Land portion of Alaska Cruise

[thirstyman1]

We are booked on Jewel to Alaska 5/13 - 5/20, and the next 3 days on "land tours". Anyone have any information on what the land portion will consist of? Reservation forms just list them as days at sea, but we actually disembark on 5/20

 

Thanks!!

[bonvoyagie]

We did a 14 day cruisetour in June 2023. The tours include transportation and lodging and some tours. Ours started in Fairbanks and ended in Homer. We spent two days in Denali and had the Tundfa Wilderness tour. The hotel we were at offered free transportation between their two hotels, the park,and the local shopping area called Glitter Gulch, we were up on a hill that overlooked the park as well as the Princess Lodge. We were able to take an optional tour while in Denali and that was a helicopter ride with a glacier landing, it was offered through the tour company. 

 

Food is about the only thing that is not included and it is very expensive with most breakfast buffets running close to 50.00 per person. At some stops our tour guide has us stop at shopping centers so we could purchase snack foods as well as items for breakfasts and lunch as most of the hotels had some sort of kitchen area - for example we stopped at a Fred Meyer in Fairbanks before driving to Denali, and in Homer we were across the street from a Safeway. In Fairbanks we only had a dinner and found a great Italian place within walking distance of the hotel, and in Anchorage we got breakfast in the hotel before heading out, our tour included a train ride that featured lunch - for a cost. 

 

Now that I have been there and done that through a tour company, I would approach this trip differently if I did it again. For starters I would use the train for transportation and probably use the same hotel but spend more days in the park so I could do more stuff. 

 

However for a great introduction to Alaska, I found the cruisetour to be a good value.

[thirstyman1]

bonvoyagie, thanks for all the great info!!!

[julig22]

There are various different land tours, some primarily by train, some by bus. So you'll need to be more specific as to which one you booked.  Go to the NCL website for basic details on where your specific tour will be going.

[thegrandhorn]

We are on the Jewel July 1 -8 southbound, with the land portion the week before, June 25 - July 1. Where does the tour stay during the Denali portion of the tour? Is it possible to book a helicopter flight out of Denali? How would this be done? What is the name of the tour company that runs them?

TIA

[bonvoyagie]

7 hours ago, thegrandhorn said:

We are on the Jewel July 1 -8 southbound, with the land portion the week before, June 25 - July 1. Where does the tour stay during the Denali portion of the tour? Is it possible to book a helicopter flight out of Denali? How would this be done? What is the name of the tour company that runs them?

TIA

We stayed at the Denali Bluffs Lodge and the helicopter place is at the bottom of the hill next to the Lodge's driveway. We bought our tickets through the tour company although you could also buy them direct from Temsco helicopters. We paid around 500.00 each for a 20 min ride to the glacier, about 20 min on the glacier and 20 min return.