Which Alaska package is the “big all time question” ? When cruisers call me asking for a price,
this is my question to them, and when I call the cruise line, this is the
question that is asked of me …“Which package?”.
If you have never looked at an Alaska Cruise Tour package, know
that, it may not be as there are All-Inclusive Resorts around the World, but
there’s LOTS to choose from !
So, how does one narrow it down ?
First, determine if you must have a certain cruise line
? If yes, that actually narrow down your
options a lot ! If not, the first
question is, are you ready for a 6 Star Cruise Line, such as Regent, where
drinks, shore excursions, gratuities are all included ? However, with them, you will need to apply a
separate land package.
If not 6 star, then 3-5 star. Are you looking for something nice ? What
about the King, Holland America, or the Queen, Princess, of Alaska. This is how these lines were referred as,
years back. Royal Caribbean and
Celebrity get great reviews too. And the
great thing about narrowing it down to RCI or Celebrity, the tours are the
same, so that narrows it down !
Norwegian just decide to enter the land market, so I am not as familiar
with their product. And I hear, Carnival
is coming back with land in 2014 (?).
So if you have all these cruise lines to look at, that’s a
LOT, as I said earlier ! You can’t just
call an agent or the cruise line, even if calling all of them, and say, how
much is an Alaska Cruise Tour package !
When I first got into this business, I did this to Princess, and I
thought the res agent was going to fall on the floor laughing.
In honesty, it’s like calling a car dealer and saying, how
much are your cars ! He needs to know,
what kind of tires do you want, can it be used or must it be new, will one on
our lot work or do you want us to order you a special color … On and on ! Like car choices, Alaska Cruise Tours can be narrowed
down, but not without many questions answered.
And even then, the tours have to be waded through !
If I had my preference, my first choice would still be to
look at the cruise portion first, then look at their choice in tours. It use to be that I could start off with
asking, do you want 2 glaciers (Holland America and Princess) and 3 ports, or
do you want one glacier (RCI & Celebrity) and 4 ports, but now, the cruise
lines do not always follow this way of thought.
Either HA or Princess will leave out one of the glaciers or
RCI/Celebrity leaves out a port ! You
have to be careful of this, and I’m serious, when it comes to RCI/Celebrity (I’m
not going if the cruise leaves out Ketchikan or Juneau).
So if the cruise line of choice is up in the air, and you
aren’t leaning towards how many glaciers or ports, then every cruise line has
to be looked at ! So next start with,
how many nights can you be away ?
Sometimes folks say, what about 10 nights ? I would probably look at RCI/Celebrity, but
maybe the others have good opportunities too (changes from year to year). Too often, 10 days means you fly into
Fairbanks, take the rail to Denali, do the Park, then a night in Anchorage and
fly home. You see nothing but Denali
Park. In my opinion, if this is all you
get out of the deal, bypass Fairbanks and do a package only from Anchorage to
Denali !
If you only have 10N’s, the best wish of an option (I haven’t
looked at 2014), would be if Princess offered 2N’s Fairbanks and one night
Denali. Or if you have 11N’s, and
Princess offers a 2nd night in Denali. Cause if you can get by without having to
stay a night in Anchorage, this can narrow down your number of needed days.
But if you want a night in Mt McKinley with Princess or a
night in Telkeetna with RCI/Celebrity, or a night in Anchorage, then you need
more time. 10 or 11N’s is not going to
do it.
You ask, do I need more time ?
For me, I am not going to Fairbanks if I don’t at least get to
ride on the Sternwheeler and see the Gold Dredge. And I don’t usually choose a tour package
that only has one (or, I make sure to come in a day earlier and get the other
one in). So to do these tours, you need
to be in Fairbanks 2N’s (The 1st night, you arrive between 3pm-1am
and the next day you do the tours) !
With no personal desire to do any hiking, I can actually live
with one day in Denali. However,
depending on the time you arrive to Denali will determine the National Park tour
that you can fit in. Though I do not
personally have to take the longest tour, Kantishna (12-13 hours - which is not
available through the cruise line), I don’t really want less than the Tundra
Tour (6-8 hours). The Natural History
Tour (3-4 hours) is usually what is offered with most cruise line packages,
however, select cruise lines like Princess and HA will often allow you to
upgrade for $60pp (2013 rates). However,
due to the times arriving to Denali, there may not be enough time there, for
the upgrade to be available.
Vacationers have to decide for themselves, their reasoning
for wanting at least 2N’s in Denali:
1.
More options for going into the National
Park.
2.
Enough time to purchase the Cabin Night
Show. I really don’t care to go to Denali
and not get to see this show !
3.
Hiking or walking, option plane or helicopter
over Mt McKinley (other optional tours available), or just some extra time to enjoy
nature.
As far as whether you want to include a night in Anchorage
is again, choice. I love flying into
Anchorage because of the powdered looking snow cap mountains. Anchorage
has mountains all around it, with the area being flat. It’s neat to see all the float planes, near
the airport, parked on the lake. And there’s
shopping (Market) and lots of places to eat.
Just passing through is enough for me, and for many folks, as long as
they get to see it or touch the ground, it’s enough too. There’s more adventures just outside of
Anchorage. However, sometimes you have
to stay in Anchorage a night, and then begin your options the next day;
Princess Cruise Line often just passes through or stops for lunch.
Another way of determining which cruise line or tour
package, is if you would like to stay a night close to Mt McKinley (Princess)
or Telkeenta (RCI/Celebrity) or even Alyeska; there are other options. Staying in these locations give you even more
back to nature feeling. You can look
these locations up on the “net” to see if this is something you want to
include.
Know that, you can go to Alaska and see the land, without
ever having to buy a package. There are
folks who rent cars. Know, that car
rentals usually charge extra fees to pick up and drop off at different
locations. Another options is just
buying the rail from Alaska Railroad (Remember, you want to have the “dome car”
option). Understandably, your biggest
expense, besides the railroad is the hotel cost. A package from Anchorage to Denali and then
back to meeting the ship is fairly do-able, however, when you start including
Fairbanks and select hotels in Denali, the cost can often add up more when
doing this on your own (I’ve tried to piece it together, on my own, for groups;
your biggest problem is transportation, if you don’t have a car, to tours like
Sternwheeler or to dinner, etc).
Remember, when you do comparisons, you can “not” compare a
Northbound package against a Southbound package, because the Southbound package
is naturally more (unless you book early).
Vacationers prefer to get the longer flight over first and have the
relaxation of a cruise after the land, therefore supply and demand draws the
price in being higher for a Southbound cruise !
Here’s 3, 2014 Tour Southbound
Package comparisons:
1.
One of my Top Cruiser Group Leaders asked for a “customized
package”. One that included “land tour and
meal extras” that most folks buy after getting there. It’s a 12N package beginning August 10, 2014
(5N’s on land through Premier Alaska and 7N cruise on Radiance of the Seas,
Royal Caribbean).
Let’s look at the “Land
Extras” first (2N’s Fairbanks, 2N’s Denali and 1N Anchorage):
Fairbanks, transfers from airport to Hotel – included
Fairbanks, Salmon Bake – included
http://www.akvisit.com/salmon.html
Fairbanks, Palace Theater – included
http://www.akvisit.com/palace.html
Denali - Grande Denali Lodge – upgrade to this hotel
included
http://www.denalialaska.com/grande-denali-lodge/
Denali – Katishna all day Denali Park tour & buffet
lunch – included (this package is not available with any cruise line package) http://alaskatravel.com/denali-park/kantishna-bus-tour.html
Denali – Denali Dinner Theater (Cabin Night) – watch video –
included
http://www.denaliparkresorts.com/alsakan-cabin-nite-dinner-theatre.aspx
Seward Highway - Alaska Wildlife Conservative Center –
included
http://www.alaskawildlife.org/
Seward Highway – Portage Glacier Cruise – see video –
included
http://portageglaciercruises.com/tours.cfm
Drop off at the Ship
And the cruise
portion, Royal Caribbean Radiance
1 Seward (Anchorage), Alaska --- 8:00 p.m.
2 Cruise Hubbard Glacier 2:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m.
3 Juneau, Alaska 9:00 a.m. 9:00 p.m.
4 Skagway, Alaska 7:00 a.m. 8:30 p.m.
5 Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska 7:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.
6 Ketchikan, Alaska 9:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
7 Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska --- ---
8 Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia 7:00 a.m. ---
Please note, “times in
port” are very important to me. The
times on the Royal Caribbean Radiance is very good ! Give you plenty of time to take tours and
then shop/walk around the town ! The
cruise also gives you Hubbard Glacier, with 4 ports of call.
“If” I could add the
extra land tours and meals and replace their motor coach with our Gold Rail
Service (I only have 2013 supplier rates to go by), with the discount the group
has already earned for the number of folks who have book, Premier Alaska
customized package is still about $15 higher for Cat K inside; $126 higher
for E1 balcony (note, lower
categories are available for purchase at lower rates). Look >>> Premier Alaska customized
package advantages: The Grand Denali Lodge in Denali is guaranteed
and is “not” with RCI; the package is a private tour; the package includes $ 50
onboard credit on the ship & with RCI this is not available; and the group
has an opportunity to lower their rate another $ 90 pp if 10 more couples go;
and the RCI cruise has a longer time in Juneau, which I like (My choice is for
time in Juneau to go up on the tram for some dungeness crab and the views at
the restaurant). In looking at RCI’s total package: I might be willing to wait and pay for the
extras once there, and I am in favor of the night in Seward and their glacier
cruise; however, I would lose my 2nd night in Denali so the full day
Katishna Park Tour in Denali is not an option (at least RCI’s package includes
the Tundra Tour); and understand that I may have to settle for another hotel
other than Grand Denali Lodge; Princess does offer 2 good glaciers on the
cruise. It’s all in what’s more
important to you. For me, Premier Alaska Tour wins and as a guest
sailing, I would push at getting 10 more couples to get the price lowered even
more !
3. In comparing the above Premier Customized
Land package to Princes Cruises, Tour GB5 on August 11, 2014 on the Coral.
http://www.princess.com/find/itineraryLightbox.do?voyageCode=2423&tourCode=T4AGB5&itinCode=AWG0704AGB5&resType=T
“If” I could add the
extra land tours and meals and replace their motor coach with our Gold Rail
Service (I only have 2013 supplier rates to go by), with the discount the group
has already earned for the number of folks who have book, Premier Alaska
customized package is about equal for Princess
IB inside cabins, however, the balcony BB is $122 pp more (remember, on
either ship, you can purchase a lower category for a lower rate). Look >>> Premier Alaska customized package advantages: (listed
above with RCI example) to include that Princess Cruise Tour is “not” escorted;
Princess package offers no rail – I don’t like that at all ! In looking at Princess total package: I do
love Denali Princess Lodge, however, it’s not high up on a mountain like the
Grand Denali Lodge; Princess package offers the opportunity to stay at Mt
McKinley if you like the “wilderness feeling” – great for walking, hiking (some
say it’s like camping but in a hotel).
Again, it’s all in what is more important to you. Since
Princess won’t allow you to deter from this package so you can buy the rail, I
would rather forfeit the chance at staying at Mt McKinley (actually, I’m
not a hiker nor care to walk in the woods, nor a per-say, a wilderness type person,
so I would be more concerned of getting bored; however, I understand for $10 pp
(?) you can take a motor coach ride to Telkeenta city and shop) and would still stick with Premier Alaska
package !
There you have it. You literally have think about what you would
like to do, even if you have never been there.
You can either do some studying on your own, or take some of my
suggestions above. Remember, there are
shorter package in Alaska and even longer packages.
Also know, the only way you can take advantage of
a Premier Alaska package is you either have to have your own group with a
minimum of 10 couples or you have to join a group that already exist. Which is easier, getting your own group, or
riding on someone else’s, that has already the work for you ?
Remember, by September prior to the next year,
most folks have already committed to their 2014 Alaska. When looking at the Radiance of the Seas on
August 10, 2014, I see that one deck is already totally sold out. There’s nothing wrong with waiting till
January or February 2014, to see which Alaska Cruise/Tour will go on sale, such
as with Princess or Holland America. Remember,
unless the cruise line is offering an across the board sale in a destination, if
the sale only offers specified dates and ships, these are the ones “not selling”. Instead of “You choosing what You want”, you are basically
choosing from what “other folks don’t want”.
