What is your best advice for Alaska?

Thank you so much for all the great ideas! Our cruise is July 2018 when the hubby has his vaca time. We are going on Princess which includes Glacier Bay, College Fjord and inside passage. One way from Vancouver to Whittier. Hubby and I have a balcony, son (16) and Granny (70) in inside room and daughter and boyfriend in another inside room (21). I think the excursions I really want to do are whale watching and sled dogs. We love having dinner together on cruises in the past.

Does every person need binoculars or just each couple?

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Hi,

Just got off the Emerald Princess on July 2,2017. Wonderful trip! Gracious Service! Get a balcony. The one thing I deeply regret was not getting a whale watching tour. There was one pod of whales spotted off the top deck of the ship. But, guess who feel asleep watching a movie! Me! Bring layers. 86 in Seattle, then down to the 60 in Ketchikan and Juneau with rain . Know how to use your camera and be able to adjust the shutter speed. Saw a bear cub from the car of the White Pass railway but could not shoot the picture fast enough. Beware of the beds, super comfortable. I have never napped so well!

cruisenurse1

8 time Alaska cruiser. The ports have gotten really busy with so many ships in port. Make a excursion reservation in advance to make sure you have your choice. Try to get out of the downtown shopping area to really enjoy the beautiful scenery etc. Do at least one whale watch. Juneau has a beautiful state museum. Ketchikan is the salmon fishing capital of Alaska. They ship your catch home. A great experience.

Great info CruiseNurse,

I'm afraid the hubby and I love napping too! We have a balcony and I plan on booking a whale watching excursion - I've seen references to Harv and Marv. Wondering if I need a new camera with a better zoom. I also need to buy rain jackets.

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Thank you so much for all the great ideas! Our cruise is July 2018 when the hubby has his vaca time. We are going on Princess which includes Glacier Bay, College Fjord and inside passage. One way from Vancouver to Whittier.

Great info CruiseNurse,

I'm afraid the hubby and I love napping too! We have a balcony and I plan on booking a whale watching excursion - I've seen references to Harv and Marv. Wondering if I need a new camera with a better zoom. I also need to buy rain jackets.

 

 

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If you want Harv and Marv your family will about fill one of their tours. Each person should have great binoculars, and honestly, an investment in a camera with a great zoom is a terrific idea. My future daughter in law had a great one two years ago, when we took the family. Convinced DH and me we needed to seriously upgrade, so glad we did. Raingear - Dry or Dri (cannot remember which, we have had them forever) Ducks rainsuits, or go super cheap with the $1 amusement park ponchos. Both options take very little space in suitcases. Binoculars in carryons.......

If you are doing whale watching in Juneau and sled-dogs from Skagway, may I suggest you take a sensational excursion from Ketchikan, which is the flightseeing and Dungeness crab feast. It will give you a sense of the vastness, and also the water take off and landing, which is classic Alaska. Dungeness crab, fresh caught at George Inlet, omg, I am a Chesapeake Bay baby and know my blue crab, et al. The Dungeness on this excursion was the best I ever had.

Enjoy.

We did a land + sea with HAL last year (11 land & 4 sea). Loved it! Went with my parents, Aunt & Uncle. We are planning our second trip there for Sept 2018 and we are looking at Princess from Whittier to Vancouver (with a few pre cruise days in Kanai). Layers are smart, but not heavy layers. I was just fine with my $20 rain jacket from Target, but we didn't have much rain until we got on the cruise. Binoculars or monocular are a must. Does your family share well? Maybe one or two good ones and a few cheaper ones? We have an older Rebel and we love our "big camera" photos, but we also love the ones we took with our phones. On the cruise we embarked at Skagway - my favorite, but probably because we had 2 full days there. So much history with the gold rush - do some research. The town was cute, but full of the typical cruise shops. There are historic buildings in between or housing the shops, so look around. Loved that we rode the White Pass into town. We also rented a van and drove around to Dyea and up to Emerald Lake (passport required). We saw Glacier Bay. Breath taking, but I honestly liked the Glacier Quest day cruise out of Whittier more - we got closer to glaciers and it felt more "personal". Glad we saw both :). In Ketchikan we did the Duck Tour - ok for a ride around town with some history and cheesy jokes thrown in. It's not a "must do" by any means, but I didn't feel ripped off either. What I wanted to do was a seaplane ride to Misty Fjords - I am doing this next time. We saw the inside passage and then arrived in Vancouver. We only had that day there, so we did the hop on/hop off Trolley. If you do that, don't get off unless you have time to watch several full trolleys pass you by with no room. It was a great was to see some of the sights quickly. I could go and on about our land portion, but that's not what you are doing (though I highly recommend you make it to Denali at least once at some point in your life). Enjoy your trip!

Thank you so much for all the great ideas! Our cruise is July 2018 when the hubby has his vaca time. We are going on Princess which includes Glacier Bay, College Fjord and inside passage. One way from Vancouver to Whittier. Hubby and I have a balcony, son (16) and Granny (70) in inside room and daughter and boyfriend in another inside room (21). I think the excursions I really want to do are whale watching and sled dogs. We love having dinner together on cruises in the past.

 

Does every person need binoculars or just each couple?

 

 

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Binoculars are usually provided on whale watching trips. After 3 Alaskan cruises, hubby and I now each bring our own pair just so we can both see the same amazing sights from our balcony at the same time. We have these https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B006ZN4TZS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and these:https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00005AXIU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 First set was under $50 CDN for us and the second set was under $120 CDN. Both have proven excellent for viewing sea life and wildlife on our cruises - money well spent for us. I believe, depending on cabin type, you might also find binos in your cabin. They won't be top notch but they'll help you to see more than the naked eye would find.

Ditto on water proofing your shoes. Or buy waterproof shoes (Gortex or something similar). And if you don't do either, bring more than 1 pair to trade off. Yes, that was me sloshing through the hallways in my constantly wet shoes.

Also, as others have said, do as much as you can. You won't regret it.

Thank you so much to everyone for the wonderful advice!

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First TImer ... Do not do just a cruise, do a land and cruise combination. You will be happy you did.

What do you think are the best land package itinerary on a Princess Cruise

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• why wait until 2018? The glaciers are not getting bigger.
  
• Actually some of them are......somehow it is not politically correct to talk about the growing glaciers.....:)
  
• And, if you do plan to go on a glacier sled dog ride....do NOT wait until you get there to buy one on the dock. Most of the companies are sold out way in advance....it is also the trip that is mostly likely to be cancelled....as is Misty Fjords....(fly in)....so have an alternate plan if you want to do that. Sometimes (mostly) the weather rains or snows or is foggy but it is an amazing experience for someone who has never been around these wonderful dogs...(I know this because some of my dogs are on the glaciers giving wonderful people like a ride)
  

In Ketchikan, take any excursion that includes the all-you-can-eat crab at George Inlet. Best excursion ever.

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Taku Lodge flightseeing in Juneau.

What do you think are the best land package itinerary on a Princess Cruise

 

 

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I think it depends on how many days you want (and can afford) and what/where you want to see. We weren't all that impressed with Fairbanks on our first cruisetour 15 years ago, but going back there on our second time because of the ship we want. Maybe more than just an overnight there will give us a better impression!

Agree with most of what is said here!!!

1. Go early in the year while there is still plenty of snow on/in the mountains.. Spectacular.

Unless one wants to go later Summer for bear/wildlife.

2. Get off the ship! It is so amazing and much much different to get off the ship and do things like the smaller boat Glacier tour of PWS and College Fjord. Highly recommend the Southbound for this reason. (only drawback, can not also do Adventure Bound out of Juneau with the short time in port) Staying on the ship in Alaska is like trying to experience Disney World from your hotel balcony/window... Yes, the huge Fireworks show is out there... But.....

Yes, it can be chilly!!!!! Balcony is not absolutely necessary for this reason. We researched a better full-picture-window OV and were happy. Loved the location too!

3. Budget for those off-the-ship excursions!!!! They make the trip. If budget allows for some, you can do things like Helicopter tour to the Glaciers. Our budget was more limited... (plus vertigo!) We did a more private (not Princess) Whale Watching at Juneau. Drove over the Mountains to Emerald Lake at Skagway. And should have done more at Ketchikan. And, of course the Glacier tour of PWS and College Fjord before boarding at Whittier.

Enjoy all the great seafood meals available to you! I always enjoy those fresh halibut meals I get up there.

Trying to pick a land package at the end of my cruise. The 3 choices are 1) Denali, Mt McKinley and, Anchorage 2) Two nights in Denali and one in Fairbanks or 3) Mt McKinley, Dinali and Fairbanks

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