Alaska-Cruisetour

[twoifbyc]

We're taking a cruise southbound from Whittier to Vancouver on Princess in May. It will be my husband, his best friend, and his wife. The other couple have never cruised before, and they don't go on vacation unless we go with them. Anyway, this is our first trip to Alaska as well. With all of the resources on the internet, I've been able to book our independent travel to Denali from Anchorage, as well as our independent whale watching tour in Juneau.

We purchased the Northern Lights coupon book which gave us 2-for-1 travel on Alaska Railroads (www.akrr.com) for our Anchorage-Denali-Anchorage trip, as well as our Anchorage-Whittier train trip. (There is a coupon, I believe, for Anchorage to Seward.) We also took advantage of the lodging special with Denali Resorts (www.denaliparkresorts.com) to stay in the Grande Denali Lodge for two nights for the price of one. A lot of this "special pricing" is due to us being there so early in the season--- so it may not apply to your travel.

The point is, however, with a little bit of internet surfing, you can create your own "cruisetour" for way less than what you're paying through the ship... and not be in large groups going at someone else's pace.

Our private whale watching tour out of Juneau is on Harv&Marv's (www.harvandmarvs.com). Our excursion only holds 6 travelers, so at most, there will only be one other couple on board with us that we won't know. It cost about the same for the 4 of us as it would have had we booked it through Princess--- but the tour through Princess would have been on a much bigger boat, with probably 50 of our "closest" friends ;)

Here are some links that may help you in your planning:

Ketchikan

Ketchikan Webcam - http://www.earthcam.com/usa/alaska/ketchikan/

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/

http://www.ketchikanchamber.com/

http://www.ketchikan.com/

http://www.ketchikanonline.com/

http://www.city.ketchikan.ak.us/

Juneau

http://www.traveljuneau.com/

www.juneau.com

http://www.juneauempire.com/

http://www.juneaualaska.com/

Tours (Multiple Places)

http://alaska.org

http://www.graylinealaska.com/

http://www.majormarine.com

http://www.alaskatravel.com

http://www.alaskahiking.com/

http://www.alaskantoursandvacations.com

http://www.allenmarinetours.com/index.html

http://www.bestofalaskatravel.com/

http://www.temscoair.com/

http://www.alaskagalore.com/

http://www.mtsobek.com/alaska_Discovery/

http://www.theboatcompany.com/

http://www.alaskaadventures.com/

http://www.mightygreattrips.com/index.htm

http://www.goldbelttours.com

http://cyclealaska.com/

http://www.alaskaalpineadventures.com/

http://alaskaview.com/

Denali

http://reservedenali.com/

http://www.nps.gov/dena

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...-schedules.htm

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...and-hikes.html

http://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/home.htm

http://alaska.org/denali/hiking.htm

http://alaska.org/denali/mckinley-chalet.jsp

http://www.denaliparkresorts.com

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/gui.../overview.html

http://www.denali-cabins.com/

http://www.flyrusts.com/webcam.html

http://www.denalirivercabins.com/

http://www.mckinleycabins.com

Seward

http://www.kenaifjords.com/

http://www.seward.com

http://www.renowntours.com/

http://www.alaskasealife.org/

http://www.alaskasaltwaterlodge.com/

http://www.alaskadogsled.com/

http://vangilderhotel.com

http://www.breezeinn.com

Cheers,

Pam

[Countrylady]

Thanks for all the info. We already have the cruisetour booked. I tend to err on the consevative side. On earlier cruises people have missed the ship if they have problems on private tours. With one through the cruise co the ship waits. That being said I do appreciate all the web info. We are working up places in the ports to visit and those should be helpful. Thanks again and enjoy your trip!