I am startin to think of a big vacation to do next year. I am considering a small cruise (less than 200ish passenger boat) and a land based trip to Denali, and/or an “active adventure” multi-sport (hike/bike/kayak, etc.) kind of trip.
I AM NOT interested in a large cruise ship.
If anyone has first-hand experience with either the options I mentioned, or is aware of options from friends, family, etc., I’d like to hear about the trips and activities most enjoyed. Our trip could last up to about 3 weeks.
Thanks in advance.
We had friends that did a Lindblad trip to Alaska for the boat part and loved it. Definitely smaller vessels.
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My friend did a trip that was small boat and had kayaks so folks could use them as desired or go on a strenuous hike or more casual hike. All activities were included in the cruise price. It was perfect for her and her family as they loved kayaks and also hiking and they had a great time.
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Uncruise does active small boat cruises in Alaska. We did Hawaii with them – lots of snorkeling, kayaking, whale watching and hiking. Food was great! Our boat held 36 passengers.
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What cruise line, do you know?
We flew to Fairbanks, took the train down and did Camp Denali Alaska Lodges | Denali National Park Alaska for four days. Highly recommend. Then continued the train down to Anchorage and did a two week Uncruise. 70 people on the boat, choice of kayak, easy shore walk, more intense hike each day, as well as zodiac rides. Everything included.
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Will check with her. She had only good things to say about the cruise. Sent her a text.
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I gave an Alaskan Un-cruise vacation as a graduation present for my recent Grad and sig other. They leave in 2 weeks. I can give an update when they return.
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My friend went on the pre-curser to the Un-Cruise. She looked at the new website of the company that acquired the company she went with and says it seems pretty similar to what they experienced & loved.
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One thing I’d be careful about is the itinerary and how many large ships will be in the same port days as your small ship. Almost 35 years ago I visited Juneau and stayed for a week with friends. Every morning I’d wake up to 3 to 6 ships that had arrived overnight and those tourists would pour into the city. The worst was the helicopters and small planes that would buzz around all day and fly in formation up and down the port.
Juneau now limits how many ships can be in port each day, and I think none of the big ones are allowed on Sundays to give the citizens a down day. I think other ships are only there for 1/2 days so tourists are only in town for 1/2 the day, but that means there is never a lull in the restaurants, stores, or on the hiking trails.
I’d love to go to Alaska, but I’m aiming for either April or late September just to keep the crowds down.
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Sadly most of the water sports would be off limits during these times. I went in early May (10 years ago) and even then, much was off limits.
Alaska is amazing.
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We were in Alaska in September, last cruise of the season and we had lots of sales—end of season. There were a few other large boats there with us—we were all the “last boats.” We happened to have great weather and no bugs, no mosquitoes and mostly clear blue skies. Didn’t see many salmon or bears.