Alaska Interior Excursions

[mworkman]

Okay here's our Itinerary for our trip.  I noticed that it states several times that your Adventure Specialist can recommend excursions.  When or where do you find a list of these excursions? The land based excursions just to clear that up.

 

CRUISE ITINERARY

There are a few changes to this sail date's itinerary. We hope you're as excited as we are about this in your updated vacation plan.

• Day 1 (Departure) Vancouver, British Columbia (Set Sail)
• Day 2 Inside Passage (Cruising), Canada
• Day 3 Ketchikan, Alaska
• Day 4 Icy Strait Point, Alaska
• Day 5 Juneau, Alaska
• Day 6 Skagway, Alaska
• Day 7 Hubbard Glacier (Cruising), Alaska
• Return Seward, Alaska (Return)
• Day 8 Seward, Alaska / Anchorage, Alaska Travel by luxury motor coach on the scenic Seward Highway to Anchorage. Discover indigenous traditions from around the state on your guided visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. From 4:00 p.m., your time in Anchorage is your own. Visit the Anchorage Museum, which brings together history, art and science, or take a glacier flightseeing tour before exploring the big city by the light of the evening sun. Overnight at the Anchorage Marriott.
• Day 9 Anchorage, Alaska / Talkeetna, Alaska Relax and take in the views from the Wilderness Express on the morning rail journey to Talkeetna. From 11:00 a.m., the funky village Talkeetna is yours to discover. Your Adventure Specialist can recommend an optional outdoor excursion that still leaves plenty of time to hang out with the locals in the historic downtown. Overnight at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge.
• Day 10 Talkeetna, Alaska / Denali, Alaska Today features another journey by train, which offers the best views of the rivers, gulches and other landscapes on the way to Denali. From 4:00 p.m., Denali is yours to explore. Take to the skies on a flightseeing tour for unrivaled views of the mountain and wilderness. Or enjoy the thrills of the rapids on a rafting excursion. Overnight at Denali Park Village.
• Day 11 Denali, Alaska You’ll go deep into the park on the lone road on the Tundra Wilderness Tour for the best chances of seeing wildlife. After your tour, your time in Denali is your own. There are biking and hiking trails that begin right near the park entrance. Overnight at Denali Park Village.
• Day 12 Denali, Alaska / Fairbanks, Alaska Enjoy a free morning in Denali before boarding the Wilderness Express for the rail journey north to Alaska’s Golden Heart City. From 8:30 p.m., Fairbanks is yours to explore. Enjoy a stroll along the riverfront in the evening sunlight. Overnight at Sophie’s Station Suites.
• Day 13 Fairbanks, Alaska Explore local history and heritage on a full day that features a city highlights tour, a visit to the acclaimed Museum of the North, and a cruise down the Chena River in a vintage sternwheeler. From 5:30 p.m., your time is your own. Enjoy an optional visit to a traditional salmon bake and watch a theater performance that tells the story of the gold rush through musical comedy. Overnight at Sophie’s Station Suites.
• Day 14 Fairbanks, Alaska 

  Your Adventure Specialist will ensure you transfer to the airport on time (included).

  *All Alaska Cruisetour arrival times are tentative. The tour component of your escorted Cruisetour vacation is comprised of included experiences, lodging and transportation as described, with itineraries subject to change. Optional excursions are not included. Meals are not included unless specified as an inclusion. All properties are subject to change for properties of a similar quality.

[AshleyDillo]

You will get the excursions list/guide on the land portion of the cruise.  They will have the list of what's available and descriptions and you sign up for them with your "specialist" who are basically your tour guide that does the land tour with you.  All of the "optional" things mentioned in each daily description are considered excursions too.  It's completely different from booking excursions on the cruise..you don't really get to book them in advance or really have enough time to research. 

[AshleyDillo]

If you have ANY questions, feel free to let me know.  @CGTLH and I did the nearly exact opposite itinerary in 2014..same hotels, etc.  so we can answer lots of little questions you might have.

Not sure we have the excursion guide still..I know I don't..but he might have it somewhere.

[CGTLH]

2 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Not sure we have the excursion guide still..I know I don't..but he might have it somewhere.

Here ya go...

https://www.mjcwebdesign.com/photos/index.php?/category/114

[mworkman]

@AshleyDillo @CGTLH Thanks, that's great info to know prior to the cruise... much appreciated.

[AshleyDillo]

In Denali we did the Husky Homestead Tour and the Rafting Float.  Talkeetna was the Jetboat Adventure (can't remember if we did the Devil's Canyon one or the shorter one) and my father did the Fixed Wing Flightseeing McKinley Flyer with Glacier Landing.  I enjoyed all of the excursions that we did, although the rafting in Denali was very, very cold.  My favorite was the Husky Homestead Tour (cuz puppies!) but I enjoyed the included Chena riverboat tour in Fairbanks a lot...and the Jetboat Adventure was a lot more fun than I had even expected.  I know my dad loved the rafting trip and the flightseeing and walking on the glacier that he did..pretty good for 72 years old.

Some little tidbits that are helpful to know ahead of time:

In Fairbanks you will be staying at Sophie Station which has a kitchenette.  It's right next to a Safeway (grocery store) and an easy walk to Fred Meyers (Walmart on steroids).  They will have a shuttle from the hotel that takes you to the Fred Meyers and to downtown Fairbanks.  

The Denali hotel has a restaurant on site but they also have a shuttle to the strip with restaurants and the shops.  The hotel is at the top of a windy road, so not the easiest thing to walk if you want to leave the hotel in your free time, so take advantage of the shuttle.

The included Denali park tour is on a school style bus.  It does include a box lunch but you may want to pick up additional snacks.

The Talkeetna hotel has a shuttle into town.  This was my favorite hotel on the land tour as it was like being in a beautiful lodge and there are huge picture windows that face McKinley.

Even with taking the optional excursions you should have enough downtime to get into the towns and explore the local offerings.

They have you put your luggage outside of your rooms in the morning and they take it to the bus.  The bus stays with you for the entire trip -- your driver will move the bus to the next stop when you are on the train.  

The train car will have the seating upstairs with the dining car below.  Not everyone can eat at once, so they will take parties down to eat in small batches.  The food is a tad pricey but was really good for being on a train.. and they had reindeer sausage!  They will also have a bartender in the upstairs seating area.  The train did have outlets at all the seats for charging devices.  Everything is paid using credit cards on the train.  

The Denali tour is really the only time that a meal (box lunch)  is included for the entire landtour.  This is where it differs greatly from the cruise portion.

It's always my favorite trip to relive over and over again

 

[mworkman]

I'm looking forward to this trip most of all, i was stationed in Fairbank (Ft. Wainwright) in the late eighties and haven't been back. I'm sure it has changed a great bit since then.  We are staying 5 days afterward, so we can venture out and see more in this area.  Our plan is to take another cruise to Alaska and stay afterward in Anchorage, so we can also venture out and see the sights in the southern parts.  Thanks @AshleyDillo & @CGTLH every bit of information helps, no matter how small it is.