SilverSea Alaska Trip

[f35phixer]

Thinking about a cruise in July 2023 for Alaska on either the SilverSea Muse or Whispers. Like the 388 passengers limit on the Whisper. I did a search on Travel info threads for Alaska cruises and nothing recent really came up....

So has anyone taken Alaska cruise on this or any other ships? This is really about the pre excursions. they are as follow:

The Denali Summit begins in Anchorage. Upon your arrival you will be taken to Captain Cook Hotel where you will overnight. Day two begins with breakfast at the hotel after which you board the motor coach for the drive to Talkeetna, where you will board the Deluxe Dome Railcar for the scenic ride to Denali National Park. You overnight at the Grand Denali Lodge. After breakfast on Day three you head out into Denali National Park for a fully-guided Tundra Wilderness Tour. Again, you overnight at the Grand Denali Lodge. Following breakfast on Day four, you board the motor coach for a trip to Girdwood with a stop along the way at Martin Buser's home for an exclusive visit, where the four-time Iditarod Champion will regale you with tales of the Last Great Race and the wonderful champion dogs he raises and trains for mushing. You will overnight at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. After breakfast on Day five, you board the train at the Girdwood Station for a rail trip to Seward to board your ship.

the other is:
The Denali Adventure begins in Fairbanks. Upon arrival you will be taken the Pikes Waterfront Hotel where you will overnight. Following breakfast on Day two, you will enjoy a tour of the Golden Heart City of Fairbanks. You will again overnight at Pikes Waterfront Hotel. After breakfast on Day three, you will board your motor coach to Denali National Park for a fully-guided Tundra Wilderness Tour. You will overnight at the Grand Denali Lodge at Denali National Park. Following breakfast on Day four, you will visit a local Dog Kennel to learn more about Alaska’s state sport of Dog Mushing and meet the canine athletes. In the afternoon you will board the World-Famous Alaska Railroad for a journey on the Glass Domed Railcars to the town of Talkeetna where you will overnight at Talkeetna Alaska Lodge. After breakfast on Day five, you will board your motor coach for the journey south to Anchorage. Once in Anchorage you will board Grandview Cruise Train to Seward to join your ship.

The three nights in Fairbanks is one thing i am not to keen on, thoughts?
Lots of time on coaches and trains !!!
It really will be a once in lifetime trip, money is no object, soooooooo.
When they say alcohol beverages are included, is this Wine, Beer and Liquors?
SilverSea Door to Door service ? I am about 1.5 hours from IAD, 1.2 from DCA and 1.5 from BWI.

 

[Happyras]

We were just looking at the Muse 16 night from Osaka to Seward. I would be interested to know. We are Elite Plus on Celebrity and there is some reciprocity on this brand. We have never sailed on Silver Sea, and are looking for a higher end cruise experience. We just did Haven class suite on a 21 day Seattle to Panama, which was good, not over the top food. We liked the Haven on the Norwegian Encore.

We have done Alaska several times, both on Celebrity Retreat class on Infinity and Solstice, as well as Princess. The Retreat is the only way we would go now on Celebrity, but we are hoping that Silver Seas would be even better with fewer passengers and better food.

Seward is a ways from Anchorage airport. We once did the planes, trains, cruise, tours and automobiles thing in one day and won't do that again. The bubble car is nice, but a long ride.

To note, Silver Sea says the drinks are all included. Norwegian pulled a "not included" trick on us with our recent cruise. We had no mini-bar free, and good scotch was extra and their included wines were bottom shelf crap, or third world varietals. Celebrity always gave us top shelf liquor with a Suite in their premium package, but now they are down grading the wines etc.

We are looking at Oceana, Silver Sea and Regent all of which are similar size and class. We were going to try Azamara, a former co-brand of RCL since we would loose our status with them if we did not cruise now! Not sure they are up to standards now, any comments. I am stealing this thread, HA!

We live in WA, and Alaska is so similar the tours there are not a big deal for us. Last year we did a few things off ship, but the Honda Rukas rentals were closed in Skagway, so we took an ATV tour that was fun. The trip is usually about the Glaciers and the smaller ships get up close, unless you book a tour on a smaller boat from the ship in that bay. The Glaciers have really receded a long way up now, since our first trip.

Our first time up there we took our roller blades and did the up hill skate to the Mendenhall Glacier. Now we would likely just take the helicopter tour there.

Denali is a nice park, but so is Banff, Yellowstone and a few others where you can see similar wildlife by car. Actually hard to avoid the Moose up north. Deer we have on our property as well as bear and eagles, so no big thrill there for us.

 

[Texas Proud]

We did a Princess cruise early last year with 7 days on land...



I would want to choose my excursions... we went all out and took a plane to a Glacier at Denali and loved it.. it was a clear day and they said that was not the norm...


Yes, you are on trains and coaches a lot on land and some are longer than others but it was well worth the cost (and it cost a LOT more than the ship part for us)...


We did a steamboat (I think it was Fairbanks) which was a short distance but designed for tourists.. IIRC we also panned for gold here... I had the most at $75 of gold...


BTW, on the ship we did a helicopter to a glacier... we did a smaller boat tour of a national park and saw glaciers and whales...

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We picked up the Silverseas cruise ship in the fall of 2019 as it sailed from Seward to Tokyo. The food and service were outstanding, and it's a fully all-inclusive line. Room service is available, and each room is assigned a butler who, in our experience, was very attentive. Alyeska Resort is also first-class. You can view Denali from Talkeetna Lodge if the clouds aren't covering it up. We were there about 20 years ago, it was a nice, well-maintained place back then.

If you're in Fairbanks for a few days, rent a car and go out to the Chena Hot Springs resort about 50 miles east of town. It's a great place to view the aurora.

 

[Sunset]

OP - Maybe you should just phone them and ask, especially about the door to door service.
It would be terrible to miss the trip while sitting at home waiting to be picked up when they don't actually include pickup from home.

On Viking, the included transportation was from the arrival airport to the ship and vis-versa. To and from home for our local airport was not included.

Please post and let us know.

 

[levindb]

Maybe not your style, but we did a 7 day from Vancouver to Seward, then rented an RV for 4 weeks and did Denali on our own along with many other "excursions" including white water rafting, a few days in Fairbanks with hot springs...there is a lot to see if you are doing your own planning.

 

[Ronstar]

OP - I would do the Anchorage based trip. Mainly because I liked the Alyeska resort. You may want to research the availability of Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour. We took the tour in 2021 and it was excellent. But the park road was having problems in some areas where the permafrost was melting and they weren't sure how much longer they were going to be able to drive that far into the park.

 

[DrRoy]

We have done the Princess cruise-tour. I would lean toward the Summit option. One of the best things we did was to fly around Denali from Talkeetna, and landed on the Ruth glacier.

 

[f35phixer]

Done deal, Will be taking SilverSea Whisper - Seward to Vancouver with the Denali Summit pre-cruise excursion late July.....

 

[CRLLS]

We did a road trip from Anchorage to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) a few years back in August. Denali was one stop we made along the way. They say that only 30% of the people who go, actually get to see the summit due to weather. If Denali is THE REASON to go on the excursion, I would say don't go. However there is lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

 

[f35phixer]

We did a road trip from Anchorage to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) a few years back in August. Denali was one stop we made along the way. They say that only 30% of the people who go, actually get to see the summit due to weather. If Denali is THE REASON to go on the excursion, I would say don't go. However there is lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

Hey, Mister Positive , no the reason is to travel and see lots of Alaska....

 

[Souschef]

I have sailed on Silverseas a number of times in the past and love the cruise line. I have attached two trip stories; une is a land trip and the other is a cruise.
Floatplane over Misty Fjord is a must, and we rode the VIP car on the White Pass & Yukon RR.

 

[f35phixer]

I have sailed on Silverseas a number of times in the past and love the cruise line. I have attached two trip stories; une is a land trip and the other is a cruise.
Floatplane over Misty Fjord is a must, and we rode the VIP car on the White Pass & Yukon RR.

Thanks Chef !!!!!!!!!

 

[audreyh1]

We did a road trip from Anchorage to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) a few years back in August. Denali was one stop we made along the way. They say that only 30% of the people who go, actually get to see the summit due to weather. If Denali is THE REASON to go on the excursion, I would say don't go. However there is lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

I guess we were lucky because we were at a lodge in the NP for several days and we saw Denali clearly almost every day. Early Sept.

 

[CRLLS]

Hey, Mister Positive , no the reason is to travel and see lots of Alaska....

Hey, I was just checking. Some people go on that excursion just to say they saw Denali and that's all. Sort of a bucket list thing, I think. I didn't travel on a bus, so I have no experience to reference for your trip. I drove a pickup. My son and wife rode motorcycles from Kodiak Island (ferry ride) up to Deadhorse and back. DW and I are considering an Alaska Cruise. Having already done the Denali stop we wouldn't want to do it again. The area is gorgeous with lots of variety. We will have other things to do. I'm sure you will have a great trip.

 

[CRLLS]

I guess we were lucky because we were at a lodge in the NP for several days and we saw Denali clearly almost every day. Early Sept.

Yes, you were lucky. I wasn't kidding. It is a thing jokingly called "The 30% Club" I just wanted to make f35phixer aware of what might happen. I am sorry if it came across as a negative.

 

[grasshopper]

OK, OK, one club I wouldn't mind being a member of May 7th 2016.

 

[braumeister]

I guess we were lucky because we were at a lodge in the NP for several days and we saw Denali clearly almost every day. Early Sept.

Same here. Beautifully clear weather for over a week. June, 2013.

 

[audreyh1]

Nice!

It was an amazing mountain to me, because rather than being somewhat obscured by foothills, it just rises up all by itself.

Pretty much indicates there is a fault at the base of such a mountain. Sure enough, the Denali Fault. The fault also curves which resulted in Mount McKinley being thrust up much higher than surrounding crust.

 

[f35phixer]

now i have to think about my camera....

Sony A6000 with 55-210 zoom. really thinking about a bridge camera... Nikon P1000 Coolpix

who has one, happy??