Cruise best way to do Alaska?

[RoxMonster]

I've read a lot of threads on here about cruising to Alaska and looked into some myself. Is this the best way to see Alaska?

It makes me nervous because we have never cruised before, and H and I like doing things off-the-beaten path and not being surrounded by people 24/7. I hate going on tours with 100 other people and feeling crowded/touristy.

But on the other hand, cruising makes it seem easy to get everywhere and see everything, so maybe it's worth it, rather than flying into Alaska and trying to arrange trips to different cities.

Does anyone have an opinion one way or the other? If you have cruised to Alaska (or anywhere, really), were you able to get away from the crowds when you were in the ports of call and do things by yourself? Does it seem really loud and crowded on the cruise ship? Which cruise lines have you used to go to Alaska that you recommend?

TIA! Right now it is very preliminary planning for either July 2014 or 2015.

[gtkim]

I wouldn't do just a cruise. I'd do a cruise coupled with some type of land tour.  While the ports are great, the interior portion is amazing.

We cruised Alaska last summer on the Sapphire Princess and absolutely loved it. We flew into Fairbanks and spent a couple of days there, then went to Denali National Park, then cruised from Whittier (Anchorage) down to Vancouver.  Whatever you choose, Glacier Bay is an absolute must see and not all cruise lines go there.  Princess does, and I'm pretty sure NCL and Holland America do as well, but I'm not sure about the others.

You can easily arrange excursions on your own and do not have to do the cattle call of the cruise lines.  Cruise critic is an amazing resource.  You can search by cruise line, by ship and/or by ports of call for information.  We arranged all of our tours on our own.  As an example, in Juneau we went whale watching with a company called Harv & Marv's.  The cost was the same as doing a similar tour through the cruise line, but we had 8 people on our boat as opposed to 100 with the cruise line. 

Alaska is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  DH was skeptical and he loved it too.

[caddywompus]

We flew into Anchorage and rented a car. Definitely the best way to go, 'cuz you can see whatever you want, and you're on your own schedule. We stayed @ Aleyeska down in Girdwood, and drove somewhere different everyday (Homer, Whittier- took 26 Glacier Cruise, Exit Glacier, Seward, took a small flight up around the peaks of Denali, etc) The Kenai Peninsula is gorgeous.
Alaska is very beautiful, and I recommend getting "into" it as far as possible, and not just seeing it from the coast.

[Susie]

We did a cruise in Alaska on Holland America.  We did excursions in each of the ports in small groups.  There were 4-5 people in our ice climbing excursion to Mendenhall Glacier, and in Ketchikan a group of 4 of us chartered a boat ourselves to go fishing.  In Skagway we did a mountain bike tour as a slightly bigger group, but it was very manageable.

If I could do it again, I think the cruise was a great way to go, but I'd do a one way cruise instead of round trip, and I'd do some time in Denali on the north end.  We didn't have the days off to do it when we went.

ETA:  I agree w/ pp's re: Glacier Bay.

[monpetitchou]

We did a week on land and a week on a cruise, and while we loved it all, if we ever go back we will skip the cruise. We flew into Anchorage and rented a car. Drove up to the Denali area and spent several days there camping in the park. Even if you aren't into camping it is still so worth it to go see the park for at least a day. Then we drove down to Seward for several days - took a kayaking trip, went deap sea fishing, it was awesome. As for getting around on our own, it was no big deal really. We had booked a sightseeing flight out of Talkeetna that was cancelled due to weather, but since we had our own car and our own itinerary we were able to drive back and try again the next day with better weather.

[jaime183]

we went to Alaska this summer on our own and it was great but I can see the benefits of a cruise too

we found everything in Alaska to be very touristy (especially Denali) so it wasnt what we expected.

[sunshinedaydreams]

I feel like I should put a disclaimer here that I am decidedly not a cruiser.  I hate crowds and being forced to a tight schedule.  That said... No, no, no way would I do a cruise to AK. There is so much to do and see that isn't accessible by cruise ships. The ports are such small towns they're completely overrun with people when the ships are in. And there's never just one ship into port; it's like 5-6 at a time.

Depending on how much time you have, you can do everything yourself and avoid the crowds. We did 3 weeks on our own and did Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Yukon Territory, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Anchorage, Denali and the Kenai Peninsula (Girdwood, Homer, Soldotna and Seward). No way would we have seen even half of that on a cruise.

If I had to pick, I would fly into Anchorage, take the train up to Denali and back (you can sight see the whole way, don't have to worry about moose, they have cars with panoramic/overhead windows), then rent a car and go down the Kenai Peninsula. You have to see Homer. It's amazing. You can get a similar experience to Glacier Bay by taking a trip to Kenai Fjords out of Seward, too, so you still get the glacier experience without "wasting" time in the SE.  IMO, Glacier Bay was amazing but there wasn't much else to see in the SE that we didn't see somewhere else.

Take a look at the Alaska Tour Saver. I used it to plan our trip and saved a ton of money on buy-one-get-one flights, train rides, hotel nights, tours, fishing charters, etc., etc.

[RoxMonster]

Thanks for the replies. I am thinking we might prefer planning our own trip. I would love to see Denali and I'd love being able to take our time and do things on our own schedule. The only downside is that we only have a week because of H's vacation time, so we might have to limit it to just a few places.

[RoxMonster]

Dec 18, 2013 19:17:03 GMT -5 sunshinedaydreams said:

I feel like I should put a disclaimer here that I am decidedly not a cruiser.  I hate crowds and being forced to a tight schedule.  That said... No, no, no way would I do a cruise to AK. There is so much to do and see that isn't accessible by cruise ships. The ports are such small towns they're completely overrun with people when the ships are in. And there's never just one ship into port; it's like 5-6 at a time.

Depending on how much time you have, you can do everything yourself and avoid the crowds. We did 3 weeks on our own and did Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Yukon Territory, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Anchorage, Denali and the Kenai Peninsula (Girdwood, Homer, Soldotna and Seward). No way would we have seen even half of that on a cruise.

If I had to pick, I would fly into Anchorage, take the train up to Denali and back (you can sight see the whole way, don't have to worry about moose, they have cars with panoramic/overhead windows), then rent a car and go down the Kenai Peninsula. You have to see Homer. It's amazing. You can get a similar experience to Glacier Bay by taking a trip to Kenai Fjords out of Seward, too, so you still get the glacier experience without "wasting" time in the SE.  IMO, Glacier Bay was amazing but there wasn't much else to see in the SE that we didn't see somewhere else.

Take a look at the Alaska Tour Saver. I used it to plan our trip and saved a ton of money on buy-one-get-one flights, train rides, hotel nights, tours, fishing charters, etc., etc.

Thanks for all this info and for the website. It is very overwhelming to try to figure out where we want to go since I know next to nothing about AK except that I've always wanted to go there. Would you skip places like Juneau, Ketchikan, etc. that the cruise companies go to, or are some worthwhile?

[mam677]

Have you looked at the Alaska Marine Highway? www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/sample_itineraries.shtml

It's one way seeing a lot of Alaska, but you can also customize your travel a little more. Also, I would not skip Juneau. I used to live there and it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. 

[Vespasia]

We're in the exact same boat (no pun intended). We're not cruise people but it seems like the easiest way to see Alaska. It's very high on DH's travel wish list and I'd put it off because I felt lost. This thread has been immensely helpful!

[monpetitchou]

If I was ok with not doing the cruise (which I would be) then I would absolutely skip Juneau and Ketchikan. They were great, but especially if you only have a week, I just loved Denali, Seward, etc more. sunshinedaydreams had great advice.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Dec 18, 2013 21:08:44 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

Dec 18, 2013 19:17:03 GMT -5 sunshinedaydreams said:

I feel like I should put a disclaimer here that I am decidedly not a cruiser.  I hate crowds and being forced to a tight schedule.  That said... No, no, no way would I do a cruise to AK. There is so much to do and see that isn't accessible by cruise ships. The ports are such small towns they're completely overrun with people when the ships are in. And there's never just one ship into port; it's like 5-6 at a time.

Depending on how much time you have, you can do everything yourself and avoid the crowds. We did 3 weeks on our own and did Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Yukon Territory, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Anchorage, Denali and the Kenai Peninsula (Girdwood, Homer, Soldotna and Seward). No way would we have seen even half of that on a cruise.

If I had to pick, I would fly into Anchorage, take the train up to Denali and back (you can sight see the whole way, don't have to worry about moose, they have cars with panoramic/overhead windows), then rent a car and go down the Kenai Peninsula. You have to see Homer. It's amazing. You can get a similar experience to Glacier Bay by taking a trip to Kenai Fjords out of Seward, too, so you still get the glacier experience without "wasting" time in the SE.  IMO, Glacier Bay was amazing but there wasn't much else to see in the SE that we didn't see somewhere else.

Take a look at the Alaska Tour Saver. I used it to plan our trip and saved a ton of money on buy-one-get-one flights, train rides, hotel nights, tours, fishing charters, etc., etc.

Thanks for all this info and for the website. It is very overwhelming to try to figure out where we want to go since I know next to nothing about AK except that I've always wanted to go there. Would you skip places like Juneau, Ketchikan, etc. that the cruise companies go to, or are some worthwhile?

Yeah, I think I would skip Juneau and those places.  We did Juneau, Glacier Bay and Skagway in the SE and they were neat, but not nearly as stunningly amazing as Denali and the Kenai Peninsula, IMO.  It was rainy and overcast the entire time we were there and most places were totally overrun with cruise shippers anyway.

When you say you only have a week, does that mean weekends on either side, too?  So you could potentially get 9 days instead of 7?

For 7 days, I would suggest:

Day 1 - Fly into Anchorage, explore the city, maybe go to Thunderbird Falls or Eklutna Lake for a short hike, depending on what time you get in.

Day 2 - Train up to Denali.  It's an 8 hour ride, but really scenic and relaxing.

Day 3 - Take a bus tour into Denali.  If you can go to Wonder Lake, absolutely do it.  Not sure how adventurous you are, but we backcountry camped out there and it was amazing!  If you go from entrance of the park all the way in and back out, this will likely be a 12 hour day, but about the only way to see the whole park in a short amount of time.

Day 4 - Train back to Anchorage.  Get a rental car and drive down to Seward.

Day 5 - Kenai Fjords tour

Day 6 - Drive down to Homer.  Go all the way to the end of the spit.  You'll feel like you're at the end of the world with just enormous mountains in front of you.  You can do fishing charters, kayaking, bear viewing excursions, etc., etc. out of here.

Day 7 - Back to Anchorage and fly home.

If you have extra days, I'd probably spend one more in Denali and maybe one in Girdwood at Alyeska.

ETA:  Oops, I meant spend an extra day in Denali, not Anchorage.

[RoxMonster]

Thanks for the itinerary! That is awesome and exactly the kind of help I needed.

H gets a work week off. So we would probably do Sat-Sat so we had Sunday to unwind and get ready for work again. Your timeline would work great for that.

[sunshinedaydreams]

No problem. You're going to love it! If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help.

[2boys2danes]

We did what I would call "interior AK" this summer and would like to cruise maybe in 2015 to see it by boat. We flew into Fairbanks for a day or so then headed by air to Prudhoe Bay and spent one night up there. Then we took a van down the whole "haul road" to Fairbanks, then to Anchorage, then Denali for a few days then flew back out of Fairbanks. It was an absolute blast and best family vacation. I'm still recovering from the cost of it... with teenage boys and H everything was x4 which can add up quickly. Have fun!

[sillygoosegirl]

I've heard mixed reviews of the Alaska cruises from non-cruiser friends/family. Another option people I know talk about is the Alaska Ferry where you pitch your tent on the deck and camp out. I haven't been to Alaska at all, but you can Google the Alaska Ferry for information. I know people who have done it and said it was a great budget option.

[jaime183]

Dec 19, 2013 19:53:21 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

Thanks for the itinerary! That is awesome and exactly the kind of help I needed.

H gets a work week off. So we would probably do Sat-Sat so we had Sunday to unwind and get ready for work again. Your timeline would work great for that.

that itinerary sounds great! We flew into Fairbanks and then went down to Denali then to anchorage then to the Kenai Fjord/Seward area and back to Anchorage...
I wouldn't recommend going to Fairbanks... it's really far for a lot of nothing. It really started our trip off poorly.
The bad thing about Denali is you basically get one shot to go see Mt McKinley... if it's fogged in that day, you miss it. You get to see other cool stuff in the park (wildlife) but I was bummed we couldn't see McKinley. The next day it was clear but we had already done our 12 hour day on the bus and didn't have another full day there.
I loved Kenai Fjords area! Definitely do one of the boat tours into the national park.

[curlygirlygirl]

I've cruised Alaska a couple times and think it's a great way to see a large part of Alaska. I really enjoyed Ketchikan - lots of bald eagles, totem pole blight state park, creek street, etc. One way we were able to get away from the annoying people on the ship was to rent a car from Avis in Skagway and I downloaded Murphy's Guide and we drove into the Klondike together. There were lots of tours that went that way but we loved that it was just the two of us, it was gorgeous, and we could take the time where we wanted to (and skip the touristy stops along the way)!