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Old 10-19-2017, 10:38 PM   #21
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Do the cruise and the land tour that they offer either before or after the cruise. You will see the highlights, but that's all you would be able to see in a 2-week period, anyway.

That will give you an idea of where/what you want to see/do when you have the time after you retire.

We did it for our 25th anniversary and it was absolutely great. We did 17 days and only saw the highlights. Our plan is to return, but we don't know when that will be.
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Old 10-19-2017, 11:41 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by Steveanddianne View Post
We are planning on taking our first trip in retirement to Alaska, I googled for information and there’s a planning book on amazon. I’m not sure what is the best way to plan the trip. We will be traveling from the east coast and assume the 2-3 months would be what we would plan for. Looking for the best way to plan the trip. And suggestions on routes.

Thanks


When we took our trip, we planned our stays and made a great many reservations on our extended trip, mostly because we did not know what to expect. We found that was a mistake. We realized that we probably never have any problem finding vacancies in campgrounds anywhere, and if we did, there were numerous places to boondock. One thing you may want to consider is the Caravans. We obtained their schedules and plotted wher they would be and when on a calendar and then made our plans to avoid them.
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Old 10-20-2017, 06:55 AM   #23
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First, let me start by saying I lived in The Great Land for 10 years. I LOVED IT!

I have been back twice, for 2 weeks each time. We looked at renting a motorhome but with the cost of the rental, plus the camping fees, it was cheaper to simply rent a van and stay in hotels, cabins, etc.
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Old 10-20-2017, 12:13 PM   #24
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My sister in law is planning to take the Alaska trip next summer. She bought her first RV for the trip and saved a lot by buying a used Super CClick image for larger version

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Old 10-20-2017, 01:17 PM   #25
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Several years ago we cruised up to AK (Princess Cruise Van Couverture BC to Whittier) took the train into Anchorage and rented a car for two weeks. We stayed in Bed and Breakfasts in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali area, Homer, Kenai River, Motel in Valdez. Wouldnt' do it any other way for a week cruise and two weeks driving.
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Old 10-20-2017, 04:45 PM   #26
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I have also done Alaska both ways. I did a cruise tour the first time which was a 7 day cruise with 4 day on land. The cruise will give you a different look at Alaska . The four days on land is just to rushed to enjoy. You ride the train from Anchorage to Denali than one or two in Denali which is not enough time to see much. You Then spend most of a day on the train from Denali to Fairbanks and then one or two nights in Fairbanks. You decide the amount of nights in Denali and Fairbanks but neither choice is enough time to enjoy. You spend most of your time going from Lodge to train to Lodge and the next Lodge. The excursions the cruise line gives you to choose from are overpriced. We rented a 31ft. Motorhome from Great Alaskan Holidays for a 17 day trip of Alaska two years ago. This is the only way I would ever do Alaska again. I had never driven anything that large before but it wasn't a big challenge. We were there the first two weeks in June and the only place we had trouble was finding a camping site at the city campground in Seward. All that being said for 5 or 6 days I would focus on maybe just one area like around Denali and around Anchorage. You can easily spend three days in Denali alone. You will not find camping anymore of a hassle than any other camping trip. You can't boondock in the city of Anchorage but there are a couple of nice campgrounds. No camping at Wal Mart or anywhere else do to a city ordinance.
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Old 10-29-2017, 10:43 AM   #27
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Alaska

I did a similar trip a couple years ago, but in Aug. RV vs car/hotel optimum depends on what you want to do.

Flew to Anchorage and first week was car rental and hotels as we went to McCarthy in Wrangell St Elias and down to Valdez and back. Can't get to McCarthy in a big RV very easily, if at all.

Second week was an RV rental. Main reason for the RV rental was to camp in Denali past where you can drive a car. You are allowed to stop and photograph/animal watch along the way. Cars limited to maybe 11 mi, and campground is around 25 miles. Also, you need reservations for the bus to go further than the campground(and past 11 mi if you have a car). Denali visitor center is around 60 miles. That's a long way on the old school buses. Denali is only visible on about 1/3 of days and clouds up early. We used the bus all three days we camped to give us best chance of seeing the mtn. We also went down to Seward in the RV for a boat trip, stopped at Portage and road the train and visited some other common tourist places. Generally did not have a problem with parking the vehicle, but planned ahead and arrived early for diner, etc.

Did a one way cruise out of Whittier to Seattle. I think that was the only 1-way at the time that went by one of the famous glaciers. We dropped off the RVs and the RV folks took us to downtown Anchorage. There the cruise line took us by bus to Whittier. We started the trip with rental cars so never had to use a taxi.

Hope that helps.

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Old 10-29-2017, 06:20 PM   #28
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As others said depends on time. I am sure the rv rental can be expensive but the freedom it allows is worth it to me. We went to my wife's sons place last year in Eagle River AK and spent 10 days there. We were very fortunate as he had a Thor class C that we used at will and we did our own trips all over the Kenai Peninsula. We did drive to Fairbanks as well and got some great shots of Denali although we didn't go in the park. My wife used to live there as well and that helped with the itenerary. I preferred the kenai and we would boodock or stop in parks to stay. Fred Meyers's stores ( similar to super Walmart) have dump stations available for free and allow overnighters.i was able to stop and fish the rivers and we hiked some( she was afraid of bears). Put 1500 miles on his rig and caught 4 of 5 salmon species as well as bought home 50# of halibut.
We had fun and made great memories. It also was the final straw for us buying our own class C this year. Hope you enjoy your trip
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Old 10-30-2017, 02:37 PM   #29
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Lived in Alaska for 6 wonderful years, and went on business trips to many parts of the state during our time.

Which is better is really dependent on your tourist style.

You will get a better overview of the consensus Alaska highlights doing a Princess land tour. You ride a comfortable bus, and you have a somewhat knowledgeable guide to point out highlights to you. But you don't have time for a deep dive into any one place or topic, and you don't get to meet the locals. If you are going to drive yourself (car or RV) you need a copy of the Milepost. And read about the places and roads you anticipate visiting before you go.

Renting a car and staying in hotels is only practical along the Alcan, between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and on the Kenai Peninsula. Everywhere else will be rather risky as to whether you will find suitable accommodations when you want to stop. Even then, facilities (gas, food, rooms) are spread a lot further apart than lower 48 folks are used to, may not be up to your standards, and may be quite costly.

Renting an RV - heed other poster's notes about getting one in good condition. Probably half of the RVs in Alaska are there because they weren't in good enough shape to make the return trip. But the RV will give the greatest independence and flexibility, and allow the deepest dive into Alaska. Just be prepared to have to miss many of your planned attractions due to time, weather, distractions, etc. The greatest thing about the RV is you can stop for the night just about anywhere you want if you are in an isolated area - just pull off the side and camp.

We drove from Kodiak Alaska to Oakland, CA tent camping and hotels for 5 weeks. It was an amazing family adventure (kids were 5 and 3). We had minor problems - a transmission seal on our Ford Explorer (repaired in Dawson City, YT) and our aluminum skiff boat trailer lost tread on a tire and a hub cap (repaired at campground in Northern BC). Mosquitoes were a huge issue in Triangle Lakes, Tok, and Laird Hot Springs (YT).

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Old 10-30-2017, 07:52 PM   #30
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We just spent 2 months in Alaska in our RV. Drove 1 month across US from CT and one month back. In perspective our 32 foot RV is very comfortable. Behind our class C we tow a car. But this is too big a footprint for many of the parks. If i could do it again, i would go class B.
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Old 10-30-2017, 07:56 PM   #31
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Old 10-31-2017, 01:42 PM   #32
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I will state once again I have done Alaska both ways. A motorhome tour yourself is the best way to see Alaska. You will need a minimum of three weeks. I also recommend using Milepost to navigate it is invaluable. The cruise is great but the land portion not so much. It is to hurried to enjoy anything. I would say the cruise and land tour is your best option if you are pressed for time. I will also suggest you do the land portion before the cruise portion. You will be able to recover from all the rushing of the land tour while enjoying the cruise.
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Old 10-31-2017, 01:53 PM   #33
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You know everyone says to use the Milepost and I had 16 and 17 I never looked at them once the whole time I was in Alaska or Canada
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Old 10-31-2017, 01:59 PM   #34
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Old 10-31-2017, 02:01 PM   #35
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Everything up there is expensive. The cruise is the cheapest part of your trip. The distances between civilization can be very far, depending where you plan to travel. You will enjoy the scenery. For a short timeline I would just do the overland with the cruise people. They have it all figured out. Holland America does a good job. They get you to the major points of interest within the time you have.
Gotta agree with the Holland Cruise line package. We took the two week #5 cruise/bus/rail tour and were impressed and completely satisfied. Holland had every detail covered, including the travel, hotel and even meals. All we had to do was sit back and enjoy the view and keep the camera handy. I’d actually go so far as to say it was awesome!
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