Never to early to get some info.. so.......for those who have been there before:
What's the deal with Whittier?
Nearest airport?
Anchorage perhaps, which is hours away?
Also, from Denali what is the closest airport is that also Anchorage?
Seward? Or?

Start? The information is mind boggling! Thanks for the lead.

I've looked at Radisson's 2005 Alaska brochure but it doesn't seem to have what I think I want (but I'm happy to be corrected if I've missed something).

What I think I want to do is a couple of days in Vancouver, a couple in Victoria, the Gold Leaf train to Jasper, a tour of Lake Louise and Jasper, (I have done this much already but couldn't miss it again being so close), cruise to Alaska, then tour Denali National Park and hopefully see some animals - without it all costing an arm and a leg. I'm really not into little planes or helicopters which could restrict me somewhat.

Does it matter what how this is put together, ie. direction of cruise or the Rockies before/after Alaska? Obviously you all want to go Vancouver to Alaska but is there a reason for this or is it just that the date suits better?

Robert - am still having fun with the Rhino game (haven't got any better at it) but have forgotten what the other one you suggested was. They're obviously geared for children as I haven't had any luck at any of them!

Lee, a trip like that would cost more than a couple of body parts, I'm afraid. Radisson wouldn't offer that train trip as a post-cruise, because Lake Louise is in another province of Canada, and it's a LONG way away from Vancouver. (Or I don't think they would offer it)

I'm not sure why they are disembarking in Whittier now instead of Seward, but the airport for both of those would be Anchorage. I drug my trusty atlas out, and it looks like Denali might be almost half-way between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

As to which way is preferable, I've only flown out of the Vancouver airport once but don't remember it fondly. Flying into Vancouver is bad enough, I'd personally rather fly out of Anchorage (or Fairbanks) because of them being in the US; that would avoid a couple of the many holdups.

Thanks Pam - always had champagne tastes on a beer income! Wonder what sort of money we're talking about.

On our trip to Canada, we stayed a few days in Vancouver, hired a car and stayed one night at Kamloops and then headed for Jasper where we stayed a couple of nights. We went to Lake Louise on our way to Banff where we also stayed a couple of nights - it was only about a 20 minute drive from there I think. My one wish was to have lunch overlooking Lake Louise and my other half decided it was to pricey and headed for the cafe overlooking the coach carpark! I was less than impressed and always said I'd get to do it my way one day. The scenery everywhere was magic though, especially between Jasper and Banff. We flew out of Vancouver to Los Angeles but didn't have any problems. We toured the west coast of the US then before heading home. The thought of flying from Anchorage to Sydney without a stopover is a bit daunting but I don't really need to see LA again. The alternative would be to fly Anchorage-Vancouver, Vancouver-Hawaii, Hawaii-Sydney - no, that sounds worse!

I know Princess and Holland America both offer this type of trip so maybe it can be arranged separately and not as an add-on with Radisson.

But you be sure, Lee, that you cruise with this group - you won't have as much fun on any other ship - Joanna

Well, I couldn't find a detailed map of Canada, so I might be way off on my estimate of distance; I was looking at fragmented maps and trying to guesstimate. Of course, my concept of a long way and somebody else's could be poles apart, too.

Is that train journey part of the American Orient Express itineraries? I couldn't find anything "Gold Leaf" except in reference to it, so I don't know how to go look for a price.

Anchorage-Memphis was an overnight in 2001, and it was a killer. We'd go for a different airline and pay for a daytime flight if we had to (that was on FF miles). I can't even imagine Anchorage-Sydney.

My last experience with the Vancouver airport was in the middle of the night after a drastic delay in Chicago (after another flight was cancelled), so I might be negative about it due to that. The Anchorage airport was a dump, but it was so much smaller (at that time) and less intimidating than Vancouver. Of course, we weren't in the main Anchorage terminal, but in a strange one off to one side.

The train trip I'm raving on about is part of the Rocky Mountaineer - they have a 'red leaf' and a 'gold leaf' service and it goes from Vancouver to Jasper. The gold leaf service has a glass dome on the top of the carriages. Does that help at all?

I found it! Here's the link (and it does look expensive to me)

train site

Lee, you can also do Canadian Rocky train trips through Tauck Tours. I think those leave from Vancouver and end in Calgary. We took a land based Canadian Rockies tour with them this fall and they are good. You could combine this with our RSSC cruise as a pre or post depending on our itinerary. Tauck is a good value for the money but they aren't cheap. We want to meet you so don't give up on this cruise!

Back again - just had a thought! What a miracle!

Maybe I could do an Insight coach tour (went with them in Europe last year) which goes from Calgary to Vancouver, spend a couple of days in Vancouver and Victoria, and then join you lot to Alaska. Don't know if they do one in Alaska - will check it out. It might work but I would have to have guaranteed dates. Don't think the other half would be interested in a coach tour, so might have to bring my sister instead!

Hope I'm not boring everyone! If no-one answers me, I'll know I am.

Lee, we never get bored when we are talking about our favorite subject!

Mark and I will spend a couple of days in either Vancouver or Victoria because we love both places. We spent a few days in Victoria last July; a lady who sat beside me on that long-delayed flight simply couldn't imagine flying that far to only spend four days.

Hope I'm not boring everyone! If no-one answers me, I'll know I am.

Lee - you are not boring a soul - remember the conversation we had about you being shy = get over it - you are terrific = joanna

Thanks girls for reassuring me!

How long is the flight from Memphis to Vancouver - 6 hours? More? I know it's about 15 hours from Sydney to LA but can't remember what it was from LA to Vancouver. It's the waiting around when changing flights that wrecks you.

Have checked Insight out - they do a 7 day tour from Calgary to Vancouver which takes in my train trip but don't do anything in Alaska. Back to the drawing board!

We're probably going to do a day or two before in Vancouver and looking at doing a 2-3 days post tour in Denali.

Lee - there ARE Anchorage-Hawaii flights ... they may not line up with the cruise dates but they do exist ...

Masaki

We were supposed to do Memphis - Seattle, and then on to Victoria, on NW but the flight got cancelled and they re-routed us on United through Chicago. We had a huge delay in Chicago (ON the plane), then it was five hours from Chicago to Vancouver. We can't do Memphis-Vancouver (or Memphis-Anchorage) non-stop. Seattle-Memphis is about 5 or 5 1/2 hours. We have done LA to Vancouver, but I don't remember how long the flight was either.

Masaki, The pre and post you mentioned sound exactly what my sister & I want. Please keep me informed and do all the research ;) You are so much better at that than I.(I'm a follower, no leader) :nw:

Suzie, Masaki;

If MUSH, SALMON, BLAST is the end of the first
week of Sept..you may want to consider inversing
your order..do Denali first then Vancouver..am not sure about wildlife viewing as you get further into September..for this reason, this is
why we will probably do Denali in a pre..r/wes

I'm a lucky girl...two experts to plan my pre & post!

Suzie, fyi..got this on the National
Park Service Denali site www.nps.gov/dena


PLAN YOUR VISIT
Operating Hours & Seasons

The primary visitation season runs from May 1 to September 15. Visitation is lowest in winter months.
Spring & Summer Visitor Center Hours:

Thanks again Wes...I bookmarked and meant to edit my follower, not leader statement....Except when I'm driving! :eek:

suzie, you can tell I am an Alaska novice, so be careful about following me anywhere in Alaska..how can we do a pre in Denali, when we will start out
in Vancouver vs. Alaska..tho the comment on
timing & wildlife still applies..looks like if we do the Vancouver to Whittier itinerary, a visit to denali will have to be a post..r/wes

What sort of outer wear do we bring? Something as heavy as a ski jacket? Hiking boots?

Hiking boots? Yikes :eek:

You want a variety of clothes because the weather can be anywhere from 30 degrees at the glaciers and 80 degrees at the port cities. You can have rain or sunshine or both. Bring Hats, Gloves and scarves, shorts, sunscreen and mosquito repellant too. I did wear hiking boots and I brought a parka type jacket. It was freezing during the sailing days in the Fjords. I wish I'd brought even warmer clothes to be up on the pool deck for viewing the glaciers. Think about small icebergs floating around the ship - and they are mint blue. In Juneau people wore shorts - unusual weather for June. Umbrellas or waterproof hooded jackets. Think LL Bean stuff.

I still have some pictures on Shutterfly from our 2001 cruise. Hopefully, I can link them here:

Ice


and some more

Cool Pam! I guess no jet skiing in that water! ;)

Thanks Pam for posting those - it looks sooooo cold - Joanna

It really wasn't that cold, except when we were up in the glacier areas. That trip, we did Hubbard AND College Fjords, but I couldn't tell you now which ice was which. It was early June, so there was obviously still a lot of snow on the mountains. We had basically no rainy days, which was very unusual.

I have some photos to upload too. I will do that in the next few days. I got a photo of the whole train on the White Pass making the curve.

I also asked about Whittier on cruise critic and got a zillion emails about airport ( right Anckorage) and private shuttles, limos etc. So can share all the info later.
Also was told best place to do glaciers ( like helicopter in and landing on type thing is supposed to be Whittier so for anyone who would be interested in that type of excursion that is the place to do it)..

Wes - you know, I was wondering that too when you posted that you wanted to do Denali as a pre-cruise ... and here I was with a puzzled frown on my face going, "but we're going from Vancouver to Whittier, right??" LOL!

Suzie - I will keep you posted on anything I discover ... :)

And FWIW, these are the pictures from our two Alaskan cruises to date (non-Radisson):

1st cruise

2nd cruise page 1

2nd cruise page 2

Masaki

Masaki:

While your photos of Alaska were indeed good, I clicked on your wedding, honeymoon pictures, etc. and they blew me away. What a handsome family.

I have to run to an appointment soon but look forward to feasting on some more photos later.

Cheers! Ray

Awesome pictures! It looks so-o-o-o-o cold, what month did you cruise? The sled dog looks like Sheri's Niko.

Fantastic pics! I love the glacier, crevasse and whale photos! Now I really can't wait to go!

Masaki, great pics--thanks for sharing..better pack my North Face and thermals..r/wes

Wonderful pictures daddy and Mama Masaki..
and ditto to what Ray said above!

Glad you liked it. :) It actually wasn't all that cold in Alaska itself (the coldest was on top of Blackcomb Mountain in Canada). And thanks for all the compliments about the other pictures as well!

Suzie - this was in June and July.

Masaki

The WHALES. I went on a whale watch in Juneau. I will DEFINITELY be doing that again. I did the Radisson trip others did a private one is it Captain Larry? I am not sure. They all go out in the same area. Each boat was as full as the other.

Anyway, we got in a group of whales "bubble feeding" it was amazing. All the whales surface at the same time with their mouths open. Not sure how this works and I am sure someone here can enlighten us all. I think they rise from the bottom pushing the fish to the surface and then they open their mouths and have a wonderful little snack. They did it repeatedly.

I do not take pictures, I have Ken and Linda's husband Ron for that. Neither were with me at the time. Ken went off to Glacier climb. Probably the best photo opportunity I have ever seen because you could tell right before they popped out of the water. Did not get a single picture!

Probably wont be lucky enough to see that again but I am sure going to try.

Hey MUSHERS!

I am jealous - we went to Alaska last year alone. I mean, yeah, there were a few hundred others on the ship, but no one from this great group!

You will love Alaska - it is gorgeous. Looks like Europe with all the ice covered mountains. I would definitely recommend a land tour as part of your trip. There is so much to see in Alaska, that no matter what, you will not cover it all in one trip.

Land Ideas are:

- a few days to go up to see Denali - it takes about 8 hours to drive there from Anchorage, basically a full day to go into the park, and then another day to drive back to Anchorage. We didn't have time to do it.

- Take a wildfile viewing boat tour out of Seward for the day. We missed this and I want to go back. Highly recommended boat tours that go up to the shoreline to view wildlife and sealife and glaciers. Called Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Tours or something like that.

- Take a small plane flightseeing tour up along the side of Mt. Mckinley or over the top. FANTASTIC VIEWS! You can get these from Anchorage or Talkeetna. This was one of the most exciting things I have done.

- Take the College glacier veiwing boat out on Prince William Sound. Can't remember the name of the boat but it is the best one and you see almost all of the college fjord glaciers up close.

- Victoria is a beautiful British style city. Lots of B's and B's, flower baskets, shopping and dining. Vancouver Island itself is worth a week's visit. Very beautiful. Let me know if you want more info on it.

Ngaire,

Yes, it is Captain Larry that runs the whale watching tours in Juneau. Only takes about 20 people on his high speed boat - really fun when he goes full throttle to get from place to place fast. Then he cuts the engines when he finds whales. You can go out on the open deck on the back of the boat and up to the top deck for viewing. It was a blast. I also did not get any pics - too difficult with a digital camera.

Ginny

PS I can find specific info on some of this stuff if anyone wants it.