True.

"Best" is very subjective but most people posting on FT who visit Alaska would probably strongly disagree with you on this point. I have taken 3 Alaska cruises and they are a great way to see SE Alaska, but you miss so much just spending a few hours in 3 Alaskan ports in SE Alaska. And if you take a round trip cruise and don't spend time in southcentral Alaska before/after the cruise, you really miss out on a lot of Alaska.

Sure there are things you could do in Alaska for 2 or 3 days. But the problem is that distances in Alaska are huge, there are no interstate highways (just two lane roads) and travel takes time. I can't imagine an instance when 2-3 days in Alaska is really worth it. You might get to Whittier or Seward for a boat tour but that is really about it. Hardly worth it IMHO. I love Alaska and travel there several times a year. But I just would not recommend such a short trip. Now if it were purely a MR and you just wanted something to fill your time for a day, sure the drive south of Anchorage and a boat tour would be fine. But the purpose of the trip is totally different.

Most people strongly recommend that tourists spend a night en route between Seward and Denali. If all is in your favor, it takes 7-8 hours to drive straight through without stops. But you stop for meals, gas, photo ops, etc. Then if there are delays due to construction (very common), slow RV's, or worse yet an accident, it can easily take 12+ hours. I drove from Seward to Talkeetna a couple of years ago with just a stop for lunch and some grocery shopping for Denali. No traffic to speak of and it still took 8-1/2 hours. It is another 150 miles or almost 3 hours from Talkeetna to Denali.