased coupon books both trips. The savings can be significant.

 

The key is to plan Denali park for arrival June 1 or later. Getting to Eielson on the shuttle bus is a priority in my opinion. :)

[WalleyeLJ]

Thanks, all for your suggestions. Very helpful to know more about what could be missed in May and September, as the discounts in May had captured my interest. I will definately follow up on the Alaska cruise book recomendations and look into booking the land portion seperately.

 

Thanks again to all that responded. I can see I have a lot to learn before we finalize our cruise plans for Alaska.

 

We've only been to Alaska once (2009) and are headed back July 2012. We went the last week of May Vancouver to Seward, took the train into Anchorage, and then drove ourselves up to Denali and Talkeetna for 3 days. If we had any better time or saw more wildlife than we did, I might have never left - best vacation EVER!:D. The weather was fantastic, the marine and land wildlife plentiful, and the late May prices were much lower (at least in 2009) than June/July/August. That said, we're going in July next year so my Dad, wife and I can fishing the King salmon runs on the Kenai and in some of the ports of call.

 

Not only will researching your options (here and Trip Advisor as well has tour and info books) help give you better idea of what you might like to do, it'll help build the excitement as you get closer to departure! Good luck and have fun!

 

L.J.

[cruzingrama]

We are doing HAL's E-2 Expedition tour. It includes the 7 day Discovery cruise with 3 nights at the Kantishna Lodge within Denali park. We had been to Denali in July 2004 and weather was good, Denali was out early in the am. Saw some wildlife but not as good as I'd hoped. This time we are looking forward to the time in Denali. We arrive one evening and have 3 nights, 2 full days way back with in the park, and I'm really hoping to have a great Denali experience.

In 2004 we took a plane from Talkeetna,on our own while the 'tour' we were on allowed free time, and it was fabulous! I highly recommend that. I don't really think there are any bargains in Alaska as everyone seems to be going there!

If you e-mail me at (tlglotz at sbcglobal.net) I can tell you more after Sept 9 when we come back home.

 

Lynette

[geomarc]

I used both purchased coupon books both trips. The savings can be significant.

 

Where did you purchase the books? :) We were there in 2005 and picked up free coupon books in the cruise terminal in Vancouver. I wonder if they still have them?

[txmomcruiser]

We are starting to think about an Alaska cruise next Summer. My wife went about 30 years ago. This would be my first time in Alaska. We want to include a 2-3 day stay at Denali as part of this adventure.

 

DW went with a girlfriend last time and they booked the cruise and time at Denali seperately. In doing initial research it looks like Princess, RCL, and Holland all have combination cruise/tours to the area.

 

It would be great to get feedback from people who have done this trip on doing with all with a cruise line vs. booking Denali seperately, what cruise line you would recommend and why, and what "not to miss." Also, we are always bargain hunters and I am wondering when the best time has typically been to book these trips. Right now, it looks like we spend $5 to $6,000 to do this trip with a cruise line at current booking prices.

 

Normally we book a balcony our window state room. I am wondering if booking an inside room would be a good idea for the cruise due to the long portion of sunshine during the day in Alaska during the summer.

 

 

We just got back Saturday from our 12 day trip. We did a cruise tour w/Princess. I liked that they made all the plans for you but we changed up some of their activities and replaced them w/others once we did the research. You can alter it a bit and Princess will "refund" you the money for a particular excursion. We didn't want to do the tour that they had us scheduled on into Denali Nat'l Park. We cancelled it and then made our own arrangements (shuttle to Eielson). We saw way more wildlife this way. The other tour...they saw NO wildlife...unless you count squirrels!!! We also did a rafting tour on our own. I could have spent a week in the Denali area alone!!!! It is so beautiful and there is so much to see and do!

 

Regarding the balcony....we had one and it was WELL worth the $$! We sat out there and spotted all kinds of wildlife from orcas, humpbacks, dolphins, etc....if you were going to the Caribbean I would say save the money but going to Alaska....if you can afford the balcony go for it!!!

[Budget Queen]

Where did you purchase the books? :) We were there in 2005 and picked up free coupon books in the cruise terminal in Vancouver. I wonder if they still have them?

 

Toursaver and Northern Lights, they have been around for years, with excellent savings potential.

 

The books you are talking about are little more, than "sale" flyers for some souveniers.

[PennyAgain]

From the Anchorage Daily News is the information that the National Park Service has a period of time open for people to make suggestions about changes to how things will run in Denali NP for 2012. http://www.adn.com/2011/08/07/2004664/park-service-examines-ways-to.html

 

One suggestion is that things remain the same while 2 other major ideas on the table include changes to the shuttle bus and tour bus services for the NP including offering some tours that would appeal more to families with children and people who want more activity than sitting on a long bus ride.

 

Although I doubt that this will result in a major fruit basket upset in how things go for 2012, I certainly would keep an eye on the situation if I were planning a 2012 Denali NP visit.

[greatam]

That said, we're going in July next year so my Dad, wife and I can fishing the King salmon runs on the Kenai and in some of the ports of call.

 

 

Please rethink your timing if your object is to catch Kings in the Kenai. As a general rule, the Kings usually start coming into the Kenai and Russian rivers about June 10 and are pretty well done by June 30 (a few stragglers into the first week of July). The reds start coming in about June 25-30 and continue through most of July.

 

DH goes to Alaska 2-3 times per summer just to fish. And he is ALWAYS in Alaska by June 10 for Kings in the Kenai. It has been rather disastrous the last couple of years as the king counts have been down tremendously and they have closed the fishing on most parts of the Kenai at various times. This year was OK for Kings (he got a small one in the Anchor River), but he went back up for reds in July and they had a BUMPER crop of reds.

 

Here is some reading info about fish counts and how they will completely shut down fishing so you aren't totally disappointed if it happens. http://www.adn.com/2010/06/03/1306549/kenai-king-fishing-closes-on-saturday.html

 

Here's some pictures from this years BUMPER crop of reds: http://www.adn.com/2011/07/18/1973618/kenai-river-dipnetting-2011.html#id=1973616&view=large_view

 

PS-you can't dipnet with an out of state license. Enjoy!!!

[PennyAgain]

greatam, so good to see a new post from you! Considering where you often work, I've been hoping to see you online!

[greatam]

greatam, so good to see a new post from you! Considering where you often work, I've been hoping to see you online!

 

I'm still over here but back in Kuwait. Already done my bit in Iraq and will go into Afghanistan again next week. It is getting very rough in some of the outlying bases in Afghanistan. My security detail is sending me into Bagram and HOPING that I can stay there to do my work. They really don't want to have to "babysit" going to some of the far flung outposts although Kandahar has calmed down considerably. Three more weeks and then to Alaska to finish up fish shipping season. That will be a shock-115-120 in most of the MidEast right now to 60 in Alaska. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts.