We had taken the Coral on the 10 day Panama Canal a couple of years ago. She was a good size to do Alaska, since she was able to get pretty close to the glaciers compared to the larger ships. I organized our own pre-cruise portion and that worked out well taking the Alaska Railroad. I bought the Alaska TourSaver coupon book, which saved a lot of money. I also booked all of our tours online about a year in advance to make sure to get the times I needed to fit it all in. We had a small but mighty roll call for this trip and many of us met at various tours along the way.

General impressions: The cruise and ports were all great, but do think some time spent on land is a must. Weather seems to be ever changing and not that predictable, so layering is key. At one time or another we wore everything from under layers of Winter Silk, fleece lined tights, fleece pants or jeans, long sleeved tees under outer shirt, fleece jackets and water/wind proof jackets and pants to capris, shorts and tee shirts. Gloves, ear warmers, scarves, hats helped for the glacier viewing. A bathing suit for covered pool or hot tubs and your covered. Seeing wildlife of course is luck of the draw, but devoting time and excursions to viewing is also a must if you want a better chance at seeing it. On glacier days we spend hours and hours out on deck with binoculars to see whales, seals, otters, sea lions, puffins eagles, and other birds as well as the sights and sounds of the calving of the glaciers. In Denali we went into the park as early as we could and spent all day into the early evening there. We were rewarded with many moose, wolves, Grizzly bears, foxes, caribou, Dall sheep, ptarmigan, snowshoe hares, Merlins, Eagles (Golden and Bald), and Marmots. Other people we talked to visiting the park within days of each other all saw a lot of wildlife. I have a loooooong review mainly so I can remember what we did as time passes, but tried to make notes of where we used the TourSaver and where we stayed at each stop and tour operators used in case it will help others planning their trips. I've broken it down into segments so you can easily move on if that part isn't of interest.

Pre Cruise 7 days on land: Read more