My favorite vacation place is,,,,

[tiger8mush]

My wife is planning a trip to Alaska right now for next summer. Our family of 4 and another family of 4. Kids will be ages 8 thru 12.

Current thought is to fly into Seattle and take a cruise ship up there.

For you Alaska lovers, any recommendations? Better alternatives to a cruise? We have about a week and don't want to spend more than $6-7k per family (figure at least $1k of that will be for flights).

[BearBailey]

I would take the cruise out of Seattle, and if you can spend 3 days in Seattle before hand assuming the Mariners are in town and catch some games and other highlights in Seattle, them just relax and enjoy that cruise, unbelievable excursions to choose from for all kinds of different budgets.

[rommesc]

My wife and I did a self-guided trip to Alaska last summer and can't wait to go back again someday. We used a combination of Alaska Air, Alaska Marine Highway Ferries, Bus, and the Alaska Railroad. This mode of transportation allowed us to spend more time in each town than if we had been on a cruise and was comparable in price. However, it did take a few nights of research to layout the plan. We went to Ketchikan, Juneau, Gustavus, Fairbanks, Denali Park, and last stop was Anchorage.

When we go back to Alaska someday, will just focus on Juneau and Glacier Bay National Park. Seeing brown bear up close on Admiralty Island was awesome and we loved kayaking in Glacier Bay National Park.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

My wife is planning a trip to Alaska right now for next summer. Our family of 4 and another family of 4. Kids will be ages 8 thru 12.

Current thought is to fly into Seattle and take a cruise ship up there.

For you Alaska lovers, any recommendations? Better alternatives to a cruise? We have about a week and don't want to spend more than $6-7k per family (figure at least $1k of that will be for flights).

I have spent over 40 days in Alaska on four separate occasions. I never took a cruise.
Take a land trip, plan it yourself.
You can PM me and we can chat more. I already helped one other Net54 member plan his trip.
Go to Denali, Anchorage, Seward, Redoubt Bay, Talkeetna, Fairbanks, Arctic Circle. And be sure to take the Alaska Railroad as often as you can. Ride in the Dome Section. Costs more but well worth it, food, bar, observation deck.

[ALR-bishop]

Agree on the Alaskan RR. Took it from Fairbanks to Anchorage with overnights in Denali and Talkeetna. Then took cruise from Seward to Vancouver. The stops include Hubbard Bay and the big glacier there. After time in Vancouver took the Rocky Mountaineer, similar to the Alaskan RR, down through Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff to Calgary.

If your budget can accommodate it you can charter a small plane while in Talkeetna to get above the clouds for better views of Denali which often can not be seen either from the Park or Talkeetna because of cloud cover

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Agree on the Alaskan RR. Took it from Fairbanks to Anchorage with overnights in Denali and Talkeetna. Then took cruise from Seward to Vancouver. The stops include Hubbard Bay and the big glacier there. After time in Vancouver took the Rocky Mountaineer, similar to the Alaskan RR, down through Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff to Calgary.

If your budget can accommodate it you can charter a small plan while in Talkeetna to get above the clouds for better views of Denali which often can not be seek either from the Park or Talkeetna because of cloud cover

Al,
Agree on that Talkeetna flight to Denali. That was totally amazing. We landed on a glacier too.
And to the original post about Alaska, the air was about $1000 RT from NYC for one.
Alaska is an expensive vacation but so worth it. If anyone wants a couple of money saving tips just PM me.
I am already hoping to get back there in 2020.