Cruisetour questions

[SueO]

Hi - We are planning a cruisetour for 2007, most likely Holland America as we did an inside passage tour with them a few years ago and loved it. I know the feelings here about independent vs cruisetour, but for this trip it has to be the tour. My question is regarding routes. I was looking at Southbound. One took us from Anchorage up to Denali to Fairbanks and then by motor coach to Beaver and to Whitehorse, then catching the cruise in Skagway. The other started in Fairbanks down to Denali and Anchorage and then cruised out of Seward. The first has more land and a short cruise. The second has 7 days cruising. I was thinking I would like more land this time as we did the 7 day cruise before but the first one sounds like it has a LOT of hours on buses. I'm thinking I'd rather be on the ship and be able to be active and get off for excursions.

 

Does anyone have any feedback on this. Is there something really excellent that makes it worth doing the longer land portion. We get the same amount of time in Denali with both. The longer land takes us to Kluane National park. The longer cruise takes us to the marine area near seward plus cruising in College Fiord (spelling?).

 

Thanks for any help, sue

[Budget Queen]

My opinion, the route from Fairbanks to Skagway isn't the most scenic, and these tours do have a lot of longs days on buses. I like flying to Dawson City, very interesting, but going via bus is a bit much for me. Overall go with the longest tour you can do, it gives more down time at destinations and more time for activities. HAL isn't at Kluane long enough or offers as an extensive touring that they could. There certainly can be additions so verify the current information.

 

 

If possible and you get to Seward, try for the longer Kenai fjords boat trip and think about opting out of any included Bay trip. Just significantly more scenery and wildlife opportunties.

 

You might want to research the specific Yukon areas and determine what offers the most interest compared to Interior Alaska. Make a list and sort out what works best for your priorites.