"Wayne.B" wrote in message
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On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:05:58 -0500, wrote:
Taking a cruise to Alaska and expecting to actually see Alaska is
like going to Epcot and seeing Germany.
It is an OK way to watch whales and Princess will load you up on a
bus to go see Denali but you pretty much see what you can from the
window of the bus.
We signed up for all of the side trips including a flight around the
Denali summit in a small turboprop, a helicopter trip to the top of
the Mendenhall Glacier, a jet boat excursion through the eagle
preserve on the Chilkat River and a float plane ride back into Misty
Fjords. I'd like to drive up there in my 4WD truck sometime and
tour the back country but it would take all summer and I'd never get
my wife to go along.
We did that a few years ago. 7 weeks and 8800 miles. Would not do it
again. Lots of boring driving in Canada. Rolling hills, and dead trees,
and millions of dead trees. Denali is ok for a day or two at most. We had
reservations at the campground for 3 nights and left after 2. Lots of rain
that year. And unless you are hiking miles, you will see everything from
tour bus. We were among the 15% of the people who actually see Denali.
Clouds cleared for about 15 minutes. Buddy and wife took the sightseeing
plane. Fantastic. We were suffering from some crud we caught in the Yukon
and had ear problems, so passed on the trip. Buy a Special Olymipics
discount book at Safeway in Anchorage and you get 1/2 off the airplane, etc.
Well worth the $99.