John Hall's Alaska Blog

This week as the lower 48 states were reporting record HIGH temps, Alaska was hit with some record LOW temps.

Ironically, as the all-time lowest  temperature for North America was about to be documented in Alaska, the official temperature gauge ran out of batteries! Guess we will never know for sure how low that temperature really went.

Here’s a look at the temperature records set this week in Alaska:

Enjoying the beautiful weather down in Florida?

Good.

Planning on attending the upcoming John Hall’s Alaska Alumni event in The Villages on February 25th, 2012?

GREAT!

If you live in the area and have previously traveled with John Hall’s Alaska, are going in 2012, or are thinking about traveling with John Hall’s Alaska, then you are invited!

Details:

February 25, 2012 @ 7-9pm
Hibiscus Recreation Center
1740 Bailey Trail
The Villages, Florida

Please RSVP with your name and the number attending to:   lauren@kissalaska.com

With the tragic sinking of the cruise ship Costa Concordia near the Tuscan island of Giglio this past week, its understandable that prospective cruisers might have some reservations about spending time at sea.

Its important to look at the facts about cruise ship safety and specifically safety while at sea in Alaska.

On board safety is a top priority-
Safety cross checks begin at the moment that you book your cruise. Passport numbers given at the time of booking are verified ahead of time for each individual.

On your day of sailing, all cruise guests and luggage must go through a security screening. Security screenings continue throughout the cruise whenever guests step off of the ship in Alaska’s beautiful ports of call and wish to re-board the ship.

Cruise ships leaving from the United States are also required to participate in mandatory lifeboat drills before setting sail. This means that all Royal Caribbean and Celebrity passengers will at some point be asked to take their life vest and gather on deck at a designated life boat station. Passengers are then taught how to operate the life vests and detailed emergency procedures are reviewed.

Navigation Safety-
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s senior vice president of marine operations, Captain Bill Wright, recently pointed out that travel by cruise ship continues to be extremely safe. At a question and answer session last week he stated that there were just 21 fatalities resulting from incidents at sea out of 117 million passengers carried worldwide between 2005 and 2011. Many of these fatalities were alcohol related and were preventable.  

Captain Bill Wright speaks from experience. He earned his Master Mariner license in Norway in 1991 and received a Master’s degree in Marine Engineering from Vestfold College in Norway in 1992.

We, at John Hall’s Alaska, would like you to know that cruise lines across the globe have a tremendous record of safety. Alaska cruise guests should feel confident that whether they choose Celebrity or Royal Caribbean, their on board captain and supporting staff have years of experience behind them and have sailed the Inside Passage, in most cases, hundreds of times. Just one summer of Alaska cruising will put 50-75 Inside Passage sailings under a captains belt.

If you have any additional concerns about cruising, please feel free to give us a call at 800.325.2270. We will do our best to address your specific concerns. 

John Jr. and Joe;

In the closing days of 2011, we just wanted to express our sincere thanks for setting up the “Trip of a Lifetime” for us this past June.  14 days, 2200 miles around the state of Alaska was a wonderful experience for everyone in the family.  The work you all did in helping us plan, setting up tours & trips, lodging, Barrow, Halibut fishing , rafting down “6 Mile Creek” and landing on Ruth Glacier was a true lifelong memorable experience that we still talk and laugh about today. This trip would have been impossible without your help.  You guys are the Best in the Business.

We attached a couple of pictures of the highlights from the  1000’s we took:

Thanks Again for helping us make this trip possible.

The Tom Moyer Family

Oronoco, MN.

While our home offices in Lake City, Minnesota are enjoying a balmy 56 degrees today, our friends in Cordova, Alaska are suffering from some severe snow fall!

More than 18 feet of snow has fallen in the past few weeks, trapping residents in their homes and collapsing roof tops! The National Guard has been called in to help free people from their homes and clear away some of the snow.

We absolutely love the quaint fishing village of Cordova which actually looks like this in the summer:

Good luck and happy digging to our friends in Cordova!~ Hang in there!

Meet the newest member of the Hall family! Annabelle is an English Mastiff and loves visiting the John Hall’s Alaska office to make sure everyone has a smile on their face and is working hard. She has become our new mascot. Here are some pics!

To speak with Annabelle about your upcoming Alaska trip please call 800-325-2270. She gives better service if you send treats!

Here we continue the theme of  ”Getting Your Money’s Worth in Alaska”.
Did you miss PART ONE?  Read it HERE.

Traveling to Alaska generally requires a large investment  so doing your research can help ensure a worry free vacation!
Let’s talk about ways to plan and better protect yourself:

Ownership of the Product:

Look for tour providers who have “skin in the game”, meaning their reputations are on the line if you, the consumer, don’t like what they are offering.  Ask questions and get to know more about the operation you are considering booking with. What do they have to lose if you aren’t happy with their product?  Do they closely associate their name with quality?  Do they own the motor coaches you will be riding on or do they hire that out?  If someone else operates the tour, who will take care of you once the actual tour begins?

If the tour provider just sells space and doesn’t operate anything themselves, they could potentially deflect blame and refuse to help you sort out future problems.

Easing In and Out of Alaska:
In general, an Alaska land tour of any length will have a strict daily schedule and earlier mornings. An Alaska cruise will be at your leisure and more relaxing. Think about this when you plan your Alaska vacation schedule. Tackle the long flight and daily schedule while you’re fresh on your vacation. Relax on the cruise and enjoy a shorter flight home at the end of your vacation. We always recommend a land tour before a southbound cruise because it’s simply easier on the traveler.

Escorted Tours:
There are several levels of service that can be applied to the phrase “Escorted Tour” so do some checking.  Your tour guide can make or break a vacation.  Ask your potential tour operator the extent to which the tour is escorted.  Will you have the same tour guide throughout your entire trip?  Are there any instances where you would be on your own?  Will your tour guide go on the daily excursions with you or sit them out?  Will this individual share their knowledge of Alaska during the tour or will they be acting as a personal concierge?  Is your tour guide actually from Alaska or just up for the summer?  How many years experience does your potential tour guide have in escorting and guiding groups?

Cancellation Penalties:
Read between the lines.  Watch out for hidden cancellation fees, change fees and non-refundable administrative fees.  Most reputable Alaska tour providers will allow for changes and cancellations at no additional fee if sufficient notice is given. (John Hall’s Alaska provides complete refunds for written cancellations 75 days out.)  If you are penalized for canceling more than 3 months out, that’s generally just money in the tour agency’s pocket.

Double Trouble-  Feeling pressured to take advantage of on-the-spot booking discounts but facing non-refundable cancellation fees if you decide to change your mind – This is the number one recipe for buyer’s remorse!

Going Beyond Denali:
Consider the possibilities that exist beyond the typical Anchorage to Denali to Fairbanks route.  This route, following the George Parks Highway, serves as the most efficient way for operators to bring visitors in and out of Alaska.  It gets pretty busy during the summer months and there’s a good reason for this as Denali National Park and Mt. McKinley are well worth the trip!  Yet, we urge you to consider operators who can get you off of this beaten path to explore the quieter side of Alaska.  Less crowds, less lines and less noise will bring you closer to that tremendous wilder side which Alaska absolutely loves to show off!

Utilize these helpful tips and don’t be afraid to ask questions of your potential tour operator.  You are investing a lot of hard-earned cash into your Alaska vacation and you may only have a chance to visit Alaska once.

Make your money count!

For further questions or concerns please call 800-325-2270 to speak with an Alaska Specialist today!

John Hall Jr and Lauren Hall are proud to announce they are expecting their first baby! 

The little guy (yes- its a boy) is due out this spring, around March 12th.

Hears hoping he will love Alaska as much as we do and eventually become a 4th generation John Hall’s Alaska family member!

Online ratings and review sites are now a popular way for people to get real information on what to see and do when traveling.  Yet, even with the sea of social networking sites available to consumers, you can never be too careful when it comes to choosing an Alaska tour operator.

Alaska is a vast, mostly undisturbed and sometimes raw destination. Due to its remote qualities, it can become one of your more pricey family vacation spots. Alaska can be viewed by plane, rail, road and air so the vehicle by which you view Alaska is also a decision to be made.  With so many variables,  it is extremely important that potential Alaska visitors review all possible scenarios before making an educated decision.

So how do you know that you are getting your money’s worth?

Lets shed some light on common areas where guests tend to get stuck during the planning process:

1. DENALI NATIONAL PARK:

(Above pic: See this on Kantishna Wilderness Tour only!)
By far the most visited destination in interior Alaska outside of Anchorage (which really only gets this title because its the arrival point for 75% of visitors to Alaska), Denali National Park is known for its wildlife viewing, Mt. McKinley and Wonder Lake scenery.  Many travelers assume that any tour visiting Denali National park will bring them both scenery and wildlife…NOT TRUE!

There are only three tours available in Denali National Park.

The shortest one is the Natural History Tour. This tour covers only 19 miles on the Denali Park road and gives you a chance to see a moose and that’s about it. This 19 mile stretch of road is open to the public so you get much more traffic and as a result, animals will generally avoid this stretch of the road. This also means that cars, motorcoaches, RVs, buses and anyone else can venture this far without paying the Natural History Tour ticket price. We highly doubt you invested your time and money and traveled this far into Alaska to travel 19 miles into Denali National Park. AVOID THIS TOUR!

Your second choice is the Tundra Wilderness Tour, covering about 53 miles of the Denali Park Rd.  This offers guests a chance to see Alaska’s big five- Dall sheep, Caribou, Bear, Moose and Wolves. This tour also brings you some stellar views of Mt. McKinley. Everyone traveling past mile 19 of the Denali Park Rd must do so on state mandated park buses that are basically dressed up school buses with better shocks and some pretty awesome animal viewing cameras installed.  I will repeat- there is no way to see this part of Denali in your own car or by luxury motorcoach (unless you happen to be the lucky winner of the Road Lottery – and I quote from the park’s website: “The Road lottery takes place each fall. 400 private cars per day are allowed to drive the park road over a four day period. The road is open for travel in Sep.”). THIS IS A QUALITY TOUR.

I saved the best for last with the Kantishna Wilderness Tour.  Only the Kantishna tour takes guests 95 miles deep to the very end of the Denali Park road.  It is estimated (and confirmed by our past guests’ reported animal sightings) that visitors can see about 40% more wildlife over the Tundra Wilderness Tour.  Again, you have the chance to see Alaska’s big five and Mt. McKinley but the biggest highlight is Wonder Lake.  Almost everyone who considers Alaska has seen the picture of Wonder lake with Mt. McKinley in the background (see picture at beginning of this section).  The only way to see this in real life is to journey on the Kantishna Wilderness Tour!  We recommend planning to stay the evening in Kantishna if you do venture this far to get the very best Denali National Park experience available! THE BEST TOUR IN DENALI!

 Up your chances of seeing Mt. McKinley and wildlife by planning to spend a minimum of 2 days and 3 nights in Denali National Park.

2. LIMITING TIME ON THE RAIL:

“A great way to see Alaska, but is it the best way to experience Alaska?”

You may be considering a journey from Anchorage to Fairbanks by rail. Please don’t. This 356 mile journey takes 12 hours one way and only stops in Talkeetna and Denali National Park. The train is on a schedule. It can’t stop for momma bear and baby bear along the way. You also miss out of great stops along the highway such as Veterans Memorial, south viewpoints of Mt. McKinley, Wal-Mikes, and other fun Alaskan-style highlights. Why fly all the way to Alaska,  just to zip right through the heart of it?

The Alaska Railroad offers a historic journey, but limiting your time will give you more flexibility to explore.

Continued with Part 2: Making Your Money Count in Alaska