sharon_pei

i would never consider NCL for it's port time. we are going to Alaska to see glaciers and wild life, not to enjoy the ship. I will find fun on the ship in other cruise itineraries, but not Alaska

was at college fjord 6/14 and it calved beautifully. we were pretty close to the glacier --i was amazed that our captain allowed such a big ship this close to the broken pieces of ices everywhere around us.

was on north bound 6/8-15. Had one rainy day in Ketchikan and rest of the trip was straight A weather wise. Some crew member said that week was the best week weather wise in their working history on this cruise line.

We took city bus ($2) to airport and picked a rental car for one day (~$50) to dive to Mendenhall and hiked there. Really enjoyed it. then we drove the famous shrine and enjoyed the magnificent view for a long time. We then drove to Douglas island and i would say that's a big let down. Skip it at all cost. The historical trail on the left side of island (end of the drive way) was just a walk in the woods. We didn't do the right side of the island as at that point of time we were already too disappointed with the island. We didn't do the tram as we thought it was way too pricy for what it offers.

I had the exact same hesitation between self-driving vs Bennett lake train/bus combo tour. I even asked on this board if it would be a good idea to do a short round trip train ride to experience the famous train and then pick up a rental car to self pace the road trip. I was advised against that idea as it would involve too much back and forth. I finally picked the Bennett lake train/bus combo tour and now that we've returned from this trip (our 1st time cruising and visiting Alaska), I am very glad we did the tour. The train and the driving routes are quite different and we would have hated to miss the train experience and the magnificent view from the train ride if we had opted for self driving. Regarding the comment that it was too long, yes a bit, but for 7/8 of this train ride, it was all super scenic and i doubt anyone would be bored. With that said, if we ever visit Skagway a second time (I am sure we would), i would opt to self drive to dive deeper into those points of interest that appeal to us most. but for the 1st trip, hands down train/bus combo was the answer. I don't remember who on this board helped me with this choice 1-2 months ago, but big thank you!!

Just came back from the exact same itinerary with princess and did the transfer to airport from whittier to pick up rental car. we arrived at the rental car counter @ 10:45am sharp.

Just came back from a 7 day one way cruise + 4 day dyi road trip (Seward, Alyeska & Girdwood, Palmer & Matanuska). The only place I had mosquito bites were close to Glacier view in the sheep mountain lodge for lunch. All other places were mosquito free.

I am planning to drive over to Douglas island and up north to along glacier highway. Are bears also to be expected there? this thread effectively scared me off 🙂

we don't plan to purchase drink package as none of us drink any alcohol. But we depend on coffee and tea. I learned that there is free drip coffee in buffet and one has to pay for specialty coffee on Princess ships. What about tea? Do they provide tea bags in the buffet or we should expect to pay for it? Thanks!

Anyone can share how powerful (fast drying) are the hair dryers on princess ships (more specifically Sapphire)? we usually shower right before sleep and would need fast drying hair dryers. the cheap ones in average hotel rooms usually don't work. I would love to pack my own but the suitcases are overflowing with winter gears, so I would like to see if this is somewhere to save some space. Thanks!

Maybe I indeed have overpacked, but just counting these bulky must-haves, i really don't know what to get rid of: 1. 2 pairs of sneakers, one for each person (we will wear the most bulky hiking boots to board the plane, but will need running shoes for the gym, also as a backup in case the hiking boots get wet as ours are not waterproof and I don't have budget to invest on another pair of boots). 2. 2 pairs of regular shoes for formal nights and other casual walk around on the cruise 3. 2 pairs of indoor slippers to wears in the cabin for comfort 4. 2 pieces of down coats (we can not wear them to board the plane as it's quite warm here in CA already) 5. 2 pieces of rain jackets 6. 2 pieces of formal attires 7. all other recommended cruise items (such as umbrella, water bottles, travel size handwash/shampoo, etc and layers needed. 8. camera and accessories and battery bank and all other related charging cases and binoculars 9. medicines these are already more than what can fit into my extra large suitcases .... oh well.

I am amazed by the level of details and richness of information of this thread. Glad that I followed it and I learned so much for the cruise in less than 2 weeks. Thank you so much! Wonder if you mind sharing how many pieces of suitcases did you end of packing for this trip? I started pre-packing. Layers, shoes, winter gears, etc are already overflowing one 28 inch check-in + one 25 inch check-in (for two adults). I wonder if I am over-packing already.

What a wonderful live trip report! Thank you for sharing it with such details! May I ask that based on your 1st hand experience is dining on this ship crowded? I am scheduled to take this same journey (NB though) in 2.5 weeks and wonder what time is best to schedule for dining to allow enough time for evening shows or any other entertainment. Another question is: does the weather in this season make swimming on the cruise ship enjoyable? I am still now sure if they have an indoor pool and if so how heated is it going to be. Hope everything for the rest of this journey goes on as smoothly as it has been!

I am getting transfer to the airport to pick up a rental car, so time doesn't matter as strictly. Well, i just feel costco customer service number can hardly be called a travel agent at all as they don't know anything really about these cruises. this is my first time cruise ever, but i will probably directly book with the cruise line website for next cruise vacation. It's just very painful that the cruise line isn't going to deal with anyone who doesn't direct book with them and the so called travel agent isn't an agent or not doing the job cruise line expects its agents to.

One of my coworker just told me this morning that their princess cruise last year arrived in Juneau 3+ hours late due to a medical evaluation based reroute prior to getting to Juneau and for this reason they missed the helicopter ride pre-booked but luckily it was with the cruise line so no financial loss from this rerouting. Is this extremely rare?

We plan to make a taxi reservation when the ship arrives in Juneau and not really sure how to make it work: 1. delays: from earlier post here i learned the easiest way is to call one of the local taxi company for a reservation. for this i assume i would need to give a pickup time. but i also heard it's likely that ship arrival might get delayed for various reasons. in case this happens, how would i be able to let the taxi company know to update the pickup time from the ship? I don't think i will have cell coverage from the ship and even if there is some kind of roaming based coverage available, we don't plan to use it. 2. where to meet: newbie to cruise but i assume when ship arrives, several thousand people get off the ship in a short period of time. how to arrange for a pickup location so that it wouldn't be confusing on both sides (driver and passenger) 3. any specific taxi company to recommend for this purpose? Thank you!

thank you both. I checked the flights section and saw this: looks we still need to call costco

Thank you all for your inputs. I double checked the shore excursion section of Whittier and there is no standalone transfer offered. There are only combo tours: Portage Glacier Scenic Cruise & Drive with Airport Transfer, 26 Glacier Cruise & Anchorage Transfer, Turnagain Arm, Wildlife conversation center and tram with airport transfer. Nothing else, but all these tours wouldn't make sense to us as we need to get to airport around lunch hour to pick up our rental car. I know i can book a third party transfer, but thought the transfer provided by princess will be worry-free on a hectic disembarkable morning.

I am trying to purchase transfer from Whittier to Anchorage airport with princess, by first calling the travel agent (Costco in this case -- i know i am not supposed to release the name of the travel agent but this is for the sake of explaining the sources of the information) and was told that there is no transfer provided by princess unless if you booked a back to back cruise with Princess. Then I called princess directly and their agent said there is transfer available but they can not process the purchase and it would have to be via a travel agent unless if you directly booked your cruise with princess. I called the travel agent again and still was told there is no such service provided. Oh well... Anyone else traveling with Princess can help clarify which one is the case and how to get transfer set up if it at all exists for one way cruise passengers? Thanks!

I appreciate the honesty too. but i can't easily find excursion that's budget friendly and interesting enough in Juneau. Mendenhall is still one of the low cost activity that allows one to appreciate the wonder of mother nature, according to many reviews I have read (at least the hike to the fall part). is that still the right understanding?

Now the discussion is getting to a level too advanced to a newbie 😄

Thank you for all your points of view. Yes this is for a 7-day cruise starting from Vancouver to Anchorage and most of us are American (and most of us are medically insured from our employer sponsored plans), but there are 2 of us who are neither American or Canadian but they are US permanent residents (I am not 100% sure of their medical insurance coverage though as they are retirees). 'Evacuation from the ship is at no cost to the patient' -- I didn't know this. is this true even for those without cruise insurance purchased? do we know this is for evacuation to the nearest port or to wherever there is enough medical facility to treat the patient? I am actually not sure if my employer sponsored insurance covers anything from an Alaskan cruise, but this is a good reminder to call and find out.

Looking into travel insurance for the upcoming 7-day cruise. According to my research, coverage offered by the cruise line has very limited medical coverage and is generally considered not enough for the elderly. So i am searching for standalone third party insurance coverage. As we will arrive Vancouver 1 day prior to the cruise start and also add 3 day dyi land trip after cruise end, I am not sure if I should buy 'cruise insurance' just for the 7 day cruise part or if i should buy coverage for the entire 11 days? As the insurance is specifically designed for cruise trips, would it make sense to cover the non-cruise part of the trip? And if not, if say for any reason the trip is interrupted in the middle of the cruise, the 3 day land trip is also not going to happen and how to handle that? 100% newbie question i assume.

I will give up # 3 on the list, but really want to bring fresh ginger to help with seasickness -- chewing on a piece of ginger really helps! is this not allowed?

I spent about 1 hour over the phone with princess's overseas customer support who had a very hard time understanding the problem to begin with. Then after many rounds of back and forth, she finally understood what was the issue and said the reason for it happening was the travel agent used a different email in the original booking than the email i registered with. She then said she merged the two and problem was solved. it would take 24 hours to have it updated in the system. I waited 24 hours and logged in. Problem is still there! i created another account using the other email she mentioned and logged into that one, again exactly the same thing. My reservation is nowhere to be found!