First time cruisers sometimes wonder what a “cruise tour” might be. A “tour” of the cruiseship perhaps?

Well, no... When you buy an Alaska cruise tour (also called a "cruisetour" or a "cruise-tour") you purchase a package that includes a basic cruise plus additional tours, travel, and destinations ashore either before or after the cruise. Your pre-cruise and post-cruise choices range from wilderness lodges and national parks to scenic rail and motorcoach excursions, riverboat journeys, travel to Canada’s Yukon Territory, and any number of other pleasurable things-to-do and places-to-see. 

All necessary transportation, hotels, tours, and transfers  – including, of course, your basic cruise – are usually covered in a single purchase. Exceptions: Some meals ashore may or may not be included; gratuities seldom are.

The cruise tour category offered most by cruiselines is a one- or multiple-night option featuring luxury rail travel or motorcoach from Anchorage to Denali National Park. The package may or may not include a sightseeing bus ride deep into the park’s interior in search of grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall mountain sheep, foxes, and - if you’re incredibly lucky - wolves or wolverines. Some Denali tours extend north to (or from) Fairbanks.

Farthest-roaming choice is a trip by air from Anchorage or Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, followed by luxury motorcoach travel (paralleling the Trans Alaska Pipeline) on the Dalton “haul road” to rustic Coldfoot and Fairbanks. This, in turn may be followed by rail or motorcoach travel back to Anchorage. Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Cruise West offer variations on this theme.

Here is only a small sample, among scores of options available, that are offered by the various cruiselines. The list will give you an idea of the wide variety of cruisetours and extended stay opportunities from which you may choose:

Large Cruiseships

All four of Carnival Cruise Line's Alaska-based cruisetours listed on the company website include seven nights, eight days' cruising between Vancouver and Anchorage. The line's longest post-cruise tour adds four additional nights, during which cruisers tour Anchorage, board the McKinley Explorer luxury train to Denali National Park, overnight there and take the natural history tour of the park. They then proceed again by luxury rail to Fairbanks in Alaska's interior region where they take part in a gold mining tour and a sternwheel riverboat cruise on the Chena and Tanana rivers. The tour ends with a transfer to Fairbanks International Airport and flights home. 

A number of Alaska cruises feature ground travel within Western Canada before or after an Alaska cruise. Among them: Celebrity Cruises' tour of the Canadian Rockies. Cruisers can experience a host of incredible sights from the cosmopolitan city of Vancouver to Banff National Park, considered one of the world's seven wonders. All this, and travel on Rocky Mountaineer® RedLeaf Service® traincars, promises to be a vacation not soon forgotten.

Among it roster of cruisetours, Holland America Line offers a 10-night cruisetour  which includes four days (three nights) sailing from Vancouver to Skagway –  cruising en route through spectacular, steep-walled Tracy Arm Fjord to see twin Sawyer Glaciers, visiting Alaska's capital city Juneau, then proceeding to goldrush-era Skagway and a ride aboard the vintage White Pass & Yukon Route railway. The tour then proceeds by  HAL Explorer motorcoach to Whitehorse, capital of Canada's Yukon Territory. Days five and six offer travelers ever-continuing views of rugged, sub-Arctic landscapes and a natural history presentation near Canada's Kluane National Park. Past Beaver Creek and on to Fairbanks, Alaska on day 7 travelers ride the sternwheel paddleboat Discovery on a two-river journey, then visit the University of Alaska's fascinating Museum of the North. On days 8 and 9 come: spectacular deluxe rail travel to Denali National Park, a five-hour Denali Natural History tour of the park, then on day 9, and additional luxury rail travel to Anchorage. The cruise and land tour ends on day 10 with departure to home cities.

Norwegian Cruise Line does not offer pre- or post-cruise tour options as such, but the NCL website lists extensive land excursions and tours in Seattle, Vancouver, and Anchorage.

One of the most popular of Princess Cruises' post-cruise programs is its “Direct to the Wilderness” option under which passengers can disembark at Whittier following a seven-night cruise from Vancouver and immediately board the line’s private train cars for a same-day direct rail link to Princess’ wilderness lodges in Denali National Park. Other options include same-day arrivals at the cruiseline’s wilderness lodges at Copper River or on the Kenai Peninsula.

Among 21 Royal Caribbean International pre- or post-Alaska tours is a Whistler Cruisetours Experience featuring Vancouver and the magical town of Whistler, B.C. Travel is by deluxe motorcoach and Whistler Mountaineer® railcars on a 10-night cruisetour package. The premier resort town of Whistler is located at the base of the beautiful Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. There are endless activities to enjoy, from hiking and biking to canoeing and even summer skiing. Whistler Cruisetour packages are offered before or after an Alaska cruise.

Mid-Size Vessels

Regent Seven Seas Cruises describes this post-cruise option as "Alaska by Private Plane." It's a two night program, offered in conjunction with disembarkation. Says Regent's website: "Private Skytrekking is the ultimate wildlife experience in the "great land". With your private pilot-guide, you'll visit the backcountry, fly over glaciers, and enjoy prize-winning photographic opportunities. Imagine soaring over a high ridge top, gliding past a family of mountain goats grazing on lush green grass. As you clear the ridge, look back: a waterfall spills five hundred feet in a series of cascades to the verdant foothills below. Off to your right, an opaque river snakes down from a glacial remnant, clinging to a cleft in the mountain range. Fly over country seldom explored by man. Land on river bars to observe bears, with no hint of human presence. Picnic among brilliant wildflowers in the intense Alaskan summer.

Smaller Ships

For anglers, American Safari Cruises can tailor short or longer extended stays out of Juneau, Sitka Petersburg, and Prince Rupert, B.C in order to sample unsurpassed saltwater fishing for lunker king salmon and silvers, huge halibut, searun steelhead trout, and other species. Or, the cruiseline can arrange fly-fishing adventures by floatplane to remote coves, streams, and lakes. 

With small ship cruiseline Cruisewest travelers can add interior Alaska's number one visitor attraction – Denali National Park – to their cruising experience. The tour begins in Anchorage with  a dine-around dinner experience and a tour of the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, continues with deluxe motorcoach travel to Talkeetna where cruisers transfer to dome-car rail travel en route to Denali National Park and a two-day visit which includes a choice among three experiences: Denali Park Tundra Wilderness Tour, Denali History Tour, or full-day Kantishna end-of-te-road tour. On each of these tours there are opportunities to view grizzly bears, caribou, moose, Dall sheep, and other species.