Help Me Plan Alaska May 2007 Please

[GMoney]

Hi - I know I will have a chunk of time off from work in May 2007, so I am trying to organize an Alaska cruise and am strongly considering Princess. From reading past posts on the AK and Princess boards, I've been able to learn a few tips (thanks to all those who posted on AK, especially BudgetQueen!). Here is some brief background on the trip:

 

+ We will be cruising (most likely on the Diamond) the 2nd week in May and land-touring the 3rd week in May.

 

+ We will be doing the landtour post cruise - not my first choice, but it's the most practical way to go given the fact that we are in AK early in the season and will be arriving in the area by cruiseship from NYC.

 

+ The goal of the landtour is to view scenary / wildlife and be active (hiking). I want to minimize touristy things.

 

+ Based on CC recommendations, I am trying to book the longest cruisetour possible, focusing on Denali, with more train than bus, with the Tundra Wilderness tour over the Natural History Tour.

 

I am still wondering about and looking for advice on the following from AK experts:

 

+ Is May too early in the season? I checked, and Denali appears to be open, but I want to make sure we aren't excluded from anything really great because we are going in May.

 

+ I like to hike and I'm hoping I can work that in on my own. How far can you actually stray from the organized land tour? Is it possible / practical to do your own activities? Any suggestions on how to maximize the "nature" part of the landtour (as opposed to touristy kinds of things)?

 

+ Is there any appreciable difference between ending in the tour in Fairbanks v. Anchorage (other than the price of return airfare home)?

 

+ Is it possible to add independent days on to the length of the landtour?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[mii]

Hi Gmoney: I went over to the Alaska board to see if you posted these questions. I just bet that if you posted this thread over there maybe more people who are familar with Alaska can help as you said Budget Queen who is a pro over there especially in the Cruisetours. I have been to Alaska but cannot help you with cruisetours but have been on the Sapphire(sister to Diamond) so if there is any questions there I may be able to help you. I also have been in Alaska but at the end of May first part of June and I found the weather to be really nice; 50-60's, sometimes sprinkles.. it is what you expect in Alaska.

 

Marilyn

[rebeccalouise]

Hi - I know I will have a chunk of time off from work in May 2007, so I am trying to organize an Alaska cruise and am strongly considering Princess. From reading past posts on the AK and Princess boards, I've been able to learn a few tips (thanks to all those who posted on AK, especially BudgetQueen!). Here is some brief background on the trip:

 

+ We will be cruising (most likely on the Diamond) the 2nd week in May and land-touring the 3rd week in May.

 

+ We will be doing the landtour post cruise - not my first choice, but it's the most practical way to go given the fact that we are in AK early in the season and will be arriving in the area by cruiseship from NYC.

 

+ The goal of the landtour is to view scenary / wildlife and be active (hiking). I want to minimize touristy things.

 

+ Based on CC recommendations, I am trying to book the longest cruisetour possible, focusing on Denali, with more train than bus, with the Tundra Wilderness tour over the Natural History Tour.

 

I am still wondering about and looking for advice on the following from AK experts:

 

+ Is May too early in the season? I checked, and Denali appears to be open, but I want to make sure we aren't excluded from anything really great because we are going in May.

 

+ I like to hike and I'm hoping I can work that in on my own. How far can you actually stray from the organized land tour? Is it possible / practical to do your own activities? Any suggestions on how to maximize the "nature" part of the landtour (as opposed to touristy kinds of things)?

 

+ Is there any appreciable difference between ending in the tour in Fairbanks v. Anchorage (other than the price of return airfare home)?

 

+ Is it possible to add independent days on to the length of the landtour?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

I did the post-cruise tour of Alaska and the Princess train was the best part. The packages are going to be really "touristy" and you will not have much in the way of free time to yourself. Late to bed, bags in the hall by 6AM, etc. Fairbanks is far superior to Anchorage in my view. I've been in May, June and July and and I would suggest early June. We saw the most whales and sea otters then and the weather is warmer. Denali was a big disaapointment for us because we didn't see very many animals. The best part to be honest- was the cruise and for the money, I don't think that the land portion was that great.

[NAS-KARR]

IMHO get urself a brochure and study all the itineraries and look for what appeals to YOU.

Get on the web sites of AK newspapers and read em.

Send for or buy travel disc's on AK.

Look up weather history and pick what appeals.

Anytime of the year PLAN TO DRESS IN LAYERS.

TAKE UR LAND TOUR FIRST SO U CAN REST DURING UR CRUISE HOME,U'LL NEED TO.

Like was mentioned...GO TO THE AK BOARD.

Check with the Park Rangers ALWAYS......u Just cannot wander off and hike on your own like u would at ur local park back home. YOU'RE TALK'N WILD NATURE AND "THE LAST FRONTIER" HERE.

 

The Alaskan cruise/tour is worth EVERY SINGLE CENT SPENT, u'll want to schedule another cruise/tour....just watch !

 

Do alot of research on ur own...we found ahead of time...a guide with a float plane(in Juneau) and chartered him to take us to an island inhabited by Grizzly,Dear,Bald Eagles and Salmon streams O N L Y. Man..we'll never-ever forget that.

 

GOOD LUCK and

 

Ciao,

[RickSue]

Just be VERY careful wandering off hiking by yourself. You really should have someone along with a gun in case some grizzly bear gets hungry. My husband's friend was killed and partially eaten by a bear in the late 80s. (not on a cruise tour) Anyway, be careful about that. Have a wonderful time and do a lot of research before you go.

[suron]

GMONEY

 

We did an Alaskan cruise RT Seattle on Dawn Princess in May this year and it was wonderful. Prior to the cruise we took a Rockies Land Tour (also organised by Princess). Having travelled so far from the UK we thought it only sensible to combine the two.

 

I believe I am right in that with Princess it is possible to take a Rockies Land Tour (there are lots of options here, some of which include the Rocky Mountaineer Train), then take a cruise up to Anchorage and follow this with a Land Tour in that area. OK if you have a lot of time free for a long holiday.

 

If you are interested I have posted reviews of both the Rockies Land Tour and the cruise and these can be found via the following links

 

Rockies Tour

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=360451

 

Cruise on Dawn Princess

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=19049

 

Having linked up with others on the CC we exchanged information with someone who took the Rocky Mountaineer on the Rockies Land Tour and she has posted a review of her trip on the Princess board (under the name of Margord - her trip was on 1st July for the Rockies and 8th July on the cruise). This will give you another point of view on this option.

 

A member of our Roll Call (Babyblue) has also posted a review which can be found in the Members Review section for Dawn Princess sailings.

 

Good Luck with the plans. You will have a great trip to this part of the world and we definitely intend to return some day to see all that we could not fit in this time around.

 

Suron in Bristol, England

 

P.S. Meant to say that May is the most favoured time to travel as you get the beauty of the glaciers then. We were very lucky with the weather - only one day of rain and that lasted just on a couple of hours. You need to dress in layers as it can get chilly in the mountain areas.

[Whaleofatime]

Hi

we had a wonderful trip in late May early June - on the rainy day in Ketchikan we went snorkelling so the rain didn't matter - fabulous fun! Followed by a floatplane to Misty Fiords (not raining there).

In Juneau we whale watched - our passion! and walked in the woods around Mendenhall Glacier.

In Skagway we did some sea kayaking from Haines - you've gotta meet Pizza Joe!

Glacier bay took my breath away (drizzly but not foggy)

College Fiord wonderful sunny day and loads of sea otters balancing their young on their bellies -

We would have loved to add on the Denali land tour so definitely one for next time.

Our next cruise is to catch those Humpbacks back in Hawaii in March 07 - can't wait!

 

If anyone goes to Alaska and isn't moved bythe experience they must have no soul - I WOULD GO AGAIN ANY TIME OF THE YEAR.

[mrsbojamp]

We went to Alaska in July, so I can't comment on how May would be, but as for the land portion - I disagree with a previous poster. You CAN have much time to yourself, IF you do not schedule the excursions through Princess. Once you are on the train after the cruise, you are given an excursion booklet from which you can choose whatever excursions you are interested in from the lodges. So, if you wanted to do soemthing on your own, or schedule with a private company, that could easily be accomplished. I do agree that unless you are very experienced you should be with a guide. We did the long tour in Denali and it was fabulous. We did see hikers along the way, but there is no way you could cover the amount of ground we did on a bus in 8 hours if you were walking. We did see quite a few bears, from the safety of the bus - I would not have wanted to be outside! One disappointment we had was that Denali was NEVER visible. I knew that it was possible that we would not see it, but I did not find out until we got to McKinley Lodge that it is only visible 20% of the time. If I recall correctly, I believe you will have a better chance of seeing it earlier in the season.

[Chat Noir]

Late May, early June is a wonderful time to travel Alaska.

However, as I'm sure you've already read, anything before June 1st will not get you as far into Denali National Park as you might like. Our family discovered that we prefer other destinations in Alaska over DNP, and one time on an 8 hour shuttle-bus ride was enough for us. However, I have no regrets about going.:)

I would love to travel over Hatcher Pass as I understand it's simply fabulous, but it's not open early in the tourist season, either. It was open to Independence Mine State Park on the east side (a great place to visit, by the way) and the views were wonderful. The park has a few nice trails around it, but the buildings aren't open until early June. Still very worthwhile to visit. Exit Glacier near Seward also has some nice hiking trails. Perhaps you'd be interested in this website~ http://www.akhs.atfreeweb.com/

Since you wish to go out on your own some, I do wonder why you'd choose a cruisetour? Why not rent an RV and go where you'd like to go?

Last year we rented a car for a couple of days pre-cruise and realized that wasn't near enough time. This year we rented an RV for 8 nights post-cruise, went where we wanted, saw what we wanted, and in the timeframe we wanted. By the time all was said and done, I don't believe it was any more costly (probably less) than cruisetour costs would've been. I'm not knocking cruisetours for anyone who enjoys them, and DH thinks it may be the way for us in the future, but if you'd really like to venture out on your own...

You have plenty of time to plan a great independent tour of Alaska.:) And don't forget the TourSaver!