JjC81

2 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Yes, I agree ....staying in the Girdwood/Portage area on the 10th would give you 2 opportunities for the Alyeska tram.    If the weather is great on the 10th you can do the tram.  But if the weather is rainy and/or cloudy on the 10th you could do other activities that are still available in inclement weather,  like the Wildlife Conservation Center,  Portage Lake to see if there are any icebergs, hike Byron Glacier.   On the 13th,  you'll have a 3 hr drive back to Anchorage, so if the weather is clear there's plenty of time to do the tram and anything else you missed on the drive down. 

How is the drive to girdwood from airport? Right now we are booked (aleyska resort) the 9th, but we arrive at 750pm (1150pm our time) . Not sure if we should do drive that night or wait until next day. 

It looks like it is on the way to seward and seems close to turnagain arm to do on the 10th w/ tram? 

Or is it better to just stay somewhere near airport the 9th, girdwood the 10th then onto seward for 11th and 12th and stay girdwood again the 13th? 

Thank you for insight 

On 11/2/2019 at 6:42 PM, mapleleaves said:

Be prepared for sticker shock.  Do you need a bed for each kid or can they share? 

 

If your flight arrives at night, I'd suggest staying in Anchorage that first night. 

Instead of doing a drive by of the Turnagain Arm on your way to Seward, I'd suggest an overnight in Girdwood.  The Alyeska Lodge is pretty pricey. There are some B&B's in Girdwood that have private entrances that would work for your family.  Look at the Girdwood AK Chamber of Commerce for suggestions.   Or about 30 minutes beyond Girdwood (and halfway to Seward) is the Summit Lake Lodge.  Haven't stayed there but stopped in a couple of times for ice cream. Gorgeous setting!

 

Seward has a number of B&B;s that are more economical than hotels/lodges. Many have their own entrances and kitchenettes.  Friends stayed at the Bears Den B&B several yrs back and enjoyed it ... close to the harbor. Again, check out the town web site for ideas.  http://cmdev.seward.com/list/QL/lodging-28.htm

Thanks. Kids are low maintenance. They just need blankets and will sleep on floor lol.

We are thinking of flying in night of 9th and staying at la quintanilla. Then driving to seward or girdwood. We have timeshare for aleyska but its frozen inventory right now 😞

would you suggest girdwood first? We would like to have a couple chances for aleyska (weather) and maybe couple chances for turnagain arm. 

we have a night in Anchorage for 14th then cruise starts

24 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

A quick look around the board finds several large threads on the topic, including this thorough covering:

 

 

Thank you. I have tried to search and it is bringing up antartica? I've done 2-3 searches with either cant find results or it is Antarctica cruises 🤷‍♀️

We have hubbard glacier on itinerary. 

We will be on coral princess. They offer excursion to get on smaller boat to see glacier. It is pricey (of course). Is it worth it? Or will we see/hear same from cruise ship? 

Thanks all. We are going with coral princess 🙂

Stupid question probably but why the blue glass?

Thank you. 

We are switching to Coral. Aloha deck balcony. Hopefully it is the right move. 😔

It gives us an extra day in denali for same price as on royal. 

34 minutes ago, LoriPhil said:

if Balcony is important remember that except for aft and certain midship cabins, balcony is fairly small on the Royal.  Carib-deck balcony on Coral is large and can accommodate more people.  

On coral we are booked (well held) A606

On royal we are booked C620.

We are headed out for 3-5 days before our land tour begins (anchorage) 2 adults. 2 kids. 

We want to explore seward (kenai fjords, conservation center, seaveys dog sleds) & explore the turnagain arm, and hopefully go up tram to aleyska. Plus just general sight seeing. 

We fly into anchorage and will have rental car. Where should we look for hotels? I see cabins on both dog sled places in Seward- are these better than hotels or are they farther away? 

We are not fancy people. Need mini fridge and beds and parking and we are good so long as place is clean 🙂 ouour Days arent totally locked yet so bonus if we can cancel 🙂

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

My vote:  the Coral Princess.  You did not mention how old your children were or what type of cabin you were planning on reserving.  1500 people make a big difference when in port, for dining, on sea days, etc.  

Sorry. My kids will be 4 (nov so close to 5) and 7. 2 boys. We are getting a balcony so I think we all end up with twin beds but hubby said he can deal lol

They will be happy just with a pool and kids club. We have never cruised so there arent expectations with on board stuff. They do have allergies as do I, but seems any ship can accommodate. 

20 minutes ago, Coral said:

The Coral and Island are no longer identical. Coral Princess is the better of the two.

 

I would never go on the Royal to Alaska. Coral Princess would be my choice - more outside decks for viewing. Covered pool also.

 

Puppies in piazzas happens on all Princess ships.

Probably a dumb question but kid friendly pools- can you see scenery from them? My kids are fish. I wouldnt he surprised if they want to be in pool a bit. 

We are headed to Alaska next August. The question remains: which ship? Options are Coral vs Royal. We are currently booked on the royal, but then heard from some local excursion guides that the royal had some problems last year in Alaska. I've seen on different boards also that it seems it's "too big" or "not right" for Alaska. Considering switching to Coral. We are going southbound from Whittier to Vancouver. It seems special things happen on both ships- ex: puppies it says will be on all Alaska cruises in 2020. I assume that includes the Coral for south bound? :)

So with that said- which ship would be better? There are 4 of us, so I know the sleeping situation is affected, but for 7 days we could deal with that if it meant having a better experience.

This is our first cruise, so there really is no expectations to compare to. We really just need the kids club and for them to have some entertainment and stuff to do and want the best experience we can have for Alaska- knowing there is only so much we can do to control it. :)

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

was this cruise booked under Sip N Sail promotion, or have you purchased a Premier Beverage Package ?

An additional beverage pkg for husband and I were purchased. But canceling it could likely cover price of an excursion..we originally thought it was promotion but was not 🙂

Can we bring seltzer on also? Or just bottled water? 

We are taking royal princess from Whittier alaska  to Vancouver in August. 

My kids drink only water. One is on medical formula, requiring water to mix it. 

I drink mainly water/seltzer. My husband drinks water/seltzer/coffee. I think at most I'd drink 1-2 alcohol dtinks/ day and husband 1-3/day. Should we cancel drink pkg? 

Can we bring some bottled water under medical? 

We might

 I just was not sure what to do for ice 🙂 guess it would just be loose ice vs ice pack. 

3 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

You should contact Princess and speak to someone to ensure the medical need is met. I'm not sure the fridge in the cabin will be cold enough, but it could be. 

I got the email today. I've emailed dietary and now need to email medical. Wasnt sure if anyone had experience.

I thought of a lot but not that lol

We are doing alaska land/sea next August- royal princess. My son is on medical formula, which once opened needs to be refrigerated. This will be ok in our room but on land and excursions we would need an ice pack. 

Is there anywhere we could freeze one? Medical area? Is there a freezer in the cabin mini fridges? 

We are doing the Alaska land and sea tour in August. 

What is attire for formal night? We have 2 kids- 4 and 7yo boys- what do they wear? 

3 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Much better. Gives you breathing room, plus extra time if weather doesn't cooperate.

The tram is something for a clear day so don't schedule it. Weather might be better on the way back to Anc.

 

Check the Kenai cruise web sites frequently for specials, and Groupon.  I remember deals around Thxgiving.

I tried to incorporate back ups. Like a pseudo dog sled tour and meet puppies in seward in case our glacier dog sled gets canceled.

Then I think I left time to have 2 shots at aleyska. And time to see turnagain twice? 

And figure kenai chance for wild life and fjords. Cut the college fjords cuz we will see glaciers galore on cruise? 

No clue on lodging 🙂 if we come up with money we may need to do the arctic lol.

But then on land tour we do 2 nights in denali, a tundra wilderness cruise, and a night at mckinley lodge. cruise we see: hubbard, glacier bay, the 3 ports. 

I think we hit the main things??

1 hour ago, mapleleaves said:

I haven't done the Philips tour, but have done the 6hr Kenai tour twice (and 2 tours that were downgraded to Resurrection Bay tours when the seas were too rough for the full Kenai cruise ).

 

The cruises are very different  

Too bad Major Marine pulled out of Whittier.  I think Philips 26 Glacier is just that .... racing around to see all 26 glaciers with little time for stops for wildlife or anything of interest.  So to be honest I haven't been interested in that itinerary.  However the Sound is pretty sheltered so it's usually a smooth sailing.

 

The Kenai cruise has a little of everything ... wildlife plus an upclose and personal glacier visit.  As you first leave the harbor, going thru Resurrection Bay, you see otters, bald eagles and go past a eagles nest. Up in the mountains we saw a few mountain goats. Then as you get further away from Seward you see so many and various types of birds, plus sealion colony. Then you cruise thru 'bergy bits' and sit in front of the glacier for awhile where you  listen to it creak and groan, then eventually a chunk falls off and an iceberg is created.  

This cruise passes into the Gulf of Alaska so there's a stretch for about 15-20 minutes where the sea is pretty rough.  I was starting to turn green.  On a bad day, half the passengers will be heaving.  So taking this cruise might be weather dependent for your family .....

 

p.s.  I forgot to mention the whales.  On both cruises we saw a couple of whales.  Very up close and personal. 

Ok I think we cut stuff and this ow tentative plan: 

8/7 fly from boston, arrive 8pm, get rental car & drive to aleyska

8/8 aleyska tram in am then drive along turnagain arm, exploring, overnight in seward

8/9 kenai NP tour, not sure if there is time for cons center or kennel w/ summer sled ride (no glacier) 

8/10: seward if we miss stuff, then drive to anchorage (along turnagain arm again????)

8/11 free day, aleyska if we miss it, return car, check into hotel to start cruise/tour. 

Took out the Philip's. If we come up with more money between now and then we will maybe throw in a round trip, same day flight to barrow lol

Aleyska we might be able to stay free 1 night via timeshare

We will need 2-3 nights in seward, unless there is another area we should try? 

Then we check in for tour. I assume hotel check in means we have the day 🙂

is this doable and gives us chance to see and explore some? 

55 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Whittier tunnel info:

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/creg/whittiertunnel/index.shtml

 

Turnagain Arm stopping points:

https://www.alaska.org/guide/turnagain-arm-drive

 

If I remember correctly,  you have kids ...... the Turnagain Arm can be nice relaxing family day if you have the time.  Stopping at Potters Marsh boardwalk to look for birds (ocassionally moose),  gold panning, hiking to Byron Glacier to play in the snow,  Portage Lake/Glacier and Visitor Center., Wildlife Conservation Center,  looking for Dall sheep on the ridges by the hwy.   

 

 

 

Would you suggest kinai fjords or the Philip's 26 glacier tour? Is there one you'd suggest over the other? Or try to do both? 

And yes 2 kids- one will be 8, other 4 (will be 5 nov and we are there aug)

Our Anchorage flights would be night arrival 7 or 9pm, so that will just be a sleep night. 

9 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Sorry, but I'm still confused....

What destinations and activities are included in the land tour ?  and the ship departs from Seward ?  No stop in Denali ?

 

With the travel times, you'd need almost a week to do what you've outlined above.

The land tour leaves anchorage and goes to denali 2 nights, mckinley a night, down to whittier where we cruise south. 

Ship leaves from whittier.

These are days we are flying out early before land tour starts. 

I imagine fairbanks will get dropped. But looking for feedback. 

Do we see kinai fjords NP or college fjords? 

3 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Without knowing how many days you have to work with it's impossible to plan a route. 

Also, what do you plan to do at each location, since that determines how much time you'll need.

Where does your ship depart from ?  And are you willing to spend long days in a car ? or do you have a limit of 5 hrs a day?

 

I've made a dozen land-only trips to Alaska.  I start my plan by deciding WHERE I want to go,  WHAT to do at each destination, TRAVEL TIME between each one, and the number of days available.   So you'll need to fill in the blanks before anyone can offer meaningful suggestions.

Sorry I thought I did include it all. Our land tour leaves from.anchorage (captain hook hotel). We are trying to figure out our days we need based on route. I'm gonna guess 4-5. If possible we would do one night each. Yes we do fine in the car. We do road trips often- 2.5 hrs each way in same day. And we have done longer. Kids can get restless but since just us we can deal 🙂

Seward: we would like to do kinai fjords NP tour, see sled dogs at kennel & maybe conservation center

Aleyska: want to go up tram and on drive want to see turnagain arm 

Whittier: college fjords tour since we miss that on tour. 

Fairbanks is the big maybe. That we would want to do tour to arctic circle and stop at santa's house in north pole. 🙂

we reversed our cruise itinerary to give us days at beginning to explore and to see hubbard glacier. 

I think we have our land/cruise figured out.

Now we just need to figure out our extra days if we get them. 

The things we miss on our cruise is:

College fjords, Seward, and mt aleyska. Fairbanks also. If we do fairbanks we may or may not do arctic circle tour and on drive down south wed love to stop at north pole and santas house for kids 🙂

We are planning on either flying to Fairbanks (big maybe) or even more likely anchorage. We need to end in anchorage to meet our cruise tour. 

So can you help me figure out best way to bring these spots together: fairbanks, seward, aleyska (we want to see turnagain arm), and whittier (college fjords excursion) 

Also above with: anchorage, aleyska, whittier, and seward? 

Any help is appreciated.