Worldtraveler 4727

Day #11 June 30, 2018 Skagway, Alaska

Up early this morning for our sail into Skagway and to get ready for our (private/not Princess) tour with Chilkoot Charters on the White Pass Railway and beyond. We docked in Skagway about 7:15 and were able to get off the ship by 7:30. We had to walk quite a ways to the end of the dock since the Holland America docked in front of us. We found a man holding a Chilkoot sign, he took our name, asked if we had our passports, and directed us to look for Jamison in a small bus beyond the gated area. Jamison was to be our tour guide for the day, a delightful young man from northern California who is spending his third summer in Alaska driving first a Princess/Holland America bus and now a small bus for Chilkoot. As we got to know him better along the way he shared a few stories about himself. He has a Bachelors degree in Neuroscience and decided to take off a couple summers. He plans on going back to UC-Davis for his Masters and PhD in Neuroscience and eventually teach. His undergrad school asked him and his fellow graduates their plans post graduation, and Jamison wrote he was going to drive a bus in Alaska. Unbeknownst to him, as they called his name out at graduation, they added: Jamison's future plans are to drive a bus in Alaska. He said his mother looked at him and said her favorite line to him: You're an idiot! We all laughed so hard. I loved this kid!

He also said there were 1500 young people in Skagway working for the summer and it was like a college town. When the cruise ships leave and there are just the young people left in town, they have soft ball leagues, and camp together etc. We met so many young people with summer jobs all over the state, and each one we met was just delightful

There were only 14 people on this small bus, a very nice number as it was easy for everyone to get on and off quickly at our stops.

Jamison took us to the White Pass Railway and dropped us off and directed us to the last railcar in the line. He will drive up to Fraser to meet us for part two of the excursion. As I had read previously, Chilkoot gets the last railcar in line, which many people like because you can go outside on the small deck and take photos of the scenery and the track behind the train.The train ride lasted about two hours and there was some commentary from a young man on board. We did not see where he was narrating from. We got to the Canadian border, the Canadian customs officers boarded the train, and we were all instructed to hold our passports up with our left hands, photos exposed, and placed next to our face so they could take a quick walk down the aisle and check everyone out. They take this very seriously. The lavatory onboard the train car is locked before the border, so no one can potentially hide in there. The customs officers made certain to rattle the handle to be sure it was locked.

After about two hours we ended the train portion of the excursion in Fraser, British Columbia. Here we got off the train and got back into Jamison's small bus. From here Jamison drove us north into the Yukon making various stops for photographs.

Day #10 June 29, 2018 Glacier Bay

This morning was cloudy with some drizzle and some very low hanging clouds. We wondered how we would be able to see the glaciers. The Rangers boarded, and as we approached Marguerite Glacier, the Rangers began their commentary, the clouds began to lift, and the rain stopped. The Rangers explained it was a very typical day in Glacier Bay because without the precipitation there would be no glaciers. Higher up in the mountains it would be snowing and adding to the glaciers. We received a great map of Glacier National Park in our evening packet of paper at our cabin door, and it was so useful to watch and follow along as the rangers spoke. Most interesting, the map has lines at the glaciers indicating various years where the glaciers had once been, how far out into the bay they extended and ultimately where they have now receded to. Margerie Glacier is at the far end of Glacier Bay. The captain took us fairly close up--closer than to Hubbard Glacier yesterday. We approached on the port side about 1 pm and spent about a half an hour at the glacier, the captain doing a 180 turn so all sides of the ship could see it. Then we sailed south out of the bay towards Lamplugh Glacier, arriving there about 3 PM. Fortunately, the low hanging clouds dissipated, and we got a good view of this glacier too, again approaching it from the port side once more, and again the captain doing a 180 with the ship. Both glaciers calved a bit, and that is always tremendously exciting to see! We then headed out of Glacier Bay to drop off the Rangers and to exit into Icy Strait.

This is Lamplugh. It has much more dirt and rock in it than other glaciers.

Dinner in the MDR this night was the best so far, and it went a long way in restoring our faith in Princess. The offerings included pan-fried halibut, King crab legs, and surf and turf. Our table had some of all three, and everyone was very happy with their meals. Rhubarb Napoleon for dessert topped the meal off perfectly.

We all decided to turn in early this evening as we are docking in Skagway at 7AM. Our tour with Chilkoot Charters states we are to meet them on the dock at 7:15 AM.

I will be on the Sapphire in a couple of weeks. I am Elite and have 150 minutes internet free.

 

I have looked on the Apple App Store for Princess At Sea and can not find it.

 

Do you have to wait until on the ship to get it?

It is just something that is available once you board the ship. No need to worry about it now. If as an Elite you've never used Princess at Sea internet before, simply go to the Internet Cafe once you board, and they will get you all set up pronto! :) With a certain number of minutes alloted to you, however, do not forget and be certain you sign out each time you are done; otherwise, your minutes will tick away very quickly. People in the Internet Cafe have little to no sympathy for that error. :(

Day #9 June 28, 2018

I was really thrilled with the Internet--at first--it was awesome being able to leave my phone on and not have to bother with the process of turn phone off airplane mode--log on to the internet and quickly check email and texts and log off the internet--turn phone back onto airplane mode and write answers to texts and emails--turn airplane mode off, log onto internet again and send all messages--log off internet and turn phone onto airplane mode again. Whew! With these unlimited minutes, I could leave my phone on all the time.

That lasted until about 1PM today.

We lost all internet (both ship's and AT&T) service from Thursday until Saturday afternoon when we stopped into a bar in Skagway.

Apparently, Princess was anticipating this as there was a notice in the Patter that this would likely happen and no, there would be no refunds.

As I mentioned, our mini suite was far forward, under the bridge, and last night we felt a fair amount of rocking and rolling. I mention this for those who might be ultra-sensitive to this type of thing. It really did not bother us, and I personally actually like it. In no way did it make us seasick or even a little queasy, but be aware that you feel more this far forward.

We slept well. The beds and bedding are truly very comfortable.

Today is Hubbard Glacier day. According to the original schedule, we were to get there at approximately 3Pm. Today's Patter lists us coming in at 4:30 and exiting by 5:45, potentially interfering with some people's dinner plans.

Until then we had the day to ourselves. It was a welcomed "down time" as we had been so busy on the land portion. We ordered coffee and rolls from room service about 7:30, and it arrived in under 10 minutes. Having never experienced a mini suite before we wondered if perhaps the speediness was due to that or just that they were not busy in the kitchen this morning. Lunch was pizza at Alfredo's in Sabatini's. Always great pizza and ambience.

About 3:30 we went out onto the "secret" Caribe deck to watch Hubbard come into view. It was cloudy and about 53 degrees with very little wind. The ship moved painfully slow towards the glacier. At one point we saw a Holland America ship come out of Disenchantment Bay in front of the glacier. There was some commentary here and there by Naturalist onboard, but not a lot. By about 5:30 the ship apparently got as close as it was going to get to the glacier, did a 180 turn, and sailed out of the area. At that point I was glad for two things. #1 We had gotten soooo close up to the glacier on the Kenai Fjord boat tour and #2 We had not kept the aft Oceanview room. Basically, in my opinion, you really need to be on one of the front decks to get pictures and to see anything.

This evening was the first formal night, so we went back to the cabin, dressed and met friends for cocktails. It was also the night for the champagne tower, and waiters were walking around with champagne and mimosas, generously leaving several each time they passed our table.

Earlier in the day I had made reservations for 7:30 in the Anytime Dining room (Bordeaux) knowing that things were going to be a bit mixed up with having entered and exited the glacier a bit late and it also being a formal night. We got into the "reservations only" line and were seated right away. Two of us ordered the "leg of lamb" and two of us ordered the beef medallions. The lamb came with several thinly sliced pieces on the plates, and the two beef medallions were rather over done and tough. I ordered the Waldorf salad as a starter, and when it arrived I asked the waiter what it was because it was clearly not a recognizable Waldorf salad. He said, "That is the Waldorf salad." Our fiends at the table said where are the walnuts? Where are the grapes? I have been kicking myself every since that I did not take a photograph of it. There was a small pile of shredded lettuce and a spoon of Stilton mousse on the side. It certainly did not look like any Waldorf salad any of us had over seen before. The second nigh in the MDR had me wondering about the changed Princess food standards. These past tow nights have certainly not been on par with the kind of food we've been used to on Princess ships. Is this the Coral in particular? Alaskan itinerary in particular?

thanks for your "table for 2" response...

 

in real life, I'm pretty much a listener ( I know. I know ) and not a talker...

 

and pretty much skeptical of what other people say they have done as exaggerated bs..I ate the last mango in Paris...I drank with Capt Tony in Key West...oh, wait...I did do that...I took the last plane out of Cuba with Michael and we left Fredo behind...

 

it's totally a me thing as my wife has never met a stranger...and I won't deny her that opportunity on a trip like this...unless it gets so thick...

Yes, yes, we've all run into "those" people, and I have to agree--perhaps more often on a cruise ship when asked to share a table--but I must admit that it is actually not all that often. Most people turn out to be pretty good company. ;)

I agree with your comments about dinner pairings. We are pretty quiet and tend to keep to ourselves. When we did this trip 4 years ago, we too went with the flow. It definitely added to the fun of the trip. Always someone to talk to. It was also fun to get together with theses same people on the cruise. Fabulous trip. Fabulous review!

Thanks so much for chiming in and seconding my advice to these folks. I completely understand where they are coming from, as do you, but it really does work out wonderfully all around for many reasons. I had not read about this beforehand; had I, I'm sure I would've reacted the same way. However, in hindsight it was great, and we enjoyed it immensely.

Thanks for reading along! :)

After grabbing a quick bite in Horizon Court, we stopped at the Internet Cafe to activate the Internet pkg we had purchased pre-cruise.Interestingly, this was a "new" package. For this Coral sailing (other sailings are being offered it too and others still have the cost per minute plans and still others are offering cost per MG used), Princess was offering three tiers of unlimited internet for this sailing, the differences among them was and still is unclear, according to MULTIPLE current threads on CC.

Premium - $109.99

Enjoy truly premium unlimited access!

All internet usage subject to Princess Cruises standard policies, etc.

Surf Package - $79.99

Surf your favorite sites from e-mail, news, sports, and more*

*may not allow for audio/video calling and streaming

Social Package - $59.99

Unlimited access to the most popular social websites and applications*

*may not allow for audio/video calling and streaming

Try as I might beforehand, I could not find anyone on CC who could provide a definitive answer for what I needed: just emailing and texting. We ended up choosing the middle package. When all else fails--shoot for the middle, right?

I set up a new account with the Princess At Sea app that was already on my phone, and I was on the ship's WiFi in no time. My AT&T phone service was still working also in the Whittier port.

I learned that AT&T has a huge presence in Alaska, and I was able to use my own AT&T a great deal on land, only having problems in the remotest parts of land like the Kenai Fjords, for example. Otherwise, at Fairbanks and the three lodges we stayed in, I was able to use either the lodge's WiFi if our room was close enough or my own AT&T package.

At 5PM we met friends in Crooners for cocktails. Because muster was at 7:30PM we decided to go to the Bordeaux, the anytime dining room, about 6:15 for dinner. We got right in and service was quick. (When we boarded, we were handed a piece of paper by the ship's staff that stated we were to go to Anytime Dining in the Bordeaux at 5:15. Ahhh, no thank you. We ignored that piece of paper and had no trouble at 6:15.)

We have always enjoyed the food in the MDR on Princess ships. But the four of us did have a difficult time making a choice this first evening. DH ordered the Etouffee, expecting it to look like jambalaya, like it usually does, but it came in a bowl with a scoop of rice, a couple miniature shrimp in a light brown sauce and one single whole crawfish. It honestly looked like a (sad) appetizer. He looked longingly at the piece of prime rib I had ordered, and I happily shared it with him. All four of us commented that we were hoping the dinner selections would improve.

We made it to muster in plenty of time, and fortunately, they no longer require you to bring life vests. That not only saved us a trip to the room before but also afterwards.

The Coral sailed out of Whittier harbor shortly after muster. We were on our way!

The Oceanview mini suite was extra large since there was indoor space where the balcony would have been. It had two TV's, a three-cushion couch, two chairs and a table, a desk and chair, and the bathroom had a bathtub in it as well. The window was larger than I thought it would be and was low enough so that on sea days I could pull up a chair, read and watch Alaska in all its glory go slowly by.

Day #8 continued ....June 27, 2018 Land to Sea Day

Recognizing the priciness of this tour in particular, when I booked it we decided that an Oceanview room would be fine. There is always controversy on CC about whether or not to have a balcony on an Alaska cruise, but the Oceanview room I chose was just steps away from a little-used deck on the back of the ship. I originally booked B731. It gets rave reviews on CC, with someone helpfully posting a photo of the little-used aft deck that the room is just steps away from. I had thought that an aft deck would be great for glacier viewing as I had read the captain does a complete turn of the ship at least once, and to have a deck that is not well known and is used very little sounded great.

So B731 it was---until 2 weeks before sailing.

About 2 weeks before sailing my TA contacted me, and she said Princess had contacted her and asked if we'd like to upsell to a balcony. My TA and I looked at the balconies offered, and none were in a good enough location to spend approximately another $400 for a balcony and to give up the Oceanview room with it's sort-of-private deck aft. Our TA declined for us.

The next day our TA called again and said, "For some reason Princess really wants your Oceanview room, and they are now offering an oceanview mini suite (for less than $300 increase total)." We looked at the couple that were offered, and one in particular seemed great. It was way forward, under the bridge, but once again just steps away from a little-use forward deck (according to the research on it that I did). So we took the upsell, and now had mini suite C204.

It was awesome!

Our room steward, Noel, knocked on our door as soon as we arrived to introduce himself, and to tell us about "his secret deck." As I mentioned, I knew about this deck just steps away and through two doors. He took us out there, and it was drizzling a bit, so we did not stay too long, but it looked like a perfect viewing area. As we were walking back to our room, a family came out of the room next to ours and said to the steward, "We understand there is a secret deck for viewing! Where is it?" I looked at DH and mumbled, "So much for the 'secret'." LOL Interestingly, when we met friends for dinner who had a balcony on Caribe deck midway, they said their steward was telling everyone in their hallway about this "secret deck" as well. Apparently, CC folks, the secret deck is a secret no more.

That said, it was never crowded (even glacier viewing day) and most often deserted on that deck

(That's me with my cane in the desk chair from our room that the steward said we could bring out as long as we made sure it got back into the room)

We are taking this tour next June. Can you tell me about how much you tipped the Tundra tour bus driver?

Lisa was a great driver and tour guide the 7 - 8 hours we spent with her on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. DH and I felt $10 each was appropriate, so $20 total.

Excellent question, as we would also like that..I believe now, we would request with the 'leader' of our land portion that assigns tables, etc at the beginning...

First, let me say I totally understand where you both (nibst and voljeep) are coming from.

When Michael announced that he would "assign" us dinner partners, I thought, "Wait....I don't think I want to do that." However, hindsight is 20/20, and allow me to provide you both with the benefit of that hindsight.

As it turned out, we went with the flow. Out of the actual 7 dinners on land, there were just 5 evenings when we were partnered up with one or two other couples since one dinner was the wine pairing dinner in Fairbanks and we sat at tables of 8; one was the Denali Dinner theater and we sat as a large group. Out of those 5 dinners, one we ate alone when the other couple wanted to go hear a speaker. And I will tell you it simply wasn't as much fun as the other evenings when we were paired with one or two other couples on our tour. Quite honestly, when you sit down with people, you find where they come from and what they do and where they've traveled before , what excursions they have planned, and it all is lovely dinner conversation. Also, it all just adds to the camaraderie of traveling together and having people you now "know" to talk to here and there while having a drink at the bar or while waiting together for the bus. To say things like, "Say, how was that rafting tour you took earlier today?" And when we boarded the Coral with 2,000+ people, we saw couples in our group of 26 here and there, and it was nice to "know" them, and smile and say hello and ask again about excursions etc.

Let me say again that I totally understand your question, and the word "assigned" was a poor choice. We were "paired" with others is to put it better. Having been left to our own designs, DH and I would have likely asked for tables for 2 as well, but actually on the very first night of the tour we met another couple we got along with smashingly, and we dined together every night on the ship.

I would advise you to give pairings at dinner on the land portion it a try. Allow your leader to pair you with a couple or two he thinks will mesh well with you both. Try it for 2 nights. If you still feel you'd like to dine alone, let your tour director know.

Thank you for the detailed land portion of your vacation

Thanks for reading along! :)

On your cruise portion did you book a balcony cabin?

We wound up with an Oceanview Mini suite.

Friends we made onboard had a balcony, and although we had really great weather overall, it was too chilly to really use.

You will find many people on CC that say a balcony is a must for Alaska, and many others who say it isn't.

We had decided that the 15 Connoisseur Tour was pricey enough and had originally booked an Oceanview room. I will tell the story below on how we landed in a mini suite.

Question, do the Connoisseur tours include food or was it an option you selected? It sounds wonderful!

 

 

 

 

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It truly was wonderful!

I believe that the 15 day Connoisseur tour includes the food, but I also believe that the Tours involving fewer days have the option of not including the food.

Excellent pictures and wonderful review! Thank you so much.

Thank you, and thank you for reading along! I'm gathering my notes and will post reviews of our 7 cruise days on the Coral as well.

Thank you so much for this review. We are doing this connessiour tour mpnext August for my 50th birthday.

 

My question is did you see any mobility impaired guests? Ones using a wheelchair or scooter? I assume the buses are handicap accessible but I know a lot of the big buses that are used for tours are not. However with this being in the US I expect everything to be very ADA compliant.

 

Thanks, Kari

Hi Kari,

The short answer is no, we did not see any wheelchairs or scooters on the land portion. We did see a few onboard the cruise portion.

None of the coach buses we were on had anything like a wheelchair/scooter lift. I would think that if you had a collapsible wheelchair and could make it up the bus stairs, that would work. Our tour buses only had our group of 26 onboard each time, so there'd be plenty of room for a collapsible wheelchair.

In addition, there are no wheelchair lifts on any of the small shuttles on the lodge properties, but again, with a collapsible wheelchair and being able to walk up the steps into the shuttle, that would work.

Also, The Tundra Wilderness Tour (included in the Connoisseur Tour) is run by the National Park, and they use school buses only inside Denali. The bus was full, so even a collapsible wheelchair on this tour might be an issue for you. Even the large shuttle buses used in the Denali National Park (at the Denali Princess Lodge) were all school-bus type, and they were always packed.

Hope that helps,

Kathy

Caribill, thanks for the reminder that the vouchers state a 15% gratuity is included.

That reminds me....Michael made it clear that tips for bus drivers are also included (actually he said he'd be taking care of that himself), unless you felt they performed an extra service for you or were in some way outstanding.

Please note: The tip for Lisa, our driver on the Tundra Wilderness Tour, is not an included one. She deserved one, to be sure.

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for reading along!:)

Thank you for your review. We pictures were

great and your details were awesome. At times we thought we

we along with you on this wonderful journey.

Thanks for the lovely compliment, and thanks for reading along!

Thank you for one of the best review and great Photos!!! I love it.

Tony

Thanks and thanks for reading along!

I have enjoyed reading along. In 2013 we took off the beaten track and found it expensive to buy meals and excursions like the Music of Denali dinner theater. So on July 18th we leave for a 13 day Connoisseur tour that starts in Fairbanks. I hope we are lucky enough to get Michael, He sounds amazing. Please let us know how the cruise went! Joyce

Thanks, Joyce!

I am planning on reviewing the cruise as well.

Have a great time ---just a few more sleeps till you go! :)

I'm really enjoying your review. While we haven't taken the Connoisseur tour previously, we will be on a land tour to Denali (for 2nd time) next month. We are excited. One of these days we'll be able to take more days away and do more inland! I just can't bring myself to do only an inland vacation--I love the cruise portion too much!

Thanks so much!

And the answer to your "dilemma" is that the Land & Sea Tours are the best of both worlds! :D

Love your review with pictures. I have taken 3 round trip Alaska cruises and I am thinking of doing an Alaska land & cruise.

Thanks so much!

I don't think you'd regret taking a land tour. Interior Alaska is so different than the coast and has so much to offer as far as scenery, animals, and experiences.

Loving your review. We did a 13 day connoisseur tour in 2016 that did 2 days each at Denali and McKinley lodges. At McKinley we were lucky that ALL clouds disappeared from the mountain on the last day. My camera was packed so I only got a picture with the phone but it was amazing to see the whole mountain.

 

 

We are planning to do another connoisseur tour that will be 15 days and include the Denali lodge plus Copper River and Kenai lodges. We visited Copper River lodge last year when on a 7 week camping trip but didn't actually stay there. We also visited the national park at Kenai but failed to visit the lodge. We want to actually stay in the lodges and explore a bit so the land tour would be great for us.

 

I am so pleased to be reading your review as it not only brings back wonderful memories but also give great information on the Kenai lodge we have never seen. Thank you for such a complete review of your land tour. It's a lot of time and effort on your part but it really is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Thrak.

Wow! Your photo is breathtaking and truly captures the jaw-dropping beauty that is interior Alaska.

I would love to stay at the Copper River lodge one day. When we were planning, I had wished there was a tour that included all four of the lodges.

Thank you for your kind words. I "talked notes" into emails each evening that I then sent to myself. There is no way a person can remember details even just days after returning. The review is taking up a lot of my time, but I am enjoying re-living it myself. Also, all the positive feedback I'm getting, and knowing it gives others pleasure, is appreciated, and helps them make decisions is the pay back I want to give for the hundreds of hours I've spent on CC gathering info.