Which Alaska Land/Cruise Package. See sample 2014 cruise line comparison. See August 2014 customized package. Or wait and buy what other folks don't want

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 2^nd 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 1^st 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.   

2.       In comparing the above Premier Customized Land Package to Royal Caribbean’s Tour 6B on August 10, 2014:  http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itinerary.do?packageCode=RD12B406&sailDate=1140815&state=NA 

“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 2^nd 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”.