Cruisetour or independent travel??

[Bookloversd]

We are taking our first cruise ever, to Alaska on Celebrity in late August. Right now we have booked a cruisetour which includes three days post cruise going to Denali and ending in Fairbanks. The tour into Denali is the 5 hour Natural History (?) tour. It's a pretty whirlwind schedule, but we don't have more days.

Is it best to stay with this plan or would we do better to book the post cruise travel with an independent agency? We think we need a longer tour in the park. Should we bypass Fairbanks and return to Anchorage?

There is too much info out there and it's confusing! Any and all advice eagerly accepted!

[soxfan]

My wife and I will also be on our first cruise this summer, so I am certainly not speaking from experience. Having disqualified myself as an expert, I will say that I was quite apprehensive about booking a "cruise tour" because of what appeared to be a lot of in and out of busses, trains, & hotels in a short period of time. Therefore, we decided to get a little creative and booked ourselves into a "fly-in" lodge (no phones or TV's)about 30 miles east of Denali National Park. Although a tad on the expensive side, the agenda sounded very interesting AND a lot less hectic. We shall see!! Enjoy.

[Karen Knowlton]

It's entirely up to you. Bear in mind that if you book a tour through a separate company, you will not have help with your luggage in between cruise and tour, and you may have to figure out how to get yourself from the port (Seward or Whittier) to Anchorage to meet the tour. Check to see what other tour companies are offering inside Denali - it very likely is the same 5-hour tour you are already getting.

If you go by yourself, you will miss out on commentary by the guides on the Celebrity tour (which I believe is in very nice rail cars for much of the way). And make sure there is availability in the lodges, Denali tours, etc. before you cancel your cruiseline tour!

Since you have only 3 days after the cruise anyway, I'd suggest sticking with it - that way you'll know what you want to come back to see for a longer period of time!