FIRST OF ALL, this is probably more detailed info than you want to know but hope it will be helpful. We cruised the Inside Passage in Alaska over 10yrs ago but wanted to return & do more land touring. The last one was in June & worked out well, so we decided on June again. There were six in our group. The land/cruise tour began June 20th in Fairbanks.We began our trip on June 19th & flew into Fairbanks, AK. We were there for the longest day of the year (06/21) but the rooms had sun blocking curtains.I had booked a one night stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites, Fairbanks. It seemed to have good reviews & they had a shuttle from the airport to hotel. I called the hotel just after we arrived & picked up luggage. The staff were nice & the rooms clean. Breakfast was plentiful & good.

I would advise if your flight is long (from east coast for us), you need to arrive early to rest up before the "tour" actually began. There was a McDonalds within walking distance so some in our group ate there. Husband & I needed some supplies so we walked over to Walmart & also ate there at Subway. You have to cross a 4-lane hwy, but it's no problem if you go to the light to cross. I would say it's a 10-min walk to the Walmart. It's pretty new & very clean. The walk would be much closer but there's a fence around the hotel & you have to go a weird way. I remember thinking as we were walking that it would be dark before we got back to the hotel & I had looked up & saw there were no street lights. And then it HIT me...it would NOT get dark in Alaska on June 19th!!

The next day, June 20th, after breakfast the hotel called a van for us & took us to the Royal Caribbean hotel which was Pike's Landing. The lobby was very interesting with the animal mounts. There was a small gift shop. I had read on this site that they would have hot chocolate & cookies for guest but that was not so when we were there. Perhaps because it wasn't all that cold. Also read that they give guests a wooden nickel that can be used for free ice cream. Didn't have that either. The did have a nice looking jug of water (free) and coffee (not free) available. I also saw an ice cream station further back, but no free ice cream did we see. It was only open certain hours & a scoop was over $3.00. Read more