Alaska Cruise Tours - Discounts and Deals

Alaska Cruise Tours

While a cruise offers travelers an excellent taste of Alaska, a cruisetour serves up the complete five-course dinner - the total Alaska experience. Cruisetours combine a cruise voyage with a fully escorted stay on land. The cruise lines have streamlined their product so that you'll pay one price in exchange for two vacations - one at sea, and the other on land in the Alaskan interior.

Princess Cruises and Holland America Line employ their own tour guides, own their own fleet of comfortable buses, and operate private glass-domed railcars that hitch up to the Alaska Railroad for the journey between Anchorage and Denali. The rail journey alone is spectacular - on a clear day, you'll spot Denali's dome several times from along the rails.

When selecting your land tour there are two things you need to consider: how many days you want for the land portion of your vacation and what part of Alaska's interior you want to see.

How many days would you like for your Alaska land tour?

1. Three Days. These tours will let you see the highlights of Alaska's interior in a short amount of time.
2. Four to Five Days. The most popular tour choice adds more time to fully explore at a comfortable pace.
3. Six to Nine Days. Leisurely tours that add places such as Kenai, the Arctic Circle, and other.

What would you like to see and do in Alaska?

1. Denali National Park. By far the most popular destination in Alaska's interior, Denali covers more than six million acres of very diverse terrain and a complete sub-arctic eco-system. The highest mountain in North America, the 20,320 feet high Mt. McKinley, rises majestically over the landscape and is the center of attention. Wildlife in the park includes bears, Dall sheep, moose, and more. A 3-hour Natural History tour is included in many cruisetours and will give you a good overview, but our recommendation is that you choose a cruisetour that includes the longer 6-hour Tundra Wildlife tour. The Tundra Wildlife tour will take you much deeper into the park through the best wildlife viewing areas and to the best view of Mt. McKinley.

There are many optional excursions offered during your stay in the Denali and Mt. McKinley area. While these differ depending on the cruise line, a sample of excursions would be: whitewater river rafting, midnight sun golfing, helicopter flightseeing, horse trail adventures, back country hiking, jeep safari, sport fishing, kayaking, and nature walks.

2. Fairbanks. After Felix Pedro's strike in 1902 and with key discoveries in the surrounding hills and creeks, prospectors spread out to pan and sluice, followed by small manual drift mines and then the monster floating dredges and lode mines. Fairbanks grew as the center for Alaska's second century of gold, and became a supply center attracting retailers and service providers. It has continued as the hub and gateway to Alaska's Interior and the Arctic for over 100 years. Fairbanks has become the second most visited place in Alaska's interior, with many cruisetour visitors flying in to Fairbanks to start their Alaska adventure. Attractions center around the era of gold mining. Optional excursions include the El Dorado Gold Mine where you can pan for gold, the riverboat Discovery tour with stops along the Chena and Tanana rivers, golf tours, salmon bakes and saloon shows.

3. The Kenai Peninsula and Alyeska. The Kenai Peninsula is a wonderful area where you can combine excellent sightseeing with many opportunities for recreation. It's location close to where your ship docks in Whittier or Seward makes it even more attractive as a leisurely place to experience Alaska. Optional excursions and activities include nature hikes, horseback trail rides, mushing and helicopter flightseeing, Kenai River sport fishing, saltwater fishing, Resurrection Bay wildlife boat tour, Kenai River scenic river float, Kenai Canyon river rafting, and kayaking.

4. Copper River: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This is America's largest national park, boasting nine of the sixteen highest peaks in the United States. Like Kenai and Alyeska, this area offers excellent sightseeing and many opportunities for recreation. Optional tours include the old copper boomtowns Kennicott and McCarthy, the copper valley, 4-wheel motorbike trail rides, horseback trail rides, Wrangell Mountains nature hike, river walk, dog sled ride, flightseeing, glacier kayaking, scenic or whitewater rafting, and salmon fishing (fishing tours run from mid June through early September). Wrangell-St. Elias and Copper River is currently offered exclusively by Princess Cruises.

Alaska Cruises and Cruise Tours on Princess Cruises

Alaska with Holland America Line

Princess Alaska Wilderness Lodges