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Just booked Alaska northbound - what to do post-cruise


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We just booked our second Alaska cruise. We went in 2018 and did the southbound Radiance. We're doing Radiance northbound  (5/15-5/22/20) this time. We get into Seward on Friday and flying from Anchorage the following Monday. We have 3 nights to either do RC post-cruise or travel on our own. While I would love to do Denali, it is not at the top of my wife's list. Any suggestions for must-do's in or withing a few hours drive of ANC?

We did the RC train from Anchorage to Seward last time (as opposed to the normal train). Is the normal train narrated like the RC train? Is there more than one cruise train from Seward to ANC? We will probably want to check out Seward before hopping on the train.

All suggestions appreciated!!

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It is too bad that Denali is not an option.  We did it about 4 years ago and it was the highlight of the trip.  We made the trip 'kinda by mistake.

We wanted to book Vancouver to Seward and then southbound back to Vancouver.  The Royal Caribbean Booking Agent convinced us out of the return trip.  She said, "I am from Alaska.  If you are going that far, you need to go to Denali.  Do yourself a favour and sail northward, but take your own land tour to Denali and fly back from Anchorage".  Best advice I have received from any travel professional.  I think we had a little bit more time (than 3 nights), so you might have an issue getting all the way Denali and back (I think we had more than 5 days).

However, one option that might work (you need to do your own research).  There is a town north of Anchorage called Talkeetna.  They have phenomenal views of Denali and they are still about a day south of Denali (I think it took part of day to get there from Anchorage).  There is also a little coffee shop in town that plays Beatles Music every Sunday morning.  We went there for a coffee and ended up spending most of the morning.  Simple, relaxing, timeless fun on a sleepy Sunday morning in Talkeetna, Alaska.  Who knows if it is open.  Still that moment is frozen in time for us.

Other than that we just had fun walking around Anchorage for a day.  

 

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There may be a charter train through Royal and the regular train anyone can book from Seward to Anchorage.

One thing I've though about doing is just riding the trains around in Alaska.  Depending on routes and availability find a hotel when needed. 

You can also rent a car in Seward and drive to Anchorage taking your time and then exploring the Anchorage area by car.

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Thanks to both of you. Denali is not out of the question - I'm holding out hope!

We did spend 1.5 days in Anchorage last year pre-sail so not expecting to spend much time there. We are also "drivers". I do Philadelphia to Charleston, SC or Columbia, SC a few times a year. 

@twangster The plan was to take the train from Seward to ANC airport if there is a train later in the afternoon - like the train that brings cruisers to the port in for the Friday southbound departure - and then rent the car at ANC. We have a 1:50 AM (morning) flight on Monday.

Another option might be to do one of the RC Excursions in Seward to Kenai Fords that includes transfer to Anchorage airport. Pick up car there. Stay in Anchorage Friday night. Get up early Saturday and drive to Denali and stay up there Saturday night and then make our way back to Anchorage by midnight Sunday night for flight home.

Also emailed Alaska RR to check on their packages.

So many options....

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I 2nd Curt's suggestions about getting up to Denali and, failing that, at least getting to Talkeetna.  The view of Denali from Talkeetna is spectacular...if the sky is clear, which only happens about 33% of the days.

Talkeetna also has an airport with several companies offering flight seeing tours of the area.  We did one last time where the plane landed on a glacier near Denali and we were able to get out on it and take pictures and have a snowball fight.

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@KJ1231 We're doing the same cruise in June of 2020, and we're on the east coast of US as well. Not to hi jack the thread, but what are your plans for getting to Vancouver?  I'm considering Cathay Pacific from JFK.

We're planning on getting to Vancouver with a couple of days of pre-cruise activity. I want to see that steam powered clock. We haven't even thought about post-cruise activity yet...

 

Edited by markinct
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1 hour ago, markinct said:

@KJ1231 We're doing the same cruise in June of 2020, and we're on the east coast of US as well. Not to hi jack the thread, but what are your plans for getting to Vancouver?  I'm considering Cathay Pacific from JFK.

We're planning on getting to Vancouver with a couple of days of pre-cruise activity. I want to see that steam powered clock. We haven't even thought about post-cruise activity yet...

 

No problem - love sharing info.

We're in Philly so American is the main airline here now. Cheapest from here was Air Canada/United at $635. I have AA credit card and points so get free bags with them. AA was $100 more per person but when I consider bag fees and points I chose to go with AA. We are flying out on Sunday (5 days early) and plan to stay in Vancouver the first night and pick up car next day at cruise port (they aren't open on Sunday). We'll then head for Victoria Island (Monday night), Whidbey Island (Tuesday night and went there in 2018) and Seattle (Wednesday night - hope there's a Mariners game!) before heading back to Vancouver (Thursday night) for cruise.

Post-cruise I am looking at either taking the 6 PM train from Seward-Anchorage and then doing a 1 night excursion to Denali with Alaska Railroad from Anchorage. OR doing one of the excursions in Seward that include transfer to Anchorage airport. Then renting a car for Saturday and Sunday and heading towards Denali Saturday and back late Sunday for 2:00 AM flight Monday morning.

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We just finished this cruise and stayed in Seward an extra day at the Harbor 360 hotel, lovely. We booked our own excursions and our own hotel. We booked helicopter dog sledding (a must with our kids) through Seward Helicopter Tours. Very fun and if you aren’t into the dog sledding, their helicopter tours alone would be beautiful. The scenery around Seward was unbelievable.

On our second day we booked our own Kenai excursion through Seward Ocean excursions. (4 kids in tow we needed a little more flexibility) We had a great experience. We saw orca, humpback, seals, sea lions, and got up close to a calving Glacier, fantastic!! Since it was private, we got to choose what our priorities were which meant hanging with the Orcas a little while longer.

We took the 6pm train on Sunday from Seward to Anchorage in a golden dome car. It was narrated and beautiful!! We booked it ourselves by calling the number on the Alaska train website. It connected us to Alaska Tour and travel who were very helpful. They actually booked the hotel for us too. 800-208-0200.  The hotel even sent our luggage over to the train station for us, which was really helpful since we were heading out on our excursion for most of the day.  In our downtime, we walked around downtown Seward and visited the Sea Life center. Seward was a great little town. Definitely worth staying the extra day.  

We didn’t have much time in Anchorage, but we did go to a fun little market that is there on weekend mornings with local artisans. Very nice. Have a great trip!

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17 hours ago, KJ1231 said:

We did the RC train from Anchorage to Seward last time (as opposed to the normal train). Is the normal train narrated like the RC train? Is there more than one cruise train from Seward to ANC? We will probably want to check out Seward before hopping on the train.

Check for train schedules with the Alaska railroad..we did the Anchorage to Seward stretch in the morning before the cruise independent from the cruise line.  We didn't do the gold class dome car for this portion but they did narrate a lot of the trip and provided a lot of commentary on what we were seeing out of the window.

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Just came off a Northbound on the Radiance. We did a post tour through Royal, which was okay for the tour in general, but had a few highlights.

If you are looking to view Mt Denali, would highly suggest Talkeetna! We stayed at Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge and had an amazing view of Denali, which we saw in full at night and the next morning. When we went to Denali National Park, never got to see Mt. Denali.  The town of Talkeetna is very cool and unique with plenty of dining, shopping and tour options!

If you like animals I would suggest Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which is between Anchorage and Seward. You can walk around and see Bear, Moose, Elk, fox, wolf, deer, and others. If you make it up by Denali, we did the Husky Homestead Sled dog tour (Owned by Jeff King), and it was probably by favorite tour. You could hold and pet the puppies and the information they gave about the dogs, their training, and sled dog racing was amazing!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well we found a 6-hour tour with Seward Ocean Excursions so will be looking to get the 6:00 PM train to Anchorage. Will RC take care of getting luggage to the train for us? Or will we have to figure out another plan. We'll stay in Anchorage Friday night and Talkeetna Saturday night. Thanks for all the help!!

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