Frequently Asked Questions about cruisetours in the interior of Alaska
Highlights include Denali National Park + Anchorage and/or Fairbanks
FAQ’s:
What is a cruisetour?
Where will I visit on a cruisetour?
Where will I board the ship?
Can’t I just drive around Alaska in a rental car?
Can’t I just buy my own train ticket to Denali?
What’s included in the cruisetour price?
What’s not included in the cruisetour price?
What is a cruisetour?
A cruisetour is the land-based portion of a cruise vacation that is tacked onto the beginning or end of the cruise. Cruiselines offer Alaskan cruisetours for northbound or southbound itineraries (but not for roundtrip itineraries). Most cruisetours start or end in Vancouver. (Advice: Start at Five Tips to Choose an Alaskan Cruise Itinerary to decide if a cruisetour is an option for you.)
Cruisetours go into the interior of Alaska to Denali National Park or even north to Fairbanks.
Where will I visit on a cruisetour?
To me, the entire point of a cruisetour is to visit majestic Denali National Park. (More to come on what to do once you are there.)
Your chosen cruisetour itinerary will determine how much you see beyond Denali. And it also determines which airport you are flying to/from: Anchorage or Fairbanks.
Where will I board the ship?
Northbound cruisetours embark in Vancouver (cruise first, land second). (More to come on accommodations/sightseeing in Vancouver.)
Southbound cruisetours (land first, cruise second) embark in Seward (Holland America) or Whittier (Princess).
We haven’t sailed on Princess yet, so I can’t speak to Whittier. Please comment below if you can share some Whittier details.
I’ve seen little of Seward. So far it’s been a quick departure point for us to reach Kenai Fjords National Park (more to come on our excursion that was only semi-successful) or Denali National Park. I hope to spend more time in Seward on our return trip to Alaska, and the Alaska Sea Life Center is at the top of my list. If you’ve been there, please let me know what you enjoyed.
Passengers whose cruise ship docks at Seward can walk to town or motorcoach to the Alaska Railroad train depot.
Can’t I just drive around Alaska in a rental car? Or buy my own train ticket to Denali?
Sure you can! I investigated this post-cruise option for our 2016 trip. But when I priced it out (for my husband, me, and our adult niece and nephew), I couldn’t beat the cruiseline price. Not even close.
Cruisetours are a money-saving package deal of travel goodness.
That’s not to say – due to our love of Alaskan travel – that we won’t someday fly into Anchorage, rent a car, and roadtrip. But for the goals of that trip (namely for our niece and nephew to see Denali National Park and ride the Alaska Railroad within our alloted vacation days), the cruisetour was the best option.
I researched independent travel to Denali for hours. (Maybe you are a like-minded travel nerd – welcome to the tribe! – and researched an Alaskan roadtrip for actual days. Or even pulled off a roadtrip with limited funds and vacation days. If so, please comment below. You are “my people”.)
The takeaway from my research on independent land travel:
- getting to Denali – the national park can be reached by train or by rental car. But, as far as I could tell, you can’t return your rental car anywhere near Denali in hopes of riding the train from Denali to somewhere else. So you’d have to park it there until you return. Or forgo riding the train until after you return the rental car.
- riding the Alaska Railroad – to us, this is the most relaxing way to see interior Alaska. And there’s a bar! Independent travelers can buy train tickets directly from alaskarailroad.com. Some routes of interest:
- Coastal Classic – Anchorage to Seward (or vice versa)
- Denali Star – Anchorage to Fairbanks (or vice versa) with a stop near Denali National Park
- Glacier Discovery – to/from Anchorage with a stop in Whittier
- Ticket/ride options:
- Gold Star Service: glass-dome ceiling, full dining room for a sit-down meal, bar service, and narration by a tour guide – this is the train experience that is part of your cruisetour
- Adventure class: a money-saving option; picture windows, on-board cafe
- booking accommodations – independent travelers can attempt to book at the lodges run by Holland America or Princess, but they are often at/near capacity due to cruise passengers. Independent travelers not staying at the lodges could naturally investigate standard accommodations: hotels, B&B’s, cabins, etc. Cruisetours save you the research of where to stay and offer convenient hotel/lodge locations. And transportation to/from is included.
Glass-domed railcars owned by Holland America or Princess whisk you to/from the Denali train depot, which is just a short motorcoach ride from Denali National Park.
What’s included in the cruisetour price?
Most cruisetours bundle:
- hotel and lodge accommodations
- motorcoach transportation to/from your hotels, lodges, and cruise ship (with narration by your driver-guides)
- the Alaska Railroad (tickets, transportation to/from the depots, a private railcar for cruisetour passengers)
- And as an added bonus, some itineraries include excursions in Fairbanks.
What’s not included in the cruisetour price?
Food
If you’re accustomed to cruise travel like we are – with the bounty of all-inclusive food – the higher Alaskan meal prices can be jarring. I pack granola bars, protein bars, dried fruit, nuts, etc. to supplement expensive options.
On the Alaska Railroad, you pay separately for your lunch in the dining room, beverages, bar bill, etc. (You can opt not to dine in the dining room, but to me, that’s part of the fun – it harkens a by-gone era.)
Airport transfers
Most itineraries require you to purchase separately or arrange your own (taxi, etc.)
Tips
Oh, so many tips. Take lots of small bills.
Tip your driver-guides, shuttle drivers, tour guides, and Alaska Railroad bartenders, waitstaff, and narrators. The Alaska travel season is short, and most of these folks work hard to provide a positive experience. (Some of the folks I’d even call “delightful”!)
One year our bartender on the Alaska Railroad unfurled the state flag (with the help of his colleague) and launched into song. I love a spectacle. We tipped well.
Let’s make the most of our vacation days!