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Since you put this in the cruise travel section I will give you what I give to cruise travelers, and then a little more. I have been to Alaska twice, once on a two week business trip and spent two weekends sightseeing, and then again on a cruise ship.
The best time to go there on a cruise is when you can get the best price. The Alaska cruise season is from May to Sept. The weather is generally warmer in June, July and Aug, but it can also be pleasant in May and Sept. When we went a few years ago by cruise ship in May it was shirt sleeve weather (70's) in Anchorage and Fairbanks. The odd thing was, it was cooler further south in Juneau and Skegway than it was up north. It is generally rainy and cloudy in Ketchkan, Juneau and Skegway. It will be cold, like coat, hat and gloves weather, when you get close to the Glaciers. Otherwise they would melt. When you pack, think layering of your clothes. A couple long sleeve shirts/tops, a sweater/sweatshirt, a light jacket, maybe with a hood.
The best prices will be in May and Sept but you will see the same things as other times. The port stops will be the same but may be in a different order. Some cruises ship itineraries are run in reverse order, North to South vs starting in Seattle or Vancouver. Check the cruise line web sites for variations by date, itinerary and price.
The best Alaska cruise experience is the CRUISE-TOUR. Princess, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean all run cruise tours which take you by train all the way to Fairbanks, Alaska. Princess and RC have special domed train cars for this. If you are driving up to Alaska I am pretty sure that you can take the same train, but not in the special coaches. Your best chance to see wild animals will be if you do a cruise-tour where you go further north after cruising the inside passage. The only animals you are likely to see in the inside passage is seals. On these tours You can arrange to stop for a night or two in Taketna, or Denali National Park. This will be your best opportunity to see Moose, Caribou, eagle, wolf, and bear. But you really need two days at Denali so that you have time to get one of the Park Service's buses that go deep into the park. Regular tour buses , cars and campers can only go about 3 or 4 miles into the park. The Park Service runs buses about 17 miles into the park, but you must get to the visitor center very early to reserve a spot on one of their buses. The train stops going north and south do not get you to Denali in time or allow enough time for the deep back country buses. With Princess, Holland America, and RC you can do the tour part first and then go to Seward or Whittier to get on ship for the inside passage part. I recommend doing the tour part first.
Alaska cruises and tours are mostly scenic and cultural. The usual stops for the inside passage portion are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and College Fjords. The scenic parts are the animals, mountains, glaciers, fjords, and waterfalls. The cultural parts are the Alaska Native, gold rush, fishing industry, and historical sites.
When I went to Alaska on Business I was in Anchorage for most of the time and I got a rental car and drove north to Denali on one day and the drove south on another day. You can see one of the Portage glaciers just south of Anchorage, about half an hour's drive. There were also moose and Dal sheep along the highway there too. When I went I took an all day tour from Anchorage that went by bus to the train depot south of Anchorage where the bus drove up onto a train car and we then went through a mountain tunnel to the Port of Whittier. Its only reachable by train and yes you can go by car also. Or the other way to get to Whittier is by boat. The excursion continued with a small cruise boat ride across Prince William Sound to a glacier and then on to the port of Valdez where th Alaska oil pipeline terminates.
I am sure that this tour or a similar one is still available if you just search online. Many of the scenic places to see in Alaska you cannot drive to; you must take a tour. Some things that you can do on your own would be visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. Go to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. Go to the Totem Poles park in Ketchkan. When you go to Denali you can drive just a few miles into the park and must take a park bus if you want to go see more of the park. |
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