First Time Alaska - Advice

We are extremely excited for our upcoming 1st Alaska Cruise after 20+ Caribbean and European Cruises. Chose Princess as their onboard immersion sound great and booked a hump corner curved glass balcony on Island Princess to get best views of glaciers. Wow the cost of the excursions is high but no point in doing Alaska just to walk around the ports. We are family of 4 (2 girls 18 and 16)

Pre Cruise 5 nights in Vancouver - where to stay??? Excursions???

ICY STRAIGHT POINT: Planning on booking zodiac exploration for 3 (eldest is doing the zipline)

JUNEAU: Booked via Princess, Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari (group of 14) run by Gastineau

SKAGWAY: Glacier Point Wilderness Safari (Canoe to Davison Glacier) booked with the operator Alaska X ($20 pp cheaper than Princess)

Then land part booking independently - Motorcoach to Denali from Whittier

4 nights Denali Bluff - 2 excursions booked :

3 hour ATV

13 hour Denali Back Country Adventure Bus - chose over Katishna Bus as better food at Back Country Lodge apparently so worth extra $10 pp.

Then Dome train to Talkeetna

2 nights Talkeetna Roadhouse in a cabin

Not sure what to do - ATV? Jet Boat? ???????? No helicopter or fixed wing plane as wife won't do that

Then Anchorage for 1 night

Then fly to Seattle and have 6 nights - 3 in Seattle then 3 elsewhere???? Portland????

Any advice welcome

Would be open to renting a car instead of using a motorcoach to get to/from Denali National Park?

Would be open to renting a car instead of using a motorcoach to get to/from Denali National Park?

It would be a one way rental. The motor coach stops in Anchorage for 3 hours and gives us tickets to the museum. Then we get back on and there is short stop in Talkeetna. Is it worth renting a car instead for the day?

It would be a one way rental. The motor coach stops in Anchorage for 3 hours and gives us tickets to the museum. Then we get back on and there is short stop in Talkeetna. Is it worth renting a car instead for the day?

Just checked car rentals.com and no options came up - we want to do the dome train from denali to talkeetna to anchorage

There may be other suggestions on things to do and see in Vancouver and Seattle on the West Coast Departures board.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

Instead of zodiac boat in icy strait booked Hoonah Adventures bear and wilderness trip - just 12 passengers unlike ship excursion which is larger bus - fingers crossed will see some bears

There may be other suggestions on things to do and see in Vancouver and Seattle on the West Coast Departures board.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

Thanks will do -booked Westin Bayshore in Vancouver - now to research what to do for 4 1/2 days

4.5 days can be filled pretty easily; you'll still have to prioritise which sights in Vancouver & surrounds you will all enjoy most. I'd be inclined to check Tripadvisor 'best of' categories and 'three days in Vancouver' posts with suggested itineraries. You could easily knock off 2 major attractions a day, as well as a minor one or two so penciling in 10

Best idea is to tell the wife & kids to make a separate list each with their personal top ten things to do and then have a family sit down and show your lists - anything on all 4 lists, start slotting them in to your plan. Maybe you'll find a couple of things which only one or two of you want to do, but that you could split up and do simultaneously (e.g. Science World is close enough to Dr Sun Yat-Sen garden to easily head to the 'hood together and meet up again after you're done before lunch/dinner in Gastown).

Group them together by location (West End, Downtown Core, UBC, Richmond, North Van), and in ~half-day chunks that are all indoor or all outdoor - check the weather as your vaycay approaches and if there's a rainy day you can move blocks of indoor activities to that day and do the most outdoorsy stuff on the nicest day (e.g. Stanley Park there's chunks of exposed Seawall and trails without much shelter from rain for long stretches, no cafe to duck into etc.) Booking more than a day or two in advance isn't necessary for much except the odd fancy resto, and most attractions don't need a reso at all. The only one that jumps out as being consistently better with a reso is FlyOverCanada, which lets you avoid the potentially-long general queue if you prebook your ride time.

Without knowing what sort of things you & yours are into, it's hard to recommend specific activities, restos etc. as the best ones for your family which is why I suggest TripAdvisor as a 'first cut' source - by all means come back with more info as to likes/dislikes/budget/mobility and I'd be happy to make targeted suggestions, as I am sure would many other locals and frequent visitors.

I'd be totally behind taking the last 3 days in Portland too - not as much choice of nonstop flights back to Florida, but since you would be on your own time rather than trying to schedule around a cruise disembarkation day it shouldn't be too hard. Amtrak from Seattle to Portland is a good option downtown to downtown, but a one-way car rental should be very affordable if you want to take in Mount St Helens en route, or even head up the Columbia to Multnomah Falls etc. PDX transit is great and driving is horrible if you have to travel in rush hour, so a car while you're in the city might just sit around doing nothing depending what activites you're going to do - but if flights out of SEA work better for you booking a rental there which you bring back might work out to an overall $ saving.

4.5 days can be filled pretty easily; you'll still have to prioritise which sights in Vancouver & surrounds you will all enjoy most. I'd be inclined to check Tripadvisor 'best of' categories and 'three days in Vancouver' posts with suggested itineraries. You could easily knock off 2 major attractions a day, as well as a minor one or two so penciling in 10

 

Best idea is to tell the wife & kids to make a separate list each with their personal top ten things to do and then have a family sit down and show your lists - anything on all 4 lists, start slotting them in to your plan. Maybe you'll find a couple of things which only one or two of you want to do, but that you could split up and do simultaneously (e.g. Science World is close enough to Dr Sun Yat-Sen garden to easily head to the 'hood together and meet up again after you're done before lunch/dinner in Gastown).

 

Group them together by location (West End, Downtown Core, UBC, Richmond, North Van), and in ~half-day chunks that are all indoor or all outdoor - check the weather as your vaycay approaches and if there's a rainy day you can move blocks of indoor activities to that day and do the most outdoorsy stuff on the nicest day (e.g. Stanley Park there's chunks of exposed Seawall and trails without much shelter from rain for long stretches, no cafe to duck into etc.) Booking more than a day or two in advance isn't necessary for much except the odd fancy resto, and most attractions don't need a reso at all. The only one that jumps out as being consistently better with a reso is FlyOverCanada, which lets you avoid the potentially-long general queue if you prebook your ride time.

 

Without knowing what sort of things you & yours are into, it's hard to recommend specific activities, restos etc. as the best ones for your family which is why I suggest TripAdvisor as a 'first cut' source - by all means come back with more info as to likes/dislikes/budget/mobility and I'd be happy to make targeted suggestions, as I am sure would many other locals and frequent visitors.

 

I'd be totally behind taking the last 3 days in Portland too - not as much choice of nonstop flights back to Florida, but since you would be on your own time rather than trying to schedule around a cruise disembarkation day it shouldn't be too hard. Amtrak from Seattle to Portland is a good option downtown to downtown, but a one-way car rental should be very affordable if you want to take in Mount St Helens en route, or even head up the Columbia to Multnomah Falls etc. PDX transit is great and driving is horrible if you have to travel in rush hour, so a car while you're in the city might just sit around doing nothing depending what activites you're going to do - but if flights out of SEA work better for you booking a rental there which you bring back might work out to an overall $ saving.

Thank you very much for this. As Alaska now planned its time to look at Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. Stanley Park I think is very close to our hotel so may go jogging around there some time as well. Our Princess flights are arranged out of Seattle and we looked at trying to add a day in Anchorage but would have to rebook all the flights and outbound and return prices have gone up so would add extra $1000 for the 4 and is complicated to book as we are in First and kids in Coach and hard to to match up identical flights for the 4 on the Princess air site so not worth it that is why we are doing Seattle plus Portland. Need to find hotel still in Seattle - have Marriott on Riverside in Portland booked.

Thank you very much for this. As Alaska now planned its time to look at Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. Stanley Park I think is very close to our hotel so may go jogging around there some time as well. Our Princess flights are arranged out of Seattle and we looked at trying to add a day in Anchorage but would have to rebook all the flights and outbound and return prices have gone up so would add extra $1000 for the 4 and is complicated to book as we are in First and kids in Coach and hard to to match up identical flights for the 4 on the Princess air site so not worth it that is why we are doing Seattle plus Portland. Need to find hotel still in Seattle - have Marriott on Riverside in Portland booked.

I think you mean the Residence Inn on River Parkway? If so, I'd change that to literally any other downtown Marriott family hotel instead - Riverside is it's own rather new little nook of a 'hood, pretty much just condos, so you'll have to jump on streetcar or walk several blocks to get to anything except a handful of restos. It's better than it was since the streetcar loop was finished, now you can go both directions from there - but the Downtown Waterfront, City Center, Courtyard, Hi-Lo, AC, and Residence Inn Pearl are all better for sightseeing, restos & shopping on foot, and even the Convention Center locations have better transit links as they are close to both MAX and Streetcar so much better service frequency.

Sounds like you do need to return to SEA for flights, so if you can get a hotel rate that includes parking a 3 day rental car might be a better value than 2 one-way rentals (most I've seen are for drops at PDX only without hefty fees, and while MAX runs to the airport it's a fairly long ride back downtown). A car is pretty much a necessity for Multnomah Falls/Columbia Gorge, and it's well worth losing a half-day in Portland to see those (up to a full day if you enjoy hiking).

And yes, the Bayshore is very close to the edge of Stanley Park so you definitely want to do that on foot (or by bike - faster but you can still go anywhere you can walk, unlike the carriage tours, HOHOs etc. which are restricted to the very small number of roads).

I think you mean the Residence Inn on River Parkway? If so, I'd change that to literally any other downtown Marriott family hotel instead - Riverside is it's own rather new little nook of a 'hood, pretty much just condos, so you'll have to jump on streetcar or walk several blocks to get to anything except a handful of restos. It's better than it was since the streetcar loop was finished, now you can go both directions from there - but the Downtown Waterfront, City Center, Courtyard, Hi-Lo, AC, and Residence Inn Pearl are all better for sightseeing, restos & shopping on foot, and even the Convention Center locations have better transit links as they are close to both MAX and Streetcar so much better service frequency.

 

Sounds like you do need to return to SEA for flights, so if you can get a hotel rate that includes parking a 3 day rental car might be a better value than 2 one-way rentals (most I've seen are for drops at PDX only without hefty fees, and while MAX runs to the airport it's a fairly long ride back downtown). A car is pretty much a necessity for Multnomah Falls/Columbia Gorge, and it's well worth losing a half-day in Portland to see those (up to a full day if you enjoy hiking).

 

And yes, the Bayshore is very close to the edge of Stanley Park so you definitely want to do that on foot (or by bike - faster but you can still go anywhere you can walk, unlike the carriage tours, HOHOs etc. which are restricted to the very small number of roads).

Thanks. In Portland its the :

Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront1401 SW Naito Parkway Portland Oregon 97201 USA

Not sure if that is good location. If not will change. Plan is after Portland to stay in Seattle two nights so train back to downtown Seattle then stay near there. Will consider car but just the traffic I hear is bad Seattle to Portland if wrong time of day.

Thanks. In Portland its the :

Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront1401 SW Naito Parkway Portland Oregon 97201 USA

 

Not sure if that is good location. If not will change. Plan is after Portland to stay in Seattle two nights so train back to downtown Seattle then stay near there. Will consider car but just the traffic I hear is bad Seattle to Portland if wrong time of day.

That's a much more convenient location for walking around downtown, no need to change unless you get a better deal in one of the other downtown Marriotts.

Seattle commuter traffic is absolutely horrible (and parts of Portland are as bad or even worse - I5 gets down to 2 lanes in a couple of areas which is utterly inadequate for peak demand), but with bridges and tunnels to factor in there's not much that can be done short of making an entirely new road... but avoiding 6-9am/3-7pm means you can maintain speed at the posted limit.

With another night in Seattle to make the train convenient that will be a pleasant trip (getting from Amtrak to Seatac as part of one trip is a hassle) - the only downside of not renting a car is that Multnomah Falls becomes a pricey trip by tourbus, and it is justifiably one of the biggest draws in the region year-round. I couldn't imagine not taking friends & family there if they were visiting.

Thanks - will look into getting to Multnomah falls

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Found this - http://nwnewsnetwork.org/post/multnomah-falls-closed-foreseeable-future

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Found this - http://nwnewsnetwork.org/post/multnomah-falls-closed-foreseeable-future

The forest fires did cause a closure of the falls - but because of a lack of access, it's not like the falls stopped running! The historic highway, on top of the gorge, remains limited access - but I84 along the valley floor reopened soon afterward. Since Multnomah has direct access on foot from a dedicated parking lot between the two carriageways of I84 you can always get to the falls if the highway is open - and since I84 is the most important road in the area it's very, very rarely shut except in heavy snowfall.

By the time you're here next summer access to the lodge and historic highway will almost certainly be restored - and even if not, unless there is another forest fire right about the time you're coming that stops I84 traffic, the falls themselves will be available to view. The trail over the Benson bridge can be locked down with a gate, but you can see the falls well from the very bottom (and then your photos include the bridge, which makes for a better pic IMO).

We'll be taking our usual Xmas trip along there - in winter when the spray freezes onto the vegetation around the falls it's absolutely spectacular - so I'll pop another post up with an 'on site' report well before you have to firm up your plans.