We did Alaska 3 years ago and the best deal was thru HAL. You just need to shop around and compare t

We (multigenerational group) are planning a late July cruise to Alaska. From all that I have read/learned on this forum, it seemed that it would be ideal to add a land portion to the cruise since for many of us this will likely be our only trip to this part of the world.
The best "deal" I have found is just under $3,000 per person for a balcony cabin on the Coral Princess. The four day land portion of the cruise will include Fairbanks (river omni hotel philadelphia tour/gold mine), Denali omni hotel philadelphia Park, natural history tour and a train ride.
I can see balcony cabins on the Coral Princess sailing on 7/31 (Vancouver Whittier) for $1700 + $160 taxes per person, so call it $1860 for the cruise. If it's $3K per person counting the land portion, then that's $1140 pp for four days, or almost $300 per day per person, higher than the daily rate on the cruise itself.
Depending on the size and makeup of your group, you can almost certainly rent cars and pay for hotels on your own much cheaper than that, and make up your own itinerary to suit yourselves. Four days from Whittier that include both Fairbanks and Denali means you're sitting on buses or a train for hours - days - on end.
With just four days I would never include Fairbanks; with all due respect to the locals, it's too far and not enough to do/see there to warrant that much time being allocated, especially when in the same four days you could stick around the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound and see a lot more than you will from some bus or car windows. Or get a car in Whittier, drive the first day to Talkeetna, take a flightseeing trip of Denali the next day, then drive back to Anchorage and visit the Native Heritage Center or some such.
I'm not sure you can do this much cheaper omni hotel philadelphia unless you make your own arrangements. I know that working out the logistics can be daunting, which is one reason why these add-ons cost so much. Did you price a Holland America cruise? omni hotel philadelphia They operate and own the scenic rail cars, so you might get a bit more with a HAL excursion than you would from Princess. But it might be a bit more expensive.
We're a group of nine so the logistics are a bit daunting. Any suggestions for small tour operators? Also, my thinking is that it is better to take a pre-cruise tour so that the last part of our trip can be restful. What are the reasons people might have for taking a post-cruise tour. Those do seem to be running cheaper.
With a group of nine, frankly I'd look at splitting yourselves into two groups, or even three, renting cars at Anchorage airport, and touring on your own for a bit. Use cell phones to communicate from car to car (or even cheap walkie-talkies). Of course you'd need several hotel rooms per night, and need to agree on an itinerary that makes sense, but it's certainly doable. Alaska's a big place, but there aren't that many roads, so getting lost isn't much of a risk. With cars you could have the flexibility to stay at smaller places, stop when you want rather than being at the whim of the tour operator, change thing around if the weather turns lousy, and all that. Frankly I think you'd see more.
I do like the idea of a re-cruise tor as well. But is hard to tour Alaska, omni hotel philadelphia and I don't know if I ave any more ideas than you've already received. There must be local tour operators who can accommodate a group like yours with a van. I'd re-post in the US forum and post about Alaska. But I too would want to see Denali, and its just really expensive to go there. Keep that in mind.
Car rental in Alaska is expensive and you need to book now if you want one. With a party of 9, that would be 2 vehicles minimum. One thing that people has not considerd is how expensive everything is. Food - very expensive compare to the lower 48. Here is an example: you pay double the price for Milk when compre to the lower 48. Restaurant meals are expensive, even fast food.
Let's use Florida (an inexpensive destination) as comparison of ship vs land. 1 week Caribbean cruise omni hotel philadelphia cost $900 pp with balcony, including meals and entertainment. We spent a week in Florida pre-cruise with a hotel at Hollywood beach. Food (not as grand as the ship), omni hotel philadelphia accomodation and zero entertainment for the week cost $1200+ pp.
Considering the distance travelled and what they provided, the rates is reasonable. You can save maybe $100 per person, or maybe more, but with the logistics, and a group of 9, you are better off pay the moeny and get it done and over with.
Here is a suggestion to save money: not everyone needs a balcony cabin. Have a couple of balcony cabins omni hotel philadelphia and the rest in inside cabins across the hall or nearby. Or, book a suite and put 3 or 4 people in it and the rest in inside cabins. Everyone can gather and use the one balcony at the suite. omni hotel philadelphia Look at the various potential combinations and see what makes the most sense.
Here you select the cruise you want and agents compete to offer you the best deal. Because the agencies tend to focus on sailings where they have an advantage (eg., group space) you cdan save pretty significantly.
You don't want to skip Glacier Bay National Park. That would be the "must" if you have never crusie Alaska. There are plenty of opportunity for Glacier viewing, some close (College Fjord) and some from afar. Round trip from Vancouver rather than Seattle or SF.
For balcony cabins, pick port side as you will have day light hours on the way back, vieiwng Glacier and Mounatin ranges afar from your cabin. You can always go to an open deck if you don't have a balcony.
I have used Cruise Compete several times getting the best deals and perks thru them. We just went on a transatlantic cruise that I booked thru the Cruise Compete omni hotel philadelphia agency that I selected. The perks on this particular cruise were unbelievable. I was pleased w/ the agency also, my emails promptly answered, omni hotel philadelphia etc.
We did Alaska 3 years ago and the best deal was thru HAL. You just need to shop around and compare the itinerary. We only had a 2 day pre-cruise land tour and I would not recommend that to anyone. We simply didn't have enough time and felt rushed to get to the next destination. We did enjoy taking the train to Denali as it was a fun trip doing this, we got to see lots of the Alaskan landscape.
I booked our flights separately and got decent prices doing it this way. When I was comparing cruise lines I did find that Princess was more expensive and that is why we booked HAL. I liked the ship size (1200 passengers) and we were able to get in close to glaciers, etc. However, I think that you can find some deals on Princess if you shop around. omni hotel philadelphia I agree that $3,000 is expensive and think you can do better.
Denali - our very favorite part of the trip. We stayed 2 nights at lodging that was near the Princess hotels, we loved it. We had cute little cabins w/ separate bedroom and living area. We could walk or take the shuttle to the main lodge where we had dinner one night.
The only thing that I was very adamant about was not doing the Natural History tour that is included in the package. I did a lot of reading and everyone said that you won't see much if you do this tour. It only goes about 15 miles into Denali then turns around. omni hotel philadelphia This was correct, when we reached that point on our tour I was so glad we didn't do the Natural omni hotel philadelphia History tour. Here is a description of the tour that I found on www.Alaska.org :
"The Denali Natural History Tour may not travel as far as some other tours do into Denali National Park but in some ways, it goes deeper, giving you a vivid look at the history and culture of this pristine omni hotel philadelphia wilderness. If you don t need a full-day tour, but want an enriching experience, this is a great choice.
The 4- to 5-hour tour, led by a driver/naturalist, takes you to Mile 19 of the Park Road (private cars can t go past Mile 14). It begins at the Wilderness Access Center, where you ll see the award-winning film Across Time and Tundra, omni hotel philadelphia which tells of the creation of Mt. McKinley National Park in 1924. Next, you ll climb Government Hill look off to your left and you'll see an expansive view that includes part of the Yanert Valley.
After Mile 3, you begin to enter the wilderness. This is taiga forest and although no wildlife viewings are ever guaranteed omni hotel philadelphia this is prime moose habitat, and moose may be seen anywhere on this stretch of road. Watch for a flash of sun glinting off antlers, or moose nibbling fresh willow leaves along the road.
You might also see foxes on this section of road, trotting along with a jaw filled with dead ground squirrel. Watch for caribou above treeline. The Great one Mt. McKinley omni hotel philadelphia often comes into view at about Mile 9, if weather is cooperating.
At Mile 12, you ll visit Savage Cabin, the original cook s cabin in the Park s first tourist camp, and still a ranger patrol cabin used by the Park Service. At Mile 17, you ll see a presentation by an Athabascan Alaskan Native interpreter, omni hotel philadelphia sharing the story of Alaskan Natives in Denali, and how they survived thousands of years in this harsh wilderness."
We went the first of July and we did not see any wildlife on the above portion of the Natural History Tour. The bus goes very slowly on the tour and the driver looks for wildlife w/ his long-range camera and will slow down or stop the bus if he sees anything. However, others may tell you that they did see wildlife.
I upgraded to the Tundra Wilderness Tour and was so glad that I did. I did not have success in changing this tour thru HAL they told me that I couldn't change it. I contacted the hotel we were staying at and they said that I absolutely could make the change and pay the difference for the longer tour. I was able to do this at the guest relations desk at the hotel. We were sooo glad we booked this tour, what a fantastic day we had. It is a very long day but very fulfilling in how much wildlife we saw.
Misha, you will positively regret not doing the land tour and especially seeing Denali. omni hotel philadelphia I went round and round about not doing the land tour but decided that if we were in Alaska we should see Denali as we might