116. Alaska by Land or Sea? Discover Which Alaskan Experience Belongs on Your Bucket List

One beautiful state...two different ways to explore it. In this episode, I'm breaking down the two most popular ways to experience luxury travel in Alaska: by sea on a breathtaking cruise or by land on an immersive railway adventure. You’ll learn what makes each option unique, which one might be a better fit for your travel style, and how to combine both for the ultimate bucket list trip.

Connect with Michele on IG: @jetsettingwithmichele or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/MMTinsiders

Contact Michele to plan your next vacation: www.makinmemoriestravel.co/contact

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Hello, jet setters and welcome back to another episode of Jet Setting with me. When you were a child, did you ever hear one if by land or two if by sea? That phrasing we probably learned as a child talking about the Revolutionary War history period. But the question was really which method of transportation were the British going to use to get to Boston? The ocean? Or were they going to come by land? And it is a very unique place that can be accessed by both land and sea. I mean, think about a map of the domestic United States. Most of it is 100% landlocked, but one of my very favorite states, maybe it inches into my favorite state. Well, Alaska can be accessed by both land and sea and in fact, both offer very unique ways to see the state. So today, join me as we dive into a very special this or that, Alaska by land, primarily using the Alaskan railway or guided tour or sea, AKA by cruise line. And we're going to uncover which journey unlocks true Alaskan magic.

Spoiler alert. You probably already know what I'm going to say at the very end. It's probably going to be both. Now, before we jump into Alaska by sea, few housekeeping notes. Just last week you heard my episode about Disneyland's 70th birthday party and how it was 100% worth going. Don't forget that. Now through next summer, there are special anniversary tickets with special pricing. So let me know if you want to take advantage of that.

Also, if you decide that you do want to do an Alaskan cruise and that that is your way to go. Virgin Voyages, one of my very favorite cruise lines is going to embark in summer 2026 on their latest lady ship, brand new to Alaska for their very first season in Alaska. So it's going to be their Mermaid Alaska voyage. And they have special rates available for that since it's a brand new ship on the Mermaid and Voyager that you can start booking now. Actually, you can book all of Alaska for 2026 now, but that is a Mermaid voyage, so that's going to book up much faster. Now let's dig into cruising. So if you've listened to episode 84 or you know me, or have been around me for more than 30 seconds, you absolutely know how much I love to cruise. I just will cruise anywhere just for the sake of being on a cruise ship and having all my meals prepared and not having to do my own laundry or make my bed.

It's just a great way to relax. Oh yeah, and they have spas. But an Alaskan cruise is truly, truly Special. When I got married to Mr. Setting with me, I had been to 49 out of the 50 states. And I absolutely knew that I wanted to do an Alaskan cruise for my honeymoon, that that was my 50th state. And I will never forget waking up and realizing that I was there In Alaska, my 50th state, when I opened the blinds on the first day we left out of Vancouver. So on our first day, as we pulled in, well, we were already fully docked by the time I woke up.

I open, and there is this cute coastal Alaskan city right out of a storybook moment. It was such a joy and so sentimentally. I cannot wait to go back and do another Alaska cruise. I mean, every day you are seeing the glaciers, the fjords, wildlife like whales just breaching just off the ship's bow. You can get into the Inside Passage, which obviously you wouldn't see if you were just doing land. So as I said, cruises sail right into hidden gems that you can't get to by land. I mentioned the Inside Passage Passage. There's Glacier Bay and there's the quaint ports like I mentioned of Ketchikan, and then of course, Juneau, which is the capital.

And those are quite tricky to reach by road. So here on a cruise, you get to disembark, you get to explore some of that, what I call God's country. It is very undisturbed by humans, and the wildlife definitely rules it. Excursions include things like kayaking alongside the whales or you can take a helicopter tour or seaplane. We did both on this trip. And they do have certain cruise lines have private islands just like they do in the Caribbean that they support. And those tours usually have native storytellers and dancing, which we did get to support a local community. We also went to the Eagle Wildlife Eagle Preserve and saw real eagles.

I think I've told the story about how we rescued. Well, unfortunately, it wasn't a rescue, but how we took an injured. Okay, it was dead eagle back to where it could be buried. It was just laying out on our, you know, as we passed. And that was in a rowboat, I think a long rowboat. That was a really fun tour. And of course, my favorite thing about cruising, you only unpack once. There's no long transfers.

There's naturalist talks on board. Announcements are made when there are whales or other sea life. And of course, as we went into Glacier Bay, could see the glacier from my balcony. But there is no time to explore inland Alaska. Now let's talk about if you want to do inland Alaska. And the Alaskan Railroad has some great packages that they do a little more do it yourself or do it with me, your your travel advisor. They're not necessarily easy to maneuver, so you need to be a little bit more of an independent travel. But let me tell you that the railroad journey is all about slow luxury travel.

You get to really see the panoramic mountain ranges and obviously the serene river scapes that you don't get into in a cruise ship. It's got some vast wilderness that you get to see and wildlife. And you see it up close because the train windows are clear. They have the expansive train windows that go from the very top, like a glass covered ceiling, all the way down to the window. And it really gives you an experience of how big and vast the state of Alaska really is. So you do get to see charming towns like Talkeetna and Denali, Fairbanks, which you definitely don't get to see on a cruise. And I know that because we tried everything we could to get to Denali and that's why I have to go back. Still haven't seen it.

With a rail tour you can of course go for multiple days so that you get to actually really customize how much time you spend in each of these great places. Denali, for example, has some great lodges where you can go outside of Denali and stay in a lodge and go back and forth. I know many people who say you need three days to see that national park. If you want an intimate, self directed adventure, this could be the way to go. My favorite thing about seeing Alaska over rail is that it really immerses you in the culture and the way that an ocean cruise just can't. I mentioned they have private islands and that you get to meet some locals there. But really if you're taking an Alaskan over land or railway, you really do get the friendly local hosts. You get all the historic rail stories, which are really amazing.

They talk about the Gold Rush. You mix and mingle with true Alaska travelers. So it's definitely a more grounded, authentic connection to the people of Alaska. And talking to locals who live in Alaska is so cool, especially the people who were born and raised there and who really don't know anything different. Their stories are just amazing. It's one of the best things about visiting them now. In episode 113, just a few weeks ago, I talked about how much I loved my Globus escorted tour. So Globus does offer escorted tours into Alaska and they use the Alaska Railway for part of that tour.

So you get all the benefits of riding the Alaska Railroad with somebody who has done it all for you, where Porteridge is included and you don't have to think about anything like you just get on and find your seat. But they also offer behind the scenes tours, like when you go to Denali, you get to visit a naturalist in his or her home and get a talk from them. You of course get to do dog sledding, kennels and dog sled riding. And then you get to ride the Alaska Railroad, which in itself is really cool. I mentioned, you know, the open glass covered railroad cars. The tours do however involve more time spent on buses or trains. Obviously when you're on a cruise you can just spend that time on your balcony or up on the pool deck. They have rocking chairs instead of like to lay out by the pool because it's usually too cold to do that.

They have rocking chairs and blankets and you can just sit there on the cruise deck and watch the inside passage. So you would be on a bus instead of on a balcony. There are very limited ocean views when you're doing a land tour. So if seeing the ocean really relaxes you, this might not be the best option for you and it offers fewer opportunities. You're not going to really see glaciers or the whales because you need to be near the water for that. So tours are going to offer a more in depth exploration of inland Alaska, including Denali and other attractions. You're going to have unique activities like dog sledding and meeting of the local experts. But cruises are going to provide the more scenic views of the glaciers and the wildlife from the water and maybe have a bit more relaxed pace.

So which is right for you? Well, of course, you know me. Why settle for one when you can do both? So I recently went to my signature consortia conference and I met with Holland America. And I've never talked about Holland America before because the one Cruise we did, Mr. Dutsetting and me, we were the youngest people and we are empty nesters. So really didn't think Holland America was necessarily the best way to go. But for Alaska, it is absolutely the best cruise line to take weight. Reason being, they are the only ones. They're the only cruise line that ventures deep enough into Alaska's rugged frontier.

They offer exclusive access to the mysterious Yukon Territory, which we'll get into in a minute. But where they go is actually in northern Canada. But if you do a cruise tour with Holland America, so you see the inside passage from the ship, the whales, the eagles, the ocean views, all of that, then you can do the land portion where you're going to see Denali, you're going to see Fairbanks, and as I said, you're going to get to go by rail to the mysterious Yukon Territory. And even one of the rails that they use in conjunction with Alaska railroad is one of the historic rail trains. So really cool. And you can experience what it was like to go on the Klondike Gold rush. Now I just have to read this to you because I wouldn't do it justice. And this is a little bit of history and why this just sounds so cool.

And it's now on my bucket list and it should be on yours too. So it's northern Canada's largest city from frontier routes. So during the Klondike Gold rush, prospectors would wash up there in Dawson City. And to prevent mass starvation, the government required every gold stampeder, they were called stampeders, to haul along a year's supply of goods. So they had to bring a whole year supply of goods with them if they were going up into the frontier. And Dawson City was kind of the last stop where they could get all this stuff. And that's where the place you go on this cruise tour is, Dawson City. So this is what they had to bring with them.

10 pounds of coffee, 150 pounds of bacon, and 400 pounds of flour. That was a part of the total of over a thousand pounds of grub. So they had to get sundries like picks, ropes, their wool socks. It quickly brought the load up to the reading that I'm quoting from. Says a ton, but who knows what that really is. And so the terminus, the northern terminus of the railway from Skagway, it was called Whitehorse. And it boomed because it was as far north as the would be miners and their freight could travel by train. And then from there they had to take stern wheelers down the upper Yukon river to the mining town of Dawson City.

Dawson City is now that territory's capital. So Whitehorse stands at Historic Mile 918 of the Alaska Highway. And according to the Guinness book of World Records, it has the world's lowest level of metropolitan air pollution. Like, we all need to go there now. It remains a popular tourist stop for attractions like the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. And they have a whole museum called the Magma Museum, which if you do this Holland America cruise tour, you get to see all of these places that I just talked about. You really step into the shoes of a prospector. You can even pan for gold.

Yes, there is some gold still there. But here is the real reason we all need to do this Holland America cruise tour. Dawson City is the only place in the world where you can drink a cocktail with a real human toe plunked into it. And on that note, travelers, I hope you're having a great summer and I will see you next week. Happy jet setting.