patty

[Roberta]

Thanks for the info, another question as I rang you and I take it you have gone to work.  Is the cruise worth it to ancorage(seward) or is it better just to do the glaciers.
Roberta
Thought you might pop in at work............

[PattyInAK]

The cruise goes through southeast Alaska, and its just beautiful.  I think you see glaciers along the way, too. 

When I was carriage driving, I talked to a lot of visitors who took the cruise, which included some bus and train time.  Most of them said that they spent most of their time seeing Alaska through a window.  They didn't have much time in any one place.  I guess the cruise packages are great if you want to see a lot of Alaska in a little bit of time.   

I remember being in Anchorage giving carriage rides on Friday night.  We parked in front of one of the big hotels.  Around 10pm the busses would roll in, from the train depot with the cruise ship passengers from Seward.  The tourists didn't even have time to see Anchorage, and they were put back on the bus the next morning at 7am for the bus trip to Denali Park. 

The best way to do it, in my opinion, is to fly into Anchorage, then rent an RV.  That way you have your transportation and lodging, and you can save on food by fixing a lot of it yourself in the RV.  And its not like there are a million roads and stuff, we have a highway going north and a highway going south. 

You could drive yourself to Seward and go on a one-day Kenai Fjords cruise to see the wildlife and glaciers.  And there is a 26-Glacier cruise, which I have not been on, but heard good things about.  It depends on your interests I guess.  I do not like guided tours, I'd rather do my own exploring. 
Hope this helps.

[Teresa]

Sounds like someone else is planning a trip to Alaska.... I'm sure Patty is going to love getting to meet more people from the WW Board.

[Roberta]

yes but it all relies on flight costs. We have a tentaive on the one southbound from Seward, but the air costs from LA to Anchorage then Vancouver to LA is dynamite as they are one way. Quantas does not go into Vancouver now. So we started looking at the one ending at the Hubbard glacier, which goes either return vancouver or return seatle. If it was seattle we could have a few days sound there and maybe drop in on Dee Dee and cook her a meal.....hahaha, adn who ever else is in the area.
This all started as there was a pacfic island one with quilting classes, then we realised that for about 200 extra we could do the one we have always wanted to do. Nannie said she wil come and look after the kids. So what weight I have got off them she will put back on!

Roberta

[Teresa]

Randy and I had planned to do Alaska this summer for our 25th anniversary which was in November. We didn't think about Meghan graduating in May, which means we really want to do something with her as a family, too, so Alaska may have to wait a year. We are considering Seattle as the family trip, or Washington, DC. Watching the airline costs right now. Since fuel costs are dropping a little, hopefully the airlines will start reflecting that. I'm guessing they will stay up for awhile and recoup from the last couple of years, but we'll see. As it stands now, we can drive two hours to Charlotte and fly to Seattle for the same price we can fly from Charlotte to Nashville, TN. Go Figure!

[Brekkesmom]

Wah!  I didn't even know where exactly Patty was, when Brenda and I did the Sun Princess cruise up through the Inner Passage!  We totally enjoyed it.  There was plenty to see, lots of offshore excursions, and plenty of wildlife to see.  We went into Glacier Bay and College Bay (I think that's what they were called) and the "calving" of the glaciers was an amazing sight!  We had a bus ride at the end of our 7 day trip as we got unloaded from the ship and headed out for our plane trip back.  We saw big horn sheep, eagles, and I think some elk (but don't hold me to that!), and the scenery was fabulous!

[PattyInAK]

Its good to hear from someone who actually went on the cruise.  My opinion about the cruises has been tainted by negative stuff I have heard from some tourist.  I'm glad you enjoyed it and could give another perspective.