Alaska Ferry - worth $6600 round trip?

[Fly at Night]

Unless I missed something - when is your planned trip?

Traversing B.C. north to south involves some mountain driving. From October to April, your tow vehicle must be equipped with snow tires, or you may face a fine if stopped.

[dannydimitt]

My vote goes for canceling the ferry and enjoy the breathtaking scenery , good roads , wonderful Canadians and Drive both ways ! A must see is the route past lake Louise to Jasper , then up through Grande Cache to Grande Prairie , turn left and head for Dawson Creek and Mile post 0 . Be sure to take the road through Dawson , Yukon , then on to Chicken and Tok .
On the way back you must take the Cassier ! You will hate yourself in the long run for wasting many thousands of dollars and not seeing Gods country along the way !

[cando]

We drove up years ago and brought the pickup with a camper back on the boat. No you aren't allowed to sleep in your camper, but you can go down to see it or to feed your pet etc. from time to time. We had a wonderful two months, and the ferry trip back sleeping on the deck was great. We were plenty warm from the heat lights above us each night and met lots of great people from all over the world. Everyone watched over each other's stuff when we went to shower or eat. All this being said, I would still drive one way and ferry home. If you don't have lots of time, another option is to experience the state ferry for far less money because you don't take the camper and rent a pickup truck with a camper or a different type of camper and enjoy exploring Alaska.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by RamblinManGa

snip>>>get off at all the places that you can't get to any other way for a few days<<<snip

I think that's the best idea so far!

[bikrmikey]

We did an Alaska trip in 2006. 2 months total time on the road. We had a great experience on the Ferry portion and saw places you can't drive to. We drove going up did a big loop and got on the Ferry at Haines, on-off several places and permanently off at Prince Rupert. You get a much different experience on the ferry than on a cruise ship. There are many towns that are not serviced by cruise ships and I like those towns much better. Also being in the cruise ship towns after the ships leave each evening is much more enjoyable than dealing with the tourists from the ships. The ferry portion enhanced our trip. If you are just taking the ferry for transportation and staying on then that is a little different.

[PKI]

A $6600 ferry ride is not an investment that we would make. But then we have never had an enjoyable ferry ride and would hate to miss out on the bragging rights of doing the drive. Pat

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by NWRVR

I agree, the Alaska Highway drive is the adventure. We drove it both ways in the summer of 1972 in a VW camper and tent with four adults and three children from two to seven years old. At that time, it was all gravel from Whitehorse to the Alaska border, now it is mostly paved. We still reminisce about that trip and can't wait to do it in our AS. So, take the Ferry up and drive back, but take your time and enjoy!

Perfect thread for us too.
We are planing an Alaska trip for 2017. This year we are heading out East since all of our trips the last 3 years have been out West. My question is do it solo or join the caravan? We are both bit of a loners and never joined a caravan before.

[Isuzusweet]

Just a suggestion for a route either which way.

Get the BC ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy or from Port Hardy to Prince Rupertand then the US ferry from Vancouver island to Seattle Washington or Seattle to Vancouver Island. Beautiful drive across Vancouver island through the Malihat and then a beautiful cruise through the inner coast line of B.C, with the whales.

http://www.bcferries.com/files/image...routes_map.pdf

Cheers
Tony

[Arcticfox]

Originally Posted by bikrmikey

We did an Alaska trip in 2006. 2 months total time on the road. We had a great experience on the Ferry portion and saw places you can't drive to. We drove going up did a big loop and got on the Ferry at Haines, on-off several places and permanently off at Prince Rupert. You get a much different experience on the ferry than on a cruise ship. There are many towns that are not serviced by cruise ships and I like those towns much better. Also being in the cruise ship towns after the ships leave each evening is much more enjoyable than dealing with the tourists from the ships. The ferry portion enhanced our trip. If you are just taking the ferry for transportation and staying on then that is a little different.

Interesting prospective and a wonderful recommendation of how to do Alaska. I could not agree more.

As one who has spent about 25 years in the high Arctic, there is nothing more superficial than a cruise ship showing up in a community. It's (okay) for the community as the locals get to sell a few trinkets. The tourist get to take a few pictures and feel like they are being immersed in the stop. It doesn't matter that the reality of this immersion is superficial at best.

Cheers
Doug

[Rocinante]

If you're a little short on time, the ferry up as walk-on passengers, an RV rental in AK and then a flight back would probably be great. When you have more time in some future year, you also could do the drive up and back with your RV.

[Arcticfox]

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

Perfect thread for us too.
We are planing an Alaska trip for 2017. This year we are heading out East since all of our trips the last 3 years have been out West. My question is do it solo or join the caravan? We are both bit of a loners and never joined a caravan before.

Hi Frank - The caravan / solo question is a hard one to answer as everyone is different. For us, we like the comradery of traveling with other airstreamer's, but not in a formalized caravan. Doing a "Are you Heading Our Way" arrangement, allows us to travel for a few days or even a couple weeks with others and then go our own way and meet up again later if we want to.

We're actually planning an eastern trip also this year. As we want to get it done before Canada's 150th birthday in 2017. Our guess is the hot tourist spots in Canada will get a lot busier with the birthday celebration and the reality of a .60$. So 2016 for Eastern Canada and into the NE corner of the USA will work for us. I think we will try and set it up so we end with the Urban Air Rally in Eaton Rapids, Michigan in mid to late October.

Here is an image I grabbed from the Urban-Air FaceBook page. It looks like it would be a good stop and a fun event

Cheers
Doug

[NWRVR]

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

Perfect thread for us too.
We are planing an Alaska trip for 2017. This year we are heading out East since all of our trips the last 3 years have been out West. My question is do it solo or join the caravan? We are both bit of a loners and never joined a caravan before.

We did it solo, but when we go again it will be in a caravan of at least two units for support and safety.

[oxblood]

We did our Alaska RV trip in 2009 from Austin to TOK and beyond in 2009. Best trip we have ever taken in our 2003 34' A/S Classic limited with 2 labs. We considered a cruise on the way back and glad we did not. This trip needs to be seen from the road unless you want to do the inside passage separately which we want to do sometime. The Alaskan highway was fabulous but don't miss the Cassiar Hwy, Hyder, Skagway, Kanastin Lake Provincial Park and Atlin Lake in BC (Norm will leave a chair out to reserve your site!!) My wife and I took 500 photos of bald eagles in flight over 2 days in Valdez! Good luck.

[B00merang]

Like the Chief says "its the journey" that makes most of us head up to Alaska. Last fall I drove up the Cassiar, Alaska, and Top-of-the-World Hwys to Anchorage (kinda a dump), then back down to Skagway and took the ferry back to Prince Rupert, cut east, and drove through the Canadian Rockies south from Jasper. Re your question is the drive worth it....most definitely. Its ALL paved (tho you get stretches of loose gravel in construction segments), but its beautiful country....made for pulling a camper. And like Cameron says, it'll never get cheaper given the ratio of the US/CA $. Similarly, the inside passage is beautiful...and totally relaxing. And Scherzi is correct...you cannot stay in your camper, though you can get to it while in ports. Its a great trip...a bucket list trip.

[B00merang]

one mistake....the Top of the World Highway....besides not really being a highway....is not paved. In fact, its pretty slippery during rains, full of very bad potholes, and without any guard rails to keep you from sliding off the steep edges. I didn't know that part before I had committed. The decent into Chicken is also pretty intense....but man, what beautiful sights.

[drew05]

Interesting thread. Alaska is on our bucket list in the next 3-5 years..

Good Luck and enjoy

[TouringDan]

I agree. Great thread for planning a "bucket list" trip to Alaska. Thanks.

Dan

[dfschultz]

Here is what some friends said about the trip:
I don't have access to that page and probably should not set up one as I don't have an Airstream. However, we did enjoy that trip up on the ferry from Bellingham and drove back. There is a naturalist on board that points out many things we would have missed. We stayed 2 1/2 months and drove back the end of August when fall was starting up there. Roads were much better on the way back but if they are concerned about time the ferry is the way to go. You can copy and paste that into the forum if you wish.

[Nelson428]

My Parents and I will be departing May 1st and spending the summer up in the Far North once again this year as many of the past 30. Hope to see everyone out in the Wilderness. ENJOY !!


J Nelson
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