Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
if you really want to SEE Alaska..skip the cruise..all you see are the shops owned by Columbian drug lords, run by high schoolers and retirees who just want to make a few dollars during the summer...AK is nothing like those port towns...
fly into Anchorage and take the ferry to outer islands, or the train up to Denali...SEE Alaska the way it was meant to be seen...Naturally...
imo that is not entirely true. most people have a limited time and money allowance to see the real alaska and the shoreline is part of it. i took the land/cruise combo and got to see the interior and denali with all it's animals, but also got to see the calving of the ice, the glaciers and the wild marine mammals, which i would not have seen otherwise. additionally, since most of the populated part of alaska is on the edge of the sea, to not stop at the ports is to miss the towns and most opportunities to try sightseeing in different ways, such as helicoptering to the top of the glaciers, salmon fishing, etc. since i wasn't going to walk and swim through alaska, which would be the most natural way to see it, i think the land/cruise deal is second best.
when most people go on a vacation, it's a vacation. they want to see as much as possible, inland and oceanside. they don't necessarily want to move there. and what's wrong with making a few dollars during the summer?