knbcruisers

To the OP... was there free WiFi in the terminal? This could help with the need "patience" of which DH is in short supply in situations like these.

Any woolen or fleece hat that fits snug and covers your ears will do. Try Amazon or your local sporting goods store, even a thrift store or yard sale. No need to spend a lot.

A winter hat is critical to staying warm. You lose a lot of body heat through your head. As a former New England girl I know it can make the difference whether you can stay on deck or your balcony for an extended time.

I agree with Tutoton...July and August are not pleasant but the rest of the year is great. Plan your visits home for then. Come on down to Polk County....we have a great quality of life here.

Another FLA girl here... I am bringing sparkly flat sandals for night on the ship. Get to Bealls ASAP :)

You would get much more accurate info and advice if you post this on the Celebrity board.

Hmm.. lots to think about. I won't need it for work and DH and I both get any emails we need on phone. I could buy additional memory cards for camera pretty cheaply, one for each day. But it would be good to have a backup of photos. DH also like to have movies/tv available for watching when we don't have WiFi available so I could download some to have on the plane etc.

I am starting to think about packing. I am wondering if I should bring my laptop or can I get by with my and DH smartphones? I would use it to download and save photos but not sure what else? Anyone willing to weigh in with their experiences?

Alaska tours and travels runs shuttles to Seward and whittier. Don't have the link. It easy to find by searching. There are several companies that do this either direct or woth some tour stops along the way.

And ignore the post that scared everyone, I don't knowwhat that posters experience is but suburban FLA is just like the rest of the country. The usual rules apply: stay together, go where there are street lights, and ignore homes that are not welcoming you with lights on etc.

I believe "visit tampa" has a website. You could call the tourist board and ask. There are often family friendly street fairs which would work. There are also many churches and community centers that sponsor safe activities.

Thanks to all for the good suggestions. I think my orginal plan is best. Staying in Anchorage gives us the most flexibility for Saturday and Sunday. I let myself get carried away with the planning!

Yes I need to figure what we would like best . A groupon for Knik River Lodge got my attention and started me thinking about that area.

Currently I have our last night before flying home reserved at a hotel in Mid-town Anchorage. I am now wondering if I would be better off staying in Girdwood or Palmer?? We leave Denali Saturday am and drive south, overnighting in Anchorage. I expect we would have a good part of afternoon and evening for sightseeing along the way and in Anchorage. Flight leaves Sunday at 9 pm. I was planning on driving Turnagain Arm Sunday and going as far as Wildlife Center, and returning to airport about 6 pm to drop rental and check-in. The dilemma is would I be better off driving less on Saturday and having more time for touring north of Anchorage? and then Sunday head south? ...or do more driving Saturday and overnight south of Anchorage. Or am I trying to do too much? I am considering Knik River Lodge or a B&B in Girdwood? Or maybe Anchorage is the place to stay due to it's being central and we could adjust based on weather?

This is what happens when I do too much research.:o

For what it's worth, I though some who are getting started planning might be interested in where I started and where I ended up with final plans. I did a lot of research and things changed quite a bit based on price/convenience and things we really wanted to do. Here is my original post with what our final plans are in red. About us--I am traveling with DH and we are 49/51, celebrating our 20th Anniversary and early 50th Birthday for me. We are most interested in wildlife, scenery, moderate hiking, photos, and getting a feel for the local towns. Shopping is a very low priority--shirts for the grandkids. Hoping to get some great photos, I have a new camera I bought special for this trip.We do not like to be on someone else's schedule so no ship sponsored cruise tour for us. There are so many great Alaska tour websites and forums here and at tripadvisor that I was comfortable planning this on my own. I am planning to post a review here after the trip.

I have the structure of our trip but not the daily activities yet. All of the bookings so far are flexible and can be cancelled or refunded. When final payment time comes I want to be sure that we can add the planned 5 days after the cruise for interior tour.

June 9-Depart Orlando, currently using Princess EZ air flexible fares. Arrive Vancouver 8 pm, and have reservation at Radisson Airport. Since we arrive late , dinner and drinks at hotel and then bed. If an earlier arrival becomes available at better price, I have back up reservation at Best Western Chateau Granville so we can tour Vancouver in the afternoon/evening. Both booked through Hotels dot com.

Air and hotel are totally different as I was able to book cheaper on my own, and by booking through expedia, was offered a downtown hotel (Best Western Chateau Granville) at about the same price as the Radisson-Airport--$190 USD. Notably the initial air booking was American inbound but due to merger with USAir they changed my flight to include a 8 hour layover at LAX. NO WAY, so I was able to re-book out of Tampa at 7:30 am, through Phoenix, and now we arrive at 1:30 PM and have time for a little Vancouver touring.

June 10--Rail line to Canada Place, drop bags and do some touring, pick up wine/drinks and snacks for room. Board ship by 2 pm and start enjoying our mini-suite, D726 last port side cabin.

I changed cabins twice!! moved up to Caribe, then down 2 cabins so as to have a partial covered balcony. No price issues as it was withing the original category booked. Since we are downtown, will get some supplies in the morning and will take a short cab ride instead of rail.

6/10--6/17---Cruising, do not have any port plans yet. Top of list is Skagway train, and Misty Fjords flight tour or boat tour.

6/12--Ketchikan--Zodiac boat tour booked through the ship as it offered similar price as booking on my own, and we get the earliest departure possible, leaving time for walking tour of town or bus to Totem Bight Park.

6/13--Juneau--this is a busy ( and expensive :eek: )day for us. Morning whale watch aboard the MV Scania, then at 3 pm we are taking Taku Lodge flight tour and salmon dinner. This was DH's choice as it came highly recommended by his boss. I booked on my own as ship only offered it at 12:30 and we would not have been back from whale watch in time. In between whale watch and flight tour, see some of downtown. I am interested in buying a local art piece. After flightour, if time allows I would like to have a drink at the Alaskan Bar.

6/14-Skagway---reserved car from Avis at $105 plus tax and will drive to Emerald Lake, with stop along the way. We didn't want the structure of a train tour, we like to do our own wandering on some days.

6/15-16 Scenic cruising

6/17--arrive Whittier, take bus transfer to airport to get rental car. Booked Hertz with coupon code found on line, $42/day for full size (Chev Impala or similar), fully cancellable.

Have booked Alaska Tours and Travels shuttle to airport, got discount for booking in December. Pick up rental car at Airport. I got the best price using a shopping service, called Marketplace, through my company which got me a discount on the car through Hertz, $346 for 5 days mid-size car. I didn't trust the validity of the coupon code I had. Another service like this is called "working advantage" so if you work for a big company see if it's available. .

Depart Anchorage north to Denali, stopping at Walmart or other store for supplies, small cooler/drinks/snacks/sandwich items/breakfast items. 3 nights at Carlo Creek Cabins which is south of park. DH wanted a cabin with private bathroom, so booked the $120/night small cabin. Did have to pay this in full to get 5% discount, but can cancel with small fee. Found this from Denali Chamber of Commerce site. Since we will arrive later, dinner at restaurant near Carlo Creek, Creekside or The Perch.

I found a groupon back in January for a flight tour of Mt Mckinley, $220 for 2--nearly half price. I am to call Sheldon Air that day and if weather permits we will stop in Talkeetna for tour. Back up day would be Saturday after leaving Denali. Cabin booking remains unchanged.

6/18--Exploring: visit access center, some short hiking, Husky homestead tour? maybe a rafting tour in afternoon? Would like to have drinks on the deck at Princess Lodge since I can't afford to stay there even if there were openings! DH likes to mix scheduled days with unscheduled, so this is a free form day.

6/19--Denali Park bus to Wonder Lake, then maybe visit Healy or a little walk around Carlo Creek property, they have 13 acres along the creek. Reserved the shuttle bus at 8 am, $45 pp

6/20--Depart Denali, and take our time driving stopping at Talkeetna for coffee and pastry, and anywhere else we want on the way back to Anchorage. Depending on traffic and weather will try to drive Turnagain Arm, need to figure out where to overnight--Girdwood or Anchorage??? Would like to see Wildlife Center

If we go to Talkeetna on way to Denali, will skip on way back. Still working on where to stay. I have a reservation for Hilton Garden in mid-town Anchorage ($199), but this week I might see if there are any B&B openings in Girdwood. I can't justify over $250 for one night at Alyeska Resort, plus I think they are booked full.

6/21--Last day, more free form touring, Wildlife center, Alyeska Tram ride, Anchorage museum? Right now, flight scheduled to depart 9 PM so have a good amount of time. Return trip is booked on Sun Country Airlines, one stop in Minneapolis.

6/22--arrive home, interestingly we got better price on airfare and better flight schedule by leaving from Tampa but returning to Orlando. This let me get one stop flights on both ways. We are lucky that Tampa is only 20 minutes farther in the other direction so we can take advantage of different schedules and prices from either airport.

The USDA has a guide of all the hiking trails in Ketchikan. You can download this for free.

I compared prices today for our upcoming cruise and a comparable date /ship for 2016 and was amazed that the same cabin was over $600 more! Either I got a super sale last October or prices have really gone up. I always thought b some of the best pricing was when an itinerary was releases?

You mentioned taking the auto train.why did you choose this?Have you done it before? I am very intrigued by this option to go north.

Try http://www.islandpanama.org. the island and coral are twins at least until island is modified on dry dock this year. This site was invaluable when I booked our upcoming Alaska cruise

Georherb.....Princess and it's parent company CCL are pretty sophisticated. I don't believe they would offer these discounts if they did not make financial sense. Just like they wouldn't offer OBC to shareholders or the free perks to elite passengers or those who use the casino frequently. By the way I am a shareholder and have no objection to any of these promos.

I did a lot of research about the Coral cabins before booking a mini suite for Alaska. Some of the balconies are covered, some are not. If this is important to you check this link which gives a very comprehensive listing of which balconies are covered. Depending on your itinerary it might be important.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2176233

If this doesn't work search "covered balcony guide-Island Princess" the link is about the Island but until the Island is modified, it applies to the Coral as well.

Yes it is a very good guide to all of the hiking trails in Ketchikan. It is about 40 pages with directions to each trail and a description of its difficulty, distance, and how trails connect. I am not sure why it's published by the US dept of Agricultural rather than Park Service ? But it's an easy Internet search to download the file.

Are these reviews from NCL or another site? I did a lotbof reading on trip advisor and other Alaska tourism sites and equally important I went to the website of each company I was interested in. You will get a lot of detail there. If you only will book through the ship you might get more specifics posting this question on the NCL board

Well I haven't gone yet so I can't vouch for anything myself. There is a thread specifically about the train and train vs car rental for Skagway. Try to search for it it was very helpful to me. For the dog sledding I know there is a big price difference. We chose a plane ride (Taku Lodge and glacier tour) as there is a weight surcharge for the helicopter and DH is not a small guy. Plus his boss highly recommended it, but its also not cheap. In Ketchikan you can get a rainforest walk for free and save money by taking the bus to one of the many hiking trails. There is a printable guide you can download from USDA

The expedited fee per the State Dept is $60 pp for a document with a 10 year lifespan. If they are getting passports already I would encourage them to pay the extra. Think how easy to will be to take another trip some where great , just pack and go :). If they were not getting passports then I would understand why the questions.