RV Cruises

[calsteve]

Hi,

Heard in general conversation while getting my hair cut the other day about an Alaska cruise where they loaded the RV on the ship in WA and you did the cruise to Alaska and drove the RV back.
Is anybody familiar with this?

Thanks,

[doc]

We checked into that a few years back, thinking of loading in Vancouver and unloading in Anchorage. Was going to spend a few weeks doing the area and then drive back, having seen the coast and interior. Sounded great until we got to the price. We had a 36 foot pusher back then and towed a Tracker. Figured without a toad there would be a lot we would miss. Anyway, they charge by the foot on the MH and it was going to run something like 3500 dollars just for the coach and still had to pay for the Tracker and a place to sleep. You cannot sleep or stay below decks on the ferry and the refrigerator cannot be on or the LP valve open.
I would still like to do it, but the price is just too much in this economy.

[Ray,IN]

Vaguely, It's called the Alaska Marine Highway ferry. Expensive to take a long RV, and you cannot access your RV while underway, but I anticipate the experience will outweigh those minor distractions. We are contemplating doing this in 2012, or joining this RV Tour instead.

[pacevette]

Our family took a trip to Alaska back in 1992. We did travel the Alaska marine highway but we also were in a 26' mh. It is quite the experience. But it is so expensive to do it nowadays. My wife and I looked into recently just out of curiosity and couldn't believe what the cost was. But if you have the means to do it I highly recommend it.

[Jnana]

Might I suggest checking with Cruise lines. We took a Holland American cruise to Skagway, then got a rented RV and toured. It was all in one package. They even made all the reservations at campgrounds for us - which we could use or not. A great way to become familiar with Alaska. Several years later we flew up and rented and RV for 2 weeks and made our own plans. Having driven on the roads up there I would not want to take my own RV.

[Smitty3509]

Yea, we looked at prices too.............. didn't do it. Instead we Cruised up, rented a RV for three weeks, then cruised back down. We rented from Great Alaskan Adventure, they have a whole fleet of 3 year or newer Winnebago Class C units. We chose to cruise back because it was cheaper than flying Alaskan Airlines (does that make sense?). That was a GREAT trip! We thought 3 weeks would be enough that we wouldn't need to go again, NOT. We are planning another trip. You can read about some of our trip on my blog at: smittyandsandy.blogspot.com

[calsteve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN Vaguely, It's called the Alaska Marine Highway ferry. Expensive to take a long RV, and you cannot access your RV while underway, but I anticipate the experience will outweigh those minor distractions. We are contemplating doing this in 2012, or joining this RV Tour instead.

Checked into both of these and they sound interesting. Plan on retiring next year and maybe the cruise and drive will be a nice way to spend the summer and see places I didn't have the time to see before.
Will probably take my yearly bonus, which comes a month before I retire and the payout for my vacation time and see what I can do.

Thanks to everybody for your replies.

Steve

[RickO]

Funny this should come up now because we recently met a new neighbor who told us about taking this trip with her Foretravel Club and loving it. I can imagine it's quite expensive though.

Rick

[MaverickBBD]

I would not consider the Alaska state ferry a cruise by any measure. Have to love the people that camp out on the decks though. Love to go to that part of town and watch them load and unload the ferry. You are only allowed to access your RV once per day. Plan your ride and drive routes carefully.