Princess landtours? 2 part question!

Hi... am hoping to get some feedback on any of the landtours offered by Princess. My Mum (62) and I (39) are looking to cruise either NB or SB Vancouver/Whittier. We have looked at the landtour options and at the moment favour those involving Denali (and Kenai if we take a longer one) We are flying from the UK. What have your experiences been?

Alternatively, I%26#39;m struggling to persuade Mum that independent travel is another option! Can anyone offer the ';ultimate'; post that will allay her worries, which are: that it must be really difficult to organise, that she%26#39;ll be heaving heavy bags around(!) that only younger people are going DIY(!) how do the flights work out, will we still meet other people if we%26#39;re travelling in a car on our own...!

So...there%26#39;s a challenge!

One last thing...is using the train at any stage a good idea?

Huge thanks in advance!

allsaints

Princess landtours? 2 part question!

Hi there allsaints! Yes, I think it would be very easy to do your own land tour - really. Alaska is very simple/straightforward to get around in, other than you will have to drive on the rightside of the road, rather than the left! :) You could also do it by train or some portions with the train. I think the train is lovely, but it often costs more . . . and a little more time consuming. I find car travel easier - simply because you can go at your own pace, stop when you want to, etc. I would suggest a few days in Seward, a few days in Denali, a day in Anchorage and Fairbanks - and maybe additional time down on the Kenai or up on the Glenn Hwy if you are feeling a bit more adventurous - also depends on how much time you have allotted for the land portion.

Alaskans are very friendly - so it%26#39;s easy to meet people . . . heck, I end up chatting with people just doing something like eating ice cream. I enjoy talking with tourists - seeing what they are enjoying, etc. I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;d feel a bit lonely or lacking in the opportunity to meet people.

There are lots of different types of accommodations as well - hotels, B%26amp;B%26#39;s, cabins, etc. Just let us know what else you need, and we%26#39;ll be happy to help you with some suggestions, more details, etc. Happy planning! :)

Princess landtours? 2 part question!

If you are coming all the way from England you should add a week or two to your cruise......travel northbound on the cruise, take the train to Anchorage and book a hotel there (a few months in advance, very easy online and you and your luggage will be delivered to your hotel in Anchorage from the ship).......most rental car agencies will bring a car to you at downtown hotels..... when you are ready to leave Anchorage there are only two highways out of Anchorage.....northbound will take you to Denali and Fairbanks.....south will take you to Seward, Kenia and Homer.......Get yourself a map, look up different locations on-line to determine which areas you will want to spend time in and then make your reservations on-line......print off all confirmations along with phone numbers for each place and keep them handy for your trip........staying at B%26amp;B%26#39;s will provide you with plenty of companionship.....and if you are interested in staying at the Princess hotels....very classy and a little expensive......you can still book stays there independently not part of a land package.......as for schlepping the luggage you may be able to find one of those friendly Alaskans who will help you.....Happy Holidays !!

Hi, thanks for posts so far. Mombear...you mentioned being delivered from ship...is that because hotels will do a pick up service? do B%26amp;Bs do the same?

Am still lookingfor Uk tourists who may have suggestions on the flight arrangements too.

Cheers!

There was recently a post about flights from Europe that you might find interesting:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60826-i1068-k6813…

travel 100000- thanks for link, just got a few ideas.

Any more are welcome

Allsaints

Check with your cruise line to make sure, but when we did the cruise it included a train ride from the ship%26#39;s final destination (Whittier) into downtown Anchorage.....the luggage was delivered there, too.....we did not have to make separate arrangements......

when we arrived at the train depot in downtown Anchorage we claimed up our luggage and called the hotel, which came to get us.......many of the hotels/motels have courtesy transportation which is really helpful until you can get a rental car......the courtesy vans are free, but it%26#39;s always a good idea to tip the driver especially if he is helping you with your bags......

Hi All saints,

I am also planning a trip next year from the Uk to Alaska where we will be hiring a car. I have done one group trip before to Churchill Canada to see the polar bears, apart from a fantastic trip I soon found groups are not my cup of tea and I should stick to independent travel. I have done this many times around the USA- absolutely the best way. Driving is the USA is very easy just stick to their rules (you have much more space than you do in the UK) and just make sure you stop at stop lines. For car hire I have always used fastcarhire.co.uk from the UK and they have always been very competitive and offered a good service.

This forum is excellent for getting ideas and advise as well as the web sites which you get directed to eg the milepost, alaska.com, travel alaska.com to name a few. The individual town chamber of commerce web sites are good too. Also look at Frommers guide. Everyone I have contacted so far in Alaska to book our trip have been so helpful. Tom at the alaskan leopard B%26amp;B (who we have booked with) also runs a travel planning service which has had good reviews on this forum but I have not used it.

In terms of flying from the UK look at airline network, STA travel ( just choose the icon adult over 26) and cheapflights.co.uk. You will see that a number of flights have you changing planes in Atlanta, Denver etc which we are avoiding as its more than a bit out the way and one heck of a trip!)

Strong contenders for us are the British Airways option via Seattle. ( Seats are currently on sale upto April 07). We are considering booking separate tickets for our flight Seattle to Anchorage but with a 1 night stay in Seattle. For the flight Seattle to Anchorage we are looking at Alaskan airlines as they seem to have the best prices on line. The timings are good so that you do not have to take too much extra time of work. This is a riskier option in case something happens on your first flight.

Also check out Zoom airlines a low cost canadian airline who operate from Gatwick. They also use Stansted airport where I work and have a pretty good reputation with us and staff at Gatwick, you can get to Vancouver with them. Their seats are on sale now for next summer. Virgin also offer good deals to San Francisco and Los Angeles where you can get connecting flights from. Again wait for the prices to come down a bit.

For booking the whole flights to Alaska the cheapest I saw this year was £542.00, at the moment flights are in the £800-£900 range so we are waiting until Oct and maybe even the new year sales but we are booking our accomodation and trips in Alaska now.

Other good routes for UK people which are not too out of the way are via Minneapolis (sp?) with Northwest, or via Chicago or Vancouver or San francisco or Los Angeles. Some you get 1 stop some 2 mostly at Seattle. Look at United airlines, american and delta, personally Continental airlines are not a big favourite of mine based on previous experince but the other american carriers are.

Hope this helps, if you find any other good options it would be great if you can post these.

p.s sorry this is so long!

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